By Greg Harkin
Irish Independent
Friday January 27 2012

THE COUNTRY was hit by a mini-earthquake yesterday and there may be more tremors to come.

The quake, measuring 2.2 on the Richter scale, rocked an area of 30 square kilometres between Letterkenny and Buncrana in Donegal shortly after 1am.

Scores of people reported a loud rumbling noise lasting up to nine seconds. However, the tremor was too small to cause any damage.

"The last time this happened two years ago there were three of them within a few weeks of each other," said Brendan O'Donoghue, a physics teacher at St Columba's College in Stranorlar. His pupils were yesterday studying readings taken on the school seismometer.

"The earthquake hit Co Donegal around three minutes before 1am, peaking at 30 seconds past the hour. It's slightly bigger than the last quake in the same area two years ago which was 1.9 on the Richter scale," Mr O'Donoghue said.

"It has certainly caused quite a stir in the school and gives the students here renewed interest in geology."

There were no reports of any damage with the epicentre pinpointed between Rathmullan and Portsalon on the Fanad peninsula.

"It was a deafening noise and the house definitely shook," said Mary McGinley (33) from Letterkenny. "I thought at first it was thunder and then I looked outside and at that time it was a calm night with a clear sky."

Donegal sits on the Lennan faultline which runs on through Scotland and on to Norway.

David Galloway, from the British Geological Survey which picked up the earthquake, said it was "quite a moderate quake for Ireland".

He said it happened around 3km beneath the earth's surface and said while it was not possible to definitively say whether or not there would be more, he added: "There is a possibility of aftershocks, especially with the history of earthquakes in Donegal in recent years."

Dr Tom Blake of the Irish National Seismic Network wants to contact anyone who witnessed the quake.

"Anything above 2.0 on the Richter Scale could be regarded as a minor earthquake. We have had reports about the tremor and we would like to hear from people first-hand experiences of the tremor," he said.

By Associated Press
Washington Post
January 27, 2012

DUBLIN — An Irish Republican Army veteran long accused of laundering counterfeit U.S. $100 bills on behalf of North Korea could face trial in Ireland, a Dublin judge announced Friday.

High Court Justice John Edwards said he has forwarded an evidence file to state prosecutors against Sean Garland, 76, who denies smuggling more than $250,000 worth of fake American banknotes from the North Korean embassy in Moscow in 1998.

Edwards issued his follow-up statement one month after he rejected a 6-year-old U.S. extradition warrant for Garland. The judge explained that the alleged conspiracy was concocted in part on Irish soil, therefore Garland must stand trial in Ireland, not the United States.

The judge also ordered Garland’s house deeds and €75,000 ($98,000) in bail money returned to him pending any Irish decision to charge him.

In May 2005, a U.S. federal grand jury in Washington indicted Garland for allegedly dealing in North Korean “superdollars” — so called because of their exceptional high quality — and the U.S. Justice Department issued an international arrest warrant.

American officials said Garland received two loads of fake $100 bills during two 1998 trips to Moscow, when Russian interior ministry police said they tailed him traveling in North Korean diplomatic-plated cars to the North Korean embassy. Garland admitted traveling to Moscow but has denied everything else.

Officials in the Republic of Ireland took no immediate action following the American arrest demand. Instead, Garland was arrested during a rare 2005 foray into neighboring Northern Ireland, where British authorities traditionally are much more open to permitting a U.S. extradition.

However, Garland in October 2005 persuaded a Belfast judge to grant him bail to visit his home near Dublin. Weeks later, his lawyers told that court he wouldn’t return.

In 2009, Garland was arrested in Dublin on the basis of the same U.S. warrant. His extradition trial was delayed to mid-2011.

Garland today remains national treasurer of the Workers Party, a fringe Marxist player in Irish politics linked to an Irish Republican Army faction called the Official IRA.

Garland was seriously wounded during a botched IRA attack on a Northern Ireland border police station in 1957. Two colleagues were killed, and he was interned without trial in the Irish Republic for two years.

When the outlawed IRA split into rival Official and Provisional factions in 1969 at the start of the modern Northern Ireland conflict, Garland served as an Official IRA commander.

He steered the Official IRA to a 1972 cease-fire. That faction then fought bloody feuds with both the Provisionals and a breakaway Official faction called the Irish National Liberation Army. The INLA shot and seriously wounded Garland in Dublin in 1975.

As Workers Party leader in 1986, Garland wrote a letter to the Communist Party of the then-Soviet Union seeking $1 million in hopes of inspiring Marxist revolution in Ireland.

The U.S. indictment and subsequent Justice Department affidavits accuse Garland of visiting the North Korean embassy in Moscow several times; of delivering superdollars to a British money-laundering contact at a Moscow hotel room in 1998; and of using other criminal contacts in Birmingham, England, and Dublin to sell the notes to Irish and English underworld contacts at less than half their face value.

Nile Bowie
The Intel Hub
January 27, 2012

In the wake of a public outcry against internet regulation bills such as SOPA and PIPA, representatives of the EU have signed a new and far more threatening legislation yesterday in Tokyo.

Spearheaded by the governments of the United States and Japan and constructed largely in the absence of public awareness, the measures of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) dramatically alter current international legal framework, while introducing the first substantial processes of global internet governance.

With complete contempt towards the democratic process, the negotiations of the treaty were exclusively held between industry representatives and government officials, while excluding elected representatives and members of the press from their hearings.

Under the guise of protecting intellectual property rights, the treaty introduces measures that would allow the private sector to enforce sweeping central authority over internet content.

The ACTA abolishes all legal oversight involving the removal of content and allows copyright holders to force ISPs to remove material from the internet, something that presently requires a court order. ISPs would then be faced with legal liabilities if they chose not to remove content.

Theoretically, personal blogs can be removed for using company logos without permission or simply linking to copy written material; users could be criminalized, barred from accessing the internet and even imprisoned for sharing copyrighted material. ( Read more... )

Nile Bowie
The Intel Hub
January 27, 2012

In the wake of a public outcry against internet regulation bills such as SOPA and PIPA, representatives of the EU have signed a new and far more threatening legislation yesterday in Tokyo.

Spearheaded by the governments of the United States and Japan and constructed largely in the absence of public awareness, the measures of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) dramatically alter current international legal framework, while introducing the first substantial processes of global internet governance.

With complete contempt towards the democratic process, the negotiations of the treaty were exclusively held between industry representatives and government officials, while excluding elected representatives and members of the press from their hearings.

