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Conference tallis::celt

Title:Celt Notefile
Moderator:TALLIS::DARCY
Created:Wed Feb 19 1986
Last Modified:Tue Jun 03 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1632
Total number of notes:20523

798.0. "In The News" by TALLIS::DARCY () Thu Aug 30 1990 14:02

    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
798.1Keenan ReleasedTALLIS::DARCYThu Aug 30 1990 14:0760
	DUBLIN, Ireland (UPI) -- The long negotiations and diplomatic
manuevering to free Irish hostage Brian Keenan marked the single most
intensive effort ever taken by Irish diplomats on behalf of a single
individual, Foreign Affairs officials said.
	To its credit, the Irish government had nothing to bargain with and
in the end gave nothing away in its careful and patient behind the
scenes dealings with Iranian authorities and underground Moslem
militants, Foreign Affairs spokesman Michael Collins said.
	They said throughout the ordeal, the negotiating team, headed by
Foreign Affairs Minister Gerry Collins, stressed Ireland's neutrality in
the Middle East and especially in the present gulf crisis.
	Keenan, 39, was taken hostage in Beruit April 11, 1986, shortly
after the United States bombed Libya. He flew from Syria to Dublin
Saturday, accompanied by his two sisters and the Irish foreign minister.
	Irish Prime Minister Charles Haughey and relatives, friends and
supporters greeted Keenan at the airport late Saturday.
	During his Middle East visit last week as part of a European
Community delegation, Gerry Collins supported Iran's criticism of
Israel, declaring it was wrong of Israel to hold Lebanese nationals and
urging all governments and organizations to release all captives.
	Israel's militia allies are holding more than 300 Lebanese Shia
prisoners at the Khiam jail in southern Lebanon.
	Early in his capitivity, Keenan, who holds dual Irish and British
citizenship, himself stressed that he was traveling under an Irish
passport. Although his home is in Belfast in Northern Ireland, a
province of the United Kingdom, Keenan is sympathetic to the cause of a
united Ireland and passsionate about Irish culture, language and
history.
	Keenan's Irishness was crucial in securing his release. Britain has
no diplomatic relations with Syria and Iran, two key actors in the
hostage drama. Britain is the only western country to fail to secure
release of any of its citizens.
	Despite the fact that Keenan is a Protestant, Sinn Fein, the
political arm of the Irish Republican Army, made a secret, though
unsuccessful, diplomatic venture into Beruit in December 1987 to
negotiate his release with his fundamentalist captors.
	There was virtually no word of Keenan until May 4, 1988 when one of
three released French hostages, Jean-Paul Kauffmann, said Keenan and
British journalist John McCarthy were being held together.
	Progress toward Keenan's release picked up this year. In April,
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati met with Collins at the
United Nations in New York and said ``there are some hopes that the
hostage from Ireland will be released.''
	Ireland's ambassador to Middle Eastern countries, Antoin
Macunfraidh, arrived in Beruit on May 14 for talks with pro-Iranian
Lebanese leaders and two days later Iranian authorities met with their
EC counterparts in Dublin under the auspices of the Irish EC presidency.
	In June, Ireland was reported to be the first counry to send
humanitarian assistance to Iran after its earthquake.
	Last month, it looked like Ireland's diplomatic efforts had finally
paid off when the Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Beruit sources as
saying that a western hostage, possibly Keenan, was due for release
soon.
	His release was expected any day, but days turned into weeks
without further news. Some reports said his release was delayed because
of an Israeli attack on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
	On Thursday, IRNA again reported that a hostage would be freed
soon. Hours before Keenan's release, the Iranian ambassador to Ireland,
Bahram Ghassemi, said he could ``guarantee, 100 percent that Brian
Keenan will be released.''
798.2Japanese VisitTALLIS::DARCYThu Aug 30 1990 14:0813
	TOKYO (UPI) -- Japan will hold a series of trade and economic
consultations with Sweden, Norway and Ireland starting Sept. 3, the
Foreign Ministry said Monday.
	The ministry said the meetings are designed to exchange views on
international and bilateral economic problems.
	The Japan-Sweden consultations will be held in Stockholm Sept. 3-4,
followed by meetings in Oslo Sept. 6-7 and in Dublin Sept. 10-11, the
ministry said.
	The Japanese delegation, consisting of officials from the Foreign
Ministry, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the
Science and Technology Agency, will be led by Takaya Sudo, deputy
director general of the Foreign Ministry's Economic Affairs Bureau, the
ministry said.
798.3Greatest disaster since the TitanicDBOSW2::MBRENNANTodays best labour saver - TomorrowThu Sep 13 1990 11:3711
This is the most momentious event of the year. Greater that the release of Brian
Keenan. It is more disastrous than the invasion of Kuwait.

