Irish Republican Information Service (no. 74)
Teach Dáithí Ó Conaill, 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland
Phone: +353-1-872 9747; FAX: +353-1-872 9757; e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie
Date: 26 lúil / July 2006
 
Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE-Irish Freedom
 
 
Irish Republican Information Service
THE body styling itself ‘Limerick Republican Information Service’ is not connected with the Irish Republican Information Service (IRIS), 223 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, email saoirse@iol.ie and has not been authorised either by IRIS or by the body that sponsors IRIS, Republican Sinn Fein. Therefore it is totally unauthorised and should be regarded as such.
 
In this issue:
1. Barr tribunal blames Garda for Carthy death
2. Sectarian attacks on the increase in Six Occupied Counties
3. Fury over disgusting video of Michael McIlveen’s murder
4. Murder witness threats
5. RIR given an extra £10k to stay in Army
6. Catholic churches targeted in attacks
7. Fears over sectarian gang attacks
8. O’Loan’s concern at role of MI5
9. Court protest in Six Counties over Irish language activist
10. ‘Branch men tried to recruit me in Bulgaria’
11. Blaney family oppose any union with Fianna Fáil
12. Not guilty verdict in third trial of anti-war activists
 
1 BARR TRIBUNAL BLAMES GARDA FOR CARTHY DEATH
 
IN A statement reacting to the publication of the much awaited Barr report the Vice-President of Republican Sinn Féin Des Dalton said: "The findings of the Barr Tribunal expose a complete lack of humanity and basic common sense by the 26-County police in dealing with the John Carthy siege in Abbeylara, Co Longford in April 2000.
 
"The findings by Judge Robert Barr of 14 mistakes made by the gardaí responsible for handling the siege point to the failure to deal competently and compassionately with a mentally-ill young man. The fact that the Barr Report referred to ‘an uncontrolled exit’ by John Carthy as the ‘greatest garda mistake’ exposes those who have to bear full responsibility for John Carthy’s death.
 
"The failure to contact his solicitor and doctor, coupled with the refusal to provide cigarettes and television to what can only be described as a very disturbed person can be described as criminal.
 
"Whilst concerned at the failure to provide an explanation for the long delay in publishing the report Republican Sinn Féin welcomes the clarity and willingness to apportion responsibility for the death of John Carthy.
 
"Its findings cannot be simply shelved by the Dublin government but must be acted on to ensure similar tragedies do not happen in the future.
 
"The Gardaí have been a totally unaccountable force which in many cases the 26-County State has allowed to act with impunity against ordinary citizens. This is something to which Republicans can only too well testify. Now is the time to place them within a clearly-defined, independent, publicly accountable framework."
 
The Barr report on the shooting of John Carthy by 26-County police published on July 20 is a damning indictment of the Garda’s handling of the entire affair. In his report former 26-County High Court Judge Robert Barr states that the "negligence of those in command led to the tragedy" of John Carthy’s death.
 
John Carthy was shot four times from behind-twice in the legs by the ‘Emergency Response’ negotiator Sgt Michael Jackson and twice in the torso by Garda Aidan McCabe, the second of those shots fatally wounding him.
 
The chairman said any perceived threat from John Carthy was brought about by the "defective" management of the scene. He was particularly critical of principle scene commander Supt Joseph Shelly who he said was negligent on a number of counts and did little in his role as an intelligence officer.
 
This is not the first time Shelly has been at the centre of a Garda controversy — he was involved in the Kerry Babies scandal in the early 1980s and was also criticised in the Morris Tribunal report. He was allowed to retire on full pension in July 2005. The report makes 23 distinct criticisms of the gardaí including the failure to make any plan to deal with John Carthy’s exit from his house, failure to properly engage with John Carthy’s Doctor or psychiatrist, failure to bring a solicitor to the scene despite requests from John Carthy for this to be done. Failure to give John Carthy cigarettes.
 
Intelligence failures on the part of the Garda go to the root of what went wrong at Abbeylara. Firstly the deep animosity felt by John Carthy towards the Garda dates to two events in August and September of 1998. One related to the confiscation of his shotgun the second to his wrongful arrest, detention and interrogation for the burning of a GAA mascot - a wooden effigy of a goat - and the transporter used to move it.
 
