Australian on Loyalist death list

On Monday last week, November 19, two Australian Security Intelligence 
Organisation (ASIO) officers informed Paddy Gorman, an Australian citizen, 
that he was on a Loyalist hit list in Northern Ireland.

Paddy Gorman is the NSW President of Australian Aid for Ireland and the 
national media officer for the CMFEU Mining and Energy Division. He has a 
high profile in the Republican movement in Australia, and supports the Sinn 
Fein's peace strategy for the resolution of the conflict in Ireland through 
political means.

On Monday he received a phone call from someone who said he was from the 
Attorney General's Department. Paddy could not take the call at the time, 
and obtained a number to return the call later.

When he did return the call, he learnt that he was speaking to an ASIO 
officer who requested a meeting with him to pass on information on behalf 
of the Commonwealth.

They arranged to meet on Tuesday morning at Paddy's office, but shortly 
before the meeting he received a call asking him to meet two ASIO officers 
in a nearby cafe.

After showing their ASIO identification cards they told Mr Gorman that the 
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had informed ASIO that a well known 
loyalist had been found in possession of a list with his name on it.

As Mr Gorman was an Australian citizen, the officers said that the RUC and 
ASIO were concerned that he should be made aware of this situation.

In response to Paddy's questions the officers told him that no other 
Australian was on the list but there were people from other countries apart 
from Australia and Ireland.

The RUC and ASIO are clearly taking the list, generally referred to as a 
death list, seriously.

There are Loyalist murder gangs operating in defiance of the Good Friday 
Peace process.

Labor MLA Paul Lynch, in a statement to the NSW Parliament last Wednesday 
about the loyalist threat, noted that "there is no history of violence in 
Australia by either Republican or Loyalist traditions".

"I believe there is widespread support in both communities for the Good 
Friday Peace agreement", said Mr Lynch.

Mr Gorman's solicitors have written to the RUC seeking further details.

In particular, the letter asks when the RUC first became aware that Paddy 
Gorman's name was on the death list.

They also asked if any person had been arrested or charged in connection 
with the discovery of the list and what personal details regarding Mr 
Gorman were on the list.

As yet they have not yet received a reply to their questions.

Letters sent to Alexander Downer, Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs 
requesting the Minister to pursue these matters have so far also gone 
unanswered.

Speaking to The Guardian Paddy Gorman compared the rapid reaction of 
Downer when an Australian soccer team was abused on its arrival in Uruguay 
with its failure so far to respond to an Australian citizen being on a 
Loyalist paramilitary hit list.

In the case of the soccer team, Downer wasted no time calling in the 
Uruguayan Ambassador.

Mr Gorman has the full support of the CMFEU and has been inundated with 
calls of support from other trade unions and the community.