Devolved parliament in Northern Ireland adopts power transfer

London - The devolved parliament of Northern Ireland Tuesday voted to adopt legislation allowing the transfer of crucial police and judicial powers to the province from London, despite opposition from one of the smaller Protestant parties in the assembly. The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), led by veteran Northern Ireland politician Reg Empey, said it could not support the move, which will lead to the creation of a Department of Justice for Northern Ireland after the powers are devolved on April 12.

In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed the vote as the "final end of the decades of strife" in Northern Ireland where democracy and tolerance would now prevail.

"Progress finally replaced the politics of division in Northern Ireland," said Brown.

After an acrimonious debate, Northern Ireland's First Minister, Peter Robinson, said: "I believe it is time for us all to move forward. There must be no going back to the bad old days of the past."

"Throughout history there are times of challenge and defining moments. This is such a time. This is such a moment," said Robinson, who is also the leader of the biggest Protestant Party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The rebellion by the smaller UUP prompted an intervention over the weekend by Hillary Rodham Clinton, the US Secretary of State, who urged Empey and all other major party leaders to adopt the deal, hammered out after marathon negotiations last month.

Former US President George W Bush also intervened, asking British Conservative leader David Cameron to urge the UUP to pass the deal. The opposition Conservatives in London are in an electoral alliance with the UUP.

But in the end, despite the UUP voting against, the legislation was passed by a comfortable majority. Out of the 105 votes cast, a total of 88 were in support of the transfer of powers.

The move is seen as the final step in the implementation of the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313256,devolved-parliament-in-northern-ireland-adopts-power-transfer.html.

Ireland says Israeli siege on Gaza 'medieval'

Ireland blasts the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip as "medieval," urging the European Union to pressure Tel Aviv into easing the restrictions.

"I genuinely believe that the medieval siege conditions being imposed on the people of Gaza are unacceptable," wrote Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, in an opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune.

The already-impoverished coastal sliver has endured almost three years of an Israeli-imposed blockade which has deprived it of its most direly-needed requirements.

The siege has pushed some 80 percent of Gaza's nearly 1.5-million population below the poverty line, leaving more than half of them jobless.

Martin, who was to the enclave last week, added that "the tragedy of Gaza is that it is fast in danger of becoming a tolerated humanitarian crisis."

The situation, he said, "is proving extremely difficult to remedy or ameliorate due to the blockade and the wider ramifications of efforts to try and achieve political progress in the Middle East."

The siege lasted during the December 2008-January 2009 Israeli bombardment of Gaza which lasted for three weeks and killed more than 1,400 Palestinians.

"The European Union and the international community simply must do more to increase the pressure for the ending of the blockade and the opening of the border crossings to normal commercial and humanitarian traffic."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120118§ionid=351020202.

Irish town snubs Israel envoy in protest: report

LONDON (AFP) – An Irish town council has removed a page in its guestbook signed by the Israeli ambassador after the alleged use of fake Irish passports by the Jewish state's spies, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Authorities in Carrickmacross, northeast Ireland, voted to remove Zion Evrony's signature to protest Israel's diplomatic record, said the broadcaster.

"I think if a government is responsible for a wholesale disregard for international law then local authorities, as well as our own government, have a responsibility to tell them we expect a higher standard," said local councilor Matt Carthy.

The move drew criticism from Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin, who said envoys should be treated with "civility and respect."

The decision to get rid of Evrony's signature came after the alleged use of six false Irish passports in the assassination of a Hamas chief in Dubai last month, which has been widely blamed on Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.

Mahmud al-Mabhuh, a founder of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, was found dead in his hotel room on January 20 after being drugged and suffocated, according to police.

As well as the Irish documents, 12 British, four French, three Australian and one German passports were used by 26 named suspects in the hit, according to Dubai police, who insist Israel's spies carried out the killing.

Israel has sought to play down the row, saying there is no hard proof of its involvement.

Martin said he understood the "deep concerns" that people in Ireland harbored about some of Israel's policies, but added removing the signature went against the principles governing treatment of foreign diplomats.

"It is a basic principle of relations between states that we treat each other's diplomatic representatives with civility and respect, regardless of any policy differences," he told the BBC.

Israeli officials have refused to confirm or deny reports that its spies were behind the hit, but the country's media see the killing as Mossad's work and the investigation has caused a diplomatic headache for the Jewish state.

