sinn fein

Ellen

                                                       

On this day, in 1924, Ellen Jane Stewart was born, the last of four children of Frederick  and Margaret Stewart 

Her father , a successful businessman and Poor Law Guardian, died when she was just seven.

She married James Sefton in March 1949  and I arrived five days before Christmas the same year.

Ellen had a playful sense of humour, often embarrassing me as a teenager. She worked most of her adult life and for some  years she was a model for a clothing company. “ I model summer frocks in December and furs in June”.

Her joie de vivre encompassed  all humanity particularly gays and Jews and when she finally reached New York, her joy was unbounded.

I never heard her utter a bad word about anyone , her disapproval was couched as “that’s not a nice thing”.

Despite no formal education beyond the age of fourteen, she was determined that her children should succeed. Today she would be called an “aspirational parent”. She encouraged me to read  out loud from an early age and bought me innumerable books. A bit of a slow starter , I  think I finally repaid that investment. 

Looking at today’s ‘helicopter parents’ I’m amazed at how she was unfazed by my playing rugby, even coming to watch a final. She did insist on a scrum cap, though.

I asked my cousin , Valerie, who adored her, to provide some thoughts, here is what she said:

“Today on the anniversary of her birthday, I would like to share some of my memories of my beautiful Aunt, Ellen Jane Stewart Sefton.

One of my earliest memories and an example of her generosity is in 1946 while we were still using coupon books after the War, we stopped at a drapery shop and Ellen handed over her coupon book for the salesperson to cut out some coupons so I could, at age 6, have ribbons for my hair.

When I think of our time together, I remember playing dress up in her bedroom when I was about 10 years old.  Ellen was a Model and had beautiful clothes and I particularly liked her high heel shoes.  I would ask “will you keep all your shoes for me for when I grow up”.  I would “clatter” about the house wearing her shoes many sizes too big.

My Cousin often refers to his Mother’s playful sense of humour.  How true that is.  I remember when I was about 15 years old at her house and the Radio was on.  An announcement from the radio said that a Naval Fleet was in Port.  Ellen clapped her hands and said “Fleets in lets go get a Sailor”.  I thought this was a brilliant idea only to find out she was just having fun with me.

During her modelling career Ellen had many offers of dates, she would tell us about the offers but she always said she did not want to be involved with men she worked with.  I only remember two men in her life.  One was an RAF Officer the son of a neighbour.  The second was the man she married and the love of her life.

I remember every August, Ellen and Grandmother rented a house in Bangor for the month, of course I got to go with them.  They rented the same house every year.  The rental was across the street from the Tonic Cinema and we would go and see a film every week.  Ellen would say we are only going if the film is “all singing all dancing and all Technicolour”.  None of the kitchen sink dramas that came out after the War for her

.

Summer nights in Ellen’s back garden.  She would make a cake before joining Grandmother and me in the garden.  We would come back into the house at about 8pm and eat the cake while it  was still hot, putting butter on it and drinking lots of tea.  Ellen called the cake “my world famous boiled cake”.  I wish I had the recipe for that cake as it would be a further reminder of her.

One of my school friends lived on a Farm and Ellen and I were invited every April to pick Lilacs which they grew at the Farm.  We would bring arms full of them back to the house and fill every vase.  The smell of Lilacs wafted all over the house.

I moved to New York in February 1979 and in May of the same year Ellen came to visit.  She loved New York and its people we met on our travels every day during her visit.

I took her to visit the posh Hamptons on Eastern Long Island where a great number of actors had homes.  Ellen, tall, slim and blonde, turned heads as we walked down the streets of Southampton and Sag Harbor.

Before Ellen left New York for home, she bought several trees for me.  It was like old times planting together.  She said “I hope they do well and I look forward to seeing them on my next visit”.  .Every tree she planted thrived, but sadly she was never to return to see them.

I came back to Belfast for the Funeral and stopped by a Florist to buy flowers for her casket.  I asked for Lilacs because I knew she would like that.  The Florist reminded me that Lilacs are at their best in April and May and are mostly gone by June.  I thought, the Lilacs are gone in June and so is she.

