May 30, 2006

UVF SHOOT ‘DOUBLE-AGENT’

A man named in the Dublin parliament earlier this year as a PSNI Special Branch agent linked to a series of murders was shot near North Belfast today.

‘Ingram’ claim dismissed

Claims by an MI6 operative in the Sunday tabloids that Sinn Féin MP Martin McGuinness was a British spy have been rubbished.

Call for Great Hunger memorial day

Efforts to designate an annual memorial day to remember victims of the Great Hunger have been boosted following the approval of a motion on the issue by Dublin City Council.

Sinn Féin backs Assembly committee

Sinn Fein said today that it would take part in a committee aimed at preparing for local power-sharing government in the North of Ireland.

MI5 gets millions to fight republicans

Over 20% of the financial resources of British military intelligence is being used to battle irish republicanism, it has emerged.

Loach hailed for cinema triumph

A new film on the Irish War of Independence is set to boost international understanding of the struggle against British rule after it scooped top honours at the Cannes Film Festival.

Out of the H-blocks came determination

The hunger strike changed the nationalist community forever.

Unionists must choose to shape change

Robert McBride, former ANC activist, death row inmate, parliamentarian and now chief of police in East Rand, Johannesburg, recently brought a message to republicans across Ireland.

May 27, 2006

ASSEMBLY DISSEMBLING

British Direct Ruler Peter Hain is to press ahead with the formation of an all-party committee at the new shadow assembly to discuss the return of powers from London to Belfast.

Ken Barrett ‘paid off’

The killer of Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane is enjoying his freedom after serving just 18 months of a 22 year sentence for the brutal murder.

Adams backs Orange right to parade

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has controversially backed the right of the Protestant Orange Order to hold sectarian parades - despite American observers reporting 'grotesque anti-Catholic displays' at last year's parades by the order.

Hain defiant as appointments row grows

British Direct Ruler Peter Hain has been accused of wasting money by appealing a High Court ruling which overturned his appointment of two Orangemen to the Parades Commission.

US urged to back immigration reform

A US Senate decision to fast-track new immigration measures has been welcomed in Ireland on behalf of many undocumented Irish citizens settled in the USA.

Moving tribute to member of Birmingham Six

Mourners at the funeral of one of the Birmingham Six, Richard McIlkenny, were told on Thursday that he has 'finally found freedom'.

Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara

mccreeshohara2.jpg This week marked the anniversary of the deaths of the third and fourth of the 1981 hunger strikers to die, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O'Hara.

‘Assembly’ is hologram on the hill

The assembly meeting up at Stormont isn't the Northern Ireland Assembly established by the Good Friday Agreement.

May 23, 2006

‘CERTAINLY NOT’

There were no surprises as the DUP leader Ian Paisley flatly rejected a bid to form a power sharing executive at the shadow Belfast Assembly on Monday.

Parades Commission was rigged

The British government encouraged leading organisers of contentious sectarian parades to apply for posts on the Parades Commission during a secret meeting last autumn, it has been revealed.

Tragic death of miscarriage of justice victim

The British government is being urged to apologise to the Birmingham Six following the death of one of the six, Richard McIlkenny.

US Congress backs Finucane cause

The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to call on the British government to reconsider its position on the inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane.

Hunger strikers remembered

Thousands defied the rain to attend hunger-strike commemorations for South Armagh IRA man Raymond McCreesh and the Derry INLA hunger striker Patsy O’Hara.

Asylum protest ended

A week-long hunger and thirst strike by Afghan asylum-seekers protest in St Patrick’s cathedral in Dublin was dramatically ended late on Saturday night as garda police stormed the church.

Making politics work

Ian Paisley will be conscious of the irony involved in Sinn Fein going to Stormont to have him elected as First Minister.

Ballymena’s culture of hate

It has been fascinating to watch the DUP tip-toe politely around the funeral of Michael McIlveen.

May 17, 2006

OVERSHADOWED ASSEMBLY

The mood at the first days of a new 'transitional' northern assembly were low key and overshadowed by the sectarian murder of Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen in Ballymena.

Dark day for Ballymena nationalists

Loyalists attacked mourners on their way to the funeral of murdered Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen today.

Hypocrisy as UVF allies with UUP

The main political representative of the unionist paramilitary UVF has joined the assembly group of the Ulster Unionist Party in a move described both by nationalists and rival unionists as “breathtaking hypocrisy”.

Politician, policeman, paramilitary

It has emerged that a former deputy mayor of Ballymena was a leader of the unionist paramilitary UDA while he was a serving British Army officer.

Parades policy in crisis

Portadown Orangeman Don MacKay has been forced to resign from the Parades Commission after being exposed earlier this year for using false references when joining the commission.

