Due to huge demand, First Aid Kit are delighted to announce that their show will now be moved to The Mandela Hall, Queen’s University Students’ Union and your super Sunday World has two tickets up or grabs for one lucky reader.

The band recently announced their most ambitious UK and Irish tour to date in September, calling at Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Bristol and Dublin (rounded off with an appearance at the hallowed environs of the Royal Albert Hall on 24 September.) The band also have main stage UK festival dates at Latitude and Green Man Festivals. With tickets to their highly anticipated show at The Empire Music Hall being snapped up, they will now play The Mandela Hall on Wednesday, 17 September.

Added to this they have revealed the sumptuous video for ‘My Silver Lining’ directed by Elliott Sellers and shot at the Paramour Mansion in Los Angeles (home to silent screen star parties back in the 1930’s). Watch here: http://smarturl.it/FAK_MySilverLining

First Aid Kit had this to say of the experience “We wanted to create an intriguing and mysterious world where everything is just slightly off and the mansion slowly comes to life. The idea of things in life changing, even scaring you, but still having to carrying on despite it all is a theme in the song which we wanted to convey in the video. This was the first time working with Elliot Sellers and he really impressed us with his creative ideas and passionate dedication. We are very pleased with the way it turned out!"

  The Swedish duo recently released their third album (their Columbia Records debut) Stay Gold on 9 June 2014 to rapturous critical acclaim

With Stay Gold, First Aid Kit - sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg – have honed their musical skills and blossomed as vivid storytellers in creating an ambitious 10-song collection. It was recorded at ARC studios in Omaha and produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk) and arrangements were by Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, Broken Bells, Rilo Kiley). They say of the recording process, “We took new directions and turns with the arrangements, building them up and creating more dynamics, yet always following where the songs wanted to go.”

Hailing from a southern suburb of Stockholm, Klara and Johanna began composing songs as teenagers in 2007. Their heart-wrenching song ‘Emmylou’ from The Lion’s Roar was chosen by Rolling Stone as a ‘Single of the Year’ in 2012. That year was an astonishing breakthrough that saw worldwide sales of over 250,000 and saw the album gain silver status in the UK with sales of 68K. They have performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, shared the stage with artists including Jack White, Lykke Li, and Bright Eyes, played the main stage at Glastonbury and rounded everything out by winning both the Nordic Music Prize and four Swedish Grammy’s in 2013.

Extra tickets for what promises to be an unforgettable show are on sale now.

HOW TO ENTER

FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE FIRST AID KIT SIMPLY ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

What date will First Aid Kit play in Mandela Hall?

a) Wednesday 17th of September or b) Monday 20th of October

Send your answer to competitions@sundayworld.com along with your name, address and contact number and put FIRST AID KIT in the subject title.

GOOD LUCK :-) 

Scotland's future will be decided on Thursday

Northern Ireland’s geographic and economic isolation within the United Kingdom will be complete should Scotland decide to quit.

In the North both unionist and nationalist parties have largely stayed out of the public debate. First Minister Peter Robinson and party colleagues have expressed a desire for Scotland to remain in the Union, but have stopped short of debating the issues in detail. 

The most dramatic impact of independence will be economic. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has already stated one of his first priorities is to reduce Corporation Tax, something parties have been campaigning for in the North for years.

The current rate is 23 per cent, compared to 12 per cent in the Republic – a significant factor in companies such as Google making Dublin their European HQ.

Then there’s the vexed question of currency. Salmond is clinging to the notion that Scotland will be able to hang on to the pound, with it regulated and controlled by the Bank of England.

The alternative is the euro, leaving travellers from the North having to convert cash should they wish to head either south or east.

Whatever the outcome when the votes are counted by Friday morning, the biggest task for Scotland will be reuniting a divided nation.

Spike: Stephen Cargin says figures are very "concerning"

Northern Ireland's second city has seen a dramatic spike in the number of so-called paramilitary punishment attacks, a senior police officer has warned.

There have been 25 incidents so far this year in Londonderry - a four-fold increase on the same period last year - with dissident republicans being blamed for most.

As well as 13 shootings - the latest of which happened last night - there were also pipe bomb attacks, assaults and incidents of criminal damage by groups meting out their own type of vigilante justice.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) commander in the North West, Chief Superintendent Stephen Cargin said: "These figures are very concerning and tackling these issues is one of my priorities."

In the latest attack, a 17-year-old boy was shot in both legs. He was hit in the left thigh and right calf after two masked men opened fire in a grassy area of Ballymagroarty at about 11pm.

He was taken to hospital by his father and is being treated for non life threatening injuries.

Mr Cargin added: "Last night, the life of a young man from this city was put at risk and his future probably changed for ever by the barbaric actions of a few thugs

"He is receiving the best possible medial treatment, and while his life is not thought to be in danger, there may be longer term consequences."

Brutal punishment attacks - which are often carried out by appointment - were a tactic frequently employed by loyalists and republicans to deal with supposed anti-social behaviour including drug dealing. It was seen as a way to undermine the police and of tightening their grip on deprived communities.

Mr Cargin said: "This is not justice. Justice means that people should be able to account for their actions and openly defend themselves. Justice means that outcomes should be appropriate, and not handed out at the point of a gun by people who dare not show their faces.

"Once again we are going back in time. Many people believed we had moved on.

In the past five months, the PSNI has spent £570,000 deploying additional patrols and resources in a bid to thwart attacks.

Nineteen people have been arrested since February in Derry - but only two have been charged.

