Irish Republican Info Svc 233 3/20/98


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 IRISH REPUBLICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (no. 233)
 Teach Daithi O Conaill
 223 Parnell Street
 Dublin 1, Ireland

 Phone: +353-1-872-9747; FAX: +353-1-872-9757; 
 e-mail: saoirse@iol.ie

 March 20, 1998

 Internet resources maintained by SAOIRSE - Irish Freedom:
 http://iol.ie/~saoirse/rsflinks.htm


 In this issue:

 1. Poyntzpass accused killed in H-Blocks -- all former British soldiers
 2. Para is new British army chief in six counties 
 3. 70% in 26 Counties for united Ireland 
 4. Adams "transitional" is Collins "stepping-stone"
 5. 'The Committee' exposes British crown forces collusion with death squads
 6. Mortar attack on Armagh RUC base
 7. Mass murder bid in Larne
 8. McBride family slams early release campaign for killers
 9. Loyalists mount bomb attacks on nationalist homes
10. Pub arson attack in west Belfast
11. Horrific murder case adjourned until march 23
12. Kerry remembers Ballyseedy massacre on 75th anniversary 
13. Blank shots fired by Crown Forces at Belfastman
15. RUC threaten Armagh lawyer
16. Hume's EU buy-off
17. Release of Roisin McAliskey welcomed; sole woman political 
    prisoner in 26 Counties seriously ill
18. Loyalist 'ceasefire' only make-believe'
19. Portadown loyalists abuse Hamill family


1. POYNTZPASS ACCUSED KILLED IN H-BLOCK -- ALL FORMER BRITISH SOLDIERS

ONE of the four loyalists charged with the killings of two lifelong
friends in a nationalist-owned bar in Poyntzpass, Co Armagh on March 3 was
tortured and killed in his cell in the LVF wing of the H-Blocks a few days
after asking to be transferred there. His body was discovered hanging by
a sheet from the bars of his cell window early on March 15, to give the
impression of suicide. 

David Keys (26) former member of the British army from Banbridge, Co. Down
had been beaten extensively and both his wrists were slashed before he was
hung, presumably by his fellow LVF prisoners. The three other loyalist
men charged with the Poyntzpass murders also served in the British army.
Stephen McClean (28) , Noel McCready (31) and Ryan Robley (28) all served
in the UDR up to the early 1990s while David Keys was a former member of
the RIR (the UDR's new name from July 1, 1992). 

There was speculation that David Keys was killed because he was making
incriminating statements to the British colonial police (RUC) about the
Poyntzpass killings. No non-LVF prisoners were in the LVF wing of H-Block
6 at the time of the killing. On March 19 it was reported that between 10
and 15 LVF prisoners were taken out of the H-Blocks for questioning about
the killing by the RUC. Another LVF prisoner who was arrested by the RUC
as he was being released from prison on March 15 has been freed. 

2. PARA IS NEW BRITISH ARMY CHIEF IN SIX COUNTIES

THE big lie that the Stormont talks will lead to some sort of peace and
harmony between Irish people and a caring British government is being
bolstered up with strong military measures. It was announced on March 10,
that Lieutenant-General Hew Pike who served as CO of 3 Para in occupied
Ireland from 1980 to 1983 is to take over command of the British army in
the Six Counties. 

The fact that Britain's management enforcers should have as their new
chief, a member of a notorious combat regiment speaks multitudes. Pike
has been quoted as saying that he favours a "surge" policy for the Six
Counties if necessary swamping nationalist areas with troops. 

"If you want to win wars, you must allow us to discriminate", he said. So
dealing with Irish civilians is war? So much for the alleged peace
process.

3. 70% IN 26 COUNTIES FOR UNITED IRELAND

DESPITE over three quarters of a century of partition, censorship and a
'revisionist' teaching of history, the majority of people domiciled in the
26 Counties still believe in a united Ireland, with only 17% opposed. 

The findings of an MRC poll published in 'Ireland on Sunday' on Sunday,
March 8 is a clear answer to British/Unionist arguments in defence of
Partition. A high ratio of young people responded to the poll. To the
question 'Do you personally wish to see a United Ireland? , 71% said Yes ,
12% didn't know and 17% said they were opposed. 

