Irish News briefs 4/19 p.m. Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit News from the Wire Services Re: Ireland & the Irish PA 04/19/99 21:52 Arson Attacks `Double In Ten Years' PA 04/19/99 21:51 Edward Supports Cross Border Encounter OT 04/19/99 20:37 ICL: Peace On The Web AP 04/19/99 17:33 Sinn Fein Resists Disarmament RT 04/19/99 14:50 N. Ireland Peace Talks Stalled, Not Stopped PA 04/19/99 13:25 Sinn Fein Under Pressure Over Arms Issue PA 04/19/99 13:21 Former Prime Minister Haughey Appears In Court PA 04/19/99 11:53 Give Up Arms First, Trimble Urges Loyalists PA 04/19/99 09:02 Drink-Drink Case Architect Back In Court ****************************** Arson Attacks `Double In Ten Years' PA 04/19/99 21:52 Copyright 1999 PA News By Paul Peachey, Crime Correspondent, PA News Family and race rows and criminal feuds are key motives for arson attacks which account for 65 deaths and 2,000 injuries every year in Britain, according to a report today from The Arson Prevention Bureau. Two homes an hour are targeted by arsonists, with attacks having more than doubled in 10 years, according to the report. The bureau said 42 homes are thought to be set alight every day and the latest figures from 1997 showed there were 15,500 attacks on homes, compared with 7,600 in 1986. The highest number of attacks were recorded in Scotland with 1,887 attacks and the least in Cornwall with 36, according to the figures. Northern Ireland has the highest rate of fires with 9.5 fires for every 10,000 homes and Wales the lowest with 5.6 fires per 10,000. The highest number of attacks took place between 6pm and midnight at the weekend. They cost an estimated 55 million a year in insurance claims but the bureau said it did not know why there had been such a big increase. But spokesman Malcolm Tarling said householders could do a lot more to protect themselves from attack by installing alarms, locking doors and windows and having a strong front door. "We are not talking about making homes into fortresses, we are talking about basic security," he said. "Arson is relatively easy to start, it's extremely destructive, not just in damage to property but far more serious is the loss of human life." A family of seven, including three children, died in an arson attack last month in Chingford, Essex. A man has been charged with murder. The figures do not include attacks on businesses, in which fraudulent insurance claims make up the highest proportion, Mr Tarling said. Bureau chief executive Tony Baker said: "The rise in domestic arson attacks is very disturbing. "The diverse motives of arsonists means that no home is immune from an attack." The bureau is funded by the Home Office and the Association of British Insurers. ****************************** Edward Supports Cross Border Encounter PA 04/19/99 21:51 Copyright 1999 PA News Prince Edward is to meet Irish President Mary McAleese today at a lunch in support of the Gold Millennium Encounter. The 20-day event will take place in Ireland - on both sides of the border - later this year and is a joint venture between the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme and the President's Award. Over 100 delegates from thirty countries will take part in the initiative, which is a leadership training exercise for participants of both award schemes. Prince Edward is chairman of the international council of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Association. ****************************** ICL: Peace On The Web OTC 04/19/99 20:37 APR 19, 1999, M2 Communications - Tony Blair (extract from peace letter): "I want to see a settlement that wins the support of all the people of Northern Ireland, whether they are Unionist or Nationalist, Protestant or Catholic. It is up to all of us, whether politicians or children, to work for peace, and I salute the efforts of you and your classmates." Messages of peace and reconciliation to pupils in a West Belfast school from 150 leading international figures including Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul and the late Mother Teresa can be accessed from around the globe following the launch of the 'Wall of Peace' website. Hosted by the Belfast Telegraph online, the website was designed and built by Belfast Synergy Centres, which is a joint venture between ICL, the IT services company, and the University of Ulster, in support of a peace and reconciliation project started by pupils at Mount Gilbert Community school. The initiative began in 1995, when pupils at Mount Gilbert School wrote to a number of key personalities asking for a letter or poem of peace to be supplied for the project. The response was so positive that they decided to exhibit replies on a wall display in their school. According to headmaster, John Crossen, the 'Wall of Peace' created such interest that the creation of a website was the best way to show what the students have achieved to a wider audience. Paul McCoy, multimedia manager at Synergy Centres said: "The commitment of these young people has been inspirational. Synergy is proud that its role of designing and creating the 'Wall of Peace' website will mean that these messages of peace and reconciliation can now be shared by hundreds of thousands of people around the world." Synergy Centres is an ICL joint venture company focusing on multimedia production and training. The organisation runs IT