John Carthy, who suffered from manic depression was described as a somewhat diffident and sensitive young man, he was a keen sportsman, member of the GAA and the Abbeylara gun club. He owned a Russian made double-barrelled shotgun, which he maintained in a good condition.
 
Following a claim by an employee at a Garda station that John Carthy was "mentally unstable" and that she feared for her safety and that of her husband, who employed John Carthy but had had a row with him. According to the Barr report claims were also made that he threatened to shoot children who occupied the court where he played handball, a sport at which he excelled, these claims were never substantiated.
 
The 26-County police confiscated his gun telling him that all licensed guns in the area were being taken in for inspection making no mention of the allegations. He accepted the explanation, handed over his gun but was "upset and distressed" when he discovered the subterfuge.
 
When he got a message to go to the Garda station a month later, he thought it was about the return of his gun. But he was arrested, falsely accused of setting the goat mascot alight, and according to the Barr report, probably suffered physical abuse.
 
The garda negotiators at the scene were not made aware of this history, which would have changed their methods of dealing with him. It is believed this issue was not raised, as it was a cause of embarrassment to the Garda.
 
The scene commander Joseph Shelly did not disclose that earlier on the day of his death, John Carthy had phoned a friend, Kevin Ireland, and had asked him to get a solicitor. He also told him that he had no intention of shooting gardaí. Kevin Ireland was not subsequently questioned interviewed by gardaí and the information he gave was not passed on by Shelly to any of the armed gardaí at the scene.
 
A further failure of intelligence on Shelly’s behalf was in not personally interviewing or instructing a senior member to interview John Carthy’s GP, Dr Patrick Cullen. Patrick Cullen passed on vital information relating to John Carthy’s antagonism towards gardaí arising from his wrongful arrest for burning a goat mascot in 1998.
 
If Dr Patrick Cullen had been properly interviewed, the existence of a psychiatrist treating John Carthy, Dr David Shanley, would have come to light, and David Shanley could probably been brought to the scene before midnight, rather than the following day, shortly before John Carthy’s death.
 
The failure to bring a solicitor to the scene was "patently negligent", the chairman says. It was surprising that so little was done to respond to John Carthy’s request for a solicitor, which he made both through his friend, Kevin Ireland and directly to the negotiator.
 
John Carthy feared that he would be put in prison if he surrendered to gardaí; a solicitor could have secured reassurance from the DPP that any matters arising from the siege would be deferred to allow John Carthy to enter into the care of Dr David Shanley.
 
It is likely that John Carthy began the standoff because he was defending the family home, due to be demolished by the local authority who were in the process of building a new family home. A solicitor could have secured an assurance from the county manager that the house would not be demolished pending further discussions with John Carthy. John Carthy had a strong emotional attachment to what was the home of his late father and grandfather.
 
A solicitor offered a "real possibility for ending the impasse without humiliating the subject by having to surrender to the police", Robert Barr says. "It is evident that the scene commander, the negotiator and other senior officers all failed to recognise the importance of responding to Mr Carthy’s efforts to obtain the benefit of a solicitor."
 
In conclusion Robert Barr squarely lays the blame for John Carthy’s death at the door of the Garda: "I am satisfied that responsibility for his death rests primarily with the scene commanders and to a lesser extent with the ERU tactical commander…. However the entire Garda management fell far short of what was required to contend with the situation successfully and to minimise the risk to life".
 
In response to the publication of the report the Carthy family said it was regrettable even following publication of such a damning report the Garda was still not prepared to accept responsibility for the death of John Carthy.
 
At a press conference in Dublin on the day the report was released the family gave their initial response to the 700 page report, John Carthy’s sister Marie said: "To this day my family believes that there was no just cause to shoot John."
 
Marie Carthy said that, at the age of 27, John Carthy was shot dead by members of the Garda. "To lose my only brother in such circumstances was simply heart-breaking."
She added: "We need answers so that we can try and move on with our own lives. Perhaps most important we need answers so that this tragedy never happens to another family again."
 
