EXAMINER IRISH NEWS

Anger as EU cuts set to take a heavy toll

by Mark Hennessy and Kyran Fitzgerald
ROAD tolls, water charges, privately funded capital projects and drastic cuts in farmers' income are ready to become a reality as the country faces an 85% reduction in structural funds and a reform of the common agricultural programme.
The extent of the proposed changes were outlined in cold legal language by the EU yesterday in an effort to ensure sufficient money in the Brussels kitty to allow the entry of 12 countries, mostly from the poorer Eastern Europe. They also acknowledge Ireland's improved economic status.
There was fury in farming circles as the CAP reforms will mean cuts of £250m a year and up to 30% in minimum support prices. Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh said the compensation package was inadequate, the share out of milk quota was unfair and reforms favoured the intensive production methods of Germany and other countries.
But as the EU prepared to remove most of its supports gradually over six years from 1999 dropping from £1bn to £150m by 2003, private interests in this country and the US prepared to replace the European grants with profitable business propositions.
IBEC and the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland welcomed many of the proposals and called on the Government to publicly state it favoured partnerships between private and public sector.
Peter Brennan, who represents the employers' organisation and business interests in Brussels, warned if this was not done and a National Development Plan was not put in place quickly, major projects would be put on ice because of EU funding shortfalls after the year 2002.
"The Government needs to start leveraging up private sector finance for projects," he said.
And in the United States top Irish American business people, members of the Ireland America Economic Advisory Board, told Taoiseach Bertie Ahern they were preparing a blueprint to help find private investment which would compensate for the loss of EU aid.
"We have to start thinking how we will deal with our infrastructural problems in the future, how we will build roads, how we will deal with clean water and sewage," the Taoiseach said after a two-hour meeting with some of the leaders of American commerce.
The US group is preparing a report which will be ready shortly and is expected to help form Government thinking as it prepares to attract private investors and create liquidity in the capital markets by way of bonds and investment.
"They are advising me on putting together a paper where we can go to our own financial institutions and see how we can deal with infrastructural projects for the next ten to 15 years," said the Taoiseach as he prepared to leave Washington last night after celebrating St Patrick's Day with President Bill Clinton.
Policy changes are also signalled in the EU's proposals which will be hotly negotiated over the next year before they are implemented in time for the 1999 to 2006 funding period. These changes include polluter pays ideas which are heavily supported by countries including Germany, Holland and Scandinavia.
This could see water metering and charges forced on Ireland, a Commission source admitted, together with road tolls to pay for the building and upkeep of the country's road network.
The need for reform has become urgent as the present 15 EU member states freeze their budget contributions to qualify for monetary union, around £30 billion is earmarked for new members.

Emotion-filled final farewell

If his worth is measured by the lives he touched Hugh Coveney has treasures stored in heaven

by TP O'Mahony
"NEVER look backwards," said Rebecca Coveney, and then her voice broke, and in the stillness of the church one could almost feel the tears flowing.
It was Hugh Coveney's daughter recounting the advice he had given her, and then adding how much she would miss him.
She will, of course, look backwards to all the memories of a very special dad, but she will also be sustained by all that he bequeathed to her.
Her six brothers were there to help her share the burden of her loss, and her mother, Pauline, was the great bulwark, dignified in grief.
If a man's worth is measured by the lives he has touched, then Hugh Coveney has treasures stored up in heaven.
Yesterday, the great of the city he loved so well turned out to bid him a final farewell — and so did the ordinary people.
Their representative, President Mary McAleese, was present, and that spoke volumes for a man who was more widely loved than he ever suspected.
In sport, in business and in politics, he made his mark and left his mark. But along the way he won respect on a scale few men in public life in Ireland have known.
Yesterday his family, his friends, his admirers, and even his political opponents, gave thanks for his rich and varied life.
His virtues were extolled — and they were many. A great father, a great husband, and a caring public servant.
In times of loss, flowers often speak more eloquently than words, and the flowers were there in abundance.
Not that there was any shortage of words.
Rebecca spoke words laden with emotion, and at the end of the requiem Mass her brother, Patrick (the eldest) matched her in his praise of their father.
"He lived his life at one hundred miles per hour, and if anything accelerated with age," he told the packed congregation at St Michael's Church in Blackrock.
He spoke of his father's giving nature — giving, not because he had to but because he wanted to.
And then he talked of Hugh Coveney's many loves. For Pauline, above all, for his children, for Ireland, for Cork and for the Tracton area, where he lived.
His children, said Patrick, will all remember him in different ways. "He was my best friend," he told us.
And then he went on to quote a passage from WB Yeats, a passage about life and the celebration of life, and how this might lead one to enjoy "the silver apples of the moon, and the golden apples of the sun".
It was from this passage that Hugh took the name of his yacht — "The Golden Apple" — on which five of his children were sailing around the world when he died.
Their tragically interrupted voyage was part of a fund-raising campaign for the children of Chernobyl, and it was fitting that Adi Roche, who set up this humanitarian fund, was present yesterday.
Before and after the Mass — attended by the Fine Gael leader, John Bruton, and former leader and Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald — many words were spoken in praise of the "gentleman politician".
But the most germane comments came from Fr George Murphy, the parish priest of Minane Bridge, where Hugh lived.
He was, said Fr Murphy, keen of intellect, generous of heart, charming in manner, witty in speech, and completely devoid of insincerity and double-dealing.
Tall, athletic and handsome, he was successful in business, appreciative of the arts, and had a wide circle of friends. And it was in Rosie's of Carrigaline that he met the one friend who was to have a very special place in his life — his wife, Pauline.
Fr Murphy told us that almost everything Hugh touched turned to gold for him, in school, in sailing and in politics.
"Yet his proudest moment was when he was elected Lord Mayor of Cork."
He also praised the role Hugh played in the Northern Ireland peace process, but stressed that throughout all of this he never allowed any of it to go to his head, "or, as we say in Cork, he never lost the run of himself."
Then came a most poignant moment, when Fr Murphy referred to the circumstances of Hugh's death.
"We don't complain that at the end the sea claimed him, for he had a lifelong love of the sea.
" We grieve that the sea took him prematurely, but we are also profoundly grateful to the sea that she delivered his body so speedily."
For Pauline, especially, the period of uncertainty and waiting had been almost unbearable, said Fr Murphy.
And then, in Hugh's name, he made a plea, a plea made against the background of developments in the Northern Ireland peace process where a solution seems in sight.
His plea was for the return of the missing bodies of some of those killed over the last 30 years.
This would be the ultimate tribute to Hugh Coveney, that these bodies should be given back for respectful burial.
In the church the prayers for the dead at the end of the Mass were said by Bishop John Buckley, and then, before the private burial in St Michael's cemetery, the members of Cork Corporation were joined by members of Fine Gael and other politicians in forming a guard of honour as the coffin was borne to the hearse.
The words that lingered, as we watched, were those read at the Mass from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "For everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die . . . ."
Among the packed congregation were the leader of the Labour Party, Ruairi Quinn, the leader of Democratic Left, Prionsias de Rossa, and Mary O'Rourke and David Andrews of Fianna Fáil, who represented the Taoiseach and the Government respectively.
Kevin Lane represented the Royal Cork Yacht Club. Joe Muholland represented RTE, and Ali Hewson accompanied Adi Roche on behalf of the Chernobyl Children's Project.
Captain Charles O'Donnell represented Commodore John Kavanagh, the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service.