The North Mon hac admitted female students for the first time this year. Is
nothing sacred?

Another great school has gone down the tubes.


		MBr
798.4Andy Gaw would turn in his grave.....RTOEU::RDELANEYAdam 'ad 'em.......Fri Sep 14 1990 08:031
    They must be good hurlers.........
798.5Late nights and slow dances.FSOA::KSULLIVANFri Sep 14 1990 12:581
    Are you sure this isn't jealousy???
798.6DisasterRUTILE::AUNGIERFri Sep 14 1990 20:161
    Scoil Ui Conaill would never let this happen.
798.7BRITISH AWARD PAY FOR OUSTER IN I.R.A. SMEARTALLIS::DARCYMon Sep 17 1990 00:3469
    BRITISH AWARD PAY FOR OUSTER IN I.R.A. SMEAR
    
    BY STEVEN PROKESCH - SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES 
    
    London, Sept. 15 -- A former civilian empolyee of the British Army who
    has claimed to be part of campaigns waged in the 1970's to spread
    disinformation about the Irish Republican Army and to smear politicians
    has been awarded compensation for being unfairly dismissed from his
    job.
    
    The independent investigator appointed by the British Government
    decided that the former employee, Colin Wallace, was unfairly forced to
    resign from his in strife-torn Northern Ireland in 1975 for leaking a
    classified document to a journalist.  The Government accepted the
    investigator's recommendation that Mr. Wallace be awarded L30,000
    ($56,250) in compensation.
    
    Mr. Wallace has claimed he was merely performing his assigned duties on
    orders from his Army superiors and M.I.5, the military intelligence
    agency, when he leaked the document.  He has insisted that he was
    forced out because he wanted to get out of the covert disinformation
    and smear campaigns and because the British Army and intelligence
    agencies orchestrating the campaigns feared he would expose them.
    
    He has also maintained that intelligence agents later framed him in the
    killing of a friend.  He was imprisoned from 1981 until late 1986 for
    that crime.
    
    Mr. Wallace served as an Army information officer in Northern Ireland
    from 1968 to 1975.  During much of that period, Northern Ireland was a
    battleground for the I.R.A., which seeks to reunite the northern
    province with Ireland, and the British and loyalist forces seeking to
    preserve the status quo.  He has maintained that his job involved
    leaking false stories to journalists in the hope of confusing the
    opposition.
    
    But in an operation, code-named Clockwork Orange, he said, that effort
    was extended to smear prominent politicians from Britain and Northern
    Ireland.  The smear campaign supposedly included an attempt to
    destabilize the Labor Government of Harold Wilson.  The speculation has
    been that the targets included British politicians of all parties whom
    Army and intelligence agencies believed either to be leftists or to be
    ''soft'' on fighting the I.R.A.
    
    In January, the Conservative Government in London said it had found
    evidence that an operation named Clockwork Orange had existed and that
    there were indications that Mr. Wallace's job responsibilities had
    included ''providing covert briefings to the press.''  But it said it
    had found no evidence that the operation included attempts to smear
    politicians or to destabilize the Wilson Government.
    
    The Government ordered an inquiry into Mr. Wallace's dismissal and the
    way his appeal to the Civil Service was handled.  But it rejected calls
    from opposition parties for a wider inquiry.
    
    In making his recommendation on Thursday, the special investigator said
    members of the Ministry of Defense had contracted the head of the Civil
    Service appeals board that heard Mr. Wallace's appeal before the
    hearing and ''probably affected the outcome.''
    
    Members of opposition parties again demanded a wider inquiry.  ''Will
    you remove the suspicion that you are participating in a coverup
    designed to avoid political embarrassment rather than safeguard
    national security?'' Martin O'Neill, a spokesman for the Labor Party,
    asked on Thursday in a letter to Defense Secretary Tom King.
    
    Menzies Campbell, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, said: ''If
    Wallace was right once, is it not just possible that he may be right
    twice?''
798.8Scoil Ui ConaillOVAL::ONEILLRMon Sep 17 1990 16:5917
    Re. .6   >Scoil Ui Conaill would never let this happen.
    
