Security Issues Capture Headlines

The following transcripts are courtesy of the Northern Ireland Information Service

Security

Human Rights groups last night called for the swift publication of the Cory report into 6 of the most controversial killings of the troubles, Irish News (p7), Irish Times (p7), News Letter (p11), Mirror (p2).

The Irish News editorial (p8) comments that 'the case of the four people accused of involvement in an alleged IRA spy ring at Stormont is the single most politically significant prosecution facing the Northern Ireland judicial system.

Trust is a real casualty of 30 years of violence and people in Northern Ireland want an assurance that terrorism is a thing of the past, Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop Robin Eames told a peace group last night, News Letter (p8), Irish Times (p7). In its editorial (p8) the News Letter comments that Dr. Eames comments 'strike to the heart of the communal problems that perpetually arise'. If some form agreement is to be found between the parties, it is vital all sides in the equation are taken on board including those who are still having difficulties with the terrible traumas from the events of the last 30 years.'

Dissident republicans have launched a fresh wave of intimidation on DPP members in the North West of the Province, News Letter (p11), Irish News (p3), Mirror (p2).

The family of a teenager who was shot dead by a British soldier in the Creggan area of Derry 31 years ago said yesterday that new information about the killing, given to them by the PSNI, merited a judicial review, Irish Times (p7), Irish News (p10).

The house of a Protestant widow was attacked after she provided shelter to a terrified Catholic man who was being chased by a loyalist gang, Irish News (p1), News Letter (p2), Mirror (p2).

A Catholic family have been forced to flee their home on a predominately Protestant estate in Co Antrim after it was attacked by up to three masked men, Irish News (p3).

New proposals for the introduction of hate crime legislation have been branded 'a bad idea' in the first Ulster Unionist Party response to the move, Irish News (p5).

Spotlight will tonight focus on the families of the 'disappeared' asking if the IRA is still active in organising disappearances? News Letter (p4).

Programme GMU 
Date & Time 7.10.03 8.18 
Subject THE DISAPPEARED

MANDY McAULEY

Last month remains believed to be those of Jean McConville were recovered from Shellinghill beach in County Louth. DNA tests are expected to confirm them to be those of the mother of 10 who was abducted from her West Belfast home 30 years ago. The IRA has said it no longer murders and secretly buries members of its own community but just 5 months ago another man vanished without trace from South Armagh. Gareth O'Connor's family are convinced the IRA killed him. He is they say the latest person to join the ranks of the disappeared.

GARETH O'CONNOR'S FATHER

If Sinn Fein admit that the IRA have shot Gareth or disappeared Gareth or whatever they've done with Gareth, it throws them into a limelight that they haven't kept the ceasefire. Well everyone knows they haven't kept the ceasefire but they can't admit that they haven't kept the ceasefire so I might have to wait. I might die without knowing what has happened to my son.

MANDY McAULEY

Three days before Gareth O'Connor disappeared the PSNI informed him that his life was under threat from the Provisional IRA. The 24 year old father of two was last seen driving through Newtownhamilton. He was on his way to Dundalk to sign on bail, accused of membership of the Real IRA, but his family deny that he belonged to any dissident group.

GARETH O'CONNOR'S FATHER

I am certain that Gareth wasn't a member of the Real IRA or any IRA. The Provisional IRA have abducted Gareth, I have no doubt about that, absolutely no doubt.

MANDY McAULEY

The Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said it is highly likely the IRA killed Gareth O'Connor. The IRA has denied any involvement in his disappearance. However Sinn Fein Assembly Member Conor Murphy has told Spotlight he can understand why the O'Connor family do not believe their denial.

CONOR MURPHY

I understand that completely and as I said what the IRA did to the families of those people, they owned up to killing and hiding their bodies, was an injustice to those people and it shouldn't have happened. They should have, if those were people were killed, they should have provided a rationale for killing them, accepted the responsibility for killing them and made their families aware of the location of the bodies. That was an injustice. The IRA tried to rectify that in 1999 with limited success. Why then engage in another process into the same thing? I understand where a family like the O'Connors are coming from because the IRA have a history of brutal acts and some of them, as I've said, like in the case of the disappeared are unjustifiable. But none the less they have issued statements saying that they are not aware and they have nothing to do with the disappearance of Mr O'Connor.

