Cable System in Place

By the end of this year, the first trans-Atlantic cable systems will be in commercial use in the Clonshaugh Industrial Estate, Dublin, according to the Industrial Development Agency of Ireland. The $850 million network will consist of more than 6,000 miles of fiber optic cable linking North and South America through terrestrial and undersea cables.

Loyalists Agree to End Feud.
Irish American Information Service

Loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have agreed to end their bloody months-long feud that set public nerves on edge and threatened the growing stability of the country. In a statement issued Dec. 16, the warring groups said they had settled the conflict which claimed seven lives.

The proclamation was released after leading figures in the paramilitary Ulster Defense Association, the rival Ulster Volunteer Force and its sister organization, the Red Hand Commando, met in Belfast. The dispute between the UDA/UFF and the UVF erupted in Belfast in August. During the violence, about 200 families were forced out of their homes.
However, on Dec. 18, a man was found shot dead in north Belfast and the murder is thought to have been connected to the dispute within the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Freedom Fighters/Ulster Defense
Association. The victim, who was in his 20s, had a single bullet wound to the back of the head.

The body was discovered on waste ground at the back of houses in Tyndale Gardens in the loyalist Ballysillan area.
Yet the "peacemaking" statement said that there had been a "series of intense negotiations by the inner council of the UDA, brigade command of the UV, and the brigade staff of the RHC."
It continued. ""A series of mechanisms have been created at both leadership and local level throughout each organization to ensure that any disputes that may arise are resolved in a peaceful manner to the benefit of all our members and communities in which they live."
President Bill Clinton, who had just returned from visiting Northern Ireland, said he was delighted paramilitary groups had committed themselves to an open-ended cessation of hostilities.

He said their action responded to the "overwhelming desire of people in Northern Ireland to see peace flourish and endure." He also congratulated loyalist political leaders who he said "worked hard" to bring the feud to an end.

The end of the violent dispute was also been welcomed by Peter Mandelson, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, who said, "I know from my extensive contacts with many people in the Shankill and north Belfast area that this is what they have been looking for, for quite some time. And I am deeply grateful, as they will be, to those who have worked so hard to bring this about. They have done a great service to their community and to the people of Northern Ireland."

David Ervine, a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly whose Progressive Unionist Party is linked to the UVF, said, "A lot of genuine people have worked hard to bring this feud to an end and create the circumstances where it will never happen again."
He added that "it comes down to trust and it's been difficult to try and build that trust. That is why the dialog has perhaps taken so long to deliver such a wonderful fruit."

John White, chairman of the Ulster Democratic Party which has ties with the UDA, said he too believed the organizations were determined to make sure the truce did not collapse. "I believe the vast majority of people throughout Northern Ireland will be relieved to hear this announcement. It is incumbent on the three organizations to build confidence within the loyalist community which has been so seriously damaged." 

New Film Studio Opens in Belfast

A new feature film based on the best-selling novel, Puckoon, by comic writer Spike Milligran, is currently filming at Northern Ireland's new film studio facility: the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast. Puckoon is directed by Terence Ryan, produced by Ken Tuohy and stars Elliott Gould, Richard Attenborough and Sean Hughes. 

Built in 1974, Harland and Wolff's Paint Hall was originally designed to paint ships in a climate controlled environment. When the Belfast shipbuilders opened a new painting facility closer to their construction dry docks, a local consortium of media companies decided to convert the Paint Hall cells into four sound stages. The heavily insulated building was ideal for conversion and the result is one of the largest film facilities in the UK and Ireland. The project was spearheaded by Jo Gilbert of Spinster Productions.

Phase One of the redevelopment is complete, with the refurbishment of Cell 1 as the Titanic Stage, named after the fabled ship which was built at this site. Cells 2, 3 and 4 are also available for productions and can be equipped within three weeks of a confirmed booking. In addition to the four stages, there are also production offices, a wardrobe department, makeup room and catering facilities.