18 March 2010 Edition
Hamill Inquiry questions Public Prosecution Service decision
18 March 2010
The North's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was under scrutiny again this week after the Robert Hamill inquiry challenged its decision not to prosecute former RUC officer Robert Atkinson. Robert Hamill was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in 1997. Atkinson was one of four armed officers at the scene who failed to intervene to protect the Portadown Catholic. Atkinson was subsequently suspected of attempting to pervert the course of justice after he appeared to 'tip-off' a suspect but in 2004 the PPS refused to pursue the case. That decision has now been challenged. Free article
Tallaght scandal a fundamental breakdown
18 March 2010
SINN FÉIN TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has described as "astounding" the fact that thousands of GP referral letters were left unopened or did not reach the consultants for whom they were intended at Tallaght Hospital. He said that the failure which led to GP letters remaining unopened and x-rays unread also exposed the "two-tier nature of our health services". Free article
Murphy sacks NI Water board members
18 March 2010
Regional Development Minister, Conor Murphy, has been praised for his decisive action last Friday, when he announced that he had dismissed Chairman Chris Mellor and a number of non-executive directors of the Board of NI Water (NIW). Then on Tuesday, in a statement to the Assembly, Murphy said he was now considering the positions of two more NIW board members after a further investigation by the chief executive Laurence MacKenzie. They are Finance Director Ronan Larkin and Director of Asset Management George Butler. Free article
Doherty reiterates Omagh bomb inquiry call
18 March 2010
Sinn Féin West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty has reiterated his call for a full cross border public inquiry into the 1998 Omagh bombing. He was speaking following Tuesday's publication of a report by the Westminster Committee on affairs in the North, which is calling for a new investigation to be set up to examine whether vital intelligence was withheld which could have prevented the bomb and whether enough was done to apprehend those responsible. Free article
TG4 launches second Éalú series
18 March 2010
A new drama-documentary series reliving the stories behind six of Ireland's greatest prison escapes, as told by the men and women who conceived, planned, and executed these daring bids for freedom, begins on TG4 on Thursday 8 April. Éalú (Escape) returns for a second series following the widely acclaimed first series in 2004. These documentaries promise to uncover some of the most high profile escapes from Irish prisons during the last century. Free article
Page 1 of 2
Nuclear power is back: dangerous, costly and still deadly
18 March 2010
Nuclear power is back in Britain, still unsafe, still having corners cut, and with serious questions raised about the safety of the new generation of reactors planned for existing British nuclear sites in what the British Government calls a "nuclear renaissance". Free article
Nuacht na nOibrithe
18 March 2010
999 services may strike over safety fears, Supermac's fast move to lower wages, Tyrone Crystal crashes with 31 job cuts and Green Isle hunger striker gets new work visa Free article
Sinn Féin Press Officer threatened by RIRA
18 March 2010
Derry Sinn Féin Press Officer Dale Moore was last week visited by the PSNI and informed that they had intelligence information indicating that the so-called Real IRA intended to shoot him. Free article
Belfast honours fallen Volunteer
18 March 2010
Sinn Féin's Padraic Wilson is pictured with Rita and Stephen McCracken, parents of Belfast Volunteer Kevin McCracken, who was killed while on active service as the bodies of the Gibraltar martyrs arrived home on 14 March 1988. Wilson delivered the address at the commemoration honouring the sacrifice of the former H Block Blanket protestor, a native of Turf Lodge and the eldest of five children. Free article
Sinn Féin condemns Meigh shooting
18 March 2010
Newry & Armagh MP Conor Murphy has condemned the shooting of a man in Meigh, County Armagh last weekend. The victim was shot in the legs when gunmen burst into his home late on Saturday evening. Also present during the attack was the victim's pregnant wife. The victim was taken to Daisy Hill Hospital. Free article