Adams will not be prosecuted over McConville death

Gerry Adams

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and six other individuals who were reported to Northern Ireland’s public prosecution service by the PSNI in relation to the abduction and murder of Jean McConville will not be prosecuted.

The Louth TD presented himself at Antrim police station in April 2014 where he was arrested and held for four days before his release on 4 May.

Ms McConville, a widowed mother of ten, was abducted from her home in the Divis flats in Belfast in December 1972.

She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried south of the border – becoming one of the “Disappeared” victims of the Troubles.

Her body was not found until 2003, when a storm uncovered her remains at Shelling Hill beach in north Louth, 80km from her home.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Pamela Atchison said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect to each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.”

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

The PPS said the evidence against the seven came from a number of different sources.

In some cases hearsay evidence was provided by the Boston College Belfast Project, it added.

The PPS noted that “there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014 and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Ivor Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of Jean McConville.”

Ms Atchison added that the PPS had had a number of meetings with the McConville family and had kept them up to date on all decisions about prosecutions.

She thanked the family for their engagement, and said the PPS would continue to engage with them on the prosecution of Mr Bell.

Boylesports expanding in Northern Ireland

John Boyle of Boylesports

Locally-based betting chain Boylesports is to expand in Northern Ireland with two new stores planned for just over the border.

Boylesports which has 210 stores in the Republic, is buying two independent bookies in Mill Street in Newry and in Crossmaglen.

The expansion comes after Armagh owner John Boyle revealed he’s looking into acquiring more than 600 stores in Great Britain which could be shed by a merger between Ladbrokes and Gala Coral.

For the deal to go through it is likely the competition authority will demand the betting giant casts off hundreds of betting shops in the UK.

It would be Boylesports’ first foray into Great Britain.

Mr Boyle said: “Betfred and William Hill will also be looking strongly at this, but I’m hoping that as a new competitor to the UK market, Ladbrokes Coral might prefer us rather than making the bigger plcs stronger.”

His first bookmakers was in Markethill, where it remains. There is also a Boylesports in Camlough and one in Hill Street in Newry.

Now the business has acquired a second Newry bookies and one in Crossmaglen.

Mr Boyle said both would be rebranded as Boylesports.

“We’re already in Dundalk, so Newry is the next big town.

“We’re taking Crossmaglen because we’re already in Castleblayney, Carrickmacross, all the roads leading into Cross, this is just another link.”

He said he is interested in acquiring other stores in Northern Ireland.

He said: “We’re now putting it out that we want to buy shops in the north.

“If any privately-owned shops or groups come up for sale in the future then we would be a bidder.

“The plan is to cover the whole country. We estimated in the south we would be able to cover 250 stores easy, now we’re at 210.

“Then you’ve got to start looking at your next step and I’ve got to look three to five years ahead.”

Norbrook Laboratories received €8.55m insurance pay-out following Haughey death

The late Eddie Haughey RIP

Newry-based Norbrook Laboratories has received an insurance pay-out of £6.12m (€8.55m) arising from the death of its founder and CEO Edward Haughey.

The former Seanad member and chairman of the group, Lord Ballyedmond died in March of last year in a helicopter crash in thick fog in Norfolk along with three others.

At the time of the crash, Dundalk native Lord Ballyedmond (70) was Northern Ireland’s richest man with his personal wealth estimated to be around £650m.

Now, new accounts filed by Norbrook Holdings Ltd to Companies House in the UK disclose that the group received the exceptional gain of £6.12m through its ‘keyman insurance policy’.

Businesses take out ‘keyman’ insurance policies to compensate for any financial losses that may arise from the death of a key member of business.

The £6.12m gain contributed to profits increasing at the group last year by 7pc to £22m.

The group – which employs 2,045 people – recorded the increase in profits in spite of revenues decreasing by 2pc from £202.49m to £198.7m in the 12 months to the end of August 1, 2014.

The accounts show that Mr Haughey last year received emoluments from Norbrook Laboratories totalling £2.7m.

Lord Ballyedmond was born in Kilcurry, north of Dundalk and was educated by the Christian Brothers in Dundalk.

