Shrine

Feeling the heat about the Claudy bombing and bad memory?  On the back foot by trying to continue with the fantasy economics that led to a electoral rejection in the Republic?   Simple use the shrine word about the Maze and that'll keep Nolan et al distracted for a few days.

The Civil War Defence

Norman Tebbit has expressed his support for Whitelaw's decision not to allow the police to pursue Father Chesney properly (but at a higher price) and repeating the civil war defence as an excuse.  There seems to be scant evidence to support this claim rather it looks like a rationalisation developed now with a mainland audience in mind - the "It's Northern Ireland what can you do" option.  Other priests were arrested and prosecuted for terrorist involvement without civil war breaking out.  Also in 1972 sectarian tit-for-tat needed nothing to encourage it. It was already in full flow with no shortage of outrages for those seeking to forment civil war to cease upon.

The more likely explanation is the more calculating answer that the new Secretary of State wanted the Church in the position that it owed him a favour.  However, barefaced political calculation as a defence would have made the blowback from the Claudy report even worse.

Pin

The great white hope of the Catholic Church in Ireland Fr Tim Bartlett has publicly intervened in the controversy of the Church's role in the Claudy bombing cover-up.  Why? I can only speculate that as he has tended to be the media guru of the church in the past that perhaps he was the architect of their approach on this issue and as it has run into such trouble he's had to step into the public arena himself.  Maybe it is in his role of trying to defend the organisation no matter how much of a moral morass it finds itself in.

The past approach seemed to be denial.  Bartlett's comments shifted to the tactic of transference and avoidance.  He claims that those criticising the Catholic Church are:

"...dancing on the head of pin"

Dancing around the issues seems to have been more his own Church's approach although too clumsily to have pulled it off on the head of a pin. Then the issue is pushed back towards the state based on a new found concern for the victims of the bombing and actively tells journalists to start looking elsewhere (as if it is a choice):

"Why are journalists not pursuing that for the sake of the families?"

In its defence the state has managed an apology for its actions something that continues to escape the Church.  At least he can console himself with the thought that the main Protestant churches will happily co-operate in helping exclude the Catholic Church from legitimate but hard questioning. 

However, in the longer-term it is an unwise move.  There is speculation of a papal visit to Northern Ireland sometime in the next few years and the Irish Catholic Church's  failure to apologise will most likely result in the issue re-emerging with Pope Benedict XVI asked to offer one instead.  Something that could have been dealt with quickly and simply and been a genuine boon to good relations will come back to dog something bigger.

UPDATE: Turgon offers his perspective on the issues around the Claudy bombing here.

Claudy - what next?

The relatives of the victims of the PIRA's Claudy bomb attack have made it clear they want more than the Ombudsman's report so should it go to an full inquiry?

The Case For:

1. The scope of the Ombudsman's report was limited in what it could investigate:

"...the Office’s statutory powers were limited to the investigation of alleged criminality or misconduct by police officers and not by the Government, Security Agencies or the Catholic Church."

The Ombudsman could not thoroughly investigate the PIRA, Government or the Church about Father James Chesney.

2.  The Ombudsman report was restricted to one event.  It appears highly likely Chesney had more victims than the Claudy bombing.  A police intelligence report states Chesney:

"particularly active officer of the Provisional I.R.A." implicated in "most of the bombings and murders in County Derry"

Relatives yesterday said they were informed Chesney continued in his PIRA activities (1m40secs in) after he was moved.  So there were potentially more victims before and after Claudy that were denied justice.

The Case Against:

1.  The key individuals are dead (as articulated by Owen Patterson).  It is hard to believe that three bombs were made and planted by just Chesney and Man A so possibly others involved are still alive.

2.  Particular incidents receiving higher levels of attention does create a hierarchy of victims (However, this principle has already been breached in Northern Ireland)

3.  Cost - in our chastened times this does have to be a consideration.

4. Denial - The PIRA (and in particular its members) hold much of the needed information.  The organisation continues to deny involvement.  This leaves two options either they change their story as they have done on numerous occasions before or a member breaks their silence (as occurred recently with the discovery of the remains of one of the disappeared, Charlie Armstrong).

Claudy and the Churches

A key focus of the Claudy report has been the Catholic Church with it seriously mishandling its response to the report with more and more denial creeping in as the story goes on.  With Malachi O'Doherty providing his usual thorough analysis of the issues around its behaviour.

However, the response of the Protestant churches should not be overlooked.  No senior represntatives have visited Claudy.  Their press statements have been anondyne and dance around the conclusions of the report - PCI and CoI (Nothing from the Methodists).  If denial and buck-passing has been the media approach of the Catholic Church, avoidance seems to be the press approach of the main Protestant churches.  Too much?  The churches had no difficulty in laying into bankers for their actions a few months ago.  Now, it appears denial of justice (and a refusal to apologise) does not merit the same strong stance.

At face value they seem to be operating a 2010 adaption of Willie Whitelaw's policy.

Wrong day to ask

John O'Dowd tweeted this afternoon that:

"Well done to all Year 10s who passed their GCSE Irish, 13 &14 year olds passing a GCSE many with A & A* where is the BBC & other media now!"

They're here.

Claudy - Compare and Contrast

While the state has been willing at least to say sorry for the events after the Claudy bombing others implicated have not been so forthcoming while the PIRA persists in its denial of being responsible for the murders.  The NIO note (Note pdf file) of the 1972 meeting at which Father James Chesney's activities were discussed states the Cardinal's view of Chesney was that:

"...he was a very bad man and would see what could be done."

The Cardinals' description of the meeting talks of:

"...rather disturbing tete-a-tete at the end about C".

Yet in 2002 when an anonymous letter about Chesney appeared Catholic Church spokespeople dismissed it as:

"...the latest scurrilous attempt to ruin his reputation."

While Bishop Seamus Hegarty said:

"It is a matter of public record that Father Chesney was a priest of good standing in the Diocese of Derry."

Today Bishop Hegarty talked about his shock and shame but responded to criticsm of the Church with this non-question.

"But the real question to be asked is - how is it that the police who had a lot of intelligence and who were well informed of what was going on, how is it that they did not arrest him and question him?"

The question has been asked and answered.  The Police Ombudsman has just produced a 26 page report detailing that Chesney was not arrested because of a deal between the Catholic Church and State.  He also argued that:

"It was not for the Church to pry into what was a criminal matter. We did not have the competence to do so."

Yet according to the Cardinal's statement they did just that:

"As the Ombudsman finds in his statement today the Church was approached by the secretary of state at the instigation of senior members of the RUC.

Father Chesney

Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the secretary of state the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. "

WTF

Wendy Austen has just complained that Al Hutchinson is unavailable for interview on Talkback because he is "locked in" talks with the families of the Claudy bomb victims.  How terrible of him that he puts the victims' relatives first?

For Claudy

On the day more of the truth about the Claudy bomb was revealed.



Hat tip Malachi O'Doherty.