MEDIA WATCH
09/10/2015 - 16/10/2015
10 October 2015
Why are the same fans not celebrating both Irish
victories?
Like many matters in Northern Ireland, football allegiance is still quite firmly divided into
two camps.
After the Republic of Ireland beat Germany to guarantee at least a play-off spot for the Euro
2016 finals, and Northern Ireland defeated Greece to qualify automatically - both sides have
cause for celebration.
But the same fans are not celebrating both victories.
Traditionally, those in the North who identify as Irish, Catholics and nationalist support the
Republic, while those of a British, Protestant and unionist background support Northern
Ireland.
There is a long way to go before both teams are likely to receive equal support from both
traditions in the North. It may never happen, and the prospect of football operating on an
all-island basis, like rugby, is a source of contention.
Shankill Road shop-owner Jackie Millar (59) was thrilled with the North's result. "It's all I
have heard anyone talk about today," he said. "It's unbelievable. Just brilliant. Us getting
there is like us winning it. If Northern Ireland don't do well and the Republic goes, I would
support them, and so would a lot of other people I know. The only confrontation would be if
the two teams clashed."
Enjoying the atmosphere
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Eddie Harrison (72) was enjoying the atmosphere at the First Shankill Northern Ireland
Supporters Club. "Northern Ireland is my team. I don't follow the Republic," he said.
"Protestants play for Northern Ireland and Catholics play for the Republic of Ireland. I don't
think there will be a united Ireland team. We like to have our own teams," said Harrison.
"Lots of Catholics support Northern Ireland, and that is certainly the way it should be; as
long as they stand for the queen, that's all we want to know."
At the Ulster Souvenirs shop on the Shankill, David Reid said there will never be one football
team. "Northern Ireland is so small but fans are big supporters. If you go down the Falls you
would find they would never support Northern Ireland."
Indeed, at Pat's Barbers on the Falls Road there was not much love for the Northern Ireland
team. Pat Hall explained he "wouldn't watch Northern Ireland if they were playing live
across the road".
"Windsor Park is walking distance from here and I don't know anybody who goes to it," he
said. "We have never been made feel welcome. They play the national anthem of another
country. I would love an all-Ireland football team. It would bring people together."
Outside the Michael Davitt GAC bar on the Falls, Seán O'Neill (60) said he would like football
to operate on an all-island basis, like rugby and boxing.
"I am Irish and we just beat the world champions. I would love to see an all-Ireland football
team. It might happen in a lot of years' time, but it's too early for it now."
Source: Irish Times
12 October 2015
Latest murder ‘a result of policing cuts along the
border’
The death of a second officer in the Garda District of Dundalk is being seen as further
evidence of what police have been quietly describing as a 'disastrous' reduction in gardai
and PSNI numbers along the border.
There is now what one senior figure described as a 'corridor of lawlessness' along the border
which once had 38 operational stations along its hundred-mile length. This has been
reduced to a handful of 'full-time' stations between Londonderry, Enniskillen, Monaghan
and Dundalk.
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The area has seen a boom in all sorts of crime since the end of the Troubles as former
terrorist groups - both loyalist and republican - embarked on building crime empires. Small
time gangs of robbers and extortionists also sprang up as police were withdrawn in large
numbers from both sides of the border.
On the northern side, policing has been reduced to what one PSNI source described as
'skeleton' levels due to cuts in resources in recent years.
This was seen at the time of the Det Garda Adrian Donohoe murder when the culprits were
able to drive unheeded into south Armagh, burn their car and escape into the countryside
where they were protected by local families, including one with links to the local IRA
leadership.
Almost 20 gardai have been murdered in the course of their duties in the past half century,
most of them by the IRA or its off-shoots.
Yesterday evening's scene, however, was not believed to be linked to any terrorist or
organised criminal but seemed more likely to be linked to a domestic siege or 'barrier-type'
incident, as it is known to police.
The murder of Mr Donohoe in Dundalk, a few miles from the scene of last night's murder,
was preceded by a small number of incidents in which gardai have been murdered on duty.
In July 1999, Sergeant John Callanan died after he was doused with petrol and set on fire by
a deranged man in the foyer of Tallaght Garda Station. Another Garda Sergeant, John Joe
O'Connor, was shot and killed while protecting his son from another deranged man in
Tralee, Co Kerry.
Det Sergeant John Eiffe (40) died when he was hit by the ricochet of a bullet during an
armed bank robbery in Abbeyleix, Co Laois in December 2001.
Twelve gardai were murdered by the IRA and another five killed by off-shoot republican
terror groups during the Troubles. The last officer murdered by the IRA was Det Garda Jerry
McCabe, shot dead as he carried out a routine protection patrol for a cash-in-transit van in
Adare, Co Limerick in June 1996.
