RTE UPDATE-News from Ireland-June 6 1999 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ---------------------------------------------- UPDATE - The email news service from RTE Online ---------------------------------------------- 06 June 1999 17:46 with Donnacha DeLong ON RTE UPDATE TODAY --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Robinson calls for human rights to be central to any Balkan plans 2. Portadown Orange Order holds token march as talks adjourn 3. Family of murdered Portadown woman brand killers "cowards" 4. Ashdown says Northern peace process is in severe jeopardy 5. Relatives of IRA victim say it may take a long time to find body 6. Man dies in Kildare housefire plus Ireland's Weather ROBINSON CALLS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS TO BE CENTRAL TO ANY BALKAN PLANS --------------------------------------------------------------- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for human rights to be central to any recovery plan for the Balkans. In article in the Observer newspaper, Mary Robinson urged that the apparent breakthrough in the Kosovo conflict be seized upon. She criticised the international community for failing to acknowledge the emerging crisis in Kosovo, which she said was reported by the United Nations and other groups in Yugoslavia "for years". Mrs Robinson added that the rebuilding of Kosovo and Serbia must include the restoration of confidence in international legitimacy and the rule of law and the fostering of civil society. PORTADOWN ORANGE ORDER HOLDS TOKEN MARCH AS TALKS ADJOURN --------------------------------------------------------------- With their protest now in its eleventh month, Orangemen held another token march today outside the County Armagh Church. This week, they took part in two days of proximity talks chaired by the Scottish trade union official appointed by Tony Blair. He had suggested a march down the Garvaghy Road this year, but a re-routed march thereafter. The pill was to be sweetened by substantial grants for the order and a commemorative field and heritage centre. However, the order said that it would not be bought off and accused the talks chairman, Frank Blair, of bias. Orange spokesman, David Jones, left a question mark over the Order's continued involvement in the talks, which were due to reconvene later this week. SDLP Assembly member Brmd Rodgers warned against, what she called, a quick fix solution to the Drumcree crisis. She said that the real problem was about poisoned relations within Portadown and she called on the local Orange Order to wind down their activities, which she said were helping to create the conditions for sectarian bitterness. The Sinn Fiin President has said that the onus is very clearly on Tony Blair and the British Government to uphold the rights of the people of the Garvaghy Road. Gerry Adams said that the beleaguered community had suffered greatly at the hands of Orange fundamentalists and the killing of Mrs. O'Neill was the latest in a series of killings in the area. There was, however, some good news today: Nationalists in the Ormeau Rd. said they'd embarked on a series of face to face meetings with the Loyalist Apprentice Boys to promote understanding of each other's positions in the North's other parade flash-point. It seems that, as difficulties in Drumcree pile up, the parades row in Belfast is set to be resolved. FAMILY OF MURDERED PORTADOWN WOMAN BRAND KILLERS "COWARDS" --------------------------------------------------------------- The family of the woman killed in yesterday's Loyalist bomb attack in Portadown has branded the killers "cowards". Elizabeth O'Neill died when she lifted a pipe-bomb that was thrown into her home in Corcrain Drive. Her son, Martin, said that the family was disgusted by the attack and asked if his mother's life was worth the seven-minute walk down the Garvaghy road. The murder was also strongly condemned by the local Orange Order spokesman, David Jones, in Portadown today. He said that the cause of Orangism was not advanced by anyone engaging in such attacks. The head of the Presbyterian Church has condemned the murder of Mrs. Elizabeth O'Nill as sinful, vile and utterly evil. Moderator Dr. John Dixon said that the killers were motivated by the evil of sectarianism and fuelled by tribal religiosity. He said that they must not be allowed to deflect those working towards a fair and reasonable accommodation in the interests of the overwhelming majority of people. The Orange Volunteers issued a statement this afternoon denying any involvement in the attack. A number of people are still being questioned by the RUC about the killing. Loyalist dissidents are being blamed for the incident. ASHDOWN SAYS NORTHERN PEACE PROCESS IS IN SEVERE JEOPARDY --------------------------------------------------------------- Britain's Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has said that the Northern peace process is in severe jeopardy. In an interview on RTI's This Week programme, he criticised what he called the intransigence on both sides, and said that it was outrageous that the IRA had not found some rusty old rifles to decommission. RELATIVES OF IRA VICTIM SAY IT MAY TAKE A LONG TIME TO FIND BODY --------------------------------------------------------------- Relatives of Jean McConville, who was shot and secretly buried by the IRA 27 years ago, say that it may take a long time for her body to be unearthed. As excavations continued for a ninth day at Templetown Beach, County Louth, the dead woman's son-in-law, Seamus McKendry, said that it could be weeks or even months before Mrs McConville's body was found. MAN DIES IN KILDARE HOUSEFIRE --------------------------------------------------------------- A man has died in a fire at a house on Coughlanstown Road at Ballymore-Eustace, in County Kildare. The blaze was discovered just before 3 o'clock this morning. IRELAND'S WEATHER --------------------------------------------------------------- It will be mainly dry tonight, with broken cloud and fresh, northerly breezes decreasing moderate or light inland. It will turn much cooler. Lowest Temperatures: 5 to 9 Celsius (41 to 48.2 Fahrenheit). There will be bright or sunny intervals in many places at first tomorrow, but it will become rather cloudy by the afternoon. It will be dry in many places, but isolated showers may develop in the Northeast and East for a time. There will generally be moderate North to Northwest breezes. Highest Temperatures: 13 to 16 Celsius (55.4 to 60.8 Fahrenheit) ---------------------------------------------- UPDATE is a free 7-days a week service from RTE bringing you the latest news from Ireland. For regular news updates throughout the day check RTE News Online at http://www.rte.ie/news/ ================================================================= 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-06.06.99-22:16:00-8929