Under the guise of protecting intellectual property rights, the treaty introduces measures that would allow the private sector to enforce sweeping central authority over internet content.

The ACTA abolishes all legal oversight involving the removal of content and allows copyright holders to force ISPs to remove material from the internet, something that presently requires a court order. ISPs would then be faced with legal liabilities if they chose not to remove content.

Theoretically, personal blogs can be removed for using company logos without permission or simply linking to copy written material; users could be criminalized, barred from accessing the internet and even imprisoned for sharing copyrighted material.

Ultimately, these implications would be starkly detrimental toward the internet as a medium for free speech.

The Obama Administration subverted the legal necessity of allowing to US Senate to ratify the treaty by unconstitutionally declaring it an “executive agreement” before the President promptly signed it on October 1st, 2011. As a touted constitutional lawyer, Barack Obama is fully aware that Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution, mandates Congress in dealing with issues of intellectual property, thus voiding the capacity for the President to issue an executive agreement.

The White House refused to even disclose details about the legislation to elected officials and civil libertarians over concern that doing so may incur “damage to the national security.”

While some may hang off every word of his sorely insincere speeches and still be fixated by the promises of hope offered by brand-Obama, his administration has trampled the constitution and introduced the most comprehensive authoritarian legislation in America’s history.

In addition to imposing loosely defined criminal sanctions to average web users, the ACTA treaty will also obligate ISPs to disclose personal user information to copyright holders. The measures introduce legislative processes that contradict the legal framework of participant countries and allows immigration authorities to search laptops, external hard drives and Internet-capable devices at airports and border checkpoints. The treaty is not limited solely to internet-related matters,
ACTA would prohibit the production of generic pharmaceuticals and outlaw the use of certain seeds for crops through patents, furthering the corporate cartelization of the food and drug supply.

ACTA would allow companies from any participating country (which include EU member states, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Morocco) to shut down websites without any explanation.

Hypothetically, nothing could prevent private Singaporean companies from promptly taking down American websites that oppose the Singapore Air Force conducting war games on US soil, such as those conducted in December 2011

By operating outside normal judicial framework, exporting US copyright law to the rest of the world and mandating private corporations to conduct surveillance on their users, all prerequisites of democracy, transparency and self-expression are an afterthought.
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The further monopolization of the existing resources of communication, exchange and expression is ever present in the form of deceptive new articles of legislation that unanimously call for the implementation of the same austere censorship measures.

Even if the ACTA treaty is not implemented, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TTP) between Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Vietnam and the United States offers more extensive intellectual property regulations.

Leaked documents prepared by the U.S. Business Coalition (which have been reportedly drafted by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures of America, the US Chamber of Commerce, and the Motion Picture Association of America) report that in addition to ACTA-style legislation, the TTP will impose fines on non-compliant entities and work to extend the general period of copy write terms on individual products.

Under the sweeping regulations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, individual infringers will be criminalized and sentenced with the same severity as large-scale offenders. Within the United States, the recently announced Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) H.R. 3782 regulation seeks to install policies largely identical to SOPA and PIPA.

The Obama administration is also working towards an Internet ID program, which may be mandatory for American citizens and required when renewing passports, obtaining federal licenses, or applying for social security. Spreading these dangerous measures to other countries participating in these treaties would necessitate a binding obligation on the US to retain these policies, averting any chance of reform.

The ACTA will become law once it is formally ratified and cleared by the European Parliament in June. By petitioning members of the European parliament and educating others about the potential dangers imposed by this legislation, there is a chance of the treaty being rejected.

Upon closer examination of the human condition with all of its inequalities, food insecurity and dire social issues, our governments have lost their legitimacy for giving such unwarranted priority to fighting copyright infringement on behalf of lobbyists from the pharmaceutical and entertainment industries.

The existence of ACTA is a clear statement that surveillance, regulations and securing further corporate centralization dwarfs any constructive shift towards stimulating human innovation and self-sufficient technologies.

When former US National Security Advisor and Trilateral Commission co-founder, Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke before the Council on Foreign Relations in 2010, he warned of a global political awakening beginning to take place.

Technology such as file sharing, blogging, and open source software has the potential to undermine the oligarchical governing interests seeking to centrally control our society and enforce the population into being entirely dependent on their commodities.

The following excerpt from Brzezinski’s book Between Two Ages: America’s Role in the Technetronic Era, provides invaluable insight into the world being brought in; “The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society.

Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen.

These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities.”

Nile Bowie is a freelance writer and photojournalist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

BBC
27 Jan 2012

A man previously accused of murdering journalist Martin O'Hagan has agreed to co-operate with police investigating the LVF killing.

A lawyer for 32-year-old Neil Hyde told Belfast Crown Court the Lurgan man has signed a contract to become an "assisting offender".

Martin O'Hagan was the only journalist to be murdered in Northern Ireland

He said he had offered the Crown "the very greatest assistance in relation to resolving the notorious killing".

Mr O'Hagan, 51, was shot dead in Lurgan in September 2001.

The killing of the Sunday World reporter was claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used by both the Loyalist Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association.

Lawyer Gordon Kerr QC said Hyde signed the contract under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) in return for a reduced sentence for 48 LVF-linked offences to which he has already pleaded guilty.

His address was given as c/o the Witness Protection Unit.

Mr Kerr said it was while Hyde was being questioned by detectives from the PSNI's Retrospective Murder Review Unit in September 2008 that he confessed to a number of offences and formally agreed to help police six months later.

He has admitted to six charges relating to petrol bombs, nine of affray, drug dealing in cannabis and cocaine, five relating to arson, seven firearms offences, two charges of withholding information in relation to a murder and a wounding.

He has also pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted robbery, aggravated burglary, causing actual bodily harm and managing a meeting in support of the LVF.

All the offences occurred on various dates between 1 January, 1992 and 24 January, 2008.

Mr Kerr said Hyde had told police he was in a flat on the evening of the murder.

He said he had named the other people who were present and how a loaded gun was produced and that it later became evident that a shooting was going to take place.

'Crossed the Rubicon'

Mr Kerr said Hyde insisted he left the flat unaware of the intended target and took no part whatsoever in the incident.

The lawyer said Hyde also told police what he knew about the murder of another man Graham Edward Marks in Tandragee in April 2001.

At the time police said they believed the killing was linked to a feud between the LVF and the UVF in the area.

