Newsmedianews | Northern Ireland - a perspective by Sean Mc Aughey

by Sean Mc Aughey
Sean Mc Aughey is a former University of Ulster Student's union President and has worked in public relations.
He is now a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to the Blanket, which describes itself as “a journal of protest and dissent”.
His material is published unedited on this page.
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At Least 32% of U.S. Mass Shooters Trained to Shoot by U.S. Military
10 May 2023; posted by the editor - General, Features, International, United States

By David Swanson
It’s been two years since I wrote on this topic. At that time, at least 36% of U.S. mass shooters had been trained by the U.S. military. Since then, a grand total of nobody at all has written on the topic.

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Tags: mass shootings, David Swanson, United States

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All War Is Local printable version

13 Oct 2012: posted by the editor - Features, International

By S. Brian Willson
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time To Break Silence," April 4, 1967, Riverside Church, New York City
On a recent visit to my neighborhood library in SE Portland, Oregon, I was asked outside the entrance if I would sign a petition to place a public school bond measure on the fall ballot. Though I support full funding of public schools, I balked. Knowing that Portland libraries are also planning to place a taxing district on the same ballot, I felt fury building up inside of me at how obscene lawless military spending is sucking our nation's resources dry. I told the person asking for my signature that I would only sign such petition when and if the Portland School Board, Portland City Commissioners and Mayor, and all other City and County entities become part of an active anti-war movement to stop the looting of our Commons by the Military-Industrial-Banking-Congressional-Presidential Complex.

DIRECT Costs Are FELT Only By A Small Percentage of the Public At Large
The US wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc., are, in reality, only viscerally experienced by a small percentage of the US American people. No direct taxes on the people have been assessed to fund the wars. They are funded instead by debt. And the absence of general conscription (a military draft) relieves the vast majority of the population from the emotional burden of worrying whether a family member will be forced into military service.

A de facto economic draft does exist whereby those unable to find adequate employment in our economically depressed society are offered a subsidized job track in the military, and trained as combatants or placed in any number of supportive roles in imperial adventures around the globe.

But most members of US society have gone about their lives business as usual, experiencing little anxiety or hardship, indeed, hardly "feeling" the wars.

INDIRECT Costs Severely Affecting the 99 Percent
However, even though the direct, experiential costs of US wars have been largely absent in popular discussion and politically unaccounted for, the resulting residual costs are enormous. The national resource base has been so severely drained by war costs that we are in domestic "austerity" budgeting. An audit of the Federal Reserve has revealed $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out US American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. That is equivalent to our National Debt. That amounts to more than $50,000 for every man, woman and child, enough to revive a healthy main street. Meanwhile four million homeowners lost their homes to foreclosures due to massive collusion between Wall Street and banks in granting fraudulent mortgages. Every foreclosed homeowner could have been publicly refinanced instead.

As of September 11, 2012, the National Priorities Project (NPP) estimates the actual cost of US wars since September 2001 in Iraq and Afghanistan at nearly $1,372 Trillion dollars [http://costofwar.com/] Other studies estimate total war costs will reach $4.4 Trillion (Cost of war at least $3.7 trillion and counting, by Daniel Trotta, Reuters, Jun 29, 2012) or even $6 Trillion (Misery Rising: American Freefall by Paul Craig Roberts, CounterPunch, July 09, 2012).

These are non-human costs. The human costs in Iraq and Afghanistan lives, not to mention public and private military forces and mercenaries from the US, is immense. The website, unknownnews.org/casualties.html, estimates total Iraqis killed (murdered) since the US invasion in 2003 at about 895,000, with another 1,646,000 injured (maimed). The comparable figures for Afghanistan are 17,400 killed (murdered) and 41,625 injured (maimed). US public and private military and mercenaries, plus "Coalition" troops and journalists killed in Iraq is slightly over 5,800, with nearly 45,000 injured. The comparable figures for Afghanistan are 2,230 killed, and 8,164 injured. Thus, total war casualties are nearly 2,670,000—over 920,000 killed; nearly 1,750,000 injured.

In the last ten years nearly 2.5 million US soldiers have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. They come from every town, city and rural area in the country, but reports suggest a disproportionate number of the dead and wounded come from small town USA. Up to 50 percent of those deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), or have been victims of military sexual trauma (MST). Treatment costs for returning veterans are immense. Over one million have applied for compensation for injuries.