    Hi,
    
    I've just been browsing thru this conference and have noticed the 
    reference to Scoil Ui Conaill.
    
    Can I ask to which scoil you refer ?
    
    I am a past pupil of Scoil Ui Conaill, Dublin, and a member of Scoil
    Ui Conaill GAA. At present I'm a non playing member as I'm currently 
    based in the Solent, UK.
    
    Regards,
    Richard O'Neill
    
    
798.9OCS of courseRUTILE::AUNGIERWed Sep 19 1990 15:519
798.10House would require Ulster bias reportTALLIS::DARCYThu Sep 20 1990 21:0653
    HOUSE WOULD REQUIRE ULSTER BIAS REPORT
    
    BY KEVIN CULLEN
    BOSTON GLOBE STAFF
    9/20/90
    
    The US House passed an amendment yesterday requiring Northern Ireland's
    largest employer, which is building airplanes for the US Army, to
    submit a formal report detailing its progress in the hiring of
    Catholics.
    
    The amendment, attached to the National Defense Authorization Bill, is
    the latest in a series offered by Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy 2d, the
    Brighton Democrat.  It is aimed at increasing the percentage
    of Catholics employed by Short Bros., a Belfast aircraft manufacturer.
    
    Under the amendment, a Northern Irish firm for the first time would be
    required to submit to the US government a report similar to one it is
    required to submit to the British government under the Fair Employment
    Act, which was enacted by Parliament last year.
    
    In 1988, under another Kennedy-sponsored amendment, Short. Bros. became
    the first Northern Irish manufacturer to set specific goals and
    timetables for hiring Catholics.  The scope of that agreement surpassed
    even the Fair Employment Act, which does not set goals or timetables
    for affirmative action hiring.
    
    Of Short's 7,500 employees, 10 percent are Catholic, a figure that is
    seen as evidence of an economic and social system out of kilter. 
    Catholics are outnumbered by Protestants 3 to 2 and have an
    unemployment rate 2.5 times that of the majority.
    
    Kennedy's amendments are among a growing series of American political
    initiatives aimed at remedying some of the discrimination that has
    contributed to a conflict that has resulted in the deaths of more than
    2,900 people in the province of 1.5 million over the last 21 years.
    
    Over the last two years, Short Bros. has received contracts from the US
    Army totaling $100 million for the construction of 16 C-23 Sherpa
    airplanes.  The bill passed yesterday would authorize the payment of
    $30 million more to Short Bros. for five additional aircraft.
    
    Under the latest agreement, Short Bros. has agreed to submit to the
    secretary of the Army an annual report on the number of Catholics hired
    and employed by subcontractors who work on the C-23 project.
    
    Kennedy called that agreement historic and evidence that, with American
    pressure, Northern Ireland manufacturers are willing to change their
    hiring practices in exchange for American contracts.
    
    Kennedy said the chief executive officer of Short Bros., Roy McNulty,
    has provided informal reports to the army ''giving us assurances that
    they have met those goals and timetables.''
798.11KAOM25::RUSHTONUnscathed by inspired lunacyThu Sep 20 1990 22:1320
798.12DELNI::CULBERTFree Michael CulbertFri Sep 21 1990 16:1218
    
    
    Pat,
    
        I have an article at home I'll try and find.  It gives Bomdardier's
    postion as it relates to Shorts Bros.  Bomdardier has announced they
    will committ to bringing the workforce into a more respectable ratio. 
    There was no timetable and the % mentioned was in the 20s.  
    
    They have bought real estate in Derry and the feeling is that they will 
    move one of the operations there and commence to hire based on the 
    catchment area of the plant.  This step alone could be the first step in 
    many steps that are needed to decrease the unemployment rate of Catholics.
      
    The issue I have with it is they are still supporting discrimination in the
    Belfast area and not addressing the real problem.   
    
    paddy
798.13The Atlantic BowMAJORS::COCKBURNCraig CockburnTue Feb 25 1992 06:37100
 ------- Forwarded mail received on 24-Feb-1992 at 23:00:39 -------

From:	VBORMC::"GAELIC-L%IRLEARN.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu" 
	"GAELIC Language Bulletin Board"
To:	Craig Cockburn <MAJORS::cockburn>
Subj:	Celts take to the seas: The European

Another article from "The European" this week (20-26 February 1992, p. 15).

