Irish Republican News: Archives

January 31, 2008

DUBLIN ANGER AT COLLUSION COVER-UP

The Dublin parliament is to debate an all-party motion condemning collusion by British forces in atrocities in the North of Ireland.

Parades Commission appointments ruled illegal

The Parades Commission was thrown into turmoil this week with leading Orangeman David Burrows forced to resign after Britain's highest court ruled that the British decision to appoint him was illegal.

Provisional IRA urged to disband

A leading Derry republican has called on the Provisional IRA to disband.

Four Victims' Commissioners named

Sinn Féin and the DUP have rejected claims that four new victims' commissioners were named this week because the First and Deputy First Ministers could not agree on a single person

Civil rights movement remembered

Tuesday marked the formal establishment in 1967 of the 'Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association' (NICRA).

Child victim of sectarian assault

A Toomebridge schoolboy was assaulted on Thursday as he waited for a school bus in what the PSNI have admitted was an anti-Catholic attack.

The tide turns at Tara

Our country has barely known a taste of freedom yet already we are actively complicit in the destruction of the one central, world-renowned and undiluted symbol of our unity and strength.

The real priorities

Behind the scenes, the political parties in the North have other matters on their minds.

January 24, 2008

AGENTS PROVOCATEUR

A ‘Real IRA’ bomb trial was terminated abruptly on Monday following unchallenged accusations that an informer lies at the heart of the case.

Now tell the truth, Flanagan urged

Former RUC/PSNI police chief Ronnie Flanagan last night apologised to the families of people killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb.

SF councillors assaulted by baying mob

wo Sinn Féin councillors were struck by unionist protesters amid chaotic scenes at a meeting of Limavady Borough Council last week.

LVF linked to hospital spy

A patient who discovered his medical files may have been leaked by a hospital worker to unionist paramilitaries has said he is “disgusted” at the hospital’s handling of the c

Call to halt Taser deployment following death

The PSNI police is being urged to withdraw plans to deploy Taser guns in the North of Ireland following the death of a man in England.

SF prepare for Lisbon Treaty vote as Greens go quiet

In a close vote at the weekend, the Green Party leadership failed to secure enough support from party delegates to support the Lisbon Treaty referendum.

The pain of the past

If the British government are sincere about addressing the legacy of the past they could start by publishing Stevens report.

Ian Og gets his come-uppance at long last

They say the Paisleys come as a package - if you get one, you get both.

January 17, 2008

TELL THE TRUTH, SAY VICTIMS

Victims’ groups have called for an international independent truth commission to deal with the legacy of the last 30 years of war in the North of Ireland.

PSNI training for Taser attacks

There has been anger at the announcement that members of the PSNI have begun training with high-voltage Taser weapons and will be deploying them on the streets within weeks.

Paisley ‘peace for land’ deal revealed

The Democratic Unionist Party’s Ian Paisley Jr used the peace process talks at St Andrews to push for a shopping list of property-based demands for his own constituents, it h

Bomb attack follows informer claims

A unionist paramilitary group calling itself the ‘Real UFF’ has admitted responsibility for planting a pipe bomb at the home of a former Sinn Féin member in Antrim.

DUP Minister in anthem protest

The North’s ‘Culture Minister’, Edwin Poots of the DUP, is calling for an end to the playing of the Irish national anthem before Gaelic games in the North.

Secret papers reveal one-sided war

Top-secret British military documents reveal the British Army’s failure to tackle unionist paramilitary death squads during one of the darkest periods of the conflict.

Edmund Burke - The Conscience of a Nation

Edmund Burke was one of the most famous political thinkers of the 18th century.

The trouble with war

Don’t mention the war. Don’t mention the fact that thousands of British soldiers occupied the highways and byways of this wee place for over thirty years and that all of them had a licence to kill.

January 9, 2008

BRITISH ‘TRUTH PANEL’ OPPOSED

A panel unilaterally set up by the British government to deal with the desire for truth and reconciliation following the peace process has begun public consultations, provoking anger and controversy over its role.

PSNI in the dock on Omagh

The Policing Board is to investigate the extent of the attempted frame-up of Sean Hoey by senior members of the PSNI police over the 1998 Omagh bomb.

No new checkpoints on border - Brown

The British Prime Minister has said there are no plans to introduce immigration controls at the border between the British-ruled Six Counties and the rest of Ireland.

LVF behind firebomb attack

Concerns have been raised about escalating violence and criminality linked to the unionist paramilitary LVF following a firebomb attack on a house in County Armagh.

Church of Ireland attacks Bill of Rights

The Protestant Church of Ireland has criticised plans to draft a Bill of Rights for the North of Ireland

Republican denies working as informer

High-profile republican Paddy Murray has denied being a police informer.

What a difference a year makes

Ireland January 2008 is a much better place than Ireland January 2007. What a difference a year can make in the life of a nation.

Unionists in pool can’t let go of the sides

Fascinating to watch unionists of all shades tying themselves in knots about human rights and devolution of justice and policing

January 3, 2008

OMAGH BLAME GAME

The PSNI police chief Hugh Orde has said it is “highly unlikely” that anyone will be jailed for the 1998 Omagh bomb, following the freeing of Armagh man Sean Hoey and the trial judge’s stinging indictment of the PSNI.

Paisley to oppose devolution of powers

The DUP leader Ian Paisley has clashed with British Secretary Shaun Woodward over the devolution of police and justice powers from London to Belfast, which is scheduled for May.

Demos planned as dozers target new Tara find

TaraWatch, the group campaigning against the construction of the M3 motorway close to the archaeologicaly sensitive Hill of Tara in County Meath, has said it will hold international protests on January 8th.

Attacks on GAA, Orange Halls continue

A Gaelic sports club in County Fermanagh has been damaged in a sectarian arson attack. Graffiti was also painted on the walls of the club in Drumgoon near Maguiresbridge.

Stone claims he was ‘artist in residence’

The assault on the Belfast Assembly buildings by notorious unionist paramilitary killer Michael Stone was a work of art, he has claimed.

New Year statements

The annual New Year statements issued by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and by the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

2007 - Year in Review

A look back at the main news events of the year that was.

Papers show cooperation got us further faster

The one clear lesson which emerges from the documents allowed to be released this year is that any time Irish officials managed to persuade the British to follow a line of action it was a success.