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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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USA Presidential Election 2024
06 Nov 2024; posted by the editor - Opinion, United States

The world outside of the USA formed and helped develop the United States into what it now is.

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Osama Bin Laden: unasked and unanswered questions printable version

07 May 2011: posted by the editor - International

By Fazal Rahman
There have been many reports of Bin Laden's death in the past. The recent report of his alleged killing-an illegal and unethical murder, by any authentic standards, if it actually took place-and murder of some other innocent Muslims, by the US Navy SEALs, on the attacked compound in Pakistan, raises some fundamental questions that are briefly examined in this article.

Osama Bin Laden: unasked and unanswered questions about the claims of his killing by the US military

This piece was written on May 3, 2011, on the basis of information made public thus far.

A realistic scenario of a dialogue between President of the United States and American people:

American people to President Obama:

We have huge problems that need to be solved:

1. Twenty percent of our workforce is unemployed.
2. More than 50 million of us have no health insurance and at least 45,000 of us die annually because of that.
3. Forty three million of us are so poor that we cannot feed ourselves and have to rely on food stamps.
4. Twenty-two percent of our children suffer poverty and hunger.
5. We have the greatest inequality of wealth and income in the industrialized world.
6. Our country is saddled with $14 trillion national debt, which is breaking its back.
7. Our democracy has turned into a joke, into plutocracy, ruled by the big corporations.
8. We have the largest, most pervasive, and all encompassing networks of surveillance and spying in the world, a large part of which is being used against us.
9. Our wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya are draining our resources and adding to the national debt and our misery.

How are you going to solve these problems?

President Obama to the American people:

My fellow Americans! Don't you see what I have accomplished? I have continued the occupation of Iraq, expanded the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and started a new one in Libya. I have killed Osama Bin Laden. I have killed Gadhafi's son and his grand children. I promise that I will soon kill him too. If all that doesn't give you a high, what will? I am feeling at the top of the world. You should too. Spending $1.5 trillion was well worth it. I am ready to spend $2 trillion more. We will definitely get Mullah Omar with that. Just imagine, what a high we will get from that! The facts you have brought to my attention are part of democracy. You must accept these facts, unless you want dictators like Gadhafi, Castro, and Saddam Hussain, under whom all the people were enslaved by free education and free healthcare. We have already freed Iraqis from those constitutional rights and are trying to free the Libyans too. Then we will also liberate the Cubans. We will spread our democracy and let people enjoy the sadomasochistic pleasures of pursuit of happiness, liberty, and justice, enshrined in our constitution, everywhere. Our founding fathers left these vague on purpose so that no undemocratic persons will fill them up with substance. The main thing is the psychological high, one gets from these. Backward people just do not know what they are missing.

American people: Loud chants: USA, USA, USA. Home of the Brave, Land of the Free. We are the best. We are free.

The above scenario is quite realistic. This whole country is exploding with euphoria over the claimed killing of Osama Bin Laden (OBL) in Abottabad, Pakistan, a cool and hilly town, where Pakistan Military Academy is located. That whole area is crowded with the military personnel and activities. Hardly anyone is even mentioning the brutal and bestial murder of four other innocent people by the Navy SEALs, on the compound where assault took place, because they were not celebrities, and therefore they do not count.

Naturally, the first question that arises is: Why would OBL choose that location for hiding, where the danger of his detection and to his safety was so great? With a big reward on his head and Pakistani military and security establishments-allied with the US, in its so-called war on terrorism-after him, as the biggest prize, as well as being a foreigner, with very distinct physical features, it would have been impossible for him to escape detection in that area. He was a well educated and intelligent man and was not stupid. How could he have decided to reside in such a dangerous location? It has also come to light that around three dozen other people, including numerous children, were also sharing the building with OBL! If he chose to live like that, he might as well should have flown to the US and handed himself over to the CIA in its headquarters at Langley.

US President Barack Obama went on the air and announced triumphantly that, on his direction, a team of American military personnel had killed OBL in Pakistan. Then, all the news media in the US started overflowing with that news and related programs. Crowds of Americans started gathering in numerous cities around the country, celebrating OBL's death, mainly because of his alleged involvement with the tragic events of 9/11, without knowing that he had repeatedly denied any involvement with that and that there was no real evidence for that either or that the Taliban government at that time, as well as he himself, had offered to cooperate in any neutral investigation or legal trial, if some evidence was provided to them. The US government had refused to provide any such evidence and demanded that he be handed over to it. Instead, it used that pretext to invade and devastate the whole country. After OBL's denials of involvement with 9/11, some US military personnel allegedly discovered a videotape in a house, somewhere in Afghanistan, in which he is shown to say the opposite of what he had said in the live and verifiable interviews earlier, admitting that he was behind 9/11. However, many American and other experts and researchers, including Professor David Ray Griffin (1-3), have concluded that the video was fake, after thorough examination and analysis. Later, periodically, some other videos kept on propping up that were also shown to be inconsistent with OBL's personality, speech behaviour, and some unique physical features. Among others, Sue Reid published an excellent article in the British newspaper, Daily Mail, on September 11, 2009 (4), in which she compiled and analyzed various important facts in this regard.