Mr Cargin said more information was needed to bring culprits before the courts.

"Police need information. Our appeal is for people to tell us what they know about this attack, and any others - or about the faceless people who carry them out

"The irony is that when we catch the people who carry out such brutal attacks, they will be treated with the proper justice and mercy that they deny their victims," he said.

The Druids performing at Sunday's Ardoyne Fleadh

The PSNI are investigating comments made by a member of Kidare folk band 'The Druids' during their performance in Belfast on Sunday night.

The band, whose hit songs include 'Go on Home British Soldiers', were met with rapturous cheers when the band's lead singer, Mick O'Brien, launched into a rant about 'the British in Ireland'.

The singer was filmed saying that it's about time the British Army and their "Orange comrades" all "f**ked off back to England."

A PSNI spokesperson said: "The PSNI have received a complaint and enquiries are ongoing."

DUP councillor Lee Reynolds called on the festival's sponsors to reject and future funding for the Ardoyne Fleadh.

He said: "This turn of events comes as no surprise whatsoever.

 

"It is up to Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance, and the Lord Mayor, who has previously defended this event, to be made accountable for allowing it to proceed.

 

"I believe this behaviour is justifiable grounds for pulling all public funding for the event and the two sponsors Ladbrokes and Flax Trust should disassociate themselves from it."

SDLP MLA for North Belfast, Alban Maginess, said: "If there was indeed any instance of intolerant speech then that is wrong.

"Many of us are trying to create a city of reconciled citizens at peace with themselves. The SDLP strongly condemn republican and loyalist intolerance.

"It would, however, be incredibly short-sighted to end an entire community festival which encompasses art, sport and political debate based on the actions of one group.

"The SDLP is opposed to bigotry, intolerance and hatred regardless of its source."

Mick O'Brien of The Druids told the Belfast Telegraph that his words were taken out of context.

"That is not what was said at all," he said.

"From a republican point of view there is still occupation of Ireland. Basically what we were saying is that there is still occupation of Ireland. We would like to see that changed and see a 32 county republic.

"We never mentioned the IRA once during our set. There is no doubt a united Ireland will be brought about by peaceful means. The day is coming fast when we will have a united Ireland."

A 54-year-old man has been arrested after a woman was found with head injuries in the County Antrim village of Ballinderry.

The victim was discovered by a member of the public shortly after 5pm on Sunday in the Old Road area.

The man who was arrested at the scene had suffered neck and chest injuries.

Both were taken to hospital where they were treated for their injuries.

The man was later arrested.

He will appear at Lisburn Magistrates Court later today. 

Heroin dealer 'Andre'

Andre (on bicycle) and one of his runners

A massive wave of the deadly drug heroin is sweeping over posh parts of Belfast, the Sunday World can reveal.

Today we expose for the first time full details of a ‘deals on wheels’ and ‘dial-a-drug’ service operating in broad daylight around the leafy lanes of the university area.

Until recently, the sale of heroin – known in the narcotics trade as the ‘dirty drug’ – has been confined largely to run-down estates in the bible-belt towns of Antrim and Ballymena.

But now, as a result of a new drugs supply system recently established around the largely middle class Botanic and Queen’s University areas, access to heroin and cocaine has never been easier.

Unless steps are taken immediately to stamp out the sale of heroin on the streets, then drug dependency in the capital will soon be a major social problem.

This week the Sunday World got up close and personal with ‘Andre’ 5 a 24-year-old Polish-born heroin and cocaine dealer – who recently set up shop in Belfast. 

Andre offers quarter gram bags of heroin or cocaine for sale for £25 and he is currently Belfast’s biggest supplier of heroin and cocaine.

We were told Andre sells only pure heroin which is used by addicts who inject it into their veins through needles. These users are known in the drugs trade as ‘diggers’.

Others burn it on tinfoil and inhale the smoke – commonly known as ‘chasing the dragon’.

 Despite his east European origins, Andre speaks perfect English. And he controls a team of bike-riding couriers – all foreign nationals from Lithuania – who bring dozens of drug dependent heroin addicts to him every day.

A Sunday World investigation this week into Andre’s street-dealing heroin empire revealed he and his cohorts are living in rented apartments around the Donegall Road and Dublin Road areas of south Belfast. And they confine their illegal drug sales to the safer streets of south Belfast.

Their ‘deals of wheels’ service is open for business 12 hours per day, from 10.00am until 10.00pm.

The gang operate at eight different pick points which can change at any moment, depending on police activity in south Belfast.

The Sunday World witnessed Andre and his men dealing outside the following locations:

 

* Botanic Gardens toilets

 

* Centra Shop, Stranmillis

 

* Dublin Road Tesco

 

* Subway, Dublin Road

 

* Ibis Hotel, University Street

 

* Blackstaff Square

 

* Ormeau Park toilets

Andre and his gang use bicycles as their mode of transport and distribution. In fact, bikes are the key to Andre’s success. His men are able to identify each other from a distance by small flashes of green tape wrapped around the supports of the rear wheel.

The bikes also allow the drug gang greater flexibility when trying to evade the prying eyes of the police. Andre’s men are all extremely security conscious and they rarely move to deal drugs unless they are certain the coast is clear.

Despite this, the Sunday World was still able to sleep-walk the heroin-dealing gang into a perfect sunny afternoon sting operation – and they didn’t even know it happened.

And we were on top of them also when they sold our operatives – one of them a young teenager – a bag of highly addictive heroin for £25. 