Suicide among soldiers and veterans is staggering. In 2012 alone, as of early June, 154 active duty soldiers committed suicide, more than were killed in combat during that same period. ["Suicides Outpacing War Deaths for Troops," NYT, June 8, 2012: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/09/us/suicides-eclipse-war-deaths-for-us-troops.html/ ]. The suicide rate is 38 per 100,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, compared to 11.5 for the general public. Eighteen veterans of all wars commit suicide on average every day ["18 veterans commit suicide each day," Rick Maze, Army Times, Thursday, April 22, 2010].

War IS a LOCAL issue War drains domestic financial and mental capacity to address critical needs for health care, education, social security, etc., in every community. The outrageous amount of money being siphoned into the military industrial complex, with wars feeding obscene profits to its architects, seriously threatens assurance of resources for a healthy society. US citizens should be assured of a social safety net for all. Instead, US Americans are guaranteed a debt in perpetuity. Meanwhile, the rich get richer; the poor get poorer.

Despite the lack of national discourse on military spending, war is always on our minds. It is promoted in holiday festivities such as Memorial Day, Armistice Day (now called Veteran's Day), Independence Day and Patriots Day. There are fund drives for soldiers, homecomings, recruitment ads, military band concerts, war video games in every town and city, army-sponsored race cars, war movies and television shows, and war toys. Numerous colleges and universities receive millions in funding from the Department of War (euphemistically called "Defense") for academic research.

And money for the military and wars totally dominates the entire national budget which in turn deleteriously impacts every political jurisdiction and local economy in the country. Ironically, our extravagant military budget is rarely questioned but cuts for domestic programs are constantly discussed.

The argument that military spending creates jobs is a red herring. A report conducted by the Political Economy Research Institute reveals that every billion dollars of government spending on the military creates 12,000 jobs. But a choice to create tax cuts for the poor would stimulate personal consumption and create 15,000 jobs. The same billion dollars would create 18,000 jobs in assuring health care, 25,000 jobs in education, 27,700 in mass transit.

In effect, grotesque war spending means less money for: (1) elementary & secondary education; (2) grants in aid to states and localities; (3) home energy assistance for low Income households; (4) HIV/AIDS; (5) community block grants; (6) special education and assistance for the disadvantaged; (7) school improvement; (8) loss of funds for vocational and adult education; (9) supplemental nutrition WIC program; (10) children and family Services; (11) Head Start; (12) rental assistance vouchers; (13) children served by child-care assistance; (14) etc.

The NPP estimates of actual cost of recent US wars at over $1,372 Trillion dollars can be broken down for each community.

For Portland, Oregon (http://costofwar.com/state/OR/city/portland/ ) the cost is nearly $1,794,000,000 (Billion). The 2012 US Census estimates Portland's population at 600,000. Thus the cost of the wars for each man, woman, and child in Portland is about $3,000, with costs continuing to escalate. If the estimated, projected higher national costs reach $4.4 Trillion, or $6 Trillion are calculated, costs to Portland could reach $5,700,000,000 ($9,500 for each Portlander), or perhaps nearly $7,800,000,000 ($13,000 for each Portlander).

Fifty million US Americans now live in poverty with one on every seven requiring food stamps to survive each month. Over 125,000 of Portlanders, or over 20% of the city's population, are on food stamps. Over 15,000 people in Portland experience homelessness during the year.

The National Debt now stands at nearly $16 Trillion, or $50,000 for every man, woman and child. Each of us is in perpetual debt.

And the disparity between Haves and Have-Nots is felt globally as Occupy has protested austerity measures being felt by much of the world. A study by the Green Party of England discloses that the same global capitalist economic policies that are polluting the planet while depleting its finite resources, have allowed a mere 400 billionaires to acquire assets equal to the combined wealth of 45% of the world's population.

Immoral and Illegal Wars Created by a Corrupt Political Economy In addition to direct and indirect costs, these US-led wars are illegal on their face. They make a mockery of our moral and legal authority as a nation, and reveal that in fact we are a nation of (lawless) men, not of law. Over 2,670,000 human beings have been killed or maimed as the consequences of these recent criminal wars in violation of international law, staining further our national character.

The illegality and immorality of these wars, conducted with no accountability or plausible justification, breed a corruption at the top political levels of society that permeates into every aspect of society. Our corrupt economic institutions are profiting obscenely from policies of mass murder.

