Irish Republican News: Archives

January 30, 2010

Progress reported as talks suspended

Negotiations on the implementation of the St Andrews Agreement have ended tonight without agreement, but are due to continue on Monday. The six days of talks represent the longest period of sustained negotiations since the peace process began in the 1990s.

Sinn Fein sees ‘responsibility to be honest’

The chances of an imminent deal to break the political stalemate in the north have receded tonight as negotiations continued despite the passage of a deadline set by the Dublin and London governments.

January 29, 2010

SF leadership meet to discuss talks position

Sinn Fein has announced that its negotiating team had left the talks to attend a meeting of party colleagues, as the deadline for reaching a deal on the devolution of policing and justice looms.

January 28, 2010

‘It’s not over yet’ - Adams

Transferring policing and justice powers from the London government to the Belfast administration cannot be held hostage to unionist demands on contentious sectarian parades, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams warned today.

Concern Tories could seize Bloody Sunday report

The Bloody Sunday families are concerned that the Saville report on the 1972 British Army massacre in Derry may be further delayed.

Court hears of brutal murder of teenage boy

The mother of a murdered Catholic teenager wept in court last week as a pathologist told a court the full extent of the horrific sectarian attack which killed her son in north Belfast five years ago.

‘Real IRA’ claim over Cork drug dealer

A claim has been made in the name of the breakaway ‘Real IRA’ that it killed a ganglord in Cork city in the south of Ireland.

Ballymurphy group ‘dismissed’ by Victims Commission

Families campaigning for an independent investigation into the killing of 11 relatives in west Belfast in the aftermath of internment walked out of meeting with the victims commissioners after feeling insulted.

Scores of 26-County soldiers sent to Afghanistan

In a reply to a question in the Dublin parliament, the Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has admitted that he has sent over a hundred soldiers from the 26-County Army to serve with NATO in Afghanistan.

Unionists now puppets in Cameron’s political game

Unionists never learn do they?

DUP puts party before peace process

It is not easy being a democrat because you have to accept the will of the people at an election even when you do not like the result.

January 27, 2010

Sinn Fein dismay amid talks recriminations

Sinn Fein said it was “deeply disappointed” with the outcome of the talks at Hillsborough Castle and blamed DUP demands for a concession on contentious sectarian parades for blocking an agreement.

PMs quit talks; Brown demands deal by Friday

A deal in the Hillsborough talks to save the North’s power-sharing government is unlikely today following a decision by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen to leave the talks.

Progress reported in talks marathon

A draft document presented by Dublin and London officials at the multi-party negotiations in Belfast could yet lead to a breakthrough deal and the preservation of the North’s powersharing administration, it has emerged.

January 26, 2010

DUP claims crisis ‘contrived’ as talks continue

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen and the British Prime Minister held emergency talks with Sinn Fein and the DUP into the early hours of this morning but there were no signs of a breakthrough in the three-year-old stalemate.

January 25, 2010

Now or never

Martin McGuinness has said Sinn Fein has fulfilled its obligations in government and is now insisting unionists and the two government do the same to avoid a political crisis.

PSNI man arrested over Loughinisland massacre

A member of the PSNI was suspended on Friday over allegations that he protected the UVF murder gang who carried out the Loughinisland massacre.

Gun attack in south Armagh

Crossmaglen PSNI base in south Armagh was last night targeted in a gun attack for the second time in less than a month. At about 9.30pm a car pulled up at the gates, two people fired shots at the station and fled. There were no injuries.

SF calls on PSNI to end informer pressure

Sinn Fein has backed the case of a Derry republican who complained that British intelligence agencies had been “relentless” in their efforts to recruit him as an informer.

Anger at Cameron’s ‘Orange Card’

The British Conservative Party has been accused of engaging in sectarianism over its secret talks with the UUP and the DUP.

Waterford plant closes for last time

Hundreds of people came to pay their final respects to the Waterford Crystal visitors’ centre at Kilbarry in Waterford yesterday as it closed its doors for the final time.

Bloody Sunday - the struggle continues

As many victims of miscarriages of justice will testify, admissions of guilt by Britain take a long time to come to pass.

Ruling greeted by the sound of silence

The British government contemptuously announced after the Strasbourg judgment that the discredited and unlawful Section 44 powers will remain in use.

‘Critical’ talks taking place today

DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness are holding a crucial meeting in Belfast today that could determine whether the Northern Executive and Assembly can be saved from collapse.

January 23, 2010

‘Critical’ meeting planned between Sinn Fein and DUP

Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness is to seek a ‘defining’ meeting with DUP leader Peter Robinson over the deadlock in the peace process.

January 22, 2010

No agreement with DUP

Talks on saving the North’s power-sharing government have ended without agreement, Sinn Fein said today.

January 21, 2010

Pan-unionist front

Secret talks have been taking place between the DUP, Ulster Unionist Party and the British Conservatives which could bolster unionist domination in the north of Ireland for generations to come, it has emerged.

Recriminations continue in abuse controversy

Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has voiced his support for party president Gerry Adams who is facing criticism over how he dealt with child sex abuse allegations against his brother Liam.