It has been announced that after killing OBL, his body has been buried in the sea! Why was that done? That is the biggest and most important question, which has not been pursued by any of the mainstream media in any depth. The explanations given by the administration in this regard are grotesque attempts to pooh pooh this most important matter, e.g., respect for Islamic tradition of burial within 24 hours, difficulty of finding a country that would accept his remains, and fear of turning his grave on land into a shrine for his followers etc. This author has family in a conservative part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan. When his mother died, one of the sisters was in UK. The religious leaders there advised us that it was consistent with Islamic practices to postpone the burial until that sister arrived. We put the body in cold storage for three days and buried it after her arrival.

After slaughtering 3 millions of them in Iraq and Afghanistan; shattering to pieces all the intricate fabrics of their lives and societies; kidnapping, torturing, and raping them at Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and Guantanamo prisons; all of a sudden, the US has developed such an exquisite and pious sensitivity towards Muslims and their religion that after killing one of them, it wants to strictly adhere to its own version of the Islamic rituals of burial! An amazing miracle that leaves the human mind and conscience in a traumatized state!

It is self-evident that if OBL was indeed killed in the American military raid, his body would be essential to prove that. Without that, no such claims can be verified or substantiated conclusively. So far, even any pictures or videos have not been made public. Even if they are at a later stage, these would be no substitute for the evidence of the body. And these can also be faked.

Another important question that arises is: Why was no effort made to arrest him, instead of killing him? When he was so isolated, it would have been very easy to arrest him. The pretext given for not doing so is also absurd in the extreme, i-e., concern for the safety of American attackers, who were highly trained and equipped with all kinds of high tech weapons. OBL had no chance against them and their numbers. Some eyewitness reports coming from Pakistanis in the area reveal that Pakistani military forces had surrounded the compound some time before the US assault on it and had also arranged a blackout of that whole area. That contradicts the assertions of US military and government sources, which have claimed that there was no involvement of Pakistani security forces in the operation and the US team carried it out all by itself. Certainly, OBL would have been the most valuable source of information about 9/11, other alleged acts of terrorism, Al Qaeda, Taliban, and other groups, if he was captured alive. No one, with even a minimum of common sense and intelligence, can deny that. So, why was no effort made to arrest him alive? Is it because he was not there?

President Obama is asking the American people, media, and rest of the world to take his word for it, not only not producing any evidence, but destroying it in the sea! If OBL's body was to be buried, why was it not buried on the land? Is it because it could be extracted from there for proof and evidence of his identity? Why was it thrown into the sea, from where it can never be recovered?

These are the most important and obvious questions that must come to the mind of any person, who has any critical and free thinking left in him/her. That these are not being raised shows the destruction of critical and free thought in the mass mental apparatus of this society, which Herbert Marcuse, the great German-American philosopher, had described and analyzed in profound depth in his most important work, One-Dimensional Man (5). After the throwing of OBL's body into the sea, it will now be impossible for Obama and his administration to provide any credible or truthful answers to these questions.

Related to the above, other questions also arise:

If OBL was not killed in the raid, then where is he and who was actually killed in that compound in Pakistan? Did he die earlier? In regard to the latter, did Obama and others in the administration know about his earlier death? OBL was suffering from kidney and other health problems. He needed dialysis on regular basis, which would have been very difficult to arrange in remote mountainous areas where he was located after 9/11. Professor David Ray Griffin (1, 3), on the basis of all the available evidence, concluded that he had probably died sometime during the middle of December 2001. BBC aired a program "Conspiracy Files: Osama Bin Laden ¨C Dead or Alive?" on January 10, 2010, on the same topic (6). Some Taliban eyewitness accounts also support that conclusion. He was appearing quite weak and pale during 2001.It is quite likely that his health problems killed him much earlier than his alleged killing by the US Navy SEALS and CIA. on May1, 2011.