training courses which include a franchised ICL CyberSkills facility that aims to equip young people with 'cyber skills' so that they can benefit from emerging technologies such as multimedia and the Internet. Wall of Peace website: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/wall--of--peace. Notes to Editors The project received international attention when Prime Minister Tony Blair mentioned that he had received a letter from Mount Gilbert School on American Television in 1997. The pupil, Margaret Gibney, was later invited to Downing Street for a meeting with the Prime Minister, where he gave her his contribution for the 'Wall of Peace'. The EU Special Programme for Peace and Reconciliation has also funded Synergy Centres purchase of ICL's CyberSkills Workshops, which start people off in IT. ICL ICL is a global IT services company. It designs, builds and operates information systems and services for customers in the retail, finance, government, telecoms, utilities and travel markets. The company has operations in over 40 countries and employs over 22,500 people. Transformed from a manufacturer of computers, today ICL improves business performance and competitiveness through services focused on electronic business, enterprise applications and the implementation and outsourcing of IT infrastructure. In 1997 the company's revenues were GBP2.477 billion generating a profit before tax of GBP30.0 million. Headquartered in London, ICL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu and plans to float on the London Stock Exchange in 2000. CyberSkills is a trademark of ICL in the UK and other countries. -0- (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTDCONTACT: Shelley Facius, Firefly Communications Tel: +44 (0)171 381 4505 Fax: +44 (0)171 385 4768 e-mail: sfaciusfirefly.co.uk Claire Jacques, ICL - Government/Education Division Tel: +44 (0)1753 604922 Fax: +44 (0)1753 604819 e-mail: claire.jacquesicles.com Sandra Richardson, ICL - Press Office Tel: +44 (0)1753 604668 Fax: +44 (0)1753 604669 e-mail: sandra.richardsonicl.com WWW: http://www.icl.com M2 COMMUNICATIONS DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY FOR INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHIN M2 PRESSWIRE. DATA SUPPLIED BY NAMED PARTY/PARTIES. Copyright 1999 ****************************** Sinn Fein Resists Disarmament APO 04/19/99 17:33 Copyright 1999 The Associated Press LONDON (AP) -- The British and Irish prime ministers tried in vain today to get Northern Ireland's rival political leaders to form a Protestant-Catholic government and keep the peace accord afloat. Politicians from three key parties left London unable to agree on a way to form a government, the centerpiece of the 1998 Belfast accord aimed at stopping three decades of bloodshed in the British-ruled province. They did agree, however, to meet again next week at the London office of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, insisted that the Irish Republican Army promise to disarm before his Protestant supporters would join a government that includes the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party. Three weeks ago Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern proposed a compromise plan after round-the-clock negotiations in Northern Ireland: Sinn Fein would receive its two positions in the envisioned 12-member government, but only if the IRA promised to destroy a cache of weapons within a month. The Ulster Unionists and the major Catholic party, the moderate Social Democratic and Labor Party, or SDLP, both supported the approach. But Sinn Fein rejected it, prompting Monday's negotiations. Blair and Ahern devoted most time to the six-member Sinn Fein delegation, spending the last hour talking exclusively with party leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. Both men have been identified as senior IRA commanders in the 1970s, when the outlawed group's now-suspended campaign to break Northern Ireland's links with Britain was at its bloodiest. Afterward, Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin accused both governments of deliberately misinterpreting the peace agreement to suit Ulster Unionist demands. "The two governments keep pressing Sinn Fein for things which we simply cannot deliver," said McLaughlin, who emphasized that the accord specified only that Sinn Fein should use its influence with the IRA to achieve disarmament by May 2000. He said the accord "is in free fall." Ahern, who said he had spent 30 hours over the weekend talking with Northern Irish politicians by phone, testily rejected Sinn Fein's assertion that the agreement was collapsing. Referring to the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein, Ahern said, "I'm not asking anyone to concede totally on their position. I'm asking both parties to try and assist us in developing a compromise." Seamus Mallon, a SDLP leader who would be Trimble's deputy in the new government, accused both parties of maintaining positions that could "destroy something which can create a totally new way of life for all of us." ****************************** N. Ireland Peace Talks Stalled, Not Stopped RTna 04/19/99 14:50 Copyright 1999 Reuters Ltd (Updates with end of talks, comments by Ahern, Adams) By Clar Ni Chonghaile LONDON (Reuters) - The Northern Ireland peace talks were deadlocked Monday in a disagreement over how to disarm guerrilla groups that defied intervention by the prime ministers of Britain and Ireland. But politicians took comfort from the fact that talks had not collapsed and would resume early next week in a new bid to hammer out a form of words to resolve the acrimonious stand-off. