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Parents' anger at Ahern donation | Parents' anger at Ahern donation |
(40 minutes later) | |
The parents of a murdered teenager have written to Bertie Ahern over community funding for loyalists by his office. | The parents of a murdered teenager have written to Bertie Ahern over community funding for loyalists by his office. |
No-one has been convicted of murdering Thomas Devlin, 15, who was stabbed in the back five times as he and two friends walked home on 10 August 2005. | No-one has been convicted of murdering Thomas Devlin, 15, who was stabbed in the back five times as he and two friends walked home on 10 August 2005. |
His mother Penny Holloway said some people in the loyalist Mount Vernon estate were harbouring his killers. | His mother Penny Holloway said some people in the loyalist Mount Vernon estate were harbouring his killers. |
Police have made a fresh appeal for information and intend to launch a new advertising campaign about the murder. | |
Mr Ahern donated £2,700 to help build a memorial on the estate to soldiers from both sides of the Irish border who died in the two world wars. | |
Ms Holloway said: "It is wrong that this money from the taoiseach is being used to give the impression this community has changed. | |
"We wrote to him because we felt the taoiseach was legitimising the actions of some of the people in Mount Vernon, who are hiding, protecting and harbouring Thomas's killers." | |
But loyalist spokesman Billy Hutchinson, who works on the estate, insisted people had co-operated with police in the murder inquiry. | |
He said he rejected any suggestion that local people were withholding information. | |
Sympathy | |
"The Devlins have had a lot of sympathy from this community," he told the Nolan Show. | "The Devlins have had a lot of sympathy from this community," he told the Nolan Show. |
"I assure you it has been worked on - I've met police and they've said they were satisfied they had made a number of enquiries and it was leading nowhere, and they were satisfied that people here did not have information." | "I assure you it has been worked on - I've met police and they've said they were satisfied they had made a number of enquiries and it was leading nowhere, and they were satisfied that people here did not have information." |
Police said forensic examinations of items including dog hair and other physical evidence were being carried out. | |
They said they wanted to encourage what they called a small group of people who know who killed Thomas to come forward. | |