Boylesports looking to expand into Asia

Dundalk-based bookmakers Boylesports are set to continue their expansion plans by launching into the Asian gambling market from next year.

Boylesports are also looking at possible expansions into Eastern Europe and West Africa, according to its commercial director Brendan Hughes.

He told The Business Post: “We are actively looking at emerging markets.

“We already have a digital development and customer management team in Manila. It makes sense to be a launchpad to establish an Asian business.”

The company employs 90 people in Manila out of its total of 1,700 employees in Ireland, Britain and Gibraltar.

Hughes said: “The Asian gaming market is worth somewhere between $30 billion and $100 billion and it is growing by 15 per cent a year. It’s a complex market. They bet on sports in different ways to Europe. They are more into live casino experiences online too.

“We will need to develop different products to the Irish and British markets. The next step is to build a team out there to identify significant opportunities.”

He confirmed that Boylesports were looking to hire a management team to develop its Asian business and planned to conduct market research there.

Poland, Turkey and Nigeria were other countries which the company were looking at expanding into.

Bell to be prosecuted over Jean McConville murder

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

The prosecution of a veteran Republican accused of involvement in the notorious IRA murder of Belfast mother of ten Jean McConville is to proceed.

Prosecutors confirmed to District Judge George Conner in Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday their intent to pursue the charges facing pensioner Ivor Bell.

Bell (78) form Ramoan Gardens in west Belfast, is charged with aiding and abetting the murder of the widow, who was abducted from her home in west Belfast in 1972. Her remains were found in August 2003 at Shelling Hill beach in North Louth.

Bell is further accused of IRA membership but denies the charges.

Sinn Féin president and local TD Gerry Adams was last year arrested and questioned as part of the police investigation into Mrs McConville’s death.

The Louth TD has consistently rejected allegations made to Boston College by former republican colleagues including Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price that he had a role in ordering her death.

The PPS continues to review a file on Mr Adams.

Boylesports to launch €5 million TV advertising campaign after Christmas

Dundalk-based bookmakers Boylesports is gearing up to target the British market with a €5 million spend on TV advertising in 2015.

The company’s customers bet over €1 billion with the business last year, with half of those bets made online. About half of its online business already comes from Britain.

The company’s commercial director Brendan Hughes said the company was targeting strategic alliances to help It break further into the British market next year.

He said: “2015 is our year to consolidate our position in the Irish market as a strong alternative and challenger and we aim to make in-roads in Britain by the end of the year.”

Boylesports will launch a TV advertising campaign on RTÉ on St Stephen’s Day – it’s first in four years – when it becomes the main sponsor of the channel’s racing coverage.

The news follows last week’s rebranding of the company, which followed its 25^th anniversary celebrations.

58-year-old man arrested in connection with death of Jean McConville

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

Detectives in the North have arrested a 58 year-old man in connection with the murder and abduction of Jean McConville in 1972.

The man was arrested in west Belfast this morning and brought to the Serious Crime Suite in Antrim Police Station.

This is the latest in a series of arrests in connection with Mrs McConville’s death this year.

In December 1972, Mrs McConville, a mother of 10, was abducted from her home in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women.

Her family had later speculated the IRA wrongly assumed she was an informer. Mrs McConville had also converted from Protestant to Catholic to marry her husband Arthur McConville, a Catholic former British Army soldier who died of cancer in early 1972.

In the years that followed the signing of the Belfast Agreement, the Republican movement insisted Mrs McConville was an informer.

Former IRA member Brendan Hughes alleged she had only been killed after being warned to stop supplying information. However, a Police Ombudsman investigation in 2006 found no evidence to support that contention.

It also concluded the murder had not been investigated until 1995, when a minor probe was undertaken by the RUC.

After years of searching, Mrs McConville’s body was found in 2003 when heavy rain unearthed the remains at Shelling Hill Beach on the Cooley peninsula in Co Louth, 50 miles from her home.

73-year-old released without charge following McConville questioning

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

A 73-year-old man who was arrested yesterday by detectives investigating the abduction and murder of Jean McConville has been released without charge.

The man was detained by detectives from the Serious Crime Branch of the PSNI in Dunmurray yesterday morning.

He was taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Antrim police station for questioning and later released unconditionally, PSNI detective inspector Neil McGuiness said.

Several people have been detained and questioned this year in connection with the 1972 murder, the most high profile being Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. Mr Adams (65) was released in May without charge after four days in police custody.