No war was declared as required by the US Constitution. The United Nations (UN) Charter to which the US is a signatory, allows military action in only two instances: (1) if authorized by the UN Security Council, or (2) if undertaken in self-defense against an existing or imminent armed attack. Neither of these conditions were met or sought. Under Article VI, Clause 2, of the US Constitution, the provisions of the UN Charter are incorporated into the Supreme Law of the Land of the United States, and therefore the US violated both the UN Charter, and its own Constitution.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2004 publicly declared that the US invasion of Iraq was and remains an illegal act contravening the UN Charter. ["Iraq war illegal, says Annan," BBC, Thursday, 16 September, 2004]. Richard Perle in 2003, when a senior advisor to the Department of Defense Policy Board, admitted that the Iraq war was illegal because the U.S. had broken international law, behavior not consistent with the rules of the UN ["War critics astonished as US hawk admits invasion was illegal," Oliver Burkeman and Julian Borger, The Guardian, November 20, 2003].

In fact they are Nuremberg-type crimes, meaning they are the worst of the worst in terms of national and political criminality.

I know a bit about this criminal pattern. In 1969 I was commander of a US Air Force combat security unit in Viet Nam where I witnessed a series of atrocities from the air resulting in the intentional annihilation of entire inhabited and undefended fishing villages. These were international crimes committed by both US and South Vietnamese forces under US command. That war cost US taxpayers nearly $740 Billion in today's dollars [http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22926.pdf] as it diabolically claimed more than 5 Million lives, 99 percent of whom were innocent Southeast Asia peasants.

Additionally, torture and inhumane treatments have been well documented in US-run prisons in Iraq (Abu Ghraib), Afghanistan (Bagram) and Guantanamo (located in Cuba against the wishes of that country). This behavior constitutes grave breaches of the Geneva Convention; the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ); the Nuremberg Principles; and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The seven leaked confidential British Downing Street Memos, dated from March to July 2002, disclose a US and British drive to war a full year before the March 2003 invasion. "War was now seen as inevitable," while "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy" seeking "regime change" without any "basis under international law." The memos also declared: "There is no recent evidence of Iraq complicity with international terrorism…There is no credible evidence to link Iraq with Usama Bin Laden." Regarding Iraq's possession of WMD, the "intelligence is poor." ["The Downing Street Reader: a cheat sheet on the memos behind the scandal," The Rolling Stone Blog, June 22, 2005].

The US has been in a virtual permanent war economy since World War II. Increasingly the political economy requires permanent enemies, and functions to assure their creation. Thus, the entire US American system has a vested interest in a permanent state of tension.

The citizens of the US, in their participation through their Congress, President, and their huge military industrial complex, spend more money on their military than any other nation—45% of the entire world's expenditures, more than the next 14 nations combined.

The impact of inequality on individuals and society is well established. Social epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson concludes that "the quality of social relations in societies is related to the scale of income inequality -how big the gap is between rich and poor. More unequal societies tend to have higher rates of violent crime and homicide, and that people living in them feel more hostility, are less likely to be involved in community life, and are much less likely to trust each other; in short they have lower levels of social capital... Inequality is deeply corrosive...Greater inequality is perhaps the most significant obstacle to the development of an environmentally sustainable level of economic activity." . The Nation is Now Paying the Price; Localities Need to Become Part of Anti-War Movement The US has doubled its national debt during these wars, making every US American alive today indebted in perpetuity. The domestic budget is being severely cut, requiring draconian cutbacks in education, libraries, medical care such as it is, all social safety net programs, fire and police departments, all city services, etc. Portland's Fiscal Year 2012-13 budget is nearly $2.85 billion, 3.8% less than the previous year. "Austerity" budgets are being imposed all over the US (and the world) largely due to siphoning of national wealth into wars and the military industrial complex.

This is why every political leader, and all citizens in every jurisdiction—towns, cities, counties and states, and every functional entity within cities, counties and states such as schools and libraries, need to become ardent and loud opponents of the national war and military policy that is enriching the military industrial complex at everyone's expense. Local communities desperately seek new funds through bond issues and new taxes as programs are being cut. The local people are being asked to pay for the war boondoggles of the rich—private profit, public decay.

Unless everyone gets behind a national popular movement to end the wars, and to severely restrict the Pentagon budget, we as a nation will simply keep eroding into what we call a "Third World" country where a very tiny minority control the lives of the vast majority. A neofeudalism, if you will. Fewer and fewer local residents will be able to afford increased property taxes imposed by bond issues or other local tax increases to keep local jurisdictions afloat as the war economy sucks the nation dry.

War is a local issue! If and when people understand this we the people possess a political opportunity to reclaim our people's republic. Short of that, we collapse while on our knees with hardly a whisper.