Shared sense of loss, goodness, decency

by Isabel Healy
IT was a calm day, and the city Hugh Coveney loved and served was quiet yesterday afternoon, the flags hanging limply at half mast over City Hall, as the long sleek limousines emerged bearing the Councillors, officers and officials of Cork to his funeral.
He was a big man who loved villages and it was to his old home village of Blackrock that the state cars, the official cars, the cars with Irish and European flags and Garda outriders headed, along with friends and neighbours, on foot, admirers and local people breaking their day to say goodbye to a man who was hugely popular.
The Coveney family sat together, the wind burn and sun tans of the five young charity sailors more pronounced against their formal attire.
The congregation was sombre suited and sad, the ceremony was dignified, simple and warm.
Despite the pews of politicians, there was no pomposity, but a shared sense of loss, of goodness, decency and community.
A dozen priests concelebrated Mass, they were assisted on the altar by three young girls.
With his wife Pauline, Hugh Coveney had studied the history of art as a night student at UCC; he supported artists and loved to be surrounded by art.
It was so for his funeral service. The coffin was draped only in simple white and the walls of the church were lined with art, the posters of local school children.
There were many maritime references in gospel and readings, but above all were messages of love, hope and gratitude for a good life and how Hugh Coveney embraced it, for the good he did for others, and even to the sea which claimed him.
The Coveney children were magnanimous in their own loss, leading the Prayers of the Faithful for peace, for the victims of violence in the Six Counties and for the relatives and friends of missing persons.
"Nature and grace blessed Hugh Coveney," said Fr George Murphy in his eulogy, referring with admiration and affection to the former Lord Mayor's physical stature and good looks, his honesty, decency, love of Cork and respect for its traditions, love of life and sociability, his business and political success, his sporting achievements on land and water.
Said Father Murphy: "We grieve that the sea took him, but we are profoundly grateful to the sea that she gave him back."

Punters ready for Bonfire of the Bookies

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by Neans McSweeney - Cheltenham
WITH a bit of Irish luck today, Cheltenham '98 will go down as The Bonfire of the Bookies.
Oh, what a beautiful roll we're on!
There's no doubt about it, we haven't celebrated here so much for God knows how long. And how we laughed and sang and drank last night, after Archie O'Leary's Florida Pearl gave the bookies another Irish scorching.
But our hopes for a perfect end to what has been a fantastic Cheltenham Festival are firmly pinned on Dorans Pride in the Gold Cup.
The champagne is on ice and the party to end all parties on hold until after the big one today.
Irish punters scooped well over £1 million again yesterday in what was the second successive hammering for the bookies. Florida Pearl had the punters jumping out of their skins as he powered home in the big race to the now familiar Irish cheer. The porter taps were flowing, and nobody had any intention of turning them off.
Irish punters stood out from the rest of the crowd on Tuesday because they wore shamrock. But last night, they were immediately recognisable for their beaming smiles and bulging wallets.
Archie and Violet O'Leary, owners of Florida Pearl, were ecstatic. "We're absolutely thrilled that this horse has given so much enjoyment," said Violet. Archie was lost for words as he made his way into the parade ring to the cheers of the massive Irish contingent.
The Corkman, who once played rugby and sailed for Ireland, admitted he knew Florida Pearl had a lot in his reserve tank and he knew he was in with more than a fighting chance.
But today, its Dorans Pride who will be in the spotlight. Tom Doran's runner is heavily fancied and punters were last night planning to go for broke on him. A win for him today will seal what has truly been a great Irish run.
Cashmans last night quoted him a red hot 2-1 favourite. Money for jam.
Tom Doran, the millionaire builder from Mayo, has promised to fly his pride and joy home to Knock if fate is on their side today.