4. ADAMS "TRANSITIONAL" IS COLLINS "STEPPING-STONE" 

IN a comment on Gerry Adams' outline in Ireland on Sunday, March 8, 1998
Republican Sinn Fiin said that it undoubtedly represented the
Provisionals' negotiating position in the talks about a New Stormont. 

"It begs the question: what will they settle for? Nationally-minded people
should note that the resurrection of a Stormont-type assembly appears to
be accepted by the Provisionals," the statement, issued on March 9 said. 

It continued: "Republican Sinn Fein views Gerry Adams claims that the
current process is 'part of a transitional process to Irish unity' as
bogus and merely the 'stepping-stone' policy of Michael Collins updated to
1998 media-speak. As in 1922 there is no dynamic in this process to lead
to a British withdrawal and a New Ireland. 

"On the contrary this process, indicated by the Provisionals when they
recognised the 26-County State in 1986, aims to strengthen and update
Britain's colonial position in Ireland by involving more nationalists in
it. In addition there is the hint of a new police force possibly involving
ex-prisoners and former Volunteers  a familiar scenario in the 26
Counties after the partition settlement."

Adams article explicitly proposed a new Six-County British police force
with a "minimum of 40% nationalists in its ranks". 

5. 'THE COMMITTEE' EXPOSES BRITISH CROWN FORCES' COLLUSION
  WITH DEATH SQUADS

A BOOK due to be published in the US next May is set to lift the lid on
the secret co-ordinating "Committee" of British Crown Forces members,
loyalist death squads, prominent unionist politicians, business and
professional people who ordered the killings of dozens of nationalists and
Republicans since 1989. 

The 'Committee' by Irish journalist and TV producer Sean McPhliemy is
based on the Channel 4 'Dispatches' documentary of the same name broadcast
on British television on October 2, 1991. The programme and the book
claim that a secret Ulster Loyalist Central Co-Ordinating Committee
(ULCCC) was set up in the aftermath of the signing of the Hillsborough
Deal between London and Dublin in 1985 and orders the assassinations of
selected nationalists.

Details were provided to the journalist by a source described as a former
member of the ULCCC. New material in the book lists 26 of those involved
in the committee, which has been seen by the Ireland on Sunday newspaper. 
In its March 15 edition the newspaper says it has also been shown the
names of five other "associate members", including senior named Unionist
politicians. The list includes senior businessmen, lawyers and very
high-ranking RUC and UDR (now renamed RIR) officers.

McPhilemy's source is quoted as saying that there are 60 members of the
ULCCC, including 18 from an 'Inner Force' in the RUC colonial police. The
rest is made up of members from the loyalist death squads, UDA/UFF, UVF,
UPAF, including at one time 'King Rat' Billy Wright and 'The Jackal', a
UVF member.

The role of the Inner Force (controlled in turn by an elite called the
'Inner Circle') was to provide details of nationalist targets to "The
Committee", propose the assassination of individuals and to assist the
loyalist death squads in carrying out attacks. Intelligence files and
even weapons were provided to the killers by the Inner Force, who also
ensured they had 15 minutes to leave the area after the attacks.

McPhilemy lists in the book 18 murders carried out by the ULCCC between
1989 and September 1991, including the assassination of lawyer Pat
Finucane in Belfast in February 1989. A second list contains 31 murders
between October 2, 1991 (the date the Channel 4 documentary was broadcast) 
and July 1996 when Lurgan , Co Armagh nationalist Michael McGoldrick was
killed by loyalists during the Drumcree Orange parade crisis. The book
states that since "The Ulster Central Co-ordinating Committee controlled
the death squads" between 1991 and 1996 the committee members named in the
book can be "regarded as being among the 'prime suspects' for most, if not
all, of these murders".

In a front-page editorial on the revelations of collusion on Channel 4 in
October 1991 Republican Sinn Fein's SAOIRSE newspaper called for an end to
the collaboration with the British Crown Forces by the 26-County
administration in Leinster House. In particular SAOIRSE called for the
Dublin administration and its then leader Charles Haughey "to stop handing
over photographs and intelligence files on Irish people to those who would
set them up for assassination". The editorial also called for the ending
of 'the shameful extradition of Irish citizens into the hands of these
assassins". Such collaboration meant nothing less than complicity in the
deaths of fellow Irishmen and women, the paper said.

