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Sunday World
6 days ago
- Sunday World
Pill-popping granny turned loyalist terror boss dies in exile
Before she died last March, 75 year-old Muriel Gibson also a suspect in the murder of 61 year-old Sean Brown. An artist's impressiom of the suspect seen in Bellaghy. Portadown native Muriel Gibson - also known as Muriel Landry - passed away in the south of England three months ago, but details only emerged this week. First convicted of drugs offences 55 years ago, Gibson was also dubbed as 'Madame Defarge', after a character in the Charles Dickens novel 'Tale of Two Cities, known for her ruthless and vengeful behaviour. According to former loyalist friends, Gibson was fond of quoting Defarge's famous line justifying violent revenge: 'Vengeance and retribution require a long time; It is the rule.' And this week, loyalist insiders claimed deceased Mid-Ulster terror chiefs Billy Wright and Mark 'Swinger' Fulton, paid Gibson for intelligence on possible murder targets, by providing her with a constant supply of free ecstasy tablets. Muriel Gibson. News in 90 Seconds - 15th June 2025 'Muriel was hooked on ecstasy and alcohol and Billy and Swinger knew that. They had her out targeting people right across mid-Ulster and beyond. She set up people for murder and she was paid in alcohol and e-tabs.' a loyalist told us. Gibson was also a suspect in the murder of 61 year-old Sean Brown, who was abducted from outside Ballaghy GAA club and later shot dead near Randalstown in 1997. The shocking LVF killing, featured on a BBC Spotlight investigation which was broadcast on TV last Tuesday. Spotlight showed a police photofit sketch of a woman with a striking resemblance to Muriel Gibson. She was spotted in the driver's seat of a car parked outside the club, the night before Mr. Brown was murdered. Two men who were also in the vehicle, went to great lengths to make sure their faces were hidden from an eye-witness who was driving out the club gate. And it is believed the same witness, later picked out the woman at a police ID parade, just days after Mr. Brown was murdered. The eyewitness told Spotlight: 'I was the last one going out. Sean was still there to lock up.' he said. 'I just thought it was someone turning at the front of the club. The lady who was driving stared me straight in the face. There was two men and they were hiding their faces.' After Sean Brown's murder, the witness took his information to the RUC and he helped the police compile a photofit of the female driver. And he even picked her out at an ID parade made up of eight women. But no charges were ever brought. An artist's impressiom of the suspect seen in Bellaghy. Before she died last March, 75 year-old Muriel Gibson, was a hugely popular figure among the arty set in Cambourn, Cornwall, where she had settled after her release from prison in Northern Ireland. A talented painter in her own right, her art work was much sought after. As a young woman, Gibson had travelled to America, where she met and married William Landry, a native American. The couple had five children together. And in compliance with native American tradition, all were given exotic names. The girls were called Rain, Talutha and Aisha, while the boys were named, Mahatma and Oddysseus. Muriel Landry, as she became after she was married, was convicted and jailed in the United States for drugs offences. And on her release she came back to Portadown, settling in Brownstown Park, where she first made contact with Billy 'King Rat' Wright. Gibson is pictured here with a small parrot on her shoulder. It is believed to be the last known photograph of her taken shortly before she passed away. And in a Facebook post following her death in March, her daughter Rain Lluvia, invited friends to join the family in a celebration of her mother's life. . It read: 'After the sad passing of Muriel Gibson aka Fanny Adams, aka Paddy, Mum & Nanny. We invite all who knew her, to join us in celebrating her colourful life and enjoy her beautiful art works. Come as you are and raise a toast to an amazing woman.' But there was no mention of how, 20 years ago, - when Muriel Gibson was in her mid 50s - the mum of five was sent down for eight years, after she was convicted on a raft of loyalist terror charges. At the time, the Crown Court in Belfast heard how the former hippie played a central role in Billy 'King Rat' Wright's Loyalist Volunteer Force, following its split with the Ulster Volunteer Force in the mid-90s. In 1998, Gibson was narrowly acquitted of killing council worker Adrian Lamph in Portadown. But she was convicted of destroying crucial evidence and impeding the arrest and prosecution of Adrian's killers. Gibson was also convicted of LVF membership. The granny was handed an eight year sentence. Her co-accused Jim Fulton - who had seized control of the LVF following the deaths of Billy Wright in jail and Mark 'Swinger' Fulton to drugs - was convicted of directing the 1999 murder of Elizabeth O'Neill and a catalogue of 47 other loyalist terror crimes. Fulton was also convicted of possession of the gun which claimed the life of Catholic taxi driver Michael McGoldrick during the Drumcree dispute in 1996. Jailing Fulton for a minimum of 25 years, the judge remarked how he appeared determined to wipe out the entire Catholic population. Granny Muriel Gibson, then 57, had faced 11 charges, including the murder of Mr. Lamph and conspiring to cause explosions in the Republic of Ireland, all of which she denied. And although she was found not guilty of involvement in the Lamph murder, Gibson was found guilty of most other charges, including membership of the LVF. Last night, a former neighbour who knew Muriel Gibson from the time she grew up on Portadown's Brownstown estate, said: 'Muriel was just an ordinary girl. She had an interest in art and she was talented.' She added: 'But it just goes to show what can happen when addiction meets terrorism.'