The family solicitor, Peter Mullan of Garrett Sheehan Solicitors said: "It seems that the gardaí are still not prepared to accept responsibility for what happened at Abbeylara."
 
Rejecting claims by Garda representatives that decisions, which led to the death of John Carthy "occurred within seconds". However during the siege, gardaí had had 25 hours to "prepare and plan for a peaceful end to the impasse".
 
In the six years since John Carthy’s death, no one at any level within the Garda had accepted responsibility. With the report, the "gross negligence and incompetence" displayed during the siege had been laid bare. "After six long years the truth has been established and it is incumbent on those responsible for the series of errors to be held to account," he said. Speaking on RTÉ’s Primetime programme on July 20, Garda Ombudsman Commission member Conor Brady, said the Barr report outlined "an unspeakable catalogue of personal Failure by individual gardaí". He said it was disturbing to see some gardaí involved in a "culture of cover up and circling the wagons".
 
Finally RTÉ was also criticised by the Barr Tribunal for mentioning John Carthy’s name on the 57Live programme during the siege.
 

2. SECTARIAN ATTACKS ON THE INCREASE IN SIX OCCUPIED COUNTIES
 
A REPORT in the Irish News (Belfast) on July 26 said that sectarian attacks have risen by 35% in a year, averaging five attacks every day.
 
The report said that "despite successful efforts to minimise tensions around flashpoint Orange Order parades, this summer has nevertheless seen a marked rise in sectarian attacks when compared with last year".
 
It quoted figures from the British police, the RUC/PSNI, which show that since April there had been an average of 38 sectarian attacks across the Six Counties every week.
Between April 1 and July 7 there were a total of 491 reports. This compares to 363 for the same period in 2005, an increase of 128 - up more than a third.
 
The figures come after a fresh outbreak of sectarian attacks in north Belfast when the homes of nationalist families in the Whitewell area were targeted by a gang of 30 to 40 masked men armed with crossbows. Targeted in the incident was the home of a six-day-old child whose parents were among those attacked by the gang.
 
The child’s great-grandmother was the victim of a separate sectarian attack on her own home in the north of the city earlier this summer.
 
The period referred to in the police figures covers the high-profile killing of nationalist teenager Michael McIlveen in Ballymena. Five male teenagers have been charged over his death.
 
3. FURY OVER DISGUSTING VIDEO OF MICHAEL MCILVEEN’S MURDER
 
LOCAL people in Ballymena, Co Antrim condemned a sick video celebrating the murder of nationalist teenager Michael McIlveen who was kicked to death in a sectarian attack in Ballymena, according to a report on July 25. The video, being sent around loyalist pubs and estates in the area shows footage of Michael McIlveen with the words "**** Micky Bo three kicks to the head ho hi ho three kicks to the head and I was dead". The video contains paramilitary emblems associated with the UDA. The video also contains sectarian slogans calling for Catholics to be burnt out of Ballymena and sent to Dublin. Details of the video first came to light when it was sent to a protestant friend of Micky Bo.
 
4. MURDER WITNESS THREATS
 
THE father of a teenager who witnessed the brutal beating dished out to murdered Ballymena schoolboy Michael McIlveen said on July 25 that his son’s life is under threat.
 
Ballymena man Danny Graham said he feared for his son Christopher’s life after the RUC/PSNI warned the family the teenager was at risk of attack.
 
It emerged that the 16-year-old was taken out of Slemish College in Ballymena during his GCSE exams in June after the British police warned he could be attacked during school hours or outside school.
 
It is understood that teachers at the college advised the student’s parents to keep him away from the integrated school for his own safety.
 
The teenager’s father last night said he feared for the safety of his son. His fears were heightened two weeks after a second son, 27-year-old Paul, was badly beaten by loyalists just metres from the spot where Michael McIlveen was attacked.
 
5. RIR GIVEN AN EXTRA £10K TO STAY IN ARMY
 
ON July 24 the British government made a last minute bid to persuade members of the Royal Irish Regiment’s battalions in the Six Counties to stay in the British army.
 
