Ireland: Peace Process, Proposed Tunnel Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit News from the Wire Services Re: Ireland & the Irish PA 10/19/97 20:40 Peace Process `Betrayed' By Irish Document Leaks AP 10/19/97 19:01 Irish PM: Unity Must Be Free Choice PA 10/19/97 15:32 Ahern Backs Law Professor In Race For Presidency RT 10/19/97 12:39 British Firm Proposes Rail Tunnel To Ireland PA 10/19/97 10:45 Billion Irish Sea Tunnel Plan ****************************** Peace Process `Betrayed' By Irish Document Leaks PA 10/19/97 20:40 Copyright 1997 PA News By Chris Parkin, PA News Irish police will today begin investigating a series of leaks from government departments that have seriously embarrassed the Dublin cabinet at a crucial stage in Ireland's current presidential election campaign. One set of leaked documents -- relating to discussions involving British and Irish government ministers -- has been seen in Dublin as a potential threat to the Northern Ireland peace process. Unlike the other incidents, it was not directly connected to denied suggestions that government-backed presidency candidate Mary McAleese sympathised with the views of Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA. Angry Prime Minister Bertie Ahern ordered the police inquiry -- which will centrally involve interviews by senior police officers with a number of government officials -- after making it clear that those caught up in leaking departmental memorandums were guilty of criminal activity. Foreign Minister David Andrews, head of the department that produced the leaked papers, said that if the Anglo-Irish documents had been published they could have endangered lives, as well as putting the peace process at risk. He pledged "We are determined to get to the bottom of this. The department has been betrayed." Ms McAleese, front-runner in the October 30 election race, according to opinion surveys and Dublin bookies, refused to speak about the leaks controversy when she completed campaign engagements in Galway last night. She insisted she had already dealt with the issues comprehensively. ****************************** Irish PM: Unity Must Be Free Choice APO 10/19/97 19:01 Copyright 1997 The Associated Press DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Prime Minister Bertie Ahern assured pro- British Protestants in Northern Ireland Sunday that Ireland can only be reunited by the "free choice" of the people north and south of the border. Calling the current negotiations on the future of Northern Ireland the most important for more than 75 years, Ahern said the Irish Republic is still seeking unity but "no longer out of any selfish interest on our part." "I would like unionists to accept that there is absolutely no intention on our part to engage in the folly of trying to coerce a majority in the north into a united Ireland against their will," he said. "We want to reach agreement on the basis of respect for them," Ahern told his Fianna Fail party supporters at an annual ceremony at the grave of Irish patriot Wolfe Tone in County Kildare. "The reality today is that Ireland can only be reunited by the free choice an co-determination of its people north and south," he said. Full-scale negotiations on Northern Ireland's future began in Belfast on Oct. 7, with deeply entrenched opponents eying each other over an ideological chasm. Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's political ally, entered the discussions committed to achieving an end to British rule and unite mainly Protestant Northern Ireland with the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Irish Republic. Pro-British unionist parties were equally determined to remain in the United Kingdom. It was the first time since the creation of the Northern Ireland state in 1921 that unionists and Catholic nationalists sat down with the British and Irish governments to try to find agreement on the future. The outlawed IRA, which draws support from Catholic parts of Northern Ireland, has been observing a cease-fire since July 20, clearing the way for Sinn Fein to join the peace talks. Ahern said the object of the talks "is to replace or transcend arrangements that have failed in the past. "There is no real alternative, except to find agreement and to stay at the table till that is done," he said. ****************************** Ahern Backs Law Professor In Race For Presidency PA 10/19/97 15:32 Copyright 1997 PA News By Chris Parkin, PA News Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern today confirmed his continuing strong support for embattled presidential election candidate Mary McAleese. He forecast that the Belfast-based law professor government nominee -- the focal point of a series of leaked government documents about her alleged sympathies for the IRA's Sinn Fein allies -- would approach the sensitivities of Northern Ireland "with care and consideration". He added: "No one has the right to question her Irishness -- or her total commitment to peace on this island." Mr Ahern's ringing endorsement of Ms McAleese's increasingly controversial candidacy followed the mystery circulation to newspapers of official confidential memorandums pointing up her apparent backing for Sinn Fein. Ms McAleese has strenuously rejected the suggestion, but the effects of the row on her standing as the opinion poll front-runner for the October 30 presidential election, have still to be gauged. Her position was further complicated when Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams signalled his personal backing for her campaign to be the new head of state. Irish Foreign Minister David Andrews, whose department is at the centre of the leaking furore, highlighted his government's condemnation of the practice. He declared: "Police investigations will begin immediately. We are determined to get to the bottom of this. "The department effectively has been betrayed by some person or persons unknown. This is the first time leaks of this nature have occurred. "I have no idea of the