Night of violence casts a shadow over the Twelfth - Belfast Telegraph

A dark shadow hangs over the beginning of the Twelfth period today after serious violence engulfed a number of towns across Northern Ireland.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

Fears of further rioting were high after simmering tensions erupted into ugly scenes in Ballyclare, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey in a row sparked by flags.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

Crisis talks were held between politicians, police and loyalist representatives yesterday in a bid to quell fears of more trouble in Co Antrim.
The severe disruption started in Ballyclare on Saturday night before spreading to other towns, leaving six police officers injured and several vehicles hijacked and burnt out.
Violence broke out in the Doagh Road and Grange Estate areas of the town at 11.30pm on Saturday, when it is understood between 70 and 100 loyalists protested after officers removed flags.
During the worst of the disturbances, officers came under fire with petrol bombs and missiles in the early hours of yesterday.
Five officers were injured when a police vehicle was rammed with a hijacked bus in Ballyclare. The sixth was hurt after being struck by flying masonry. All the officers suffered whiplash.
In a bid to restore calm police deployed a water cannon and fired baton rounds.
The destruction is believed to have been sparked by the removal of union flags in the Co Antrim town which had been put up outside a Catholic church near the Grange estate.
Police said 12 flags — both legal and illegal — were removed from the area. During the crisis meeting, Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay offered an apology to people who “felt they have not received the police service that we strive to deliver” over the flag removals.
Mr Finlay, however, said that “nothing excuses” the violence that broke out.
Following the riot Paul Girvan, DUP MLA, described the atmosphere in Ballyclare as an “uneasy calm”.
“Everybody is working hard to resolve this issue,” he said.
“The scenes in Ballyclare were horrendous. There is tension in the town but nobody wants to see that repeated.”
Trouble also broke out in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, Carrickfergus and Ballyduff in Newtownabbey.
It is understood loyalists blocked roads in Carrickfergus and set a number of hijacked vehicles alight.
PUP representative Phil Hamilton denied, however, that any illegal organisations were involved in the violence.
“I don't think there's paramilitaries involved in it,” he said.
“I think we've seen a community at boiling point and it just shows what can happen, people's patience have just gone thin.”
A Catholic church in Harryville, Ballymena, was also attacked by vandals. The damage caused to the Church of Our Lady has been branded a deplorable attempt to raise sectarian tensions ahead of annual Orange marches.
In Coleraine, a man escaped injury after two shots were fired at a house in the Kingsbury Gardens area of the town shortly after 11pm on Saturday. SDLP Assembly member John Dallat said he believed the attack was sectarian.
A Catholic family, meanwhile, said they are moving from the Leckagh Drive area of Magherafelt after their home was attacked during trouble. The family said they no longer felt safe.
Their home was one of four damaged in overnight attacks.
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Classic fighter planes collide in mid-air - Belfast Telegraph

Monday, 11 July 2011

 

US fighter planes pictured seconds before two collided in mid-air

Two classic US fighter planes have collided during an air display, organisers said.

The military aircraft were taking part in an annual Flying Legends show in Cambridgeshire when they clipped wings over agricultural land.

The accident sent one plane plummeting to the ground and forced its pilot to bale out before parachuting to safety.

The craft, reported to be a P-51 Mustang, came down to the south west of RAF Duxford, just after 5pm on Sunday.

The second plane was able to fly on and land. No-one was injured.

Mark Brown, a pilot from Warminster who witnessed the crash, told CambridgeFirst how the second aircraft, a Skyraider, lost a "large chunk of its wing tip" which fell to the ground.

He said the crash happened after three planes formed a triangle before peeling off to the left.

"As they did that the leader and the one that was following clipped each other," he said. "It went into a bit of a dive then sorted itself out. The other aircraft dived away from the airfield. They were only about 100 feet at this point.

"Then we saw someone jump out and a parachute open."

A spokesman for the show's organisers, Imperial War Museum Duxford, said: "The pilots of both aircraft are safe and have been treated by the Ambulance Service. The cause of the incident will now be investigated by the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) and the museum is therefore not able to comment on the likely cause."

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Omagh relatives in funding plea to fight civil actions - Belfast Telegraph

By Victoria O'Hara
Friday, 8 July 2011

Michael Gallagher

Future civil cases against Omagh bomb suspects should be financially backed by the Government, victims' families have demanded.

Bereaved relatives embroiled in a 12-year battle for justice made the calls after the Appeal Court yesterday directed a civil retrial against one of four suspects for the 1998 Real IRA atrocity, Colm Murphy from Dundalk, Co Louth.

The court also ruled it will hear arguments on a possible retrial of a second suspect, Seamus Daly, from Cullaville, Co Monaghan, in September.

Victims' families have now called for financial support from the Government to pay for possibly two civil cases.

In 2008, campaigners raised ?1.2m to fund the landmark civil action against the people suspected of causing the Real IRA bombing - Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt and three other men - Liam Campbell, Murphy and Daly.

They were supported in their efforts to raise funds for the court case by former US president Bill Clinton and former Northern Ireland secretaries Peter Mandelson and Sir Patrick Mayhew.

The Government provided over ?750,000 backing for the action "under legal aid rules".

In 2009, McKevitt, Campbell, Murphy and Daly were found to be responsible for the terrorist attack which killed 29 people and unborn twins.

In Belfast High Court two years ago, Mr Justice Declan Morgan, now Northern Ireland's Lord Chief Justice, found the four men liable and ordered them to pay ?1.6m in compensation.

Appeals lodged at Belfast High Court by convicted Real IRA leader McKevitt and fellow senior republican Liam Campbell were yesterday dismissed by a panel of three judges. But appeals by Murphy and Daly were allowed.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the bombing, last night said the financial burden on the pursuit of justice had "taken its toll" on families, leading to calls for Government support.

"We will be eternally grateful for the public support in raising the funds to pursue the civil action," he said. "But we have had to campaign and put pressure on for 12 and-a-half years and that takes it toll on the families, and it is very difficult to sustain that."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said: "The minister will consider any application for legal aid the family makes."

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Apology to MP over 1p 'claim' mix-up - Belfast Telegraph

By Tom Moseley
Saturday, 9 July 2011

Lady Sylvia Hermon

The Westminster expenses watchdog has apologised after announcing a Northern Ireland MP had submitted a claim for just one penny.

Lady Sylvia Hermon, independent MP for North Down, was blasted after the “claim” for a telephone bill was revealed by the latest batch of Westminster expenses, from March 2011.

But the error was revealed in an email from Scott Woolveridge, the director of operations at the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA). He wrote: “Let me begin by confirming that you did not submit an expense claim to IPSA for 1p.”

The mix-up was due to a 1p difference between a claim and the receipt provided by Lady Hermon. IPSA staff created a new claim for the difference rather than investigating further in an attempt to save time.”

Mr Woolveridge added: “I accept, entirely, your position that there were other ways to handle this matter which would have been more effective and, of course, offer you my apologies for the way we have dealt with this.”

Lady Sylvia said: “At no stage have I ever submitted a claim for a 1p phonecall, and reports that I have done so are wholly untrue.”

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