The re-engagement bounty for soldiers wishing to transfer from home service to the British army’s general service battalions is to be doubled from £10,000 to £20,000. The British government moved to increase the incentive after less than 20 Six- County soldiers signed on to stay in the British army.
 
The vast majority have so far indicated that they will instead accept the generous redundancy terms put on the table by the Ministry of Defence earlier this year.
All three of the home service battalions are to be disbanded by August, 2007.
 
6. CATHOLIC CHURCHES TARGETED IN ATTACKS
 
THE Church of the Immaculate Conception, known locally as the Glen’s Chapel, on the Glenbank Road in Armoy, Co Antrim was set alight some time before midnight on July 17. Minor damage was caused to the kitchen area of the church.
 
On July 22 another Catholic church was targeted at Bushmills, County Antrim. A tar-like substance was thrown over the front of the chapel in the incident at Priestland Road.
 
7. FEARS OVER SECTARIAN GANG ATTACKS
 
A MASKED gang attacked homes in the mainly nationalist Catherine Court area, off the Whitewell Road, north Belfast around 11.30pm on July 23 with hatchets and baseball bats. House and car windows were broken when around 40 loyalists went on the rampage. Homes and cars in the loyalist Graymount estate were also attacked.
 
Teresa Knowles, a pensioner, who lives at Catherine Court said the incident was "terrifying". "They broke all the windows, they broke car windows, anything they could get their hands on," she said. "They told the girl next door, who is only after having a baby, to get in or her children would be killed too."
 
Residents on both sides of the Whitewell Road called for an alleyway linking the nationalist and loyalist areas to be blocked to prevent the attacks.
 
One resident, who did not want to be named, said that, when she came out of her house to see what was going on, she had a crossbow pointed at her head.
 
"There must have been about 40 of them and from all ages. The oldest ones would have been in their mid-30s right down to teenagers.
 
"They had crossbows and one of them even had a gun. The rest had bricks and stones. I came out because I thought someone was putting stuff in a skip we had hired but, when I got out, one of them pointed the crossbow at me and shouted ‘UVF’. He was wearing a balaclava.
 
"We have been attacked here before but never as bad as this. Everyone is very frightened," she said.
 
Another resident, who is a foreign national, said he was considering leaving Ireland for the sake of his children.
 
"I am afraid for my kids now after this attack. I think I will try and move my children back to Turkey after this. If it was only me living here, I wouldn’t mind because, up until now, I have been left alone but I have to think of my family and I am not sure it is safe here," he said.
 
8. O’LOAN’S CONCERN AT ROLE OF MI5
 
BRITISH Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan has expressed concern about how MI5 will be held accountable for its actions within the Six Counties when responsibility for issues of so-called British "national security" within the Six Counties passes from the RUC/PSNI to direct control from London and the British intelligence service.
 
The change is due to take place next year. Nuala O’Loan in her fifth annual report, released on July 19 said that it would be more in the public interest if MI5 were compelled to disclose information in relation to complaints relevant to her office.
 
"It is vitally important that the police complaints system has the ability to access all relevant information and intelligence matters when investigating a complaint from the public," she said.
 
9. COURT PROTEST IN SIX COUNTIES OVER IRISH LANGUAGE ACTIVIST
 
A LARGE group of Irish language activists protested outside the Six County Magistrates court in Belfast on July 19 when an Irish-speaking teacher was charged with "disorderly behaviour". Máire Nic An Bhaird (24), Dunmurray, Co Antrim, who claimed that the charge arose after she was arrested by the British Colonial police on the Malone Road last May for speaking Irish, denied the charge.
 
Resident British magistrate Fiona Bagnall gave the defence three weeks to make written submissions in support of its application to have the papers in the case translated into Irish and the British Crown a further three weeks to respond.
 
She adjourned the hearing until September 6, Máire Nic An Bhaird was remanded on continuing bail. Irish language activists have described the affair as a very important "test case."
 
