From: "Stasi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Friday-Monday, 31 August-3 September, 2001
1. CHILDREN TERRORISED IN CORRIDOR OR HATE
2. Trimble, Paisley discuss joint strategy
3. Bloody Sunday Tribunal resumes
4. Boy assaulted by loyalists in Newry
5. Foot and Mouth mistakes 'must not be repeated'
6. Agreement 'not a final settlement'
7. Tom Williams remembered
8. History: 26-County police state
9. Feature: Road deaths must be tackled in schools
10. Analysis: Haughey's slick sales job
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> CHILDREN TERRORISED IN CORRIDOR OR HATE
It was the first day back at school in Belfast, Alabama.
Even by loyalist standards, the scenes were unbelievable - and
unbearable.
In a gauntlet of terror, tiny young girls and their parents on
their way to school for the first day were subjected to the most
vicious sectarian intimidation and violence yesterday morning and
afternoon.
Screaming the foulest comments, a hate-distorted loyalist mob
bayed and howled in their open quest to terrify the children and
their parents. Nearer the school, bottles and stones rained
down on the children, some as young as four, who cried and
clutched their parents in absolute terror. The fear in their eyes
and faces is unmistakeable, the abuse indelible.
For the loyalists of Glenbryn estate, the presence of
nationalists bringing their girls to Holy Cross primary school
has become too much to bear. "Scum" is one of the few printable
terms of abuse that they hurled at the children, like bricks.
They believe they are better than Catholics.
The blockade and the gauntlet of abuse is likely to continue
again today. Parents are considering whether to take a detour
and bring their children to school through a back door.
Although it was Shauna McAuley's first day in Ardoyne's Holy
Cross Catholic Girls School, it may also be her last.
After braving a barrage of terrifying sectarian abuse yesterday,
little Shauna's mother vowed she would never take her daughter
back. She will not relive the nightmare.
It began at 8:30am when Catholic parents gathered at the Ardoyne
shops close to the sectarian interface they would soon cross.
Among them stood the little girls.
Some sported pigtails, others clutched brightly coloured
lunchboxes. Uniforms were cleaned and pressed for what should
have been their big day.
The families knew there would be a loyalist protest, but none
realised they would soon have to run what they later described as
a "corridor of hate".
Army vehicles kept the majority of nationalist residents back at
the top of Alliance Avenue, two or three hundred yards from the
front entrance to Holy Cross Primary School.
An assortment of loyalist paramilitary flags flew overhead as
Catholic parents took their terrified children to school for the
first day of term.
Riot screens had been erected along the road to create a "safe
corridor" to allow the children to go to school. The steel tunnel
ran for around 200 yards - but stopped well short of the Catholic
families' destination.
Only a line of RUC stood between the loyalist mob and their
passing Catholic neighbours. It was not enough.
"Bastards" and "Fenian scum" were shouted repeatedly as loyalist
spat at the parents and the cowering children.
One little six-year-old girl was reduced to tears when loyalist
protesters labelled her "Dumbo" and called her a "big-eared
bastard".
There were also calls of "Up the UVF" and "Go on the UDA" as
bottles were hurled from across the road as the children and
parents hurried through the school gates.
Parents cupped their hands over children's ears in a desperate
bid to block out the verbal onslaught.
As missiles rained in, they struggled to shelter their daughters
from shattering bottles.
But even when they reached the school, the children did not feel
safe.
One mother described how schoolgirls hid under tables in their
classrooms while loyalist protesters hurled stones, bottles and
fireworks at the school gates from the entrance of the Glenbryn
estate.
The aunt of one of the pupils suffered a head injury when she was
struck with a milk bottle. She was taken to the hospital by
ambulance and later received four staples to a head wound.
Within half an hour many parents, despite having just arrived,
took their children out of the school as it came under further
attack.
"Grown men and women were calling my children Fenian bastards and
spitting on us," said one mother.
"My daughter didn't know what a Fenian was until she heard them
shouting at us.
"I wouldn't take her back to the school now if I was paid. I
would not be able to leave her there without worrying about her
all day.
"What did a child of four or six years of age do to them?
Nothing. We were told it would be safe, but no way was that safe
- it was terrifying.
