Irish Republican News: Archives

January 28, 2007

SF Ard Fheis backs policing motion

In a show of hands, a specially convened Sinn Féin ardfheis (party conference) has voted strongly in favour of a leadership motion expressing support for the PSNI police.

Adams address to the special SF Ard Fheis

The full prepared text of Gerry Adams's address to the special Sinn Féin conference on policing policy, currently taking place in the RDS in Dublin.

January 27, 2007

MURDER CAMPAIGN ‘WENT TO THE TOP’

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness has said collusion in the PSNI/RUC police went “to the very top” following this week’s report which implicated the Special Branch in a decade-long campaign of sectarian murder in north Belfast.

Adams makes late appeal for PSNI support

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has made a last-ditch appeal to party supporters to sign up to support the PSNI police and British courts in the North of Ireland ahead of a crucial party conference on the issue.

Derry name dispute to continue

The High Court in Belfast has ruled that Derry City Council must use the British colonial name ‘Londonderry’ for the city.

‘Upside-down’ UDR victims’ fund

A proposed fund for families of the Ulster Defence Regiment killed in the conflict has been criticised as offensive and one-sided.

DUP may veto Dublin’s cross-border projects

DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson has said his party might move to block attempts by the Dublin government to fund projects north of the border.

Tohill backs kidnappers

A high-profile republican whose kidnapping prompted a crisis in the peace process in 2004 has delivered “a plea for mercy” on behalf of two of his kidnappers who are due to be sentenced next month.

PSNI agent’s catalog of murder

Ten murders which, according to the Police Ombudsman’s report, are so far confirmed to have involved PSNI/UVF agent Mark Haddock.

The wrong thing to do

Yes, there is an alternative to supporting the British Crown forces in Ireland.

January 22, 2007

PSNI KILLERS STILL WORKING

A report by the Police Ombudsman concludes that RUC/PSNI Special Branch police officers colluded in at least 18 murders in the North of Ireland between 1990 and 2003 has been described as ‘the tip of the iceberg’.

Sinn Féin united - Adams

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said he does not think there will be a serious split in his party ahead of a special conference to debate supporting the PSNI police.

Debate appeal rejected as PR stunt

A call by Sinn Féin to meet with and “brief” the leaderships of three republican armed groups -- the INLA, Continuity IRA and Real IRA -- about the current situation has received a cool response.

Reiss leaves envoy post

The US special envoy to the North, Mitchell Reiss, is to step down this month after almost three years in the post.

Omagh inquiry call by HRC

Ireland’s two Human Rights Commissions have called for the appointment of a top judge to examine the need for a cross-border public inquiry into the Omagh bombing.

Search for truth goes on

Three County Armagh brothers gunned down by a unionist paramilitary death squad 31 years ago have finally had their names cleared of involvement with the IRA.

Operation Ballast

A public statement issued today by police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan into collusion between the RUC/PSNI Special Branch and the north Belfast UVF.

New route to a United Ireland

The goal of a united Ireland remains absolute but the means by which it can be achieved no longer needs to involve armed actions.

January 17, 2007

BIG STAKES FOR SINN FEIN

A debate on the acceptability of the PSNI police and British Crown courts in the North of Ireland is currently underway within republicanism.

Republicans protest policing move

A second Sinn Féin assembly member has resigned from the party over its moves towards accepting policing.

RUC men may face charges

Britain’s Attorney General has received prosecution files on seven serving and retired RUC policemen after Nuala O’Loan, the North’s policing ombudsman, conducted an inquiry into accusations of their involvement in a number of political murders in the 1990s.

Adams attends funeral of David Ervine

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams was among the political leaders who attended the funeral of the former unionist paramilitary and political negotiator, David Ervine.

Omagh trial draws to a close

It would be a travesty of justice if the man accused of the Omagh bomb atrocity was convicted, his barrister today told the single judge who will decide his fate.

Scottish Catholics demand action on discrimination

Prominent Scottish Catholics have signed a petition to the Parliament at Holyrood demanding an investigation into new statistics revealing deep discrimination against Catholics in Scotland.

Sinn Féin Ard Fheis motion on policing

The text of the key motion to go before the forthcoming special Sinn Fein conference.

The final step

There was no great surprise at the end of it. Who expected a different result?

January 13, 2007

SF Ard Fheis to go ahead

Sinn Féin’s ruling executive has decided to support a proposal for an Extraordinary Ard Fheis to go ahead on January 28th, despite the refusal of the DUP to commit to a deal on policing or power-sharing.