CELTS RALLY TO WESTWARD BOW
Alarmed by what they see as Europe's drift eastwards, the peoples of the
Atlantic fringe are planning a resurgence, says Roger Faligot in Brest.

   In October 1989, elected representatives from 23 European regions with
borders along the Atlantic coast met at Faro, in Portugal. They came from
the Scottish Highlands down to Spanish Andalucia, to sign an agreement for a
common economic and cultural development of this new axis, called the
Atlantic Bow.
   The prime mover behind the initiative was Brittany, where two influential
regional council presidents, Olivier Guichard and Yvon Bourges, had first
proposed the forging of a Celtic axis. In their eyes, the tendency of Europe
to lean increasingly eastwards represents a real threat to their region's
economic well-being.
   The Breton peninsula, like the other parts of Europe's Celtic western
fringe, has every interest in becoming part of a new coalition which,
potentially, will benefit 62 million Europeans living alond a 3,000km
stretch of coastline.
   This month, in a newly published book, Nous qui sommes d'Atlantique (We,
from the Atlantic Coast), Joseph Martray gets his teeth even deeper into the
Atlantic Bow concept.
   A former vice-chairman of the social and economic council in Brittany, he
argues that there is an ancient tradition and cultural exchange between the
present components of this Bow.
   It goes back to the time when Irish-Scottish monks and poets had a
cultural influence on Brittany, Bordeaux and Galicia in north-western Spain;
and when nine successive mayors of the Breton capital, Nantes [Naoned], were
Spanish; and to the era that gave rise to the incredible life story of
Richard Wall, an Irishman brought up in Nantes who became prime minister of
Spain in the 18th century.
   And in today's age of high-speed trains, faxes and computer modems,
communications and mutual influence should be even easier across these
culturally and linguistically related regions.
   Already a very confidential but influential Breton think-tank, nicknamed
"The Club of the Thirty", is studying the coalition's role as an
international springboard for the European continent's economic initiatives
in America and Africa. Common exploitation of the sea, aquacultural
programmes and the expansion of naval communications are also on the agenda.
   "Great potential already exists to expand trade and tourist
communications within this Atlantic area," said Yves Laine/, a director for
Brittany Ferries, whose ships already link ports in Brittany, Britain,
Spain, and Ireland. Another technical example, Operation Arcantel, has a
sophisticated computer program which can regulate the traffic between 13
harbours--Glasgow, Liverpool, Milford Haven, Bristol, Cork, Cardiff,
Plymouth, Brest, Nantes/Saint-Nazaire, Bordeaux, Bilbao, Oporto and Lisbon.
   "Thanks to the development of the Atlantic Bow, Brittany will become a
new centre of gravity, with major expansion possibilities along a neo-Celtic
geographical axis," said Jean Gue/gue/niat, a city councillor in Brest and
candidate in the March regional election for the radical Peuple Breton,
Peuple d'Europe.
   Apart from the technicians and economists drawn into the political arena
in Brittany, the Atlantic Bow concept draws support from federalists who are
hostile to the Paris administration, and from Gaullists, such as Olivier
Guichard, mayor of the seaside resort of La Baule.
   They like to recall that General de Gaulle had natural Caltic ancestry
going back to Scotland and Ireland, and that one of his forebears was a king
of Ulster.
   A former Gaullist MP, Bertrand Cousin, who hopes to conquer the Brest
city council, is more pragmatic about the whole scheme.
   As he explains in his own book, "Bretagne, a\ l'Ouest du Nouveau!
(Brittany: Something New Westwards!): "Each time Brittany traded with the
United Kingdom and the Iberian peninsula, she was prosperous. And let's not
forget that New York is closer to Brest than to Los Angeles!"

[There is pictured a map with a bow drawn curving down from Scotland through
Pays de la Loire to Andalucia, showing clearly the close proximity of the
following 23 regions via seaways: Highlands, E/ire, Dumfries & Galloway,
Wales, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Basse-Normandie, Brittany, Pays de
la Loire, Poitou-Charentes, Aquitaine, Basque country, Cantabria, Asturias,
Galicia, Norte, Centro, Lisbon & Vale do Tejo, Alentejo, Algarce, and
Aldalucia. The map is an excellent example of the kinds of lateral thinking
that minorities can creatively use to strengthen their position and improve
their situation in the world.]

