Institutional denial - Northumbria Police must now tell the truth
I maintain that Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson (the SIO heading my 1999 attemped murder case) and also the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police have knowingly put forward false information, misleading and even damaging information about me to both the press and also me as the victim in this case.
I also maintain that Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson and also the Northumbria Police Chief Constable have, since my 1999 attempted murder, been party to a covered-up. The cover-up of IRA involvment in my case and also hiding the truth. It can not be right that police officers and or a police force, Northumbria Police, can be involved in a cover-up of an attempted murder which was carried out by IRA terrorist. Northumbria Police, its Special Branch and Mi5 continue to hide the truth from me as the victim in this case. I maintain that Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson, Northumbria Police Chief Constable are being influenced by political pressure.
Northumbria Police have damning evidence that lays bare the role of IRA involvment in my 1999 attempted murder. However, Northumbria Police have, since June 1999, turned a blind-eye to my attempted murder by the IRA.
Northumbria Police continue to cover-up both the events, background of the 1999 IRA attack on me and also IRA involvment in my shooting. I have a right to know the truth and I also have the right to get justice in my case. I will not rest until Northumbria Police tell the truth.
My hope is that Northumbria Police will stop their cover-up, their hiding the truth of that terrible deed that was committed by the IRA on the 17th June 1999 against me.
It is very clear that there is a hierarchy of victims in Northern Ireland, justice appears to be one eyed. Northumbria police, in my view, have failed me and they continue to do so. Northumbria Police have let me, as the victim in this case, down.
Northumbria Police's investigation into my attempted murder has been flawed from day one. As the victim I have been virtually ignored by Northumbria Police. I maintain Northumbria Police have acted unlawfully when dealing with my case(s) and that they continue to act unlawfully and have breached my Human Rights.
I will be reserving all my legal rights and I am reserving the right to take legal action against both the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police and also Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson. I hold them directly responsible for the leading role they have played in what I regard a systematic cover-up by Northumbria Police.
My disgust and mistrust of Northumbria Police Chief Constable and also Chief Superintendent Chris Thomson is such that I have no confidence whatsoever in them. I have already informed them of this many times.
There must now be an independent review into my 1999 attempted murder case. The case should also be taken over by another independent third party. The events before, during and after my shooting must now be investagated properly, openly and more importantly transparently. The role of the CPS must also be looked at
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, September 15, 2008
Rose (I would have joined the IRA) McGowan;- Director apologises for Rose McGowan's IRA comments
Friday, 19 September 2008
A director has distanced herself from comments about supporting the IRA made by an actress who stars in her latest film.
Rose McGowan sparked controversy with comments made at the world premiere of Fifty Dead Men Walking, a film based on the memoirs of Martin McGartland, an RUC Special Branch agent who infiltrated the IRA in the 1980s.
The 35-year-old American actress, whose father is Irish, said at a press conference at the Toronto Film Festival last week: ``I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100% have been in the IRA.
"My heart just broke for the cause," she told a news conference before the film's world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. "I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100 per cent have been in the IRA," she said. "Violence is not to be played out daily and provide an answer to problems, but I understand it."
McGowan plays an IRA operative in the film, which stars Sir Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess.
The producers and director of the film attempted to limit the damage caused by her comments by publicly expressing their disapproval.
There are concerns that the comments could damage the film, presently being sold around the world and to be released in the UK next month.
In a statement, they said they regret any ``distress that this (the comments) may have caused to people of Northern Ireland and particularly those who were victims of or caught up in the shocking events that existed during the Troubles.''
The comments ``were not shared, nor endorsed, by anybody associated with the production or creative elements of the film'', they said.
Director Kari Skogland said: "Rose's personal opinions of Northern Ireland do not reflect the perspective of the film in any way.
"Our goal was to present an even, non-judgmental point of view so the audience could follow the path of an informer with empathy no matter what the politics.
"We are all very proud of this thought-provoking film and are deeply indebted to the city of Belfast and Northern Ireland for giving us such a warm welcome whilst filming."
Unionist politicians have criticised McGowan for her ``foolish and offensive'' comments.
McGowan has appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and the horror film Scream, and was previously engaged to Marilyn Manson.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/director-apologises-for-rose-mcgowans-ira-comments-13978481.html?startindex=20
==========================================================================================================================
A director has distanced herself from comments about supporting the IRA made by an actress who stars in her latest film.
Rose McGowan sparked controversy with comments made at the world premiere of Fifty Dead Men Walking, a film based on the memoirs of Martin McGartland, an RUC Special Branch agent who infiltrated the IRA in the 1980s.
The 35-year-old American actress, whose father is Irish, said at a press conference at the Toronto Film Festival last week: ``I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100% have been in the IRA.
"My heart just broke for the cause," she told a news conference before the film's world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. "I imagine, had I grown up in Belfast, I would 100 per cent have been in the IRA," she said. "Violence is not to be played out daily and provide an answer to problems, but I understand it."
McGowan plays an IRA operative in the film, which stars Sir Ben Kingsley and Jim Sturgess.
The producers and director of the film attempted to limit the damage caused by her comments by publicly expressing their disapproval.
There are concerns that the comments could damage the film, presently being sold around the world and to be released in the UK next month.
In a statement, they said they regret any ``distress that this (the comments) may have caused to people of Northern Ireland and particularly those who were victims of or caught up in the shocking events that existed during the Troubles.''
The comments ``were not shared, nor endorsed, by anybody associated with the production or creative elements of the film'', they said.
Director Kari Skogland said: "Rose's personal opinions of Northern Ireland do not reflect the perspective of the film in any way.
"Our goal was to present an even, non-judgmental point of view so the audience could follow the path of an informer with empathy no matter what the politics.
"We are all very proud of this thought-provoking film and are deeply indebted to the city of Belfast and Northern Ireland for giving us such a warm welcome whilst filming."
Unionist politicians have criticised McGowan for her ``foolish and offensive'' comments.
McGowan has appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof and the horror film Scream, and was previously engaged to Marilyn Manson.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/director-apologises-for-rose-mcgowans-ira-comments-13978481.html?startindex=20
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Saturday, April 8, 2006
Martin McGartland ; Northumbria Police clumsily revealed in court during a speeding charge
Jenny McCartney
Spectator, The London
Date: Apr 8, 2006
What's one less IRA grass to the government?