According to the directors’ report since Lord Ballyedmond’s death, the company has taken steps to strengthen its board and management team and has appointed to the board Lady Ballyedmond, Prof James Haughey and Edward Haughey.

Liam Nagle – who previously served as CEO of the Sisk group – was appointed Norbrook Laboratories chief executive in February of this year.

Fears that future outbreak along border could not be contained due to government cutbacks

Aiken Barracks in Dundalk is one of just two along the border now

The Defence Forces and Gardaí would struggle to prevent an outbreak of foot and mouth, swine flu or avian flu spreading across the border due to government cutbacks.

That’s according to former senior army officer, Retired Brigadier General Ger Aherne who told The Irish Examiner today that the closure of army barracks and Garda stations along the border in recent years make it improbable that the State could effectively seal the border if there was a repeat of the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak in the North.

He said: “We have reached a situation today where I, personally and professionally, doubt if the border with Northern Ireland could be sealed in such a crisis.”

The former commander of the Fourth Western Brigade said the closures had left gaping holes in the capabilities of state agencies to combat the spread of agricultural-related diseases, which could potentially decimate the nation’s economy. He pointed out that, since 2009, army barracks have been closed at Lifford, Letterkenny, Monaghan, Cavan, Castleblaney, Longford, and Cootehill.

“There are only two remaining barracks along the border at Finner in south Donegal and Dundalk, and therefore there’s a massive gap in the middle,” he said.

“The 4th Cavalry Squadron, which was based in Longford, was disbanded in 2012. It would have been the most effective unit to deploy in such a crisis. Now the nearest reconnaissance unit is based at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin.”

Irish Masters’ sides to square off in Dundalk

Anyone who fancies catching a few old pros in action should pop along to Oriel Park next Saturday where the Republic of Ireland and Northern Irish Masters’ sides are in action at 3pm.

The game is free to attend and your support for the event is appreciated.

No Enterprise service to Belfast today due to transport strike in the North

Rail users are reminded that there will be no Enterprise trains running from Dublin-Belfast today due to a transport strike in the North.

No trains are expected to operate in Northern Ireland. The following scheduled Enterprise services will operate between Dublin and Dundalk only:

– 07.35, 13.20, 16.50, 19.00 Dublin Connolly to Dundalk
– 08.00, 11.48, 17.20, 22.48 Dundalk to Dublin Connolly

All other Enterprise services are cancelled. Customers travelling to and from Northern Ireland are advised to make alternative arrangements.

Customers who have previously booked on affected services through irishrail.ie will be contacted with refund and service arrangements. Customers who booked through Translink should contact Translink directly.

Dundalk/Dublin commuter services are unaffected.

1,200 litres of fuel laundering waste found north of Dundalk

Close to 1,200 litres of toxic sludge has been found north of Dundalk.

The discovery was made at a lay-by close to the border with Northern Ireland on the M1/N1 motorway.

The sludge is the waste of illegal fuel laundering which is rife in the area. It was found in large plastic cubes in an ‘Ulster Distribution’ trailer left near the exit for Jonesborough and Carrickarnon.

Louth County Council said the trailer was holding 11 1,000 litre cubes of waste, as well as four further barrels containing just over 200 litres.

Contractors are set to remove the sludge later today.

Almost €1.3m lost on “obsolete” equipment for cross-border broadband project

A cross-border broadband project that was to provide faster internet to a number of locations, including Dundalk, had €1.3m worth of equipment bought for it despite the fact it was only worth €30,000.

That’s according to Northern Ireland’s auditor, who found that the “virtually obsolete” Nortel racks were never used and Northern Ireland’s Enterprise Department lost €2m after the EU withdrew.

The company behind the ambitious plan, Bytel, aimed to provide faster internet connections to homes in Belfast, Craigavon, Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin.

Comptroller and auditor general Kieran Donnelly said: “Bytel shows what can go wrong when projects like this are not handled properly.

“I have serious concerns over how it was managed and the legitimacy of the grant payments made. The response to whistleblowers fell well short of the standard required and a robust investigation took too long to complete.”

Although ineligible for funding, €1.3 million was given for equipment that was never used in the project, the audit office said.