Ireland and other European states whose passports were allegedly faked and used in the hit have called in Israeli envoys to voice their concerns about the affair.

Canadians want to represent Ireland in Olympics

By SEAN O'SHEA, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

A number of Canadian athletes, who have Irish ancestry, have told the Olympic Council of Ireland they would like to compete on the country’s behalf at the next Winter Olympics in Russia in 2014.

Jack McGouran, spokesman for the Olympic Committee, said the popularity of the Irish team in Vancouver’s Olympic Village is such that many Canadians have shown interest in joining it, today’s Mail on Sunday reported.

“The Irish team have been remarkably popular here because of the close links between our country and Canada,” he told the Mail, adding, “They want to help Ireland become a bigger nation in winter sports.

“They have plenty of second generation Irish people here, who have asked about applying to compete for us,” he continued.

McGouran explained the Canadian team is extremely competitive, excluding many good Canadian athletes from the contests.

“We will certainly look favorably on any applications from first generation athletes, and a number of Canadians have already indicated their interest,” McGouran stated.

“It’s something we are going to look at,” he said. “It’s done in every other sport, so why shouldn’t it be done in winter sports?"

If Canadian Irish were to join the Irish Winter Olympics team, they would almost certainly improve it. Ireland received no medals this year.

Source: Irish Central.
Link: http://www.irishcentral.com/sport/Canadians-want-to-represent-Ireland-in-Olympics-85768787.html.

Irish minister: Assassins of Hamas leader were not Irish - Summary

Gaza - Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin on Thursday said that no Irish citizens were among the assassins of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month. Martin, paying his first ever visit to the blockaded impoverished enclave of the Gaza Strip, told a news conference at UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City "the assassins of al-Mabhouh were not Irish."

Al-Mabhouh, a senior commander in Hamas movement's armed wing, al- Qassam Brigades, was found dead in his room in a hotel in Dubai on January 20. Hamas accused the Israeli intelligence service Mossad for the killing.

"They are people who forged passports that belong to Irish citizens," Martin told reporters about the assassins. He said the investigation would "continue in this serious issue until the truth is revealed."

The Dubai inspectors found out that upwards of 26 people, apparently traveling with passports of various European countries and Australia, participated in killing the Hamas commander. Among the European passports were a number from Ireland.

"I don't think that there is one single Irish citizen is involved in the case," said Martin, who crossed into the Gaza Strip earlier on Thursday through Rafah crossing on the borders between the enclave and Egypt.

He told reporters that his visit was at a United Nations request to closely look at the situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a tight blockade by Israel for more than three years.

He added that he came to visit areas that were destroyed during the 22-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip carried out in late 2008- early 2009, leaving around 1,440 people killed, most of them civilians.

"I visited two schools and I looked at the educational curriculum, mainly teaching human rights," Martin said, adding "I saw by my own eyes the suffering of the schoolchildren who study at classrooms made out of steel."

He added that the reason that schoolchildren study at steel containers instead of regular classrooms "is not allowing construction raw materials into the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli closure of the border crossings."

Martin revealed that his visit to the Gaza Strip had to go via Egypt after Israel officially informed him that he would not be permitted to enter through the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311305,irish-minister-assassins-of-hamas-leader-were-not-irish--summary.html.

Last-minute deal saves Northern Irish peace

BELFAST, Northern Ireland, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A last-minute deal between two rowing parties Friday secured peace in Northern Ireland in a diplomatic breakthrough hailed by politicians around the world.

Talks between the coalition partners -- the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein, the Catholic party associated with the Irish Republic Army -- ended Friday with an agreement to hand down police and justice powers to Northern Irish authorities this spring.

The conflict over the so-called devolution process had threatened to bring down the country's fragile power-sharing government. It was resolved Friday after two weeks of round-the-clock negotiations.

"This is the last chapter of a long and troubled story and the beginning of a new chapter after decades of violence, years of talks, weeks of stalemate," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who along with his Irish counterpart Brian Cowen had mediated and pushed for a successful outcome of the talks.

A delighted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the agreement "another important step toward a full and lasting peace."

Washington, which had helped launch the power-sharing coalition, said the deal sends a positive signal to other conflict zones around the world.

