Irish Republican News: Archives

October 31, 2008

CALL IT OFF

A coat-trailing and incendiary march by British troops is set to take place in the centre of Ireland’s second city on Sunday despite widespread fears over the potential for serious violence.

Anger at education cutbacks

Up to 15,000 teachers, parents and students gathered outside the Leinster House parliament in Dublin this week to express their opposition to spending cuts by the 26 County government.

Call for govts to intervene at Stormont

The political crisis at Stormont has deepened with DUP leader Peter suggesting that the British government should respond to the continuing stalemate.

Inquest reopens after coroner views secret files

The North’s most senior coroner John Leckey has revealed that new evidence had been uncovered in top secret Crown force files regarding an IRA attack in 1982.

Anti-Irish penal law challenged

A British ban on the use of the Irish language in courts in the North which stretches back to 1737 was challenged this week.

New republican unity project launched

A number of different republican groups have said they will join forces to explore a united approach in future.

The first casualty

It is twenty years to the day, since the British Government imposed the media ban as part of another review of security in the North of Ireland.

Idea that SF could ignore march is absurd

The idea that Sinn Féin could ignore a march through Belfast city centre by a regiment in the British army is patently absurd.

October 24, 2008

A KIND OF REVOLUTION

The Dublin government is under further pressure over the October Budget, days after thirty thousand pensioners and students besieged parliament over cutbacks.

Republicans to protest RIR triumphalism

Sinn Féin and eirigi are to stage separate protests against a British Army parade through Belfast city centre on Sunday week.

Riots in Armagh as SAS men testify

Shots were fired during serious riots in Craigavon and Lurgan, both in north County Armagh, on Wednesday night.

DUP claim permanent veto on Justice Ministry

Fresh disagreement has emerged between the DUP and Sinn Féin over the selection of a future justice minister, with the DUP claiming a unionist veto over the choice into perpetuity.

Retrial ordered in sectarian murder trial

The trial of six Ballymena youths facing charges arising out of the sectarian murder of Catholic schoolboy Michael ‘Mickey Bo’ McIlveen in May 2006 was dramatically halted and the jury dismissed yesterday [Thursday].

Long Kesh stadium in doubt

The DUP’s Gregory Campbell indicated this week that plans to build a multi-sports stadium at the site of the Long Kesh prison have been scrapped.

Epic tale of human endurance

Hunger is a true-to-life film, not propaganda, as claimed by its unionist critics.

British soldiers not welcome on Irish streets

The Royal Irish Regiment’s mercenaries from the war against Afghanistan arrived in Belfast this month to a chorus of approval from their supporters in Ireland.

October 22, 2008

Govt wins crucial budget vote

A vote in the Dublin parliament on proposed cutbacks was carried by the coalition government with a reduced majority of seven votes tonight.

October 20, 2008

Dublin govt under threat amid budget backlash

Brian Cowen may be forced to back down on elements of last week’s budget amid signs that the stability of his 26-County coalition government is under threat.

October 17, 2008

RIP-OFF REPUBLIC

Hundreds of thousands of Irish taxpayers were the subject of a sweeping and savage range of cuts and taxes this week in order to pay for the gross mismanagement of the 26-County economy by the Dublin government.

Arms cache found as UDA get cash

Scores of guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition were discovered by accident this week in a loyalist area of north Belfast as it emerged that UDA death-squads are receiving huge cash hand-outs from the Stormont administration.

US envoy in crisis talks

The US government’s special envoy to the north of Ireland met northern political leaders this week in a bid to avert the collapse of the Stormont administration.

‘Get out of jail card’ for Murray

A suspected British Crown ‘agent provocateur’ has simply walked out of Maghaberry Prison in the North.

Omagh bomb inquiry motion blocked

An Assembly motion calling for full disclosure of information received by the British and Irish intelligence agencies about the 1998 Omagh bomb was rejected by the North’s two main unionist parties this week.