In June of the same year, the IRA made a second effort to murder Martin McGartland Martin McGartland is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army informer who joined the organisation in order to pass information to British security forces. When he was discovered to be an informer, he escaped the IRA and was resettled in England. , an exceptionally courageous police agent who had succeeded in infiltrating the IRA and saving many lives. McGartland had already survived one murder attempt by the desperate means of hobbling with bound legs to a window in the Belfast tower block where he was being held by an IRA interrogation squad, and blindly propelling himself through the plate glass.
He was supplied with a new identity and relocated to the British mainland, where he lived until his original name was clumsily revealed in court during a speeding charge brought by Northumbria police. The diligent representatives of the IRA, taking a minibreak from their official ceasefire, then tracked him to his house and shot him six times at close range. McGartland miraculously survived after a long spell in intensive care.
SEE THE FULL STORY HERE:- http://www.thefreelibrary.com/What's+one+less+IRA+grass+to+the+government%3F-a01611699097
Spectator, The London
Date: Apr 8, 2006
What's one less IRA grass to the government?
In June of the same year, the IRA made a second effort to murder Martin McGartland Martin McGartland is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army informer who joined the organisation in order to pass information to British security forces. When he was discovered to be an informer, he escaped the IRA and was resettled in England. , an exceptionally courageous police agent who had succeeded in infiltrating the IRA and saving many lives. McGartland had already survived one murder attempt by the desperate means of hobbling with bound legs to a window in the Belfast tower block where he was being held by an IRA interrogation squad, and blindly propelling himself through the plate glass.
He was supplied with a new identity and relocated to the British mainland, where he lived until his original name was clumsily revealed in court during a speeding charge brought by Northumbria police. The diligent representatives of the IRA, taking a minibreak from their official ceasefire, then tracked him to his house and shot him six times at close range. McGartland miraculously survived after a long spell in intensive care.
SEE THE FULL STORY HERE:- http://www.thefreelibrary.com/What's+one+less+IRA+grass+to+the+government%3F-a01611699097
Saturday, June 5, 2004
Padraig (Podraig) Wilson IRA terrorist and Martin McGartland the undercover agent inside the IRA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Padraig (Podraig) Wilson IRA terrorist and Martin McGartland the undercover agent inside the IRA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IRA ARMS CHIEF SENTENCED ME TO DIE
A KEY figure in the Northern Ireland peace process is today named by former Special Branch agent Martin McGartland as the IRA punishment chief who ordered his execution.
Padraig Wilson, who is set to lead the IRA team negotiating disarmament, headed the terrorist organisation's intelligence and discipline operations in Belfast in the mid-1980s.
McGartland, who infiltrated the IRA on the Special Branch's behalf, reveals in the Sunday Mirror today how he went to meet Wilson at Sinn Fein headquarters in 1991 - but was faced, instead, with a punishment squad
who took him away for interrogation and execution. He escaped by jumping from a third-floor window.
Related Results
Wilson, 42, still a prisoner at the Maze but is expected to be released within weeks, was elected to handle the decommissioning talks at an IRA Army Council meeting two weeks ago in the Irish Republic.
Wilson is said to have met Canadian General John de Chastelain, head of the International Decommissioning Commission, in Dundalk yesterday, to start talks on handing over weapons.
Sinn Fein officials refused to confirm Wilson's role. One said such a role would be "an enormous, and perhaps, unfair burden on a prisoner". But security sources said they were expecting the IRA to put up a "smokescreen".
Two priests from Clonard monastery in West Belfast, who set up a secret communications channel between the IRA and the Irish government in the early 1990s, could become involved in the talks.
The IRA is considering asking Fr Alec Reid and Fr Gerry Reynolds to act as independent decommissioning verifiers.
Republicans describe Wilson as one of the most respected IRA leaders and a moderate voice among hardliners.
He was jailed for 24 years in 1991 after being caught with a car bomb in Belfast City centre.
In the mid-1980s, Wilson joined the IRA Belfast brigade staff. His closest ally was David Adams, the cousin of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.
As head of its so-called Civil Administration Team, or punishment squad, Wilson had the power over life and death, sanctioning vicious attacks on petty criminals and taking charge of the hunt for Special Branch informers. One he uncovered was Martin McGartland.
In 1991, suspicion fell on McGartland after operations he was involved in were either foiled by the security forces or had to be abandoned because of defective weapons.
McGartland, then aged 21, had spent the previous two years working with Davy Adams, and also in the pay of Special Branch.
One August morning he was called to a meeting with Wilson.
After clearance from his handlers, McGartland went to Connolly House on Andersonstown Road, Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland HQ.
But Wilson was not present and McGartland was taken to a flat in the Twinbrook estate where he later jumped 40ft from a third floor window to cheat death at the hands of an IRA execution team.
Within months, Wilson was caught with an undercar booby trap bomb and sent to the Maze.
He gave the first insight into IRA thinking on disarmament a year ago in a letter to a Belfast newspaper. It said he believed that "voluntary decommissioning" could happen once political institutions were in place.
Now the world holds its breath to see if decommissioning will go through before the May 2000 deadline.
Link; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19991205/ai_n14497588/
Padraig (Podraig) Wilson IRA terrorist and Martin McGartland the undercover agent inside the IRA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IRA ARMS CHIEF SENTENCED ME TO DIE
A KEY figure in the Northern Ireland peace process is today named by former Special Branch agent Martin McGartland as the IRA punishment chief who ordered his execution.
Padraig Wilson, who is set to lead the IRA team negotiating disarmament, headed the terrorist organisation's intelligence and discipline operations in Belfast in the mid-1980s.
McGartland, who infiltrated the IRA on the Special Branch's behalf, reveals in the Sunday Mirror today how he went to meet Wilson at Sinn Fein headquarters in 1991 - but was faced, instead, with a punishment squad
who took him away for interrogation and execution. He escaped by jumping from a third-floor window.
Related Results
Wilson, 42, still a prisoner at the Maze but is expected to be released within weeks, was elected to handle the decommissioning talks at an IRA Army Council meeting two weeks ago in the Irish Republic.
Wilson is said to have met Canadian General John de Chastelain, head of the International Decommissioning Commission, in Dundalk yesterday, to start talks on handing over weapons.
Sinn Fein officials refused to confirm Wilson's role. One said such a role would be "an enormous, and perhaps, unfair burden on a prisoner". But security sources said they were expecting the IRA to put up a "smokescreen".