MANDY McAULEY

As the O'Connor family attempt to find out what happened to their son they have turned to Jean McConville's daughter Helen for help. Helen and her husband Seamus McKendry have been to meet the O'Connors at their home in Armagh city.

MANDY McAULEY

Helen is hopeful that she will soon be able to give her mother a christian burial but she says the McConville family were silenced by the IRA for over 2 decades.

HELEN McKENDRY

For 22 years the IRA wouldn't tell us nothing. They kept telling us to go away and really in their eyes there was no such a person as Jean McConville, out of sight out of mind. They had put rumours around for years that she was an informer, she'd run off with a soldier, she'd been living with a UDA man, she'd another family.

MANDY McAULEY

After 30 years the McConville family are still waiting to find out the truth about their mother's death. Five months after her son disappeared Bernie O'Connor is haunted by dreams of his final moments.

BERNIE O'CONNOR

You can't lie on the stairs, it's dark and I'm thinking O God he's lying out there somewhere on his own, everything just goes through your head, it's a complete nightmare. When I heard about the disappeared you know you felt really bad for the family but you didn't realise how bad that was until it actually hits your own house. Nobody could understand what it's like.

Programme GMU 
Date & Time 7 October 2003 8.09 
Subject Security force collusion

WENDY AUSTIN

Were the security forces implicated in a number of brutal murders on both sides of the border. Canadian Judge Peter Cory will today deliver to the British and Irish Governments, his final reports on his inquiries into the allegations. Some of the families have been speaking to our reporter, Mary-Anne Maguire. Her report begins with the brother of the Lurgan solicitor, Rosemary Nelson.

EUNAN NELSON

She did her job, she did her job fearlessly, and I think ultimately that resulted in Rosemary losing her own life.

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Rosemary Nelson's brother, Eunan, has never spoken publicly about his sister's death. Yesterday over Sunday dinner, the family discussed Cory's work. It's an emotional time for people who have long been campaigning for a public inquiry.

EUNAN NELSON

It's hard to be hopeful, there's a fear of being hopeful, because after all our hopes have been dashed so many times in the last few years.

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

When you say it's hard to be hopeful, what kind of feelings go through your heard?

EUNAN NELSON

How long are families expected the wait? Obviously nothing is going to bring Rosemary back, and that needs to be stressed. Nothing can, I suppose quell that sense of loss that we do have, but at the same time, we need answers, and we need answers as quickly as possible. Six months ago my father went to his grave, not knowing exactly what happened to his child. And I don't think that anyone from any family, no matter what religion, what background, what beliefs those people might have, I don't think it's right that someone should have to be asking obvious questions, but yet be refused obvious answers.

SPEAKER UNCLEAR

We loved Rosemary Nelson, for who she was, and what she done for us Š

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Her murder led to widespread anger in the nationalist community, and shock within the legal profession. Eunan recalls how his sister continued to work and defend politically sensitive cases, and this despite receiving death threats, some of which were passed through her clients.

EUNAN NELSON

To say that she'd no fear, maybe wasn't entirely accurate in its own way, because of course she was scared. When she was getting threats from wherever they came, should it have been in letter form, should it have been through clients who were held in certain police barracks, yes, she was scared, she was very scared.

SPEAKER UNCLEAR

The disastrous, quite disastrous murder of 2 senior police officers yesterday on the border, in cold blood Š

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Another case Judge Cory has been looking into is the double murder of RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan. They were ambushed by the IRA as they drove back from Dundalk Garda Station in March 1989. The Buchanan family has never spoken publicly either, but one man close to them is the Minister who officiated at the funeral service.

ROBERT McCOLLUM

My name is Robert McCollum, and I'm the Minister of Lisburn Reformed Presbyterian Church of which Bob Buchanan was a member and also an elder. And I will always remember Robert as a Christian man, Christianity permeated his whole life, Jesus Christ was his saviour, and his Lord, and that was evident when you met Robert.

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

It's been 14 years since his murder, and the case has been reopened in the past few months. How is his family coping with that.

ROBERT McCOLLUM

Like Robert Buchanan, they are Christians, and so they're confidence is in God, and so irrespective of the outcome of this inquiry or any future inquiry, they're resting their case with God, and so they're not getting unduly disturbed or unduly upset about the present situation.

