Terror Fears as Ultra Irish Dissident terrorists Unite

NORTHERN Ireland faces a bomb-a-week terror campaign following an alliance of the Ultra Irish IRA and the Continuity IRA. It was reported yesterday that the new joint campaign was agreed at a meeting in Fermanagh last month. And it has emerged that the Enniskillen bombing last Monday - just a short distance from the scene of the Provisional IRA's 1987 Remembrance Sunday massacre which killed 11 civilians - was a joint operation between the Real IRA and Continuity IRA. Six police officers were injured when 15lbs of commercial explosives were detonated in the town centre as the area was being cleared.

According to republican sources, a senior RIRA figure from Co Louth has been appointed chief of staff to direct operations for the new alliance of republican terror groupings.

It is understood that the two breakaway paramilitary groups intend to alternate the use of their respective codewords during their bomb-a-week campaign. An RIRA source said yesterday: "RIRA has the experience, Continuity has the personnel. "Young lads have been queuing up to join Continuity in the north over the past 12 months.'' The Continuity IRA is believed to have around 100 members in Belfast, Londonderry and Co Louth.

The Real IRA is based in the Co Louth/south Armagh area but is also known to be growing in strength in the North West where it killed Protestant construction worker David Caldwell last summer - the dissident paramilitary group's first killing since the mass murder in Omagh in 1998.

Also yesterday it was reported that a prominent Londonderry republican and leading Provisional IRA figure in the past is the new head of the Real IRA in the city.

If this is confirmed by the security forces, the defection of this influential figure from SinnFein/IRA would be seen to pose a very serious threat to peace and stability in the city.

Updated 2/19/2003 8:07 AM

US Northeast slowly digs out

Major US airports in the Northeast struggled to reopen after a crippling winter storm grounded tens of thousands of passengers and left them scrambling to rearrange plans. As cities and towns from Virginia to Connecticut began digging out from the worst storm in seven years, more snow fell Tuesday in Boston, with an estimated total accumulation of 27.5 inches. Philadelphia International resumed operations Tuesday, but spokesman Mark Pesce said about 35% of flights would be canceled. Flights slowly resumed at New York's LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports. Boston's Logan had one runway open. The Washington area's Reagan National, Dulles and Baltimore-Washington airports had limited service. Airlines urged passengers to check their flights' status Tuesday for additional cancellations.

At New York's Kennedy Airport, American Airlines resumed most of its international flight operations Tuesday. Most of its international departures from JFK and from Boston had been cancelled Monday, while most inbound flights from foreign cities were diverted to its hubs at Chicago and Dallas-Fort Worth .At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, where domestic discount king Southwest Airlines is the top carrier, operations remained at a standstill Tuesday, though airline officials hoped to get some flights off later in the day.

Monday, all 150 flights were cancelled, but the airline was able to ferry out 15 of the 19 jets caught on the ground there. Plows built piles of snow two stories high along some streets, including Fifth Avenue near the Saks department store in midtown Manhattan, where tourists took pictures of each other standing on the gigantic mounds of snow. "It's great," said John Gosal, a Vancouver, B.C., native who works as a diplomat at the United Nations. "Instead of worrying about Iraq, it's nice to have a snow day."

So Sinn Fein/IRA chickened out

So the Ulster people protested against going to war with Sadam Hussein, well no they didn't really. And those who did protest showed again how truly hypocritical and deceitful they really are, yes Sinn Fein/IRA. Banners were plentiful with the Greens, The Socialist Party, The Alliance Party all there with their various shades of red and green.

But funnily enough one shade of Green wasn't just so visible and you are about to find out why.

There were Sinn Fein/IRA representatives at the protests all right, they are the main organizers which you'd expect given the noise they made about neutrality during the Nice referendum. There were a large number of Sinn Fein/IRA people protesting.

So where were the banners? How come the party, that for it's size is the richest in Ireland North and South, couldn't muster banners and placards to match The Greens or even The Alliance Party. Sinn Fein/IRA is a party of communicators. It is efficiently disciplined and organized so the absence of banners and posters was hardly an oversight. On other occasions they have produced the lot in there thousands at what seemed like an hour's notice so I can't believe they forgot.

So why would Sinn Fein/IRA decide not to make it's presence visible at a protest about neutrality, about a future war and about miniaturization? Could it be they didn't want to be seen? And if so by whom? Well the Gardai saw them down south and the PSNI saw them in Ulster, other political parties saw them, and ALL papers reported their presence. So it wasn't them they were hiding from. Who was it then?