Michael Everson
School of Architecture, UCD, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, E/ire
Phone: +353-1-706-2745  Fax: +353-1-283-7778

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798.14Trolling for weed...TALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsThu Jul 15 1993 15:0532
Article 5488 of clari.news.europe:
Path: sousa.ako.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!looking!clarinews
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.news.law.drugs,clari.news.europe
Subject: Irish police seize two tons of marijuana
Keywords: international, illegal drugs, legal
Message-ID: <ireland-drugsU3lD530ae@clarinet.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 93 2:35:31 PDT
Location: ulster
ACategory: international
Slugword: ireland-drugs
Priority: regular
Format: daily
ANPA: Wc: 121/121; Id: z1390; Sel: xxild; Adate: 7-13-530aed
Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com
Codes: &ilddxx., &ilddul., tncn....
Lines: 11
Xref: sousa.ako.dec.com clari.news.law.drugs:666 clari.news.europe:5488

	DUBLIN (UPI) -- The Irish navy and police raided a yacht off the
southwest coast of Ireland Tuesday and seized more than two tons of
cannibis resin in one of the country's biggest drugs hauls.
	A police spokesman said the cannabis resin had an estimated street
value of $28.6 million.
	The drugs were found aboard the 60-foot yacht Brime, which originated
in Morocco, when it was boarded at 5 a.m. about 30 miles off the coast
of County Kerry, the spokesman said.
	Four men were arrested. Two were Irish.
	The spokesman said the raid was a result of survellience work by
Irish police, naval and air forces with assistance from British customs.


798.15Aer Lingus restructureTALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsThu Jul 15 1993 15:0753
Article 5423 of clari.news.europe:
Path: sousa.ako.dec.com!pa.dec.com!decwrl!decwrl!uunet!looking!clarinews
From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.biz.economy.world,clari.news.europe,clari.news.aviation,clari.biz.labor
Subject: Irish parliament approves cost-slashing plan to save airline
Keywords: non-usa economy, economy, air transport, transportation,
	employment, labor, travel industry, service industries
Message-ID: <ireland-airlineU3l81010ae@clarinet.com>
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 93 7:12:21 PDT
Location: republic of ireland
ACategory: financial
Slugword: ireland-airline
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 314/302; Id: z2823; Sel: irfef; Adate: 7-8-1010aed
Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com
Codes: yfefrir., ybtarxx., yfujrxx., ybhvrxx.
Lines: 31
Xref: sousa.ako.dec.com clari.biz.economy.world:4009 clari.news.europe:5423 clari.news.aviation:2540 clari.biz.labor:2564

	DUBLIN (UPI) -- Ireland's parliament has approved a rescue plan for
the troubled state airline, Aer Lingus, that will cut 1,530 jobs, more
than 25 percent of its labor force, and open the way for direct
transatlantic flights to Dublin.
	The rescue plan, proposed by the airline and accepted by the Irish
cabinet Tuesday, was given the seal of approval by the Irish parliament,
the Dail, late Wednesday.
	Burdened by debts of more than 450 million Irish punts ($643.5
million), Aer Lingus faces unprecedented losses this year. The
government said the financial position of the company was ``grave and
unsustainable''.
	The government has agreed to inject 175 million punts ($250 million)
into the flag-carrier over the next three years to help save the
airline.
	Aer Lingus executive chairman Bernie Cahill said the airline was
losing 1 million punts ($1.43 million) a week.
	Cahill said the airline must press ahead urgently with the plan to
reduce the airline's cost-base by 50 million punts ($71.5 million). 
``The alternative is to witness the inexorable decline of Aer Lingus,''
he said.
	The package was conditional on union agreement with the proposal to
cut more than 25 percent of the airline's work force of 5,500.
	Unions representing airline workers have rejected as unrealistic the
government's assertion that layoffs could be achieved through a
voluntary scheme. Thousands of workers protested outside parliament
while the debate on the plan took place Wednesday night.
	The rescue plan also proposed to end the compulsory stop-over for
transatlantic flights at Shannon Airport in the poorer west of Ireland,
opening the way for direct flights from America to Dublin.
	The government has said it was seeking a change in the Ireland-U.S.
bilateral air agreements.