Yesterday’s arrest came as Belfast man Ivor Bell (77), who has been charged with paramilitary membership and aiding and abetting the murder, made his latest appearance in court in relation to the case.

In December 1972, Mrs McConville was dragged, screaming, away from her children in the Divis flats in west Belfast by a gang of up to 12 men and women.

Her family had later speculated the IRA wrongly assumed she was an informer. Mrs McConville had also converted from Protestant to Catholic to marry her husband Arthur McConville, a Catholic former British Army soldier who died of cancer in early 1972.

There has also been a suggestion, although uncorroborated, that she tended to a wounded British soldier outside her door in the summer, just months before her murder.

In the years that followed the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, the Republican movement insisted Mrs McConville was an informer.

Former IRA member Brendan Hughes alleged she had only been killed after being warned to stop supplying information. However, a Police Ombudsman investigation in 2006 found no evidence to support that contention.

It also concluded the murder had not been investigated until 1995, when a minor probe was undertaken by the RUC.

After years of searching, Mrs McConville’s body was found in 2003 when heavy rain unearthed the remains at Shellinghill Beach on the Cooley peninsula, 50 miles from her home.

Adams makes formal complaint to the PSNI over aspects of his arrest

Gerry Adams

Sinn Féin president and local TD Gerry Adams has made a formal complaint to the PSNI about certain aspects of his “interrogation” while he was detained in connection with the murder of Jean McConville.

Mr Adams was released on Sunday night after four days of questioning by detectives about the 1972 murder of the mother-of-ten and other alleged links with the IRA.

He has vehemently rejected allegations made by former republican colleagues that he ordered her abduction and death, and after his release described his arrest as a “sham”.

In an article for the Guardian, Mr Adams said that before he was interviewed he was told that there was “new evidential material” and that he was being accused of conspiracy to murder Mrs McConville.

Mr Adams said he was told the police would be outlining a case that he was a member of the IRA, had a senior managerial role within the organisation in Belfast at the time of Mrs McConville’s abduction and that he was therefore bound to know about her killing.

He wrote: “Over the following four days it became clear that the objective was to get to the point where they could charge me with IRA membership and thereby link me to the McConville case.

“The membership charge was clearly their principal goal.”

Mr Adams said police assertions that he was an IRA member were based on his family background and anonymous newspaper articles from 1971 and 1972, “photographs of Martin McGuinness and me at republican funerals, and books about the period”.

He claimed police suggested he had been recruited by police Special Branch and that he became an agent for MI5.

Mr Adams said: “I am innocent of any involvement in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs McConville, or of IRA membership.

“I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, but I am not uncritical of IRA actions and particularly the terrible injustice inflicted on Mrs McConville and her family.

“I very much regret what happened to them and their mother and understand the antipathy they feel towards republicans.”

He condemned his arrest as an assault on the peace process and said that during his interrogation no new evidential material was produced, or evidence of any kind.

Mr Adams said: “When I was being released I made a formal complaint about aspects of my interrogation. My arrest and the very serious attempt to charge me with IRA membership is damaging to the peace process and the political institutions.”

He also criticised the project by Boston College in America, in which former IRA members Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price, both now dead, claimed on tape that Mr Adams had a role in ordering the murder of Mrs McConville.

He rejected these allegations, which he said were “now totally discredited”, and said the those behind the project were opponents of the Sinn Féin leadership.

PSNI still interested in Sinn Féin leader’s alleged role in McConville killing

Gerry Adams

Detectives questioning Ivor Bell about the murder of Jean McConville are “keenly interested” in Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams’s alleged role in the killing, according to a report in today’s Irish Independent.

Sources close to the investigation said it was “far from over” and that detectives want more information on anyone suspected of involvement in the murder, including Mr Adams.

The Sinn Fein president strongly denies any involvement in the Belfast mother of 10’s abduction and death in 1972. Her body was only found on Shelling Hill beach in north Louth by a passer-by in August 2003.

The PSNI is also seeking to question former IRA man turned writer Anthony McIntyre about his Boston College interviews with ex-Provisionals on Ms McConville’s murder.

As the interviewer for the US university’s oral history project, Mr McIntyre’s evidence would be crucial in the case against Bell – and any other alleged former IRA leaders who may in future be charged with involvement.

