19 May 2005 Edition
Turkey in the dock over Kurdish leader
19 May 2005
The European Court of Human Rights last week ruled that Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan did not receive a fair trial in Turkey. The Court in Strasbourg ruled on Wednesday 11 May that the leader of the Kurdish pro-independence movement Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was "not tried by an independent and impartial tribunal" and that his rights had been violated by the long delay in bringing his case to court. Free article
Sinister arrest of Ógra Sinn Féin member
19 May 2005
Jarlath McNulty, the outgoing Chair of Strabane District Council, has described as "highly sinister" the false arrest and questioning of a 17-year-old member of Ógra Shinn Féin on Friday evening last. Free article
Military overflights insult Irish neutrality
19 May 2005
Commenting on news at the weekend that the Irish taxpayer has forked out €10 million for foreign and military overflights, the majority of which were US military flights, many to Iraq, Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said it was an "insult to the Irish people and to Irish neutrality." Free article
Same old Sellafield safety record
19 May 2005
It's been an action-packed six weeks for the British nuclear industry. First, there were the new names for old companies - we welcome the Nuclear Decommission-ing Authority (NDA) and the British Nuclear Group (BNG) - and new strategies for old problems of how to dismantle aging power stations and make safe thousands of tonnes of hazardous radioactive waste, not to mention the question of who is going to pay for it all. Free article
Paris remembers the hunger strikers
19 May 2005
• A commemoration of the 1980 and 1981 Hunger Strikes was held in Paris on Saturday 14 May. The event was organised by the Paris-based solidarity group, Solidarité Irlande, and took place at the rue Bobby Sands in Saint Denis area of the city Free article
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Sectarianism again in Harryville
19 May 2005
A number of cars belonging to Catholic parishioners attending Mass at Our Lady's Church in Harryville, Ballymena, County Antrim, were attacked by loyalists on Saturday 14 May. The loyalist gang attacked the vehicles, which were in the chapel car park, with bricks and stones causing damage to some of the cars. An Phoblacht has been told that the loyalists were hanging about a nearby bonfire site before they carried out their attack. Free article
School staff day of actions over cuts
19 May 2005
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has pledged the party's support to the campaign by education workers who are protesting against the British Government's massive cuts to the North's education budget. Free article
Collusion protestors face new Direct Rule Minister
19 May 2005
A number of anti-collusion activists held a protest outside Antrim Road PSNI barracks in North Belfast on Friday 13 May as new NIO Security Minister Shaun Woodward met with senior PSNI commanders. Free article
One less eyesore in West Belfast
19 May 2005
Andersonstown PSNI Barracks in West Belfast is pictured in the process of being demolished. The fortified base, which has stood as a symbol of British oppression for over 100 years, was belatedly earmarked for closure at the end of last year. On Sunday 23 January, the date of its official closure, republicans stormed the barracks and held an anti-collusion protest in the forecourt. Sinn Féin is now calling on the British to hand the site over to the community for socially beneficial development. Free article
Withdraw threat to nurses' pay
19 May 2005
Speaking during Leaders' Questions in the Dáil on Tuesday, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, described as "provocative" the threat by the Health Service Executive to withhold payments due to nurses and midwives under the Sustaining Progress agreement. He called on the government to instruct the Executive to withdraw the threat and to resume engagement with the Irish Nurses Organisation immediately. Free article