In relation to the first question, it is very unlikely that OBL is alive and will show up somewhere. It would be politically suicidal for Obama and other administration officials to take that risk. But, as far as the second question is concerned, it is very likely, almost certain, that Obama and key officials of his administration already knew about the earlier death of OBL and staged this whole drama for specific political goals and objectives, some of which are listed below:

1. Obama's public approval ratings are at their lowest levels. There is massive dissatisfaction and disillusionment among the public about his policies, character, campaign promises and their violations, and competence. He will need a miracle to have a shot at the presidency in the next elections. As he does not expect any real miracles, he has gambled big time to invent one.

2. In spite of the all out military efforts; diabolical atrocities committed against the people of Afghanistan for ten long years; and gathering 150,000 of its own, NATO's, and other client states' troops; US is losing the war there, and Taliban are getting more popular, stronger, and more aggressive and effective. It has turned out to be a huge drain on the already collapsing US economy, which is mired in profound and prolonged crisis. This year alone, it is estimated to cost $119 billion, more than double that of the war in Iraq. Both wars have become increasingly more unpopular. One of the false and laughable pretexts for this absolutely unjust and barbaric high tech imperialist war has been the pursuit of OBL. Even though, rest of the world knows the real reasons for the war-centred around the goal of control of vast energy resources in neighbouring Caspian Sea countries and Turkmenistan, and their transportation through Afghanistan and Pakistan, for marketing to other regions of the world-overwhelming majority of Americans still believes that US is there to capture or kill OBL and fight terrorism, just like they have now taken Obama's words for the facts, that, as a result of his leadership and direction, OBL has been killed. Staging this drama, at this particular stage, would enable the US to withdraw its military forces, without suffering a humiliating defeat, like that of Vietnam, and will allow it to save some part of its face, as well as exorbitant costs of the war. If the reason for gathering 150,000 troops in Afghanistan was the capture or killing of OBL, then that goal has been achieved. Viola! Now, we can come home with honour and satisfaction. That can be a very good result of this whole drama, the benefits of which will far outweigh the phoniness of the whole thing.

Postscript May 4, 2011
In his article of May 4, 2011, on Globalresearch.ca (7), Paul Joseph Watson, revealed that in April 2002, in an interview with Alex Jones, Dr. Steve R. Pieczenik, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under three different administrations, had stated that Osama Bin Laden was suffering from a degenerative genetic disease, Marfan Syndrome, and had been dead for months. He has again publicly repeated that now after the triumphant Obama False Flag Operation and has also revealed that a top US general had told him that 9/11 was also a false flag operation. He says that he is prepared to tell a federal grand jury the name of that general as well as the facts of OBL's death in December 2011. Dr. Pieczenik would be in a position to know, having personally met Bin Laden and worked with him during the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan back in the early 80¡äs.

Dr. Pieczenik said that Osama Bin Laden died in 2001, "Not because special forces had killed him, but because as a physician I had known that the CIA physicians had treated him and it was on the intelligence roster that he had marfan syndrome," adding that the US government knew Bin Laden was dead before they invaded Afghanistan.

"He died of marfan syndrome, Bush junior knew about it, the intelligence community knew about it," said Pieczenik, noting how CIA physicians had visited Bin Laden in July 2001 at the American Hospital in Dubai.

"He was already very sick from marfan syndrome and he was already dying, so nobody had to kill him," added Pieczenik, stating that Bin Laden died shortly after 9/11 in his Tora Bora cave complex (7).

This new information further substantiates the contents and positions of my article. (Fazal Rahman).

Notes
1. Griffin, D. R. Did Osama bin Laden Confess to the 9/11 Attacks, and Did He Die, in 2001?
Global Research.ca, April 30, 2010
2. Griffin, D. R. Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan? Using the McChrystal Moment to Raise a Forbidden Question. Global Research.ca, June 25, 2010
3. Griffin, D. R. Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive? Northampton, Mass.: Olive Branch , 2009.
4. Sue Reid, "Has Osama Bin Laden Been Dead for Seven Years ¨C and Are the U.S. and Britain Covering It Up to Continue War on Terror," Daily Mail, September 11, 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1212851/Has-Osama-Bin-Laden-dead-seven-years--U-S-Britain-covering-continue-war-terror.html
5. Marcuse, H. One-Dimensional Man, Beacon Press, Boston, 1964.
6. Conspiracy Files: Osama Bin Laden ¨C Dead or Alive? BBC2, January 10, 2010; available on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpqg9SF2x50).
7. Watson, P. J. Top Government Insider: Bin Laden Died In 2001, 9/11 False Flag Attack. Globalresearch.ca. May 4, 2011. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24622

* Dr. Fazal Rahman is an interdisciplinary researcher and writer. He has worked as a scientist and administrator of R & D programs in several countries, like Brazil, Lebanon, Pakistan, Zambia, US etc. He can be reached at Unpollutedfaz(at}aol.com. Article completed on May 3, 2011.

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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