Well of course it was the American public. Sinn Fein/IRA are the richest party because it raises funds in the USA. Those funds have enabled them to fund huge full time organizations in the constituencies where they hope to do well. Before one election one in Southern Ireland a Labour T.D. was faced with six full time Sinn Fein people for the two years before the election. All paid for by American money.

Americans are very patriotic in ordinary times. They are almost fanatically so today. And they think very highly of their armed forces so they wouldn't be very keen on funding two faced terrorist supporters which object to the presence of US forces on their soil.

Indeed they might get very angry indeed if they found out about it. And since most of them rely on TV for their news then a bit of invisibility at a protest would protect Sinn Fein/IRA from the consequences of what they tell everyone are deeply held convictions about our neutrality.

So Sinn Fein/IRA chickened out.

When their principles and their pockets came into conflict they opted for invisibility. They decided they'd keep their US funders happy and keep their protest low key and largely invisible, particularly from the visual media.

If a picture is as good as a thousand words then a question arises. How many dollars is the absence of a picture worth? And how many dollars is a principle worth??

Belfast telegraph

Will protesters tell the truth in US?

By Eric Waugh

DISSENTING from American foreign policy on a single, important issue is one thing. Rabid, open-ended anti-Americanism is another. But this last is what we were treated to in one or two of the splenetic speeches at last weekend's big street demonstration in Belfast.

Whether or not to go to war on Saddam was used to fan the embers of a much older quarrel indeed; and that is the one initiated by a section of the Irish on this side of the Atlantic against the superpower on the other.

In Ireland, north and south, this represents an anomaly of giant proportions. More than a quarter of US investment in the EU is in the territorially tiny Republic. The US is its biggest source of investment, spread over more than 500 companies, generating half of its exports and keeping tens of thousands of the Republic's citizens in the style to which recently they have become accustomed. As for us, the UK takes the lion's share of US European investment.

In another three weeks there will be the annual feast of manufactured bonhomie in Washington, attended by the usual (embarrassingly swollen) delegation from these parts.

Will its members convey a message which includes the vulgar abuse so loudly applauded by their massed citizenry in front of the City Hall on Saturday? Or will they excuse themselves, stressing that "Of course we were not there". If so, they had better make their dissociation public before they go, if they wish to hold on to any credibility.

When the first American troops crossed the Atlantic in the Second World War, they were sent here. Churchill's advisers feared hostility among the straitened populace in England if such large numbers of well-paid and well-found GIs were to arrive there at once.

Yet when the first detachments disembarked in Belfast in January, 1942, and marched off to their billets, they were pelted with rocks by republican youths.

These dissidents had been fed tales by their elders that the troops had come to invade neutral Eire, which of course they would have done in the event of a German landing.

But all knew that, by 1942, that was improbable. In reality, the Americans were here to prepare for the invasion of Europe. Within days, though, a sentry on lone vigil by night outside a US Army camp in Co Down was stabbed in the back by an assailant. He was never caught. Three months later, a bus driver, a local Orangeman who allegedly had failed to give way, was shot dead at Ballykelly, Co. Derry, by the trigger-happy American sergeant in a scout car, warned about the IRA and escorting a convoy of top brass which included General George Marshall, the US Army Chief of Staff, not to mention President Roosevelt's two top aides, Harry Hopkins and Averell Harriman.

Even so, the Yanks, as they were universally known, soon found that, although they might find a welcome among many nationalists, unionist areas were safer.

Two generations later, this intricate skein of history contains clues to current passions.

Tales of trigger-happy Yanks in Co Derry are readily transmuted into supposedly trigger-happy Yanks camped in Kuwait.

American fury at the French ("They're always there when they need us") is energised by the recent screenings in the US of Band of Brothers and, before that, of the agonising first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. Each is a tour de force on the Normandy campaign of 1944. Spielberg's "Ryan" is sometimes tasteless history; but both, excusably, sublimate the bearers of Yankee guns into something verging on nobility. Bush's intentions in the Gulf may alarm us. The middle-aged and older shudder at the memory of Vietnam. The prospect of war alarms me. I dread its effects. I wish I knew the answer to the President's dilemma.

But, unless we have one, we should pause before allowing a wise caution to be corrupted into an unreasoning anti-Americanism.