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

The murders in 1987 of Lord Justice Gibson and his wife, Cecily have also been scrutinised by the judge. But it's understood that the family is deeply upset by this. The Lagan Valley MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, who's been in touch with them, says they don't want to reopen old wounds.

JEFFREY DONALDSON

The family, I think are keen that there should not be a full judicial inquiry into the events surrounding that murder. I think too, that one shouldn't underestimate the pressures and the stress that this brings families under.

SEAMUS McKEE

Jeffrey Donaldson MP, ending Mary-Anne Maguire's report, and she joins us now from our Millbank Studio in London. Judge Cory started this work 15 months ago, he's presenting the 6 reports to the Governments today. So what exactly has he been doing?

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Well you will remember that Peter Cory was appointed following the political talks at Weston Park in May, 2002. So later today the judge will present four reports to the Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, he'll then set out for Dublin to meet the Taoiseach and hand him the two remaining reports. Basically his role has been to determine whether there is sufficient evidence of collusion to warrant a public inquiry into any of these cases, and both Governments have pledged to implement his recommendation, and this includes setting up a public inquiry. Now yesterday Government sources in Belfast and Dublin were stressing that this remains the case, and that both Paul Murphy and Bertie Ahern stand by their commitments.

SEAMUS McKEE

And how has the judge been working in all of this?

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Well he's been working with a team of two Canadian Councils and seven retired police officers from English forces. In the two cases of allegations with the IRA, he has been assisted by Garda officers in Dublin. He's told me that he believes he has had access to all relevant papers, including the records of earlier police investigations that he's been looking at. In terms of the murder of Pat Finucane, the judge has seen the full reports of the Stevens Investigation Team. In fact, and this is an interesting point, the judge was able to obtain last November, classified military documents that had been denied to John Stevens during previous investigations.

As Sir John said at that time, that these documents gave rise to several new and major lines of inquiry, and led in part to the delay and the publication of his report. But the judge hasn't only being seeing the police investigations, when he's seen something that he believes hasn't been properly looked at, he has been able to interview witnesses, and has been able to seek additional information from the Ministry of Defence or the Garda Commissioner, for example.

 SEAMUS McKEE

But it's also emerged that the families will have to wait, like the rest of us, to find out what he's recommending, and that may not be known until mid-December?

MARY-ANNE MAGUIRE

Yes, and this on top of the speculation in the media is an issue that has been causing great distress to some of the families. Both Governments say that the documents will have to be vetted to make sure that they contain no information that could jeopardise ongoing prosecutions or put the lives of agents at risk, and that this process will take some time. Sources close to Judge Cory say he has already done that, and that he has sent the relevant chapters to various agencies.

The judge flies back on Nov. 10 to check what alterations the Governments want to make, and he has to agree with them. Really he expects these changes to be minimal, really a matter of maybe tipexing a word here and there. The reports will then be presented to both Parliaments, and sources within the Irish Government say there is another element to this, and this is possible elections, they say both Governments are keen to prevent the publication of the reports during an electoral campaign, if there is one.

And yesterday a number of the families, I was speaking to, including those of Pat Finucane, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright, told me that they were really outraged that they would be kept waiting for another possibly 10 weeks, and it must be said that for them and those who have been pressing for public inquiries, this is a very, very emotional time.

Programme UTV Lunchtime News 
Date & Time 7.10.03 
Subject Security Force Collusion

KATE SMITH

The Canadian judge who is examining allegations of security force collusion into murders on both sides of the Irish border has handed over his report to the British Government. Peter Cory has spent the last 14 months investigating each of the cases including those of Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson.

Mr. Cory has taken a tough line and pledged to hold the Government to its commitment to carry out public inquiries in any cases he recommends. He refused to discuss his recommendations and said if any attempt was made to alter the 500 page dossier it would be resisted.

PETER CORY

Every Government owes a duty to its own citizens and to its own State, first to make sure that there is nothing said that jeopardises national security and secondly, and I've to carry this aspect out, that no-one's life or safety is in danger (unclear).

SECRETARY OF STATE

The judge has delivered his four reports to me, for the British Government we are particularly grateful to the judge for nearly 15 months hard and intensive work on these particular reports. He really has worked extremely hard and I hope that obviously they will lead towards a better Northern Ireland. Obviously the Government now will look at these reports and the judge will return later on in November when he will of course read the reports again in the light of any adjustment that might have been made.