McPhilmey has won a number of libel actions against the British media
since the original broadcast in October 1991. The 'Sunday Express'
newspaper was forced to apologise in court and pay McPhilemy libel costs
and damages believed to amount to #500,000.

He is still pursuing a court action against the 'Sunday Times' newspaper,
its former editor Andrew Neil and the present Six-County correspondent
Liam Clarke, which is scheduled for the London High Court in October 1998.

He has said that some of those named in his book could be called to the
witness box, including one senior Unionist politician who he says is "the
leader of the political wing of the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating
Committee".

The RUC had a researcher on the Channel 4 documentary arrested by London
police on perjury charges after the broadcast. The charges against Ben
Hamilton were abruptly dropped without explanation, and he described the
move as a "vindication" of the programme. Another legal move by the RUC
tried to force Channel 4 to reveal the identity of its source. The case
resulted in Channel 4 being found guilty of contempt of court and fined
#75,000. No name was ever released by the programme makers or Channel 4. 

A further contempt case brought by the then British Attorney-General
Patrick Mayhew (later British Direct Ruler in the Six Counties) in an
effort to force the programme makers and Channel 4 to reveal their sources
failed. 

Pat Finucane's law firm, Madden and Finucane are suing the British
Ministry of Defence for negligence and derogation of duty in failing to
warn Pat Finucane when they knew the UDA/UFF was targeting him. British
military intelligence was warned at least twice by their double agent in
the UDA/UFF, Brian Nelson, that Finucane was being targeted, facts which
emerged at Nelson's trial. 

6. MORTAR ATTACK ON ARMAGH RUC BASE

AT 12.40am on March 10 five mortars were fired from a platform at the
British colonial police (RUC) barracks in Armagh city. One of the mortars
detonated on impact and a sixth missile failed to fire. No damage was
caused to the RUC base by the mortars, which were fired from the car park
of a nearby rugby club. Nobody was injured in the attack and no claim of
responsibility has been made. Media reports said the attack represented a
significant 'stepping-up' in attacks and quoted British Crown Forces who
blamed the Continuity IRA for the attack. The British sources alleged they
had received help in equipment and expertise from 'dissident' members of
the Provisionals' military organisation. The mortars were similar to the
"Mark 10-type" missiles which have a range of 400 metres and fire a
warhead about the size of a paint tin and five inches in diameter. 

7. MASS MURDER BID IN LARNE

OVER two hundred people escaped death or serious injury because of the
diligence of a doorman at a recreation club in Larne, Co Antrim on March
17. In a statement admitting responsibility for the attack, the
pro-British death squad the LVF said, "Next time it will explode."

British army bomb experts were called in to carry out a controlled
explosion on a device left outside St Comgall's Hall at around 9.30pm. A
doorman who had been watching a video monitor spotted a person leaving the
device in a blue plastic bag and immediately evacuated the St Patrick's
Day revellers to safety. The British colonial police (RUC) said it was an
"improvised explosive device". 

The club is used by all sections of the community and an Irish dance
troupe from a loyalist area was about to perform at the time. 

8. McBRIDE FAMILY SLAMS EARLY RELEASE CAMPAIGN FOR KILLERS

THE family of 18-year-old Belfastman Peter McBride, gunned down in
September 1992 after he ran away from British soldiers who were
terrorising him, have hit out at a "media smear campaign" by supporters of
his killers, aimed at securing their release. 

Scots Guardsmen James Fisher and Mark Wright have spent five years in
Maghaberry prison for their part in the killing of father-of-two Peter
McBride. Their case is due to come before the Life Sentence Review Board
in October.

Already the old British Empire merchants have launched their campaign to
free Fisher and Wright beginning with a two-page special in a British
tabloid newspaper on March 12. Journalist and broadcaster and former
Scottish nationalist now turned loyalist, Ludovic Kennedy, in arguing for
the release of the British killers says that Peter McBride was a
Republican sympathiser, that he was carrying a coffee-jar bomb and that
the McBride family home had been searched because they were Republican
sympathisers.

Jean and Peter McBride said their family has been hurt by the blackening
of their son's name. Jean McBride pointed out that her son had no interest
in politics. He was a petty criminal and would have feared the IRA. "He
was just a young lad who loved to enjoy himself, to get out at the
weekends and spend time with the kids. Peter was never politically
motivated at all," she said. 