identity of the guilty party or parties. But I would suggest they stop, and stop now, in the national interest." :: Mr Andrews complemented Dublin's Sunday Independent newspaper for not publishing details of further official documents they claimed could "rock Anglo-Irish relations". The minister said: "I want to pay tribute to the Sunday Independent for the manner in which they have handled terribly, terribly sensitive documents which have somehow have come into their possession. "If they had been published, I think it would have done irreparable damage to the Northern Ireland peace process and probably put the lives of people in danger." The paper said they had got the documents from anonymous sources claiming to be members of the Fianna Fail party attempting to bring down Mr Ahern. ---- Later, Mr Ahern later spoke of a "dirty tricks" campaign against his Presidential election candidate Ms McAleese. Commenting after launching a strong endorsement of the government nominee for the head of state's post, Mr Ahern said recently leaked documents about Ms McAleese had shown she was doing nothing more than assisting others to help bring peace to Northern Ireland. He added: "I hate leaks, I hate dirty tricks. I wish to God people would fight by political means and have the honesty to do that." ---- Two newspapers have published the text of confidential reports relating to Ms McAleese, one highlighting a comment by Brid Rodgers, a senior member of Northern Ireland's Social Democratic and Labour Party, that the presidential candidate was "pushing a Sinn Fein agenda". Ms Rodgers maintained a silence today over her alleged comments, but a fellow SDLP member spoke up for Mary McAleese. Hugh Carr, SDLP councillor for Warrenpoint and Rostrevor, said he was "totally satisfied that Mary McAleese is a most suitable person to be President". ****************************** British Firm Proposes Rail Tunnel To Ireland RTna 10/19/97 12:39 Copyright 1997 Reuters Ltd LONDON (Reuters) - A British firm has developed a proposal for the world's longest underwater rail tunnel linking Britain and Ireland, The Observer newspaper said Sunday. But the project is still very much on the drawing board. It would need some public funding, and the Symonds Group, which hatched the idea, has yet to contact the British or Irish governments about it, the newspaper said. The report said the proposed 56-mile tunnel, 24 miles longer than the Channel tunnel linking Britain with France, would cost $22.6 billion. It would allow shuttle trains to take cars from Holyhead, on the Isle of Anglesey, across the Irish Sea to the Irish capital Dublin in 45 minutes. The journey from London to Dublin through the tunnel would be about three and a half hours. The Symonds Group will write to the London and Dublin governments and the European Union this week asking them to study the idea, The Observer said. It quoted an official of the firm as saying the link would be viable if a quarter of the costs were met by public finance. A spokeswoman at the British Department of Transport said: "If it is a serious proposal, we will look at it." But the project would have to be evaluated against current government transport plans and funding considerations, she added. REUTERS ****************************** Billion Irish Sea Tunnel Plan PA 10/19/97 10:45 Copyright 1997 PA News By Chris Parkin, PA News Plans have been drawn up for a record-length tunnel linking Britain and the Irish Republic. The 14 billion project would cut the rail journey time from London to Dublin to just three-and-a-half hours, according to the engineering consultancy group that has come up with the idea. The concept today appeared to be very much in its infancy with few government officials in Dublin aware of the plan. It was accepted in the Irish capital, though, that any such scheme would be evaluated seriously -- particularly in the light of Ireland's current booming "Celtic Tiger" economy and the need to maintain the momentum by improving all forms of communication channels wherever possible. The Symonds Group consultants said the proposed tunnel, between Holyhead, Anglesey, and Dublin would extend for 56 miles, a full 24 miles longer than the Channel tunnel. It would be constructed around 100 yards beneath the surface of the Irish Sea and be seen as one of the last steps in completing rail connections throughout Europe, forming part of the European Union- supporter Trans European Network. The planned link would be constructed in a "tube" close to the sea bed, and probably be formed by a twin-track railway and a maintenance passage. Symonds Group's Gareth Davies said: "Building an Irish Sea tunnel is undoubtedly an enormous engineering challenge. "But we now possess the techniques to allow tunnelling at this depth and to this length, and I am confident that our proposal is practical and technically sound." Acknowledging a possible central argument against the plan, Mr Davies added "There is currently some scepticism over the financial viability of such projects, following the experience of the Channel tunnel, but we need to learn from this and move forward." The consultancy said an initial study of the venture would take a year and cost 8 million. It would consider the risk of terrorist strikes on the tunnel as well as other factors. And, if all went to plan, the earliest possible date for opening the link would be 2010. It is understood that the scheme envisages around 25% of the cost coming from the British and Irish governments and the EU. Backers of the idea today pointed to an anticipated growth of sea container traffic volume of 7% a year, and the advantages to be gained by a rail link capable of distributing freight throughout Europe. Jay Dooling (jdooling@worldnet.att.net) Irish Aires - 90.1FM KPFT in Houston http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Irish_Aires/homepage.htm Dooling & Mabe, CPA http://www.doolingmabe-cpa.com/ ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-10.21.97-00:41:41-18870