Colombia rebels shot down US anti-drugs plane, killing two; hold US hostages 14/02/03

BOGOTA (AFX) - Colombian rebels downed a US anti-drug plane, killing two Americans, and are holding hostage two surviving US nationals and a Colombian, investigators said.

Searchers found the burned Cessna late yesterday in the southern department of Caqueta, with the bodies of two of the five victims aboard, while the other three were taken away by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), government sources said.

The two killed were US nationals, Yesterday, a US State Department official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the plane belonged to the US government, but said it was believed to be having engine trouble and was attempting to make an emergency landing.

Is Gerry Adams Untouchable over IRA bombing?

Gerry's claims of 'patriot game' IRA won't wash in the US and Canada or anywhere for that matter. Gerry Adams has been trying explaining difference's between Osama bin Laden and the IRA. The IRA, he told one interviewer, are patriots, and what really sets them apart from evil terrorists is that "The IRA has never targeted civilians". To which the obvious response has to be: "Then who the hell were they targeting?" When the IRA set out in 1978 to explode their napalm-type bomb in the La Mon restaurant, is there any possibility that they could have mistaken a hotel for a military installation? The members of a local Collie Dog Club were having their annual dinner that evening. Did the IRA regard animal lovers as legitimate targets?

Strangford MP, Iris Robinson, said Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams had been involved in the IRA bombing. She used parliamentary privilege to make the claim in the House of Commons on Thursday. Mrs Robinson told MPs the police were certain the attack was sanctioned and approved by him. Twelve people attending a function at La Mon died in the IRA attack at the hotel on the eastern outskirts of Belfast in February 1978. Britsh Minister Des Browne who is spending a massive £200 Million on the Bloody Sunday inquire has rejected a call from the MP for a full independent investigation into the 1978 atrocity; proving once again that Protestant deaths in Ulster simply dont matter and that IRA terrorist Gerry Adams is untouchable.

Mrs Iris Robinson said "we have more than that the distinct possibility is that a candidate for one of the top government posts after the next election will be the man who was arrested by the police during their investigation into this bombing and who is known to have control over the team responsible for this outrage and carnage." She added: "I believe that the victims of La Mon cannot simply put this chapter behind them until such times as they obtain answers to their questions. "There should be no cover-ups and no-one should be above the law. "The police are certain that this attack was sanctioned and approved by Gerald Adams who was then in command of those who are known to have carried it out."

U.S. attorney criticizes University City resolution

02/17/2003 10:30 PM

University City has drawn the ire of U.S. Attorney Ray Gruender. The City Council recently passed a resolution Gruender says, that puts "lives in jeopardy" and increases the chances for terrorists to be successful. The resolution "puts all citizens at risk" and could result in "catastrophic loss of life," claims Gruender, who is the federal prosecutor for the eastern district of Missouri. The resolution, passed by a vote of 4-2 on Feb. 10, expresses concern that recent federal actions - including the adoption of the Homeland Security and USA Patriot acts - could infringe on Americans' civil rights. The resolution directs city employees to refrain from taking part in activities they believe may violate constitutionally protected civil liberties.

Joseph Adams, mayor of the city of 40,000 people, defended the resolution.

"(Gruender) may not like it. That's his free speech," Adams said. "But we want to make sure the civil rights of residents of University City are protected, that the Constitution is not broken and that the Bill of Rights is not trashed." He said the resolution simply "instructs the police department not to break the law." Adams added: "Historically, whenever the United States has had conflicts, there have been examples of the U.S. violating its principles." University City is believed to be the first city in Missouri and the 33rd in the nation to pass such a measure.

Saville inquiry 'a waste of money'

By Thomas Harding, Ireland Correspondent

(Filed: 19/02/2003)

The Bloody Sunday inquiry is a waste of time and money, the chief constable of Northern Ireland said yesterday. Hugh Orde believes that Lord Saville's tribunal's only achievement would be to "make millionaires" out of the dozens of lawyers attending it.

"Apart from making lawyers millionaires, will it satisfy the families? I don't think so," Mr Orde told the Financial Times. "Will it satisfy the public? They've given up with it. The Army? Sinn Fein? Does anyone come out of it winning?" The Prime Minister ordered the inquiry after families of the victims and republicans campaigned for a second investigation into the shooting of 13 demonstrators by members of the Parachute Regiment in Londonderry in 1972.