Several witnesses have said they saw Peter McBride being searched and
terrorised by a British army patrol. After being hit by gunfire from both
soldiers, he fell to the ground, rose to his feet and staggered to a house
in Upper Meadow Street where he collapsed. Still attempting to distance
himself from the patrol, he crawled through the house to an alley where he
was found. The tenant of the house which has since been demolished said no
bomb had been found and the only item in Peter McBride's possession was a
bag of crisps. 

9. LOYALISTS MOUNT BOMB ATTACKS ON NATIONALIST HOMES

AS Britain's talks process makes its way towards a reformed Six Counties
colony with nationalist consent, a question must be posed. Are the
commanders of British military Intelligence planning an onslaught with the
aid of their loyalist underlings to terrorise nationalists into accepting
the Stormont sell-out? 

Early on March 14, Martin McAuley and his wife Christian spotted a device
on the doorstep of their home as they returned home from a function. The
couple's children Rsismn (11), Orla (10) and six-year-old Peadar and a
baby-sitter were inside asleep at the time. 

Martin McAuley claims that the British Colonial police (RUC) told him the
bomb was powerful enough "to have taken the house out" and said the
bombers intended to "kill anyone that they could". Neighbours of the
McAuleys in the nationalist Taghnevan estate in Lurgan, Co. Armagh had to
be evacuated as British army bomb experts dealt with the device. 

According to Martin McAuley, a member of the British army's RIR issued a
death threat to him through a friend later the same day. The friend was
told by an RIR patrol that McAuley would not be as lucky the next time. 

The father-of-three said his eldest daughter is now too afraid to stay
home at night. He described the bomb as "packed with screws and bolts, "so
anyone in the room at the time would have been cut to shreds. They wanted
to kill anyone that they could, children and all, not just me or my wife". 

Christian McAuley slated the RUC for taking over half an hour to get to
the house. "Their whole attitude was disgusting, they didn't seem to care
that three children and a young baby sitter could have been killed", she
said. 

"The RUC left a large quantity of forensic evidence sitting in the front
garden of the house. Is that supposed to be a full forensic examination
of the scene," she asked. 

Martin McAuley was the only survivor of eight people shot during the
shoot-to-kill period in the 1980s. In November 1982, McAuley was badly
wounded and a friend, Michael Tighe (17) was killed when an RUC unit
opened fire on a hayshed in Lurgan. A subsequent inquiry headed by John
Stalker into the incident was blocked by MI5 activity which included the
disappearance of an MI5 bugging device which had been placed in the
heyshed. 

The family lawyer, Rosemary Nelson said she would be asking for a full
inquiry into the death-threat. "This is just one of a very long line of
such incidents in this area, there seems to be very little control or
accountability for RIR actions," she said. 

On the evening of March 14 a County Antrim couple had a narrow escape when
a deviceexploded at their front door in Carrickfergus. They had just
recently moved into their house in the predominately loyalist town. As
Orange expansionists continue their attempt at ethnic cleansing with the
connivance of MI5 across in south Belfast the RUC recovered two machine
guns, ammunition and magazines in Annadale flats during a search on March
13. 

In Banbridge on March 13 the RUC carried out two controlled explosions on
a suspect vehicle in the centre of the town. It is understood a telephone
warning was given at around 7.30pm but no codeword was used. It is still
unclear who was responsible for the Banbridge alert. 

In recent weeks both the main Loyalist death squads are believed to have
been behind bomb attacks on innocent nationalists. The UVF were thought
to be behind the beerkeg bomb left in a car in the nationalist village of
Carnlough, Co. Antrim on February 27. The UVF was the only pro-British
death squad known to have commercial detonators prior to the 1994 loyalist
ceasefire. 

Two 'video' parcel bombs which arrived at the homes of nationalists in
Ardoyne, north Belfast and Toomebridge, Co. Antrim on February 19 were
most likely the works of the UDA/UFF death squad. The Ardoyne parcel bomb
exploded when a suspicious recipient threw it into the back garden. 

Despite this, the British supreme Mo Mowlam blithely stated on March 9
that she had "no evidence" to confirm that the UDA/UFF or UVF were
involved in recent attacks. 

