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Rev Ian Paisley Sr (centre), then-DUP leader, with his son Ian Paisley Jr and MLA Mervyn Storey, celebrating after the November 2003 election Alamy Stock Photo

DUP accused government of being 'scared of the provos' after IRA abduction

Veteran republican Bobby Tohill was abducted in Belfast in 2004, damaging Sinn Féin’s reputation amid peace process talks.

UNIONISTS WANTED SINN Féin to be excluded from talks being carried out during a review of the Good Friday Agreement in 2004 after the attempted abduction of Bobby Tohill.

Tohill was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and later the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

He was abducted from a bar in Belfast city centre on 20 February 2004 and driven away in a van which was then intercepted by police. He was badly beaten in the incident.

At the time, it was widely suspected that the men who abducted him were IRA members.

Four men were charged but, after being granted bail, went on the run. They were all caught years later and sent to jail, receiving sentences of up to eight years.

Tohill never testified against the men and asked a judge for leniency, saying they were his friends. Earlier this year, Tohill confirmed he likely only had a few months to live due to his deteriorating health.

In the days and weeks after his attempted abduction – long before the suspects were jailed – the incident was a major talking point in political meetings.

Previously confidential records, which were released this month as part of the State Papers, show that unionists were deeply unhappy with the situation.

‘Serious breach’

On 24 February 2004, Irish and British officials met with several senior members of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) including Ian Paisley Sr, Ian Paisley Jr, Peter Robinson, Nigel Dodds and Jeffrey Donaldson.

At this 40-minute meeting, Paisley Sr said the DUP were greatly concerned by the events four days prior and wanted to know what both governments planned to do about it. 

Then-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Paul Murphy confirmed that the PSNI’s Chief Constable Hugh Orde believed the incident was an IRA operation.

ian-paisley-sr-and-martin-mcguinness Relations between Ian Paisley Sr and Martin McGuinness improved over time (file photo from 2007) Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In May 2003, the Irish and British governments published the Joint Declaration which outlined steps needed to ensure the Good Friday Agreement would lead to lasting peace in the region.

Paragraph 13 states: “We need to see an immediate, full and permanent cessation of all paramilitary activity, including military attacks, training, targeting, intelligence gathering, acquisition or development of arms or weapons, other preparations for terrorist campaigns, punishment beatings and attacks and involvement in riots.”

Unionists viewed the attempted abduction of Tohill as a serious breach of this paragraph.

State Papers / Department of Justice State Papers / Department of Justice / Department of Justice

The DUP wanted Sinn Féin excluded from ongoing talks related to a review of the Good Friday Agreement. However, the record of the meeting notes that the review “was not a formal talks process” so “there was no means of exclusion”.

Both governments had referred the matter to the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC), which was tasked with reporting on the activities of paramilitary groups in the North and operated from 2004 until 2011.

The internal document notes that the DUP delegation “was very dissatisfied with the Governments’ proposed course of action and the rest of the meeting was taken up with various DUP participants criticising the Governments”.

Murphy and Brian Cowen, then-Foreign Affairs Minister, defended their positions. The document continues:

Donaldson, Robinson, Dodds and Paisley Jr. were prominent in these sometimes animated exchanges.

“They argued that there was no role for the Independent Monitoring Commission in the current context. The Chief Constable had already clearly indicated what organisation was responsible.”

Anti-Sinn Féin agenda 

On the same day, 24 February, government officials also met with senior Sinn Féin members including Martin McGuinness.

A record of this meeting notes that McGuinness “began by saying he wished to object in the strongest possible terms at the way in which the PSNI handled the arrests on 20 February in Belfast and the subsequent comments of the Chief Constable over the weekend”.

sinn-feins-leader-gerry-adams-left-and-his-deputy-martin-mcguinness-make-a-statement-outside-londons-no-10-downing-street-monday-nov-29-2004-following-a-meeting-with-the-head-of-the-police-se Gerry Adams, then-Sinn Fein leader, and his deputy Martin McGuinness outside Number 10 Downing Street on 29 November 2004 Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The document adds that McGuinness “made no comment about IRA involvement” in the Tohill abduction.

He claimed the PSNI’s handling of the incident was “clearly part of a political agenda… to attack Sinn Féin”, adding that such “knee-jerk reactions” were very damaging to the party and its role in the peace process.

McGuinness is quoted as saying: “Announcing that the entire process is in a mess is not a good news story.”

He added that Sinn Féin had stated “its total and absolute commitment to exclusively democratic and peaceful means and its opposition to any use or threat of force on 21 October last, and had unequivocally restated its position many times since then”.