"When we were half-way up, I wanted to turn back but I couldn't
because there were so many other parents and children being
herded up behind me."
Nine-year-old Stacey McAllister's mother said: "Stacey did not
want to go to school today. All last week, she was sick and had
diarrhoea because she was terrified of going to school.
"She begged me not to make her go but I thought I had to, I had
no idea it would be that bad. I will not let her go back to the
school. I went through this in 1969 when I used to go to that
school but this is far worse. It is unbelievable."
The chairman of the board of governors at Holy Cross said he had
been horrified by the scenes.
Father Aidan Troy said: "I have been a priest for 30 years and I
have never seen anything like this and I have been in trouble
spots across the world."
TWO HOSPITALISED
Two women were treated in hospital for head wounds suffered at
the gates of the school. Both criticised the RUC for not doing
more to defend them.
Ardoyne grandmother Liz Donnelly was struck on the head with a
rock.
"The police said they would protect us but as we got closer to
the school, they said 'you have to go back, there's a mob
coming'. Then as we turned to run, I just saw something out of
the corner of my eye and I was hit. I'm not sure what it was but
it came from the other side of the army jeeps.
"As a man helped me away, the loyalists were shouting: 'There
will be a lot of you gone tonight'," she added.
Elizabeth McShane, received four staples for a head wound after
she was struck with a milk bottle,
She said she feared for her life after being knocked to the
ground at the school entrance.
"As I let go of my niece and turned at the school gates, I just
saw a bottle coming flying at me and it hit me on the head," she
said.
"The scariest thing was that when I was lying on the ground, all
I could see was people throwing bottles and stones at me. They
were trying to kill me as I lay on the ground helpless."
RUC INACTION
North Belfast Sinn Fein councillor Margaret McClenaghan hit out
at the RUC for failing to clear a way for the children to leave
the school in the afternoon, and allowing loyalists to pass
through their lines and attack parents.
"From the outset the RUC have, at best, displayed a half-hearted
attitude to dealing with the loyalists who were blocking the
children's way to school. Their inaction this afternoon
highlights the very real sectarian nature of the force. Their
ambivalence in dealing with loyalists stands in sharp contrast to
their treatment of nationalists in North Belfast."
Education minister Martin McGuinness spoke of his dismay.
"Every child should be able to travel unhindered to school and be
educated in an environment where they feel safe and secure and
ready to learn."
The minister gave his full backing to efforts to "maintain this
basic human right" for pupils.
"No children should be fearful of going to school and I would
encourage everyone with influence to work towards an immediate
resolution of this problem."
The loyalist mobs, after a second night of violence across north
Belfast, are back to take on the schoolchildren and their parents
for another day.
Meanwhile, the anguish of the Catholic parents over what to do
next for the is immense. They are being forced to choose between
their children's welfare or their human rights. For many, it is
an impossible choice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Trimble, Paisley discuss joint strategy
Talks between the two main unionist parties -- David Trimble's
UUP and Ian Paisley's DUP -- suggest that the UUP no longer backs
the Good Friday Agreement, according to Sinn Fein's Minister of
Education Martin McGuinness.
The two unionist leaders have held a face-to-face meeting for the
first time since the peace deal was signed in 1998. They had a 40
minute breakfast meeting yesterday to discuss a common strategy
against policing reform. Both leaders have agreed to talk again
on Friday.
The Ulster Unionist party has still not decided a policy on the
issue of joining the new police board. The UUP is seeking
"clarification" of the British government's redrafted reform
implementation plan, which nationalists have protested falls
short of the promised Patten reforms.
Meanwhile, the hardline anti-Agreement DUP is calling for
unionists to unite and boycott the policing board until the
package is "acceptable to the unionist community". UUP MPs David
Burnside and Jeffrey Donaldson have already supported the DUP
statement.
In light of David Trimble's latest shift away from the GFA, Sinn
Fein's Mid Ulster MP has attacked his failure to work to cement
the peace process. Martin McGuinness told reporters in Dungiven,
County Derry, that the British government's refusal to implement
in full the Patten proposals, together with a hardening of
attitudes within the Ulster Unionist Party against the Good
Friday Agreement, had damaged the peace deal.