10. PUB ARSON ATTACK IN WEST BELFAST

MASKED men planted a device in a west Belfast bar on March 12. The Derby
House on the Stewartstown Road was extensively damaged in the ensuing
inferno and will likely have to be demolished. It's understood four men
entered the premises shortly before 4.30am when the fire started and
planted a small device which had been used to trigger a quantity of
flammable liquid creating a fireball inside the bar. 

The fire was brought under control shortly after dawn and fire officers
will probably need demolition. No one was injured in the attack. The
owner of the bar has blamed the Provisionals for the attack, and said he
would not rebuild his business until he got a personal assurance from
Gerry Adams that it would be safe. 

"He knows what is happening to my family", he said. "If he wants to come
and meet me and give me his public assurance that my family are going to
get peace to work in west Belfast, we will build our business again". 

11. HORRIFIC MURDER CASE ADJOURNED UNTIL MARCH 23 

THE family of murdered teenager James Morgan whose body was discovered in
an animal refuse pit in July last year had to endure British courtroom
shenanigans on March 12 as they faced the men accused of his killing.

James Norman Coopey from Bryansford Road, Newcastle stood expressionless
in the dock of Downpatrick magistrates court. His stay in court was very
brief as the magistrate remanded Coopey to appear at Newcastle court on
March 23.

The mother of the slain teenager, Philomena Morgan sat in the public
gallery facing Coopey. The body of James Morgan was found dumped into a
lime pit which was filled with rotten carcasses of cattle and pigs on the
outskirts of Clough in 1997.

The 16-year-old victim had been stabbed several times with a 12 inch
serrated butcher's knife, a favoured weapon of pro-British death squads.

12.KERRY REMEMBERS BALLYSEEDY MASSACRE ON 75th ANNIVERSARY

REPUBLICANS from all over Ireland travelled to Tureen, outside Tralee, Co. 
Kerry on March 8 last to mark the 75th Anniversary of the infamous
Ballyseedy Massacre of March 6-7 1923. 

In one of the most notorious acts of Free State murder, nine captured IRA
soldiers were taken out from the Ballymullen Barracks and tied to a mine
which was then detonated. 

Eight of the nine were fatally injured  Patrick Hartnett, Timothy Twomey,
John O'Connor, George O'Shea, James Walsh, Michael O'Connell, John Daly
and Patrick Buckley -- but Stephen Fuller survived to tell the tale. 

The hugely popular 1997 RTE documentary 'Ballyseedy'  which was repeated
on March 8 to mark the anniversary -- showed conclusively that the
reprisal murders of IRA prisoners had been authorised as a matter of
policy by the Chief-of-Staff of the Free State Army, Richard Mulcahy. 

The 75th anniversary ceremonies on March 8 last began with a parade from
the Ballyingarry House at 2.30pm to the impressive monument, erected in
1959 beside the Tralee-Dublin road. 

The heroic bronze figures of the monument were the work of Breton Sculptor
Yann Renard Goulet and the architect was Uinseann Mac Eoin. Yann Goulet
was unable to travel to the anniversary ceremonies but his best wishes
were conveyed to Tralee by Uinsionn Mac Eoin, who was in attendance. 

Several dozen members of Fianna Eireann headed the parade behind a
Republican Colour Party and a lone piper. The main oration was delivered
by Derry Republican Sinn Fein member Deaglan O Donghaile. 

During his speech he said: "It is a great honour and a privilege to
address the Republican people of Kerry at this hallowed spot where eight
Republican soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of Ireland. The
sacrifices endured by the people of Kerry for the All Ireland Republic in
the bitter period of the Tan and Free State Wars have always been an
inspiration to the Republicans of the Six Counties. 

"Of all the historic sites in Ireland Ballyseedy stands out in infamy, for
it was to this lonely place that nine Republican soldiers were dragged to
be murdered by the Free State army. But Ballyseedy is also a place of
great heroism, for the bravery of those Volunteers is the bravery that
will one day free our country. 

"Patrick Buckley, father of five children and a seasoned freedom fighter; 
John Daly, a fearless Republican and Volunteer for many years ; young
Michael Connell, only 22 years old but dauntless beyond his years; James
Walsh, a natural leader and inspiration to the people of Kerry; George
O'Shea, Tim Tuomey , Pat Hartnett , John O;Connor and Stephen Fuller, who
suffered unspeakable torture at the hand of the Free State terrorists, yet
who refused to surrender their comrades and their cause. Only Stephen
Fuller would survive the brutal massacre to tell the world of the
atrocity. 