Champers all round as the luck of the Irish continues

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by Neans McSweeney
CHAMPAGNE tastes all the better when the bookies are shelling out.
And those same bookies have dubbed the Cheltenham festival "Black 98" as the luck of the Irish continued yesterday and punters again cleaned up.
Friends Sean Moriarty, Denis McBarron, Flor Cronin and Eamon Tuohy, from Kerry and Cork, haven't drunk anything but champagne since the festival began.
"We had a very nice wager on Florida Pearl and have had an extremely good day. It has made our week. We're having a ball and it's all on the English bookies," said Kerryman Sean Moriarty. It certainly doesn't get much better than this.
Cheltenham rocked and the Irish ran wild as Florida Pearl blazed home in the big race. While Alexander Banquet pipped favourite Joe Mac to take the last race, the win was another Irish coup and sealed another great Irish double.
Punters at home and in Cheltenham are today gearing up for record coups as the much fancied Dorans Pride and Elegant Lord go to post. If the Irish luck continues, bookies will remember the meeting as one of their worst in history.
Many festival revellers have also wagered heavily at home and have included today's fancied runners in valuable double and treble bets.
Florida Pearl crowned another brilliant day for Irish punters. All of our bankers have come up trumps.
Paschal Dunne, from Wicklow, was among the thousands who had wagered heavily on the Irish favourite: "I put £100 on him on the nose. I backed him in punts and got him at 6/4. I've great plans for my winnings. It has been a great festival so far for me. I had Istabraq and Unsinkable Boxer yesterday. I fancy See More Business over Dorans Pride. I'll have my money on him."
The Cork-owned Florida Pearl had tremendous Cheltenham and local support. Owner, Archie O'Leary tested the sod after 7am. He was quietly confident. The Irish banker had a great workout and he gave him the "thumbs up".
After the race, an elated Mr O'Leary said he had discussed the ride with jockey Richard Dunwoody and all went very much according to plan. "I asked Richard if he stayed three miles and he said the horse would have gone round again."
Behind him and in bars throughout, the Cork fans and the rest of the Irish punters were toasting with champagne. Connections from across Cork city and North Cork were out in force. Olé Olé again echoed around the winner's enclosure and the famous Irish cheer bellowed throughout the course.
At home, bookmaker Paul Cashman was counting his losses. "If Dorans Pride and Elegant Lord win we'll be absolutely taken to the cleaners. Dorans Pride has been heavily backed from 6/1 in. The 200/1 double offered last year for a Dorans Pride and Istabraq win was also very well taken. We're looking at huge losses if they come in."
Down in the Arkle Bar on the racecourse last night, a Dublin contingent, which included Pat O'Neill, Paul Graham, Tony and Vincent Gaffney, were opening yet another bottle of bubbly.
"It's been yet another incredible day. It's been a party all the way. We were down in the Apple Tree last night and among those partying the hardest were Michael Lowry, Brian Cowen, Noel Meade and Ted Walsh. There's really nothing like a Cheltenham festival and it's even better when there are plenty of Irish wins," said Pat O'Neill, from Ballymun.
Champagne on the course ranged from £20 to £80. "I don't even know how much it costs. And I don't care. It's the bookies' money. Easy come, easy go," the Dubliner added.
Meanwhile, priests Eugene McGillicuddy and Patrick Waldron, were looking for divine inspiration as they studied yesterday's card. The Kerry and Mayomen had a good run on day one and were hopeful the winning streak would continue. "We're looking for divine inspiration. We don't know which ones to do. Like everyone else, we're supporting Dorans Pride tomorrow. He has to have a great chance," said Fr McGillycuddy.
The two friends, based in parishes in Leeds and Yorkshire, make the trek every year. "We can't count how many we've been to at this stage. The same group sets off every time."
The astute Mayoman said he loves to have a Cheltenham flutter. "I've had a few winners already. My money will be on Dorans Pride and why not? He's a Mayo horse after all and we have to support our own," said Fr Waldron.