Two priests from Clonard monastery in West Belfast, who set up a secret communications channel between the IRA and the Irish government in the early 1990s, could become involved in the talks.
The IRA is considering asking Fr Alec Reid and Fr Gerry Reynolds to act as independent decommissioning verifiers.
Republicans describe Wilson as one of the most respected IRA leaders and a moderate voice among hardliners.
He was jailed for 24 years in 1991 after being caught with a car bomb in Belfast City centre.
In the mid-1980s, Wilson joined the IRA Belfast brigade staff. His closest ally was David Adams, the cousin of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams.
As head of its so-called Civil Administration Team, or punishment squad, Wilson had the power over life and death, sanctioning vicious attacks on petty criminals and taking charge of the hunt for Special Branch informers. One he uncovered was Martin McGartland.
In 1991, suspicion fell on McGartland after operations he was involved in were either foiled by the security forces or had to be abandoned because of defective weapons.
McGartland, then aged 21, had spent the previous two years working with Davy Adams, and also in the pay of Special Branch.
One August morning he was called to a meeting with Wilson.
After clearance from his handlers, McGartland went to Connolly House on Andersonstown Road, Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland HQ.
But Wilson was not present and McGartland was taken to a flat in the Twinbrook estate where he later jumped 40ft from a third floor window to cheat death at the hands of an IRA execution team.
Within months, Wilson was caught with an undercar booby trap bomb and sent to the Maze.
He gave the first insight into IRA thinking on disarmament a year ago in a letter to a Belfast newspaper. It said he believed that "voluntary decommissioning" could happen once political institutions were in place.
Now the world holds its breath to see if decommissioning will go through before the May 2000 deadline.
Link; http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19991205/ai_n14497588/
Monday, June 24, 2002
ACPO COVER-UP NORTHUMBRIA POLICE, Mi5, CPS AND BRITISH GOVERNMENT - MARTIN MCGARTLAND - Marty McGartland, IRA Shooting
Taken From Book, Fifty Dead Men Walking, by Martin McGartland;-
On Thursday morning in June 1999 I unlocked the car door, sat inside the car and started the engine. But before I could close the door I sensed someone was nearby. I looked up, saw this man wearing a green coat with a gun pointing at me. Instinctively, I lifted my right arm to protect myself. A split second later I felt two thuds hit my right side, the shock reverberating through my body.
I knew in that instant that this gunman was a Provo assassin and from the impact the bullets made on my body I guessed he was using a heavy calibre round, probably a 9mm fired from an automatic. But thank God my brain was still working and I knew that I had to stop him shooting me again. I knew he would go for my head; I knew he would have been told exactly where to target and what to do.
The power of the shots had thrown my body across the car seat to the passenger side and the gunman stretched out his arm so that his gun was close to my head. Before he could pull the trigger I somehow managed to grab the barrel of the gun with my left hand and it went off, the bullet ripping through my hand and lodging in my stomach.
I tried to keep hold of the gun. Something inside my head told me that I had to keep hold of that gun if I was to survive. I wanted to turn the gun so that if he pulled the trigger he would shoot himself. But my strength was fading fast. I felt suddenly powerless, almost at his mercy. I tried to hang on to the gun but I couldn’t. With a concerted tug he managed to wrench the gun from my hand. At that instant I believed I was a dead man.
But the will to survive, to live another day, took over and something stirred deep inside me. I wasn’t finished yet. I tried to lunge towards him again, to grab the gun, but I simply didn’t have the strength. He stepped back a pace and fired four more times hitting me twice in the chest, in the stomach and in the top of the leg.
I heard the ‘tap-tap’ of the automatic and two bullets thudded into my chest with real force. The pain surged through my body and the power of those bullets sent me sprawling backwards across the car seats. I thought he had shot me in the heart and I knew that would be curtains. Before I could sit up I heard the sound of two more ‘tap-taps’ and I felt pain in my stomach and in the top of my leg. I could do nothing to protect myself. I couldn’t move. I was now at his mercy. This was the end.
I thought in that split second that I didn’t want to die, sprawled on the front seat of a car, my body punctured by bullets from a Provo gunman. My mind flashed to the number of times I had seen others killed in this way in Northern Ireland over the years, their dead, broken bodies sprawled grotesquely in the cars they were driving. Something told me that I had to survive.
For what seemed like seconds I waited for more bullets but there were none. I looked up and he had gone, disappeared from sight. Convinced that he had carried out his mission, certain that I was dead, the bastard had fled.
I realised that grabbing that gun had so disorientated the Provo gunman that he panicked. I knew the Prove orders – always shoot people in the head because then we know they’re dead men. And dead men can’t talk.
It took me a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts. I guessed he wouldn’t return for he must have thought that with seven rounds inside me from something like a 9mm automatic I hadn’t a hope in hell of surviving. I wasn’t too sure myself at that stage. Now the pain began to take over, wracking my chest, my side, my stomach and my leg. I looked at my thumb hanging by a thread and repeated over and over, ‘fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck’. Somehow, swearing like that helped me get my head together.
I told myself that I was alive and that if I could stay alive until I got to hospital I would be okay. But how the hell could I get to hospital like this? I thought of trying to drive and then told myself I was being stupid. I hoped to hell someone had heard the sound of shots.
As I struggled to get out of the car, to get help, I felt again the thudding impact of the bullets each time they hit my body, knocking me backwards, knocking the stuffing out of me, preventing me from lunging at him and getting the gun. I managed to pull myself out of the car and then I collapsed onto the ground. I knew I had been shot six or seven times, but I was still breathing, though blood was pumping from my chest, my side and my stomach and my thumb looked as though it had been shot away.
My only fear was that I would lie in that garage and bleed to death. I put my arm across my chest to try and stop the blood gushing out but it was everywhere. I wondered if the Prove bastard had hit my heart or a main artery and realised that I had to stay conscious. I tried to feel my heart to see if it was okay and felt it pumping away. But I worried in case all the blood was being pumped out of my body rather than round my arteries.
I kept telling myself that whatever happened I must not fall asleep though I felt like closing my eyes and drifting off into oblivion. I kept talking to myself, saying over and over again, ‘If you fall asleep you will never wake again. If you fall unconscious you will simply die. Now, for fuck’s sake keep awake.’
