| UVF to cease paramilitary and criminal
activities THE UVF has announced that it is to cease all paramilitary
and criminal activities.
A statement by the Loyalist terror group’s leadership said it now
intended to assume a non-military, civilianised role in the North of Ireland.
It also said that its weapons had been put beyond use.
Gusty Spence, one of the UVF’s founding members, said: “We
have taken the measures in an earnest attempt to augment the return of
accountable democracy to the people of Northern Ireland and, as such,
to engender confidence that the constitutional question has now been firmly
settled.”
The Irish and British governments welcomed the decision. Northern secretary
Peter Hain said that the decision was further proof that the North was
“moving into a new and positive era”.
GReen solutions
IRISH Green Party leader Trevor Sargent has insisted there are solutions
to the problems of climate change but they must be implemented immediately.
While awaiting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report
on reducing carbon emissions Deputy Sargent said: “If we are serious
about reducing our greenhouse gas emissions then there is no shortage
of opportunities to do so.
“We have the solutions. All that is lacking is political will.
“There are thousands of changes which can be made once we start
planning for a new low-carbon future. People can do their own bit at home.
“Such solutions will also help the economy by cutting back on our
ever-increasing energy bill and by promoting businesses that can provide
the new green products that the world now wants.”
harris statue
A MONUMENT to the late actor Richard Harris is set to be erected as a
symbol of peace.
The statue is being designed to help his native Co. Limerick break away
from images of feuding gangs and violence.
The commemoration piece depicts Harris in four of his prime movie roles:
Camelot (1967), This Sporting Life (1963), The Field (1990) and Gladiator
(2000).
And the figure displays the notorious actor holding aloft a reversed sword.
Councillor Pat Kennedy, who was a friend of Harris, said: “The main
feature of the statue will show Harris playing King Arthur in Camelot.
His three other roles will be empanelled around this.
“The reversed sword symbolizes the fact he is waging peace not war.”
The sculpture — which will be located in Bedford Row —will
also include an extract from a poem Harris penned in 1972, entitled: There
Are Too Many Saviours On My Cross. |
