> The Guardian > 15 October 2000 > > Killing sparks fear of terror feud > By Henry McDonald > > Northern Ireland's power-sharing government faces a new crisis after > the family of a murdered republican dissident last night claimed the > Provisional IRA killed him. > > The allegation calls into question the Provisionals' ceasefire and > puts further pressure on First Minister David Trimble to resign from > the Executive with Sinn Fein. > > The shooting of Real IRA man Joe O'Connor, 26, in West Belfast last > Friday could also spark a bloody feud between mainstream republicans > and dissidents. > > The father of three was shot seven times in the head outside his > mother's home in Whitecliff Parade, only yards from where his > grandfather, Francisco Notarantonio, was killed by loyalists 13 years > ago this week. > > His mother, Margaret O'Connor told The Observer of the minutes > leading up to the killing. Two masked gunmen, backed by look-outs > with two-way radios at either end to her son's car as he pulled up to > visit her. > > 'One of them put his foot against the door to prevent him getting > out. He then fired into the car at Joe. They also tried to shoot my > brother, Anthony, who was in the car with my son, but he got away. > They fired seven shots into Joe, five in his head and two in his > face. > > 'I know it was the Provisional IRA because up to 20 people said they > saw who it was as they took their masks off before getting away. They > killed Joe because he would not toe their line and opposed them going > into Stormont.' > > The murdered man's sister, Margaret Lennon, claimed the Provos had > tried to shoot O'Connor in a bar on the Poleglass estate in West > Belfast the previous week. But when the IRA gang arrived, the > dissident had just left. > > Mrs Lennon said that last March one of her brothers had been abducted > and questioned by the IRA over his support for republican dissident > groups. The kidnappers hijacked a bus belonging to the Catholic > Church to transport her brother to a 'safe house' in the nearby > Beechmount area, where he was stripped naked, beaten and questioned > about dissident republican activity, she said. > > Her brother would have keen killed then, but for Real IRA gunmen, who > went to IRA supporters' homes in Ballymurphy to demandhis release. > > She added: 'I heard the shots that killed my brother. At first I > thought they were fireworks. Joe was killed because he was a true > republican and did not agree with the Provos going into Stormont. He > died because he spoke out. If this is the new police force on offer, > then God help us.' > > Mrs O'Connor said her entire family had voted for Sinn Fein leader > Gerry Adams for almost two decades. Her brother, Victor Notarantonio, > added: 'We were always for Adams, but never again.' > > He criticised claims in some national newspapers that the other > dissident group, the Continuity IRA, carried out the > murder. 'Everybody in this area knows that is a lie,' he said, 'They > [the Provisionals] thought they could get away with this killing. > They thought it would be no claim, no blame, that people would think > it was the loyalists. But now the people know that the Provisional > IRA did this to a fellow republican.' > > Victor Notarantonio's father was killed in disputed circumstances in > 1987 when Ulster Defence Association gunmen entered his home and shot > him dead as he slept. > > Last month the Government attempted to gag newspapers allegations > that Francisco Notarantonio was set up by British agents to save a > top IRA informer. It is alleged that UDA mole Brian Nelson - an agent > for the Army's Force Research Unit - had unwittingly found > information about a spy inside the IRA, codenamed Steak Knife. Nelson > told his handlers that the UDA intended to assassinate 'Steak Knife'. > The FRU panicked and saved their IRA mole by making Notarantonio > a 'substitute target'. > > Ballymurphy is a stronghold for mainstream republicans. But there is > a sign of dissent just yards from where O'Connor died. Along a wall > at the top of Whitecliff Parade is a defiant message: 'The Real IRA > fights on.' > > > > To subscribe to this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >
