Saoirse: IRA Informer Shot in England Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ............................................................... source - irsm@irsm.org INFORMER SHOT IN NORTH OF ENGLAND 06/17/99 10:00 EST An IRA informer, who has written two books about his experiences, is said to be fighting for his life in a British hospital after being shot. Martin McGartland had been resettled in the north of England with a new identity. Belfast-born Martin McGartland is believed to have been shot at least six times in the stomach in an attack just after 8:30 this morning. It is understood that a gunman jumped over a wall and shot him in the back garden of a house in the seaside town of Whitley Bay. McGartland, who is in his late twenties, is the author of the book "Fifty Dead Men Walking", in which he claimed to have worked as a British secret agent within the ranks of IRA between 1988 and 1991, before he was uncovered and had to escape an IRA death squad. Two years ago, McGartland claimed he was put in danger when his cover in the North East of England was blown because Northumbria Police took him to court for speeding. Following the death of another IRA informer, Eamon Collins, earlier this year, he claimed that he might be next on an IRA hit-list. However, local reports suggest that McGartland was shot by criminal elements and not by paramilitaries. Meanwhile, talks aimed at resolving the Orange Order's Drumcree marching dispute are to resume in Belfast today. Portadown Orange men are to rejoin the proximity talks, which have been suspended since June 5th, with residents from the Nationalist Garvaghy Road in Stormont. The Order had criticised the independent chairman of the talks, ACAS official Frank Blair and rejected a proposal which he had put forward to break the deadlock over the controversial July 4 march from Drumcree Church. It is understood Mr Blair will be tabling more proposals today to find a way around the impasse. Orangemen have been banned from marching down the Nationalist district of the Garvaghy Road since last July and have been maintaining a picket at the Anglican Church on the outskirts of the town for 11 months. Plans were also unveiled yesterday for a "Long March from Derry to Portadown by supporters of the Drumcree Orange men and victims groups". The Northern Ireland Parades Commission will decide today if the march can follow the organizers' routes, amid fears of potential flashpoint areas. The organizers of the Long March are planning to leave Derry on June 24th and hope to arrive at Drumcree on July 4th , the day when Orange men will attempt to march down the Garvaghy Road. The march has been condemned by Nationalist leaders, including the SDLP's Upper Bann assembly member Brid Rodgers and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams. __________________________________________________________ The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization providing up-to-the-minute political news from Ireland to the world. The IAIS is funded entirely by your contributions. Please send your tax-deductable contributions to IAIS at the National Press Building, 529 14th Street NW, Suite 837, Washington, DC 20045. You can visit us on the Web at http://www.iais.org ================================================================= 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-06.23.99-11:32:43-8708