Here is a board announcing, and a gallery of images from, the hunger strike commemoration in 2012, Dungiven. M08672 [M08658] [M08659] [M08660] [M08661] [M08673] [M08674] M08675 [M08676] M08677 M08678 [M08679] M08680 M08681 M08682 M08683 M08684 M08685 [M08686] [M08687] M08688 [M08689] M08690 [M08691] [M08692] [M08693] [M08694] M08695 M08696 [M08697] [M08698] [M08699] [M08700] [M08701] M08702 [M08703] [M08704] […]
National Hunger Strike Commemoration 2012
Friday, 27th January, 2023.
A former British soldier who shot a Co Tyrone man dead as he walked to a GAA match 35 years ago will be sentenced later today.
David Holden, 53 was convicted in November of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie, who was shot in the back on his way to a GAA Football match.
He is the first British army veteran to be convicted since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Whatever sentence is imposed, Holden will benefit from the agreement’s early release scheme for prisoners and will serve a maximum of two years.
Mr McAnespie, 23, was shot in the back from an army checkpoint in the village of Aughnacloy on the Tyrone/Monaghan border on 21 February, 1988.
He was walking to a game in the nearby GAA ground.
The former soldier, who was 18 at the time and serving in the Grenadier Guards, claimed the shooting had been an accident.
But the judge ruled he had pointed a machine gun at Mr McAnespie from an observation sanger in the checkpoint and pulled the trigger, assuming the weapon was not cocked and ready for use.
That was an assumption he should never have made and as a result he was guilty of manslaughter “by gross negligence”, the judge ruled.
He dismissed the soldier’s claim that it happened as he handled the weapon with wet gloves and that his finger had slipped onto the trigger.
The judge described that as a “deliberately false account” and said the expert evidence had been that it took nine pounds of pressure on the trigger to fire the weapon.
Three rounds were fired in a short burst. One of them ricocheted off the road and hit Mr McAnespie in the back.
During the trial, the court was told that Mr McAnespie was a “person of interest” to the security forces.
He had complained of regular harassment at the checkpoint and often parked his car and walked through it to the GAA grounds to avoid lengthy delays caused by searches of his vehicle.
Mr McAnespie’s family is expected at court in Belfast for the sentencing.
The case concludes as the British government’s controversial legacy plans continue to make their way through Westminster.
They have been rejected by all of Northern Ireland’s political parties and the Irish Government and face considerable opposition in the House of Lords where they are currently being debated.
The plan would effectively end all criminal and civil cases and inquest hearings relating to the Troubles.
Instead, there would be a truth recovery process in which former paramilitaries would be encouraged to participate, in return for an amnesty from prosecution.
The British government has promised amendments in the face of overwhelming criticism, but has been accused of tinkering at the edges.
The legislation follows a Conservative party commitment to legal protections for British army veterans.
After the sentence is handed down by the court, Holden’s legal team must apply to Northern Ireland’s Sentence Review Commissioners to have it commuted.
With many thanks to: RTÉ News and Conor Macauley (Northern Correspondent) for the original story.
Follow these links to find out more on this story: Former British soldier to be sentenced over Aidan McAnespie killing
With many thanks to: RTÉ News and Connor Macauley (Northern Correspondent) Follow@TVconormac for the original story.
Follow this link to find out more on this story: https://www.rte.ie/news/2023/0127/1352056-mcanespie-court-ruling/
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The watchdog will refuse to ditch the probe into the shooting dead of senior Provo Colum Marks as he prepared to launch a mortar attack on a police patrol in Downpatrick in 1991.
The party branded the enquiry a “waste of time and resources”. But the Ombudsman’s office has told the Sunday World that Marks’ murder is “still under investigation”. South Down MLA Jim Wells said the fact Marks was killed in an act of terrorism (one man’s terrorist is another man’s hero) should be enough to rule out any question marks.
MORTARS
“Marks was always claimed by the IRA as one of its members,” he said. “He was in a field at night where mortars were being launched at police. It is difficult to see what can be gained (collusion with loyalist preliminaries) by spending a lot of taxpayers’ money to investigate this case.” The Ombudsman launched an investigation after a new witness came forward on the 25th anniversary of the 29-year-old’s murder.
It followed an intervention from Attorney General John Larkin who wrote to the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Barra McGrory asking for a review of a decision not to prosecute police officers arising from his execution. Marks was named in Westminster in 2017 by DUP MP Jim Shannon as the leader of the IRA gang who, a year before his death, had detonated a bomb in which four UDR soldiers were killed.
With many thanks to: The Sunday World and Richard Sullivan for the original story
Josie was the eldest son of Joe and Annie Connolly. He was a keen sportsman, and in his short life he won numerous trophies for his exploits in boxing. The crowning glory being an Ulster Junior Championship. Josie also had a keen interest in the Gaelic games and played for local Castlederg club, St. Eugene’s C.L.G.
An example of Josie’s attitude and respect for the republican and fellow volunteers, is the story of how Josie left his grandparents’ wake on Easter Sunday to attend the local commemoration at the graveside of Óglach Seamus Harvey. Josie was to have the same fate as Seamus and made his final journey to the same graveyard on 9th February 1989.
On the 5th February 1989 at around 11pm, a bomb prematurely detonated just outside the village of Drumquin. As personnel of the British Forces arrived at the scene, they found a seriously injured young man. Conscious and aware, he refused to give any information or even his identity.
Sadly on February 6th 1989, Josie died from his injuries at the young age of 20. The IRA confirmed that he was a Volunteer on active service.
With many thanks to the: James Connolly Association Australia for the original posting
seachranaidhe1 
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