And then I felt pain. A minute or so must have passed since the Provo bastard ran off, and, until that moment there had been little pain. Now the pain wracked my body, my chest, my side, my stomach, my arm, my hand. Shit, it hurt. I gritted my teeth to try and stop the pain hurting so much but I couldn’t. I kept talking to myself, telling myself that I could handle the pain as long as I lived. I tried telling myself that the pain wasn’t that bad but it was getting to me. I just wanted to curl up and sleep.
I also realised that if I didn’t get to hospital quickly I would die. I tried to shout for help but the words wouldn’t come. Somehow I couldn’t find the strength to shout for help, only moans came from my throat. Alone in that garage, with the blood pouring out of my body and with my chest, side and stomach pumping blood through my clothes and on to the floor, I felt my life was over. The bastard Provos had got their revenge.
Then I heard voices shouting ‘Marty’ and it was the most glorious sound of my entire life. Now there was hope. I managed to open my eyes and through blurred vision I recognised my neighbours, the Connon family, bending over me asking if I was alright.
Jesus, it was good to see them; I could have cried when I realised they had come to the rescue; had come to help me. I knew the whole family. They were good, honest people and I knew in that instant that they would help me and save me. Somewhere in my mind I recalled that their elder son Adam, aged around eighteen, had studied first aid and that his mother Andrea was something to do with a hospital.
I heard them asking me questions and I can’t recall if I replied or not. My memory was going and so was my brain. I think I murmured ‘fucking Provos’.
‘Keep quiet, stay still,’ Adam said. ‘An ambulance is on the way. Just lie still and you’ll be okay.’
Adam took off my T-shirt and someone ran off and returned with cling film which he wrapped around my chest and my side in an effort to stem the bleeding. I remember him stuffing stocks into my wounds trying to stop the flow of blood that was everywhere. I recall his mother Andrea cradling my head in her arms, talking to me, soothing me, keeping me conscious as we waited for the ambulance. I owe my life to that family and particularly Adam. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking I would be dead.
The next thing I remember was waking in hospital some 48 hours later, drifting in and out of consciousness. My mother Kate, sister Lizzie and brother Joseph were there standing around my bed and I wondered why they were there as though this was all part of a dream. I couldn’t understand what they were doing there, standing at the end of my bed looking at me. I asked if I was going to live. They gave me the answer I wanted to hear and I drifted once more into unconsciousness.
Five days after the shooting I was still in intensive care guarded round the clock by seven armed police officers, all wearing body armour. Ten days later I was moved from hospital to a safe house but I was still under armed guard. For two years I had pleaded with the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary Jack Straw to give me some protection but they had always refused, saying I was in no danger from the IRA. They even refused to give me any CCTV system to check outside my house for any suspicious strangers.
And yet my former friends in Northern Ireland’s Special Branch knew differently. They knew my life was still under threat even though there was a so-called cease fire, even though peace talks were due to start within days, attended by both Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Aherne. The Belfast SB knew I was still high on the IRA’s death list. But the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary chose to ignore their advice.
If they had listened to those senior officers who knew the minds of those hard-line IRA activists, I would never have been shot because I would have had some protection. I was never cavalier about my security. I always knew that sometime, somewhere, they would have another go at me. And I was determined to make sure they didn’t get me.
After the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed in 1998 I had high hopes that one day I would be able to lead a normal, ordinary life; get a proper job, enjoy my life a little without the constant worry of waiting for the unexpected, the knock at the door, a bullet in the back or a gunman waiting by the garage to kill me. The longer the peace deal was intact the more my hopes rose.
Then Eamonn Collins, a self-confessed IRA killer who turned against the terrorist movement, was murdered by the Provos. At the time of his shooting I made a statement saying, ‘Now I feel like I am waiting for someone to come to my house and shoot me.’
I tackled Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams during a radio talk show earlier this year asking him when Sinn Fein/IRA were going to allow people like me to return in safety to Northern Ireland without fear of reprisals. His answer was evasive. That too made me realise that I had to keep my wits about me.
I heard in May this year that MI5 had warned senior politicians, including several former Northern Ireland Secretaries, to take extra care over security for they feared the Provos were intent on launching a new wave of violence. But no one warned me.
My Ma told me when she saw me lying in the hospital with bullet wounds all over my body, ‘Marty, you can’t go on like this. You’ve got to get away. You know the Provos will never give up trying to kill you, peace or no peace.’
I know she’s right; my ma was always right. Now I must persuade the Home Secretary and the Northumbria Police to listen, take note and give me some protection.
End
Ps; Within minutes of Martin's shooting, while Martin was fighting for his life, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government began a cover-up and a smear campaign against Martin McGartland, Why? Simple, they did so to save face given it was Northumbria Police and Mi5 who exposed Martin to danger after they, CPS and Mi5, took a failed malicious prosecution against him in 1987. During the case Northumbria Police read out Martin McGartland's name, home address in open court. Those details were published in UK wide newspapers. However, Northumbria Police continued to repeat the lie that Martin was safe. Martin McGartland was not safe, Mi5, Northumbria Police and CPS knew that, and he was shot 6 times by the IRA outside his home on 17th June 1999. Since then Northumbria Police have been covering-up the Martin McGartland case, covering-up for the IRA and refusing to admit in public that the IRA was involved in Martin attempted murder.
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Lots has happened since. You can read the whole story in; Fifty Dead Men Walking (Book) and Dead Man Running (Martin's second book). There has, and continues to be a Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government Cover-up, Jack Straw and home office have been involved. You can follow Martin on Facebook, Bebo and on the Martin McGartland Blogs.
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On Thursday morning in June 1999 I unlocked the car door, sat inside the car and started the engine. But before I could close the door I sensed someone was nearby. I looked up, saw this man wearing a green coat with a gun pointing at me. Instinctively, I lifted my right arm to protect myself. A split second later I felt two thuds hit my right side, the shock reverberating through my body.
I knew in that instant that this gunman was a Provo assassin and from the impact the bullets made on my body I guessed he was using a heavy calibre round, probably a 9mm fired from an automatic. But thank God my brain was still working and I knew that I had to stop him shooting me again. I knew he would go for my head; I knew he would have been told exactly where to target and what to do.
The power of the shots had thrown my body across the car seat to the passenger side and the gunman stretched out his arm so that his gun was close to my head. Before he could pull the trigger I somehow managed to grab the barrel of the gun with my left hand and it went off, the bullet ripping through my hand and lodging in my stomach.