Mr McGuinness said: "I believe that David Trimble's party is not
a pro-agreement party. I believe they are anti-agreement and it
is absolutely essential that the British government recognises
that.
"I actually believe that the Good Friday agreement, and it pains
me greatly to say it, has been holed below the waterline in a
number of areas in relation to David Trimble's attack on the
institutions, on his refusal to accept the full implementation of
Patten and the British government's capitulation to that and, of
course, the refusal of the British government to demilitarise
right throughout the North and to fully implement the Patten
proposals.
"We are dealing with a unionist party that has effectively seen a
coup d'etat.
"As far as we are concerned within the nationalist/republican
constituency, the person who now leads the Ulster Unionist Party
is not David Trimble, it's Jeffrey Donaldson, it's Burnside and
it's the anti-agreement element who appear to be now more keen to
join forces with the rejectionist DUP than they are about fully
implementing an agreement that their party signed up to in 1998
on Good Friday."
He said it was up to the two governments to realise the urgency
of the situation and initiate new talks.
"They are sitting on their hands and they need to get off their
hands and get back round the table and sort this out," he said.
The SDLP has already declared its support for the new
arrangements, which have been rejected by Sinn Fein. Alban
Maginness, SDLP assembly member for north Belfast, said it would
be "tragic" if the UUP failed to back the new arrangements.
Sinn Fein has accused the SDLP of "jumping too soon" in its
decision to join the Policing Boards while the issue of policing
remains unresolved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Bloody Sunday Tribunal resumes
The public inquiry into the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre has
resumed in Derry's Guildhall after the summer recess.
More than 270 civilian witnesses have already given evidence at
the inquiry into the events of Sunday, January 30th, 1972, when
British soldiers shot dead 13 unarmed civil rights demonstratos
and wounded many more, one of whom died later.
The tribunal is chaired by Lord Saville, William Hoyt from Canada
and Mr John Toohey from Australia. Over the summer, a fourth
reserve judge ended his involvment in the inquiry for personal
reasons and will not be replaced.
Further eyewitness evidence was heard yesterday on the victims
who were shot by British soldiers in the vicinity of a barricade
in Rossville Street.
A witness yesterday described how 17-year-old victim Hugh Gilmour
passed within feet of him in Rossville Street just seconds before
he died. Mr Don Carlin said that during the firing by the
soldiers he sheltered just inside the entrance door to Block 1 of
the Rossville Flats. He noticed Hugh Gilmour running past,
heading south along Rossville Street.
He continued: "As he passed he said to me `I am hit, Don, I'm
hit'. He ran past the door to Block 1 and went around the corner
. . . I now know that he fell there and died."
The witness said he then went upstairs inside Block 1 and came
across another victim, 17-year-old Kevin McElhinney, lying on his
back on the first landing. It was obvious to him that the
teenager was dead.
Mr Carlin, who lived in Block 2 of the flats, decided to return
there to check that his wife and children were OK. He crawled
along the balcony on his stomach to the doorway of his flat.
He said he was certain that no nail bombs or petrol bombs were
thrown on the day, and he was not aware of any being in the area.
The inquiry continues today, with legal submissions concerning
applications for anonymity on behalf of five former members of
the breakaway "Official IRA".
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Boy assaulted by loyalists in Newry
Fourteen-year-old Stephen Mathers, from Greenfield Park, Newry
was viciously assaulted during a loyalist band parade in the town
on Friday evening, 24 August.
Describing how he was attacked by two men taking part in the
parade, Stephen said: "They just ran at us. My friends got away
but I was not so lucky. I curled up into a ball to protect myself
but they still kicked away at me. At one stage when one of the
flute bands saw what was happening, they dropped their flutes and
came over to join in."
Stephen's mother said she was horrified when she saw her son
arriving home covered in blood and bruises.
Stephen's parents have said they will be contacting the Parades
Commission to urge them to investigate this incident. They said:
"A young 14 year old boy, full of curiosity, stops for a moment
to watch a band parade and is viciously attacked by loyalist
thugs taking part in the parade. Questions have to be asked of
the organisers. Where were the stewards? Will the flute band
whose members broke ranks and joined in this attack be banned
from any future parades?"