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern met representatives from the three main parties separately Monday, during five hours of talks. "It is extremely difficult, there is no hiding that fact," Ahern told reporters. "I don't expect either side to lose all. Neither do I expect them to ask each other to win all. I think they have to lose to get a solution," he said. Ahern's downbeat tone was echoed by other leaders with the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein painting the bleakest picture. "Our view that the Good Friday agreement is in free fall remains and clearly this is a matter for considerable concern," Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said. Sinn Fein was rebuked for its gloom by Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble, who represents the pro-British Protestant majority. "I am very disappointed in those comments. I think the process is much more robust," Trimble said. "I am quite sure this process is not in free fall and is not going to be in free fall. This (peace) is what people voted for." Ahern said despite the apparent lack of progress, the dialogue would continue and not be "parked." "The only thing that was agreed is that no-one wants to park the agreement. That means we have to keep up an intensive round of trying to find a way through or around the obvious impasse." A spokesman for Blair said that all the parties agreed there was no question of sidelining the process. "There is a shared determination to crack this," he said after the meeting. The Good Friday agreement is the peace accord signed last April and meant to pave the way to setting up a ruling executive in Northern Ireland. The process has been paralyzed by a bitter debate about decommissioning arms. Trimble and his supporters want the IRA to give up its arms before they will agree to work with Sinn Fein in a local government. The IRA has made clear it will not hand over -- or decommission -- its stocks of weapons. McLaughlin said the previous attempt to break the deadlock, the Hillsborough Declaration, had failed. "I think clearly the governments have recognized that the Hillsborough Declaration is a dead duck. We are concerned they have not fully moved back to the Good Friday agreement," McLaughlin said. Earlier this month, attempts by Blair and Ahern to broker an agreement were rebuffed during grueling all-night talks at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast. John Hume, leader of the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labor Party said he proposed new ideas to Blair and Ahern Monday but gave no details. His deputy, Seamus Mallon, who is also Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister, was blunt. "If the Ulster Unionists or Sinn Fein had the choice between letting the political process fail next week, or moving from their absolute position, what would they do," he said, adding that the peace accord was being held to ransom. Monday, Trimble urged Protestant extremists to surrender their arms, suggesting this could prompt the IRA to follow suit. REUTERS ****************************** Sinn Fein Under Pressure Over Arms Issue PA 04/19/99 13:25 Copyright 1999 PA News By Gavin Cordon, Whitehall Editor, PA News Sinn Fein was tonight holding out under intense pressure from the British and Irish governments to start the process of IRA disarmament. Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced they would be holding more talks with the parties next week after five hours of intensive negotiations at Downing Street failed to achieve a breakthrough. They included a one hour face-to-face session with the two prime ministers alone with Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams and chief negotiator Martin McGuinness. Afterwards Mr Ahern acknowledged that they had failed to resolve the current deadlock over the implementation of the Good Friday agreement and the establishment of a power-sharing executive. He insisted that both the Ulster Unionists - who are demanding the IRA starts decommissioning before Sinn Fein take their seats on the executive - and Sinn Fein - who say it is not possible - would have to make concessions if there was to be an agreement. "I don't expect either side to lose all but neither do I expect either side to win all," Mr Ahern said. "I am not asking either side to concede totally their position." That message was underlined by the Northern Ireland Deputy first minister and deputy leader of the nationalist SDLP Seamus Mallon who accused both the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein of trying to hold the peace process to ransom. "We have no intention of allowing this agreement to go by default nor have we any intention of allowing the political process to be destroyed by an issue such as decommissioning," said Mr Mallon after meeting the two prime ministers with SDLP leader John Hume. "Unless there is movement on these two absolute demands, then what they are doing is holding us all to ransom." Nevertheless it was clear that the main pressure to make concessions had been