Belfast Magistrates Court heard on Saturday that Bell was an interviewee in one of the tapes and was known as ‘Man Z’ – something which Bell denies.

The 77-year-old is charged with IRA membership and aiding and abetting in the murder of Jean McConville.

Other alleged former IRA members are expected to be arrested in coming weeks by detectives – who have in their possession tapes of seven republicans, who are all still alive, allegedly discussing the McConville killing.

It is understood the PSNI wants to question Mr McIntyre about Bell’s alleged interview and the conditions in which it took place, in order to corroborate the claims allegedly made on the tape.

Mr McIntyre would also be quizzed as to whether Bell was ‘Man Z’ but it is understood he is against giving evidence.

As the lead researcher for the Belfast project for Boston College between 2001 and 2006, Mr McIntyre conducted over 170 interviews with 26 republicans. They were undertaken on the agreement that they wouldn’t be released until after the interviewee’s death.

Tapes of now-deceased IRA members Dolours Price and Brendan Hughes – who both accused Gerry Adams of ordering Jean McConville’s murder – were handed over to the PSNI by Boston College.

Source: Irish Independent

 

Adams’ alleged involvement in killing of ‘The Disappeared’ to be featured in new documentary tonight

The front page of today’s News Letter

Gerry Adams’ position as the president of Sinn Féin is expected to come under further pressure tonight when an RTÉ documentary airs on the ‘Disappeared’.

The joint BBC and RTÉ production contains fresh allegations that Adams – who topped the poll in Louth at the 2011 General Elections – had personal knowledge of several cases, including that of Jean McConville, the mother-of-ten whose body was discovered at Shelling Hill Beach in the north of Co Louth 10 years ago.

The programme will feature the voice of former IRA commander Brendan Hughes, now deceased, who claims in the programme: “There was only one man who gave the order for Jean McConville to be executed. That man is now the head of Sinn Féin.”

Deputy Adams has always denied IRA membership or any part in the killing of Ms McConville or any of the disappeared and is understood to have reiterated those denials in tonight’s programme.

The documentary could not come at a worse time for Adams, however, as last month he also came under fire for allegedly keeping details of his brother Liam’s sexual abuse of his daughter Aine quiet for a number of years.

As well as the story of Jean McConville, the documentary will also speak to Martin Molloy, whose brother Eamon was abducted from Belfast in May 1975 and remained missing for almost 25 years until his body was discovered in a cemetery near Dundalk in 1999.

The Disappeared airs tonight on RTÉ One at 9.35pm and on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.35pm.

The front page of today’s Belfast Telegraph

 

Related articles

• Gerry Adams ordered Jean McConville killing, says ex-IRA commander on tape (theguardian.com)
• Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams faces fresh allegations over ordering killing of Jean McConville (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Disappeared: The stories that were never meant to be told (newsletter.co.uk)

Price tapes “could lead to the fall” of Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams could have questions to answer if the Delours Price tapes go public

Journalist Ed Moloney has claimed that tapes being held in Boston containing interviews with former IRA member Delours Price could lead to the fall of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams were they to be released.

Last week the US Supreme Court ruled that tapes of an interview with Price by Boston College could be released to the PSNI.

Detectives in the North are investigating claims by Price before she died in January of this year that she was one of the IRA volunteers involved in the kidnap, torture and murder of mum of 10 Jean McConville in Belfast in 1972. Ms McConville’s remains were only discovered buried at Shellinghill Beach almost 10 years ago now in August 2003.

Price is understood to have alleged that Gerry Adams, now a TD in Louth, was her commanding officer at the time of the killing and ordered her to undertake the mission.

Adams has always denied having any involvement in the death of Ms McConville or having been a member of the IRA.

In 2009, one of his closest friends Brendan Hughes gave an interview that was broadcast after his death which poured scorn on Adam’s denial of IRA membership. The interview, which appeared in the programme Voices From The Grave, said that Adams was at the epicentre of many IRA operations in Belfast in the early Seventies, including the disappearance of Jean McConville.

The interviews with Hughes and Price were conducted by IRA convict Anthony McIntyre and Ed Moloney – with the latter pleading with the Americans not to release the tapes.

At the weekend he told RTÉ that the material provided by Price could lead to the fall of Gerry Adams and potentially even threaten the entire peace process.

We wait with bated breath to see what happens now…

Source: We owe it to McConville to reveal IRA interviews and tackle Adams (Evening Herald)