I miss my beautiful Aunt,  She had a great capacity for love.  She loved her husband, she loved her two children, she loved her Mother and she loved me, for which I will be forever grateful.”

Valerie Stewart Torrens

Atlanta, Georgia

March 11, 2024

” The one who plants trees, knowing that she will never sit in their shade, understands the meaning of life” Anon

Ellen, in later years , was devoted to her mother, who died , aged 92 in 1986.

After that, she and my father had a brief few years together, holidaying  improving their home and enjoying their grandchildren , until her death on 7th June 1990. She had faith, her minister described her as a “straight up and down Church of Ireland worshipper”.

Her sixty six years were blameless and filled with joy.

A devoted daughter, wife , mother, grandmother and aunt, the love she left behind shines on today.

An inextinguishable flame.

Victims’ payments-who is to blame?

On 22nd October 2019 the British government launched a consultation on a ‘Victims’ Payment Scheme’. 

The consultation closed on 26th November 2019.

The legislation was made on 31st January 2020 at 11.20am and laid before Parliament at 2.30pm that day.

They were the Victims’ Payments Regulations 2020 No. 103, made under the powers conferred by sections 10 and 11 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc ) Act 2019.

The NIO issued the following press release.

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Rt Hon Julian Smith CBE MP, has today signed new legislation establishing a victims payments scheme.

This scheme acknowledges the harm caused to those people injured through no fault of their own in the Troubles through annual payments of c. £2,000 to £10,000 for the rest of their lives.

Following consultation, changes have been made to the scheme to increase the number of injured people who will qualify, and to benefit spouses and carers looking after those who were seriously injured. It will not apply to those who were injured due to their own actions or who committed serious criminal offences. An independent judge-led board will make decisions on whether payments should be made where there is compelling evidence that a payment would not be appropriate.

Secretary of State Julian Smith said: “The Troubles had a devastating impact on many, and the time has come to implement a victims payments scheme to deliver for those who need it most and for those injured through no fault of their own.

“I would like to pay tribute to the courage of those people who have fought long and hard to see such a scheme.

“We have talked about this for long enough. It is time to get it done.”

The Troubles had a profound and often devastating impact on too many people, in Northern Ireland and beyond. When we speak about the Troubles we rightly talk about the many violent deaths, but it is also vital that we do not overlook the harm caused to those who were seriously injured in Troubles incidents.

Many of the people who were injured have to live with a daily reminder of the impact of that terrible event or events – whether through loss of mobility, loss of limbs, psychological trauma or some other life limiting health condition or disability.

Following the recent consultation, the Secretary of State has introduced new rules for the scheme, so that the needs of those injured in the Troubles through no fault of their own receive the recognition that they deserve.

The new scheme will mean:

*The payment can be transferred to a spouse, civil partner, cohabiting partner, registered carer or anyone who provided a substantial amount of care on a regular basis for ten years on death of the injured person.

*The date parameters for the scheme will be Jan 1966 – Apr 2010, but an independent Board will also have discretion to consider applications for incidents outside these dates which they consider it would be in line with the purpose of the scheme to include.

*Awards may only be adjusted for historic compensation where that historic compensation is higher than a threshold.

*Payments through the scheme will not impact income-related benefits or tax (including income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax).

*Anyone injured anywhere in the UK who meet the other eligibility criteria will be eligible for the scheme (regardless of residency). And any UK citizen, or person of NI, injured in Europe will be eligible.

The discussions and delay of the past few years have gone on long enough. The time has come to get this done and deliver for those people who will benefit most.

The new Regulations will mean that from May, victims can apply for payments, and the system has been designed to support those seriously injured and traumatised in the Troubles.

This new scheme and legislation being introduced today puts victims and their needs at the heart of Government’s approach to dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.

Whilst it was legislation made at Westminster, with some minor exceptions the Regulations extended to Northern Ireland only.