Hyde's lawyer said his client had "crossed the Rubicon" by co-operating with police and put himself and his family in danger for life.

He said his decision was the clearest possible indication of his remorse and his determination to turn his back on his previous life.

The lawyer urged Judge Patrick Lynch QC to give Hyde a suspended sentence in return for his promise of the 'highest order of co-operation' with the PSNI.

The judge said he would sentence Hyde next Friday morning.

BBC
27 Jan 2012

The Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, has urged unionists to attend a united Ireland debate in Derry on Saturday.

Uniting Ireland -Towards a New Republic is one of a series of conferences in Northern Ireland, the Republic, the UK and north America.

Gerry Adams said he wants to promote a dialogue on ending partition.

Ulster Unionist MLA, Basil McCrea, will speak along with the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness.

Gerry Adams said he wanted to hear from all sides in the debate.

"Sinn Fein obviously want to see a new Republic. We want to see the people of Ireland united, independent and developing democratically the shape of that new society.

"We want everyone who attends to be part of that dialogue and be critical if you are against it. We especially want unionists to come along and be part of that dialogue."

The UUP's deputy leader, John McAllister, was criticised for speaking at a similar conference in Newry.

But his party colleague, Basil McCrea, said it was right to take part in the debate.

"I think there's merit in people understanding the different point of view. There will be acceptance on some things and food for thought on others," he said.

"Attendance at an event doesn't necessarily suggest that you agree or are even reconciled with the views of Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein.

"But it's always good to talk and I would encourage people interested in these things to come along and hear a case being made on many different points of view."

BBC
27 Jan 2012

The High Court in Dublin is to refer the alleged involvement of Sean Garland in a counterfeit money operation to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The former Workers' Party president was sought by authorities in the United States to face charges relating to the production of high-quality counterfeit US dollars.

The so-called 'Super Dollar' operation was allegedly carried out with the collusion of the government of North Korea.

But Dublin's High Court refused to extradite the 76-year-old.

Giving his reasons on Friday, Mr Justice John Edwards decided that the offence for which Mr Garland was wanted in America is regarded as having been committed in Ireland and therefore the court is prohibited from extraditing him.

The Director of Public Prosecutions will now decide whether or not to prosecute.

BBC
27 Jan 2012

A husband and wife jailed for offences connected to the IRA interrogation and murder of a police informer appear set to have their convictions overturned.

James Martin and Veronica Ryan, from west Belfast, were both convicted of the false imprisonment of Joe Fenton.

Mr Fenton was a Special Branch agent shot dead after being lured to a house in the city in February 1989.

The Court of Appeal was told that the prosecution accepts the guilty verdicts against the couple should be quashed.

Mr Martin, who was also found guilty of making property available for terrorism, was later sentenced to four years imprisonment.

His wife, formerly known as Veronica Martin, was jailed for six months.

Similar false imprisonment counts against the couple over the abduction of another informer, Sandy Lynch, in 1990 were overturned three years ago.

Matter of time

In an unprecedented move, the Criminal Cases Review Commission decided to refer separate convictions relating to the Fenton incident back to the Court of Appeal.

The body, set up to examine potential miscarriages of justice, refused to disclose the reasons for its decision.

But in court on Friday senior counsel for the prosecution confirmed its new position.

Gerry Simpson QC said: "The prosecution accepts that the convictions of these appellants should be quashed."

One reason given was that all relevant material was not made available to the Director of Public Prosecutions, preventing him from properly considering whether Mr Martin and Ms Ryan should have faced charges.

Mr Simpson added: "The fact that such material was withheld from the director during the proceedings prevented the director from discharging the prosecution's duty of disclosure, which had the capacity to affect the continuation or outcome of the proceedings."

Although the court has not yet formally quashed the convictions, legal sources said the announcement by the prosecution meant it was only a matter of time.

A further hearing next month is expected to deal with any further disclosure being sought in the case.

Outside court Mr Martin and Ms Ryan's solicitor, Kevin Winters, said they must now be given a full explanation.

"We welcome this second such decision. It is unprecedented that two separate cases like this stand to be dismissed on the same basis," he said.

"The appellants are now entitled to know the reasons why they were subjected to what we say was a contrived prosecution."

Mr Winters also vowed to press ahead with further proceedings, including compensation claims, following Friday's developments.

BBC
27 Jan 2012

The family of a teenager shot dead on Bloody Sunday have said they are angry he is still being labelled a nail bomber.

The Saville report found that Gerald Donaghy was "probably armed with nail bombs but was not a threat at the time that he was shot".

Gerald Donaghy 17-year-old Gerald Donaghy was one of 13 shot dead on Bloody Sunday

The 17-year-old was a member of the IRA's youth wing, but witnesses said he did not have any bombs on him.

His family said they will fight to clear his name.

The Bloody Sunday families have planned a series of events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to mark the fortieth anniversary of the shootings.

Thirteen people were shot dead when soldiers opened fire on marchers during a civil rights march in Londonderry on 30 January, 1972. Another man died five months later.

Gerald Donaghy's niece Geraldine Doherty said her family are unable to move on.

"For us, it's still not finished. We have to keep fighting on and do whatever we have to do to get Gerald's name cleared," she said.

"I'll highlight Gerald's case at every opportunity. If it takes another 38 years, I'll do it. We're not going away."

A man who treated the teenager in his living room after he was shot said he was angry.

Raymond Brogan said Lord Saville's work was not finished.

"Lord Saville has done a lot in easing the concerns and fears of people about the reptutations of their loves ones, but he never finished the job," he said.

"I know for definite that that young man Gerald Donaghy was not carrying any bombs."

Derry Journal
Friday 27 January 2012

A son of one of those murdered on Bloody Sunday has said the cross community memorial service at the Rossville Street monument will be the main event to mark the 40th anniversary of the massacre.

The service, which will be held at the monument close to where many of those killed on Bloody Sunday were shot, will be held at 1pm on Sunday.

It will be attended by a Church leaders from different denominations, including First Presbyterian minister, Rev David Latimer.

It is one a series of events which will be held across the city this weekend to mark the 40th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Tony Doherty, whose father, Patrick, was among those shot dead by British army paratroopers, said the event is open to everyone and encouraged as many people as possible to attend.

“The main event for the families will be at the monument with the service of remembrance,” he said. “This is a public event and we are asking the people of the city to come along at 1pm and remember all the victims of Bloody Sunday, and indeed everyone who lost their lives during the Troubles,” he added.