Despite hearing from the former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath and numerous senior and junior soldiers evidence has yet to emerge supporting theories that the shootings were part of a government conspiracy. Some members of the Government are unhappy that the inquiry is running up a huge bill and will not deliver vastly different conclusions from the original Widgery report. A report from the Saville tribunal, which is currently in recess for a week, will not be published until mid-2004 at the earliest. By then it would have cost an estimated £200 million, the equivalent, Mr Orde said, "of two new police colleges". Mr Orde also complained of having to invest "so much in history" threatening that if the government want him to "look backwards" he would do so "across the board". He said 70 per cent of all murders of police officers, mainly by the IRA, remained unsolved. The Northern Ireland Office said the Government's position of finding the truth and "bringing closure to this painful chapter" remained unchanged.

Last night Mr Orde issued a statement saying it had not been his intention to "cast doubt on the legitimacy" of the inquiry.

Sinn Fein/IRA whip up anti American sentiment.

(Filed: by Ulster correspondent)

Funny how the Green Party-Sinn Fein/IRA clique are now peace lovers yet the killing of men women and children never seemed to worry them before. Funny how Mary Kelly never saw fit to smash up a Sinn Fein/IRA Office with a hammer instead of a US plane. I suppose these so called 'peace' protestors nly pick one or two causes that suit them. Amazing that terrorism and killings in their very own country doesn't seem to concern them.

They should have parked their peace caravan in the Square at Crossmaglen and condemned the IRA killers. Or may be put up their tents up in Enniskillen where Sinn Fein/IRA blew 11 innocent people to bits. Then we might start to respect them and take them seriously. But as it is the entire Green Party peace movement here has been hijacked by the terrorists of Sinn Fein/IRA. No wonder so little actually took part, most right thinking people don't have any time for them.

The peace protesters at Shannon in Southern Ireland were previously perceived as fluffy, young and idealistic. Not any more. The Annual Michael Flannery Testimonial Awards and Dinner is a fundraiser for the National Irish Freedom Committee (NIFC), "The Voice of the Republican Movement in America". The NIFC is a hard-line Republican group with republican principles and values like those of the Provisional Sinn Fein/IRA. The NIFC is involved in fundraising through its "Cabhair" offshoot. Amazingly Mary Kelly very own so called pacifist was this year's recipient of said organization's Michael Flannery Award. Now forgive me if I'm wrong but it appears to me that Mary Kelly is against all murder except if its a Protestant from Ulster, in which case its fine to murder them.

Previously viewed as fluffy, young and idealistic, after the other Wednesday morning's vandalism and her connections to Sinn Fein/IRA, the peace movement has come to be seen in a more sinister light by us all apart from the puppets Alliance Party who preformed beautifully for them on Saturday. Gerry Adams says "Sinn Fein is to the fore in the campaign against this war" so in real terms what has being to the fore actually done? Well the attack on the US plane, will cost the Irish Republics taxpayerE500,000, and has also highlight the casual disregard of the peace movementtowards accuracy, in their words or in their actions. Its also now exposedthe connection between this movement and SinnFein/IRA. The attack was hailedby Sinn Fein/IRA and the peace movement as the "disarming" of an American"deathplane".

In fact, the plane that Kelly vandalized, "The City of Dallas" was a transport plane on the way to an Italian airbase at Sigonella near Naples, a NATO logistics base. It was carrying 23 men from a fleet logistics support squadron who provide support on the movement of men and cargo, a squadron that has been passing through Ireland en route to Europe for years.

They have also jeopardized what is a huge source of legitimate income for Shannon Airport. The US Navy and Air National Guard have been flying planes through Shannon for donkey's years. They pay the same fees as anyone else, they buy lots of fuel and when there are overnight stops, as in the case of the VR 59th last Tuesday night, they provide valuable income for local hotels in the off-season. World Airlines have been using Shannon since the company started. There is now a real concern in Southerrn Ireland that theymay take all their stopover business to Frankfurt, which already hosts much of it. American Transair or ATA has been another valuable customer at Shannon for 15 years. Recently, crews on ATA charter flights that have brought troops through Shannon have been harassed and doorstepped by protesters. ATA also could decide to reroute all their business through Frankfurt.