A number of provisions came into force on 24th February 2020. Particularly  , the provisions of Schedule 1. This Schedule provides for the formation of a Board. The law required the Executive Office to designate a Northern Ireland Department to exercise the administrative functions of the Board on the Board’s behalf.

This has not been done, on time or at all.

The Northern Ireland Judicial Appointments Commission [“NIJAC”] must appoint all the members of the Board. This has not been done, because NIJAC has received no request from the Executive Office to so do.

I only became aware of this situation on 20th May.

We are now told that no action has been taken regarding the legal duties of the Executive because there is a row over funding.

The remaining regulations come into force on 29th May, the date when victims thought they could make application for compensation.

Nothing will happen on that date.

It is clear that neither Covid-19 nor a row  about the source of funding would have prevented the Executive from nominating a Department nor giving instructions to NIJAC.

It is equally clear that despite the Executive knowing that the date would not be met, even when visualised in early pre-Covid March, they kept quiet.

So, how did this all come about?

Here’s what the News Letter reported on 4th  February 2020

Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson said face-to-face assessments “must be handled sensitively” while DUP leader Arlene Foster welcomed the fact that money “will not be awarded to victim makers”. But Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill says the government “appears intent on excluding large sections of our society” from the money. Ulster Human Rights Watch welcomed the news but “will continue to pressurise Government for clarity” on how pereptrators are excluded.

At the same time Foster was telling the media that the NI budget could not fund the scheme and the Victims’ Commissioner was agreeing with her.

So, on one view of it , it’s a cock up between Westminster and Stormont and a misunderstanding as to where the money was coming from to fund the scheme.

When Stormont re-opened on 11th January, it was after tortuous discussions, including finance. The Executive knew that Westminster was legally committed to making laws for Northern Ireland, including a victims’ payment scheme.

On 17th February, that man for all seasons, Jeffrey Donaldson was quoted :

A senior DUP MP is “hopeful” that the Treasury will be “forthcoming” in funding a pension scheme for victims of the Troubles. 

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, the DUP’s Westminster leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, emphasised that victims had already been waiting too long for the payments.

“The next financial year begins in April,” Donaldson commented, “So the sooner we can get a commitment to fund the scheme, the sooner the innocent victims can start to receive their payments.

“Frankly, they have been waiting too long already, and I hope that the Treasury will recognise the need to provide this funding as soon as possible.

“We would hope that the Treasury will be forthcoming with funding,” he stated. 

That statement was made a week before the first phase of the scheme was to become operational.

But is it the usual tale of  Stormont incompetence or is it something more?

At the Executive Office Committee meeting on 20th May, Foster said “we don’t have the wherewithal in the block grant…this is a legitimate expectation”.  It is of course law, not an expectation.

The SFIRA Deputy First Minister said this “it is one part of the package of legacy measures that need to be implemented… all things need to be delivered upon”.

Doug Beattie [ that towering intellect] replied: “you’re right of course”.

Later Bomber Anderson, who also graces the committee said “there isn’t the funding in the budget, the responsibility resides with the British government and we need full implementation of the Stormont House Review.”

Readers will know  that SFIRA were unhappy with the legislation, which seeks to exclude the likes of Kelly , the Shankill bomber. The Shinners are also unhappy with proposals for amnesty for members of the armed forces.

So, the message is clear, the Victims’ Payment Scheme is going nowhere, courtesy of yet another SFIRA veto.

As before , the DUP is complicit in this, terrified of another Stormont collapse and loss of power. The Official Unionists don’t count and the Alliance Party, particularly the Justice Minister, is silent.

 

The toll on victims is unimaginable.

Is John Finucane a SF/IRA dupe?

It’ s hard to imagine [almost] the horror that John Finucane witnessed, although  he was not by any means an isolated case.

I knew, worked with and liked his father, who was a contemporary.

Since then, John has qualified and practised as a solicitor, seemingly uninterested in politics, till now.

It would be difficult for an impartial observer to conclude otherwise than he is anti-British.