"Northern Ireland gives us hope that, despite entrenched opposition and innumerable setbacks, diligent diplomacy and committed leadership can overcome generations of suspicion and hostility," Clinton said in a statement, adding Washington and herself would support the continuing peace process "in every way we can."

Clinton said she will host both DUP head Peter Robinson and Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness in Washington soon to "discuss further investment in Northern Ireland and ways to build on this agreement."

With the British general elections nearing, tensions had been running high during the negotiations between the DUP and Sinn Fein. Robinson and McGuiness exchanged attacks through the media and at the conference table, with Brown and Cowen trying to mediate.

The conflict circled around the London-backed plan to give away its powers over Northern Ireland's police and judicial system to local authorities.

Sinn Fein has accused the DUP of "delaying" this process to wait for a conservative government in London to take on a different position. Yet both parties also played hard to get to appeal to their own voters because of the nearing election.

Friday's agreement would devolve powers to Belfast while also honoring the DUP's request to change the oversight of loyalist parades.

The Northern Irish Assembly will vote on the agreement on March 9, with the devolution process starting as early as April 12.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/02/05/Last-minute-deal-saves-Northern-Irish-peace/UPI-11271265391562/.

British and Irish leaders take charge of Northern Ireland talks

London - The leaders of Britain and Ireland became personally involved in last-ditch efforts Monday to save the Northern Ireland peace process from collapse. Speaking after a crisis meeting in London, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Irish counterpart, Brian Cowen, said they would travel to the troubled province of Northern Ireland later Monday to mediate between the political parties there.

The power-sharing devolved government of Northern Ireland has been hovering on the brink of collapse due to the failure of its joint leaders to agree on the crucial issue of transferring the power for policing and justice to the province from the government in London.

Brown said he hoped that the involvement of the two heads of government would "make a difference" to resolving the issue and free the path for the full implementation of the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.

Earlier Monday, the leader (First Minister) of the Belfast government, Peter Robinson, of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein - the mainstream Catholic republican party - held emergency talks in Belfast.

They made no statement as they emerged, but a grim-faced McGuinness urged Robinson to be "positive and constructive" and to "get the business done."

Robinson, who recently got embroiled in a sex-and-fraud affair concerning his wife, Iris, agreed a six-week suspension from his post two weeks ago. But he has nonetheless remained at the center of the crisis talks with Sinn Fein.

Opinion polls have shown that the transfer of police and justice powers to a government in which Sinn Fein plays a key role remains greatly unpopular among Protestants in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein is the erstwhile political ally of the notorious Irish Republican Army (IRA).

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/305683,british-and-irish-leaders-take-charge-of-northern-ireland-talks.html.

Irish victims of child abuse angry at Vatican response - Feature

Tue, 15 Dec 2009

Dublin - Pope Benedict's "distress" at a report highly critical of the Irish Catholic Church's handling of cases involving child sex abuse by priests was met with skepticism from victims of abuse in Ireland. The survivors support group One in Four has described the Papal response as "disingenuous and inadequate."

The Pope's statement last Friday followed talks between the pontiff and top Irish clerics summoned to Rome to discuss the scandal over how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.

"The Holy Father shares the outrage, betrayal and shame felt by so many of the faithful in Ireland, and he is united with them in prayer at this difficult time in the life of the Church," the statement said.

The Irish Commission of Investigation's report into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, released in November and known as the Murphy report, looked at how child sexual abuse complaints were dealt with by the authorities from 1975 to 2004.

The report details the abuse perpetrated by priests against more than 300 victims and says there is no doubt that clerical child abuse was covered up by the Archdiocese of Dublin and other church authorities.

Although five bishops were named, the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray was singled out for criticism for his "inexcusable" handling of a child abuse case.

Maeve Lewis, Chief Executive of One in Four, said that an apology for the Catholic Church's culture of secrecy and cover-up was required.

"To say that he (the Pope) is disturbed and outraged by the accounts of clerical abuse is disingenuous at the very least, given that the files of the clerical sex abusers have been routinely sent to the Vatican over the years," she told the Irish Independent newspaper.

"He must have been aware of the extent of the problem when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he presided over the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith," she said.

The pontiff's role in policing procedures for dealing with child abuse was well-documented in the BBC Panorama documentary Sex Crimes and The Vatican in 2006.