A quick phone call to a previously supplied mobile phone number was all it took to get things moving.

We photographed one heroin deal as it took place on a shady pathway in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens, while another went down at the rear of a church, a little more than a stone’s throw from the main Queen’s University building.

After making our initial call, a ‘runner’ working for ‘Andre’ arranged to meet our man near public toilets in the middle of Botanic Gardens. And with a slight nod the runner – who spoke only a smattering of English – ‘scouted’ our man in the direction Queen’s University Sports Centre, where ‘Andre’ was waiting to sell him drugs.

“White or brown?” asked Andre, as he quickly counted the £25 our man had just handed him.

“Brown,” he answered, indicating that he wished to purchase heroin and not cocaine. From inside his mouth Andre produced a small clingfilm-wrapped bag of brown powder and disappeared on his bike without another word.

 This all happened in full view of pensioners and young families strolling through Botanic Gardens on their way to the nearby Ulster Museum.

 

And we were back out early the following morning in time to snatch a close up shot of ‘Andre’ and his heroin and cocaine gang as they prepared to begin another busy day dealing the ‘dirty drug’.

 

This time Andre based himself under a tree in Hamilton Street in the Markets area while his bike-riding runners brought a steady flow of heroin buyers to him from nearby Blackstaff Square. 

Suddenly and without warning, Andre and the gang were gone. The presence of police in the area may have spooked them.

But after a quick call to set up another deal a short time 

later, we were give instructions to wait on University Street opposite the Ibis Hotel and a short walk from Botanic Avenue. 

Within five minutes, one of Andre’s runners appeared on his bike outside Fitzroy Presbyterian Church on the opposite side of the street. He beckoned our man to follow him down a street which runs along the side of the large sandstone church.

 In a laneway to the rear of the property Andre was waiting.

“Brown,” our man told him. And once again Andre produced a bag of clingfilm-wrapped heroin from the inside his mouth.

It is estimated ‘Andre’ rakes in around 20 grand a week from this lucrative money-spinning operation.

We later learned that Andre’s main base, and the place where he keeps his heroin and cocaine stashes, is a brick-built terrace house on Donegall Road in the staunchly loyalist Village area of south Belfast.

It is to this property he returns on his bike several times a day to pick up fresh supplies of heroin and cocaine.

This system ensures he will never caught in possession of large amounts of either heroin or cocaine.

In the course of our investigation, we learned too that Andre has mastered the technique of holding 20 quarter gram bags of heroin and cocaine in his mouth and yet he is still able to speak. 

He starts off his day with 15 bags of heroin and five bags of cocaine hidden in his mouth. To the untrained eye it appears as though his mouth is empty. But the truth is he is able to secrete £500 worth of drugs in his mouth at any one time.

He recently came a cropper though when he was detained by police on suspicion of possession of drugs. However, the Godfather successfully managed to swallow the entire stash before the police had time to look inside his mouth. He later passed the drugs through his digestive system and recovered them for future resale.

In the past week the drugs Godfather has been physically attacked twice by local men anxious to stamp out heroin dealing on their doorstep. But within 20 minutes of each attack, he was back on the streets again dealing heroin.

Community leaders on both sides of the religious divide have combined forces in recent weeks in an effort to stampt out heroin dealing. Activists in Donegall Pass have swopped information and photographs of some of those involved in the heroin trade.

The Sunday World also learned that around two thirds of Andre’s heroin-buying customers travel from west Belfast to pick supplies in the south side of the city.

Martin Havern

A convicted death driver with 35 previous motoring offences has told Newry magistrates that his latest hit and run incident “was out of character”.

Martin Havern has been out of prison for just four months after serving a jail term for killing his friend in a car crash.

His defence was given short shrift by District Judge Eamonn King who reacted by reading out the 44-year-old’s litany of driving offences dating back to 1992.

The defendant with an address of The Ferns, Hilltown pleaded guilty to a new catalogue of charges including indecent behaviour, dangerous driving, driving while unfit, failing to report an accident, failing to stay at the scene and having no insurance on July 27.

In May of 2012, the Newry driver was sentenced to three years jail at Dundalk Circuit Court for dangerous driving causing the death of his lifelong friend, 33-year-old Thomas Price in July 2007. 

Havern was said to have been driving so fast in an illegally taken Mitsubishi Shogun that he crashed near Omeath while trying to take a corner.

The Dundalk court heard Havern had taken another friend’s SUV without permission earlier that day. 

A crash witness told the Garda Síochána how he saw the speeding 4x4 try to take the corner at the former Davey’s pub. The car hit a road sign and somersaulted a number of times before it landed on the road.

 

Mr Price, a father-of-one, was thrown from the SUV and Havern climbed out of it, telling the witness to ring an ambulance but “not the f**king Guards”. 

 

Mr Price was taken to Daisy Hill hospital, but passed away a few hours later. 

Other witnesses said Havern initially denied being the driver and spent a number of minutes on a mobile phone. 

He then got into a car that was in a tailback because of the crash, and which drove the short distance across the border.

The court heard Havern had not made himself available to gardai investigating the crash. At the time of the crash he was out on bail for a ‘serious offence’ that was being investigated by the PSNI.

Judge Michael O’Shea, sentenced Havern to three years dating back to March 2011. 

Last week the convicted death driver was held to account for striking a white Transit van while driving a luxury Lexus vehicle just four months since the end of his imposed jail term for killing his friend. 

Prosecution told the Newry court that the PSNI attended the scene of a hit and run in the city at 3.55pm. 