"In 1922 these brave men could have chosen the easy path of compromise and
surrender by accepting the Treaty of Surrender. They could have enjoyed
the comfort and wealth which the English rewarded their slaves in the Free
State. But they refused. 

"Today the British are offering a new Treaty of Surrender to the people of
Ireland in the guise of a 'peace process'. This containment process is
aimed at purchasing a section of the Irish people and terrorising the rest
of us. By murdering uninvolved nationalists, the Brits plan to
consolidate their hold on the Six Counties. Via their agents in the
colonial military forces and those in the death squads, whom the British
armed with South African Apartheid weapons, the Brits slaughtered 15
people in 1997 and they have butchered another 10 innocents this year. 

"Most recently Britain's death squads have murdered Philip Allen and
Damien Trainor in Poyntzpass, Armagh, on Tuesday March 3. By means of
outright terrorism the Brits intent to modernise and update Partition and
to re-establish the regime at Stormont under Lloyd George's old threat of
'immediate and terrible war'. 

"Just as the Republicans of Kerry did not hesitate to reject Partition
first time round in 1922 we call on the people of Ireland to vote in
opposition to the Stormont sell-out and Britain's second Treaty of
Surrender Vote "No" to a New Stormont and British rule under whatever
guise in the forthcoming Partitionist referenda." 

"Irish Republicans continue to struggle to restore the Republic for which
the Ballyseedy Martyrs died. For this to be achieved the true Republican
Movement requires the support and solidarity of all those who profess to
follow the revolutionary philosophy of the Ballyseedy Martyrs. Anyone
worthy of the title 'Irish Republican' will join the people's movement for
the freedom of Ireland. At this critical moment in our country's history
we repeat the words of James Connolly: 

" 'For our part we are for a narrow platform, a platform so narrow that
there will not be a place on it where anyone who is not an uncompromising
enemy of tyranny can rest the soles of his feet. And yet broad enough for
every man.'

"We call on the Republican people of Kerry to join us and achieve in our
lifetime the restoration of the All-Ireland Republic for which the Martyrs
of Kerry suffered so much and died". 

13. BLANK SHOTS FIRED BY CROWN FORCES AT BELFASTMAN

A CONTINGENT of British army and British Colonial police (RUC) members
fired blank shots at a west Belfast nationalist man as he passed their
vehicle on March 10. 

Sean Murray claims he was stopped and held for 15 minutes by the patrol in
Slievegallion Drive and says the RUC were "hyper and more aggressive than
usual". According to Murray, a leading Provisional in the area, there
were two pairs of vehicles involved. "As I passed a second pair of
vehicles another bang rang out. It was quite scary", he said. 

Twenty minutes later a British solider fired shots into the Falls Park,
this gave Crown Forces an excuse to fire further shots into the park
claiming they had been fired at and had spotted a gunman. An hour later
the RUC admitted there had been no gunman and described the incident as a
"misunderstanding" by members of the patrol. 
    
14. DUP ATTEND PORTADOWN RALLY FOR LVF

A CROWD of over four hundred people descended on Portadown on March 6 to
hear DUP henchmen, Ian Paisley jnr and Sammy Wilson welcome and endorse
the Orange fascist Kristalnacht being pursued by the pro-British
death-squads. The rally was organised by a group campaigning for a public
inquiry into the killing of LVF leader King Rat (Billy Wright) gunned down
by INLA prisoners on December 27 last. 

In his address to the rally, Ian Paisley jnr said, "We come here this
evening loyalists to a bombed to a battered to a bloody but unbowed
Portadown: We come to a part of Ulster that raised some of Ulster's finest
sons and seen those finest sons slayed". 

A clear reference to Billy Wright and his ilk who have shot, bombed and
hacked uninvolved nationalists to death. To loud applause and cheers from
the crowd, he added, "The only good IRA man is a dead IRA man" and called
for their extermination. Loyalists have a tendency of justifying the
killings of innocent nationalists by claiming they were IRA members. 