IOL News
27-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
A City Split in Two: How Cape Town's 2024/5 Budget Betrays Its Poor
Faiez Jacobs explores how Cape Town's 2024/5 budget, while marketed as a record investment, perpetuates spatial and economic apartheid, leaving the city's poorest communities behind. Image: Tracey Adams / IOL This article draws directly from the official City of Cape Town budget document: Annexure 21 – Projects Over R50 Million: 2024/25. A full sector-by-sector analysis covering Housing, Water and Sanitation, Energy, Transport, and Digital Infrastructure including all Top 20 projects in each category. Cape Town's 2024/25 budget is being marketed as a record investment in infrastructure, growth, and future-readiness. Glossy graphics showcase R36.8 billion in capital projects from smart city operations and solar grids to road upgrades and wastewater treatment plants. The DA-led City Council proclaims progress. But beneath this polished façade lies a deeper, more uncomfortable truth: this budget reinforces the city's spatial and economic apartheid, entrenching exclusion while branding it as modernisation. The Myth of Equal Development Across five sectors Housing, Water and Sanitation, Energy, Transport, and Digital Infrastructure a clear pattern emerges. While poor and working-class communities receive rhetorical inclusion and a few tactical investments, the lion's share of funding is absorbed by already well-serviced, wealthier areas. We are not witnessing pro-poor development. We are watching the deepening of a Tale of Two Cities. 1. Human Settlements: Perpetuating Spatial Apartheid Of the Top 20 Housing Projects, valued at R2.55 billion, the city directs funding mostly toward peripheral townships: Blue Downs, Gugulethu, Mfuleni, and Atlantis. On the surface, this seems just. But scratch deeper and a disturbing omission appears: there is no major inner-city social housing project funded over R50 million. Not in Salt River. Not in Woodstock. Not in the Foreshore. This is despite: Court orders compelling the city to act, available well-located public land and a backlog of over 400,000 families on the waiting list. Projects like the Airport Industria housing development remain in limbo, delayed by bureaucratic inertia and political resistance. In contrast, R247 million is earmarked to build mixed-use housing further away from the CBD entrenching commuting costs, congestion, and carbon footprints. Apartheid's logic lives on, not by law, but by land use and budget choices. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ 2. Water and Sanitation: Cape Flats Neglected While Camps Bay Thrives Cape Town faces a sanitation crisis. Raw sewage runs through informal settlements. Toilets overflow in Gugulethu. Khayelitsha's ageing pipelines collapse under strain. Yet the city's R9.25 billion water and sanitation budget prioritises mega-projects that bypass the poorest. Yes, the Cape Flats Wastewater Works upgrade (R1.35 billion) is commendable. So is the Zandvliet expansion. But consider this: the Camps Bay Pump Station serving one of the wealthiest suburbs receives R427 million, nearly three times more than the entire sanitation budget for Masiphumelele. No funding is allocated for dry sanitation pilots, community-managed ablution blocks, or decentralised waste treatment in informal settlements. No urgency exists to address Philippi's groundwater contamination or the sanitation gap in "Covid" informal settlements. The rhetoric says 'inclusive growth.' The numbers say 'privilege protection.' 3. Energy Transition: A Future for the Few The DA administration is proud of its green energy agenda. In this budget, it allocates R8.27 billion to energy and electricity, with projects like: Atlantis Solar PV + Battery Plant (R621 million), Smart Grid Automation (R964 million), Steenbras Hydroelectric Station Rehab (R1.27 billion). Yet township residents, who experience the worst of load-shedding, are left in the dark literally and figuratively. The Informal Settlement Electrification Program, targeting Crossroads and Nyanga, receives just R254 million a meagre 3% of the energy budget. Why no investment in: Microgrids for backyarders? Rooftop PV pilots in Khayelitsha? Solar training for youth in Mitchells Plain? This is not an energy transition. It is a green gentrification strategy dressed in climate language, engineered to benefit commercial zones, CBD towers, and smart offices while the Cape Flats remain energy-insecure. 