on Sinn Fein. Party chairman Mitchel McLaughlin acknowledged that they had had a "very full and frank discussion" but said they were no closer to achieving a resolution to the crisis. "We do remain convinced that problems remain. They have not been solved," he said. "Our view that the Good Friday agreement is in free fall remains." Mr McLaughlin and the rest of the Sinn Fein delegation, together with the British and Irish officials, withdrew from the meeting after 45 minutes leaving Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness alone with the two prime ministers for almost an hour. Downing Street meanwhile stressed that all the parties remained engaged in the talks and ruled out "parking" the process over the summer to allow more time to achieve an agreement. "All the parties agreed there is no question of parking the process. Nobody is walking away from this process," a spokesman. Earlier Northern Ireland First Minister and leader of the Ulster Unionists David Trimble rejected Sinn Fein's claims that the process was in crisis. "I am quite sure that the process is not in free fall and is not going to be in free fall," he said. He urged loyalist paramilitaries to step up the pressure on Sinn Fein by starting to decommission their own guns and bombs. "I would like to appeal to them to discharge their responsibilities as well. If the loyalist paramilitaries were at this stage to make a move, it would isolate those elements within republicanism that are unable to move forward," he said. Ian Paisley Jnr of the anti-Agreement Democratic Unionist Party described the Downing Street talks as a "smokescreen for failure". The North Antrim Assemblyman said: "This is exactly what we predicted. The London talks are a smokescreen for the fact that the pro-Agreement parties have got a failure on their hands. "But we're still not underestimating the ability of David Trimble to surrender his position." Other pro-Agreement parties at Stormont were informed of the outcome of today's Downing Street discussions at a second round- table meeting at Stormont. They also received joint phone calls from the Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Premier Bertie Ahern. Alliance leader Sean Neeson expressed hope that the two prime ministers would return to Northern Ireland for intensive talks involving all the province's parties aimed at finally resolving the decommissioning issue. "I am encouraged that the two Prime Ministers are not ruling out the possibility that they will come back despite the fact that they have other difficult matters to deal with like Kosovo. "Alliance believes we can only move forward on the basis of very intensive talks with all the pro-Agreement parties. "But we need to resolve this issue soon. Time is not on our side." ****************************** Former Prime Minister Haughey Appears In Court PA 04/19/99 13:21 Copyright 1999 PA News By Ruth O'Reilly, PA News Former Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey was in court in Dublin today as a hearing into criminal charges against him resumed for a day. Reporting restrictions were in place at Dublin District Court as more depositions were taken in preparation for a trial by jury in the higher Circuit Criminal Court. Mr Haughey, 73, -- known as the Boss in his prime when he headed the government three times -- is charged with hindering and obstructing the work of a tribunal two years ago which was told he received more than IR 1 million from supermarket chain boss Ben Dunne. If convicted under the Tribunal of Inquiries Act, Mr Haughey could face two years in prison or a fine of up to IR 10,000. The allegations surfaced at the 1997 McCracken Tribunal when Mr Haughey initially denied and then admitted receiving Mr Dunne's money. This paved the way for the Moriarty Tribunal into Mr Haughey's finances which is currently sitting. Today's court attendance was Mr Haughey's first public appearance since the latest tribunal opened. He was last before the court in late January when the case was adjourned until today because Mr Haughey's legal team was taken up with the tribunal. The court set a provisional date of July 9 for the further submissions to be taken. The case will be mentioned next Monday for the legal teams to indicate if the date suits them. ****************************** Give Up Arms First, Trimble Urges Loyalists PA 04/19/99 11:53 Copyright 1999 PA News By Gavin Cordon, Whitehall Editor, PA News Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble today urged loyalist paramilitaries to step up the pressure on the IRA to start disarming by handing over some of their own weapons. Mr Trimble, in Downing Street for crisis talks with Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, said a move by loyalists would isolate republican hardliners resisting decommissioning. "I would like to appeal to them to discharge their responsibilities as well," he said. "If the loyalist paramilitaries were at this stage to make a move it would isolate those elements within republicanism that are unable to move forward." Mr Trimble spent an hour in Downing Street before meetings between the two prime ministers and the nationalist SDLP and Sinn Fein. He said his party would be available for further talks later in the day if the meeting with republicans managed to achieve a breakthrough, although he said he was not