Prior to Paisley, Sammy Wilson whipped the crowd into a frenzy, --some of
whom wore T-shirts carrying Wrights face with the words 'some give it
all,' by saying "It is a great privilege to speak at a rally in the
heartland of Ulster." Wilson went on to call for a public inquiry into
"the murder of Billy Wright". The crowd roared their approval, and he
added 'a request that should be supported by all decent people."

Two days later on March 8, Britain's 'Sunday Times' carried details of an
interview with what it called an LVF contact. In it the LVF spokesman
stated that the death squad supported the political analysis of the DUP. 
"In the eyes of the LVF, Paisley has got it right", he said. He claimed
the LVF had obtained a quantity of commercial detonators and threatened
attacks on the 26 Counties. March 8 also saw the release of the LVF's
10-page policy document in which it noted that key Protestant leaders were
colluding in a process of surrender to blackmail.

The death squad document demands that before they end their expansionist
murder campaign:All component parts of the pan-nationalist front (Dublin,
SDLP, Provos) must: 

1. Make a unilateral declaration that each recognises, without
equivocation, Ulster as a legitimate political entity and 

2. Accept that no deal can include parties whose sole aim is the
destruction of Ulster and the Union. 

The death-squad document warned that failure to meet their demands would
mean no chance of "creating a peaceful prosperous Ulster". 

15. RUC THREATEN ARMAGH LAWYER

A COUNTY Armagh lawyer who takes on many cases of civil liberties abuse
has had her life threatened by the British colonial police (RUC). 
Rosemary Nelson said the death threat was posted via a client who was
released from RUC detention in the last week of February. The client, a
Lurgan resident who wished not to be named, said he had been held in
Casltreagh interrogation centre and questioned for seven days about Kevin
Conway who was abducted from his Lurgan home and killed. 

The man told the Belfast media on March 7 that because he consistently
refused to incriminate himself the murder squad detectives told him they
had a law brought out in 1989 to deal with lawyers who helped clients to
make such statements. He said he did not realise the implications of the
comment until he told Rosemary Nelson. No such law was enacted in 1989
and Rosemary Nelson said she became alarmed when she realised that the RUC
where referring to the death of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane, murdered by a
pro-British death-squad in that year. 

Pat Finucane was gunned down by the UDA/UFF death squad in February 1989
just three weeks after British Home Office Minister Douglas Hogg told the
House of Commons repeatedly that certain lawyers "were unduly sympathetic" 
to Republican militants. 

Rosemary Nelson is to lodge a complaint with Dato Param Cumaraswamy, the
UN special supporter on the independence of judges and lawyers. She is one
of several lawyers in the Six Counties who have already complained to the
UN legal watchdog. 

16. HUME'S EU BUY-OFF

SDLP leader, John Hume is at it again attempting to buy-off any Republican
sentiment among oppressed Irish people with the grand illusion of a
European crock of gold. Hume made the claim in a speech to a top-level
gathering of business people in Belfast on March 6. 

All we have to do is agree to the concept of equal opportunity for all in
the Six-County British colony, or in Hume-speak "if an outline agreement
can be formulated by Easter, the European Commission could support it with
financial aid". Such a package could run into "hundreds of millions of
pounds," Hume enthused. 

According to Hume a precedent had been set up by the establishment of the
International Fund for Ireland in the wake of the 'Anglo Irish agreement'. 
 
At present the Six Counties is being bolstered up by the EU to the tune of
#250 million a year.But on his visit to Belfast at the end of February, EU
Social Affairs Commissioner, Padraig Flynn said that "Neither Northern
Ireland or the Republic could expect the same level of support from
Brussels while new member states required funds to bring the social,
economic and agricultural structures into line".

However John Hume's masters in the British government are lobbying
strongly to have a 'phasing out mechanism' to soften the blow in the hope
that the natives won't find out until after the New Stormont is an
accomplished fact. 

17. RELEASE OF ROISIN McALISKEY WELCOMED; 
  SOLE WOMAN POLITICAL PRISONER IN 26 COUNTIES SERIOUSLY ILL

ON March 11 Republican Sinn Fein welcomed the release of Rsismn McAliskey
from unjust imprisonment and wished herself and her baby Loinnir well for
the future. The statement added: "During her interrogation by British
forces in Belfast they told her they would design a "package" which would
take her two years to disentangle herself from. 

"Political considerations caused her detention and political  not medical
 concerns have brought about her release. Justice figured nowhere in
this sorry story. 

