Edmund Burke

The quote, attributed to him, about evil triumphing when good men do nothing is apposite.

I was struck by a piece on the radio about a Jewish woman who was detained by French police, after France  surrendered. She was sent to a concentration camp [a British invention] in Poland.

For a moment it surprised me that a French woman could be seized and sent to another country, even then.

It must remind us that a regime can always find willing participants. They will [for a knighthood or less] do the regime’s bidding. This will include murder , lying , sometimes under oath, hiding the truth, destroying documents, or generally being a cheer leader for the regime.

For regime, read establishment. Check the list of honours in Northern Ireland  for the last twenty years, particularly Sirs and Dames for the Quislings.

In the case of Northern Ireland, these people were picked out by the British a long time before the Good Friday agreement. They were quietly and skilfully put in place into positions of power and influence in all areas of public life. To quote Wilde, they rose without a trace.

On both sides, the man in the street knows that we are an utterly broken society. But his “better” tells him that it ain’t so.

And while that is going on, watch the performance of SinnFein /IRA on this island as they move to seize power . Hitler built autobahns and promised the poor work. Sound familiar?

PSNI-how they treat historical murders

Readers may recall that I began correspondence with police in October 2002. Having been passed from one ACC to another, I finally met two senior detectives at Antrim Road police station on 4th March 2003. The following points emerged:

1. The investigation file had been stored.

2. No officer was even nominally in charge of the investigation.

3. They could not tell me when the investigation had been abandoned, who the last investigating officer had been and on whose authority the investigation had been abandoned.

I wrote [again] to the Chief Constable and finally , on 28th May 2003, twenty months after my first letter, Hugh Orde replied. He told me that they were in the process of setting up a serious crime review team. He promised that his staff would write to me again when matters were clarified.

It will come as no surprise for readers to learn that I received no reply until I wrote again in December. I was told that the Chief Constable had asked ACC KInkaid to write to me.

He did not contact me until March 2004, ten months after Orde had promised a response.

Bear in mind, dear reader, that the file had been stored for an unknown period of time and there was no officer responsible for any current investigation.

Here is what ACC Kinkaid said:

“Although not currently active, the investigation has remained open and subject to further attention should new information or developments arise”.

No doubt in the same category are the Jack the Ripper murders.

So, the moral of this story is that those of you who have lost loved ones in sectarian murders can be assured that the PSNI, even though your file is in a box in a warehouse, are ever watchful for new information or developments, falling from the skies into their laps.

Next time. What the Serious Crime Review Team told me.

Freedom of speech

Freedom of speech and press freedoms are cornerstones of a democracy.

In the wake of Charlie Hebdo it is important to recall that violence and threats against the press and against free speech occur nearer home also. Martin O’Hagan was killed in September 2001. Adams recently made a remark about guns and newspapers.

Anyone wanting to read some detail of other threats made locally should read a piece written by Paul Campbell and carried in the blog “The Pensive Quill”.

Campbell’s cast of characters is interesting.

Blair, Libya and Sinn Fein/IRA

It is well known that the same bunch of terrorists who looked for the on the run letters also opposed and continue to oppose the payment of compensation to the victims of semtex supplied by their friend [and Blair’s] Gadafy.
They are supported in this endeavour by the Northern Ireland Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.Such was the NIO and FCO indifference to the claims that pressure had to be applied to wrest control from them and place negotiations in the hands of Sir Kim Darroch, who now reports to the Prime Minister.
The subject is so sensitive up at Stormont that McKibbin, the Permanent Secretary at OFMDFM refused to tell me or Jim Allister what was discussed between the Libyan Prime Minister and the First and Deputy First Ministers at the City Airport, after the G8 summit.
Readers will know that in June 2008, Blair, no longer in office but setting out to be a multi millionaire, met Gadafy and gave him a big hug.It is clear from FCO documents of the time that Blair was brokering a deal which resulted in Bush receiving 1.5 billion dollars from Libya for the American claimants and freezing out the British subjects.
Why did Blair do this?
To ingratiate himself to Bush? “Yo Blair”. Already done some time earlier.
To get a financial advantage from Gadafy? Maybe.
When looked at with the right end of the telescope, the reason is clear.
The payment to UK citizens would involve millions of pounds in compensation going largely to Protestants.SF/IRA still maintain their hatred of Protestants, so for the sake of the peace process, just like with the on the runs, Blair sided with the terrorists.

