Life sentence for Finucane murder – ISN
September 17th, 2004
One of Northern Ireland’s most controversial political assassinations reached a conclusion of sorts on Thursday with the jailing of a former loyalist paramilitary.
Ken Barrett, 41, admitted to being one a group of masked gunmen from the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), who in February 1989 shot prominent Catholic solicitor Pat Finucane 14 times as he ate a Sunday meal with his family. Finucane was a high-profile lawyer who represented republican clients – but also worked with Protestants. Barrett was given a minimum 22-year sentence. (more…)
Still talking, ten years after ceasefire – ISN
September 1st, 2004
DERRY – Tuesday marked the 10-year anniversary of the first IRA ceasefire, the culmination of years of official and behind-the-scenes negotiation and confidence building.
After yet more intricate and stop-and-start dealings, the way was paved for the Good Friday Agreement of April 1998, aimed at permanently settling the 30-year civil conflict in Northern Ireland. With the guns largely silent and the daily litany of bombings, assassinations, and sectarian murder now largely a thing of the past, the focus is on the current political impasse that has stalled the implementation of the landmark peace deal, now under review. (more…)
Northern Ireland’s marching season passes quietly – ISN
August 16th, 2004
DERRY – The third major day of Northern Ireland’s marching season passed off without major incidents, marking a relatively trouble-free summer during what is usually a confrontational and edgy time for the province. On Saturday, over 15’000 members of the radical Apprentice Boys association – part of the Protestant “Loyalist” or “Unionist” camp, as opposed to the predominantly Catholic “Nationalist” or “Republican” faction – marched through Northern Ireland’s second city of Derry. (more…)