He and I have a common interest . As his mother put it, who sent the gunmen? I want to know who sent the bomb team that murdered my parents. Our common suspicion is that the State was involved.

Here, the stories diverge.

The other night, John shared a platform with two IRA volunteers, Kelly and Na Chullin. Worse, he was photographed beside Sean Maguire, who was part of the operation that killed my parents. Maguire was a prominent member of PIRA in 1990 and also an informer for the State. He was with Scap when they visited the house where Sandy Lynch was held. Maguire may be managing his publicity, I don’t know. Maguire, who ‘qualified’ as a journalist after his release from prison, benefitted from the general amnesty for touts, agreed some years ago by the Army Council and now lives in the Oldpark area of Belfast.

What sort of world is John currently inhabiting? Does he really believe his own publicity about equality and  justice for all? Why does he share a platform with terrorists ? Was not his candidature agreed by the Army Council?

Is it the same old Finucane deal, Uncles John , Dermot and Seamus?

The fascinating thing that the Finucanes have in common with the Adams Family is that one  outstanding family member , Pat Finucane  and Gerry Adams never joined the IRA.

I wonder what the moderate Roman  Catholics of North Belfast think?

And for whom will they vote?

And why is John Finucane, Human Rights lawyer, sharing a platform with terrorists?

Moussa Koussa  and Andrew MacKinlay

You may remember, Dear Reader, the somewhat sensational evidence given by Andrew MacKinlay, retired MP, to the NI Affairs Committee, on 14th October 2015.

Here is  an example of what he said, in giving evidence about MK:

Kate Hoey: Do you think it was anything to do with a fear that , if he talked too much–all the contacts with people in Sinn Fein, IRA , for example –it might bring down the peace process?

Andrew MacKinlay: He would have known about the Semtex and the supplying of arms to the IRA over many years—and probably authorised it.

He went on to state that MK was a key member of Gadafy’s regime and he just could not understand why he was never questioned by British police.

I asked the PSNI about, inter alia, the alleged supply of Semtex and the allegation that , in effect MK conspired with Sinn Fein/IRA to murder.

The PSNI made contact with MacKinlay and here is what they told me:

“Mr MacKinlay has confirmed that he has no further information to add to his evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on 14 October 2015. Mr MacKinlay has also confirmed that he is not in possession of any evidence to suggest that Moussa Moussa committed a criminal offence”

Contrast this with the statement by our hero “this was a bad fellow, but I do not believe that the normal law enforcement agencies were given access to him”

One wonders how much other guff has been presented to the NIAC as “evidence”.

 

 

 

 

The EU calls the shots on terrorism

While the debate about Brexit rages, readers should be mindful of this.

The EU recently enacted fresh legislation, freezing Libyan funds. Despite a campaign which stretches back several years, neither of the ‘Unionist’ representatives in the EU, Diane Dodds or Jim Nicholson, seem to have been aware of it nor did any Unionist or member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. No representations were made to permit the unfreezing of funds for victims. I have tried to contact Nicholson in the past, but since I don’t farm, I’m of no interest to him.

It is an example of the EU enacting legislation which the “Mother of Parliaments” slavishly copies, although it is not obliged to.

It is possible for a member of parliament to object to the new delegated legislation and you might think that, given the public outrage about terrorists being compensated by HMG , our “unionist” politicians would be alert to this legislation.

Sadly not. Big business, farming, the International Airport , Gallaghers etc., are more important , it would seem, than human rights.

I’m sure no victim of Sinn Fein/IRA  violence was the beneficiary of corporate hospitality during the Rugby World Cup.

From my perspective, not much has changed since the 1950s. Big House, Big Business and Farming Unionists plough on. The man in the street, be he RUC, UDR or British Army counts for nothing. The Unionist parties play the orange card and the stupid masses vote for them.

The words that the DUP and the UU spout are flim flam.

Even worse, Diane Dodds makes a speech in the European Parliament, parroting the British Government line, completely missing the real issue and then publishes it , as if she is proud of her input

Meanwhile Jim Allister , that champion of the loyalists shows no interest.