Along the border, and in south Armagh, the open and massive local fuel smuggling business
has gone virtually unhindered since the so-called IRA ceasefires and the 2006 'order to
dump arms'.
This was followed by the IRA's October 2008 murder of innocent local man Paul Quinn (21)
by an IRA squad - a murder that has gone unsolved due, gardai say, to a 'wall of silence'
erected by republicans in south Armagh.
In the aftermath of the Donohoe murder, gardai increased patrolling for several months but
no significant extra resources were allocated to border stations where crime has been rising
steadily in the past two decades.
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The failure to arrest and charge Donohoe's killers has been described by one senior source
as 'the greatest disaster' in the recent history of the force in that, in his view, it sent out a
message that gardai can be killed with little prospect of arrest or charge.
Source: Belfast Telegraph
15 October 2015
Loophole that lets you beat hospital operation queues;
But amazingly, only 14 people from Northern Ireland
have ever done it
Long-suffering NHS patients on Northern Ireland's growing waiting lists could skip the queue
if only they were aware of an EU directive that permits treatment in another state, it has
been claimed.
Only 14 people from Northern Ireland have taken advantage of a little-known EU crossborder health directive that came into existence in October 2013.
But with almost 400,000 people across Northern Ireland waiting for a specialist
appointment or medical treatment, and no Health Minister at Stormont, that figure could
now rise.
The directive allows many patients to access medical procedures and treatment for
conditions such as hip and knee replacements - where patients can be on the waiting list for
more than a year. Some patients here have been waiting 18 months for treatment for back
surgery - which again can be treated abroad.
It applies to either private or state-run hospitals in other European countries - not just the
Irish Republic.
Under the rules, an eligible patient covers the cost of the operation up-front - but crucially,
they can claim the money back within a month.
To do so, they need prior approval of their consultant or their GP in some circumstances.
Only seven people have been refused.
Surprisingly, very few GPs in Northern Ireland appear to be aware that the directive exists.
Among them was Dr Anne McCloskey, who works in a busy practice in the Shantallow area
of Derry.
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She said: "I knew nothing about this directive and I imagine I am not alone in that, given the
fact that so few people have managed to get treated using it.
"I am a firm supporter of the NHS and believe that treatment should be free for all at the
point of delivery - but I would do everything I could to help my patients get off long waiting
lists.
"Every day I talk to patients who previously would have been a priority for treatment, like
the woman who is in constant pain waiting on a hip replacement who has a Down's
syndrome son to care for. This is very interesting and I cannot understand why GPs were not
made more aware of it."
One medical professional in Co Donegal only recently became aware of it - but has since
sent 20 of his patients to the North West Independent Clinic in Ballykelly. Dr Gerald Roarty
operates a dental practice in Ballybofey.
He said: "I have had patients who were waiting for two and three years for oral surgery who
are now being seen within a week through this directive.
"The South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen is well able to cope with the numbers of
patients in Donegal who are on waiting lists but few doctors are aware that this EU crossborder directive exists."
Dr Tom Black, chairman of the NI General Practitioners Committee, was aware of the
directive, but added: "I don't think it has been promoted properly and it is down to the
patient to raise it as an option.
"Ideally, it would be preferable to see the NHS funded properly so that there would be no
patients on a waiting list - but you could hardly blame people for looking elsewhere for
treatment and using this directive as an option."
Stormont health committee chairwoman Maeve McLaughlin raised questions over why so
few people were aware of the option.
"This is an example of a directive we could utilise to reduce the long lists of people waiting
for hospital treatments," the Foyle MLA said.
"We already have examples of cross-border healthcare in children's heart care and
radiotherapy so this just makes sense. The big question that must be asked, though, is why
this is not marketed more and why is it not being utilised more - those are the questions I
will raise at the earliest opportunity."
A spokeswoman for the Health and Social Care Board confirmed patients could be treated
for their condition outside Northern Ireland and then be reimbursed.
She said: "The EU directive on cross-border healthcare route is used when an individual
seeks access to treatment in another European Economic Area country or Switzerland in
either the state or private sectors.
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"Unlike other options, this arises where the board considers treatment is available locally or
within the rest of the UK but a patient has nonetheless opted to seek treatment elsewhere."
She said that for patients with approval, the HSCB reimburses EU citizens resident in
Northern Ireland.
"It can take up to 20 working days for a fully completed application to be processed and a
decision to be made. If approved, the reimbursement can take up to 30 working days to be
processed."
Source: Belfast Telegraph
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