31 July 2008 Edition
Anger at PSNI stance on loyalist weapons
31 July 2008
THE PSNI admission this week that it knows the location of unionist paramilitary weapons dumps is no surprise considering the involvement of police in the Six Counties with loyalist killer gangs over the years, according to Sinn Féin's Alex Maskey. Maskey was responding to comments by PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan in the Belfast-based Irish News on Tuesday claiming that the PSNI knows where loyalist weapons are stored. Free article
Focus should be on new EU Treaty not Lisbon re-run
31 July 2008
SINN FÉIN Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has said, that despite media reports, Sinn Féin or, to his knowledge, the other Dáil parties, have not yet received notice of any proposed early Dáil resumption or new Oireachtas Committee to consider the way forward in the wake of the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. He said that if such a Committee is established it should focus on what should be in a new EU treaty. Free article
No return to unionist majority rule
31 July 2008
Ten years ago the Good Friday Agreement put in place a unique set of political arrangements designed to reflect the unique political circumstances of the Six Counties. Free article
Shell pipeline developers sidestep An Bord Pleanála - with Green minister's blessing
31 July 2008
THE DEPARTMENT of the Environment in the 26 Counties has allowed developers behind the Corrib gas project to construct a key section of onshore pipeline without approval from An Bord Pleanála under the controversial Strategic Infrastructure Act. The Act was opposed in the Dáil by Sinn Féin. Free article
A signpost towards modern Ireland
31 July 2008
THREE YEARS AGO this week, the IRA ended its armed campaign, assumed a new mode and committed its Volunteers to pursuing political and democratic programmes. We are probably still too close to that declaration to properly gauge its strategic significance. In time, it will arguably be assessed as historically epoch-making. Free article
Ferris hears concerns in Galway and Mayo
31 July 2008
THE Sinn Féin campaign to regenerate community and commercial life on Ireland's western seaboard, 'The West's Awake', continued its momentum last week with Sinn Féin Agriculture spokesperson Martin Ferris travelling to Galway and Mayo. Ferris is attempting to engage with as many groups and individuals as possible across the west to inform the report he is preparing for the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what is needed to ensure the viability of farming and fishing in the West. Free article
Further harassment of Kilmore Quay fishermen
31 July 2008
TWO more vessels at Kilmore Quay, County Wexford belonging to the O'Flaherty brothers found themselves in further strife with the Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA), this week. Last week the Emer Jane, belonging to the O'Flahertys was detained at Kilmore Quay after a naval vessel reportedly threatened to fire across its bows. Free article