The documentary presented by child abuse survivor and Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland revealed how the then Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to Catholic bishops in 2001 to remind them of the penalties for leaking details of inquiries into offenses such as clerical sex abuse

The then cardinal issued a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world, instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety, the BBC reported.

The document recommended that rather than reporting sexual abuse to the relevant legal authorities, bishops should encourage the victim, witnesses and perpetrator not to talk about it.

To keep victims quiet, it threatened that if they repeated the allegations they would be excommunicate, the report said.

Cardinal Ratzinger reinforced the strict cover-up policy by introducing the principle that the Vatican must have what it calls exclusive competence.

This meant that all child abuse allegations should be dealt with directly by Rome, Panorama reported.

Another survivor, Andrew Madden, has said that Benedict's statement meant nothing.

"What I'm expecting is for five bishops to resign, and whether I hear it from the Vatican or Twitter I don't care," he said.

"That would be the appropriate response from the Church. Words and prayers and offers to pray for the victims are just meaningless drivel," he said. "Most victims say that the five bishops that are still in place and who were in place at the time of the abuse should resign," Madden said.

Mervyn Rundle was abused by Father Thomas Naughton. The Murphy report branded Bishop Murray's failure to properly investigate Naughton following complaints as "inexcusable".

Bishop Murray's resignation was expected after he went to Rome to meet with the pontiff on December 7, but he is reported to be still battling to hold on to his position.

Rundle is now tired of waiting for the "appropriate" response.

"They have riled me up so much that I can safely say I'm taking it further, taking it to the criminal end of things," he told the Irish Independent.

"I'm pushing the garda (Irish police) now to get a criminal case, and if I don't get any satisfaction from that I'm going to the European courts."

The legal offense under which clerical abuse victims could bring such a case has been abolished and replaced by a stronger "reckless endangerment" charge introduced in 2006.

But that charge could not be leveled retrospectively against authority figures in the Catholic Church, Irish media reported.

Ireland braces for toughest budget in history of the state

Dublin - Ireland was Wednesday bracing itself for what is expected to be the toughest budget in the history of the state, aimed at making savings of around 4 billion euros (5.9 billion dollars). Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is expected to announce cuts in public sector pay, capital spending and social welfare including children's allowance.

Few changes are expected to the tax system apart from the introduction of a carbon tax.

The 2010 budget comes amid threats of industrial action by public sector workers over pay cuts, with even the police force taking the unprecedented and illegal step of threatening to hold a ballot on industrial action.

Up to 250,000 public sector workers could have their salaries cut by between 5 per cent and 6 per cent, with higher earners possibly facing higher cuts.

The public sector unions have warned that they will engage in a "long and sustained" campaign of industrial action if pay cuts are introduced.

There was no indication of what form that industrial action would take or when it would begin.

Public sector workers, including teachers and nurses, already held a one-day strike on November 26.

Talks aimed at reaching agreement on reducing the public sector pay bill by 1.3 billion euros next year collapsed last Friday.

Doubts had been raised about the ability of the coalition government of Fianna Fail and Green to get the budget through parliament.

Several independent members and backbenchers had threatened to withdraw their support for the deeply unpopular government. However, some last-minute deals are said to have been enough to avert a government defeat.

Ireland has gone from economic boom to bust in less than two years due to the bursting of its housing bubble, the global recession and alleged mismanagement of public finances by successive Fianna Fail governments.

Israel Refuses Irish FM Permission to Visit Gaza

Israeli authorities deny Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin permission to visit the impoverished coastal sliver of Gaza which has long been under an Israeli siege.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs on Friday, Martin said no substantive reason had been given for the refusal.

"I just wanted to go in myself and see Gaza," he said according to the Irish Times newspaper.

Similar requests from other European countries had also been turned down.

The Irish Foreign Minister meanwhile described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as 'completely unacceptable.'

"If progress is not realized quickly, then the international community as a whole may need to reconsider what further pressure it can bring in favor of achieving a negotiated, two-state settlement," Martin told the committee.

Israel has imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip since.

The Israeli army also launched a massive military offensive, known as 'Operation Cast Lead' against the coastal sliver in December 2008 and January 2009. More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week offensive, which inflicted $ 1.6 billion of damage to the Gazan economy.

“I am appalled by the indiscriminate attacks by Israeli forces which have resulted in so many civilian fatalities. The death and suffering, as well as the humanitarian deprivation, now being inflicted on the people of Gaza as a result of the continuation of the Israeli Operation Cast Lead cannot be justified in any way and must now be brought to an immediate end," Martin stated.

