IRA plc turns from terror into biggest crime gang in Europe

[emad]

Times
By David Lister and Sean O'Neill
The Republicans' crooked business empire rakes in huge amounts



AN ANALYSIS of the IRA’s involvement in criminal activities shows a huge range of operations, from smuggling to money laundering and from robbery to mortgage applications.

The IRA is believed to have perfected the recipe for Smirnoff Red Label vodka, among other spirits, and has a well-developed distribution network for its counterfeit products in pubs and clubs which it controls, particularly in Belfast.

Raids on illegal distilleries, mainly in border areas, have uncovered bottling and capping machinery and high- quality copies of brand labels. Many of the products are designed for use in pub optics.

Police found the seven-stage filtration machinery for deionising water not long after Diageo, the drinks company, had introduced the process at its plants. “They use industrial espionage to copy machinery, recipes and labels and are prepared to be very patient to get things absolutely right,” said a police source.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1499253,00.html

[emad]

1. MI5 given task of boosting intelligence on money-making: Times

MI5 given task of boosting intelligence on money-making
By Sean O'Neill and David Lister

MI5 IS BEING given a key role in the fight against IRA organised crime, the Government announced yesterday.
The move came as it was revealed that the IRA has become one of the largest and richest organised crime gangs in Europe with an estimated annual income of up to £200 million, according to security sources.

Paul Murphy, the Northern Ireland Secretary, said in a Commons written statement that the security service’s international experience would prove valuable in tackling the challenge of organised crime.

During more than ten years of ceasefire the organisation has transformed itself from a ruthless terrorist group into a sophisticated crime syndicate.

It has established links with other criminal gangs in Britain and Eastern Europe and is heavily involved in counterfeiting, smuggling and international money laundering as well as major robberies such as last December’s £26.5 million Northern Bank raid.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-1499284,00.html

[Bridget Burke]

2. It's always inspiring to see folks turn over a new leaf!

Down with the bad old days & welcome to the Celtic Tiger!

[Stella_Artois]

3. Freedom Fighters.

Saving the Irish from the heel of Diageo opression, one bottle at a time.

[emad]

4. London MP defends IRA over bank raid

By Paul Waugh Deputy Political Editor, Evening Standard
25 February 2005

A London Liberal Democrat MP triggered a row today after she claimed that the IRA was "innocent until proven guilty".

Brent East MP Sarah Teather said in an interview that it was "unacceptable" for Ulster's police chief to blame the Provos for the UK's biggest ever bank robbery.

She told the Irish Post that Northern Ireland Chief Constable Hugh Orde was wrong to have made his announcement without any evidence being made public. The Tories said Ms Teather had "taken leave of her senses". Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble said the last thing Northern Ireland needed was "an ill-informed, confused person riding to the rescue of the IRA".
Tony Blair and Irish premier Bertie Ahern have condemned the IRA for staging the ?26million heist - a clear breach of the Good Friday Agreement requiring paramilitaries to end criminal activity.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/londonnews/articles/16871431?source=Evening%20Standard

[Bridget Burke]

5. "innocent until proven guilty"

Crazy talk. She sounds like a terrorist.

[Larkspur]

6. Sarah Teather sounds like the British version of Howard Dean

Tell the truth and find the truth too controversial. She's right, the IRA is being branded without evidence, just like Dean was right to say that Osama bin Laden had a right to trial.

[CoolOnion]

7. Fake News

The fake news we're experiencing in the U.S. today was pioneered by the British--especially with regards to Northern Ireland.

All the "news" we see blaming the IRA for the bank robbery, smuggling, etc. is fake news--British government propaganda, in the form of statements to the press from police, government officials, et al. The IRA was tried in the press with no evidence.

There is so much surveillance in Irish republican communities in Northern Ireland that it would be very difficult for the IRA to get away with anything like the bank heist. It was probably an inside job, to discredit the republican movement in Ireland and the political party Sinn Fein (which is gaining popularity among progressives on both sides of the border in Ireland because of issues Sinn Fein supports, like gay marriage, worker's rights, health care--the sorts of things progressive Democrats in the U.S. are working for).

In the 1970s, there was a similar bank heist blamed on the IRA--turns out, the men arrested were working with British intelligence to undermine Irish republicans. There's a good article on Hearts and Minds by Danny Morrison at this link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/heartsandminds/ifyouaskme/2005_IYAM/20050120.shtml
Hearts and Minds is a good place to get both sides of a story; also Channel 4 news, which helped push for a new inquiry into Bloody Sunday:
http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/01/week_3/21_bsmain.html