McCafferty appeals to London Supreme Court

A Belfast man jailed following claims by British intelligence agencies that he is a Real IRA leader is to take his legal challenge to Britain’s highest court.

Final salute for Derry republican

A volley of shots was fired over the coffin of a republican in Derry on Tuesday evening.

Returned emigrants refused welfare payments

A record number of Irish citizens were refused social welfare payments by the 26-County administration last year because they failed to satisfy increasingly bureaucratic residency requirements.

Govt to ‘whitewash’ banking collapse

The Dublin government’s decision on holding a semi-secret commission of inquiry into the banking crisis has been condemned by the 26-County opposition as a “whitewash”.

Inquiry must look at role of politics

Before deciding what form an inquiry should take, we must define what exactly we need to know.

Time for abuse inquiry

The Stormont administration needs to exercise its responsibility for protection of children and young people.

January 18, 2010

Historic handshake

The DUP leader Peter Robinson has revealed that he has shaken hands with Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness and suggested that he could be reinstated as First Minister within two weeks.

Councillor suspended as abuse controversy continues

Councillor Briege Meehan has been suspended from Sinn Fein after being questioned by the PSNI over allegations of abusing her stepdaughter, it has emerged.

Bomb attack on GAA athletes

Loyalists are being blamed for a bomb attack at a community centre where a Gaelic sports team was training.

Republican wins right to challenge trial without jury

County Tyrone republican Brian Arthurs has won High Court permission to challenge a decision to hold his forthcoming criminal trial without a jury.

Secret banking inquiry plan slammed

A row has erupted in the Dublin coalition government after Fianna Fail argued that an inquiry into the crisis in Irish banks should be held partially in private to avoid controversial or embarrassing details emerging into the public domain.

Dublin govt acts on Haiti

Irish President Mary McAleese has told Haiti’s head of state that Ireland is praying for his country as the Dublin government prepared to send a team of specialists to the earthquake hit region.

Response to Sunday Tribune

Gerry Adams replies to allegations published by Suzanne Breen and the Sunday Tribune newspaper.

Robinson now a prisoner

Peter Robinson is now the prisoner of his party’s hardliners. They are keeping him in custody until they can agree a method of disposing of his political carcass.

January 16, 2010

Pressure mounts on negotiations

The Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein have resumed talks at Stormont Castle today after progress was reported yesterday in the attempt to break the deadlock on the transfer of policing and justice powers in the north of Ireland from London to Belfast.

January 14, 2010

Process fights back

26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen and British prime minister Gordon Brown declared “early completion” of the devolution of policing and justice powers to the North is achievable despite the turmoil within unionism over the Iris Robinson affair.

Ireland responds to Haiti devastation

Irish relief agencies have joined international appeals for donations to help victims of the Haiti earthquake as the country grapples with shocking scenes and a potential six figure death toll.

Robinson’s future unclear

Castlereagh Borough Council has confirmed its plans to initiate its own investigation into the Iris Robinson affair.

Arbitrary detentions illegal, says human rights court

The European Court of Human Rights yesterday [Wednesday] ruled that British police powers to stop and search people without grounds for suspicion are illegal.

Omagh bomb retrial begins

The retrial of county Louth man Colm Murphy over the 1998 Omagh bomb has begun at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

Raytheon ships out

Raytheon, the controversial international arms manufacturer, is to leave Derry and close its operations plant there, it was announced on Wednesday.

The UDA and the pay-off

The basis of the UDA decommissioning settlement was set out back in 2007.

Abuse of political power is real issue

Peter Robinson performed a sleight of hand trick brilliantly last week.

January 11, 2010

Scandal overwhelms Stormont

The Belfast Assembly at Stormont was in disarray today as the DUP leader Peter Robinson stepped down temporarily as First Minister following revelations of an affair between his wife Iris, and a 19-year-old youth.

PSNI man injured in attack

An armed republican group has claimed responsibility for an attack in which a member of the PSNI police was seriously injured.

Sinn Fein’s problems in Dublin mount

A third Sinn Fein councillor in Dublin has quit the party.

Adams ‘unaware’ of brother’s activities

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has said that his brother, Liam, should never have been a member of the party. Liam Adams is wanted by the PSNI over claims that he sexually abused his daughter.

British helicopter overflights increase

Complaints about helicopter overflights in the North of Ireland increased by 46% during the last year, British officials have admitted.

Fianna Fail ‘afraid’ of banks inquiry

Fianna Fail has been accused of being “afraid” to hold an inquiry into the banking crisis.

Liam Mellows’s escape

How Liam Mellows escaped from exile in England to return to Ireland in time for the 1916 Rising.

Power-sharing in North now hanging by a thread

It is very tempting to ridicule the extraordinary state of affairs that has crashed down on the Robinson family.

Arlene Foster ‘to step in’ as First Minister

The DUP leader and Six-County First Minister Peter Robinson, battling for his political life following a lurid scandal centring on an extra-marital affair by his wife, has requested that party colleague Arlene Foster temporarily exercise the functions of the office of First Minister.

January 8, 2010