Empey in pact with extremist

The Ulster Unionist Party has agreed a joint “strategy” with unionist hardliner Jim Allister to try to ensure that two unionists are returned as MEPs in next June’s European elections in the North of Ireland.

Nationalising the risks, not the assets

Brian Leeson, eirigi chairperson, presents his analysis of the crisis in the Irish financial system, of those who created it, and the choices facing Irish citizens for the future.

Hiding behind the police

The presumption of innocence until proven guilty has never applied to Republicans and the Northern Bank robbery suspects were no exceptions.

October 14, 2008

Budget 2009 - Main points

The main points of the 26-County state budget for 2009, presented this afternoon by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan,

October 13, 2008

‘Budget from hell’ warning

Ministers in the 26-County government have admitted that tomorrow’s budget will be a tough one, impacting on everyone, and that major tax increases are on the cards.

October 11, 2008

Robinson in bitter personal attack on Adams

DUP leader Peter Robinson directed a stream of invective against Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams tonight in the clearest sign yet that the political stalemate gripping the North is at breaking point.

October 10, 2008

SYSTEM OF INJUSTICE

There have been calls for a completely new system of policing and justice in the north of Ireland following the dramatic collapse of the trial of bank official Chris Ward, the only individual accused of the 2004 Northern Bank robbery.

Obama backs Finucane inquiry

US presidential candidate Barack Obama has backed calls for an inquiry into the murder of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.

Fermanagh attack claimed

Two republican groups have separately claimed responsibility for a roadside device which targeted the PSNI police in County Fermanagh this week.

RUC bugged Rosemary Nelson’s home

British Crown forces bugged a house belonging to human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson and tried to tap her office phone, the inquiry into her murder has learned

Dublin pressure over new border checkpoint

A border checkpoint is operating again more than a decade after the last permanent border post from the conflict was closed.

Death of Peggy McGuinness

The funeral took place on Wednesday morning of Peggy McGuinness, mother of the Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness.

The day the RUC appeared on TV

Events in Derry’s Duke Street forty years ago were magnified by the arrival of a new witness to Irish history: the television news camera.

Time for October 5th

The main trigger of the 1968 Civil Rights demands, equality, has still to be resolved.

October 9, 2008

Northern Bank trial collapses

The man accused of the massive Northern Bank robbery in Belfast walked free from court this morning after all charges against him were dropped.

October 3, 2008

INSTITUTIONS START TO UNRAVEL

The North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meeting scheduled for today [Friday] was cancelled in the escalating dispute within the North’s power-sharing administration.

Bigotry renewed, 25 years on

Unionist councillors in Limavady have refused to explain why they blocked a peace gesture towards a past victim of of an infamous act of sectarianism.

Race to kill PSNI member - Orde

The chief of the PSNI police, Hugh Orde, has claimed that republican militants are engaged in a deadly competition to see who can be the first to kill a member of the PSNI.

Policing Board backs Tasers

There was widespread dismay among nationalists after the Policing Board backed PSNI Chief Hugh Orde’s call for the deployment of Taser electric stun guns.

Adams seeks talks with Orange Order

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has called for a face-to-face meeting with Orange Order Grand Master Robert Saulters.

Racist chant exposes Scottish fault-line

The Dublin government has been forced to take action over an anti-Irish chant sung by a section of the Glasgow Rangers supporters during recent soccer games in Scotland.

Memories of Duke Street

Recollections by civil rights activist Fionnbarra O Dochartaigh regarding the event which some historians characterise as the day the ‘Troubles’ began.

PDs go down with the system they lauded

They were Ireland's nasty party but their arrogance prevented them ever listening to the electorate beyond their own narrow sectional interest group.

October 1, 2008

Dublin govt defends deposits, banks

Sitting in emergency session, the Dublin parliament has agreed legislation to guarantee and underwrite the banking system in the 26 Counties.