29 January 2004 Edition

Peter McBride judicial review

29 January 2004

A preliminary hearing took place on Friday morning at Belfast High Court in advance of a full judicial review taken by the family of murdered Belfast teenager Peter McBride. The family are challenging the decision of the Ministry of Defence to allow the two soldiers convicted of his 1992 murder to remain serving in the British Army. At the hearing the judge set aside 20 and 21 April for the judicial review to go ahead. Free article

St Patrick's Day is for everyone

29 January 2004

A total of £65,000 is needed to fund this year's St Patrick's Day Carnival and organisers of the event are appealing to the public for support. The theme of this year's Carnival is "Cathrom Agus Gaelach - Scleip Agus Craic," which translates to the English, "Irish And Equal - We Just Want To Have Fun," but Belfast City Council has repeatedly put the dampers on Irish fun in the city centre by denying the Carnival access to public funds for the past eight years in a row. Free article

Adams attends Belfast anti-racism rally

29 January 2004

Hundreds of people took to the streets in Belfast in a public protest aimed at demanding an end to racism. Protestors from a wide range of backgrounds carried hundreds of banners and placards bearing anti-racism messages as they assembled outside Belfast City Hall. Representatives of all the main political parties were in attendance, including Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, and a variety of speakers took the stage. Free article

Beyond the Good Friday Agreement - BY SEÁN McCANN (ÓGRA SHINN FÉIN)

29 January 2004

Lenin said in 1917: "The task of a truly revolutionary party is not to declare that it is impossible to renounce all compromises, but to be able, through all compromises, when they are unavoidable, to remain true to its principles, to its class, to its revolutionary purpose, to its task of paving the way for revolution and educating the mass of the people for victory in the revolution." When republicans first signed the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, many found the compromises demanded of us extremely difficult to bear. Free article

Roddy's hosts Truth and Reconciliation discussion

29 January 2004

This past Saturday 24 January, the Roddy MacCorley Club in West Belfast was the scene of a lively two-hour discussion about future prospects for a Truth and Reconciliation Project in the Six Counties. The event was organised by Coiste under the aegis of its Process of Nation building programme. Free article

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Féile FM gets new studio

29 January 2004

The actor Dan Gordon on Wednesday officially opened the new custom-built studio for Féile FM, the radio station linked to Féile an Phobail, the West Belfast Festival. Dozens of people from across Belfast attended the opening of the studio, which is now located in the Conway Mill Complex on the Falls Road. Free article

More funding needed to target anti-social crime

29 January 2004

At the launch of the Safer Neighbourhoods Project on Tuesday, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said that anti-social crime could not be tackled without support and resources from statutory bodies. The project has been running in the Poleglass area for nine months and tackles issues such as car theft and drug abuse, among other community issues. Free article

Sinn Féin backs An Post workers

29 January 2004

Sinn Féin is supporting the campaign by An Post workers for their shares in the company. A Transformation Agreement that provided for the establishment of an Employee Share Ownership Plan for postal workers was signed off in July 2000 by the Government, the company and unions. The workers kept their part of the agreement but, as in the past, the Government has reneged on delivering its part of the deal. Free article

Cancer treatment services urgently needed

29 January 2004

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has criticised the appallingly poor provision of cancer treatment services in Ireland. Speaking at a Cancer Care Alliance Press Conference in Dublin on Tuesday, which brought together health spokespersons from the main opposition parties in the Dáil in response to the report of the Expert Group on Radiation Oncology Services in Ireland, he said government "should hang their heads in shame" over the failure to provide adequate cancer treatment services across the island of Ireland. Free article

Ó Caoláin challenges Martin over Medical Cards

29 January 2004

New income guidelines for Medical Card qualification mean that "families must choose which of their daily needs to do without in order to visit a GP with a sick child", said Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin this week. The Sinn Féin Health spokesperson challenged Health Minister Mícheál Martin in the Dáil on Tuesday over the Government's failure to fulfil its commitment to extend Medical Card qualification to the many more people on low incomes who so badly need it. Free article


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