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Friday, January 14, 2005
Leading Human Rights Solicitor "Shut Down” by Law Society
Society claims ‘substantial history of complaints going back ... years’
Exclusive report by Sean Mc Aughey
Sources and friends close to lawyer Padraigin Drinan are saying the official reasons behind an enforced closure by the Law Society of the offices of Ireland’s foremost human rights defender and solicitor remains wide open for damaging speculation.

Former clients who contacted the Law Society say they were immediately re-directed to a voice mail inbox belonging to the Deputy Secretary; Suzanne Bryson who was unavailable.

On Wednesday a Law Society spokesman was asked if Ms Drinan’s certificate to practice been fully revoked. The spokesman described the measures against Ms Drinan as a “removal of her provision to practice.” and added that a full Law Society press statement on the matter would be available.

In a statement released on Friday, January 14, 2005, the Law Society said: “Ms Drinan has a substantial history of complaints going back a number of years. These have led to a series of decisions by the Law Society to bring proceedings against Ms Drinan before the Disciplinary Tribunal, established for this purpose by the Solicitors (NI) Order 1976, as amended. The Disciplinary Tribunal operates independently of the Law Society.”

However, no clarrification of the substance or nature of the ‘complaint’ was given. The statement continues: “Complaints against Ms Drinan came before the Disciplinary Tribunal in May 2004. On considering the evidence presented by the Law Society, the Tribunal found that the complaints had been duly substantiated. It may be helpful to explain that in addition to imposing certain fines and costs penalties, the Tribunal Order records as follows; ‘The Tribunal noted with regret the Respondent’s (Ms Drinan) previous history of proven complaints before the Tribunal which were all similar to the complaints today. They formed the view that the Respondent was not functioning at any acceptable level as a single practitioner and that in the interest of the public and the Respondent herself, they are ordering that she is restricted from practising on her own account or in partnership. She may accept employment from another solicitor provided they have at least seven years post qualification experience. The Tribunal also orders that she shall not work in any practice using her name on the title or as one of the principals.’ The Tribunal were prepared to defer the implemantation of the Order for a reasonable period to allow Ms Drinan to make alternative arrangements. This deferment initially applied until September 2004 with a subsequent deferral to a date than fixed by the Tribunal at 6 January 2005.

“As and from that date, Ms Drinan is not entitled as a matter of law to practise on her own account. If she continues to do so, she will not only be in breach of the Order of the Tribunal, but will also be committing a criminal offence. In these circumstances the Law Society is under an obligation to see that the terms of the Tribunal Order are complied with.

“Ms Drinan is not inhibited from practice as an employed solicitor.

“The inability of Ms Drinan to continue in practice on her own account is not an action taken by the Law Society but is a function of an Order made by the Disciplanary Tribunal. Ms Drinan has not to our knowedge at any time sought to contest or appeal the Orders made by the Disciplinary Tribunal.” The statement was signed by Don Anderson, for the Law Society.

An informed source close to Ms Drinan said it was believed that as a result of her civil rights involvement she was seen by the establishment as an embarrassing and troublesome ‘thorn in the side’ who had done nothing wrong other than to try to provide legal advice to those who could not otherwise afford it.

IRSP spokesperson, Terry Harkin described Ms Drinan as “someone who was on par with James Connolly especially in terms of helping the poor and the voiceless all over Ireland” and he asked “where will the most vulnerable in our society get legal help now ”?

“Padraigin Drinan,” he continued, “is a once in a lifetime heroine who ought to be recognized and elevated for her tireless work and not punished, bullied and intimidated by some of her colleagues, who have left her open to a humiliating whisper campaign. ”

A Spokesperson for the Anti Racism Network described The Law Society’s actions as “questionable” and she asked where was the Law Society’s energy when legal immigrants were imprisoned with their children, being bombed from their home or loosing their legs due to frostbite. The immigrants she said are only a small example of the many communities throughout Ireland who are indebted to Padraigin Drinan. ”

Padraigin Drinan speaking from her Belfast office said: “At this stage it appears that I am accused of being a poor business manager but not guilty of any financial impropriety. I have been instructed also that I must amalgamate with other solicitors. ”

But she added: ”I am heartened by the hundreds of calls from well wishers and supporters from all over the world including a call from among others, Gareth Pierce.”
background items

Thursday, 28 October 2004
Féile an Phobail, West Belfast
By Sean Mc Aughey
The West Belfast community was demonised for many years by both the establishment and the media and this reached fever pitch in March 1988 as a result of the tragic events which followed the SAS killings of three unarmed IRA volunteers in Gibraltar. In reaction to this unparalleled negative and damaging portrayal of the West Belfast community, local groups and their MP, Gerry Adams, decided to organise a festival. Its purpose was to celebrate the positive side of the community, its creativity, its energy, its passion for the arts, and for sport. And it aimed at providing events and entertainment at a price that the majority of the community could afford.