Sinn Fein councillor Charlie Casey, who visited the boy's home,
said he was appalled to see his injuries. "This was an unprovoked
sectarian attack by loyalist bigots who demand year after year to
march through the predominately nationalist town of Newry," he
said. "Their behaviour is nothing short of triumphalism and
totally unacceptable to the local population. It is bad enough
that residents of this area have to endure the disruption caused
to their daily lives by these unwanted loyalist band parades
without having to suffer physical attacks as well."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Foot and Mouth mistakes 'must not be repeated'
Sinn Fein West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty has called on Agriculture
minister Brid Rodgers to adopt a 'Fortress Ireland' approach to
the latest outbreaks of Foot and Mouth disease in England.
In a new resurgence of the animal livestock disease, a flurry of
new cases have pushed the number of farms infected this year in
Britain to over 2000. Agriculture and tourism in Britain was
decimated by the disease earlier this summer.
Large-scale animal culls have returned to Northumberland in
northern England, and there are fears that the disease could
ignite once again lead to the disease returning to Ireland.
"The latest outbreak of Foot and Mouth in England is extremely
worrying," said Doherty. "I would call on Brid Rodgers to meet
immediately with her counterpart in the 26 Counties, Joe Walsh,
and to adopt a 'Fortress Ireland' approach to ensure that the
disease does not spread to Ireland.
"Brid Rodgers must make sure that the mistakes which allowed the
disease to spread to Ireland during the last outbreak are not
repeated this time around."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Agreement `not a final settlement'
Looking around the Irish Labour History Museum in the former army
base at Beggars Bush Barracks, Sinn Fein's Jim Gibney expressed
the hope that the day would come when British bases in Ireland
would serve a similarly useful purpose as the hosting of the
Thirteenth Desmond Greaves Summer School.
Greaves will be familiar to many republicans as the author of
books like 'The Life and Times of James Connolly' and 'Liam
Mellows and the Irish Revolution'. Over a career spanning several
decades, Greaves edited the Connolly Association's newspaper, The
Irish Democrat, and was a prolific radical socialist-republican
writer and historian.
Jim Gibney was speaking at the closing lecture of this year's
school, titled 'Modern Republicanism From the Hunger-Strike to
the Good Friday Agreement: An Evaluation'. Recently suspended
ATGWU secretary Mick O'Reilly was also scheduled to speak but the
organisers reported that on legal advice he would not be taking
part following the controversial ban on making public appearances
placed on him by the union's British leadership.
In a speech that was at times moving, Gibney outlined the debt
owed by people, not just in Ireland, to the sacrifices of the
hunger-strikers of 1981:
"In my opinion the hunger strike of 1981 changed fundamentally
the republican struggle. Those who died on hunger strike not only
set a new moral frame or context from which everything else
derived, they propelled the struggle forward into a new arena;
they strengthened the struggle at a time when it was under
pressure.
"They inflicted both a moral and a political defeat on Margaret
Thatcher and continue to inspire republicans all over Ireland. In
fact, Bobby Sands became an icon for oppressed peoples all over
the world. And he still is. The prisoners in Turkish jails who
are on hunger strike at the minute told two ex-prisoners a few
weeks ago that Bobby Sands was their hero and they drew strength
from him."
Gibney went on to say: "When the year was over it was obvious to
the leadership that an electoral strategy was needed. The
prisoners gave us the courage to open up this front. That meant a
party has to be built. It was no longer good enough for Sinn Fein
to be a party of protest on the outside. It had to build as an
effective and real party and it had to bring its protest politics
into the system. As I speak, that might sound reasonably
straightforward. Back then it was a huge shift."
The Summer School typically attracts a fairly broad spectrum of
opinion from the Irish socialist and republican traditions and
this year was no exception. Following Jim Gibney's warmly
received speech, a question and answer session followed, with
many of the speakers criticising elements of the Good Friday
Agreement.
There was some dissatisfaction expressed at Sinn Fein's role in
the Stormont Executive which was, Gibney asserted, in large part
down to the party 'not blowing its own trumpet' on the issue
enough as to what it had accomplished since Martin McGuinness and
Bairbre de Brun took office. He pointed out that in the first
hundred days of the Executive, Martin McGuinness has spent more
on integrated education than the British government did over the
last 30 years and that the party was hampered in what it could do
by the fact that the Executive was essentially a coalition.