Mr Doherty explained that the service will be ecumenical and will be led by the various clergymen. “It is an inclusive event and we are hoping that as many people as possible will come along,” he said.

A range of other events have also been organised as part of the Bloody Sunday Weekend Committee’s programme of events.

Local author and ‘Derry Journal’ reporter Julieann Campbell will be in Eason’s, Foyleside, tomorrow afternoon at 2pm to sign copies of her book, ‘Setting the Truth Free,’ which tells the story of the Bloody Sunday families’ long campaign for justice.

A Uniting Ireland conference will also be held in the Millennium Forum tomorrow afternoon and will feature contributions from Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Ulster Unionist MLA Basil McCrea, senior civil servant George Quigley, among others. The conference will be held from 2-4pm.

On Saturday evening the annual Bloody Sunday lecture will be delivered by leading barrister Michael Mansfield in the Millennium Forum at 7.30pm. He will be introduced on the evening by Geraldine Finucane. Admission is by donation.

On Sunday, the case of Gerard Donaghey and the ongoing attempts to clear his name will be highlighted in An Chultúrlann through drama and a panel discussion involving Eamonn McCann, Jane Winters, and members of the Donaghey family. The event will begin at 2pm.

On Monday afternoon a minute’s silence will be held at the Bloody Sunday monument on Rossville Street at 4pm to mark the anniversary of the killings.

The ‘March for Justice,’ which has been organised by the relatives of a number of those killed on Bloody Sunday will take place on Sunday. The march will assemble at Central Drive, Creggan, at 2.30pm and follow the traditional route to Free Derry Corner.

It will stop at the Bloody Sunday monument where a wreath will be laid and then move on to Free Derry Corner where speeches will be made. Darren O’Reilly will chair the platform party, which will include Linda Nash and Liam Wray. Kate Nash will deliver the main speech and Paddy Nash will sing ‘We shall overcome.’ A presentation will then be made to civil rights veteran, Ivan Cooper, who, health permitting, is planning to attend.

Meanwhile the Bloody Sunday Memorial Concert, which was due to have featured Frances Black, has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances.

Anyone who has bought tickets can get a full refund from the Museum of Free Derry or An Chultúrlann.

Indymedia.ie
27 Jan 2012

**Please visit the Indymedia page for more links about this topic

Sean Sherlock, Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, has introduced new legislation that is being called Irelands SOPA. The legislation is being introduced as a statutory instrument which means that it will be implemented by the signature of the Minster and not a vote in the Dáil.

The legislation will give Courts the powers to block ISP’s and other intermediaries who provide services that might possibly be used for copyright infringement. It is similar to the SOPA legislation that was recently proposed and then dropped in the US after major websites like Wikepedia demonstrated against the proposals by blacking out for a day.

In Ireland the law is being introduced due to pressure from the music industry who are currently suing the Irish government for failing to provide legislative provisions for blocking, diverting and interrupting internet after a High Court decision in October 2010 of High Court Judge Peter Charleton in EMI V UPC where he held that Irish law did not permit an order to be made against an ISP requiring blocking of websites.

There is due to be a discussion of the legislation in the Dáil next week

Contact your local TD's to protest this legislation:

http://www.contact.ie/webform/stop-sopa-and-acta-ireland

News Letter
Friday 27 January 2012

THE tribunal investigating Irish state collusion yesterday defended the testimony of a man who said his warnings about an IRA mole in the Garda fell on deaf ears at the highest level of the force.

And counsel for the tribunal also said that there had been no proper investigation into collusion despite the Garda having three separate intelligence reports about its officers working with the IRA.

The Smithwick Tribunal in Dublin is investigating claims of collusion in the murders of RUC Chief Supt Harry Breen and RUC Supt Bob Buchanan by the IRA in south Armagh in 1989.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Peter Smithwick, chairman of the tribunal, defended retired Monaghan Chief Supt Tom Curran.

Last June, Mr Curran said that murdered officer Mr Buchanan had visited him less than a year before he was killed to warn that the RUC were concerned about Dundalk sergeant Owen Corrigan “associating unnecessarily” with the IRA and asking that he be moved.

Mr Curran then brought Mr Buchanan’s warning in person to Assistant Commissioner Eugene Crowley in Dublin but said that Mr Crowley showed no interest in the issue.

The sole witness yesterday was retired garda, Assistant Commissioner Dermot Jennings, who was one of the leading anti-terrorist garda officers along the border in the late 1980s.

He said of Mr Curran’s warning that he “should have committed the information to writing” and that the Mr Crowley he knew “would have demanded a report” on such claims.

But Mr Smithwick added that “if he [Mr Curran] had been expected to provide his complaint in writing he [Mr Crowley] would have been expected to have asked for a report”.

Counsel for Mr Corrigan – who denies being the IRA mole – said yesterday that “just because a witness gives evidence it does not have to be accepted. Maybe Mr Curran is mistaken in what he said”.

But Mr Smithwick said a range of gardai “had spoken in very laudatory terms about Mr Curran”, adding: “Nobody said he was telling a lie.”

Counsel for the tribunal referred to three Garda intelligence documents, one of which claimed Mr Corrigan had escaped a trial for a traffic offence because the IRA had intimidated the witness. The other two reports claimed that an unnamed garda gave “short notice” information to the IRA, facilitating the murders of Breen and Buchanan. There was “double hearsay that there was a contact in the Garda that facilitated the murder of Lord Justice Gibson and two RUC officers”, the reports said.

Mr Jennings said he had not been aware of the three intelligence reports until he had engaged with the tribunal.

The tribunal heard that following allegations of Garda collusion by journalists Toby Harnden and Kevin Myers, the Garda reviewed five IRA attacks and published their findings in 2000.

But the report made no mention of the three intelligence reports and Mr Jennings went on record in 2000 to affirm that the investigation had found “no tangible evidence” of collusion.

The files were sent to an officer of rank at Garda headquarters but counsel for the tribunal said there was no evidence Mr Corrigan was ever investigated despite being named in one of them.

But counsel for Mr Corrigan said there was a difference between intelligence and evidence, and that just because an intelligence file mentioned his client it did not mean the intelligence was accurate.

Irish Independent
Friday January 27 2012

THERE is a fairly inflexible rule in politics that your domestic reputation usually begins to wane around the same time that your international reputation takes off. It seems that voters begin to get tired of you just as foreigners start paying attention. Looking at Enda Kenny in Davos yesterday, I couldn't help wondering whether he is starting to fall into this trap.