Martin also called on Tel Aviv to provide further clear evidence it was 'serious about engaging in peace negotiations' rather than being more preoccupied with 'simply managing what could well escalate into a situation of incipient conflict.'

Irish churches desperately look for priests

Ireland's Catholic churches may soon be left without sufficient priests to run their routine affairs, the Time magazine writes.

Earlier this month, the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, had made a grim prediction about the future of the church in Ireland: "If more young priests aren't found quickly, the country's parishes may soon not have enough clergy to survive," Archbishop Martin said.

The archbishop told the congregation at St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin that his diocese had 46 priests ages 80 or older but only two under 35.

It is a similar story all over the island. According to a 2007 study of Catholic dioceses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, about half of all priests are aged between 55 and 74.

The ordination of a family member was once regarded as a moment of great prestige, especially in rural areas.

Even as recently as 1990, over 80% of Irish people said they attended Mass at least once a week. But the country's relationship with the church began to change dramatically in the mid-1990s, when Ireland's economy began to take off, ushering in years of unprecedented growth.

Soon, disaffection replaced devotion among Ireland's newly rich younger generation. Most devastating of all, however, were the sex-abuse scandals involving pedophile priests that surfaced around the same time.

But more was still to come. Last May, the government published the findings of a nine-year inquiry into child abuse at church-run schools, orphanages and hospitals from the 1930s to the 1990s.

The report, which described "endemic sexual abuse" at boys' schools and the "daily terror" of physical abuse at other institutions, shook Ireland to its core and left the reputation of the church and the religious orders that ran its schools in tatters.

Then, this week, another government inquiry found that the church and police colluded to cover up numerous cases of child sex abuse by priests in the Dublin archdiocese from 1975 to 2004, prompting the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, to apologize to the Irish people.

"No one is above the law in this country," he said. There are now calls for similar inquiries to be held in every diocese in Ireland.

Vincent Cushnahan, 29, the youngest serving priest in Ireland, says the church needs to carry out structural reforms, such as cutting the number of parishes (and, therefore, the number of priests required to fill them) and giving greater responsibilities to laypeople.

In some Irish parishes, for example, non-ordained church members are now responsible for roles like youth ministry.

Cushnahan knows how hard it is for the church to recruit young men these days and he himself had to face the challenging decision. "I had to forsake married life, my own house and money," he says.

"[Being a priest] can be more isolating and countercultural than it has been in the past. It's more challenging, but also more rewarding because of that."

Irish report condemns 'cover-up' of child abuse by Catholic church

Dublin - The Irish government Thursday vowed to bring pedophile priests to justice after a new report revealed that the Roman Catholic Church had covered up the "systematic abuse" of children while the state turned a blind eye. The report by a long-running commission published at the end of a three-year probe concluded that "hundreds of crimes" were committed against defenseless children in the diocese of Dublin between 1975 and 2004.

It said the Catholic Church hierarchy in Ireland was "granted immunity to cover up child sex abuse" while the authorities enjoyed a "cosy relationship with the church."

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, who offered a government apology for what happened, said that the offenders would be brought to court regardless of the time that has passed.

"The persons who committed these dreadful crimes - no matter when they happened - will continue to be pursued. They must come to know that there is no hiding place. That justice - even where it may have been delayed - will not be denied," said Ahern.

The inquiry, which examined a total of 100,000 files, was based on a sample of complaints involving 320 children and 46 priests, of whom 11 have already been convicted.

It revealed that four former archbishops did not pass on the information they were given on the abuse cases to the authorities and alleged that the police treated the clergy "as though they were above the law."

The state authorities had facilitated the cover-up by failing to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and by permitting the church institutions to be "beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement process."

The report found that children were beaten, humiliated and raped. It listed one priest as having abused more than 100 children and said another had admitted abuse on a fortnightly basis during his 25-year ministry.

In May, a separate report detailed decades of abuse in schools, borstals and reformatories run by religious orders, affecting thousands of children.

"There is no escaping the cruel irony that the Church, partly motivated by a desire to avoid scandal, in fact created a scandal on an astonishing scale," said Ahern.

"In many cases, the welfare of children counted for nothing and abusers were left free to abuse - to visit evil on the innocent," he added.