Irish Republican News: Archives

April 29, 2007

Election called in the South

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has set Thursday May 24th as the date for the general election in the 26 Counties.

April 27, 2007

Sinn Féin’s 26-County TDs today said that they are preparing for the election of a significant number of colleagues in the forthcoming General Election - with the aim of the party being in government north and south of the border.

Paisley to join Ahern in Boyne visit

DUP leader Ian Paisley and the 26-County Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, will visit the site of the Battle of the Boyne together next month, it has been confirmed.

UVF will wait and see on arms

A political representative of the UVF has said unionist paramilitaries will wait to see whether power-sharing between Sinn Féin and the DUP succeeds before decommissioning their weapons.

Nominees to Policing Board ‘not cheerleaders’

Former IRA prisoner Martina Anderson, who will be one of three Sinn Féin nominees to the newly-constituted Policing Board, has said she will be going in to hold the PSNI to account.

Martin Ferris arrested

Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving at the weekend, the party has confirmed.

Award for Rossport activist

Mayo farmer Willie Corduff, who was jailed for three months in 2005 over his opposition to Shell’s inland gas refinery at Rossport and high-pressure pipeline through his farm, has been awarded the world’s most prestigious environmental prize.

The Battle of Moyry Pass

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the ‘Flight of the Earls’. We examine the background to that major event in Irish history with a series of historical articles.

Photocalls do not reflect street-level reality

The Paisley-Adams deal represents not a compromise or accommodation between the ideologies that had defined the two men’s parties but the willing negation of each.

April 21, 2007

COLLUSION 2007

Two members of the British Crown forces are involved in the latest intelligence gathering operation to obtain the personal data of over 150 nationalists from the PSNI police computer system and deliver it to a unionist paramilitary death-squad.

Sinn Féin meets Policing Board

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said his party is set to take up its positions on the Policing Board following a first ever meeting with the controversial body.

Back-room Garvaghy deal denied

Sinn Féin has dismissed accusations that it is negotiating a deal with the DUP to allow the Protestant Orange Order march through the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

Paisley to see out full term

The DUP leader Ian Paisley has stated that he will see out the full four-year term of the Belfast Assembly as First Minister, despite the initial understanding that he would resign within the first two years.

UDA and UVF listed as charities

A British government document has described unionist murder gangs as voluntary organisations in the same bracket as children’s charities.

No peace process for McDowell

The 26-County Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has refused to allow a jailed IRA Volunteer temporary release to sit a college entrance exam.

Women’s heroic work

It was women like Emma Groves and Annsie Wilkinson in many districts across the north who provided grass-roots leadership, who helped their besieged communities learn the skills they needed to survive.

Choosing prestige over power?

David Trimble joining the British Conservative Party is a sad event.

April 15, 2007

REPUBLICANS ON NEW UVF HIT LIST

Sinn Féin has challenged unionist paramilitaries in the North to come clean following the discovery of a new hit list of republican murder targets.

Special Branch linked to Ormeau Road massacre

A number of Catholic families whose loved ones were murdered in the 1990s have asked the Police Ombudmsman’s office to investigate the role of self-confessed RUC/PSNI Special Branch agent Stephen ‘Inch’ McFerran in some twenty killings.

Clashes follow Easter events

Trouble broke out in Derry after a heavy PSNI presence turned out to monitor an Easter commemoration organised by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

Collusion files shredded

The British army and MI5 military intelligence shredded files on collusion returned by the Stevens Inquiry, it has been confirmed.

Family welcome IRA apology

The Provisional IRA has apologised to the family of a republican killed by its members 17 years ago.

Free cross-border travel for Irish pensioners

A new cross-border agreement travel scheme has come into effect, giving senior Irish citizens unlimited use of bus and rail services and other transport services throughout Ireland.

Action Alert for Maghaberry prisoners

An action request from the US-based Irish Freedom Committee on behalf of republican prisoners at Maghaberry prison.

The people have spoken

There are still commentators who can’t accept that Sinn Féin and the DUP are carrying out the wishes of the voters.

April 10, 2007

‘REUNIFICATION COMING’

The countdown to a united Ireland is underway, according to Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness.

Breandan Mac Cionnaith resigns

Sinn Féin political adviser Breandan Mac Cionnaith has resigned from the party without commenting on the reasons for his departure.

Hardliners ‘becoming more sophisticated’

A primed mortar rocket was defused in County Armagh and two other bombs were made safe in County Tyrone amid signs of increasing activity by republican militarists.

McDowell denies Dublin/Monaghan cover-up

The Dublin government has denied that it is trying to cover up the truth about the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which 33 civilians died.

Driver’s life wrecked by sectarian harassment

A Catholic bus driver who endured half a decade of sectarian harassment and intimidation at work said the ordeal has “ruined his life”.

US Congressional delegation celebrates peace moves

The deal between Sinn Féin and the DUP marks a significant triumph for US foreign policy, senior congressmen said in Belfast on Sunday.

The Women of 1916

The “forgotten women” of Irish history who participated in the 1916 Rising were remembered at the weekend.

Alternative Ulster

Strange parallels between those who thought the political process could never be reconciled are beginning to emerge.

April 7, 2007

IRA Easter statements

The annual Easter statements issued by the main republican groups.

April 5, 2007

HISTORIC HANDSHAKE

Extraordinary scenes continued in the peace process this week with a public handshake at Farmleigh House in Dublin between DUP leader Ian Paisley and the 26-County Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Bombs investigation ‘buried and forgotten’

Survivors and the bereaved of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings have vowed to continue their battle for justice after a report by criminal lawyer Patrick MacEntee failed to provide significant new information.

UDA to remain armed

A leader of the unionist paramilitary UDA has ruled out weapons decommissioning, claiming loyalists still “feel threatened”.

Prison walls come down

Demolition of the perimeter wall of the infamous H-Blocks has begun, marking a final end to Long Kesh’s function as a prison and the first phase in the construction of a new multi-function development on the site.

SF lines out Six-County Ministerial team

Sinn Fein has confirmed its team of ministers for the Belfast executive.

Tributes to plastic bullet campaigner

Emma Groves, a west Belfast woman who became a major factor in the campaign against plastic bullets after being blinded 35 years ago, has died.

The arrest of Gerry McGeough

Prominent republican and election candidate Gerry McGeough has been released by the PSNI police on bail following a campaign to being attention to his controversial arrest and detention earlier this month. Martin Galvin looks at the case.

Making headlines for the right reasons

The unthinkable, indeed unbelievable is happening before our very eyes.