It was sickening to say the least to watch a mob of Sinn Fein/IRA supportersand a few nutters parading through Dungiven Co.Londonderry on Saturday while they chanted "Butcher Bush" I simply could believe the naked hypocrisy of it all, murders and thugs calling President Bush a Butcher. While I'm sure there are a few fine principled people in this peace movement, I must say that, in general, I have never saw a more narrow-minded, self-righteous bunch of hypocritical, sectarian bigots in my life. When they reached Belfast on Saturday they then committed a travesty of the worst kind, "insulting the dead"

After Sinn Fein/IRA and the rest of these eejits lambasted the American and British government to a few hindered on lookers, they then proceeded to write the names of the 3,672 people killed in Northern Ireland`s 30-years of violence, yes so warped is the mentality of these Anti American Britishb vbigots that they decided to use and abuse the names of our dead and set about chalking them onto the city center curbstones. Well I have something to say to the, "Not in our name. Don't dare disgrace the memory of our loved ones with your hate filled bigotry"

This farcical peace movement is now imploding, their icon is in prison with little public support apart strangely from that of Trevor Sargent and extreme republicans in the US and it has ben found to be full of the murders and terrorist of Sinn Fein/IRA. The moral high ground is crumbling and the veneer of youthful idealism and sloganeering is being stripped away to reveal a petulant, immature, sectarian, manipulative core that is cavalier with the truth and which will be incensed when they read this.

Man faces terrorism charge

Detectives in the Republic of Ireland, investigating the Omagh bomb, have arrested a man on a terrorism charge.

The man was taken from his home in the Inniskeen area of County Monaghan on Tuesday.

He is expected to appear at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Wednesday, accused of membership of an illegal paramilitary organisation.

Twenty-nine men, women and children died and hundreds were injured when the Real IRA detonated a car bomb in the County Tyrone town on 15 August 1998 - a Saturday when the centre was full of shoppers.

Victims' relatives are taking a civil action against a number of men they accuse of involvement in the Real IRA attack.

Tougher terror bill criticized

WASHINGTON -- A Justice Department plan that would allow government agents to secretly investigate, detain and punish U.S. citizens and legal immigrants suspected of terrorism is being assailed by critics as an assault on the Constitution. The proposal, drafted by staffers working for Attorney General John Ashcroft, "threatens to fundamentally alter the constitutional protections that allow us to be both safe and free," said Timothy Edgar, a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"If it becomes law, it will encourage police spying on political and religious activities, allow the government to wiretap without going to court and dramatically expand the death penalty under an overbroad definition of terrorism."

Critics of the draft say it would circumvent the courts and strip citizens and legal immigrants of their right to due process. The draft legislation, which is circulating among Bush administration officials and Congress, is titled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003.

The Justice Department draft would:

Permit the secret arrest of individuals detained in terrorism investigations.

Give the attorney general broad authority to deport legal immigrants if he determined they pose a threat to national security.

Stiffen penalties for violations of immigration laws.

Eliminate safeguards that protect citizens against unlawful surveillance.

Allow the government to share personal financial, educational, and visa records with local and state law enforcement officials.

The ACLU and the Center for National Securities Studies already have sued the Bush administration over the government's secret detention of suspected terrorists related to the Sept. 11 attacks. A decision in the case is expected soon.

The document, stamped Jan. 9, was first posted on the Internet by the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit group. The document is stamped "not for distribution" and "confidential." Those who have reviewed the document agree it is much more far-reaching than the USA Patriot Act approved by Congress after the terrorist attacks. That law gave the government new surveillance powers -- including wiretaps, searches and other information-gathering tools -- to combat terrorism. At least 35 cities have adopted resolutions opposing the USA Patriot Act because they believe that the law erodes civil liberties.

IRA spy 'working in prison service'

An IRA member is spying inside Northern Ireland's prison service headquarters, it was claimed tonight. By:Press Association

Jail staff said they believe the Provisionals still have access to sensitive security documents despite a major police investigation into the theft of files containing personal details of more than 1,400 warders. Prison Officers Association spokesman Finlay Spratt claimed only a republican working undercover at Dundonald House, Stormont, could have carried out the theft. He has now demanded a full independent inquiry into how warders` details are stored. ``It has to be somebody on the inside with access to our computers and information that stole this.

``All the staff are telling me that and our concern is they are still there.``

The names, addresses and workplaces of 1,426 prison officers were among computers and discs seized by police during raids on Stormont and homes in west Belfast last October.

The operation was mounted in a bid to smash an alleged IRA intelligence gathering network at former Secretary of State John Reid`s main offices in Belfast.