798.16No more Shannon stopover?TALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsThu Jul 15 1993 15:093
    
    Also, note the proposed ending of the mandatory stopover in Shannon
    in the last note.  Interesting...
798.17terminolgy differenceSNELL::ROBERTSI saw the beeramidThu Jul 15 1993 18:112
    
    isn't resin the stuff you scrape outta the pipe after smoking?
798.18KURMA::SNEILFri Nov 05 1993 08:247
    
     Anyone have any news on the Peace talks that are going on at the mo 
    in NI.Just caught the head lines before I left today....said hopes for
    peace in a week....How come??? What was the break thru????.
    
    
     SCott
798.19If only!MACNAS::MKEYESMfg technology 827-5556Fri Nov 05 1993 11:1822
    
    The "peace in a week" comment was a comment from John Hume after he met
    with the British PM. He said that he "could" deliver peace if  Mr. Major was
    to implement his proposals. (based on a joint document between the SDLP
    and Sinn Fein).
    
    Unforth. this is not a breakthrough as this document does not seem to
    be a basis for cross party discussion (at least officially)...and has
    already being "thrown out" by Mr Major on the advice of the Southern
    Irish Government. Both Major and Reynolds have decided they can do
    better and will have their own peace inititive...when they decide to
    meet in SIX weeks time..(this is of course a VERY important item in
    their agenda!!)
    
    We all wait to see what they can possibly offer...
    
    rgs,
    
    Mick
    
    
    
798.20VYGER::RENNISONMThis is the voice of the MysteronsMon Nov 08 1993 10:207
I think that "Peace In A Week" is out of the window anyway.  Mr Hume has 
unfortunately had to be taken into Hospital suffering from the Flu virus 
currently sweeping Britain and Ireland.

Since he is the main man, I'd say Mr Hume's illness can only delay matters.

Mark
798.21KURMA::SNEILMon Nov 08 1993 11:524
    Probably a ploy by HM Government.


    SCott
798.22Republic favors elimination of Articles 2 & 3TALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsWed Dec 01 1993 15:1626
Subject: Irish back constitutional change to advance Ulster peace
Date: Sat, 27 Nov 93 7:11:52 PST
    
	DUBLIN (UPI) -- A majority of the Irish people for the first time now
favor eliminating the country's constitutional claim of sovereignty over
Northern Ireland, said a new public opinion poll published Saturday.
	The poll, published by the Irish Times, said 51 percent of those
questioned favored a statement of the country's desire for unity instead
of Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish constitution, which make a claim of
sovereignty over Northern Ireland. Twenty-eight percent opposed such an
amendment.
	The articles, sharply opposed by Ulster loyalists, have been a
stumbling block for talks on the future of the province, but Irish Prime
Minister Albert Reynolds recently expressed a willingness to amend the
constitution as part of the overall Anglo-Irish negotiations.
	The poll also found that 81 percent of the people support Foreign
Minister Dick Spring's six-point peace plan, which includes a pledge
that there can be no change in the position of Northern Ireland without
the consent of the majority of people in the region.
	The opinion poll said 77 percent of Irish people believe the
nationalist political leaders in Ulster, Social Democratic and Labor
Party leader John Hume and Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams, should publish
the details of their much-discussed peace initiative, which has until
now been kept secret.


798.23Sinn Fein leader claims faked messageTALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsWed Dec 01 1993 15:1723
Subject: Sinn Fein claims Britain faked message
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 11:17:29 PST
    
	BELFAST, Northern Ireland (UPI) -- The Sinn Fein leader who was the
key link between the IRA and the British government claimed Monday
Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew faked one of the IRA messages
he released in Parliament.
	Martin McGuinness, deputy leader of the IRA political wing, said he
never sent the text that Mayhew read out and said was a message sent by
McGuinness to the British government in late February.
	``I totally refute his claim,'' McGuinness said in a statement
released in Belfast. ``The text he read is a counterfeit. No such
communication was ever sent. It is a lie, yet another lie to add to the
many lies which have eminated from Patrick Mayhew and (British Prime
Minister) John Major in recent times.''
	Mayhew said in the House of Commons that McGuinness sent a message in
February that said ``the conflict is over but we need your advice on how
to bring it to a close.''
	The British minister said the IRA message offered a halt to violence
if talks could begin, but added the end of violence could not be
announced ``because the press will misinterpret it as a surrender.''