He was doing so well at the swanky Alpine resort until he got up on stage for a discussion on Europe. It is not the sort of environment where Irish leaders traditionally shine.

Fresh from Wednesday's bond swap which eases the pressure on Irish borrowing and seemingly close to a deal to reduce Anglo's bailout costs, Mr Kenny was understandably displaying signs of a little swagger.

Davos is not short of stars. At this time of year, the town is a magnet for the rich and famous and it is almost bewildering to see so many of them rubbing their expensively clad shoulders together as they hobnob and bask in mutual adoration.

But those gathered in the resort are curious about Ireland and Mr Kenny was stopped as he walked among the billionaire bankers, and asked how Ireland was managing to be the best boy in the class.

Yesterday, the Mayo man took part in one of the main events which was a discussion about the future of the continent. Despite being billed as one of the highlights of the day, the auditorium was barely half full.

Not a good start.

Things got worse when he began thinking aloud on who was to blame for the crisis. Perhaps it was the high altitude. Perhaps it was the glamourous Finnish Prime Minister Jryrki Katainen, Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt and Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski who were sitting next to him. Or perhaps it's what he believed all along. Who knows, but when our Taoiseach was asked to explain Ireland's speculator financial crash, he bluntly announced to the world that we all "simply went mad borrowing".

Spawned out of greed, he said our personal wealth was created on credit that couldn't be maintained.

No mention of failed banking regulation. No mention of the lack of governance or accountability.

His explanation of Ireland's now infamous property crash was put down to nothing more than pure madness. Ironically, his explanation strongly echoes the late Brian Lenihan's statement back in November 2010 when said "we all partied" during the boom.

But it is the total opposite of what Mr Kenny reassuringly told us all just seven weeks ago in his state of the nation address.

Remember his words back then when he was talking to us and compare them with his words yesterday.

"Let me say this to you all: You are not responsible for the crisis," was how he put it in an address which almost 800,000 people watched last December.

He went on to tell us that it was now his Government's responsibility to do what must be done to get the economy back on its feet.

It is easy to become blase about all the posturing, posing and rhetoric at Davos. Everybody talks in platitudes half the time but I doubt I was the only Irish person in the room who felt a little queasy when Mr Kenny announced the Irish people understand the "scale of the challenge" that faces them.

He added that in his experience people are very pragmatic and the political process and politicians should never underestimate the public's capacity to want to assist government in sorting out problems.

All this from the leader of a government that is plainly terrified of a referendum on Europe. All this from a government that is doing everything it can to avoid consulting those same pragmatic people about a fiscal compact which will have far greater effects on how this country is governed than anything discussed in the Dail in recent years.

All this from a government that has to blame the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank for every reform it introduces into a parliament where it enjoys a massive parliamentary majority.

One of the questions I was asked again and again in Davos this week is why aren't the Irish protesting more?

Almost all continentals are amazed at the lack of anger and the failure of Irish people to protest against some of the patently unjust things that have happened.

Some of those who ask these questions are genuinely curious.

Others are envious of what they perceive as our docile nature.

These leaders are looking for tips about how to subdue the national spirit.

Back home, we all know that there are a variety of complex historical reasons for the reluctance of Irish people to riot.

We undoubtedly fear violence because our history has been blotted by periods and episodes of extreme violence.

But looking round the room in Davos, listening to the voices and accents, was a reminder that most other countries have experienced the same violence (or much worse) and still take to the streets to remind their governments of who is the real boss.

Enda Kenny may be proud of our political maturity. But he didn't show much of it yesterday.

December 4: ‘Let me say this: You are not responsible for the crisis’
January 26: ‘What happened was that people simply went mad borrowing’

By Maeve Dineen in Davos
Irish Independent
Friday January 27 2012

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny risked provoking a furious backlash last night when he blamed Irish people's "mad borrowing" for the economic crash -- just seven weeks after telling them: "You are not responsible for the crisis".

Mr Kenny's forthright comments at an elite economic conference in Switzerland were in stark contrast to the conciliatory tone he struck in his address to the nation on December 4.

In the wake of the Government repaying €1.25bn to Anglo Irish Bank bondholders, the Taoiseach told the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ireland's personal wealth during the boom was created "totally on credit".

"It was done between people, banks and a system that spawned greed to a point where this went out of control completely with a spectacular crash," he said.

Mr Kenny's comments echoed the much criticised "we all partied" remarks by then Finance Minister Brian Lenihan two years ago.

He was immediately accused of an "absolute contradiction" and "praising you at home, blaming you abroad".

His gaffe is the latest in a stream of coalition missteps following Finance Minister Michael Noonan claiming emigrants were making a "lifestyle choice" and Transport Minister Leo Varadkar's financial "bomb" going off in Dublin if the country did not repay its banking debts.

The contradiction between the Taoiseach's message last month and yesterday was attacked by the Opposition.

Fianna Fail's Niall Collins said Mr Kenny was clearly taking one approach at home and another abroad.

"While he's here, the priority is media management and preserving popularity. When he is abroad, the priority appears to be to avoid putting the blame where it belongs.

"Where was the Taoiseach's harsh criticism of European banks which helped flood Ireland with credit for years? He should be standing up for the Irish people and challenging the role of the banks when he has the chance," he said.

Sinn Fein's Padraig Mac Lochlainn said it was an outrageous analysis and accused the Taoiseach of blaming Irish people for a crash caused by aggressive lenders and greedy banks.

"This analysis that people in Ireland went drunk with credit, were reckless and they have to now be cleansed by a decade of austerity is very worrying."

Mr Kenny was speaking at one of the forum's main panel discussions entitled 'Rebuilding Europe'.

In a response to a question on what was happening in Ireland, the Taoiseach said: ". . .what happened in our country was that people simply went mad borrowing. The extent of personal credit, personal wealth created on credit was done between people, banks, a system that spawned greed to a point where this went out of control completely with the spectacular crash that you mentioned.

"The country borrowed over €60bn at excessive rates and the IMF eventually came in with the troika. . . so what has happened in the meantime. . . last year in a general election people gave the strongest mandate in the history of the country to my party to sort out this problem."

In a somewhat dry debate that failed to offer any real insight, Mr Kenny said the Irish people understood the "scale of the challenge" that faced them and said Ireland had measured up to every condition set out by the IMF-EU.

