10 June 2004 Free article

Sinn Féin Assembly member for Newry/Armagh, Conor Murphy, has said that the broad nationalist and republican community note the continuing silence by Hugh Orde over the case of missing Armagh man Gareth O'Connor. "Since it emerged in court that Gareth O'Connor had a close relationship with the PSNI Special Branch and he was accused of setting up four Tyrone men for arrest, Mr Orde has made no comment on the case," said Murphy. Free article

Hopes that the Socialist Party's accession to the Spanish Government might alleviate state repression against Basque nationalist organisations have come to nothing after a list of candidates for the European elections that would have represented Basques north and south of the Pyrenees was banned. On 28 May, four hours before the European election campaign kicked off in the Spanish state, the Constitutional Court banned candidates from Basque left-wing popular movement, Herritarren Zerrenda, from running for election. By contrast, the French Government accepted a list of candidates by the same organisation. Free article

Kevin McAlorum (31), who was gunned down in his Audi car as he dropped his child of at Oakwood Intergrated Primary School in Derriaghy around 9am on Thursday 4 June, was a known drug dealer with links to loyalist drug dealers. However, it has been suggested that the killing of McAlorum may have been carried out in revenge for the 1996 killing of INLA leader Gino Gallagher. Free article

Sinn Féin Assembly group leader Conor Murphy has described the response of the NIO and PSNI to the attempted murder of Sinn Féin political activists in the Ballymena area as totally unacceptable. Read on for a roundup of this week's sectarian attacks in the Six Counties... Free article

Sinn Féin Assembly member Gerry Kelly travelled to Colombia over the weekend at the invitation of the Bring Them Home Campaign. Speaking before departing for Bogota, where he visited the three Irishmen recently found innocent of training the FARC, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on justice issues called for Martin McCauley, Jim Monaghan and Niall Connolly to be allowed leave Colombia. Free article

Five men from East Timor escaped serious injury when an attempt was made to set fire to their house in Dungannon, County Tyrone, in a racist attack. Free article

The youth wing of Sinn Féin held a protest outside Omagh PSNI Barracks last Friday night to demand an immediate end to the ongoing trial of Ógra member Daniel Turnbull. He has been on trial since December of last year on charges of possessing photographs likely to be of use to terrorists. The photos in question were taken at a demilitarisation protest at Omagh's Lisanelly British Army Barracks last November. Free article

Meath Councillor Joe Reilly, Dublin's Sorcha Nic Cormaic, Gerry Adams, Dublin's Daithí Doolan and Louth TD Arthur Morgan are pictured at the launch of the party's local election manifesto last week. "Sinn Féin is campaigning for a strong system of local government, which is accountable, democratic, properly financed and has the maximum amount of powers devolved to it," said Joe Reilly. "Our councillors have shown that what can be achieved if you work with local communities and have a work record second to none. Free article

Dublin EU candidate Mary Lou McDonald was joined by South Down Assembly member Caitríona Ruane and Dublin local election candidates Sorcha Nic Chormaic, Áine Ní Gabhann and Bernie Quinn for the launch of Sinn Féin's Women's Manifesto in Dublin last week. McDonald said: "Our manifesto is simple. It demands equality for women in every area of their lives and it states the most obvious means to achieve it. Free article