Threat of strike halts £43m expansion

by Marion O'Mara
WATERFORD'S second largest employer, Bausch & Lomb, has put part of a £43 million expansion on hold and all new recruitment has been halted as a result of a threat of strike action by 63 of its 1,100-strong workforce.
Trouble came to a head just over a week ago, when a total of 77 employees were warned of disciplinary action if they failed to implement new work procedures which would save the company £650,000 per annum as a result of a 20% increase in productivity.
Those involved, however, demanded an additional £30 per week in their pay packets over and above a £5 wage rise which they already receive for teamwork within the plant. When the company failed to respond positively to their demands and forced through the new arrangement, last Tuesday, without asking the Labour Court to intervene, the workers involved took a ballot on strike action.
Of the 77 SIPTU members who were entitled to vote, 63% were in favour of strike action and 14% were against.
Set to withdraw their labour from early April— which would result in lay-offs and a closure of the Waterford plant — a full Labour Court hearing was taking place throughout yesterday in a desperate bid to resolve the bitter dispute which is dividing the workforce.
In view of the serious repercussions which the conflict is already having on the company and the "bad" signal which it will send out to new businesses earmarked for Waterford, both the company and the union are refusing to comment on the crux.
A spokesman for Bausch & Lomb, and SIPTU official, Tony Ayton, would only confirm that Labour Court talks were taking place to deal with the issue.
It was learned, however, that the company has warned its workforce that further delay in implementing the new work arrangements "simply puts investment and future jobs in jeopardy."
"We have already had to report this dispute upward in the organisation. The threat of interruption to supply has already caused other arrangements to be put in place and has rocked the confidence in our plant which previously existed at corporate level. For example, current RP111 expansion is now on hold and hiring halted," the company said.
In response, the union are understood to have informed Bausch & Lomb that nothing had happened in the plant that would justify questions being raised about future investment, and that with goodwill and common sense on all sides, nothing would happen.
With resentment mounting within the plant — with a small number of workers feeling that they are entitled to a share of cost savings — and on the other hand the majority maintaining that all jobs are being put in jeopardy, a worker source said yesterday that morale was at an all-time low.
Against that background, a meeting of the entire Bausch & Lomb workforce is scheduled to be held on Sunday morning.
"We are expecting a heated debate on both sides, but hopefully the Labour Court will issue its findings before then to diffuse the conflict," the source said.

Farm, regional funds slashed

by Katherine Butler - Brussels
IRELAND faces drastic cuts in EU farm and regional funding from 1999 under new proposals unveiled in Brussels yesterday to prepare the EU for expansion into eastern Europe.
With the 15 present EU members freezing their budget contributions to qualify for monetary union, and around £30 billion earmarked for new members, the £170 billion aid cake is down by 12% since the last share-out in 1993.
Ireland's booming economy means we will no longer qualify for top levels of grant aid or so-called Objective 1 status after 1999. While it is not clear yet what the exact scale of the cuts will be, our annual aid share will almost certainly fall from £1 billion pounds to as little as £150 million by 2006.
Ireland battled for and won continued access to cash from the separate £16 billion cohesion fund to be shared with Spain, Portugal and Greece. We can expect to take around £150 million a year but that will dry up from 2003.
Farmers, meanwhile, estimate that their share of CAP subsidies will be shaved by £250 million a year thanks to cuts of up to 30% in minimum support prices.
The proposals which now go to governments for up to a year of negotiation were agreed by the 20 members of the policy steering commission yesterday but not without a row. Most countries are facing big cuts although Britain claims to be worst hit.
There were heated exchanges between Padraig Flynn and the agriculture commissioner Franz Fischler as Mr Flynn challenged the disproportionate impact of the beef and dairy proposals on Irish agriculture.
Last night Mr Fischler admitted there may need to be adjustments. "In my personal view, there are some specific problems relating to Ireland and we have to look at them in the upcoming negotiations."
Agriculture Minster Joe Walsh will have to mount a fierce battle however when talks open to get continental member states to back down on some of the measures they want included. Publication of the long awaited proposals yesterday mark the start of a vicious round of negotiations among member states, all desperate to hold on to as much regional funding as they can.
Monika Wulf-Mathies, the commissioner in charge of structural funds, called for the present funding system to be streamlined and concentrated on the areas most in need of help.
She also won backing for an efficiency clause whereby 10% of a member state's grant aid could be taken back if it was not being properly or efficiently spent.

HERE are the main points of the Agenda 2000 proposals for the beef sector as presented by the European Commission yesterday.

• Effective market support level to be reduced by 30% in three equal steps starting July 1 2000.
• From July 1, 2002 present intervention system to be replaced by private storage system.
• Direct payments will be increased for male bovine animals and also for suckler cows. New direct payment for dairy cows introduced.
• Member states can allocate part of the increase in direct payments (national envelopes) according to specific priorities.
• Basic premiums will be (2002 level) 220 Ecus for bulls, 170 Ecus for steers, 180 Ecus for suckler cows and 35 Ecus for dairy cows.
• Above amounts correspond to the pre-reform level of aid plus 50% of the increase in the total premium. Remaining 50% of the increase is distributed to member states (in line with their share of total production) in order for member states to distribute.
• Taking additional payments into account, the level of premia paid to producers would be 310 Ecus per head for bulls paid once in their lifetime, 232 Ecus for steers paid twice in a lifetime, 215 Ecus per head for suckler cows per year and 70 Ecus per head for dairy cows per year.
• Regional ceilings for the number of premium rights for male animals to be fixed at 1997/98 levels. De-seasonalisation premium for steers to continue while calf processing scheme abolished.
• National ceilings to cover suckler cows introduced.
• Total number of animals qualifying for special premium and suckler cow premium will be limited to two livestock units (LU) per hectare forage area. Producers with a stocking density which is less than 1·4 LU per hectare and currently practising extensive production methods may qualify for an additional payment of 100 Ecus per premium granted.