‘Inclusivity had run amok’

At a later meeting on 27 April 2004, Paisley Jr said the British and Irish governments had allowed “inclusivity to run amok” and “a window of opportunity would be lost if the Governments continued to play around by not confronting SF/IRA”.

“Paisley (Jr) added that inclusivity had failed; that was why the DUP was now in pole position within unionism. Inclusivity was preventing the process moving ahead without SF,” a document notes. 

Murphy added that, in order to end paramilitarism, the governments needed to talk to all relevant parties.

Minister John O’Donoghue said the IMC report on the matter “was of immense importance”, adding that its “condemnatory tone had placed [Sinn Féin] under huge pressure in the South”.

According to the record of this meeting, Paisley Jr then “interjected to say that a great deal of the response to the IMC response was nauseating hypocrisy”. He is quoted as saying that people in the Republic were “not as sick of the paramilitaries as we are”.

O’Donoghue insisted there was now “an unprecedented widespread acknowledgement of the evil of the IRA and that the republican movement had come under enormous pressure”. He added that the criminal process would deal with those who allegedly were involved in the Tohill abduction.

Paisley Jr accused both governments of being “scared of the Provos”. He claimed that if loyalist paramilitaries had been involved in a similar incident, the governments “would have moved on without the DUP”.

His party “wanted to be part of the deal but the Governments could make that impossible if they insisted that SF must stay in, irrespective of what the republican movement did”, the file notes. 

State Papers reference number: 2024/112/1

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    Mute Dane Tyghe
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:09 PM

    Would be handy to be able to see the whole map.

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    Mute Paul Nolan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:12 PM

    why its all just white, u can google an atlas if u like.

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:55 PM

    @dane, theres a larger map in the linked pdf, in case your on mobile, heres a screen grab http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2013/10/world-2.png

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    Oct 14th 2013, 7:51 PM

    I wanna see North Korea on the map.

    2
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    Mute Jazz O'Gorman
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:47 PM

    If all the African Warlords and Dictators relinquished their wealth, there’d be no poverty in Africa.

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    Mute Susie
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:51 PM

    Yes there would. It’s not just as simple as that.

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    Mute Daniel Dunne
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:30 PM

    Has anyone tried praying?

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:31 PM

    Little Jim.

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    Mute Daniel Dunne
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    Oct 14th 2013, 4:58 PM

    They have been praying for the poor of Africa a long time now… as well as giving aid… seems it is all working a little bit.

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    Mute Daniel Dunne
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    Oct 14th 2013, 5:33 PM

    I completely agree that it’s working, the aid that is not the wishful thinking. Unless by working you mean making people feel better about themselves without actually doing anything.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:21 PM

    China owns most of the minerals in Africa, not the west.

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:13 PM

    Breaker! Breaker! World hunger decreasing. Death from starvation, possible cause.

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    Mute Paul Nolan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:19 PM

    Well the population is actually bigger and there are less people starving. But u keep being ur negative it’s what u enjoy.

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    Mute Paul Nolan
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:20 PM

    Self*

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    Mute Sean Mckevitt
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:34 PM

    This is a.hard read ,
    and it proves everything that is wrong with this world ,on the list of countries Eritrea, nigeria, liberal , serrie leone angola , plus others are mega rich in naturl resources ………….of which nearly all are in the hands of western corporations .
    SICKENING.

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    Mute al shamen
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:45 PM

    Yes it’s all the Wests fault.Nothing to do with embedded corruption,tribal and religious based politics and skyrocketing birthrates.

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    Mute Sean Mckevitt
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:18 PM

    Al , yoir missing the point ,
    most of the corrupt governments are embedded by of backed by westerners with vested interests……..where do you think they get the billions for weapons and rich politicans whilst their peoples starve.
    Look at liberal , 90% of the worlds rubber comes from there with perilli and the like in place , yet liberals unemployment rate is 85%.
    Is it any wonder there is mass civil unrest.

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    Mute al shamen
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:25 PM

    Where the hell is liberal and what in God’s name is perilli?

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    Mute Sean Mckevitt
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    Oct 14th 2013, 4:01 PM

    Should say liberia and pirelli tyres
    Bad case of fat fingers.com

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    Mute al shamen
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    Oct 14th 2013, 4:21 PM

    Fair enough.But it’s a bit more complicated than saying it’s the Wests fault and Pirelli can hardly be blamed for the unemployment rate in Liberia.It’s up to Africans to help themselves.

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:29 PM

    I was eluding to the fact that no reason stated for the drop in stats, Paul.