798.24British minister gives details of IRA contactsTALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsWed Dec 01 1993 15:1838
Subject: British minister gives details of IRA contacts
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 12:21:39 PST

	LONDON (UPI) -- The IRA and British government appeared close to
agreement on holding peace talks earlier this year, but the process
foundered over London's call for an unconditional halt to violence
rather than a temporary cease-fire offered by the IRA, documents
released Monday show.
	The two sides gave differing accounts of the secret exchange of
messages through intermediaries last spring -- part of back-channel
contacts that have existed for years -- but it was clear the government
and the IRA were exploring the possibility of more official peace talks.
	Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Patrick Mayhew, defending the
secret contacts with the IRA in Parliament, said the government had
received a message in February saying ``the conflict is over but we need
your advice on how to bring it to a close.''
	Mayhew said the message, from Martin McGuinness, deputy leader of the
IRA political wing Sinn Fein, offered an unannounced cease-fire to allow
talks to begin.
	The government replied with a message saying that dialogue could
follow ``a genuine and established ending of violence'' even if it was
not publicly announced, but it added if the process became public, the
government would defend its participation by citing the private
assurances from the IRA.
	McGuinness said the February message as released by Mayhew was
counterfeit, but it was unclear which part of it he claimed not to have
written.
	Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, speaking at a news conference in
Belfast, said the IRA was asked for ``a short suspension'' of violence
and had agreed to a two-week cease-fire in May to allow the talks to
begin.
	He said Prime Minister John Major refused to go ahead with talks 
``because the government was having difficulties within its own party
leadership.''
	Mayhew said, however, the process foundered because the IRA ``failed
to deliver on the promised ending of violence.''


798.25New Anglo-Irish summitTALLIS::DARCYAlpha Migration ToolsWed Dec 01 1993 15:1833
Subject: Friday Anglo-Irish summit to be first of series on Ulster
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 93 6:19:16 PST

	DUBLIN (UPI) -- Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds said Wednesday he
will meet British Prime Minister John Major on Friday for the first of a
series of Anglo-Irish summits to discuss peace efforts in Northern
Ireland.
	Reynolds, speaking in the Irish Parliament, described Friday's visit
as ``a working meeting'' and said further meetings would be held
throughout the month.
	``In view of the desire of myself and the British prime minister to
make progress on the peace initiative, it is our intention to hold a
series of meetings during the month of December,'' Reynolds said.
	Friday's meeting was in question because of disagreement over the
wording of a joint communique to be issued at the summit's conclusion,
but it appeared the leaders got around the problem by labeling the
meeting a ``working visit'' that would not require a communique.
	The scheduled summit was to come less than one week after the
disclosure that the British government had been exchanging messages with
the outlawed Irish Republican Army, which is waging a campaign aimed at
ending British rule in Northern Ireland.
	Reynolds has stated that the revelations about contacts between the
British government and the IRA should not sideline the peace process.
	His annoucement that Friday's meeting would happen came as a Dublin
newspaper reported that U.S. President Bill Clinton played a role in
trying to seek an Anglo-Irish resolution.
	The Irish Times said Clinton telephoned Major on Nov. 24 and urged
him ``to go the extra mile'' in a bid to gain a settlement.
	The report said Clinton had given assurances of U.S. support for the
peace process to Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring during his meeting
with the U.S. president last month in Washington.


798.26KURMA::SNEILFOLLOW WE WILLSun Apr 10 1994 01:179
798.27PAKORA::SNEILFOLLOW WE WILLFri Apr 29 1994 19:059
    
    
    The UFF killed a Catholic shop keeper.
    The IRA killed an ex UDR man
    
    This brings the killings to 9 in 8 days.
    
    
    SCott
798.28PAKORA::SNEILFOLLOW WE WILLWed May 04 1994 06:476
    
    The INLA killed a Protestant father of 5 in front of his wife last
    night.


    SCott
798.29KIRKTN::SNEILMon Sep 05 1994 14:519
    

     Disappointing to see the loyalists maintain there bombing and
    shooting campaign.Even thou I believe they are being sold out I 
    wish they would give peace a chance.All they are doing now is
    making the IRA out to be good guys.


    SCott
798.30SUBURB::ODONNELLJJulie O'DonnellMon Sep 05 1994 16:045
    They're still hoping that the loyalists will call a ceasefire,
    according to the news. There has been an appeal from Dick Spring for
    them to lay down their arms. This seems to me to be an attempt to
    antagonise the IRA into dropping their ceasefire and retaliating.
    Fortunately it hasn't worked.