TERROR LAWS BROUGHT INTO EFFECT
Terror laws brought into effect
By Steven McCaffery
POLICE on both sides of the Irish border are now armed with tough new powers aimed at crushing continued paramilitary activity,
Yesterday as the new legislation was ratified in Dublin and London, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed US President Bill Clinton to the Republic and pledged that no paramilitary group would "quench the candle of peace".
Both the British and Irish governments confirmed the RUC and Garda are now armed with the controversial new powers, as efforts intensify to target the renegade republicans responsible for the Omagh bomb blast - the Real IRA.
With President of Ireland Mary McAleese on an official trip to Australia, the presidential committee yesterday ratified Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's "draconian powers" following their successful passage through the Olreachtas on Thursday night.
In Britain the queen set the seal on powers passed by the House of Commons and the Lords.
The bill unveiled in Dublin includes provisions in relation to the right to silence, increased powers of detention, unlimited fines and the forfeiture of property used for storing arms or explosives, as well as creating a range of new offences.
The British legislation was rushed through Parliament in just two days and has continued to stir controversy.
Former Tory defence minister Alan Clark told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was "gesture politics".
The new law entailed "serious infringements of civil liberties ... It's a kind of focus group fascism really."
Labour MP and QC Bob Marshall-Andrews said: "I have never seen a single bill which so effectively removes civil rights across the board, and that it is done in this way, with MPs having absolutely no time properly to consider it, is bound to make bad law.
"This is the first time ever in British legislation that the single word of a police officer has been elevated to evidence. It's the classic hallmark of authoritarian and totalitarian justice that you do not have to prove it by evidence, you prove it by mere assertion."
Former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn accused the British . government of seeking to manipulate the queen to help it get the new security legislation rushed through Parliament.
He wrote to the prime minister, Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, Speaker Betty Boothroyd and Buckingham Palace to protest at news reports on Thursday night claiming the queen had already approved the measure, when the legislation was still being debated by the House of Lords.
Meanwhile, in Dublin yesterday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told President Bill Clinton of the crucial help his administration provided during the "dark hours" before the Northern Ireland peace deal was reached on Good Friday.
"The helping hand of the United States was always there in the hour of need. And there were many such hours," he said.
Mr Ahern and Mr Clinton attended at a reception in the Dublin headquarters of Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons in honour of the president and his wife, Hillary.
Mr Ahern referred to the Omagh bomb blast, but said no words could convey the sense of sorrow and outrage generated by "that cruel attack".
And he added: "But I make a pledge here today: no actions of any organisation will quench the Good Friday candle of peace.
"The Irish, British and United States governments are rock solid in our shared commitment and determination to achieve a lasting peace on this island."
By Steven McCaffery
POLICE on both sides of the Irish border are now armed with tough new powers aimed at crushing continued paramilitary activity,
Yesterday as the new legislation was ratified in Dublin and London, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed US President Bill Clinton to the Republic and pledged that no paramilitary group would "quench the candle of peace".
Both the British and Irish governments confirmed the RUC and Garda are now armed with the controversial new powers, as efforts intensify to target the renegade republicans responsible for the Omagh bomb blast - the Real IRA.
With President of Ireland Mary McAleese on an official trip to Australia, the presidential committee yesterday ratified Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's "draconian powers" following their successful passage through the Olreachtas on Thursday night.
In Britain the queen set the seal on powers passed by the House of Commons and the Lords.
The bill unveiled in Dublin includes provisions in relation to the right to silence, increased powers of detention, unlimited fines and the forfeiture of property used for storing arms or explosives, as well as creating a range of new offences.
The British legislation was rushed through Parliament in just two days and has continued to stir controversy.
Former Tory defence minister Alan Clark told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was "gesture politics".
The new law entailed "serious infringements of civil liberties ... It's a kind of focus group fascism really."
Labour MP and QC Bob Marshall-Andrews said: "I have never seen a single bill which so effectively removes civil rights across the board, and that it is done in this way, with MPs having absolutely no time properly to consider it, is bound to make bad law.
"This is the first time ever in British legislation that the single word of a police officer has been elevated to evidence. It's the classic hallmark of authoritarian and totalitarian justice that you do not have to prove it by evidence, you prove it by mere assertion."
Former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn accused the British . government of seeking to manipulate the queen to help it get the new security legislation rushed through Parliament.
He wrote to the prime minister, Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, Speaker Betty Boothroyd and Buckingham Palace to protest at news reports on Thursday night claiming the queen had already approved the measure, when the legislation was still being debated by the House of Lords.
Meanwhile, in Dublin yesterday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told President Bill Clinton of the crucial help his administration provided during the "dark hours" before the Northern Ireland peace deal was reached on Good Friday.
"The helping hand of the United States was always there in the hour of need. And there were many such hours," he said.
Mr Ahern and Mr Clinton attended at a reception in the Dublin headquarters of Ireland's Royal College of Surgeons in honour of the president and his wife, Hillary.
Mr Ahern referred to the Omagh bomb blast, but said no words could convey the sense of sorrow and outrage generated by "that cruel attack".
And he added: "But I make a pledge here today: no actions of any organisation will quench the Good Friday candle of peace.
"The Irish, British and United States governments are rock solid in our shared commitment and determination to achieve a lasting peace on this island."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0366
Published Date: 05-Sep-98
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