I tried to keep hold of the gun. Something inside my head told me that I had to keep hold of that gun if I was to survive. I wanted to turn the gun so that if he pulled the trigger he would shoot himself. But my strength was fading fast. I felt suddenly powerless, almost at his mercy. I tried to hang on to the gun but I couldn’t. With a concerted tug he managed to wrench the gun from my hand. At that instant I believed I was a dead man.
But the will to survive, to live another day, took over and something stirred deep inside me. I wasn’t finished yet. I tried to lunge towards him again, to grab the gun, but I simply didn’t have the strength. He stepped back a pace and fired four more times hitting me twice in the chest, in the stomach and in the top of the leg.
I heard the ‘tap-tap’ of the automatic and two bullets thudded into my chest with real force. The pain surged through my body and the power of those bullets sent me sprawling backwards across the car seats. I thought he had shot me in the heart and I knew that would be curtains. Before I could sit up I heard the sound of two more ‘tap-taps’ and I felt pain in my stomach and in the top of my leg. I could do nothing to protect myself. I couldn’t move. I was now at his mercy. This was the end.
I thought in that split second that I didn’t want to die, sprawled on the front seat of a car, my body punctured by bullets from a Provo gunman. My mind flashed to the number of times I had seen others killed in this way in Northern Ireland over the years, their dead, broken bodies sprawled grotesquely in the cars they were driving. Something told me that I had to survive.
For what seemed like seconds I waited for more bullets but there were none. I looked up and he had gone, disappeared from sight. Convinced that he had carried out his mission, certain that I was dead, the bastard had fled.
I realised that grabbing that gun had so disorientated the Provo gunman that he panicked. I knew the Prove orders – always shoot people in the head because then we know they’re dead men. And dead men can’t talk.
It took me a couple of seconds to collect my thoughts. I guessed he wouldn’t return for he must have thought that with seven rounds inside me from something like a 9mm automatic I hadn’t a hope in hell of surviving. I wasn’t too sure myself at that stage. Now the pain began to take over, wracking my chest, my side, my stomach and my leg. I looked at my thumb hanging by a thread and repeated over and over, ‘fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck’. Somehow, swearing like that helped me get my head together.
I told myself that I was alive and that if I could stay alive until I got to hospital I would be okay. But how the hell could I get to hospital like this? I thought of trying to drive and then told myself I was being stupid. I hoped to hell someone had heard the sound of shots.
As I struggled to get out of the car, to get help, I felt again the thudding impact of the bullets each time they hit my body, knocking me backwards, knocking the stuffing out of me, preventing me from lunging at him and getting the gun. I managed to pull myself out of the car and then I collapsed onto the ground. I knew I had been shot six or seven times, but I was still breathing, though blood was pumping from my chest, my side and my stomach and my thumb looked as though it had been shot away.
My only fear was that I would lie in that garage and bleed to death. I put my arm across my chest to try and stop the blood gushing out but it was everywhere. I wondered if the Prove bastard had hit my heart or a main artery and realised that I had to stay conscious. I tried to feel my heart to see if it was okay and felt it pumping away. But I worried in case all the blood was being pumped out of my body rather than round my arteries.
I kept telling myself that whatever happened I must not fall asleep though I felt like closing my eyes and drifting off into oblivion. I kept talking to myself, saying over and over again, ‘If you fall asleep you will never wake again. If you fall unconscious you will simply die. Now, for fuck’s sake keep awake.’
And then I felt pain. A minute or so must have passed since the Provo bastard ran off, and, until that moment there had been little pain. Now the pain wracked my body, my chest, my side, my stomach, my arm, my hand. Shit, it hurt. I gritted my teeth to try and stop the pain hurting so much but I couldn’t. I kept talking to myself, telling myself that I could handle the pain as long as I lived. I tried telling myself that the pain wasn’t that bad but it was getting to me. I just wanted to curl up and sleep.
I also realised that if I didn’t get to hospital quickly I would die. I tried to shout for help but the words wouldn’t come. Somehow I couldn’t find the strength to shout for help, only moans came from my throat. Alone in that garage, with the blood pouring out of my body and with my chest, side and stomach pumping blood through my clothes and on to the floor, I felt my life was over. The bastard Provos had got their revenge.
Then I heard voices shouting ‘Marty’ and it was the most glorious sound of my entire life. Now there was hope. I managed to open my eyes and through blurred vision I recognised my neighbours, the Connon family, bending over me asking if I was alright.
Jesus, it was good to see them; I could have cried when I realised they had come to the rescue; had come to help me. I knew the whole family. They were good, honest people and I knew in that instant that they would help me and save me. Somewhere in my mind I recalled that their elder son Adam, aged around eighteen, had studied first aid and that his mother Andrea was something to do with a hospital.
I heard them asking me questions and I can’t recall if I replied or not. My memory was going and so was my brain. I think I murmured ‘fucking Provos’.
‘Keep quiet, stay still,’ Adam said. ‘An ambulance is on the way. Just lie still and you’ll be okay.’
Adam took off my T-shirt and someone ran off and returned with cling film which he wrapped around my chest and my side in an effort to stem the bleeding. I remember him stuffing stocks into my wounds trying to stop the flow of blood that was everywhere. I recall his mother Andrea cradling my head in her arms, talking to me, soothing me, keeping me conscious as we waited for the ambulance. I owe my life to that family and particularly Adam. If it hadn’t been for his quick thinking I would be dead.
The next thing I remember was waking in hospital some 48 hours later, drifting in and out of consciousness. My mother Kate, sister Lizzie and brother Joseph were there standing around my bed and I wondered why they were there as though this was all part of a dream. I couldn’t understand what they were doing there, standing at the end of my bed looking at me. I asked if I was going to live. They gave me the answer I wanted to hear and I drifted once more into unconsciousness.
Five days after the shooting I was still in intensive care guarded round the clock by seven armed police officers, all wearing body armour. Ten days later I was moved from hospital to a safe house but I was still under armed guard. For two years I had pleaded with the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary Jack Straw to give me some protection but they had always refused, saying I was in no danger from the IRA. They even refused to give me any CCTV system to check outside my house for any suspicious strangers.
And yet my former friends in Northern Ireland’s Special Branch knew differently. They knew my life was still under threat even though there was a so-called cease fire, even though peace talks were due to start within days, attended by both Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Taoiseach Bertie Aherne. The Belfast SB knew I was still high on the IRA’s death list. But the Northumbria Police and the Home Secretary chose to ignore their advice.
