Orange Hall paint attack in Rasharkin being treated as hate crime
DUP councillor Mervyn Storey described it as "a sickening sectarian hate crime" and said it is "to be condemned in the strongest possible terms".
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BreakingNews.ie
4 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
State will oppose applications to bring cases over failure to hold Omagh Bombing inquiry
The State will oppose applications by two Omagh bombing survivors seeking to bring lawsuits aimed at compelling the Irish government to establish a public inquiry into the atrocity, the High Court has heard. Emmet Tunney and Shawneen Conway, both survivors of the 1998 dissident republican bombing, say the Government is obliged to establish a public inquiry in circumstances where state authorities allegedly held 'actionable intelligence' relating to the attack. Advertisement A total of 29 people, including Ms Conway's 18-year-old brother Gareth and a mother pregnant with twins, died when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town on August 15th, 1998. The survivors, who are seeking to bring separate but similar cases, both point to a judgment of Northern Ireland's High Court, which found that the British and Irish government bore responsibilities 'arising from the cross-Border nature of the attack and the intelligence failings that preceded it'. 'The High Court in Northern Ireland found that there was a real prospect that fresh investigative measures could yield new and significant information regarding the atrocity, including the possibility of preventing it had certain intelligence been acted upon,' the survivors' court papers state. Their cases state that a public inquiry is required to ensure an effective investigation of the atrocity. Advertisement They allege the State's failure to hold such an inquiry is a breach of their rights under the Constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). According to their court documents, article two of the ECHR requires an 'effective, independent, prompt, and public' investigation in circumstances where state agents knew or ought to have known of a real and immediate risk to life. Articles 40 and 41 of the Constitution require effective investigations of deaths involving potential state failures, their papers say. An independent inquiry into the bombing established by the UK government opened in Omagh in January and is continuing. That inquiry is examining whether the atrocity could have been prevented by UK authorities. Advertisement Ms Conway and Mr Tunney say the Irish government should hold a parallel inquiry. In the High Court this week, Stephen Toal KC, for the survivors with Ruaidhrí Giblin BL and Karl McGuckin BL, moved an application seeking permission to bring the proceedings against the Government, Ireland and the Attorney General. Mr Toal said the State had indicated it would be opposing their application seeking permission to bring the proceedings. Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty said she would hear Mr Toal's applications for permission to bring the proceedings in early November. The judge said the State should be put on notice of the applications. Both survivors are seeking various orders, including one compelling the Government to establish a public inquiry into the bombing, and a court declaration that the Government's failure to establish such an inquiry to date is in breach of their rights. Mr Tunney, of Omagh, Co Tyrone, is represented in the action by Strabane-based firm Roche McBride Solicitors. Ms Conway, from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, is represented by Pa Duffy Solicitors in Dungannon.
BreakingNews.ie
8 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Appeals for witnesses to deaths of man and woman during Troubles
Fresh appeals have been made for witnesses to separate deaths of a man and a woman in west Belfast during the Troubles. The families of Teresa Carson and loyalist William Marchant have been described as waiting for many years for answers about the deaths of their loved ones. Advertisement These appeals will involve distributing posters and organised leaflet drops in the areas relating to both investigations. Ms Carson (47) was found dead at the side of the Glen Road in the early hours of Sunday, November 24th, 1974. It is understood she had witnessed a robbery St John's GAC Social Club on Whiterock Road hours before. She was last seen in the grounds of the club at 12.15am getting into a white coloured car. Advertisement Mr Marchant (39), who was also known as Billy or Frenchie, was shot outside the Progressive Unionist Party offices on Shankill Road at approximately 3pm on April 28th, 1987, and later died in hospital. A brown coloured Datsun Bluebird car, registration number YOI 2557, was used in the attack. It had been hijacked earlier in the day after a family was held at gunpoint overnight at Tullymore Gardens in west Belfast. The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery has launched appeals for witnesses to come forward in relation to investigations into both deaths following requests from the victims' families. Advertisement Assistant commissioner Amanda Logan said their families asked the Commission to help them find out what happened to their loved ones. 'We have always underlined the Commission's unwavering commitment to helping families find the unvarnished truth and this is at the centre of our witness appeals,' she said. Ireland UK defence ministry obliged to preserve records re... Read More 'The relatives of Teresa Carson and William Marchant believe that someone may hold vital information that could prove key to the investigations. 'These families have waited many years for answers and we at the Commission are committed to doing everything we can to support them. If members of the public have any information about either of these cases, please come forward.' Advertisement She added: 'No matter how unimportant your information may seem, what you share could be vital to finding the truth for the families. All information we receive will be treated in the strictest confidence.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
ICRIR: Troubles investigation group makes first witness appeal
An investigations body set up under the controversial Legacy Act has appealed for witnesses over two separate deaths during the is the first public appeal for information by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) since it began operating in May Carson, 47, was found dead at a roadside in west Belfast in Marchant, a member of the UVF, died aged 39 after being shot by the IRA in Belfast in 1987. Posters and leaflet drops will be organised as part of the appeals for assistant commissioner Amanda Logan said any information would be treated in the "strictest confidence" and could be "vital to finding the truth for the families"."We have always underlined the commission's unwavering commitment to helping families find the unvarnished truth and this is at the centre of our witness appeals," she said."These families have waited many years for answers and we at the commission are committed to doing everything we can to support them." What is the ICRIR? The ICRIR was established to investigate deaths during Northern Ireland's decades-long conflict known as the some victims' groups have called for it to be scrapped, arguing it is not sufficiently body was set up under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) legislation was passed by the Conservative government in 2023 despite opposition from Labour, Stormont parties, several victims' groups and the Irish introduced a ban on inquests and civil actions related to incidents during the act's most controversial element - the offer of conditional immunity to suspects in exchange for co-operating with the ICRIR - was disapplied following legal action by bereaved Labour government plans to repeal the Legacy Act, but retain the Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn described this as a "pragmatic decision".The ICRIR has said that as of December, 120 people had approached the commission to begin 30 cases so far have been listed on its website as moving to an "information recovery" phase. Who was Teresa Carson? Teresa Carson was found dead in the early hours of 24 November 1974 at the side of the Glen Road in west Belfast, close to the junction with Shaws is believed the 47-year-old attended St John's Gaelic Athletic Club Social Club on Whiterock Road the previous evening and was a witness to a robbery at the was last seen in the grounds of the club shortly after midnight on 24 November getting into a white car. Who was William Marchant? William Marchant, known to his family as Billy and more widely as Frenchie, was a leading member of loyalist paramilitary group the was shot by the IRA outside the offices of the Progressive Unionist Party on the Shankill Road in west Belfast on 28 April 39-year-old later died at the Mater Hospital.A brown Datsun Bluebird car with the registration YOI 2557 was used in the car had been hijacked earlier in the day after a family was held at gunpoint overnight at Tullymore Gardens in west is believed to have been driven away from the scene on Shankill Road via Bellevue Street and was found on fire later that evening on Springfield Avenue.