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    Mute Dane Tyghe
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:50 PM

    maybe you were “eluding” (as you spell it) to some stats but that doesn’t take from the fact that in all my time on the journal Michelle i can only remember you commenting in a negative way. You must thrive on it for some reason.

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:45 PM

    oh right ‘alluding’ Dane. Thanks for correcting my spellcheck. Your own punctuation could use some work. For someone not to use a capital letter, or a comma in a post, and then correct my spelling is hilarious. As for my apparent negativity, my opinions are my own, I don’t need to repeat the comment of the commentator ahead of me, unlike you. Also, I couldn’t give a toss for your opinion. I have never seen or noticed an opinion from you ever on the journal, keep up the stellar work.

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    Mute Kitty Con Carne Burnell
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:12 PM

    I would have liked to see a 1990 map to compare.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:46 PM

    Africa may spring a pleasant surprise. Over the past four decades agricultural yields in Africa hardly budged while they doubled or quadrupled in most of Asia. That is almost entirely down to a dearth of fertiliser and it is beginning to change.
    It may upset some lefties to read that most African countries are now granting land to White farmers who were driven out of Rhodesia and South Africa to boost output and to train indigenous farmers. Africans only use 8 kg/ha of fertiliser while the world average is 93 kg. Far too many NGO’s have stood in the way of giving free fertiliser to African farmers as they push their ‘organic’ beliefs.

    I see great hope for Africa if their home grown despots can be sidetracked.

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    Mute Michelle Rogers
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:23 PM

    From what I have read, Africa is on track for huge increases in drought, famine, disease etc. So I would not like to be living in Africa… they are suffering from our emissions of fossil fuels. Mary Robinson’s Foundation on Climate Justice has lots of interesting research and evidence on this too.

    Climate change will devastate Africa, top UK scientist warns
    Professor Sir Gordon Conway warns continent will face intense droughts, famine, disease and floods
    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/oct/28/africa-climate-change-sir-gordon-conway

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    Mute denisj
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:51 PM

    Morticia – I love how your posts on here are just so wildly unpredictable. I have no idea where you lie on the political spectrum. Anyway, in this case I think you’re over simplifying. Africa is a huge continent with massively different challenges. Similarly the NGO response in Africa includes everything from nutjob Christian and Muslim charities to hard line secular ultra-capitalists. I don’t disbelieve what you’re saying about fertiliser, but realistically it can only be a drop in the ocean. Most of Africa is simply at a geographical disadvantage because it’s got nastier diseases and harsher climates than the rest of the world. Factor in some political instability, a fair helping of corruption – though this isn’t the fix all that many of us would like to think – and you’ve got a very difficult place for anyone to increase agricultural yields. If you’re looking to over simplify though, the better shot would be infrastructure. Africa is shorter on usable roads, railway lines, airports and even trucks then the rest of the world. Most of its ports are not connected to the interior in any useful way.
    The only lefties it should upset to hear that white farmers are being encouraged to train people are the ones who can’t see that most white Africans got a better education and more technical experience during colonialism/apartheid.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 15th 2013, 11:23 AM

    @denisj,goodness I was trying trying to say that solving the problems in Africa would be easy, just that the problem is not entirely hopeless. infrastructure is a priority as is the provision of cheap power and water and this is where Thorium reactors will come into their own[China is well down the road to producing reactors]. The main driver of African revival seems to be China at the moment as the West is tying itself in knots but improvement has started. The ecoloons are forecasting doom and gloom but on the ground the picture is different as the Sahara started to retreat from c1982 onwards.
    I could go on about the use and improvement of some of the 2000 native food plants available in Africa as is underway but will save that for another day.
    My politics ? Definitely not a leftie, more a realist aligned to no particular party or creed after all a spade is a spade.

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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 15th 2013, 11:24 AM

    Not Easy !!

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:25 PM

    *self?

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    Mute Ping Pong
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    Oct 14th 2013, 2:53 PM

    [Face palm]

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    Mute Michelle Mc Loughney
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:52 PM

    (middle finger)

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    Mute Morticia
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    Oct 14th 2013, 3:20 PM

    “Environmental groups that oppose GM crops being used in Africa and Asia are ‘wicked’ and could potentially condemn millions of children to an early death, Owen Paterson has warned.

    Environment Secretary UK.

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    Mute Michelle Rogers
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    Oct 14th 2013, 8:25 PM

    A rebuttal from somebody who actually knows something about the subject, unlike Owen Paterson:

    http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/jun/24/gm-crops-african-farmers

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