"It's got to be understood that people are very pragmatic and the political process and politicians should never underestimate the public's capacity to want to assist government in sorting out problems," he said.

Also in Davos, Mr Kenny said a decision on the need for a referendum on tougher EU budgetary rules would not be made until after the European leaders' summit, which takes place in Brussels on Monday.

The Taoiseach said there would be no discussion at next week's summit on reducing the level of debt associated with Anglo Irish Bank's bailout.

The European Central Bank is understood to be open to proposals to replace Anglo Irish Bank's €30bn promissory note or government IOU, for another type of debt repayment.

Mr Kenny said he spoke with the prime ministers of Austria, Italy, Spain, Holland, Finland and Denmark about the treaty and "the question of the flexibility for the promissory notes".

"But I made it clear that it is not related to this treaty business," he said.

The Boston archives' row centres on Gerry Adams' alleged role in murder. What else does it hold, asks Alan Simpson

Alan Simpson
Belfast Telegraph
25 January 2012

I must confess to having a healthy appreciation of the rich irony of the Boston College Oral History Project handing over to the US authorities, on foot of an order from one of their courts, the taped confessions of some former Northern Ireland terrorists.

Two of the loyalist confessors in the project - William 'Plum' Smith and Winston Churchill 'Winkie' Rea, both formerly of the Red Hand Commando - urgently want their taped disclosures returned "not due to their content, but on a point of principle".

As a retired detective superintendent who worked for many years in west and north Belfast, I would be keen, should the tapes be handed over to the PSNI, that they be placed in the public domain - particularly in respect of Rea.

I first encountered Rea one day in February 1973, when, as a very junior detective, I found myself alone in the CID offices at Springfield Road RUC station.

Around lunchtime, a call came through that two Catholic post office workers, Michael Coleman (30) and 38-year-old Joseph McAleese, who had just finished a shift at the nearby Divis Street sorting office, had been making their way home on foot to the Clonard area when a car pulled up and a gunman armed with a sub-machine-gun stepped out and fired several bursts, killing them instantly.

Accompanied by a uniformed colleague and an Army patrol, I dealt with the scene. A large crowd had gathered. Also present was the late Paddy Devlin, who had recently lost his parliamentary seat for West Belfast.

The scene was quite chaotic and I noticed some children kicking around several of the spent cartridge cases and was relieved when Paddy Devlin took this vital evidence from them and handed it to me. I collected the remainder and Devlin then successfully encouraged the crowd to disperse.

The car used in the double-murder was recovered a short time later in the Shankill area and, when forensically examined, a distinct palm print was found on it which was identified as having being made by Rea.

He was duly arrested and, as we could not prove he had actually been in the car at the time of the killings, he was convicted of assisting offenders and received a prison sentence of eight years.

I strongly suspect that the late Frankie Curry, a member of the Red Hand Commando and a close associate of Rea, was the actual gunman. Curry was himself shot dead in 1999 by fellow loyalists.

I had had many encounters with him and managed to put him in prison a few times. Just prior to his murder, Curry confided in a reputable journalist that he had been involved in a total of 13 killings - most of them sectarian murders.

He claimed to have been 'blooded' at the tender age of 13 years by his uncle, Gusty Spence, when he took away the weapons from the scene of the Malvern Street shooting.

I wonder did Spence - before his death last September - ever take responsibility for setting his nephew on a road which led to so many killings.

My interest in the Boston tapes is to discover - should they ever be made public - if Rea actually mentions the murder of the two postal workers in 1973.

If he does, has he considered any sort of apology or explanation to their relatives?

My cynical nature believes it is the actual contents of the Boston tapes that is the real reason Rea wants them returned.

And now to the late Brendan 'The Dark' Hughes, former officer commanding of the Belfast brigade of the IRA, who also recorded his memoirs for the benefit of the Boston project.

I only encountered him once, just after his arrest in an IRA safe-house in Myrtlefield Park, off the Malone Road in 1974.

I could see instantly how he earned his nickname as he was very swarthy with thick, black hair and a large moustache. Had I not known his history, I would have guessed he was of Turkish extraction.

During the recording of his experiences in the IRA, he strongly implicated Gerry Adams as the man who ordered the kidnapping, interrogation and subsequent execution by a single bullet to the back of the head of Jean McConville - a mother of 10 - for her perceived sins against the IRA.

Hughes' allegations against Adams have been corroborated by Dolours Price, who was a notorious and very active member of the IRA and who admits driving the unfortunate Jean McConville to her appointment with death.

It is often said by commentators on the Troubles that there should be no hierarchy of victims, but who for example, would not show greater compassion for a murdered child?

Similarly, the killing of a woman has always had a certain abhorrence throughout the civilised world - never mind a woman who was the mother of 10 children.

Adams, as one would expect, denies any involvement in the killing but in mitigation, if he was involved as alleged, he too must have felt a degree of shame at what could be regarded as a war-crime, as the perpetrators had her body secretly buried to conceal their foul deed and it was not recovered until 30 years had passed.

BBC
25 Jan 2012

DUP South Antrim MP William McCrea has raised the acquittal of Colin Duffy during Northern Ireland Questions in the House of Commons.

Last week, Mr Duffy was cleared of all charges relating to the attack at Massereene Barracks in Antrim in March 2009 in which two soldiers were killed.

Mr McCrea said the acquittal had caused "anger and fear" in his constituency.

Responding to the comments, Mr Duffy said he was taking legal action against the police over his prosecution.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Owen Paterson told the Commons the terrorist threat level in NI remains severe.

This means a terrorist attack is considered "highly likely".

On the issues of the Massereene verdicts, Mr McCrea asked: "Can the secretary of state understand the anger and fear that has been felt in my constituency, and indeed throughout Northern Ireland, in light of the release of Colin Duffy, a person charged on three different occasions for the murder of innocents, yet always seems to find the get out card.

"What assurance can the secretary of state give my constituents that they are going to be safe from brutal terrorists like Colin Duffy and not be another statistic in a long line of innocent victims?"

Mr Paterson replied: "I entirely sympathise with the honourable member and his constituents' concerns.

"We do believe in the separation of powers and this was a decision made by due process.

"I'm delighted that there was one conviction in this appalling incident... but I can assure the member that this government will bear down on all terrorists."
Owen Paterson Owen Paterson said the terrorist threat level remains severe

MPs have parliamentary privilege when speaking during a session of the House of Commons. Mr Duffy was cleared of all charges in relation to the Massereene attack.