January 12, 2007

DUP HAS RENEGED - SF

Ian Paisley’s DUP have gone back on a deal to agree the devolution of policing, Sinn Féin has said.

Nationalists clash over MI5 change

Sinn Féin and the SDLP have clashed over whether a statement by the British prime minister Tony Blair on the role of British military intelligence in the North of Ireland is positive or negative for future policing plans.

Plastic bullet victims not guilty - Orde

Sinn Féin has welcomed comments by PSNI chief Hugh Orde expressing a measure of regret for deaths caused by the use of plastic bullets in the North of Ireland.

Omagh police witnesses under investigation

Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan is investigating the conduct of two key PSNI police witnesses in the non-jury Diplock trial of Armagh man Sean Hoey.

Few answers in meeting over killings

A meeting with a British government minster has been a let-down for the families of the victims of a unionist paramilitary gun attack in a County Down pub in 1994.

Polish recruits to boost Catholic numbers for PSNI

The PSNI police may be able to meet the Patten requirements for increased numbers of Catholic recruits by drawing from the nearly 1,000 Polish people who have applied to join the force.

Save Tara petition

Supporters of the 'Sava Tara' campaign are being asked to sign the online ‘National Monument of Ireland’ petition.

DUP’s creative ambiguity has limited lifespan

For the first time in his 50 years in politics Ian Paisley snr is facing a reality he probably thought he would never have to face.

January 8, 2007

PAISLEY DENIES CHRISTMAS DEAL

A crisis is mounting as a result of the continuing failure of the DUP to respond positively to the decision by the Sinn Féin leadership to recognise the courts and support the police force in the North of Ireland.

PUP leader David Ervine dies

Progressive Unionist Party leader David Ervine has died this afternoon having suffered two heart attacks and a stroke over the weekend.

Parties square off ahead of 26-County election

The 26-County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that he would accept Sinn Féin support for a minority Fianna Fail government after the next general election, but that he would not agree any deal with them in return for votes.

Sinn Féin line-up changes

Two further sitting Sinn Féin assembly members have said they will not stand for re-election in the proposed March assembly poll, but have denied that the current debate on policing policy lies behind their decisions.

Independent republicans to contest all constituencies

A former Sinn Féin member and H-block blanket man is to stand as an independent in Mid-Ulster if the assembly election goes ahead in March, while another former IRA prisoner is considering running in Fermanagh-South Tyrone.

Ombudsman ‘faces test’ over Lawlor investigation

The parents of murdered father Gerard Lawlor are meeting senior investigators from the Police Ombudsman’s office today for the first time over new allegations that the PSNI police failed to act on information supplied by a witness.

Telling moment at Toome

In Toome last week, the same pledge, principles and patriotism which had always inspired him, moved Laurence O’Neill to defy a new attempt to silence him.

SF is up for the challenges of peace making

Evidence that the leadership of Sinn Féin is set once again to stretch republicans to the outer limits of their commitment to the peace process is very obvious.

January 4, 2007

PAISLEY UPS DEMANDS

Sinn Féin has said it is still awaiting a positive response from Ian Paisley’s DUP following its decision to hold a special party conference on supporting the police and recognising the courts in the North of Ireland.

Sinn Féin hit by resignations

Four members of the Sinn Féin Assembly team have said they will not be going forward for re-election amid heightening tensions inside the party over policing.

Nationalists clash over policing moves

The nationalist SDLP has said moves by Sinn Féin towards support of policing in the north pointed to the “futility of the armed struggle”, while Republican Sinn Féin accused their republican rivals of “surrender”.

Northern bank charges dropped

Charges against two men accused over the Northern Bank raid two years ago were dramatically withdrawn in Belfast on Wednesday.

Contingency plans to the fore in 1976

Papers released show considerable political confusion in the British and 26 County governments in 1976 following the collapse of Sunningdale power-sharing efforts.

Veteran who won’t give in

The oldest surviving IRA member who fought in the War of Independence celebrated his 105th birthday this week.

IRA men’s deaths that caught whole country’s imagination

Sean South and Fergal O’Hanlon entered the realms of history and song when an IRA raid on a County Fermanagh RUC barracks went dramatically wrong 50 years ago this week.

DUP’s mindset is fossilised in 17th century

The current DUP leadership is a political Jurassic Park but if the mindset exhibited on the Today programme is anything to go by, then the prospect the coming men offer is back to the future.

January 2, 2007

Adams address at Brookeborough

The text of a keynote address by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP at an event in County Fermanagh to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deaths of Seán Sabhat and Feargal Ó hAnnluain who were killed during the Brookeborough raid.