We are alone in this fight , without any political support.

Oh and by the way, don’t count on Willy Frazer , he has ‘served writs’  on more republicans than you could shake a stick at. He also was going to sort out the disclosure from the ROI re Kingsmills. That didn’t happen either. One wonders where he gets his funding from and what happened to the march in Dublin.

The moral of this blog is that the experts are correct. I am not going to shoot someone or plant a bomb. I don’t count. When Sinn Fein/IRA make noises HMG listens. If the state was complicit in keeping sinn fein/ira crimes away from Alan McQuillan, what else have they done and are they currently doing?

There is no chance of any justice for anyone while this Satanic Alliance continues.

Nine point four billion pounds

This is the value of frozen assets held in the UK and related to Gadafy, his family, his government officials and various Libyan institutions.

It does not reflect the additional  amount of money Gadafy gave Sinn Fein/IRA or the value of the arms, ammunition and Semtex he gave them.

Hundreds of people were killed as a result of this terrorism. No-one in Libya  and none of the SF/IRA leaders ,such as Martin McGuinness have been prosecuted for this.

Not one of the UK victims has been compensated , while citizens of USA, France and Germany have been paid long ago.

The lesson that Britain sends is that terrorism pays. In fact Blair kissed Gadafy in a tent and the FCO forgave Libya.

Relatives of the Tunisian atrocity should take note. Your government will not help you and that’s official.

Wheels within wheels

Liam Clarke, in his article in the Belfast Telegraph on 18 June says: “the Castlereagh raid allowed the IRA to identify the entire agent network in Belfast through a process of elimination.”

It is interesting that this observation, relating to events which occurred in 2002, passed without apparent comment in the media.

Was the “raid” in fact a hostile act by a devilishly cunning SF/IRA unit or was it staged? Was the insider in fact Larry the Chef, a state agent, and was the object of the state to further destabilise SF/IRA?

Larry was never prosecuted, a decision made jointly by the police, who took him out of the jurisdiction and the PPS.

Guess who was asked to investigate? A man call Chilcott.

Could Barney Rowan help?

Imagine the scene at the army council when the product of the raid was tabled. “Gerry, I never knew….you too Marty….gosh and you , and you”. It is unlikely that anyone on the army council failed to make the grade.

So why the silence both from the media and from SF/IRA?

It’s the Peace Process Stupid!

The murderers of my parents

On this day, twenty five years ago, my Dad drove his car out of the driveway and parked it on the road. He had been retired from the RUC for three years, having been mortared at New Barnsley, where his colleague Dessie Dobbin, was killed. It is likely , given the forensic findings, that he checked underneath it before he moved it from the drive. At about ten o’clock, he and my mother drove off. About four hundred yards down the road a bomb, placed underneath the vehicle exploded. My Dad was dead on arrival at the Mater Hospital. My Mum , having sustained severe head injuries , died the next day.

PIRA claimed responsibility and Adams said it might not have been a good operation. But then , he was never in the IRA.

The cause of Irish unity was not progressed one inch but my daughter never knew her Grandparents.

The persons responsible for these murders were as follows.

First there had to be an active service unit, carrying out these brave acts. There were three operational in the greater Belfast area in 1990.

Bomb Team A, as I shall call it , was comprised, inter alia, of Rosaleen McCorley MLA and James Donnelly. They were arrested in January 1990 in the act of placing a bomb under a policeman’s car.

Bomb Team B had in its ranks  Rosena Brown and Davy Adams [brother of Gerry]. It might have had Martin McGartland also , but he has denied this to me. Brown, Paul McCullough and Stephen Canning were arrested in  1992 in possession of a bomb.

Bomb Team C was comprised of Martin McGartland, Fitzsimmons and McFadden. They carried out a number of operations before McFadden and Fitzsimmons were arrested in North Belfast in December 1990, in possession of two bombs and a gun. Interestingly, McGartland was not at the scene.

Therefore in June 1990 , either bomb team B or C could have carried out the attack.