He also repeatedly stressed the point that no republican
seriously considered the Good Friday Agreement as a final
settlement. "The Good Friday Agreement is not a settlement, it is
an interim political arrangement," he said. "The only settlement
that will be acceptable to republicans is one that brings about
the unification and independence of Ireland. It is not over, and
it will not be over until we achieve that."
Gibney's lecture was but the last in a series that had gone on
throughout the weekend, dealing with a range of issues from
economic unity in Ireland to globalisation to democracy in the
European Union.
Thirteen years since his death, C Desmond Greaves continues to be
a name synonymous with informed debate and discussion of radical
alternatives to the status quo and this year's school underlined
the commitment of the organisers to those principles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> Tom Williams remembered
Hundreds of people includung scores of former POWs gathered at
Milltown cemetery on Sunday to commemorate the burial of
republican Tom Williams.
Williams was hanged in Crumlin Road jail on September 2 1942 for
his involvement in the sturggle against British rule. He was
buried on unconsecrated ground within the jail.
After 57 years of campaigning, his remains were exhumed last year
and buried beside his mother in Milltown cemetery.
A piper and representatives of the National Graves Association
led the procession around the cemetery, where a wreath was laid
at Williams's grave.
Ex-prisoner associations from west Belfast marched behind Liam
Shannon and Brigid Hanna from the National Graves Association.
Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley spoke at the commemoration,
saying the time should be used to reflect on Williams's life and
reflect on the cause for which he gave his life.
"The manner of his death reflects the struggle in which he was a
part. For our generation, Tom today represents a beacon of light
in the history of our community, our society and in the history
of our country," he said.
Five other IRA Volunteers were also sentenced to death but all
received last-minute reprieves.
Republican veteran Joe Cahill, now aged 80, who was sentenced
along with Williams was one of the hundreds of people who
gathered at the ceremony. He spoke of the pride he felt to
commemorate his friend.
"It was heart warming to see so many turn out to remember Tom. It
was a real struggle to get him buried here but the National
Graves Association worked very hard to get him out. It wasn't the
grave we originally wanted him to be in but he is buried with his
mother," he said.
Liam Shannon of the National Graves Association said the day was
important as it brought everybody together to remember what
Williams had done for the republican movement.
"We are delighted with the turn out and especially with the
ex-prisoners turning up and showing solidarity with the National
Graves Association," he said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> History: 26-County police state
During 1976, the Dublin government declared a 'State of
Emergency' in the 26 Counties. The Fine Gael/Labour coalition,
widely recognised as the most repressive Irish administration
since the Second World War, introduced an array of repressive
security and censorship legislation aimed at crushing
republicanism in the Southern state.
The new weapons in the state's armoury, the Emergency Powers Act
and the Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act (CLJA), completed the
transformation of the Irish legal, political and media systems
into mere adjuncts of Britain's counterinsurgency strategy on the
island as a whole, a process which began four years earlier under
Fianna Fail.
The Criminal Law Jurisdiction Act (CLJA) was passed in 1976,
allowing the 26-County courts to try defendants on charges
allegedly committed outside the state. The target was, of course,
republicans who had carried out acts of resistance against
British occupation in the Six Counties. The CLJA ensured the
continued survival of the non-jury Special Court, originally
introduced as a temporary measure.
Political censorship in the form of Section 31 of the
Broadcasting Act, already used to dramatic effect in November
1972 when Gerry Collins sacked the entire RTE Authority for
broadcasting an interview with IRA leader Sean Mac Stiofain, was
strengthened by Conor Cruise O'Brien. Sinn Fein members could not
be interviewed on RTE no matter what the subject. It was to be
almost two decades before the Act was allowed to lapse.
The activities of the Garda Heavy Gang demonstrated the new
levels of corruption that characterised the Irish criminal
justice sytem. Allegations soared that Garda detectives were
torturing republican suspects in custody. The activities of the
Heavy Gang inevitably led to wrongful convictions, most notably
in the Sallins mail train robbery case.
1976 marked a violent and overt onslaught by the 26-County state
on the physical, political and intellectual manifestations of
Irish republicanism. It underlined the political bankrupcy of the
Irish political elite and established the status quo for the
following two decades.
