McGahon challenges Adams to lie detector test over IRA claims

Paudie McGahon

A Louth man who claims to have been the victim of IRA sex-abuse as a child has called on Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams to take a polygraph test to determine whether he was a member of the IRA or not.

The Louth TD has always claimed never to have been a member of the IRA but Ardee man Paudie McGahon told The Sunday Independent today that he witnessed Adams admit to being the leader of the illegal organisation on a number of occasions.

McGahon said he heard Adams make the admissions at closed republican meetings which he attended as a teenager in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Now the father of three has challenged Deputy Adams to consent to a lie detector test if he refuted the allegations.

“Gerry Adams spends much of his time denying his past and the only way of establishing what is true or false is for him to take an independent polygraph test,” said McGahon

“I personally heard Mr Adams telling groups of die-hard republicans that he was both the leader of Sinn Féin and the IRA. I used to go to these meetings with my father from the time I was 13 – my father was a big republican sympathiser, which is why our home was being used as a safe house for IRA volunteers like the man who raped me.”

The 40-year-old from Ardee said that he was brought to the secret meetings because he was being “groomed” for recruitment.

The meetings took place in Louth, Monaghan, Donegal and Tallaght in west Dublin

Read the full story here.

Extension to apply for 30kph speed limits in local estates

Cllr Edel Corrigan

The closing date for applications from estates for 30kph speed limit signs to be erected has been extended until Friday October 30^th.

The extension was welcomed earlier this week by local councillor Edel Corrigan.

The Sinn Féin representative said: “I would encourage all community groups and residents’ associations to make a submission to the Council and have their say. It’s your area, you are entitled to have a say on this.”

A number of submissions are currently under consideration but there is still time for local groups to have their estates considered.

“This is an opportunity for residents to have their estates included in the new 30km/hr zones so as to make residential areas as safe as possible for pedestrians, cyclists and children,” said Cllr Corrigan.

Submissions may be made in writing to Eugene McManus, Administrative Office, Infrastructure, Louth County Council, Town Hall, Dundalk before 5pm on Friday 30th October.

Sharkey calls for A&E in Dundalk to reopen after ambulance fiasco in Drogheda

Some of the ambulances that were backed up at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda yesterday afternoon

Local councillor Tomás Sharkey has called for the Accident and Emergency Department in The Louth County Hospital to be reopened immediately, insisting that it should be an election issue.

His call comes after Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was so badly overcrowded yesterday afternoon that as many as seven ambulances were backed up waiting to check in patients for up to four hours.

Cllr Sharkey said that delays in admitting patients meant less ambulances were on the road to respond to other emergencies. The Sinn Féin representative said the first step in solving this crisis was to reopen the A&E in Dundalk.

As many as 70 patients were reported to have been on trolleys in the Lourdes Hospital yesterday with ambulance personnel unable to check patients in until a trolley for them became available.

Commenting on Facebook former local TD Arthur Morgan said: “What is happening in the Lourdes is a scandal. Both staff and patients are subject to what can only be described as abuse.”

The A&E in the Louth County Hospital was closed and replaced by a minor injuries unit on June 28th 2010.

Yesterday’s issues come just a few days after HIQA reported high risk hygiene issues in the Lourdes, which management at the hospital put down to overcrowding.

Adams expresses concern at growing crime figures in Louth

Gerry Adams

Local TD Gerry Adams has expressed deep concern at the latest crime figures in the wake of two brutal attacks in Louth.

According to the latest CSO recorded crime figures published, the number of assaults, thefts and burglaries has risen over the past year.

The Sinn Féin president said: “In light of the recent shocking killing of Martin Mulligan near Dundalk and the brutal stabbing of a pharmacy employee in Drogheda, the latest crime figures are very worrying. CSO figures show an increase of assaults of 10.4%, burglaries rising by 8.4%, and theft rising by 1.8%.

“There has been a continuous cutting back of vital resources that the Gardaí require to do their job. I recently called on the Minister for Justice to increase Garda numbers which have fallen over the last five years.

“Recent parliamentary questions to the Minister show that a town as large as Drogheda has only five community Gardaí. There is a direct correlation between these figures and the closure of rural Garda stations and lack of investment in Garda resources.

“Communities right across the country are paying the price for Government policy. The Government must increase investment in Garda personnel and resources to deal with the erosion of public confidence in the Garda’s ability to tackle serious crime.”

Yore to stand for Independent Alliance in General Election

Maeve Yore

Local councillor Maeve Yore has declared her intention to run in the next General Election.

The Blakely Close woman is set to run under the Independent Alliance banner, a group headed by Independent TD Shane Ross and Michael Fitzmaurice.

Former Lord Mayor of Drogheda Kevin Callan will also be running for the alliance in the south of the county.

Maeve is married to local fireman Martin Yore, who is the station officer for Louth County Council’s Fire & Rescue Service and a former president of the Dundalk Lions Club.

She revealed that she had been approached by both Renua and the Social Democrats to run on their behalf but said she would not adhere to having a party whip.

Cllr Yore received 1,228 first preference votes in last year’s local elections, a figure only bettered by Sinn Fein’s Tomás Sharkey and Fianna Fáil’s Declan Breathnach.

She is well known as a founder member of Special Needs Active Parents (SNAP) and also sits on the boards of the Louth Volunteer Centre and the Louth Meath Education Training Board (LMETB).

Cllr Yore said she would be using her own savings to fund her campaign.