If they had listened to those senior officers who knew the minds of those hard-line IRA activists, I would never have been shot because I would have had some protection. I was never cavalier about my security. I always knew that sometime, somewhere, they would have another go at me. And I was determined to make sure they didn’t get me.
After the Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed in 1998 I had high hopes that one day I would be able to lead a normal, ordinary life; get a proper job, enjoy my life a little without the constant worry of waiting for the unexpected, the knock at the door, a bullet in the back or a gunman waiting by the garage to kill me. The longer the peace deal was intact the more my hopes rose.
Then Eamonn Collins, a self-confessed IRA killer who turned against the terrorist movement, was murdered by the Provos. At the time of his shooting I made a statement saying, ‘Now I feel like I am waiting for someone to come to my house and shoot me.’
I tackled Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams during a radio talk show earlier this year asking him when Sinn Fein/IRA were going to allow people like me to return in safety to Northern Ireland without fear of reprisals. His answer was evasive. That too made me realise that I had to keep my wits about me.
I heard in May this year that MI5 had warned senior politicians, including several former Northern Ireland Secretaries, to take extra care over security for they feared the Provos were intent on launching a new wave of violence. But no one warned me.
My Ma told me when she saw me lying in the hospital with bullet wounds all over my body, ‘Marty, you can’t go on like this. You’ve got to get away. You know the Provos will never give up trying to kill you, peace or no peace.’
I know she’s right; my ma was always right. Now I must persuade the Home Secretary and the Northumbria Police to listen, take note and give me some protection.
End
Ps; Within minutes of Martin's shooting, while Martin was fighting for his life, Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government began a cover-up and a smear campaign against Martin McGartland, Why? Simple, they did so to save face given it was Northumbria Police and Mi5 who exposed Martin to danger after they, CPS and Mi5, took a failed malicious prosecution against him in 1987. During the case Northumbria Police read out Martin McGartland's name, home address in open court. Those details were published in UK wide newspapers. However, Northumbria Police continued to repeat the lie that Martin was safe. Martin McGartland was not safe, Mi5, Northumbria Police and CPS knew that, and he was shot 6 times by the IRA outside his home on 17th June 1999. Since then Northumbria Police have been covering-up the Martin McGartland case, covering-up for the IRA and refusing to admit in public that the IRA was involved in Martin attempted murder.
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Lots has happened since. You can read the whole story in; Fifty Dead Men Walking (Book) and Dead Man Running (Martin's second book). There has, and continues to be a Northumbria Police, Mi5 and British Government Cover-up, Jack Straw and home office have been involved. You can follow Martin on Facebook, Bebo and on the Martin McGartland Blogs.
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Tuesday, September 25, 2001
Northumbria Police Cover Up 1999 IRA terrorist attack on Martin McGartland
Northumbria Police Cover Up 1999 IRA terrorist attack on Martin McGartland
======================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================
In January 1999, author and former IRA man turned informer Eamon Collins was beaten to death by the IRA in Newry, County Down. In May 1999, the IRA murdered Brendan 'Speedy' Fegan. They again justified their action by claiming that he was a leading drugs dealer. They shot him dead in a bar in Newry. In June 1999, the IRA murdered Paul Downey. Once again, they claimed that he had been a prominent drugs dealer. In June 1999, Martin McGartland, an RUC agent who infiltrated the IRA, narrowly escaped with his life after being shot in Whitley Bay, Northumbria, by IRA members. I have a copy of a letter sent to Mr McGartland by Northumbria police. It shows that they had arrested Henry Fitzsimmons and Scott Gary Monaghan, two well known Provisional IRA members, and that they were regarded as responsible for the attempt to kill Martin McGartland. However, even with all of that evidence, the Secretary of State considered that in the round there had no breach of the IRA ceasefire or the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
4.15 pm
In July 1999, the IRA abducted and murdered Charles Bennett, a New Lodge man. Also in July, the men arrested, and convicted in connection with the importation of arms from Florida were shown to be members of the Provisional IRA. It was proven that that activity was sanctioned at the highest level of the Provisional IRA. I will come back to that issue in my winding-up speech. Clearly, those men were members of the Provisional IRA. On the Noraid Internet site, they are described as IRA prisoners in an American jail. An article in 'GQ' magazine shows clearly the links between the Provisional IRA and those who were arrested, and asserts that they were part of an IRA gun running escapade. It is interesting that that activity was being planned at the same time as the organisation's representatives were sitting down with Senator George Mitchell and telling him how sincere they were about trying to achieve progress on decommissioning. While they were telling the senator that they were serious about decommissioning, they were importing guns from the United States to increase their stockpile of weaponry.
In August 1999, the IRA deported five men from Dungannon and one from Belfast for what they judged to be antisocial behaviour. I suppose that they consider their murdering and gunrunning to be civil and convivial. In October 2000, the IRA murdered Real IRA man, Joe O'Connor, in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. In April 2001, the IRA used the usual excuse of drug dealing to justify murdering Christopher O'Kane in Londonderry. In May 2001, the IRA again murdered someone who, it claimed, was a drug dealer. The victim, that time, was Paul Daly from Belfast. He was shot in front of his family.
In April 2001, Londonderry man, Gerald McFadden, from Rathlin Gardens in the Creggan estate was charged after he was found to have personal details of senior RUC officers. He has since been convicted of that offence. That demonstrates that the IRA was engaged in the targeting of RUC officers and that, once again, it was in contravention of the explicit requirement to use only peaceful and democratic means. In June 2001, the Provisional IRA raided Belfast docks and stole about £4 million. Also in June 2001, the IRA raided the house of an arms dealer in Athlone, County Westmeath. The attackers threatened him, tied up his wife and children, and stole over 100 shotguns, rifles and a quantity of ammunition.
In August 2001 came Colombia, another effort by the Provisional IRA to secure the peace process. I will deal with that issue in my winding-up speech. That was an added embarrassment for Sinn Féin, because all three men involved had party connections. According to the Government of their friend, Fidel Castro - to whom Mr Adams is soon going out to talk - one of the men, Connolly, was the accredited representative of Sinn Féin in Cuba and, no doubt, in South America. I have said James Monaghan was on the brigade staff at the headquarters of the Provisional IRA. He is their well known chief engineer and bomb maker. Such an individual would not have been a freelancer; he was on a mission sanctioned by the so-called Army Council of the Provisional IRA. They tried to tell us that those boys were really on holiday. I can think of more attractive places in which to holiday than the malaria-stricken jungles, where the opportunities for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to kidnap or kill must be greater than anywhere else in the world. Clearly, the Provisional IRA, at the very highest level, sanctioned that mission.