Northern Ireland`s two main jails, Maghaberry and Magilligan, were thrown into chaos when staff staged two mass walkouts in protest at the breach. Prison Service chiefs later agreed to offer officers on the list one of three security schemes to move house or install new home alarm systems. Four people have already been arrested and charged in connection with the suspected IRA spy plot. They include the Sinn Fein administration chief Denis Donaldson and a man who worked as a messenger at the Northern Ireland Office.

But Mr Spratt insisted his members suspected an internal leak compromised their safety.

It is understood detectives have identified two possible sources for the theft.

Either a member of Prison Service staff smuggled out a computer disc containing an alphabetical list of warders` names, addresses and workplaces, or else security was breached while new IT systems were installed. But Mr Spratt insisted his members were adamant the leak came from within. ``There must be a full independent investigation into how the Northern Ireland Office stores our names and details and I want recommendations,`` he demanded. A Prison Service spokeswoman refused to comment on claims a republican mole may still be undetected. She said: ``The Northern Ireland Prison Service is working with the police to identify the source of the information uncovered.

``Until we have full information from the police it`s not sensible or helpful to speculate where the information came from or who might be held accountable.``

Sunday Independent

Trimble set to visit Colombia

ULSTER Unionist leader David Trimble is to visit Colombia after the trial of the three Irish men facing charges of instructing FARC in the use of mortars and explosives.

Mr Trimble has provisionally accepted an invitation from the Colombian government to take part in a fact-finding mission to study the extent of IRA involvement in the country's internal guerrilla warfare. He will also study links between FARC and the cocaine trade. FARC controls one of the largest cocaine-producing regions in Colombia and has financed its campaign against the Colombian government with profits from the drug.

The visit is expected to take place in April after the trial of Niall Connolly, Jim Monaghan and Martin McCauley who were arrested in 2001.

Mr Trimble said yesterday that his mission would be to find out how much the IRA has helped FARC to "bridge the technology gap" in the use of mortars and explosives.

JIM CUSACK

Relatives gather to remember the victims of La Mon

By Gary Grattan

RELATIVES of victims of one of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist atrocities - the IRA firebomb attack at the La Mon House Hotel - will gather tomorrow for a poignant memorial service to mark the 25th anniversary of the outrage. Twelve people, all of them Protestants, were killed, their bodies charred almost beyond recognition, when an IRA firebomb ripped through the hotel near Gransha in the Castlereagh Hills on February 17, 1978. All the victims were in the Peacock Room where 45 members of the Irish Collie Club were having a prize-giving function.

A further 23 people were injured, many of them scarred for life..

The explosion immediately caused an intense fire which swept through the building.

The IRA attack marked a new sickening low in a province which had already become almost de-sensitised to an orgy of bomb attacks and murders throughout the early part of the decade. Forensic experts revealed terrorists had planted twice the amount of explosives normally used in blast bomb attacks. As pathologists used dental records and hair strands in a bid to identify the victims, politicians renewed calls for the death penalty for terrorists convicted or murder. The government also took the unprecented step of issuing copies of pictures of the charred remains of one of the victims in a bid to shock people into giving information about the killers.

Yesterday the government rejected a call from Strangford MP Iris Robisnon to set up a public inquiry into the atrocity. Mrs Robinson claimed police were certain that Gerry Adams was behind the attack, but the Sinn Fein president dismissed them as "rubbish and entirely without foundation." Meanwhile, the Service of Commemoration will be held at St Finnian's Parish Church, Castlereagh, tomorrow (Sunday) at 2.30pm. Relatives of those who died, including some travelling across from the mainland, will be attending along with representatives of the emergency, members of the La Mon Committee and the mayor and councillors of Castlereagh Borough Council. The Service will be conducted by Canon Noel Battye, rector of St Finnian's. The Order of Service will closely follow that of the Memorial Service held in St Finnian's in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy.

A collection, which will be undertaken by representatives of the emergency services, will go towards the La Mon Memorial Bursary Scheme and the Project Kneel Ministries, founded by Terry Lockhart, who lost his 32-year-old wife Christine in the firebomb attack.

Three married couples died in the bomb attack - Ian and Elizabeth McCracken from Bangor, both aged 25; Gordon (30) and Joan Crothers (28) from Belfast; and Paul (37) and Dorothy Nelson (34), from Dundonald. The other victims were sisters-in-law Sandra Morris (27) and Carol Mills (30), both from Alliance Avenue, Belfast; Sarah Wilson Cooper (62), from Belfast; Thomas Neeson (52), from Lisburn, and Daniel Magill (37), from Dundonald.