IRA warning to hauliers
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by Karen Miles
• Hauliers working for the security forces in Northern Ireland have been told by the IRA to quit their work or become murder targets.
The grim warning follows the death last week of owner-driver Sean McGovern, whom the terrorist organisation claimed was carrying materials for the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army.
In a statement following the shooting, the IRA warned other hauliers working for the security forces that they are also targets.
Sources close to the Northern and Southern Ireland haulage industry fear the consequences if the IRA turns its attentions to the road transport industry. One says: "They've been targeting the construction industry and now it seems to be hotels. Possibly it could be haulage next. It's a volatile situation and getting more volatile everyday" McGovern, 34, was gunned down at his home in Lisburn, County Antrim after he went outside to investigate a Hino tipper mounting his drive. The vehicle, which was carrying the gunmen, had been hijacked from a family at Twinbrook, near Belfast. The family had been held hostage.
McGovern was a Roman Catholic and a father of four. His wife is expecting their fifth child.
According to local sources 30 businessmen have been murdered since 1985 for allegedly handling work for the security services. E A spokesman for the Metropolitan police says the force has received a "good response" from the haulage industry following its appeal for information on the tipper used to hold April's massive City of London bomb. "The supply of the truck has been traced,"says Scotland Yard.