I cannot say anything about the arrest of IRA leader, Eddie Copeland, in north Belfast, as the matter is before the courts. I could have spoken of many other IRA failures to maintain its ceasefire. One wonders, after hearing that catalogue of events, what the IRA must do before the House imposes sanctions on Sinn Féin/IRA. I hope, in what may be the last act before the suspension of the Assembly, that the House will not again dodge the issue and that it will support the motion.
http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/010918d.htm
======================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================
In January 1999, author and former IRA man turned informer Eamon Collins was beaten to death by the IRA in Newry, County Down. In May 1999, the IRA murdered Brendan 'Speedy' Fegan. They again justified their action by claiming that he was a leading drugs dealer. They shot him dead in a bar in Newry. In June 1999, the IRA murdered Paul Downey. Once again, they claimed that he had been a prominent drugs dealer. In June 1999, Martin McGartland, an RUC agent who infiltrated the IRA, narrowly escaped with his life after being shot in Whitley Bay, Northumbria, by IRA members. I have a copy of a letter sent to Mr McGartland by Northumbria police. It shows that they had arrested Henry Fitzsimmons and Scott Gary Monaghan, two well known Provisional IRA members, and that they were regarded as responsible for the attempt to kill Martin McGartland. However, even with all of that evidence, the Secretary of State considered that in the round there had no breach of the IRA ceasefire or the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
4.15 pm
In July 1999, the IRA abducted and murdered Charles Bennett, a New Lodge man. Also in July, the men arrested, and convicted in connection with the importation of arms from Florida were shown to be members of the Provisional IRA. It was proven that that activity was sanctioned at the highest level of the Provisional IRA. I will come back to that issue in my winding-up speech. Clearly, those men were members of the Provisional IRA. On the Noraid Internet site, they are described as IRA prisoners in an American jail. An article in 'GQ' magazine shows clearly the links between the Provisional IRA and those who were arrested, and asserts that they were part of an IRA gun running escapade. It is interesting that that activity was being planned at the same time as the organisation's representatives were sitting down with Senator George Mitchell and telling him how sincere they were about trying to achieve progress on decommissioning. While they were telling the senator that they were serious about decommissioning, they were importing guns from the United States to increase their stockpile of weaponry.
In August 1999, the IRA deported five men from Dungannon and one from Belfast for what they judged to be antisocial behaviour. I suppose that they consider their murdering and gunrunning to be civil and convivial. In October 2000, the IRA murdered Real IRA man, Joe O'Connor, in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. In April 2001, the IRA used the usual excuse of drug dealing to justify murdering Christopher O'Kane in Londonderry. In May 2001, the IRA again murdered someone who, it claimed, was a drug dealer. The victim, that time, was Paul Daly from Belfast. He was shot in front of his family.
In April 2001, Londonderry man, Gerald McFadden, from Rathlin Gardens in the Creggan estate was charged after he was found to have personal details of senior RUC officers. He has since been convicted of that offence. That demonstrates that the IRA was engaged in the targeting of RUC officers and that, once again, it was in contravention of the explicit requirement to use only peaceful and democratic means. In June 2001, the Provisional IRA raided Belfast docks and stole about £4 million. Also in June 2001, the IRA raided the house of an arms dealer in Athlone, County Westmeath. The attackers threatened him, tied up his wife and children, and stole over 100 shotguns, rifles and a quantity of ammunition.
In August 2001 came Colombia, another effort by the Provisional IRA to secure the peace process. I will deal with that issue in my winding-up speech. That was an added embarrassment for Sinn Féin, because all three men involved had party connections. According to the Government of their friend, Fidel Castro - to whom Mr Adams is soon going out to talk - one of the men, Connolly, was the accredited representative of Sinn Féin in Cuba and, no doubt, in South America. I have said James Monaghan was on the brigade staff at the headquarters of the Provisional IRA. He is their well known chief engineer and bomb maker. Such an individual would not have been a freelancer; he was on a mission sanctioned by the so-called Army Council of the Provisional IRA. They tried to tell us that those boys were really on holiday. I can think of more attractive places in which to holiday than the malaria-stricken jungles, where the opportunities for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to kidnap or kill must be greater than anywhere else in the world. Clearly, the Provisional IRA, at the very highest level, sanctioned that mission.
I cannot say anything about the arrest of IRA leader, Eddie Copeland, in north Belfast, as the matter is before the courts. I could have spoken of many other IRA failures to maintain its ceasefire. One wonders, after hearing that catalogue of events, what the IRA must do before the House imposes sanctions on Sinn Féin/IRA. I hope, in what may be the last act before the suspension of the Assembly, that the House will not again dodge the issue and that it will support the motion.
http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/010918d.htm
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Cover-up by Northumbria Police - Harry Fitzsimmons - Scott Gary Monaghan The IRA shooting of Martin McGartland
In January 1999, author and former IRA man turned informer Eamon Collins was beaten to death by the IRA in Newry, County Down. In May 1999, the IRA murdered Brendan 'Speedy' Fegan. They again justified their action by claiming that he was a leading drugs dealer. They shot him dead in a bar in Newry. In June 1999, the IRA murdered Paul Downey. Once again, they claimed that he had been a prominent drugs dealer. In June 1999, Martin McGartland, an RUC agent who infiltrated the IRA, narrowly escaped with his life after being shot in Whitley Bay, Northumbria, by IRA members. I have a copy of a letter sent to Mr McGartland by Northumbria police. It shows that they had arrested Henry Fitzsimmons and Scott Gary Monaghan, two well known Provisional IRA members, and that they were regarded as responsible for the attempt to kill Martin McGartland. However, even with all of that evidence, the Secretary of State considered that in the round there had no breach of the IRA ceasefire or the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
4.15 pm
In July 1999, the IRA abducted and murdered Charles Bennett, a New Lodge man. Also in July, the men arrested, and convicted in connection with the importation of arms from Florida were shown to be members of the Provisional IRA. It was proven that that activity was sanctioned at the highest level of the Provisional IRA. I will come back to that issue in my winding-up speech. Clearly, those men were members of the Provisional IRA. On the Noraid Internet site, they are described as IRA prisoners in an American jail. An article in 'GQ' magazine shows clearly the links between the Provisional IRA and those who were arrested, and asserts that they were part of an IRA gun running escapade. It is interesting that that activity was being planned at the same time as the organisation's representatives were sitting down with Senator George Mitchell and telling him how sincere they were about trying to achieve progress on decommissioning. While they were telling the senator that they were serious about decommissioning, they were importing guns from the United States to increase their stockpile of weaponry.