PSNI incompetence

Readers may recall that Ed Moloney took issue with the assertion by ACCs Harris and Kerr that they had spoken to him “previously” about his book “A secret History of the IRA”. A month has passed since I asked the Chief Constable to explain what is at least a contradiction. How long does it take either to provide some proof of contact with Mr Moloney or to apologise?

PSNI, their failure to care

Readers will know that my parents were murdered in June 1990. In October 2002 I wrote to the Chief Constable, pointing out that in the intervening years, I had had no contact of any sort with any officer in charge of the investigation. It took a further letter in January 2003 to prise a response out of the Chief Constable. He first nodded the ball, through Supt Harris [yes it is he!] to ACC McQuillan, known [affectionately?] by his colleagues as “the salad dodger”. He failed to reply. Supt Harris then passed the buck to ACC Hunter. She apologised for the delay in reply and for the failure to liaise over the past twelve years. She was unable to explain the failures because ‘senior members of the team…have ended their police careers.”

Two matters arise.

1. I am sure my experience is replicated many times over with other families.

2. What prevents the PSNI from contacting retired officers to discuss such matters? They are, after all, in receipt of substantial pensions from the public purse.

Next time: when is an investigation not an investigation?

PSNI no longer “personal ,professional, protective policing”?

Readers will know that I intend to walk through my experience with the state in respect of the murders of my parents.

Today, my exposition is the failure of the PSNI to properly relate to those who correspond with them.

It seems that “personal, professional, protective policing” has been replaced , on the 2015 letter heading , with “keeping people safe”. I wonder why?

I’m told that only two police stations Musgrave and Strand Road are open though the night, I wonder if this is correct?

Anyway, chronologically, here are the officers I have dealt with in my quest for justice for my parents. It is important to know that I always wrote to the Chief Constable, most of who couldn’t be arsed replying personally , except for Hugh!

ACC McQuillan

ACC Hunter

DI Blair

CC Hugh Orde!!!

ACC Kincaid

DS Stewart

ACC Harris

D Ch S Hanna

ACC Harris [again!]

ACC Kerr

I think I’m going backwards again.

The FOI response, promised last week on forensics , has not materialised.

Blog by blog I will take you through the swamp that is supposedly the investigation of terrorist activity in Northern Ireland. Thousands of other crimes are presumably dealt with in a similar fashion , while one of the architects, McGuinness, is DFM.

You will be unsurprised to learn that I have had no explanation from  the PSNI  about  their statement about Ed Moloney.

Grandpa McGuinness

On 7th january, oul Grandpa McGuinness, he of the folksy charm, tweeted “Today’s attack in Paris was appalling”.

This from a man who ordered many similar attacks. How many defenceless policemen did his comrades kill?

If you repeat a lie often enough..

Also, if the French Government is as brave as the British, it will already be negotiating with the terrorists.

Despite the demonstrations and the words, when the dust settles in Paris , the victims will be discarded by the state and will be left to the silence.

It will be interesting to assess French foreign policy in the coming months.

Meantime David Cameron is, in respect of toughness towards Islamic terrorists, [as they say in Texas] Big Hat no cattle.

Ched Evans

This man was convicted of rape by by a jury of his peers.

He has referred the matter to the CCRC.

His co-accused , Mr McDonald was acquitted.

Unless I have missed something, I don’t recall an apology from the woman who wrongly accused Mr McDonald  of rape.

Level playing field?