Councillor Sean Keenan took part in the attack. He was rewarded for his efforts on 7 June when a UDA/UFF team tried to kill him. He had already been shot in the company of Gerry Adams. Keenan’s house was heavily fortified. I wonder why? Did the state pay for it?

The attack was scouted by Sean Maguire , from Ardoyne. He was an “intelligence officer” and a state agent , a tout. He betrayed Larry Marley to the Loyalists, in order to please his British masters. He is now PR adviser to Martin McGuinness and can be spotted, if you are quick enough , in the background,behind Grandpa McGuinness on the Hill. I wonder where Sean banked his money?

The operations officer, responsible for coordinating attacks, was Paddy Fern. The bomb was provided by McCartney, who was Quartermaster.

The police have told me that they know the identities of the bomb makers. Bombs were kept in the “Rock Streets” off the Falls.

Next in the chain of command was Spike Murray.

The OC Belfast was Brian Gillen an agent of the Crown.

The operation had to be approved by Martin McGuinness, head of northern command. Read Ed Moloney’s book about this [p347] and also the allegations made by Scappaticci, in conversations with journalists.

Both the RUC Special Branch [SB] and the Army’s Force Research Unit [FRU] were involved in the recruiting and handling of agents. Some agents were placed in organisations, others were recruited from their ranks.

The purpose of an agent was to report on the activities of the terrorist group so as to enable the state to disrupt its activities and arrest its members.

There were no rules governing the use of these agents in 1990, particularly in relation to the criminal actives in which they might participate. Issues arose as to what would happen if an agent told his handlers that he was about to take part in a crime or if he declared that he had in fact committed an offence.

De Silva documents the attempts made by the RUC and the Army to obtain guidance from the state. He also documents how the state consistently failed to give such guidance and deliberately dragged its heels on the issue.

Without any structure both SB and FRU worked in a vacuum. They had agents placed in the heart of Sinn Fein/IRA, many are still there. Apart from Donaldson and ‘Scap’ obviously. I’m not convinced that Scap is Stake Knife. What about Padraic Wilson, does he fit the profile?

SB and FRU played God. De Silva documents how at one time the Loyalists planned to kill Oliver Kelly, solicitor. This seemed like a good plan until the state placed a higher value on him, because he was a moderating influence on hunger strikers, whereupon FRU told the Loyalists to back off. The same happened to a plan to kill Adams in 1987. Why was Adams so valuable then? Finucane was apparently disposable.

In assessing a planned terrorist attack SB/FRU considered two issues:

1. The value of the target to the state, or not.

2. Any potential danger to their “asset’ the agent.

Consider my list of agents, above. They must have provided SB/FRU with a wealth of information. Not every operation could be stopped because the agent’s colleagues and masters would become suspicious. There are only so many times that extra police can flood an area or an Army checkpoint appears.

So every so often a attack has to get through, even though SB/FRU have been warned. Or perhaps the agent ‘forgot’ to tell his handlers.

So, on the morning of 6th June 1990, nobody came to the rescue of James and Ellen Sefton.

After my Dad had checked his car and left it outside the house, PIRA planted a bomb underneath it. I know this because the ATO opined that the car travelled as far as it did because the timer, set for an hour, had not wound down before  the start of the journey.

Ultimately, the state is responsible for their deaths.

My parents had a right to life and an expectation that the state would protect them. Instead the state protected the agent and the process. Read the documents in de Silva relating to the prosecution of Nelson to get a feel for how far the state would go to protect the process.

Although the RUC and FRU were not assisted by the state in how to run informers,that is no excuse. The RUC was staffed by ordinary men and women from this Province, some of whom would have known my Dad. Shame on them for being part of an organisation which practised this witchcraft.

Perhaps even now, twenty five years on, one of them might have the decency to come clean, before they have a chat with their Maker.

I am , of course, leaving aside the prospect of a Republican having a conscience.

I am not alone in having suffered this injustice. I am not , by a long way, the worst example.

I hope, though, that others, similarly afflicted may be given some encouragement to enquire into their own tragedies.