The injured party said that the Lexus driver had sped off from the accident. 

Officers recorded from witness statements details of the Lexus driver slamming on brakes before reversing 10 yards into the Transit van and driving off. 

The court was told that a short time later the police observed Havern parked on the side of the Forthill Road, standing outside of the car urinating. 

Police detected a strong smell of alcohol, glazed eyes and slurred speech from the accused who was also unsteady on his feet. He was cautioned and arrested.

An interview was carried out the next morning at 9 am when “the defendant was sober”. He admitted to driving his wife’s car but had little memory of events due to his alcohol intake. 

Admitting to the offences to police, an apologetic Havern was said to reply to the accusations “of course I am (admitting the offences) no messing about here”.

Mr King ordered a pre-sentence report for October 15 into Havern as “he is now on the cusp of a prison sentence”.

Edwin Poots says Peter Robinson will be gone in "months"

The DUP is in disarray.

For the DUP’s Sammy Wilson has been left red-faced after the Sunday World reported on plans by senior DUP members to remove Peter Robinson as First Minister.

Now former Health Minister Edwin Poots has said on live radio that the First Minister will be gone within 'months'.

The latest DUP spat has emerged after a dramatic reshuffle by the First Minister, in what appears to be a bid to crack down on any schemes to rid him from the party.

In July, DUP MP and MLA Wilson debunked our report as “nonsense”.

He took to the DUP’s website, writing: "The story in the Sunday World is nothing but ill-informed tabloid nonsense. Far from Peter Robinson being a lame duck he is giving leadership to the entire unionist community.

 “Over the last six weeks Peter has worked tirelessly with other unionist parties, the Orange Order and community leaders to ensure we had a successful and peaceful twelfth."

But this week, senior DUP man Poots admitted on the BBC’s Nolan Show that our reports were, in fact, TRUE.

 The dramatic twist came less than 24 hours after a rapid reshuffle which saw Poots replaced by Jim Wells as the new health minister and Nelson McCausland replaced as minister for social development by Mervyn Storey on Wednesday evening.

 Robinson took to Twitter to make the announcement of the re-shuffle, followed by another party U-turn on Wednesday morning, after the Nolan Show, when he tried to dismiss the former health minister's words. 

 Under pressure, he again took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to make this statement: “Neither now, nor before the Assembly election, have I any plans to stand down and the public and the media can be confident that when I decide such a moment has arrived I will be the one to make the announcement.

"I repeat the comments I have previously made that I will continue to lead as long as the party and the electorate in East Belfast wish me to do so."

On Wednesday morning, after being sacked from his role as health minister, Poots  spoke on the Nolan Show saying that the First Minister’s plans to quit as FM were public knowledge.

 

 He said: “I already knew that it wasn't the intention that Peter would stay on... that's public knowledge."

 

 Poots also said, in terms of Robinson’s resignation, that the First Minister had “referred to months, and months is generally taken as less than a year."

After Robinsons statement on his resignation, Poots took to Twitter to say: "Thankfully the service in the Northern Trust improved dramatically in my tenure. I wonder what the catalyst for progress was."

Back in July we reported that veteran DUP members were plotting to oust Robinson in a matter of months.

Following our reports, DUP propagandists went into overdrive in order to rubbish our reports.

Now, over half way through September, the cracks are starting to show.

Josie McCallion and Patricia O'Brien

Mairead McCallion

The sister of suspected murder victim Mairead McCallion has slammed the PPS for dropping charges against a man accused of killing her.

Patricia O’Brien said evidence against Noel Knox should have been put before a jury and she accused the Public Prosecution Service of “slapping them in the face”.

On Tuesday at Omagh Magistrates Court the Public Prosecution Service withdrew a murder charge against 50-year-old Knox. 

He was due to stand trial for murdering his partner Mairéad in February this year. 

Ms McCallion’s sister Patricia O’Brien said justice had not been done. 

“We do not believe that the decision of the Public Prosecution Service was correct,” Ms O’Brien said. 

 

“We believe the evidence should have been put to trial. Mairéad did not die of natural causes. She did not fall and bang her head. We’d have liked this to go to trial so the full circumstances and story could be established.

 

“As a family, we need to know how Mairéad met her death. There are still questions to be answered. We want to find out what happened. The full story and circumstances would have come out in a trial.” 

Patricia is further distressed because she believes that some witnesses could have co-operated better with the investigation. 

In court, the lawyer from the Public Prosecution Service said the charges were being dropped because of a report from a neuro-pathologist. 

This queried the nature of the injuries. “We don’t know if we can overturn an expert pathology report,” Ms O’Brien said. 

Ms O’Brien said she and the family feel very upset at a statement which Knox issued through his solicitor. 

Knox said that the withdrawal of charges “totally exonerated” him. 

She pointed out that the charges were withdrawn because the Public Prosecution Service did not believe, on the basis of the pathology report, that there was a realistic possibility of conviction if the case went to trial. 

The family is seeking to meet with the Public Prosecution Service. “We don’t know if this will be sufficient,” Ms O’Brien said. 

She believes there were earlier shortcomings by the Public Prosecution Service in respect of how it handled incidents in her sister’s life. 

Had these been handled better, she believes her sister would not be dead. “More needs to be done to protect vul

nerable women like her,” she said. 

The events in Tuesday’s court have left the family distraught. 

“We hadn’t properly grieved for Mairéad because of this trial,” Ms O’Brien said. 