*1 The West Belfast Féile which is entering its 17th year is the largest community (people) powered festival in Europe. It is internationally regarded as a ten day long festival "on par" with the best community festivals in England and Ireland. The Féile includes, a colourful carnival parade, discussions, debates, concerts, exhibitions, children's events, i.e street parties, bouncy castles etc, sports, literary and drama events, Féile radio, widespread community events on a street to street, pub to pub basis and various political, cultural or historical tours and walks.

The Festival aims to provide events of interest for everyone at a price that the majority of the community could afford while simultaneously serving also to elevate a positive West Belfast self image contolled by its people despite the forces acting against the people and the official resources denied them. The Féile continues to grow into a major tourist attraction. The August Féile continues also to easily attract "top of the range" participation from local and International entertainers, artists and commentators. This year's Féile line up included, Arthur Scargill leader in 1984 of the National Union of Mineworkers presenting The 10th Annual Frank Cahill Memorial Lecture and The P.J. McGrory Memorial Lecture - Long Road to the Truth delivered by Mrs Geraldine Finucane who was shot and wounded at the time of her husband Pat's, assassination 15 years ago. Top British band Big Brovaz, Irish Traditionalist singer/songwriter, Donal Luney and Andy Irvine, Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott, novelist Roddy Doyle, comedian Rich Hall and Bob Marley`s band, the Wailers demonstrating that the Feile is going from strength to strength and most definitely growing in popularity not only among the audience but the artists, as well. The choice of August for the Féile by the West Belfast Community and many other Republican communities like Ardoyne and New Lodge is pertinent. Because, August 9th 1971, brought a re-introduction to nationalist areas of widespread house raids, arrests and imprisonment without trial or a release date. The yearly anniversary of Interment was previously marked in the community by a display of bonfires of defiance. But, the bonfires provided the RUC and British Army with the ideal opportunity for provaction and delivered in British terms "a fool proof" excuse for the entire "Mechanism of the State" to "justify" any injury or death perpetrated by State violence and especially the use of plastic bullets, when framed within the same context of a nationalist bonfire.

Teenager shot dead returning home from Internment night bonfire.
The DPP refused to initiate proceedings on the grounds that it was impossible to establish which RUC officer fired the fatal shot. The jury found that at the time of Seamus' killing that he was not engaged in any rioting and that there was no rioting at the time of his killing.

*2 "The fatal shot" that killed 15 year-old Seamus Duffy from the Oldpark area was fired from a passing RUC patrol on August 9th 1989. The plastic bullet crushed his heart and tore a four-inch laceration in his left lung.

*3 Seamus Duffy was returning home from an internment night bonfire and there was no rioting in the area. The initial RUC response indicates according to The Relatives for Justice group, the RUC believed Seamus Duffy did not die as a result of being hit by a plastic bullet and that they would appoint a 'top policeman' to investigate the exact circumstances of the death.

*4 Secretary of State, Peter Brooke said: 'There are no grounds for suggesting their use (Plastic Baton Rounds fired by RUC officers) last night was other than in accordance with the law'.

*5 Darkness
Over a very short period of time, bonfire culture in most Republican communities has been easily transformed to the community-orientated ethos that permeates participative festivals. Bonfires were already long since stigmatised as negative and destructive by the collective wisdom and experience of the community and most especially by those members of the community who vividly recall how life once was before the bright lights and colour of the Féile. A time, when, West Belfast was in darkness because the various combatants shut down the streetlights and fear was a way of life. The local dogs barking were for those of us making our way home hoping to avoid a beating from the British Army patrols, a most welcomed concert of sorts, alerting with pin point accuracy the exact location of the four, eight, 16 or 32 blackened faces of the British Army foot patrols in the area.