The Dublin government declared its 'state of emergency' on 1
September 1976, 25 years ago this week.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Feature: Road deaths must be tackled in schools
--------------------------------------------------------------
MICHAEL PIERSE praises recent efforts to heighten awareness about
the dangers on the roads, but as this year's death toll rises,
with young people the most likely to die, he argues that
organised driving instruction and road awareness training is
needed in post-primary schools
--------------------------------------------------------------
With the seasonal spate of road deaths that the holiday exodus
and associated heavy consumption of alcohol generally entails,
there has been renewed focus in recent weeks on one of Ireland's
most common and horrific killers.
Every year we see the scrunched-up remains of crashed cars and
hear of the ill-fated final hours of their occupants: a teenager
who sped home with the news of dazzling Leaving Cert results; a
young man after a Saturday night's drinking who decided that
taking the risk was favourable to walking five miles home;
someone who died because they forgot to wear their seat belt;
pedestrians mown down on dark country roads. The most common
fatality profile is young, rural and male.
There has been more than one death per day on the roads in
Ireland this year. According to statistics published by the
26-County Roads Authority, almost one quarter of all road
fatalities are in the 18-24 age group, and three quarters of all
fatalities are male. Young people in the border counties are
seven to eight times more likely to be killed on the roads than
their counterparts in Dublin.
However, recent 26-County statistics suggest that there are some,
consistent, glimmerings of hope. 1997 saw a highpoint in road
deaths - approaching the 500 figure - after which the Dublin
government pledged to take action. To be fair, they did. In a
three-year period (2000 statistics are the most recent figures
available) a 12 per cent reduction has been achieved in road
deaths, while serious injuries have gone down by 15 per cent. The
26-County government road strategy, which is implemented by the
National Safety Council (NSC), seems on course for its stated
target of a 20 per cent reduction in fatalities by the end of
2002.
The multi-faceted approach pursued by the NSC is obviously
impacting in a major way, with the central tenets of publicity,
education and legal measures at its heart, although the strategy
may need some expansion in coming years.
The propaganda element of the NSA's campaign (in conjunction with
the Six-County Department of the Environment) has been central to
its success. The graphic and violent nature of TV adverts such as
'Damage' and 'Shame' has not only been breathtaking but is
demonstrably effective.
According to an IMS survey, seven out of every ten young Irish
adults say they are more concerned about wearing a seat belt
after seeing 'Damage', the latest seat belt ad showing on both
sides of the border.
The highly-impacting advert depicts a young, carefree, couple
heading out in their friends' car. They sit in the back seat.
When the car crashes, the young man's failure to wear a seat belt
results in his head colliding with that of his girfriend, killing
her on impact. As with other, similar adverts, 'Damage' is styled
to portray an everyday situation that ends, very brutally, in
tragedy.
Initial surveys carried out in the Six Counties have revealed
that nine out of every ten respondents between the ages of 16 and
35 admit to being "influenced a lot" by the advert. Eight out of
ten said that they talked about the ad with their friends and
family, while six out of ten had encouraged someone they knew to
wear a seat belt as a result of seeing it.
Surveys conducted in the Six Counties by Ulster Marketing Surveys
and in the 26 Counties by IMS have revealed that the advert
'Shame' has also left a considerable dint on the Irish psyche.
'Shame' flashes between a series of interlinked scenes, depicting
a typical Saturday afternoon's activities for both a young man
and a young boy. Returning home, overjoyed after a successful
match, the young man goes for a quick pint with his friends, then
loses control of his car, which flips sideways into a garden. The
child is crushed beneath it. The camera focuses in on the young
man. "Could you live with the shame?" a voice asks.
Following the advert's showing on both sides of the border, it
was revealed that six out of ten Irish respondents now believe
that if you drink any alcohol at all it will affect your driving.
This is an increase of 13 per cent on the figure taken before the
ad was shown.
Such initiatives are not only cost effective in terms of saving
life and limb - their economic benefit, if it is not too cynical
to note, is staggering. It is estimated that for every #1 spent
on road safety, the accumulated savings in terms of insurance,
garda investigations, road maintenance etc, is as high as eight
times that amount. According to the 1999 yearly review of road
safety in the 26 Counties, carried out by the NSA:
"Implementation of the (26-County Road Safety) Strategy will give
rise to very significant net economic benefits; over the period
of implementation, 1998-2002, the benefit cost ratio is estimated
at 4.5:1, rising to an annual cost ratio of 8.3:1 post-2002."