The racks were bought by Bytel, a Belfast IT company, for €1.3 million from a “related” company.

The audit report added: “Evidence suggests that this equipment cost €30,000. The racks were never used for the project.”

It said a whistleblower’s concerns, which alerted Stormont’s Enterprise Department to the true cost in 2008, were not brought to the attention of European funders until 2011.

The project, approved in 2004, was to be funded by the EU. However, Europe withdrew because of irregular expenditure and Northern Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment lost €2 million of EU funding and the Republic’s Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources lost €1.8 million, the audit office report said.

Kirk calls for cross-border strategy on minimum alcohol pricing

Seamus Kirk TD

Louth TD Seamus Kirk has said the strategy to set a minimum price for alcohol must also apply across the border.

The Fianna Fáil Deputy has welcomed efforts to curb alcohol abuse by tackling below cost selling, but he raised concerns that border counties will lose out on sales unless the minimum prices also apply across the border.

“We need an all-island approach to clamping down on the easy availability of cheap alcohol. Setting a minimum price on this side of the border alone will only drive consumers across the border to buy cheaper alcohol. Border counties like Louth will suffer as a result and it will put major pressure on our local retailers,” said Deputy Kirk.

“I am calling on the Government to do the sensible thing and engage with the Northern Ireland Executive on a cross-border approach. If we standardise minimum prices for the whole island, it will be a significant step forward in tacking the abuse of alcohol in this country. But failure to do so will only fuel cross border shopping at the expense of our local retailers.”

Department of Environment admit concern over possibility of water contamination in Dundalk

A lorry containing almost 40,000 litres of fuel laundering waste which was abandoned along the N1 near Junction 20 Jonesborough/Carrickarnon yesterday

The Department of the Environment have admitted they are “concerned” by weekend media reports which suggest that the drinking water supply to Dundalk might be contaminated.

The statement, made by Minister of State Paudie Coffey on behalf of Minister Alan Kelly, comes following an article in The Sunday Independent which alleged that the town’s water supply was being poisoned by IRA fuel launderers, who were dumping cancer causing toxins into Lough Muckno, Lough Ross and the River Fane.

While the matter was debated at length by Louth County Council on Monday, it was also raised in the Dáil by local TDs Fergus O’Dowd and Seamus Kirk as well as Cavan/Monaghan-based deputies Sean Conlon and Brendan Smith.

In a reply to the TDs, Minister Coffey said: “I am taking this on behalf of Minister Alan Kelly, and like other Deputies I am concerned about media reports regarding an alleged pollution discharge.”

He said he was aware that Louth County Council were investigating the matter in conjunction with the Water Pollution Inspectorate in Northern Ireland before warning that anyone who was found guilty of polluting waters could be fined up to €15m, receive up to five years in prison on both.

He revealed that diesel laundering waste dumping had led to 596 clean-up operations in Louth since 2008, at a cost of approximately €4.8 million to the State.

Minister Coffey said talks were ongoing with the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland to “develop a mechanism for dealing with waste from cross-border diesel washings.”

He said it was important that there was full cross border support in stamping out the problem and added that Minister Kelly would be writing to Minister Mark Durkan in the north to highlight the problems being faced by border counties exposed to the consequences of what he described as “environmental crime”.

Meanwhile, Louth TD Gerry Adams has condemned the discovery of 40,000 litres of fuel sludge on the N1 north of Dundalk yesterday and said: “The only effective means of closing down this illegal activity is to end the differential between agricultural and non-agricultural diesel. The government needs to introduce in its place a system where farmers can reclaim a rebate on their fuel costs based on vouched expenditure”.

The Sinn Féin leader has also accused some Louth politicians of making irresponsible claims that drinking water has been polluted.

He said: “This assertion – especially given the assurances by the Director of Services in Louth County Council that the drinking water is safe can only serve to undermine the efforts of the Council to promote tourism and business in Dundalk and its hinterland and to undermine public confidence.”

Deputy Adams also accused the gangs involved in diesel laundering of “causing serious environmental and health problems, putting at risk legitimate business and jobs, as well as imposing significant financial costs on local councils and the tax payer.”