 

“Families hold on and hold on until they get closure, they get justice. This was a slap in the face. We’re back to not sleeping. It’s having that effect on us. The frustration is eating us. 

 

“It’s one thing losing a family member, but losing a family member in the circumstances we lost Mairéad, it’s just not right.

 

“The doctors said her injuries were catastrophic, devastating. In fact, one doctor told us it was the equivalent of being in a motorbike crash.”

She said it was particularly bad for her father. “He’s an older generation that believes justice would be done,” she said. “He can’t understand why. It doesn’t make sense. He’s struggling with that.”

In this black time, the McCallions are heartened by the support they have received from neighbours and from organisations.

The whole family were all very fond of Mairéad, left. She was the second-youngest of eight. 

Ms O’Brien described her as “funny, witty, kind, caring, very, very intelligent.” 

The family know also she was vulnerable. At school, she had been a straight A student. 

Her favourite subjects were Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. She had attended Stirling University in Scotland, but left during her first year because she was homesick. 

Back home, she qualified as an accounting technician. Unfortunately, she developed problems in her life and had not been able to work for some years.

“Mairéad’s story should have been heard,” Ms O’Brien said. “It would have been in the public interest.”

To that end, the family have already met several politicians. They are seeking a meeting with Justice Minister David Ford. 

“There is something very wrong with the justice system when something like this happens,” Ms O’Brien said. “Our justice system sucks, and needs to change. No family should have to go through this.

“We will do whatever we have to do, we will go wherever we will have to go, we will make noises where noises have to be made.”

Fifty-year old Knox, of Knockshee Park, Omagh, left the court without speaking after the charges were dropped. He later issued a statement through his solicitor, Conor Sally. 

He expressed “sincere condolences at the tragic death of Mairéad.” He also expressed “delight and relief” at the court’s decision. 

Mr Sally said, “suspicion and innuendo has tarnished my client’s good name.” Knox “co-operated completely with every aspect of the police investigation surrounding Mairéad’s death.” 

“The accumulation of this process has been the complete exoneration of my client [Knox], consistent with the position my client has asserted from the outset of this matter,” the statement said.

A police forensic officer gathers evidence at the scene of the stabbing

A lorry driver has been stabbed in the neck in West Belfast.

The man in his 60s was delivering concrete to a premises early on Wednesday morning when he was stabbed in the neck.

The incident happened at around 6.40am on Wednesday morning in the Springfield Road area.

A 24-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.

A local man told the press he was woken by the victim's cries.

Liam McAuley said: "I was sleeping and I heard a man shouting for help.

"By the time I got down the stairs the driver had already made his away across the street to the top of Lanark Way.

"I think people were already there giving him help.

"It could have been anyone. He was a man out earning a day's living.

"My mother and father, my granny, she's been here an awful long time and this is the first time I've ever heard of anyone being attacked and stabbed."

The police have asked anyone with any information to contact them.  

Eamon Collins

Police have arrested a man in connection with the death of IRA man Eamon Collins 15 years ago.

Collins specialised in collecting information on police officers, security services and RUC officers for the IRA.

He was found dead in Newry in 1999 having been run over by a car, stabbed and beaten to death.

A 42-year-old man was arrested in Newry this morning in connection with the the murder.

Before he died, Collins wrote a book called Killing Rage, in which he described life inside the IRA.

He also turned supergrass on the organisation after being arrested in 1985,  famously giving evidence against Thomas 'Slab' Murphy in court.

The PSNI have previously stated that they have DNA from the scene of the murder. 

"I would ask those with information about Mr Collins' murder, particularly those in the Barcroft estate, to think again about the awfulness of what happened and about the Collins family," said Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery.

"It is never too late to come forward."

While in the organisation, Mr Collins collected information on police officers and Royal Ulster Constabulary special branch members and set up assassinations over a six-year period.

He was arrested in 1985 and charged with 50 terrorist offences including five murders and membership of the IRA.

But he turned supergrass after his arrest, and said he was prepared to give evidence against former colleagues.

Many suspects were arrested but most were released, after Mr Collins changed his mind.

A judge dismissed his alleged confessions and he was freed.

He later wrote a book, Killing Rage, which was highly critical of the IRA.

In January of this year, police said they had DNA obtained from the murder scene.

A 21-year-old man has been arrested after a 19-year-old woman was found dead in Derry.

The woman's body was discovered this morning in the Cromore Gardens area of Derry at around 2am.

The police are currently investigating the scene.

SDLP MLA Pat Ramsay said: "I want to pass on my sincere condolences to the family of this young woman who will be understandably devastated at the sudden loss of a loved one.

"I understand that a 21-year-old man has been arrested following the discovery and would encourage anyone who may have an information related to the death to co-operate fully with the police as they seek to determine the circumstances."

Jim Prior in 1981

A former Northern Ireland secretary of state has sensationally claimed that IRA violence "worked".

His stunning remarks come in an interview for a BBC documentary called  Who Won the War, which will be broadcast on Monday night.

In it, Lord Prior says that PM Margaret Thatcher never understood what the problem was in Northern Ireland.

He states: "Violence probably does work, it may not work quickly and may not be seen to work quickly, but in the long run, one has to look back and say it did work."

Lord Prior went on to say that he think the British government didn't win against IRA terrorism.

He said:"There was a deeper side to it as well as a terrorist side.

"I know we did not win it but I am not certain the other side won it.

"As time went on it became possible for both sides to get into a position where it was easier to make peace than make war."

The device that was found at Keady Orange Hall

A crude device has exploded outside an Orange Hall in south Armagh.