Of particular concern is the much higher likelihood of road
fatalities among young people, particularly males, in rural
areas. Why such an inordinate amount of these deaths occurs in
the border area may be revealed in the area's socio-economic
profile. Unlike Dublin and much of the East and Southeast region,
jobs are scarce in the border area and poverty is much more
pervasive. Coupled with the sparsity of population and an
inadequate public transport system, young people are more likely
to be involved in reckless driving. Why?
First, there is the difference in what a car represents to a
young rural male. It is a symbol of affluence and freedom,
heralding the beginning of adulthood, the opportunity to escape
from boredom and travel further afield. As is the case with drink
or drugs, young people, when not fully educated or aware of the
dangers posed by some new experience, will often test their
limits to devastating effect. Personal transport is often
liberating in rural areas, but young men, eager to show off and
with little other option in terms of transport home after a night
out, will take chances. They have the opportunity to drive, with
God knows what previous instruction, and a six-month waiting
period, minimum, before they can get a driving test. What results
is carnage.
While snazzy TV ads are effective, nothing can substitute actual,
hands-on experience, such as is available to high school students
in the US. 'Drivers' Education' - which comprises instruction
and, most vitally, awareness raising in terms of the dangers
involved in driving - is a standard element in the formal
education system in the United States. It educates young people
on the effects different levels of alcohol and drugs have on
their judgement, the effects of weather conditions on their
driving, and affords them the opportunity to get some practical
experience of handling a car.
As Drivers' Education is a prerequisite to every application for
a driving license, the net effect is to ensure that drivers are
better trained and more aware before they take their potentially
lethal vehicles onto the roads.
While efforts to combat drink-driving here have worked and other
elements of the current government strategy have been effective,
the US experience points to one, gaping shortfall in the Irish
experience.
It is essential, as part of any cogent strategy on road deaths,
that the gap between driving novice and driving disaster be
bridged.
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>>>>>> Analysis: Haughey's slick sales job
BY ROBBIE MacGABHANN
Yes he is. No he isn't. Yes he is, but not quite yet. Isn't it
very telling that ten years after being forced from office and in
the wake of three different tribunals that have left his
political integrity shattered, we still have former Irish Prime
Minister, Charlie Haughey putting susceptible journalists through
the hoops.
Last weekend, the Sunday Independent started the ball rolling
with the scoop news that Haughey was selling his Abbeville estate
for #30 million. Then he was going to pay his outstanding tax
debts, even though it is as yet unclear as to how large they
actually are, and retire to France as a tax exile. Haughey would
divide his time between a new residence in France and Ireland,
having the right to stay in Abbeville until his death.
If that wasn't incredible enough, Haughey, who only a few short
months ago was so ill with a terminal disease that he could not
be publicly grilled by the Moriarty Tribunal, had, we were
reliably informed, conducted the entire negotiations himself.
As the story was sluicing through papers and news bulletins, who
should pop up in the news but the bould Charlie, on his annual
jaunt of starting the Dingle Regatta. Now we had a nice PR
glimpse of the disgraced Taoiseach, but perhaps not so disgraced,
as the media coverage of the possible Abbeville sale has been
generally positive.
It has been clear from all of Haughey's public dealings with
tribunals over the past few years that he couldn't care less what
the public or anybody, for that matter, think of him. What does
he care about then? Well the one obvious clue from his life of
spending is money. What Haughey fears most is not having any, and
the sale of Abbeville would, even with tax payments, leave him
quite comfortable by any definition.
The idea has now been publicly floated, so when the actual sale
is concluded, and which many media sources tell us is bound by a
confidentiality clause, we will be well used to the notion that
Haughey is once again getting away with it.
Surely now is the time for the Dublin government to empower the
Moriarty Tribunal to make Haughey surrender his passport and
freeze all of his assets until we know just how much money he
received and how much of the tax code and other laws were broken
over his years in political office.
Perhaps the first question would be where did he get the money to
buy Abbeville in the first place?
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