Real IRA linked to drugs trade

Real IRA linked to drugs trade
By Chris Thornton
Publication Date: 18 March 2002



THE Real IRA has been linked to the drugs trade by a senior official in
America's State Department.

Rand Beers, an Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics affairs, also
told the US Congress in Washington that the three Irishmen arrested in Colombia last
year were "members of the IRA".

And the official gave further details of the links the US government believes
exist between Colombian narco-terrorists FARC and the Provisionals.

The testimony came as the US government intensifies its examination of links
between outlawed organisations across the world in the wake of the September 11
attacks. A US Congressional committee is due to explore the links further in
public hearings next month.

Mr Beers, testifying to a Senate sub- committee last week about links between
drugs and terrorism, said there is "some evidence" showing the Real IRA is
involved in drugs.

Mr Beers did not detail the evidence against the group responsible for the Omagh
bomb, and added that "the extent to which the Real IRA or other terrorist groups
in Ireland engage in drug trafficking is unclear".

Joe Dillon, a spokesman for the 32 County Sovereignty Movement - a group linked
to the Real IRA - said the drug claims were "false allegations".

"I do not believe any section of the IRA is involved in drugs," he said. "People
know these things aren't true.

"I don't believe any section of Oglaigh na hEireann, be it Provisionals, Reals
or whoever, would have anything to do with drugs. I've never seen any evidence or
proof of it."

The US official also said there were "strong indications" of a link between the
Provisional IRA and FARC, the Colombian group that he said is heavily connected
to the international drugs trade.

He said FARC had established the links "to increase its capability to conduct
urban terrorism".

"In July 2001, the Colombian National Police arrested three members of the IRA
who are believed to have used the demilitarized zone to train the FARC in the use of
explosives," Mr Beers said.

The US official also said that Basque separatist group ETA, another group with
links to the Provisionals, is involved in "in a variety of crimes from drug
trafficking to money laundering".


Source: Belfast Telegraph

School closure 'linked to Protestant exodus' - Sectarianism

www.NewsLetter.co.uk        1st February
 
School closure 'linked to Protestant exodus'
Ian Starrett

THE planned closure of Templemore Secondary School in Londonderry next
year is at least partly due to the Protestant exodus from the west
bank of the River Foyle, say four ex-pupils.

William Montgomery, John Hogan, Samuel Thompson and John Wylie, in a
statement, claimed that Protestants travelling to the school were
subjected to almost daily sectarian attacks when they were on the west
bank.


The four said that sectarian attacks in the past had led to the small
number of Protestants still remaining today on the west bank to send
their children to schools in the Waterside.
They stated: "There was no public outcry on our behalf and, more
importantly, there was little or no mention of our murdered
schoolfriends and family.
"The brutal reality is that a number of ex-Templemore pupils were
murdered by the IRA during the 1970s/80s and 90s. An inestimable
number of parents and relatives of pupils also paid the ultimate
sacrifice during these years - in the Glen, Northland Road, Fountain,
Culmore and elsewhere."
They said that pupils travelling to and from the Fountain were
particularly vulnerable to attack as they were bussed through the city
centre. 
"Eventually, it became intolerable, especially after the usual lack
lustre police response on behalf of beleaguered Protestants, and in
the late 1980s the Fountain community virtually en masse opted for
secondary education in the Waterside."
"In fact, the really hurtful fact is that there has been either
blanket denials or selective amnesia about our plight on the part of
the majority community in Londonderry," they said.
Patsy Edgar, a parent, claimed that the decision to close Templemore
will result in increased sectarian polarisation in the city.
Mr Edgar said: "We think there are still around 10 per cent of the
population in this area Protestant and if Templemore closes their
children will end up going to schools in the Waterside. The logic of
the situation is, if their children are going to school in the
Waterside then families will eventually move there, increasing the
sectarian divide."
The school's Board of Governors have suggested that Templemore close
next summer due to declining in-take numbers. 
Teachers at the school yesterday claimed that the Board of Governors
appear to be intent on closing the school and have not looked at all
the options.