The device, a saucepan filled with an explosive material, was found on Friday night.

A shutter to the hall was damaged when the device partially exploded.

The PSNI have confirmed they are investigating reports of an explosion at the hall.

Edward Stenson, Grand Master of the Orange Order, said: "The moronic actions of those behind the bomb attack at Carnagh Orange hall must be universally condemned."

He added: "Orangeism will not be intimidated." 

Cathal Boylan, Sinn Fein MLA, said: "Those responsible have absolutely nothing to offer society and need to call an immediate halt to their actions."

Heroin dealer 'Andre'

Furious residents drove heroin biker Andre off the streets after he was unmasked by the Sunday World last week.

It had been business as usual for the Polish national, peddling the deadly drug in view full of Sunday morning churchgoers last weekend – hours after his drug dealing operation was exposed.

Last week we snapped the 24-year-old doing business on the leafy avenues of the Botanic Gardens area of south Belfast. By the weekend the mountain biking dealer had moved to the Ormeau Road.

But on Sunday morning Andre was approached by a number of concerned residents who recognised him from our expose and told him in uncertain terms to leave the district.

He has not been seen in the area since last weekend but his place was instantly taken by other dealers.

Sources in the area told us dealers have been openly dealing drugs in the upmarket North Parade district, close to a children’s playpark and yards from the Ormeau Bowling Green.

Andre and other dealers, including a girl with bright dyed red hair, have been selling heroin in an alley on North Parade, and from a bus-stop at the gates of Cooke Centenary Church.

Rush hour commuters were oblivious to the drug pushers working in broad daylight.

According to our sources they have been a regular sight in recent months with the police seeming powerless to move them on. Members of the gang had been stopped and searched by police following calls of complaint.

No drugs have been recovered and even when one man was found to have been carrying a large sum of money, the police had no reason to detain him.

Andre and his fellow dealers sell quarter gram bags of heroin for £25, arranging to meet customers the deal is done in seconds. He approaches his client, the money and drugs are exchanged and they part.

It is understood the gang is also selling cocaine.

The crime gang continued to deal uninterrupted despite our revelations. While Andre was taken off the streets another man was working his patch this week.

He arrived on motorbike, parking close to the bus-stop outside the church. It is understood he was approached by police who tried to move him but he said his bike had run out of petrol and that he was waiting for a friend.

Witnesses said he did a drug deal shortly after the police left and drove off.

On a separate occasion a lone dealer was picked up in a top of the range Mercedes after selling drugs to another customer.

“Residents are concerned,” a community source told us. “They are alarmed at the amount of drugs on the streets, particularly heroin. Kids have found used needles in the park and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets badly hurt.”

 

He said they are frustrated police have been unable to take dealers off the streets, and he is concerned people may be tempted to take the law into their own hands.

 

“They (dealers) are selling this stuff in broad daylight, they haven’t a care in the world. It’s going to get to the stage when people will take their own action.”

Locals say there has been a sharp increase in the number of house break-ins over the past few months as users hooked on heroin resort to desperate measures to fund their habit.

One user told us he is spending more than £150 a day on the deadly drug.

It was also business as usual again in the Botanic area a quarter of a mile away. This man was posing as a beggar outside the train station but well informed sources told he is a member of the east European drug gang.

He tried to cover his face when approached by the Sunday World.

Many of the pushers are themselves drug users, paid in kind by the crime gang bosses and there is now a growing concern at the dramatic rise in the availability of heroin in Belfast. 

As previously revealed by the Sunday World, Northern Ireland has been targeted by foreign organised crime gangs with at least two outfits fighting for control of the lucrative trade in south Belfast.

Graffiti which appeared last week 

Last week we revealed how UVF chief Eddie ‘Onions’ Rainey ordered two east European drug dealers – including Andre to be beaten up.

This week fresh graffiti appeared on a gable wall off Botanic Avenue warning dealers they face reprisals. It is understood the message came from the UVF which is working in partnership with an organised gang known as The Russians.

For the last 18 months the Russians have taken control of the drugs racket in Belfast, outmuscling the UVF to set up a series of brothels across the south of the city and take a stranglehold on the drugs trade.

It is understood the gang operates at least six brothels but has been busy buying up vacant properties to expand their sex empire.

Women are being trafficked from eastern Europe and pressed into service in the sex industry. They are also being forced to courier drugs first into Dublin and then to Northern Ireland.

It is understood up to a dozen foreign nationals are now based in Belfast overseeing the criminal empire.

Like the Russians the new gang is selling high grade heroin and cocaine for £25 a bag and their emergence will be seen as a major headache for coke fiend Rainey.

There are increasing fears friction between the rival outfits could escalate into violence. 

The Russians are well armed with a substantial cache of guns and grenades and there is a danger the UVF could be caught in the middle of a feud.

Peter Robinson

Willie McCrea and Peter Robinson

Peter Robinson is STILL on the run from rebels within his own Party ranks.

And it’s not just down to this week’s shock sacking of Stormont Health Minister Edwin Poots – one of the main men rumoured to behind a plot to replace under-pressure Peter both as DUP boss and Stormont First MInister.

Two other top DUP men – both loyalists to late the Reverend Ian Paisley – are also alleged to be firmly in the frame for ‘fixing up’ an attempted coup on Robinson. 

They are Lord Maurice Morrow, now Peer of the Realm in the House of Lords at Westminster, and the Rev. Willie McCrea, the Bible-bashing pulpit crooning Free P pastor who is said to have taken the way Ian Paisley was axed as both Party leader and church Moderator both ‘personally and politically’. 