4. Transport: Roads to Nowhere for the Poor Transport receives the largest capital allocation R11.5 billion. The DA calls it a 'mobility revolution.' Yet 67% of this goes to: Foreshore Freeway redevelopment (R940 million), N1/N7 and N2 Interchanges (R1.96 billion), CBD nodal upgrades (R663 million) and Airport Link reconfiguration (R463 million). Meanwhile, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Bonteheuwel, and Nyanga remain traffic-choked, underserved, and dangerous for pedestrians. Yes, there is R588 million for Spine Road and R501 million for Nyanga road rehab but these are a fraction of what is needed. The Bonteheuwel Active Mobility Project, a rare pro-poor investment in walking and cycling, is only R275 million less than a third of the Foreshore flyover upgrade. Where is the funding for: Safe school zones in Bishop Lavis? Accessible taxis for the elderly in Manenberg? Flood-proof roads in Philippi? Public transport reform is sorely needed. Yet the MyCiTi expansion continues to exclude most black working-class commuters, while taxis used by 70% of residents are still criminalised, not subsidised. 5. Digital Infrastructure: WiFi in Theory, Disconnection in Reality The DA touts its 'Smart City vision', with R7.8 billion in ICT and data infrastructure. Projects like the: Smart City Ops Platform (R712 million), ERP Cloud Upgrade (R648 million) and IoT Sensor Network (R314 million), ...are futuristic and seductive. But for whom? Yes, R184 million goes to Cape Flats Smart Poles and R288 million to school WiFi but many township youth still lack devices. Fibre to Langa and Manenberg libraries means little without laptops, stable power, and tech support. An AI chatbot to help pay rates does not help a backyarder whose shack has no electricity. Open Data and Digital Inclusion mean nothing without co-design, digital literacy, and community ownership. The DA's Double Game: Performative Efficiency, Structural Exclusion The DA often says: 'we get the basics right.' But budgeting is not neutral. Every project chose nor not chosen reveals values. Why do Camps Bay's sewers get R427 million, but Gugulethu's sewer backlog R154 million? Why is Foreshore's freeway prioritised over Masiphumelele's flood-proof roads? Why is there no social housing in Sea Point, but R247 million for a distant project in Airport Industria? These are not accidents. They are ideological expressions of a vision: one where the city is clean, digital, solar-powered, and efficient for those who already have. A Progressive Vision Reimagined We are not calling for no development. We are calling for just development. A budget that: Prioritises sanitation where dignity is denied, not where beaches must be clean. Electrifies informal homes before expanding CBD offices. Delivers social housing where jobs are, not where land is cheap. Funds youth tech skills before smart surveillance. Cape Town can be both world-class and inclusive. But it must break with its colonial urban design, apartheid-era zoning, and neoliberal budget logic. It must place the poor and working majority at the centre of capital planning not on the outskirts, or at the bottom of funding tables.
CairoScene
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Art D'Égypte's ‘Tale of Two Cities' Prepares to Land in Italy
'Forever Is Now' 2025 will feature renowned Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. May 07, 2025 Now in its fifth edition, 'Forever Is Now', Art D'Égypte's site-specific exhibition series, launches its latest chapter with a gathering at Cairo's Italian Embassy. This year's iteration brings with it the participation of renowned Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, realizing a long-held ambition to exhibit at the Pyramids of Giza. 'One of Michelangelo Pistoletto's biggest dreams was to exhibit his most important work in front of the Pyramids of Giza, and this year, it's coming true at Art D'Égypte,' said Italian Ambassador Michele Quaroni. 'We are extremely proud to work with Maestro Michelangelo, who has been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize,' said Nadine Abdel Ghaffar, founder of Art D'Égypte by Culturvator. 'Part of his work is the belief that art is essential for peace, and we believe in that too.' The evening also marked the announcement of a new cross-cultural initiative: a residency programme that will support a young Egyptian artist's study at the UNIDEE Academy in Italy. Over the years, Art D'Égypte has steadily carved a space where contemporary art can engage with heritage. Its exhibitions invite artists to reflect on history without being bound by it, turning archaeological landmarks into open-air sites of encounter and exchange. This June, Tale of Two Cities also returns. Following last year's debut in Greece and Alexandria, the project will now take shape between Milan and Alexandria, continuing its quiet meditation on shared histories and evolving dialogues. The next edition of 'Forever Is Now' is scheduled to take place at the Great Pyramids of Giza from October 30th to November 22nd, 2025.
