09/04/2014 BBC Newsline


09/04/2014

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Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. The PSNI say they're to

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reinvestigate gun-running from Florida by the Provisional IRA. It

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follows last night's BBC Spotlight programme, which claimed a senior

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member of Sinn Fein was involved in buying and smuggling weapons from

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the United States. Sean Murray denies the allegations. The police

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tonight said the reinvestigation will include existing evidence

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together with any potential new evidence. Gareth Gordon reports. The

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man on the right is Sean Murray. Months ago he had a ringside seat as

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a Sinn Fein negotiator. On last night's programme he was named as

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the brains behind a Florida gun-running operation in which this

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man, Mike Logan, admitted posting around 200 weapons to the

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organisation between 1995 and 1999. One of these weapons, it is alleged,

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was used to murder two police community officers in 1997, five

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weeks before the second IRA cease-fire. It was also alleged that

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authorities on both sides sought to distance the IRA and Sean Murray

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from the operation in order to protect the peace process. They knew

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that it was run by Sean Murray and was sanctioned at the highest levels

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by the IRA. I did not talk to them until 2003. The question is how much

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of this matters. According to unionists, it does quite a lot and

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they want to see if anything can be done. I don't think it's surprising

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that a member of Sinn Fein would be involved in criminality such as this

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and what we now have is someone coming forward, telling us in quite

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minute detail what was going on. So we want to know, what are the

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authorities going to do about that? After the On the Runs, we said, if

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there is more, get it out in the open now. It is a shame we had to

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hear it from the BBC but if there is more, and I've no reason to doubt

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there isn't, let's get it out. We have to move on and we have to deal

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with these issues. Sean Murray says he has never been arrested, detained

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or interviewed about the allegations, adding that the PSNI

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would have acted had there been any evidence. A Newry businessman has

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walked free from court, despite pleading guilty to a multi-million

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pound money-laundering operation. Rory Trainer, who ran a Bureau de

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Change on the old Dublin Road in Newry, admitted converting the

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proceeds of crime for several criminal gangs, primarily drug

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dealers. Gordon Adair has more. Bundle after bundle after bundle of

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?20 notes. In two raids on the Hoban Euroleague, Revenue and Customs

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officers recovered ?150,000 in cash and about half was on this floor

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safe and the other in this beer cooler and this, they believe, is

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just the tip of the iceberg. This unassuming office housed his Bureau

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De Change business. Perched on the side of the old road between he runs

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nearly and Dublin. It barely warranted a glance from passing

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motorists. Yet in 2.5 years, Rory Trainer managed to squeeze ?63

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million into this business. Much of that the proceeds of crime. It is

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representative of the amount of money that exists in the black and

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grey economy in Northern Ireland and it is indicative of the amount of

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money to be made from drugs and of course the facility that he ran was

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in anonymity in transferring money. Look at this man waiting in a West

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Belfast curb Ashton Agar car park. This is Kieran Parker. In 2009 he

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was caught near Belfast's IKEA store with cannabis worth ?700,000 and

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?5,000 in cash hidden under the spare wheel of his car. Here he is

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waiting for Rory Trainer, who eventually arrives and handsome a

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bag of cash. Transactions like this were commonplace and happened in car

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parks across the country. Rory Trainer was made the subject of a

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serious crime prevention order and in an unusual move, the judge

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decided to be first sentencing for a full year to see if he would comply

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with the conditions contained within that order. The leading prosecution

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authority is Revenue and Customs and from then there has been no

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response. It seems clear that anyone close to this investigation, which

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has been long, difficult and expensive, will be disappointed

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there was no immediate custodial sentence. Police investigating the

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death of a baby last month in Belfast have started a murder

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inquiry. The baby was critically injured in an incident at a house in

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the east of the city. It's understood the child's mother was

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arrested at the time under the Mental Health Act. The Irish

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President, Michael D Higgins, has finished the second day of

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engagements on his State visit to Britain. Today, the focus was on the

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contribution of Irish people to life in the UK, as Chris Page reports.

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The sumptuous splendour of the State visit continued this evening.

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President Higgins was guest of honour at a banquet in Guildhall -

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the ceremonial centre of the City of London. The President also had his

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lunch in a famous setting - Downing Street. This was the first formal

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meeting between an Irish head of state and a British Prime Minister

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on English soil. An extremely warm welcome to the President. Welcome to

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Downing Street. It is remarkable how Anglo Irish relations have not only

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been transformed but I see them on an ever increasing gradient. But the

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main purpose of today was highlighting how people from Ireland

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contribute to everyday British life. At University College Hospital,

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President Higgins met Irish doctors and nurses. Some took the chance to

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have a conversation in Irish. And at the Royal Society, the President

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chatted to young scientists. He said it was important that academics from

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the UK and Ireland worked together. It would be so valuable and it is

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valuable to see these national dialogue is expanding and maturing

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alongside the strengthening of scientific cooperation between our

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countries and people. Tomorrow, the main events will be a Northern

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Ireland-themed reception with the Queen at Windsor Castle and a

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cultural evening at the Royal Albert Hall. HBO, the makers of hit

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television series Game of Thrones, has announced it has commissioned a

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fifth and sixth series to be filmed mainly in Northern Ireland. The

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First Minister, Peter Robinson, says it'll be worth more than ?20 million

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to the local economy. Rory McIlroy has warmed up today for the start of

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golf's US Masters by playing in the traditional Par three competition at

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Augusta. His fiancee, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, donned the

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famous white overalls to caddy and before they teed off they reflected

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on their recent engagement. Rory did very well! How could I say no? Can

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we get a closer look? Sure. Big surprise? It was, yes! I need to

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play well at the end of the year! Yes! How are the wedding plans? Yes,

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we are working on it. Here's Angie Philips with the weather.

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After a decent evening things will change overnight and we have a

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weather system approaching from the north-west so that will bring

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thickening cloud and eventually it will bring spells of rain,

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particularly across northern and western areas. Not particularly

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heavy but it could be persistent and the breeze eases and it is another

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fairly mild night with temperatures no law than six degrees. Tomorrow,

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things will cheer up but it will be a very slow start with lots of

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cloud, dampen places, particularly across central areas and that rain

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sliding across the south and east. It could be late morning before it

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finally clears out of the way and we get something brighter. In the

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meantime, that band of rain is increasingly patchy and moves into

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the Republic of Ireland and parts of northern England. Aside from that,

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it is mainly dry and we will get brightness coming through and it

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will feel quite warm. To the north of that, it also brightens up with

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sunshine for the second half of the day. Still some sharp showers over

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Scotland and some might be quite thundery. It is a bright afternoon

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for all of us in Northern Ireland, if you showers around but not all

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parts will catch them and many places staying dry for the

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afternoon. Temperatures at around 11 degrees the wind is very light. Into

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Friday, it starts chilly but a fine day with sunshine, damp to begin

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with and Saturday but the rest of the weekend looks dry. That's it for

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now. You can keep up-to-date online and follow this programme on

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Facebook and Twitter. Goodnight.

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