Sinn Fein councillors in Londonderry are to propose a motion today calling for the release of Shankill Bomber, Sean Kelly.

Demanding Kelly's Release

In a display of that oh so typical Sinn Fein victimhood mentality, they've compared the re-jailing of this convicted murderer to the mistakes made with internment of thirty years ago (not that I'd accuse Sinn Fein of living off the past).

"We're asking that the council demands the immediate release from Maghaberry Prison of Belfast republican, Sean Kelly. We note with concern that charges have not been brought against Sean Kelly nor has evidence supporting the decision to incarcerate him been made public.

We contend that the circumstances surrounding Sean Kelly's imprisonment effectively equate the failed policy of interning Irish citizens without trial and we consequently demand a complete end to the practice."

Paul Fleming, Sinn Fein councillor, Derry City Council

Interestingly, Sinn Fein kicked up no such stink about internment when Johnny Adair was imprisoned in similar circumstances. While this may be viewed as 'whataboutery' I wish to point out only that Sinn Fein exercise double standards on these issues, and rather than being worried about human rights, they simply want to see 'one of theirs' back on the streets.

What Evidence?
The DUP Lononderry councillor Gregory Campbell, largely in keeping with my own views, has said DUP councillors are unlikely to support the motion, but called on the PSNI and NIO to make the evidence public. He said "If they are genuinely serious accusations then we will have to see how Sinn Fein reacts to that."

I totally agree. How could Sinn Fein argue in the face of the evidence has been gathered? That said, it wouldn't be unlike them.

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No, I'm not drunk (more's the pity) I'm referring to the Northern Ireland under 19 side who were beaten 1-0 tonight by Serbia & Montenegro in Newry. I didn't make it to the game (although I intend to be in Ballymena this Saturday and hope NI get their first win).

Germany beat Greece 3-0 tonight so that means Serbia and Montenegro top the group with 2 wins, Greece and Germany both have 1. This means that Northern Ireland are very unlikely to qualify for the semi-finals with only Germany left to play. I'm not sure of the rules, but to quote the UEFA website, "the hosts require a three-goal victory and must also hope Greece, who Germany beat 3-0 today, lose to Serbia and Montenegro, who need only a point to guarantee progress." The match is live on British Eurosport but their coverage doesn't seem to be the best and I want to make it to at least one match anyway so I'll be journeying to Ballymena on Saturday.

In the other group, France beat Norway 3-1 at Windsor Park and England drew 1-1 with Armenia in Ballymena. All that leaves the tables looking like this:

A company has been fined £27,000 for illegally dumping waste in Belfast. The fine was handed down to Euroskip at Belfast Magistrates Court and is the biggest ever handed down by a Northern Ireland court for breach of a waste management licence.

When the DoE raided Euroskip's premises on the Castlereagh Road they found household waste from the Irish Republic on the site, along with food, electrical goods and garden waste.

Really they should have their licence revoked (there was no mention of this in the report I read). Northern Ireland's waste problems should be well known by now - I even mentioned it during a "Does it really matter who wins the election" post back in April under the heading "Northern Ireland's Recycling is Rubbish". The last thing we need to be doing is importing other people's waste to dump!

The UEFA European Under 19 Championships got underway in Northern Ireland last night, with England, France, Northern Ireland and Germany all in action.

Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Greece at Windsor Park, although Thomas Stewart went close to equalising near the end. You can read the full report on the Northern Ireland match at the Irish FA website.

I'm a bit disappointed the BBC aren't covering this in more depth, particularly after the ridiculous amounts of coverage they gave to the Women's Euro 2005 Championships (because they were in England?). Considering these championships have 2 British sides in it you'd think they'd get at least a mention. As it turns out the only station covering the games are British Eurosport (no good to us plebs with just Freeview) and they're only covering one Northern Ireland match.

Other Results
In Northern Ireland's group, Serbia & Montenegro came from behind to beat Germany 4-2 at Newry's Showgrounds. With Northern Ireland travelling to Newry on Wednesday night to play Serbia & Montenegro (7PM kick-off) it could still be anyone's group. A result at the Showgrounds would mean it was all to play for.

In the other group, England drew with France 1-1 at the Oval and Norway beat Armenia 2-0 at Mourneview Park in Lurgan. Match reports from all the matches are also available from the Irish FA website.

Wednesday's Matches
Greece v. Germany - Mourneview Park, Lurgan @ 5PM Live on Eurosport
Northern Ireland v. Serbia & Montenegro - Newry Showgrounds @ 7PM
Armenia v. England - Ballymena Showgrounds @ 7PM
Norway v. France - Windsor Park @ 8PM live on Eurosport

A Catholic priest has called for the government to release Sean Kelly, the Shankill Bomber, from prison where he was returned last month for being involved in terrorism.

Father Aiden Troy claims there's no evidence to back up the allegations and said that Kelly had been a moderating influence in north Belfast. His calls come after protestors disrupted a meeting of EU employment ministers due to be hosted in west Belfast (an area that badly needs the employment!) and follows all sorts of claims about "securocrats" being responsible for this "reprehensible" re-jailing. Only Gerry Adams could call having a mass-murderer behind bars "unjust".