Lord Maurice Morrow

It is still unclear whether either of that couple of political veterans were at the behind closed doors crunch meeting at Stormont where Peter Robinson went head-to-head with Edwin Poots earlier this week. 

But what is clear, and is now a matter of record, is that Robinson sacked Poots from his Health Minister’s portfolio the next day. 

Today, the Sunday World – which originally broke the Robinson rebel coup story way back on July 13 last – not only names the main DUP men allegedly behind the plot to remove Robbo as both Party leader and First Minister at Stormont. 

We reveal that it was a Bakers’ Dozen of disgruntled DUP politicians who cooked up the storm now raging around Robinson. 

Our sources say that no less than THIRTEEN of those gathered for the secret show

down, and who rallied around Poots, also had a poke at Robinson’s leadership. 

The ‘official’ Party line played out immediately to the daily Press was that the rift was over off-the-record plans made between Robinson and Ulster Secretary of State Teresa Villiers to patch together a new peace pact over parades, flags and emblems – and especially the volatile Orange Order stand-off over the Ardoyne flashpoint. 

But way back on July 13 last, the Sunday World ran a front page story revealing an internal DUP plot to oust Peter Robinson both as Party leader and First Minister. 

DUP PR apparatchiks – and Westminster MP Sammy Wilson – tried to spike that story. 

Sammy Wilson even went on the record the next day, issuing a statement through Party headquarters, which stated:

“The story in the Sunday World is nothing but ill-informed tabloid nonsense.”

But after the bust-up and continuing barneys and back-biting which has erupted after the bile and bitterness this week, we now invite Mr Wilson to eat his words issued on July 14 last. 

For we have been proved RIGHT. 

 

And Sammy has been proved WRONG. 

The events of the past week prove that. 

We also said that a hard core of DUP politicians, both at Westminster and back in Belfast at Stormont, were trying to get rid of Robbo. 

Just hours after being axed as a Minister as a consequence, Edwin Poots went on the Nolan Show and said that the Party leader would be standing down within months. 

He said it was ‘general knowledge’ that Mr Robinson would quit ‘within months’.

Little wonder – the Sunday World had put the coup bid, and the consequences of that, in the public domain way back on July 13 last, and in a follow-up story the following week. 

But the fact remains that the DUP dissidents trying to stage a coup d’etat on Robinson – just the same way he and his ‘suits’ in the Party Judassed Ian Paisley before the ‘Big Man’ passed away – have sparked another blistering war of words, blatantly exposing the barbed-wire-in-the-blood bitterness now pulsing through Ulster’s biggest political party. 

Peter Robinson has berated those plotting against him as ‘lemmings’, pillorying them as people ‘puffed up by their own importance’. 

Edwin Poots says Robbo will be on the run within a matter of weeks. 

But the Sunday World can reveal that the DUP hierarchy, who tried to ‘rubbish’ our exclusive stories of a coup bid way back in July last, are in for another shock today. 

For those same sources who told us of a rebellion in the Robinson ranks are now telling us that of the 13 who stormed the barricades to barrack Robinson at that behind closed doors head-to-head earlier this week ‘four or five of them’ are considering defecting to the original rebel in DUP ranks, Jim Allister, who now runs the rival Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party. 

If that happens, and no matter what Sammy Wilson or others loyal to Robinson rant about ‘ill-informed tabloid nonsense’, the Sunday World sources inside the DUP will be proved RIGHT once again.

Two nuns have died in a crash with a PSNI vehicle in Newry.

The accident happened on the Belfast Road on Tuesday morning.

A police spokesperson said: "Police can confirm that two women have died following a two vehicle RTC which occurred on the Belfast Road, Newry, just before 9.25am this morning.

 "One of the vehicles involved is a police vehicle. Three male police officers were in the vehicle at the time. None have sustained serious injuries.

"As is normal procedure, PONI have been informed and will now lead this investigation."

 The Mayor of Newry, Daire Hughes, said: "The thoughts and prayers of the Newry and Mourne community are with the families and friends of those who have sadly lost their lives today.

"We also keep in our prayers all those involved in this incident. This is a tragic reminder of just how vulnerable we all can be when out on our roads."

Marty O'Hagan

George Hamilton

Bill King

Drew King

The north's top cop George Hamilton has pledged that the hunt for the LVF killers of Sunday World journalist Martin O’Hagan is still on, and will continue.

The PSNI Chief Constable was responding to a call for a new probe into Martin’s murder from Ulster Unionist Party boss Mike Nesbitt and from the International Watchdog on Press Freedom, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). 

September 28, marked the 13th anniversary of Martin’s murder as he walked home from the pub close to his Lurgan, Co. Armagh, home in 2001. 

The Sunday World has relentlessly campaigned for the then 51-year-old father-of-three’s killers to be brought to justice.

We have consistently named the two leaders of the LVF drug-dealing gang in this newspaper. 

We do so again today. They are Drew ‘the Piper’ King, who we believe drove the car from which Martin was shot with seven bullets in the back, and his brother Robin ‘Billy’ King, who we believe pulled the trigger on the gun. 

Both brothers – Drew King played the pipes at the funeral of LVF founder Billy ‘King Rat’ Wright – were among five suspects originally charged in connection with the brutal drive-by slaying. But charges against all five were then withdrawn. 

Just a few weeks ago, the leader of the UUP Mike Nesbitt joined the Sunday World in calling for a fresh police probe into Martin’s murder. 

