17 November 2005 Edition

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In briefs

Sectarian tensions

Sinn Féin's Philip McGuigan has expressed disgust at the actions of unionist paramilitaries who erected anti GAA posters in a County Antrim village last week. McGuigan told An Phoblacht the erection of the posters, which proclaimed 'No GAA jerseys welcome in Ahoghill' had raised fears among local nationalists that the on-going campaign of intimidation against them has taken a new twist. McGuigan hit out at Ian Paisley junior who said he found it difficult to take the threats seriously. "These disgraceful comments show the distance the DUP must travel if it is to disassociate itself from the vestiges of militant and sectarian loyalism," he said.

UDA leaders in court

North Belfast UDA leaders Andre Shoukri and William John Boreland appeared at Belfast Laganside Court on Friday 11 November charged with blackmail and other paramilitary offences. A woman whose evidence led to the arrest of Shoukri has been taken under the PSNI's Witness Protection scheme. The charges follow PSNI raids on houses in the loyalist Westland Estate in North Belfast as well as the Castlereagh area of East Belfast in which Shoukri along with his brother Ihab and his mother were arrested. Resident magistrate Bernadette Kelly remanded the pair in custody to appear again on 9 December.

PSNI secret societies

Nearly 10% of PSNI officers have refused to reveal whether or not they are members of secret societies such as the Orange Order and the Freemasons. Of those officers who did comply with the Registration of Notifiable Memberships scheme, 9% declared that they were members of such societies. The Freemasons has a long history in the North as being a clique for influential unionists, especially those from the business class.

Immigrant Council

Reports by the Immigrant Council that one if five calls to their office is from an Irish national whose spouse cannot enter the country have been slammed by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. Ó Caoláin said under EU law, applications for residency based on marriage had to be processed within six months. However, marriages to an Irish national were excluded from this and weren't prioritised by the Justice Department, with some applications taking as long as 18 months. He added that there were many complications in the law and Minister Michael McDowell was ignoring the issue.

Drug dealing at Hospital

The problem of drug dealing in St James' Hospital in Dublin has to be tackled, Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD said this week. Reports last week revealed that patients with addictions were being dealt drugs in the grounds, the reception and even in the wards. Ó Snodaigh said improved security was needed, but also adequate resources to tackle the drugs scourge at community level.

John Mitchel commemorated

East Derry Sinn Féin hosted a variety of events on Saturday 12 November to celebrate 100 years of Sinn Féin and to mark the birthplace of Young Irelander John Mitchel. Foyle MLA Mitchel McLaughlin unveiled a plaque at his birthplace in Camnish, just outside Dungiven, County Derry. A biography on Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, by local author Aidan Hegarty, was launched at the event. The Céad Bliain celebrations concluded with a night of traditional folk music.

Herceptin decision

The decision by Six-County health chiefs to make a powerful anti-cancer drug available free of charge to breast cancer sufferers has been welcomed by Sinn Féin's Geraldine Dougan. A campaign was launched last month by cancer sufferers Patricia McPeake and Róisín McCann to make the drug, Herceptin, available on the Health Service.

The announcement came only days after Sinn Féin had announced plans to host a conference focusing on the women's fight.

Suicide prevention

Gerry Adams has called for an end to British Government equivocation on suicide prevention in the Six Counties. Following a meeting earlier this year with Adams and a delegation of bereaved families and community activists campaigning on suicide awareness, the British Direct Rule Minister Shaun Woodward announced the creation of a regional task force to make recommendations on the development of a suicide prevention strategy. Speaking ahead of the task force report, the Sinn Féin President and MP for West Belfast said he had asked Woodward and Mary Harney, the 26-County Minster for Health, to make suicide prevention an area of co-operation under the North-South Ministerial Council, to give the issue the strategic co-ordination it requires.


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