optimistic. Nevertheless he strongly refuted claims by Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams that the peace process was in "free fall". "I am quite sure that the process is not in free fall and is not going to be in free fall," Mr Trimble said. "This process is much more robust than that. I don't think it is helpful to suggest that this process is close to collapse." The Sinn Fein delegation, including Mr Adams' chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness and party chairman Mitchel McLaughlin insisted that they intended to work constructively to resolve the current impasse. Mr McLaughlin said he believed that the two governments both understood the scale of the difficulties facing the peace process. "We are here positively. We intend to work with the other parties and both governments to recover the situation and inject some momentum," he said. Earlier Downing Street dismissed reports that the two governments were preparing to "park" the peace process over the summer months if they could not achieve a breakthrough which would enable the Good Friday Agreement to be implemented with the establishment of a power-sharing executive for Northern Ireland. "That is simply wrong. We are not in the business of parking this process," a Downing Street spokesman said. The process remains stalled over Sinn Fein's refusal to accept last month's Hillsborough Declaration setting out proposals for implementation of the Good Friday Agreement because of the decommissioning issue. Following their meeting, Sinn Fein said that they had failed to secure a breakthrough. "We do remain convinced that the problems remain. They have not been solved," Mr McLaughlin said. "Both governments have moved off the Good Friday Agreement. Clearly that has been a huge mistake. "The governments have recognised that the Hillsborough declaration is a dead duck so there has been movement but it is insufficient in our view." The meeting lasted longer than expected with officials and the Sinn Fein representatives apart from Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness pulling out after 45 minutes leaving them alone with the two prime ministers for an hour. Following his meeting with the two prime ministers, SDLP leader John Hume confirmed that there had been no breakthrough but said that the parties would be returning to Downing Street for further talks next week. "The positive thing is that the governments have agreed that there is going to be no parking of the agreement," he said. He also disclosed that he and his deputy, Seamus Mallon, who is also Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, had presented fresh proposals to the two prime ministers for achieving a breakthrough. Mr Mallon said that they were determined that the Good Friday Agreement would not fall because of the dispute over decommissioning. "We are not going to allow it to crash," he said. Mr Ahern confirmed that there had been no breakthrough but said that the talks would resume next week. He said that it was vital that both Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists gave ground if they were to achieve a successful resolution. "I don't expect either side to lose all but neither do I expect either to win all," he said. "I am not asking either side to concede totally their position." ****************************** Drink-Drink Case Architect Back In Court PA 04/19/99 09:02 Copyright 1999 PA News By Chris Parkin, PA News An architect whose drink-driving case has led to the resignation of one senior Irish judge and the anticipated departure of another, made a further court appearance in Dublin today. Dubliner Philip Sheedy, 31, applied through his lawyers for a certificate to appeal against the four-year jail term at the centre of the row, one of the biggest in Irish judicial history. Fall-out from the affair prompted Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty, 60, one of the most experienced and respected members of Ireland's Supreme Court, to quit on Saturday, and is expected to lead to the resignation of the High Court's Mr Justice Cyril Kelly, in the next 24 hours. Sheedy was sentenced in 1997 for a drink-driving accident that ended in the death of a young mother. But he was freed after serving one year by Mr Justice Kelly after a friend of Sheedy had approached Mr Justice O'Flaherty. A report on the case by Irish Chief Justice Liam Hamilton last week said Mr Justice Kelly had acted in a manner not befitting a judge and compromised the administration of justice. The actions of Mr Justice O'Flaherty were declared to have been "unwise and inappropriate." Mr Justice Kelly, 47, arrived at Dublin's Four Courts building today but made no comment on the furore. A meeting of all judges in the Irish High Court to discussion the situation was scheduled for later today. Sheedy was told by Irish Circuit Court Judge Joseph Matthews - who imposed the original sentence - that he would make a ruling on his application to appeal against the severity of the term tomorrow. The controversy generated by the case is set to lead to a change of procedures for the listing of court hearings in a bid to restore public confidence in the courts system. Justice Minister John O'Donughue will outline proposals at a cabinet meeting in Dublin tomorrow. ------- 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-04.24.99-11:09:14-27680