EU rules out carve-up of Ireland for grant purposes

Monika Wulf-Mathies: Treat Ireland as one unit.

by Katherine Butler
EU REGIONAL aid commissioner, Monika Wulf-Mathies, last night ruled out any question of dividing Ireland into rich and poor for grant aid purposes.
Finance Minister, Charlie McCreevy, raised the possibility of a regional carve-up with the commissioner earlier this week, but she is insisting that Ireland should be treated as one unit.
She could see "no justification" she said for breaking up the country to take advantage of lower income levels in some areas, because there has been no devolution of political or administrative power to the regional level in Ireland.
Under reform proposals outlined by Mrs Wulf-Mathies in Brussels yesterday, Ireland would go on receiving around £1bn in EU structural funding for the first two years of the next century. However, after that, grants would "drop like a stone" according to EU officials.
The Poles and Hungarians — the first of ten poor east European applicants for EU membership — expect to be admitted to the EU from 2003 and so aid levels for Ireland will start to dwindle steeply until a complete phase out by the end of 2006.
Yesterday's proposals on the share out of a total package of £160bn, marked the launch of negotiations which could last a year. All of the present members want to avoid shouldering too much of the cost of expansion eastward.
Britain, one of the biggest budget contributors is furious at planned cuts for its poorest industrial regions and is likely to raise a challenge if Ireland is seen to be getting too generous a deal phase from(
Objective 1. Faced with the loss of top rates of aid for Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, London wants different criteria than those used by Commissioner Wulf-Mathies for areas of industrial decline which rely on jobless rates.
Ireland will no longer be able to claim top rate of assistance, because income per head must be no higher than 75% of the EU average to qualify under the rules published yesterday. Ireland's per capita wealth is expected to be well in excess of 90% of the average for the years which count.
However, the phasing out period would be spread over six years, with the slope of the fall still to be determined. A senior official said the amounts for the early years of the next funding period would be "as generous as possible." But he said the government would have to weigh up all the factors, including low population density in the west, which might not be an advantage. Ultimately, he said, the government would have to consider the total package it could negotiate. The proposals, he said, offered Ireland a "good transition arrangement," particularly given that income per head has risen to several percent above the EU average.
He predicted "tough talking" to get the Commission's proposals agreed, as unanimity of the fifteen governments was required.
He welcomed proposals to streamline the funding procedures, including the establishment of an efficiency fund which would be left "in a pot" and allocated after a mid-term review. Money will be stripped from countries which cannot spend it on time and given to those who can. Present rules prohibit any re-allocation of cash, from member states who don't spend it, to others.

Irish truck driver on Dutch theft charges says he feared for his life

Isabel Conway -The Netherlands
THE truck driver jailed in Holland with crime boss George Mitchell for the alleged theft of £5m worth of computer parts, claimed he only got involved when his life and that of his family was threatened.
But the Dutch lawyer for Thomas Massey from Co Meath said he later told police he had been offered £40,000 to take part in the robbery which was foiled by a joint Irish and Dutch police operation.
Mr Massey, who is in his 40s, will apply to the courts this morning for permission for his wife and family to visit him.
He has been held in solitary confinement in Hooran, about 30 miles north of Amsterdam, unable to see anyone since his arrest on March 5 last.
Dutch judges will be asked today to lift the visiting restrictions on the driver who is charged with robbery and conspiracy to rob from his lorry while on route from the Hewlitt Packer plant in County Kildare to a customer in Holland.
According to his lawyer, the trucker is co-operating fully with the Dutch investigation.
"He has come completely clean about his role and should be allowed visits by his wife and family," he said.
A spokesman for the Dutch Public Prosecutors Department, Mr Wim de Bruin said: "This is a very serious case and Mr Massey and the other detainees are denied visits and phone calls and all their letters must be approved by the Public Prosecutor.
"The aim is to prevent any contact or information passing between the five accused people."
For the past ten years Thomas Massey has driven trucks on the Continent for Walsh Western, one of Ireland's leading haulage companies.
His arrest is said to have astonished his family, employers and fellow truckers who knew him to be a trusted and experienced driver.
A special Dutch police task force pounced as a gang of six stripped the Walsh Western Truck of its load in the middle of the night on an Industrial Estate in Holland.
In an interview, Mr Massey's lawyer Mr Jan Zan Vulpen said: "As I understand it, my client told Dutch police that he only got involved in the robbery because his own life and that of his family were threatened and he was under such pressure."
But, during interrogation, the truck driver, according to his lawyer, said he got involved after being offered £40,000 to help the robbers.
Today he will ask Judges at Haarlem District Court to grant visiting rights for the truck driver's wife.
Preparations for the trial of the Irish truck driver, Ballyfermot-born George Mitchell, who has been described as a leading Irish gangland figure, known as the Penguin, and three Dutch nationals accused of the robbery are expected to take up to three months.
George Mitchell has been taken to a special secure wing of the Bijlmer Baajes jail in Amsterdam.
He is understood to be refusing to answer any questions concerning his possible role as the alleged ring-leader in the huge computer parts robbery.

