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January 2005

COMMUNITY RELATIONS: CURRENT ISSUES (JANUARY 2005)

Paramilitaries

  • Cash destined for a Northern Bank branch has been stolen with republicans again the chief suspects.  A cashbox was snatched yesterday as it was being delivered to the bank in Downpatrick, South Down.
  • Policing patrols in North Belfast this month were doubled after fears of an all out feud between the UVF and the LVF mounted in the area.  A PSNI spokesperson confirmed that more than 100 officers would be on duty in a bid to curb growing tensions among loyalist communities.
  • The police have warned businesses across the north to check their premises following concerns that dissidents may be coordinating a firebomb campaign.
  • There was an out pouring of indignation this month after it was revealed that the UDA is seeking £70 million from the Government to bring an end to its crime and terrorism.
  • The UDA has re-engaged with General John De Chastelain's decommissioning body.  The largest paramilitary organisation has reopened communications with the Canadian general.  The move comes amid positive developments which have been taking place on the back of the Governments recognition of the UDA's ceasefire in November.
  • Police in Coleraine have appealed for information following a paramilitary style attack on a 58 year old man.  Three men in balaclavas, one of whom was armed with a hammer was struck around the head, legs and shoulders.
  • Tony Blair was challenged to explain British Government contacts with the UDA after reports the group were seeking £70 million to help turn members away from paramilitarism.  The Ulster Political Research Group insisted any money would go into communities that needed it, although funding for loyalist ex-prisoners has led to controversy in the past.
  • Loyalist Jackie Mahood has accused the UVF of an orchestrated campaign against him after taxis belonging to his North Belfast firm were hijacked and burned out at gunpoint.
  • A mother of three was last night attacked in her lower Shankill home by a gang of men who threw black paint in her face. The woman was told that she had 12 hours to get out.  She said the UDA had denied the attack and she wanted to know if the LVF or the UVF were involved.
  • The IRA ceasefire is said to be on a knife edge with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams and his supporters struggling to maintain control of the republican movement.  Security sources in Dublin have claimed growing numbers of republican hardliners are favouring a return to violence.
  • Soldiers defused a fire bomb planted in a supermarket yesterday.  The incendiary device was found a Safeway's store in Strabane, Co Tyrone. 
  • Police are appealing for information after an 18 year old man was taken to hospital with gunshot wounds to both hands.  The paramilitary style attack took place in Seaford St, East Belfast.
  • Stormont was at the centre of a security alert following the discovery of a number of suspicious packages.  British army bomb disposal experts were called in to examine the packages.  They were later declared a hoax.
  • Police in Newry are investigating a paramilitary style attack on a man by six men with baseball bats.
  • Loyalists were blamed for leaving a “suspect” device at the Co. Derry home of a Sinn Fein election worker.
  • The Continuity IRA claimed responsibility for forcing a taxi driver to drive an unstable incendiary bomb alone to a West Belfast police station.
  • A 24 year old man was shot in the leg in a paramilitary style attack in East Belfast.
  • It has been suggested that Northern Bank notes stolen during the recent bank raid are being sold to criminal gangs linked to loyalists at one third of their face value.  The news Letter alleged that Provo's are selling off the stolen cash at a knockdown price. - £33,000 cash for £100,000 stolen notes in a bid to move it throughout Ulster businesses.


Sectarianism

  • Irish President Mary McAleese prompted outrage among unionists yesterday after claiming that Protestant children were taught to hate Catholics in the same way that Nazis indoctrinated a hatred of the Jews.  Her comments came during ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, “they gave to their children an irrational hatred of the Jews in the same way that people in NI transmitted to their children an irrational hatred of Catholics”.
  • Police are investigating the third arson attack on an Orange hall in Tyrone in a week.


Victims and Survivors

  • The public are to be consulted about a national memorial to the Northern Ireland service men and women who died as a result of the conflict.  The proposed memorial will be a tribute to those who were killed since 1969 while serving in the armed forces.


Ethnic Minorities

  • A teenager has appeared in court charged with the murder of Lithuanian national Giedrius Valnauskas in Dungannon earlier this month.
  • A conference is to be held next month to discuss the connection between migrant workers and racism.  The event will be held on 5 February at a venue as yet undisclosed in a bid to ensure the security of the delegates.  The Key speaker will be Wilhelm Verwood, grandson of apartheid architect Henrik Verwood.
  • A bar in Newry has launched a 'Polish Night' once a week to cater for the hundreds of migrant workers living in the area.  Advertisements written in both English and Polish have appeared in the local press to announce the venture.
  • Ethnic Minority support groups welcomed the first attempt by the Housing Executive to develop an official policy to improve race relations.  The housing needs of ethnic minority communities and migrant workers will be assessed as part of a period of consultation.


Crime, Policing and Justice

  • Two men were treated in hospital for serious head injuries after separate attacks by a gang armed with baseball bats in North Belfast.  A police spokesperson said the attacks were unprovoked and were carried out by the same gang
  • Hugh Orde will quit as Chief Constable if his assessment of the IRA's £26.5 million is wrong.  In a briefing to the authority holding him to account, the police chief admitted the huge stakes involved in the hunt for gang behind the Northern Bank heist.
  • Up to 30 young people – some as young as 13, attacked police who interrupted an underage drinking party at Derry's Brooke Park at this weekend.  The weekly late night drinking parties at the popular park have become an unwelcome feature of life for residents of the city's Rosemount area.  In the latest incident, the group – which comes from throughout the city – threw bottles and stones at police who were called by residents.
  • An initiative set up to tackle car crime in West Belfast has reported a 92% decrease in joyriding in the past three years. Inclusive Model of Partnership against Car Theft (Impact) was established in 2001 to tackle car crime, a major problem in the area.
  • The DUP slammed the Northern Irelands Policing Board as a body made up of political “has-beens” and “rejects”.  Ian Paisley jnr has called for a complete re-organisation of the board upon which he himself sits, claiming it's unrepresentative, undemocratic and unaccountable.


Public Policy

  • Only one in four Protestants want a return of the Assembly compared to nearly half of Catholics a survey has revealed.
  • The owner of a Belfast furniture store whose advertising campaign has caused controversy has refused to remove the offending bill boards.  An advertisement for the Discovery store in Belfast City Centre has been boasting the slogan “sofakinggood”.
  • The Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee rejected recommendations made two years ago to the Government – in a review by Sir George Quigley – that the Parades Commission should be replaced by two bodies: one to mediate and one to make rulings on parades.
  • Orange Order institutions are to be made exempt from paying rates on their halls in a controversial British government move aimed at increasing unionist confidence in the political process.

 
Community Relations

  • Rural East Antrim is reaping rewards from a community group's revival.  Spearheaded by North Antrim Community Network, the Larne Community Project has helped establish active groups at Glynn and Millbrook with two more soon to follow in Cairncastle and Ballygalley.
  • Community groups from across Northern Ireland have been presented with awards during a ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Community Foundation.
  • A west Belfast residents group has applied for funding to build a 'one stop' community centre on the Springfield Rd.  Clonard Residents Association said the new facility would be able to offer a range of services for the community including a crèche, projects for the elderly and young people and educational services.

 


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