10. ‘BRANCH MEN TRIED TO RECRUIT ME IN BULGARIA’
 
IT was reported on July 26 that a Derryman said that British Special Branch agents followed him on a family holiday to Bulgaria where they tried to recruit him as an informer.
 
The 37-year-old - who does not wish to be identified - was enjoying the last day of his break in the sun when he was approached by Bulgarian police on July 21.
 
The former Republican prisoner says it is the second time that British Crown Forces have attempted to recruit him. He has lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman over the affair.
 
Speaking to the Derry Journal, the man said he was escorted from his apartments in the Sunny Beach resort to a nearby station where he was met by two men with northern Irish accents.
 
"I knew exactly what was up," he said. "I told them I wasn’t interested nor was I under arrest and tried to leave but they blocked my way. Two Bulgarian cops dressed in plain clothes were standing outside but they ignored me and walked away. Then the Branch men tried to scare me. They said there was no human rights law in Bulgaria to protect me.
 
"They told me they knew all about my life and said I had a dead end job, a life that was going nowhere. Then they spent the next hour-and-a-half telling me how I could help them save lives and earn a lot of money in the process.
 
"They produced a wad of £50 notes and said that was a down payment. They said there would be plenty more where that came from if I could help. I just kept ignoring them and eventually my girlfriend came to the station. They told me this was my last chance. I didn’t say a word and walked away."
 
The man, a local taxi driver, says the last time the British tried to recruit him was in Galliagh five years ago. He described the latest attempt as more sinister.
 
11. BLANEY FAMILY OPPOSE ANY UNION WITH FIANNA FÁIL
 
The family of the late Neil Blaney is strongly opposing the proposed amalgamation with Fianna Fáil of the independent organisation he founded in Donegal North East in the early 1970s.
 
Neil Blaney’s son, Éamonn, a first cousin of the sitting TD Niall Blaney, speaking on July 24 said: "our entire family, my mother, four brothers and two sisters-are strongly opposed to Niall joining Fianna Fáil. It is a political not a family issue. We will respect his decision, but the political reality is that we will not be giving him any support."
 
He added that while Niall would "always be family", he would not rule out canvassing against him in a 26-County election if he was running as a Fianna Fáil candidate. Nor has he ruled out standing for election in Dublin in the future as an Independent candidate.
 
A statement signed by Neil Blaney’s widow Eva and their seven children said: "Our view is that we neither seek, nor would accept, any apology from Fianna Fáil for what happened to our father as a minister and, subsequently, as an Independent deputy at the hands of the Fianna Fáil party.
 
"It would be meaningless to us. Fianna Fáil should apologise to the Irish people generally, and especially those in the North whom they abandoned in such dire need and then, subsequently colluded in their oppression.
 
"We have no desire to either join or support the Fianna Fáil party and can see no circumstances in the future where this position would change. We consider Fianna Fáil to be a party characterised by arrogance, hypocrisy and incompetence. We see it as unfit to govern and led by a man unworthy of the high office he holds."
 
The statement added that "successive Fianna Fáil administrations have increased the inequalities within our society and have ignored the plight of the most vulnerable".
 
Neil Blaney was elected to Leinster House in 1948 in a by-election caused by the death of his father, Neal Blaney, who had fought in the Tan and Civil Wars. He served as a 26-County minister, and was a powerful figure within Fianna Fáil, from 1957 until his dismissal from the 26-County cabinet during the so-called 1970 ‘arms crisis’.
 
Charges against him of conspiring to import arms and ammunition into the 26-County state were dismissed by the Dublin District Court in July 1970.
 
Following his expulsion from Fianna Fáil in 1971, he set up his Independent Fianna Fáil organisation in Donegal North East.
 
When he died in 1995 he was succeed in Leinster House by his brother, Harry, father of Niall Blaney, who was elected in the 2002 26-County election.
 
Éamonn Blaney said his father would be appalled by the modern Fianna Fáil if he were still alive. "Now, it is a case of power for the sake of power. As for Bertie Ahern, I would concur, in that one instance, with the late Charlie Haughey that he is indeed the most cunning and devious of the lot."
 