Trimble's stonewalling tactics on negotiations exasperate Ahern

by Mark Hennessy - Political Correspondent, Washington
TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern expressed deep frustration with the 'stonewalling' negotiating tactics employed by Unionist leader David Trimble, after the Northern Ireland leader again ruled out any possibility of powers for North/South bodies.
Nearing the end of his Washington business, the Taoiseach expressed weariness about the UUP leader's conduct: "I think it is a very risky strategy to play one's cards so close to one's chest and then to get up one morning and throw them on the table and say "done deal." Earlier, Mr Trimble said it was his understanding of the positions adopted by Dublin and London that it was never envisaged North/South bodies will ever acquire any power: "There will not be a third centre of power in Ireland. No, especially not in the long-run."
But, Mr Ahern rejected this: "I would rather that (he) would be open and even-handed. David Trimble knows precisely what we mean by North/South bodies. That has been explained to him by me, by Bill Clinton, and Tony Blair."
Relations between the two men have deteriorated sharply in a few weeks. In late February, speaking after a meeting with Mr. Trimble in a London hotel, Mr Ahern remained confident that the UUP leader "would do the business."
The Irish side are pinning their hopes on a belief that Mr Trimble will be able to display some political leadership when he safely clears the hurdle posed by the UUP Executive Council's vote on his leadership on Saturday.
Privately, sources close to Mr Trimble suggest that he will finally accept North/South bodies with the power to evolve, but only if they are 'little more than talking shops from the beginning': "He can't do any more. It will not sell," the source said.
Publicly, he said: "What we are talking about is a settlement that has to respect the views of the people. The idea that you are going to set in place some sort of rolling transitional arrangement that carries people, whether they like it or not, into the Republic, is balderdash.
Mr Trimble sharply rejected suggestions that he had faced pressure to move on North/South bodies from President Bill Clinton, during their White House meeting — though this version is questioned by both Irish and US sources.
Acknowledging the difficulties facing all sides on RUC reform, Mr Ahern said there will have to be serious changes made within a year of a final agreement: "You can't change it overnight. But the policing issue has been identified by the SDLP for 15 years as the No 1 issue.
"The Unionists are going to put down their negotiating stall, but the British Government and all of the parties are absolutely clear that the RUC is an issue that has to be dealt with."
However, in The White House on St Patrick's Night, a series of figures close to the peace process were openly pessimistic of the chances of agreement on this: "Look, you will have to retire about 6,000 RUC men early. Each has 20 in their extended family. Just count them," said one bleakly.

Kurd who brandished a knife to be deported

by Tomás MacRuairi
A KURD who believed that English and Turkish spies were trying to kill him is to be deported to Turkey at his own request.
Haci Sari brandished a knife at gardaí and a messenger at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform at 8am on November 14 last while in a very hysterical state. He also kicked-in a glass panel in a door.
Sergeant Denis Palmer said he didn't believe at any time that Sari would assault the gardaí with the knife he carried. Sari was so "highly excited" he was saturated in sweat — though shirtless on a very cold morning.
He handed over the knife after 45 minutes negotiations with himself and Gardaí Kevin Keane and Derek Kelly and made a full statement through an interpreter after his arrest. He had no previous convictions and was fully co-operative since. His behaviour was due to an emotional turmoil at the time.
Judge Cyril Kelly at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said Sgt Palmer should be highly complimented for his sympathetic evidence and fair handling of the case as exemplified by his evidence.
Sari (24), with an address at North Circular Rd, Dublin 7 pleaded guilty to having "a knife with a blade", causing criminal damage and assaulting Sgt Palmer, Gda Kelly and messenger Frank McBride. The proceedings were translated for Sari.
Defence counsel Ricardo Dourado BL thanked the interpreter whom he said had maintained contact with Sari who was in custody. He had also contacted Sari's parents who were anxious to have their son home. Sari apologised to everyone for his behaviour.
Mr Dourado suggested the case could be met by a suspended sentence and an order of deportation. It would be in Sari's own interest to be deported.
Judge Kelly said he would adopt Mr Dourado's suggestion and accept that Sari's offending was out of character. He noted Sari had worked long hours in the Abrakebabra fast-food shop and sent money home to his ailing parents. Earlier, Sgt Palmer agreed with prosecuting counsel that the assault charges consisted of Sari waving the knife about. He was a Kurd who formed a relationship with an Irish girl on holiday with her family in Turkey. Her family sent him £500 to come to their Co Derry home last April.
The relationship soured after some time and he spent some time in England before returning to Co Derry. He spent only one day there and then moved to Dublin where he worked long hours in Abrakababra to send money home.
Sgt Palmer said that about 8am. on November 14 last Sari took a taxi intending to go to a garda station because he was not feeling well. The taxi-driver had an English accent and enquired where he came from.
"He believed the taximan was an English spy. He told gardaí he ran from the taxi to the Dept of Justice office because he was afraid English and Turkish spies had followed him and were trying to kill him," said Sgt Palmer.
Sari was roaring out 'Bastards, English and Turkish spies are trying to kill me' when he ran into the building followed by Gda Kelly who tried to calm him. All Sari demanded while brandishing the knife was that his former girlfriend be contacted.
Sgt Palmer said she had confirmed to gardaí the truth of his statement about their relationship. He had been in custody since the incident but never made any complaints about this to the gardaí or given any other trouble.