Concern for Afghan hunger strikers

Asylum seekers from Afghanistan are mounting a determined hunger strike in Dublin's St Patrick's Cathedral in a campaign for refugee status.

Bombing victims’ relatives need answers now

Today is a day many people recall with feelings of sadness and anger as well as a strong desire for the truth.

‘Assisted suicide’ for UUP

Farewell to David Ervine and the Progressive Unionist Party.

May 13, 2006

BALLYMENA CHALLENGED

Preparations are currently underway for the funeral of fifteen-year-old Michael McIlveen who died on Monday after he was fatally wounded in a sectarian gang attack in Ballymena, County Antrim last weekend.

Shadow of the Belfast Assembly

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has said he will nominate DUP leader Ian Paisley as First Minister and his own party’s chief negotiator Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister when the Belfast Assembly is reconvened on Monday.

Paisley raises bar for SF

British Direct Ruler Peter Hain has said Sinn Fein will not be forced to publicly back policing in the North as a condition of power-sharing.

Internet censorship bid

The US government is to consider the possibility of blocking access to the website of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement following a meeting with relatives of the 1998 Omagh bomb.

26-County Army closer to conflict

Plans for participation in European Union battle groups by the 26-County Army has come in for strong criticism.

Bloody Sunday report for 2007

The final report of the Bloody Sunday inquiry will not be published until next year, the families of those killed have said.

Francis Hughes - a fearless soldier

Twenty five years ago on Friday, Francis Hughes, one of the most fearless and courageous IRA Volunteers to emerge out of the current phase in the Republican Struggle, lost his life after 59 days on Hunger Strike in Long Kesh.

A sinister hush over collusion evidence

One of the biggest scandals to hit these islands in recent years did not even merit a mention on our main radio or TV stations.

May 8, 2006

LAUGHTER OF OUR CHILDREN?

08boy.jpg

A schoolboy savagely beaten in a sectarian attack in Ballymena on Saturday died in hospital on Monday night.

Sands' death remembered

Members of the family of Bobby Sands assembled for a private gathering on Friday in the former Long Kesh Prison near Lisburn to mark the 25th anniversary of his death.

Marching season appeal

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams made a weekend plea to Ian Paisley's DUP to play a leading role in ensuring a peaceful Protestant marching season.

New twist in Tohill case

The Sinn Fein leadership has issued a call for four republicans who failed to turn up in court for sentencing after admitting the abduction of a dissident republican to turn themselves in.

Blair urged to go

It is thought that growing pressure on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to resign could undermine his ability to continue the current phase of the peace process.

Puppet show for peace

The organisation behind the long-running television show Sesame Street has launched a new project which aims to break down sectarian barriers between children in the North.

US action alerts

Action alerts on behalf the mcAllister family and the Rossport Five

Things changed forever after Bobby Sands' death

There was nothing normal about our lives in the H-blocks during the years 1976-1981 so why should our thinking and actions be assessed according to a 'normal' system of measurement.

May 5, 2006

Bobby Sands - 1981-2006

Bobby Sands died 25 years ago today, the first of ten to die while on hunger strike against the British policy of criminalising the republican struggle. It is a day of mourning for all Irish republicans.

May 3, 2006

SUBVERSIVES

Successive British governments failed to act despite having full knowledge of the extensive and murderous collaboration between the UDR and unionist paramilitaries.

Govts talk tough on process

Sinn Fein will be forced to give its backing to the PSNI police when powers for policing and justice are devolved from London to Belfast, British Direct Ruler Peter Hain has claimed.

Sectarian mob attack

The PSNI police has been strongly criticised after allowing a mob of loyalists to attack defenceless nationalists after wrecking a billboard erected in honour of the 1981 hungerstrikers.

Orders to maintain talks boycott

Leaders of the Protestant marching orders have said they still will not talk directly to Sinn Fein or to residents groups about their sectarian parades through Catholic areas.

Government seen backing Shell

26-County Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey has been accused of siding with Shell Oil following a government report on its planned high-pressure gas pipeline through County Mayo.

O’Hare release angers loyalist

Hardline unionist Willie Frazer has claimed that the PSNI police failed to arrest former Irish National Liberation Army leader Dessie O'Hare at his wife's home in south Armagh at the weekend.

The Truth

The victims group An Fhirinne is appealing to the families of people who were victims of British state killings or collusion to help complete its database.

It takes lots of courage to break ranks

Brian Kennaway's new book The Orange Order: A Tradition Betrayed is causing quite a stir, mainly among Protestants, unionists and Orangemen

Free Trial Subscription

Breaking News

Categories