12. NOT GUILTY VERDICT IN THIRD TRIAL OF ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS

There were jubilant scenes inside and outside the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on July 25 when five ant-war activists were found not guilty of criminally damaging a US navy warplane at Shannon airport.

 
The jury at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court took 4 and a half hours to reach its unanimous decision on day 12 of the trial, which took place after two previous trials had collapsed.
 
The five had pleaded not guilty to two counts each of causing damage without lawful excuse to a US naval aircraft, property of the US government, and to glass door panels, property of Aer Rianta at Shannon airport, Co Clare, on February 3, 2003.
 
The cost of repairs to the aircraft was estimated at more than $2.5 million (1.9 million euro).
 
Juries in two earlier trials were discharged before evidence had concluded following suggestions from the defence teams that the presiding judges could have been perceived to be biased.
 
The five at all stages accepted that they had gone into a Shannon airport hanger with hammers and damaged the warplane. They argued that they had a lawful excuse for doing so as they honestly believed they were acting to protect lives and property in Iraq.
 
The 26-County Criminal Damage Act, 1991, amended in 1997, provides a defence of lawful excuse to the offence if the accused was acting to defend himself or another or property belonging to himself or another. The action taken must be reasonable in the circumstances as the accused believed those circumstances to be.
 
It is immaterial whether such a belief is justified so long as it is honestly held.
It was submitted to the jury that the five anti-war activists had a lawful excuse as they were trying to save life, land and property in Iraq in the build-up to war.
 
They said they wanted to protect vulnerable Iraqis who had suffered a decade of economic sanctions.
 
The five were Ciaran O’Reilly (46), an Australian citizen; Nuin Dunlop (34), a US citizen; Damien Moran (26), a counsellor; Karen Fallon (35) a Scottish marine biologist, all of Rialto Cottages, Rialto; and Deirdre Clancy (36), a copy editor, of Alverno Apartments, Clontarf.
 
They left the Four Courts in Dublin to cheering and applause from a large group of supporters who presented them with bouquets of flowers.
 
The NGO Peace Alliance and Anti-War Ireland applauded the jury, as did Republican Sinn Fein, who praised their "independence of mind".
 
Development agency Afri, along with other anti-war groups, commended the jury on its decision to acquit the protesters, who were described as five Catholic Worker Peace activists known as the Pit stop Ploughshares.
 
One of those acquitted, Deirdre Clancy, stated the conscience of the Irish people had spoken and the Bertie Ahern led 26-County administration had no popular mandate to allow Shannon airport to be used as part of the "American war machine".
 
Ciaran O’Reilly said commentators had declared the war as illegal, immoral and unwinnable. He said he celebrated with his "brothers and sisters" who were before the courts for "non-violent resistance" to the Anglo\US led war in Iraq.
 
The jury had been told a lone garda was on duty in the hanger at 3.45am on February 3 when five people came running in carrying hammers and an axe or mattock.
 
Evidence was given that they were shouting "some words of God" and went to the front, side and rear of the warplane, using the various implements to hit it. They then knelt in a circle and prayed until gardai arrived to arrest them.
 
Copies of the bible and Koran, and Islamic prayer beads, candles, flowers, St Brigids crosses and photographs of distressed children were among the items found at the scene in the form of a shrine at the doors of the hanger.
 
The first trial collapsed after six days of evidence in March 2005 when Judge Frank O’Donnell accepted there could be a perception of bias on his part.
 
Judge Donagh McDonagh heard the second trial in October 2005 but it again collapsed on its tenth day after the defence teams told the judge that there again could be a perception of bias.
 
Defence counsel said they were seeking to confirm whether or not he had, as a barrister in the mid-1990s, attended a conference in Texas which involved a photo call with the then governor George W Bush.
 
It was also suggested that Donagh McDonagh was invited to both of George Bush’s US presidential inaugurations and attended the first in 2000. He replied that the information was "half right, half wrong" and his social life was not "open to scrutiny  ‘, before discharging the jury.
 
That turn of events came after Donagh McDonagh had excluded the defence of lawful excuse following legal argument.
 
ENDS