"Meanwhile the only woman political prisoner in the 26 Counties, Josephine
Hayden has had her third hospitalisation from Limerick jail in nine
months. 

"Sentenced with five men on the same charges in the Special non-jury
Court, she alone is denied political status while the five men have
political treatment in Portlaoise. 

"The conditions which she and a number of ordinary women prisoners are
forced to endure in a condemned section of the prison are primitive. No
men prisoners suffer a similar plight. 

"Josephine Hayden has served half her sentence. She should be released on
humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile she should receive full and immediate
political treatment." 

19. LOYALIST 'CEASEFIRE' ONLY MAKE-BELIEVE

RESIDENTS of the mainly nationalist village of the mainly nationalist
village of Carnlough in Co. Antrim had to vacate their homes and could not
return till eleven hours later as British army bomb experts dealt with a
beerkeg bomb which was left in the back of a car on Friday night February
27. This and other attacks across the Six Counties have been blamed on
pro-British death-squads. 

The notion of a Loyalist ceasefire exists now only in the make-believe
minds of the British and Dublin governments, the controllers of the
Stormont talks. 

In Belfast on February 21, loyalist expansionists placed a bomb under a
taxi owned by a former Republican prisoner British army bomb experts
carried out a controlled explosion on the car outside the man's home at
Norglen Parade in Turf Lodge, West Belfast. 

Across in Ardoyne a four-year-old child narrowly missed death when a
parcel bomb was delivered to a house in Etna Drive on Thursday morning,
February 19. 

The child's grandfather became suspicious when his wife opened the parcel
and he saw a video with a label which read "don't miss this special
introductory offer". 

"I immediately took the parcel and threw it in to the back garden, it
exploded when it hit the ground and shook the windows in the neighbouring
houses", the man said. 

The man, who did not wish to be named, said his family had no Republican
links. "Its a miracle that someone wasn't killed by this bomb, I can't
believe that someone would do this", he said. 

Also on February 19 a video parcel bomb was sent to a house at Troy
Gardens in the village of Toomebridge in Co. Antrim. A British army
technical officer made the device safe after two controlled explosions. 
On February 23, Armagh city centre was brought to a standstill for two
hours as Crown Forces carried out a controlled explosion on a hoax car
bomb. 

Across the border in Co Louth more than 750 people had to be evacuated
from the Carrickdale Hotel after a bomb was placed outside the nearby
Dromad police barracks near Dundalk at around 1.30am on February 23. The
device which was defused by 26 County bomb experts contained
two-and-a-half kilos of Powergel explosives. The device also included two
five-gallon cans of petrol, 40 pounds of pistol ammunition and a home-made
timing unit. 

Twenty-Six-County forces were also called out to a hoax bomb on the
Dundalk-Newry railway line on February 23. A caller to a Belfast newsroom
claiming to be from the LVF said a bomb had been planted on the line. 

19. PORTADOWN LOYALISTS ABUSE HAMILL FAMILY

THE family of Robert Hamill who was kicked to death by a loyalist gang in
full view of an RUC Land Rover in April 1997 are being subjected to an
unending torrent of intimidation. In the months that following the
killing, Portadown loyalists regularly subjected the family to sectarian
taunts and destroyed flowers placed at the scene. 

Diane Hamill claimed on February 20 that she and her sister were mocked
and sneered at by loyalists as they walked earlier in the week with an RTE
camera crew to the scene of her brother's death at Woodhouse Street in
Portadown. 

"There were two men in camouflage jackets and they were joined by two
others. They jumped up and down shouting 'Where's Robbie? and 'you Fenian
whore, you slut. The television people were panicking at one stage. They
could not believe what was happening", she said. 

Meanwhile, the family's lawyer, Rosemary Nelson has spoken of how deeply
touched the family are at the "overwhelming response" to the appeal for
funds to pursue a private prosecution over the killing. The family also
hope to raise enough money to finance an independent, international
inquiry into Robert Hamill's killing which is estimated to need between
#75,000 and #100,000. The Robert Hamill Justice Fund, Bank of Ireland,
Portadown, account number 26672139 bank code 90-23-54. In the 26
Counties, Bank of Ireland, Rathfarnham Shopping Centre, account number
27757767, bank code 90-02-01.

                               -end-

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