Candidates so far confirmed to be running in Louth in the next General Election are as follows:

• Sinn Féin: Gerry Adams and Imelda Munster
• Fine Gael: Fergus O’Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick
• Labour: Ged Nash and Mary Moran
• Fianna Fáil: Declan Breathnach and Emma Coffey
• Renua Ireland: Michael O’Dowd
• Direct Democracy Ireland: Anthony Connor and Pat Greene
• People Before Profit: Garrett Weldon
• Independence Alliance: Kevin Callan and Maeve Yore

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.

Louth County Councillors vote to reduce Property Tax rate by 1.5%

Louth County Councillors have voted to reduce the Local Property Tax by 1.5% this year.

This will mean households will pay the same property tax bill in 2016 as they did last year when a similar cut was implemented.

The decision to put forward the same cut as 12 months ago came after a Sinn Féin proposal to reduce the tax by the full 15% allowed was defeated.

The debate on the issue followed roughly the same lines as last year when a similar proposal from Sinn Féin was also rejected before a 1.5% cut was eventually passed by the casting vote of chairman Cllr Oliver Tully. This time Fine Gael put forward a motion to leave the Property Tax payment as is.

Chief Executive Joan Martin once again pointed out to councillors that a cut of 15% in the property tax would result in a €1.3 million hit in the council’s budget that would have to be made up elsewhere.

Sinn Féin representatives said they were disappointed with the outcome with Fine Gael’s Cllr John McGahon reiterating his comments from 12 months ago when he accused the party of being irresponsible, accusing them of trying to send the council over a “financial cliff”.

Sinn Féin to propose 15% cut in Local Property Tax at this morning’s council meeting

Some of the Sinn Féin councillors who will be voting to cut the property tax rate this morning

Sinn Féin will put forward a motion at this morning’s meeting of Louth County Council to reduce the Local Property Tax rate by 15%.

The party, who have 10 representatives on the council, put forward a similar motion last year. While they received support from three Fianna Fáil councillors at that time, council officials warned that they would have to make up a €1.4m shortfall if the cut was applied.

This led to the vote being defeated, with subsequent proposals from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael representatives for cuts of 7.5% and 2% also rejected.

Instead a vote was later passed in September 2014 to reduce the property tax rate by 1.5%, with chairman Cllr Oliver Tully using his casting vote to pass the proposal after the vote had been tied at 13 for and 13 against.

At the time Fine Gael’s Cllr John McGahon accused Sinn Féin of making a “reckless political move” by trying to cut the property tax rate by the maximum 15% allowed, adding that it would have pushed the council “off a financial cliff.”

Commenting yesterday, Sinn Féin’s Cllr Imelda Munster said: “The Sinn Féin team will be proposing a 15% cut in the Local Property Tax.

“As you are probably aware last year the government handed over the Local Property Tax collected to Irish Water despite saying it was for improving local services. Local services have been cut to the bone!

“We already pay Road Tax, Bin Charges, Toll Charges, A&E Charges, Emergency Call Out Charges, Universal Social Charges, PAYE, PRSI, Local Property Tax, and they are trying to force us to pay Water Charges. It’s high time people got some relief. Where is this so called recovery for the ordinary person??

“I hope the other councillors support us,” she said.

D’Arcy speculates on possible Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin voting pact

Jim D’Arcy

Local Fine Gael Senator Jim D’Arcy had said that recent comments from Sinn Féin leader and Louth TD Gerry Adams would suggest there is an ever increasing possibility of a voting pact between his party and Fianna Fáil.

Deputy Adams said yesterday that he will go into government with any party. However, Senator D’Arcy said it would be hypocritcal of Fianna Fáil to go into government with Sinn Féin after the next General Election.

“Gerry Adams said he will go into government with any party who has the mandate from the electorate. While at their party think-in Micheál Martin said he believes he is the only alternative Taoiseach on offer. This would suggest that there is every chance of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Fèin coming together.

“Micheál Martin has said in the past that he will not go into coalition with Sinn Fèin, but considering his party’s constant desire to be in power, it would not be unreasonable to think that he may take up Sinn Fèin’s offer, if given the opportunity.

“Comments from some of Micheál Martin’s Dáil deputies would support this view. The idea of doing a deal with Sinn Fèin has been openly touted by Eamonn O’Cúiv and Colm Keaveney, while Bobby Aylward, only this week, said that many Fianna Fáil members would like to enter Government with Sinn Féin, as they come from the same republican background. Are these TDs trying to soften up the electorate in preparation for a voting pact between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Fèin?

“Having experienced the boom and bust eras of Haughey and Bertie, I like many others, am all too aware of the results of Fianna Fáil’s obsession with power, and I believe that Sinn Fèin are eager for any opportunity to be in Government.

“Gerry Adams has predicted that his party will be in government on both sides of the border come 2016, and only yesterday he has said he is willing to do business with anyone to make that happen here in the south.
“Considering what Martin and Adams have said up to this point, it is reasonable to ask, will a vote for Fianna Fáil in the next General Election be a vote for Sinn Fèin?”

Sinn Féin to host public meeting in Dundalk tonight

Sinn Féin will hold a public meeting at 7.30pm tonight in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dundalk.

The meeting will be addressed by the party’s candidates in the forthcoming election, Deputy Gerry Adams TD and Cllr Imelda Munster.

All are welcome to attend the meeting, which will focus on Sinn Féin’s belief that a fair recovery is possible for Ireland.