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Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"

Minister accuses Adams of IRA role

Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Monday February 21, 2005
The Guardian

Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness were accused last night of being members of the IRA's ruling army council by the Irish government.

The Irish justice minister, Michael McDowell, named Mr Adams, the Sinn Féin president, and Mr McGuinness, the chief negotiator - who are both MPs - as well as the Sinn Féin member of the Irish parliament for Kerry North, Martin Ferris, as members of the IRA's ruling army council.

There have been suggestions from others that the three men were involved at the top of the IRA, but Mr McDowell is the first to make the direct accusation. He told Dublin's Today FM: "We're talking about a small group of people, including a number of elected representatives, who run the whole [republican] movement."
"We are talking about Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams, Martin Ferris and others."
Mr McGuinness, who served two jail terms for IRA membership in the mid-1970s, said the claim was a politically motivated attempt to criminalise Sinn Féin. But the Irish foreign minister, Dermot Ahern, said: "We're absolutely satisfied that the leadership of Sinn Féin and the IRA are interlinked. They're two sides of the one coin."

The republican movement is reeling from the worst crisis it has faced in years following Irish police raids which netted more than £2.3m linked by officers to a money-laundering ring.

Northern Ireland's chief constable, Hugh Orde, said yesterday the IRA had planted £50,000 in stolen Northern Bank notes in the toilet of a police sports club to divert attention from the investigation into republican money-laundering in the Irish Republic.

The banknotes, in five shrink-wrapped £10,000 bundles, were this weekend the first notes confirmed to have surfaced from the £26.5m stolen from the Northern Bank vaults in Belfast in December, the biggest bank robbery in UK history, which police have blamed on the IRA.

The notes were found in a toilet at Newforge country club in south Belfast, a leisure centre used by police, after a man claiming to be a police officer contacted the police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan.

Mr Orde said: "It's a distraction. It's people trying to take the focus off the key issue which is the operation run by the garda and the major crime inquiry we still have ongoing _ Places like sports clubs have become far more open; it was an easy thing to do _ I'm not particularly impressed by it, but I did ask them to give the money back _ and they have started to listen."

Police in Dublin were yesterday still examining notes from a £2m haul seized last week in the Irish Republic which they believe might contain stolen Northern Bank money.

Sinn Féin has denied that the IRA was involved in the Northern Bank robbery and last night vowed it would "weather the storm".

It faces the possibility of financial sanctions from the government tomorrow.
Mr Adams warned yesterday of a "campaign of vilification" against his party.

accusation- oskarżenie
accuse- oskarżać
attempt- próba
attention- uwaga
bundle- zawiniątko, zwitek
chief- główny
claim- twierdzenie, roszczenie
confirm- potwierdzać
constable- policjant
distraction- odwrócenie (uwagi), odciągnięcie
divert- odwracać
examine- badać
face- stawać twarzą z
focus- ośrodek (np. zainteresowania)
haul- zdobycz
impress- wywierać wrażenie
interlink- łączyć się, być związanym
investigation- śledztwo, dochodzenie
involve- angażować
justice minister- minister sprawiedliwości
key issue- kluczowa sprawa
leadership- dowództwo
leisure centre- centrum rozrywki
membership- członkostwo
money-laundering- pranie brudnych pieniędzy
MP- Member of Parliament; poseł
negotiator- negocjator
net- łapać w sieci, zastawiać pułapkę
ombudsman- rzecznik praw obywatelskich
plant- umieszczać, podkładać
raid- obława
reel- chwiać się; być wstrząśniętym
rule- rządzić
seize- konfiskować, zajmować
serve a jail term- odbywać karę pozbawienia wolności
shrink-wrapped- zwinięte w plastikowe opakowanie kurczące się pod wpływem zmiany temperatury
surface- wypłynąć na powierzchnię
vault- skarbiec
vow- przysięga; przysięgać
weather the storm- przetrwać bezpiecznie sztorm
sanction- sankcja
campaign- kampania
vilification- obelga, pomówienie

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