“Riddles' Field" - Daddy Makes A Dream Comes True (Thanks to the Féile)
When I reflect on the quality of life my teenage children are currently enjoying and compare this to my teenage days, I owe a lot to the efforts of the many people behind the West Belfast Féile who are continually raising the esteem of our people and enhancing our quality of life. There is clearly a massive gulf between my teenage days and that of my teenage children today in terms of confidence, opportunities and simply attending a concert by their favourite "pop stars" in West Belfast. This in itself remains a source of immense joy and pride. Especially, when I think about what used to be -"Riddles' Field", (Beechmount Leisure Centre) and look at the here and now concert venue, where teenage dreams are fulfilled. My daughters were in seventh heaven a few years ago at the Féile in "Riddles' Field" during a Westlife concert and then the Atomic Kitten concert. My teenagers' expectations are obviously higher today and undoubtedly more realistically obtainable thanks to the Féile. My children's confidence is part of the vibrancy that makes West Belfast Féile buzz. This buzz has been harnessed, channelled and most importantly of all, encouraged by the various F éile projects and events.

A Teenage Nightmare I hold by comparison to my children, a teenage tale of woe. One of my favourite Rock n' Roll bands in 1975, Showaddywaddy had agreed to play in Belfast at the ABC. I was all set for my face to face with my teenage "Top of the Pops" idols and unfortunately this was as near as I got. Showaddywaddy pulled the plug on the Belfast tour when news surrounding the murder of the Miami Showband reached their agents. I was shattered. The people responsible for killing the Miami Showband musicians were pro-British and some were also members of a British Army Regiment. Showaddywaddy were a Sheffield Band.

On the 31st July 1975, a Loyalist gang murdered three members of the Miami Showband. Tony Geraghty (23), Fran O'Toole (29), Brian McCoy (33). Two of the UVF gang were also killed, Harris Boyle, described as a UVF Major from Portadown, and Wesley Somerville, described as a UVF Lieutenant from Caledon, Co Tyrone. Two men from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were jailed for 35 years in connection with the murders of members of the Miami Showband. The Miami Massacre, a part of our past, had also a lasting impact for many engaged in the Arts and for one Belfast man the Miami murders would bring about his film debut.

Angel - Galway Film Fleadh Michael Dwyer: The thing that triggered Angel was the murder of the Miami Showband musicians...
Neil Jordan: Kind of. I was playing in a band and we used to travel up and down to Belfast and Derry and places like that and we'd be driving back late at night. It was in the 1980's when all those sectarian killings were happening. It was very black; you always presumed it wouldn't happen to you - that you were safe - and when the Miami were shot it seemed quite shocking. They were innocent and I felt totally numb I suppose and that put images in my mind. I like to write things with people in mind and I had written Angel with Stephen Rea in mind

*6 How are ye Jeffrey? - West Belfast Féile Talks Back
During the Féile Talks Back debate, a former IRA POW, Seanna Walsh—who was sentenced to twenty-two years when he was caught making explosives and mortar bombs— courteously welcomed The DUP's Jeffery Donaldson to the Féile debate. Mr Walsh then asked: “Jeffrey, when you talk about the IRA's capacity to make war, I can go out of here tonight with a couple of hundred pounds in my pocket and purchase the equipment to make Baltic Exchange/Canary Wharf type bombs. How are you going to remove that capacity? "

*7 The DUP man addressed the question in repetitive mantra. Seanna Walsh also said: "The point I was making was that I can produce homemade explosives and mortars. You cannot decommission that knowledge. What is more important is our commitment to peace and to politics. But all of the initiatives taken by the IRA to date have had absolutely no effect on the unionist community. Trust is a two-way street. We suspect that at the root of it unionists cannot deal with equality and sharing power and that the idea of republicans being in government was a bridge too far for them. Everything else is an excuse not to go there. ”

*8 The IRA and its weapons is being used as an excuse
About 24 hours after the Festival debate, Mr Gerry Adams, The West Belfast MP and President of Sinn Fein told PA News:
“ While I would not like to minimise what may be genuine fears and concerns within unionism, I do think the issue of the IRA and its weapons is being used an excuse.” The Sinn Fein president commended Mr Donaldson on his appearance at the festival and paid tribute to his colleagues on the committee, which organised the event. Mr Adams also said he would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area.

*9 Community Empowerment
Mr Adams sums up the spirit of the Féile in a sentence by saying he = would like to take part in a similar event in a loyalist area. Community festivals bring as in this case politicians face to face with the voter in the voter's home territory. The Shankill Road and East Belfast "Think Tanks" did likewise to enpower the community and expose the politicians. The voice of the community can be best heard at festival time.

References and sources used in this article:
*1 http://www.feilebelfast.com/ourhistory/
*2 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*3 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*4 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*5 http://www.relativesforjustice.com/victims/seamus_duffy.htm
*6 http://www.iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/fleadhjordan.htm
*7 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*8 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3543518.stm
*9 http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3D3300413

by Sean Mc Aughey