In August 1999, the IRA deported five men from Dungannon and one from Belfast for what they judged to be antisocial behaviour. I suppose that they consider their murdering and gunrunning to be civil and convivial. In October 2000, the IRA murdered Real IRA man, Joe O'Connor, in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. In April 2001, the IRA used the usual excuse of drug dealing to justify murdering Christopher O'Kane in Londonderry. In May 2001, the IRA again murdered someone who, it claimed, was a drug dealer. The victim, that time, was Paul Daly from Belfast. He was shot in front of his family.
In April 2001, Londonderry man, Gerald McFadden, from Rathlin Gardens in the Creggan estate was charged after he was found to have personal details of senior RUC officers. He has since been convicted of that offence. That demonstrates that the IRA was engaged in the targeting of RUC officers and that, once again, it was in contravention of the explicit requirement to use only peaceful and democratic means. In June 2001, the Provisional IRA raided Belfast docks and stole about £4 million. Also in June 2001, the IRA raided the house of an arms dealer in Athlone, County Westmeath. The attackers threatened him, tied up his wife and children, and stole over 100 shotguns, rifles and a quantity of ammunition.
In August 2001 came Colombia, another effort by the Provisional IRA to secure the peace process. I will deal with that issue in my winding-up speech. That was an added embarrassment for Sinn Féin, because all three men involved had party connections. According to the Government of their friend, Fidel Castro - to whom Mr Adams is soon going out to talk - one of the men, Connolly, was the accredited representative of Sinn Féin in Cuba and, no doubt, in South America. I have said James Monaghan was on the brigade staff at the headquarters of the Provisional IRA. He is their well known chief engineer and bomb maker. Such an individual would not have been a freelancer; he was on a mission sanctioned by the so-called Army Council of the Provisional IRA. They tried to tell us that those boys were really on holiday. I can think of more attractive places in which to holiday than the malaria-stricken jungles, where the opportunities for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to kidnap or kill must be greater than anywhere else in the world. Clearly, the Provisional IRA, at the very highest level, sanctioned that mission.
I cannot say anything about the arrest of IRA leader, Eddie Copeland, in north Belfast, as the matter is before the courts. I could have spoken of many other IRA failures to maintain its ceasefire. One wonders, after hearing that catalogue of events, what the IRA must do before the House imposes sanctions on Sinn Féin/IRA. I hope, in what may be the last act before the suspension of the Assembly, that the House will not again dodge the issue and that it will support the motion.
Link; http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/010918d.htm
4.15 pm
In July 1999, the IRA abducted and murdered Charles Bennett, a New Lodge man. Also in July, the men arrested, and convicted in connection with the importation of arms from Florida were shown to be members of the Provisional IRA. It was proven that that activity was sanctioned at the highest level of the Provisional IRA. I will come back to that issue in my winding-up speech. Clearly, those men were members of the Provisional IRA. On the Noraid Internet site, they are described as IRA prisoners in an American jail. An article in 'GQ' magazine shows clearly the links between the Provisional IRA and those who were arrested, and asserts that they were part of an IRA gun running escapade. It is interesting that that activity was being planned at the same time as the organisation's representatives were sitting down with Senator George Mitchell and telling him how sincere they were about trying to achieve progress on decommissioning. While they were telling the senator that they were serious about decommissioning, they were importing guns from the United States to increase their stockpile of weaponry.
In August 1999, the IRA deported five men from Dungannon and one from Belfast for what they judged to be antisocial behaviour. I suppose that they consider their murdering and gunrunning to be civil and convivial. In October 2000, the IRA murdered Real IRA man, Joe O'Connor, in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. In April 2001, the IRA used the usual excuse of drug dealing to justify murdering Christopher O'Kane in Londonderry. In May 2001, the IRA again murdered someone who, it claimed, was a drug dealer. The victim, that time, was Paul Daly from Belfast. He was shot in front of his family.
In April 2001, Londonderry man, Gerald McFadden, from Rathlin Gardens in the Creggan estate was charged after he was found to have personal details of senior RUC officers. He has since been convicted of that offence. That demonstrates that the IRA was engaged in the targeting of RUC officers and that, once again, it was in contravention of the explicit requirement to use only peaceful and democratic means. In June 2001, the Provisional IRA raided Belfast docks and stole about £4 million. Also in June 2001, the IRA raided the house of an arms dealer in Athlone, County Westmeath. The attackers threatened him, tied up his wife and children, and stole over 100 shotguns, rifles and a quantity of ammunition.
In August 2001 came Colombia, another effort by the Provisional IRA to secure the peace process. I will deal with that issue in my winding-up speech. That was an added embarrassment for Sinn Féin, because all three men involved had party connections. According to the Government of their friend, Fidel Castro - to whom Mr Adams is soon going out to talk - one of the men, Connolly, was the accredited representative of Sinn Féin in Cuba and, no doubt, in South America. I have said James Monaghan was on the brigade staff at the headquarters of the Provisional IRA. He is their well known chief engineer and bomb maker. Such an individual would not have been a freelancer; he was on a mission sanctioned by the so-called Army Council of the Provisional IRA. They tried to tell us that those boys were really on holiday. I can think of more attractive places in which to holiday than the malaria-stricken jungles, where the opportunities for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to kidnap or kill must be greater than anywhere else in the world. Clearly, the Provisional IRA, at the very highest level, sanctioned that mission.
I cannot say anything about the arrest of IRA leader, Eddie Copeland, in north Belfast, as the matter is before the courts. I could have spoken of many other IRA failures to maintain its ceasefire. One wonders, after hearing that catalogue of events, what the IRA must do before the House imposes sanctions on Sinn Féin/IRA. I hope, in what may be the last act before the suspension of the Assembly, that the House will not again dodge the issue and that it will support the motion.
Link; http://archive.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports/010918d.htm
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