Malicious

Responding to Mr McCrea's comments, Mr Duffy issued a statement through his solicitors.

It said he had instructed his solicitors to "object to the comments in the most strenuous terms and he will be making a complaint to the Committee on Standards and Privileges."

"We are of the professional opinion that the comments represent an insult to the integrity of judicial process in this jurisdiction and serve to undermine the considered judgment of the court.

"Mr Duffy has instructed us to initiate proceedings against the PSNI and PPS in respect of his malicious prosecution and unlawful detention."

Answering a separate question on the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland, Mr Paterson said: "Despite overwhelming community rejection of their murderous activity, terrorist groups continue to carry out indiscriminate attacks as we saw in Londonderry last week.

"This government remains committed to countering terrorism in all its forms."

Police believe dissident republicans were responsible for two bomb attacks in Derry last Thursday night.

The bombs exploded at the tourist centre on Foyle Street and on Strand Road, close to the DHSS office, within 10 minutes of each other

Earlier this month, a Scottish soldier found a bomb inside his car outside his girlfriend's house in the Ligoniel area of north Belfast.

The soldier found the device while cleaning the car before going to pick up a child from school on 5 January.

RTÉ
26 Jan 2012

**Get involved in this, people. It’s important.

Minister of State Sean Sherlock has said he still plans to introduce a statutory instrument to amend copyright legislation in the near future despite concerns expressed about its potential impact on internet access.

The matter was raised as a topical issue in the Dáil today by Independent TD Catherine Murphy, who said further discussion was needed before any changes were made to the law.

An online petition opposing the proposed amendment has continued to grow, recording over 48,000 signatures since it began earlier this week.

Opponents fear that the change could potentially see court orders blocking popular sites like YouTube and Facebook.

There are also concerns that the law could make Ireland less attractive to technology start-ups and multinational companies like Google.

In the Dáil today, Deputy Murphy said there was a fear that copyright holders could use the amended legislation to force Internet Service Providers like UPC and Eircom into blocking popular websites because a single user is found to have infringed on intellectual property.

Deputy Murphy said such a complex issue would better dealt with through primary legislation and that TDs faced a "hurricane storm" of anger from the public if people were not satisfied with the way the issue was handled.

In response, Deputy Sherlock said the planned amendment "merely re-stated an existing position" and was being introduced to ensure that Ireland complied with a European directive on the matter.

He insisted the change was not comparable to the controversial SOPA bill that has been drafted in the United States and that it was not the intention of the Government to limit the freedom of the internet.

Deputy Sherlock said any judge considering an injunction would have to balance the rights of a copyright holder with those afforded to ISPs and users under ecommerce and freedom of expression directives.

He offered to have further discussion on the matter - however Mr Sherlock could not say if that would happen before the statutory instrument was put in place.

He also said primary legislation may ultimately be required to deal with the issue but that no changes would solve the problem of piracy as the internet tends to adapt to "circumnavigate" new laws.

He said there was a need for ISPs, copyright holders and members of the industry in Ireland to sit down voluntarily in order to find a solution that protected everyone's interests.

Protests in Poland over anti-piracy agreement

Yesterday thousands of young Poles hit city streets across the country in a mounting wave of off-and-online protest against a government decision to sign an international anti-online piracy accord.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has vowed to endorse, aims to create international standards for intellectual property protection.

However, Internet groups including global hacker collective Anonymous oppose it as limiting online freedoms.

Poland, an ex-communist state which joined the EU in 2004, has committed to signing ACTA today.

A protest by thousands organised largely via Facebook in the central Polish city of Kielce yesterday turned violent when some protesters trashed cars and attacked police, the commercial TVN24 news channel reported.

Protesters also turned out for anti-ACTA rallies in Wroclaw, Szczecin, Olsztyn and Bialystok.

Online protest pages on Facebook have attracted more than 300,000 supporters, while an anti-ACTA online petition had drawn about 130,000 signatures by yesterday evening.

Protesters are upset Mr Tusk's government pushed ahead with ACTA after meetings with commercial media, but held no public consultations with online rights groups.

A former senior RUC officer told the Smithwick Tribunal he was not aware of any concerns within the force regarding a possible IRA mole operating in Dundalk Garda Station.

RTÉ
26 Jan 2012

A former senior RUC officer has told the Smithwick Tribunal he was not aware of any concerns within the force regarding a possible IRA mole operating in Dundalk Garda Station.

Identified only as Witness 39 to protect his identity, the retired officer told Judge Peter Smithwick that he did hear allegations about garda collusion with the IRA but he was "never briefed by anyone in authority about it."

The Tribunal is investigating claims that a garda in Dundalk passed information to the IRA which allowed them time to set up the ambush in which Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan died.

They were killed on the Edenappa Road, just minutes after leaving a meeting in Dundalk Garda Station in March 1989.

Former sergeants Leo Colton, Owen Corrigan and Finbarr Hickey are all being investigated by the Tribunal to see if any of them passed information. All three deny the allegation.

Witness 39 was a deputy of Chief Supt Breen. Asked if the thought the Chief Superintendent had been advised of an RUC intelligence report suggesting a possible IRA mole, the witness replied that he believed he had not.

The witness said he was informed of the murders by then Sgt Alan Mains.

In his evidence to the Tribunal, Mr Mains had earlier said Chief Supt Breen expressed concerns directly to him about travelling to Dundalk because there was an IRA mole among the gardaí.

However, Witness 39 said Mr Mains had expressed no such concerns to him when he was informing him of the incident.

He said he also met with the then RUC Chief Constable, Sir John Hermon, the day after the two RUC officers had been murdered.

Most of the conversation centred on Mrs Breen. The witness said Sir John was "a bit disturbed" that she did not want him at her husband's funeral.

Earlier, Witness 39 told the Tribunal that Chief Supt Breen was "not particularly happy" about having to cross the border to attend the meeting with gardai in Dundalk.

Witness 39 said Mr Breen had returned from a function in Stormont, which had been attended by the then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, and others including a British Colonel.

Afterwards, the witness said, Mr Breen was annoyed at the way the allegations of smuggling against Thomas 'Slab' Murphy had been raised by the Colonel.

He believed they were exaggerated. However, an instruction was issued by Sir John Hermon, ordering Mr Breen to follow up on the British Army colonel's claims.

The Tribunal was shown an internal RUC document that set out five steps to be taken by Mr Breen.