"If there is evidence and I am being misled then present it and I will be the first to say 'I was wrong, I am sorry,' but in the absence (of evidence) I am absolutely certain that this is something that has been wrongly done."
Father Aiden Troy

Aftermath of the Shankill Bomb, 1993 which killed 9 people

To be perfectly honest, while I find it easy to believe that a man who so callously and coldly took the life of 9 innocent people just over a decade ago would return to a life of crime and gangsterism on his release, I too would like the NIO to produce some evidence - although it may not be possible until after the Sentence Review Commission decides the outcome of the case.

If nothing else it will give Sinn Fein one less thing to whinge about.

After killing 9 people and being sentenced to 9 life sentences, Kelly was released in 2000, after only 6 years, under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. It's now up to the sentence review commission to determine if Sean Kelly has indeed broken the terms of his licence. If the commission decides he has, he will revert to being a life-prisoner and it will be up to the Lord Chief Justice to decide how long he will serve.

Sectarian attacks are the work of lowlifes, we all know this. However, when sectarian attacks are perpetrated against the elderly you really have to ask yourself how sick some people in this country really are.

Two such psychotic wastes of space have been charged over such brainless attacks in the Suffolk area of west Belfast where a gang of Republican hoods terrorised an area inhabited by unionists. In this instance, an elderly couple had their windows broken by a gang of men who went on to kick in a door at another house, inhabited by a woman and her baby, and shouted threats. They also disconnected the phone lines at the house.

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What is it that makes that headline so unsurprising and so ordinary to readers from Northern Ireland? Can you imagine an American court carrying on like this in the current climate?

Nevertheless, I came back from a brief holiday to discover this morning that three convicted terrorists, who were attempting to buy guns, rocket-propelled grenades and 5 tonnes of explosives for the "Real" IRA have had their sentences reduced, amazingly only a matter of days after a series of bombs rocked London! Earlier in the week the same 3 judges had quashed an application to appeal against the conviction but apparently believe that 30 years behind bars is too hard on the poor terrorists who were only trying to by weapons that could be used to kill thousands of people.

The men travelled to an Arab restaurant in Slovakia where they were taped and filmed as they tried to order 5,000kg of plastic explosives, 2,000 detonators, 200 rocket-propelled grenades and 500 handguns – writing their "order" on a napkin! How they can act so casually as they try to acquire weapons to murder and main innocent people I don't know, but then again they're from the same stock as the scum who detonated out the Omagh bomb, killing 29 people.

The 3 Real IRA members were caught in an MI5 sting where officers posed as Iraqi intelligence agents and arms dealers. The Court of Appeal in London has thankfully rejected applications for leave to appeal from the 3 County Louth psychopaths. Yep, these men who want to dictate the future of Northern Ireland aren't even from this country – although that seems to be the norm for the "Real" IRA.

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I'm off to Newcastle (Co. Down) for a day or two, so don't expect any more posts until Saturday evening or Sunday. Hope the weather's good and everyone can get out and enjoy the sunshine. See yous all soon!

As a kid I enjoyed building a bonfire on a few years. I imagine I would have been around 14 at the time although I can't remember exactly. It was good fun and gave us something to do in the early part of the summer. That said, the years our estate had a bonfire, it didn't see anything as revolting as masked gunmen firing live ammunition as happens at some.

Let me be frank - I don't give a fuck what the bitchy childish wastes of space in the UVF and LVF do to each other, in fact if they all killed each other I'd be quite happy to be rid of the scumbags that live like parasites on the backs of their communities.

Belfast City Council are talking about helping out with bonfires and associated celebrations next year in an attempt to bring some order to the chaos that comes with the festivities at the minute. They plan to run a pilot scheme totalling £50,000 of expenditure in order to bring the bonfires under control. The maximum for any site would be £2,500, some of which the council say would have been spent anyway on fencing etc.

Roundabout at Tate's Avenue, Belfast, the day after a bonfire a few hundred yards away. This is right outside people's homes.

This is a step which I cautiously welcome, like the St Patrick's day parade there is an obvious problem which the council seem to want to sort out. The problem is the amount of mess it creates on the streets. Last year's bonfire in the Village left a disgusting charred mess that wasn't cleared up until some private developers moved in to built apartments on the site. This years was down at the Boucher Road near Linfield's Midgely Park training pitches and Olympia Leisure Centre, but there's still an unsightly mess. Even the roundabout at Tate's Avenue, was trashed and left looking a right state and barely passable. The council want to sort out the mess left around the sites (presumably before and after the bonfire) as well as other issues like the burning of tyres, flying of paramilitary flags etc.

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"Gerry Adams talked this morning about good manners and neighbourliness, and said he defended our right to parade. Those who, in the name of a united Ireland of equals, plant bombs and stop a small group of elderly men from driving to church to lay a wreath have no manners, and want only to terrorise their neighbours.

Thankfully, their actions didn't ruin a fantastic day of celebration enjoyed by tens of thousands of people right across Northern Ireland."

Orange Order Grand Master Robert Salters

Says it all really. Personally I think it was quite restrained given that he was referring to a bomb planted in Moira by republicans with the intention of murdering hundreds of innocent men and women.