LVF turn on Protestants mixing with Catholics

by Greg Harkin - Belfast
LOYALIST terrorists in the North are now targeting Protestants in a sickening new twist to their murder campaign.
The renegade Loyalist Volunteer Force yesterday claimed responsibility for leaving a bomb outside a hall in Larne, Co Antrim, where people from both sides of the community celebrated St Patrick's Day.
The device was safely defused by British Army technical experts as hundreds of people were forced to flee St Comgall's Recreation Club. It's thought the bombers may have been caught on the club's security video.
In a statement claiming responsibility, an LVF spokesman warned: "The next time it will explode." The attack came two weeks after the same terror gang murdered Protestant Philip Allen and Catholic Damien Trainor in a gun attack on a pub in Poyntzpass.
Although Larne is overwhelmingly Protestant, the Catholic community there has lived in relative peace for the past 30 years, though there has been in an increase in sectarian attacks in the past year.
The presence of Irish dancers from both communities on Tuesday night was a reflection of how the communities have worked together.
The area's MP, Ulster Unionist, Roy Beggs, who has some Catholics among his voters, said he was convinced the LVF were out to wreck community relations.
"This attempted bombing was designed to inspire fear and cause death and injury to everyone at the club, Catholic and Protestant.
"It's clear the LVF are attempting to drive the two communities apart, targeting Protestants who socialise in harmony with Catholics," he said.
Local SDLP councillor Danny O'Connor said many of the Irish dancers and their parents were in tears as they fled the hall.
"The LVF's tactics are now clearly aimed at sowing division. It won't work here in Larne," he insisted.
Club treasurer Charlie Massey, who organises cross-community social evenings including bingo sessions for pensioners, said St Comghall's had always catered for both sides of the community.
He too was defiant: "This was a despicable attack on children, Protestants and Catholics. We have always worked together and we will continue to do so."
Senior RUC officers fear the new LVF tactics will increase the closer the North's political leaders get to an agreement.
And they also now believe the renegade group, which is gaining support in counties Antrim, Down and Armagh, plans a massive offensive in the run up the July marching season.
One senior detective told journalists: "We now believe that the killing of Mr Allen in Poyntzpass was not what the paramilitaries would call a 'mistake'.
"From our inquiries so far, it appears that he was deliberately murdered simply for associating with Catholics whom the LVF see as almost sub-human."

Twelve loyalist inmates quizzed on Maze killing

by Greg Harkin
A DOZEN LVF prisoners were being questioned at a Belfast police station last night about the murder of inmate David Keys, the loyalist savagely killed at the Maze prison at the weekend.
The suspects were arrested yesterday morning and taken to Castlereagh interrogation centre, as new details of the murder emerged yesterday.
Keys, 26, was a small-time drugs dealer who was suspected of being an RUC informer by his LVF colleagues. He had been charged last week with the double murders in Poyntzpass on March 3.
He was buried after a private family service at a funeral home in east Belfast yesterday. There were around a dozen mourners.
It's understood Keys suffered horrific injuries and may have been tortured for several hours before his death. He had slash wounds all over his body and part of a brush shaft had been shoved up his rectum. He was then strangled, before being hung by the throat from cell-window bars.
The RUC investigation into the murder is said to have been hampered by LVF inmates, who deliberately touched the dead man's body in front of warders to contaminate forensic evidence.
LVF prisoner, Alex Kerr, 36, was released without charge yesterday. He had been arrested as he left the Maze on Monday morning, after completing a two-year sentence for organising a terror stunt for journalists.

Belarus's highest honour for Roche

by Vivion Kilfeather
TRIBUTE to the founder and executive director of the Chernobyl Children's Project charity, Adi Roche, was paid by Belarus's envoy to Britain and Ireland, Uladzimir Shchasny, last night at a special function in Dublin.
The charity has raised just under £10 million in medical and humanitarian aid to the Chernobyl region.
Mr Shchasny told a special ceremony, held before a concert by the Belarus Army Central Band at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, it was the first time a foreigner ever received his country's highest national honour, called the Frantsysk Skrayna Order.
He said the 10 previous recipients had all been from the fields of science and the arts for outstanding contributions to the life of the Belarusian people.
He said Skrayna was a national hero and was the first person to translate the Bible into the Belarusian language in the 16th century.
In accepting the honour bestowed on her, Adi Roche paid tribute to the team and organisation that worked with her.
Mr Shchasny left London at 5 a.m. yesterday in order to attend Hugh Coveney's funeral.
Ambassador Shchasny had a high regard having met Mr Coveney at a Chernobyl fund-raising event.
And the generosity of Mr Coveney was also revealed yesterday when it was learned that only recently he had privately contributed £140,000 towards the current fund-raising event for Chernobyl, a fact he did not wish disclosed.
A special VIP reception was hosted by Ms Ali Hewson, patron of the Chernobyl Children's Project, in honour of the occasion.
Belarus received over 70% of the radiation released from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Gardaí probe sighting link in taxi-driver murder hunt