Yesterday, both the OSCE – which has been involved in monitoring atrocities in Ukraine recently – and the NUJ urged a fresh probe into our reporter’s killing. 

Dunja Mijatovic is the OSCE representative on Freedom of the Media. 

She said: “It is unacceptable that all this time has passed and not one person has been held responsible for what was a public execution." 

The Irish secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley, stated: “The fact that no-one has been convicted of Martin’s murder has emboldened those who seek to intimidate journalists in Northern Ireland on a regular basis.” 

The PSNI has now put it on the record to this newspaper that the investigation into our colleague’s murder is still ‘live’. 

The police have appealed for anyone with information about the infamous murder on this date a long and arduous 13 years ago to come forward.

Clare Finn

A scheming medium is targeting funeral wakes with a £25 pledge to speak to the dead.

Dubbed The Witch, she is preying on grieving relatives with a promise that she can put them in touch with their loved ones from beyond the grave.

Desperate mourners are quick to part with the cash in the hope of one last contact with lost loved ones.

Clare Finn told the Sunday World she handed over £900 in the forlorn hope she could contact her dead boyfriend who she lost to suicide two years ago.

There were also other empty promises to contact a deceased friend who died three years earlier.

The 27-year-old from North Belfast, said she began going to a well-known medium known as The Witch five years ago.

 A tearful Clare told the Sunday World she started using the medium after 17 of her friends across the north and west of the city took their own lives. 

Significanlty, she also revealed the medium who first approached her when she arrived at the wake of a close friend to give out business cards.

The medium told Clare that she could contact her close friend, and later, her deceased boyfriend, from beyond the grave – for £25 a time. 

The Sunday World tried to contact The Witch at her home this week – even speaking with a member of her family, but were unsuccessful in talking to the woman herself.

Clare told us this week: “I was at the wake of a good friend in West Belfast who had been murdered when I first met this woman.

“She approached me and handed me her card and said that I would be able to speak to them in the afterlife.” 

 

She described how the medium would invite her into a darkened room at her home, always ensuring Clare was on her own.

 

“She would surround me with black candles. Everything in the room was dark and black and she would wear a long dark cape,” said Clare.

What started out as a unique experience to Clare and her mates, quickly turned into a ‘nightmare’ when The Witch began tightening her grip on the vulnerable young women.

“Things in the room would start moving and she would speak in ‘tongues’. She said she had the gift to speak to the dead.

“There was a glove that she would hold in her hand and she told me that it was the glove of Padre Pio (a sainted 19th century priest).

“She told me she gets her power from the glove so she can speak to people in the afterlife.”

In order to lure Clare in, the medium and her husband told Clare to stop attending church because it was evil.

“I stopped going to church and just kept paying her because I was desperate.,” she said. 

Two years ago, Clare’s boyfriend, and the father of her two children, took his own life.

Clare explained how the medium twisted her broken heart to glean every penny out of her, preying on the young woman as she pined for her late partner. 

“When the father of my two kids took his own life two years ago I hit rock bottom. The Witch would say that she was speaking to my boyfriend, saying that he wanted to give me a message but the rope was tightening around his neck. 

“She would shake and her husband would bring her a glass of water. 

“Then she would say that I would have to pay her more money for another session in order to find out what he was trying to say to me. I was desperate and lonely.”

The cost of the medium’s ‘sessions’ reached almost £1,000 over the course of the five years Clare visited her. 

Now, having gone back to church, Clare has said that she has turned her back on what she calls “nonsense”.

“This woman takes advantage of the fact that people are vulnerable and in mourning.

“She targets the wakes of victims of suicide as some of those have had trouble with drugs and alcohol, and some of those at the wake are addicted and desperate.”

She added: “Seventeen of my friends and two members of my family have died as a result of suicide, and it’s a huge problem where I live in Ardoyne. My plea others is: ‘Don’t fall into the trap that I did.’

“All of this psychic stuff is nonsense. I’ve gone back to church since where I feel safe and loved.”

If you are affected by any issues in this report you can phone the Samaritans on: 08457 90 90 90

Sue McAllister of the NI Prison Service

Attacks on prison officers in Northern Ireland have doubled in the last three years.

The Prison Officer's Association told UTV News that injuries from the attacks ranged from bruises to broken bones. 

Finlay Spratt of the POA said: "Sick levels have fairly increased over this past number of years and we believe it is all down to the amount of pressures on prison officers because of the lack of staff."

It was also revealed that at the Young Offenders Centre at Hydebank in South Belfast, a prison officer was knocked unconcious before being dragged into a cell.

It was only for the fact another prison officer was able to intervene that the officer wasn't harmed further. 

According to the POA, attacks are now happening at an average rate of one per day.

Up until July of this year alone, there were 248 attacks on officers, compared to 327 for all of last year.

The head of the Prison Service in Northern Ireland, Sue McAllister, told UTV: "What it shows is that we look after some people with some very challenging behaviours.

"Our staff do a very difficult job and they do it very, very well.

 

"Prisons are inherently challenging places. There is always a risk to our staff presented by some of the people that we look after."

Mrs McAllister continued, saying that she was taking the current staffing and overcrowding situation very seriously. 

She said: "We don't tolerate violence against anybody in our prisons - particularly our prison officers who work on the front line on a daily basis.

"What we have been able to do is reduce the amount of overcrowding by opening up new accommodation and reopening unused accommodation so that crowding levels have reduced and that means that our staff are safer."