![[Irish Republican News]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/rn.gif) February 8, 2010 | ![[Irish Republican News]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif) |
The announcement by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) that it
has decommissioned its weapons has been strongly welcomed by the main
political parties in Ireland but greeted with condemnation by hardline
republican groups and mixed reactions from its own supporters.
After months of arguing and years of stalemate, the first step in
transferring policing and justice powers from the Westminster parliament
in London to the Six-County Assembly at Stormont should begin tomorrow
[Tuesday] when a new justice minister is expected to be nominated.
Margaret Ritchie won the leadership of the SDLP at the weekend, beating
her sole rival, South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell by 222 votes to 187.
The 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen invoked the centenary of the 1916 Easter
Rising in five years’ time as he made a “rallying cry” urging people to
make short-term sacrifices to allow a return to prosperity by 2016.
DUP leader Peter Robinson’s return to his role as first minister was
triumphantly proclaimed by his party as ‘Robinson is back’ - but he
still faces a series of questions over his actions.
A young south Down couple are being harassed by British military
intelligence (MI5) after refusing to spy on a dissident republican from
Newry.
Negotiations have ended between Sinn Fein and the DUP but unionists are
understood to be continuing to hold private talks with the British
government in a bid to ensure sectarian Orange Order parades are forced
through nationalist communities.
Heavily armed British soldiers were on patrol in Oldpark in north
Belfast on Tuesday following a large explosion which destroyed perimeter
fencing at the Oldpark PSNI barracks early on Tuesday morning.
A former IRA prisoner remains in a London prison despite the refusal of
juries in two high-profile trials to convict him.
The inquest into the death of murdered MI5 agent Denis Donaldson in
Donegal almost four years ago was again adjourned in Letterkenny this week.
The death occurred early Thursday afternoon of Tomas Mac Giolla, former
President of Sinn Fein and in later years held the same position as head
of the Workers’ Party.
26-County state television channels (RTE) and the Irish language channel
TG4 will be freely available throughout all of the north of Ireland from
2012, the Dublin government has said.
Almost a decade later, it is now abundantly clear that, instead of
delivering a ‘new beginning’, the PSNI has simply continued with the
same failed anti-working class and anti-republican agenda of the RUC and
Royal Irish Constabulary before them.
It’s too early to claim that
the Hillsborough Agreement is a done deal.
An action alert by families of republican prisoners
being held at Maghaberry jail in county Antrim.
A week is a long time in politics. This week, and a wee bit more, has
been a long time coming.