by Declan Varley
THE reported sighting of two taxis parked in the Claregalway area on the night 47-year-old taxi-driver Eileen Costello O'Shaughnessy was murdered is being investigated by Gardaí involved in the hunt for her killer.
If the sighting proves to be correct, it adds credence to the belief that the investigation is focusing on the taxi-driver community in Galway City, and follows weeks of appeals for all taxi-drivers to co-operate with the enquiry and to help identify the dark taxi seen not far from the murder scene on the same evening.
This reported sighting of two taxis is a major development in the investigation and details of this have only come to light in the last 72 hours.
Supt. Tony Finnerty, who is leading the investigation, said last night that he was investigating the reports and that he was also appealing for a blonde woman in her 30s who approached a taxi driver last week in Eyre Square and indicated she held vital information to come forward.
It is believed that this woman may be the same blonde woman who was seen walking near the murder scene on the night of the killing.
The latest witness to come forward was travelling on the N17 on the night of the killing when she spotted two taxis not far from the murder scene.
Her attention was drawn to the cars which were parked close together on the hard shoulder because she thought the light-coloured taxi was a Garda car.
One of the taxis was dark, just like the taxi seen in the Kiltrogue Kinioska area on the same night; and the other was a bright colour which may have been the taxi in which Eileen Costello O'Shaughnessy was killed.
The witness is also believed to have seen a man emerge from a dark taxi and walk towards the other car. Unconfirmed reports state that this man was of a squat build with dark hair. The cars were seen parked on the main Tuam-Galway road in the Claregalway-Knockdoe area.
Because the witness thought the light-coloured taxi was a Garda car, she slowed down when she approached it, thus allowing her to get a closer look at both cars and at the man who emerged from the dark taxi.
At least one taxi had been spotted parked in that area in the days before the killing. Several witnesses reported it to Gardaí in the days after the killing.
Meanwhile, the blonde woman who approached a taxi-driver in Eyre Square at 11 p.m. on Sunday week last has been asked to come forward again. It is believed that she indicated to a taxi-driver that she held vital information in relation to the killing.
Gardaí have assured complete confidentiality and she has also been reminded that if her information secures a conviction, she is entitled to claim the £25,000 reward which is still on offer.

Viewers suffer black-out of TV channels

by John Murphy
THOUSANDS of householders throughout West and Mid-Waterford, together with parts of South Tipperary, Kilkenny, and Wexford, have been left without a multi-channel television service after solicitors for Waterford Cablelink Ltd. issued a threat of High Court action against Dermot Kirwan of the Kilmacthomas-based Comeragh Aerial Services unless the deflector system he is operating is closed down.
An angry Dermot Kirwan confirmed yesterday that he has now complied with the Cablelink demand.
"I have been left with no choice, and the advice to me is that we must go off the air. We can't afford the risk'', he said.
Cablelink Ltd. has been granted the licence by the Dept. of Communications for the operation of an MMDS television service in an area part of which has, until now, been served by the Kilmacthomas-based deflector system.
However in the letter sent to Mr. Kirwan, Cablelink's solicitors have stated that his "activities'' have undermined their company's substantial investment.
They have warned that "unless an undertaking is given within seven days it is our client's intention to institute High Court proceedings forthwith seeking an interlocutory injunction, and in due course an order for damages and costs''.
Dermot Kirwan, who contested last June's general election in the Waterford constituency as a TV deflector candidate and pulled almost 3,000 first preferences votes, said he couldn't even contemplate fighting the "all powerful'' Cablelink company in the High Court.
And he accused successive governments of "fudging'' the whole issue concerning TV deflector systems.
The loss of the English TV channels has caused outrage among those whose television viewing has now been restricted to the two RTE channels.
The indicatons, however, are that they are not going to take this situation lying down.
Already, a public meeting has been convened to take place in the Kilmacthomas courthouse tonight to consider what "plan of action'' can be mounted.
"In fact a whole series of meetings are being arranged around County Waterford', said Billy Kirwan, who set up the Kilmacthomas deflector system more than 20 years ago.
"To say people are angry at the loss of their TV channels is an understatement''.
"Cablelink are unable to provide a service for many of the people we have had as customers throughout all that time'', he said.
"Several of them are elderly and living in remote areas, and now because of the actions of the Cablelink company they have have been deprived of virtually their only comfort in life.
"The company already has about 200,000 customers and still isn't happy.
"Now they want to deprive many households of multi-channel television which they are unable to provide them with'', he added.

St Pat's Day brings out worst after dry spell

GOING back on the drink for St Patrick's Day after two and a half years on the dry left a man facing music of a non-festive sort at Cork District Court yesterday.
Martin Donovan, of Mount Carmel Road, Cork, claimed that he had been off alcohol all that time but "I broke out for Patrick's Day".
Gardaí were concerned about the extent to which Donovan and a dozen others had "broken out" when they arrived at the scene of a city centre disturbance at 1am yesterday.
When Garda Tom Gallagher and another officer told the defendant and others, Donovan said: "Don't take any notice of these scumbags."
Judge Uinsin MacGruairc told the 44-year-old defendant with 30 years of previous convictions: "You are getting a bit long in the tooth for that kind of carry-on. I am sick and tired of meeting tough men."
Garda Gallagher said of the defendant: "His attitude to the whole thing was that it was only a drunk and disorderly thing."
The Judge said: "Only a matter of form."
In giving a sentence of three months in prison, the Judge said: "Give me one reason why I should suspend it."
Donovan said: "I am off the drink for two and a half years. I broke out for Patrick's Day. I apologise."
Garda Gallagher said that the defendant apologised when he had(
sobered up and was being released from the Bridewell garda station.
Judge MacGruairc said that because the guard had spoken up for him, he would suspend the three months sentence on his entering a 12-month bond of £700.