Reports obtained from:
(1) Irish Republican News, (2) Irlandclick.com
Tuesday-Friday, 15-18 March, 2005
Thursday-Sunday, 10-13 March, 2005
Friday, 11 March, 2005
Tuesday-Friday, 15-18 March, 2005
McCord family goes unheard - Why do Unionists stay silent?
By Irish Republican News
The father of a man killed by unionist paramilitaries has criticised political representatives of ignoring a police cover-up in the case.
Mr McCord's son Raymond Jnr was beaten to death and his body dumped in a north Belfast quarry in 1997. He believes the PSNI Special Branch blocked the inquiry into the murder to protect a high-ranking informer in the unionist paramilitary UVF.
As Robert McCartney's were being feted in the US, Mr McCord criticised his own representatives.
"Myself and other victims are absolutely disgusted over the stance the Democratic Unionists and Ulster Unionists have taken on Robert McCartney.
"Why can't they look at things closer to home. They have failed the people who voted them in," he said.
Mr McCord, who has spoken out against the UVF men he insists were behind the brutal killing, praised the McCartney family's campaign.
"But why have people within unionism stayed silent on the murders of our sons. "The UVF has murdered something like 30 Protestant people since their so-called ceasefire."
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams had publicly called for the McCartney killers to come forward and give statements to Mrs O'Loan's office, he pointed out.
"It seems to me that nationalist MPs have no qualms about fighting for their community but within unionism it's the complete opposite. The stance they have taken, and their hypocrisy, is staggering."
Thursday-Sunday, 10-13 March, 2005
UVF killers were working for police
By Irish Republican News
A former top RUC policeman has confirmed that two unionist paramilitaries behind a series of murders in the 1990s had been working as British agents at the time.
Johnston 'Jonty' Brown said that both men had been working as Special Branch agents at the time of their involvement in several murders in Belfast.
Mr Brown has confirmed the two men had both been Special Branch agents at the time of the murder of 27-year-old Sharon McKenna, who was shot dead at the home of a pensioner in north Belfast in January 1993.
Paul McKenna, a brother of the dead woman, said he now wanted the Police Ombudsman to investigate his sister's murder.
"The fact that my sister was murdered by Special Branch agents is not in doubt, and the ombudsman should investigate on that basis," said Mr McKenna.
The same two are also alleged to have murdered Raymond McCord, who was beaten to death in Belfast in 1997.
His father, Raymond McCord Sr, said he had no doubt his son's killers had been allowed to get away with murder.
"They murdered my son, they murdered Sharon McKenna and at least three more people in north Belfast, while they were working for the police".
Mr Brown revealed that Ken Barrett, a convicted loyalist killer, had confessed to killing the Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.
He told Special Branch, which took no action against Mr Barrett and later claimed to have lost the tape recording of Barrett's confession.
No hope of answers if PSNI is involved
Geraldine Keenan Sister of murder victim rubbishes British government's £30m 'cold case' investigation pledge
By Andrea McKernon, Irelandclick.com
The sister of the first case of the British "shoot-to-kill" policy has rubbished a £30 million pledge from the British government to investigate "cold case" murders.
The money is to go to the PSNI's Serious Crime Review team with a "small" number of police to be seconded from outside police forces.
Geraldine Keenan's brother Dinny Brown was one of three men shot dead by the SAS and Special Branch while on active service at Ballysillan in June 1978.
And despite claims that 300 state murders would be investigated she said the families had "no hope" of getting any acknowledgement their loved ones were murdered if the PSNI is involved.
Dinny Brown, 28, Jackie Mailey, 30, and Jim Mulvenna, 28, were engaged in bombing Ballysillan telecommunications base when they were ambushed by the security forces who had been given information that the attack was going to happen.
Papers that were kept from their original inquests revealed that all three IRA volunteers could have been arrested.
They were unarmed, surrounded, had their hands behind their backs and were lying face down when they were shot and killed.
Reports at the time said they had been killed during a shoot out, but in 2003, the families began legal action to have documents that were not disclosed at any of the IRA men's inquests disclosed.
"Those papers revealed the men had been shot whilst lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.
"They were unarmed and had 180 bullets pumped into their bodies.
"For the last two years since we got these documents my mother, who is 76, has said that all she ever, ever wanted was the people who killed Dinny to admit it was murder," she said.
"These men were unarmed, they had no guns, they were there to bomb a communications post," she said.
William Hanna, a protestant passer by, was killed in the hail of fire that killed the three men.
"William Hanna was killed by three bullets, compared to the 180 that killed Dinny, Jim and Jackie. That shows it was cold blooded murder."
The victim's sister who was the eldest of five children said the families had "been blocked at every turn", to find out the truth of what happened the night their loved ones were shot.
"There's no hope, not if the PSNI is involved in anything to do with these so-called cold cases.
"Families in our situation won't get any satisfaction when we've been blocked in every direction to get the truth and disclosure of documents.
"They could have been taken prisoner that night.
"We want the British government to admit that this was cold blooded murder, but they'll never stand up and admit what they did in Ireland."