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| Parents' anger at Ahern donation | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| 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. | |
| His mother Penny Holloway said some people in the loyalist Mount Vernon estate were harbouring his killers. | |
| "It is wrong that this money from the Taoiseach is being used to give the impression this community has changed." | |
| Loyalist spokesman Billy Hutchinson, who works on the estate, insisted people had cooperated with police in the murder inquiry. | |
| Mr Ahern has 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. | |
| "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," Ms Holloway said. | |
| We and the police know there are people who know what happened that night, who know who the two people were, and who is giving them alibis Penny Holloway The family wants to meet Mr Ahern to raise their concerns about the money he has donated. | |
| "We have asked him to publicly call on community leaders in Mount Vernon to ask people who have information which would lead to a conviction to call police," she told Good Morning Ulster. | |
| "These community leaders have never publicly called on anybody to give information to police. | |
| I've met police and they've said they were satisfied that people here did not have information Billy HutchinsonLoyalist spokesman "We and the police know there are people who know what happened that night, who know who the two people were, and who is giving them alibis." | |
| But Mr Hutchinson said he rejected any suggestion that local people were withholding information. | |
| "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." | |
| Police will release the latest details of their efforts to catch Thomas's killers on Monday. | |
| His parents will be present at a press briefing on the murder inquiry. | |
| Last year, police said that nine people had been questioned about the killing on Somerton Road. | |
| More than 900 statements had been taken in relation to the killing and more than 60 properties searched, police said. | More than 900 statements had been taken in relation to the killing and more than 60 properties searched, police said. |
| Thomas's 18-year-old friend was injured in the attack, but not seriously. Another friend, 16, managed to escape. | |
| Thomas, a student at Belfast Royal Academy, was a talented musician who played the horn at school. | Thomas, a student at Belfast Royal Academy, was a talented musician who played the horn at school. |