The witness said there was a sixth step on the document but which did not appear on the record presented at the Tribunal today.

That instructed Mr Breen to set up a meeting with the gardaí in Dundalk.

Witness 39 said Mr Breen was not in good form about having to travel south. "I got the impression he wasn't happy," said the witness however no specific risks about Dundalk were mentioned.

The Smithwick Tribunal hears no internal investigation was carried out by the gardai into intelligence reports suggesting a member of the force had colluded with the IRA, despite the fact a subsequent official report concluded there was no collusion.

RTÉ
26 Jan 2012



Smithwick Tribunal is investigating alleged garda collusion with the IRA

No internal investigation was carried out by the gardai into intelligence reports suggesting a member of the force had colluded with the IRA, despite the fact a subsequent official report concluded there was no collusion, the Smithwick Tribunal was told today.

Counsel for the Tribunal, Mary Laverty said that there were three separate "high grade" intelligence reports which "on the face of it" suggested collusion.

However, no investigation into them occurred she said.

The Smithwick Tribunal is investigating claims that a garda passed information to the IRA which allowed them time to set up an ambush in which RUC Chief Supt. Harry Breen and Supt. Bob Buchanan were killed.

They died in the ambush just minutes after leaving a meeting in Dundalk Garda Station in March 1989.

Former sergeants Owen Corrigan, Leo Colton and Finbarr Hickey all deny the allegations.

Ms. Laverty made her comments today during her questioning of former Assistant Garda Commissioner Dermot Jennings.

He was in charge of the unit in the Crime and Security branch where Chief Supt. Sean Camon and then Inspector Peter Kirwan were examining intelligence files looking for information on collusion.

Their report, given to the Commissioner, in 2000 concluded there was no evidence of collusion.

Mr. Jennings said that investigation had been given access to all records and he believed they would have seen these three reports.

The first report said a member of the Provisional IRA approached a witness in a prosecution being taken against Det. Sgt. Owen Corrigan from Dundalk Garda Station.

As a result the witness was in fear, didn't turn up in court and the case against the garda collapsed.

Mr. Jennings acknowledged that the officer in charge of the case should have been made aware of this intelligence.

The second report said that a garda had contacted the IRA and given them short notice of the visit of the RUC men to Dundalk.

The third report implicated a garda in the murder of Lord and Lady Gibson and the two RUC men. Both these reports were based on 'double hearsay' and did not mention any particular garda.

The information came to a "person of rank" in the Special Detective Unit and was "high grade" intelligence, said Ms. Laverty.

Mr. Jennings said without doubt this was "very, very serious intelligence" but it would always have to be tested to check its veracity and then analysised to see how it could be acted upon. He said the information came before his time in charge but it would have been acted upon.

Ms Laverty asked would the intelligence not have warranted an investigation.

The witness replied that the information would have to be checked but he had no doubt it would have been acted upon.

However, Ms Laverty pointed out that there "certainly wasn't any investigation directly" into the claims.

There was a probe into a republican named in one of the reports who was investigated on a regular basis - but not into the possibility of a garda mole.

Mr. Jennings said that investigation could have been to establish the identity of any garda who was passing information.

"Isn't that all the more reason for that information to be investigation if some high profile person was linked to a member of the force," asked Ms. Laverty.

"An investigation into the allegations against a gardai wasn't carried out," she added.

Mr. Jennings attended an FBI course on surveillance with Mr. Corrigan during 1988. If there were adverse concerns about Mr. Corrigan he would not have been selected for that, said the witness.

He acknowledged that if someone with "inappropriate contacts" with the IRA was on the course they would learn a lot from it.

The former Asst. Commissioner was also asked about evidence given by former Supt. Tom Curran from Monaghan.

He said he had been told by Supt. Buchanan that the RUC were concerned about Mr. Corrigan because he was "associating unnecessarily" with members of the IRA.

This was seven months before he was murdered. Mr. Curran told Asst. Commissioner Eugene Crowley about this but nothing happened.

Mr. Jennings expressed surprise that Mr. Crowley did not react and did not ask for a report on the matter, even if he didn't believe it.

He acknowledged that Mr Crowley should have made a note of the conversation if it happened but the Tribunal said no note had been found or made available to them.

Mr. Jennings also said he was not trying to discredit Mr. Curran but his conduct was against agreed protocols within the force.

Counsel for Mr. Corrigan, Jim O'Callaghan, said it was possible that Mr. Curran was just wrong when he said he passed on that information.

However, Judge Smithwick said that Mr. Curran's evidence had been credible and no witness had said it was wrong.

By Dan Friedman
The Atlantic
26 Jan 2012

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., has jumped into a complex legal dispute involving Boston College and the United Kingdom this week, asking the State Department to urge the British to back off a push for the university to release tapes that might help prosecute former Irish Republican Army members for murder.

Boston College compiled recordings of interviews with former members of the IRA and related documents as part of an oral-history project on "the troubles" in Northern Ireland. Participants, including former IRA members, were promised anonymity that the British government now contends the school had no right to give.

British authorities want material regarding two cases. However, attention has focused on the 1972 murder of Jean McConville, a Belfast mother of 10, because Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams--a key architect in the Northern Ireland peace accords--is accused of commanding the IRA unit thought to be responsible. Adams denies any involvement.

The U.K. invoked a mutual legal assistance treaty with the U.S. that requires the two nations to share information that could aid criminal inquiries. In response, the Justice Department subpoenaed and took possession of Boston College's tapes. A legal fight continues as Irish journalist Ed Moloney, director of the project, and former IRA member Anthony McIntyre fight the handover of the material to British authorities.

Boston College is not part of the suit. An Appeals Court hearing is scheduled for March.

In a Jan. 23 letter, Kerry asked Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to "work with British authorities to reconsider the path they have chosen and revoke the request."

Kerry, whose name floats as a potential replacement to Clinton if she leaves the post, says his request stems both from constituent interest and his position as Foreign Relations chairman.

The case "has a profound impact on Boston College, a highly respected University in Massachusetts, as well as implications for the confidentiality of other research projects in the state," he wrote.

Kerry said he is also "obviously concerned about the impact [the situation] may have on the continued success of the Northern Ireland peace process."

According to the letter, Kerry also spoke with Attorney General Eric Holder about the matter late last year.

A Kerry spokeswoman said he has yet to receive a reply from the State Department. A department spokeswoman said State "did receive the letter and are reviewing it. We will respond as appropriate."