Irish Republican News: Archives

July 26, 2010

Protest march dodges PSNI

Hundreds of republicans were prevented from marching through a nationalist area of Lurgan in north Armagh on Sunday by the PSNI but finally got around them in a game of ‘cat and mouse’.

Fianna Fail marches north

The 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen crossed the border to Crossmaglen, County Armagh on Thursday night for the formal opening of Fianna Fail’s first offices in the Six Counties.

DUP concern for sectarian killer

DUP MPs have backed a sectarian double killer who was sacked after he called for ‘The Sash’ to be played outside a branch of the Asda retail chain store in north Belfast.

Highway robbery as fat cats help themselves

It was revealed that there are 192 people on trolleys awaiting treatment in hospitals around the 26 Counties this evening as it emerged that the Department of Health ignored legal limits in setting the salary for the new chief executive of the Health Service Executive.

‘Justice for the Forgotten’ funding is cut

The group which represents victims of the conflict in the 26 Counties has said it may be wound down within days because of a lack of funds.

Returning Irish denied welfare

Returning Irish emigrants are increasingly being refused vital social welfare payments because of tightening residency requirements.

Republican prisoners deserve support

The prepared text of the address by Paul Duffy, a former republican prisoner and brother of Colin Duffy, to the ‘Families, friends and ex-PoWs march’ for republican prisoners in Lurgan on Sunday.

Resolving contentious orange marches

It is the obstinate insistence by the loyal orders to march through Catholic areas, and their refusal to talk, that is at the heart of the perennial violence that marks the marching season.

July 22, 2010

Fine Gael takes the soup

A decision by Ireland’s main opposition party, Fine Gael, to take corporate donations from some of Ireland’s most notorious developers has threatened to re-open splits within the party.

Loyalist leader backs amnesty

UDA ‘brigadier’ Jackie McDonald has said an all-inclusive amnesty is needed to allow loyalists to tell the truth their actions in the conflict.

New marching dispute in Ardoyne

Another loyalist group has applied to march through the republican Ardoyne in north Belfast next month despite the unprecendented violence which followed a similar parade through the area earlier this month.

Asda rehires ‘Sash’-loving killer

There has been outrage over a sectarian incident at a branch of the Asda chain stores in north Belfast after the shop employee in question, a double sectarian killer, was reinstated in his post.

Adams calls for release of Arnaldo Ortegi

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has called on the Spanish Government to release Basque Nationalist Leader Arnaldo Otegi. Mr Adams said that Mr Ortegi’s continued imprisonment made building a peace process in the Basque country more difficult.

Northern ‘accents’ not a language - Paisley

The claimed ‘language’ of Ulster-Scots has been jokingly dismissed by a DUP MP as “just bad English”.

In my son’s name

The message sent by Peggy O’Hara, mother of hunger-strike Patsy O’Hara, on the first Anniversary of the Hunger Strike deaths to Irish Solidarity activists in Scotland and England.

Reflecting on Saville

While welcoming the Saville verdict of unalloyed innocence I was dismayed by the lack of clarity in relation to the guilty.

July 19, 2010

Facing up to change

A brief verbal exchange between a former IRA leader and a masked youth has dramatised a potential power shift in republican Belfast and across the North, at least at street level.

Pressure on Orangemen

Calls are mounting for the Orange Order to bring an end to anti-Catholic parades through nationalist neighbourhoods following last week’s riots.

British truth panel rejected

The key proposals of the Eames-Bradley group on how to deal with ‘the legacy’ of the conflict in the North of Ireland have provoked a negative reaction, according to the results of a consultation process.

‘Cheer up’ - Cowen

The 26-County Taoiseach has railed against “negativity” as Ireland’s sovereign debt was judged to be at an increased risk of default by international credit agency Moody’s.

Shell protestor vows to continue struggle

Mayo fisherman Pat O’Donnell has vowed to continue his opposition to the Corrib gas project on health, safety and environmental grounds, following his release from prison at the weekend.

Flotilla survivors plan fresh Gaza shipment

The Irish-owned MV Rachel Corrie may sail from the southern Israeli port of Ashdod within weeks after Irish activists who last month attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza onboard the vessel were told it was ready to be released.

Reforming the Republic

The full text of the Hume Lecture delivered by Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness at the McGill Summer School over the weekend.

Men of no property

No one spoke to the Ardoyne protestors to find out why they saw fit to block the road.

July 16, 2010

Ardoyne - the new Drumcree?

Some of the worst rioting in years has left scores injured in Belfast after a sectarian parade by the Protestant Orange Order was forced through three nationalist areas in the north of the city on Monday.

The war on the streets

A round-up of the violence which broke oiut around the Six Counties following the PSNI attack on the Ardoyne protest.

Repressive powers ‘still available’

The announcement that stop and search powers under Section 44 of the British government’s ‘Terrorism Act’ are to be suspended will not mean any decrease in the use of draconian legislation by the PSNI, it has been claimed.

Legal effort to demand by-election

Sinn Fein Senator Pearse Doherty has brought a High Court challenge to the refusal by the Dublin government to hold an overdue byelection in the Donegal South West constituency.

Over 100,000 set to emigrate

The number of people emigrating from Ireland this year and next is predicted to reach 120,000, according to the latest statistics.

Derry is ‘UK city of culture’

Derry has been chosen as the “UK Capital of Culture” for 2013, ahead of steel capital Sheffield and mustard centre Norwich.

The Battle of the Boyne

No year in Irish history is better known than 1690. No Irish battle is more famous than William III’s victory over James II at the River Boyne, a few miles west of Drogheda

The twelfth

The Orange marching season always provides its fair share of problems.

July 12, 2010

Orange parade forced through Ardoyne

The controversial Orange Parade has been forced through Ardoyne in north Belfast after a non-violent sit-down protest was brutally forced off the road.

Ardoyne protest attacked

A peaceful protest against a provocative anti-Catholic parade in north Belfast is being subjected to a violent PSNI assault this evening.

Eleventh mayhem

Heavy rioting took place in north and west Belfast overnight arising from loyalist bonfires ahead of today’s climax of the marching season.

Ardoyne tense ahead of parade

There are concerns that potential violence could erupt if an Orange Order parade is forced through the republican Ardoyne area of north Belfast.

Huge bomb marks ‘dissident’ development

A bomb which blew a large crater in a south Armagh road on Saturday was intended for a passing PSNI police patrol.

SAS men must testify

SAS soldiers who shot dead a man in Derry In 1984 will be ordered to give evidence at a fresh Inquest, it has been announced.

Ombudsman urged to quit over botched report

Al Hutchinson’s job as the Six-County Police Ombudsman is in doubt after being forced to cancel publication of an official report by his office into the 1971 McGurk’s bar massacre.

Queen’s visit ‘good for peace’ - Britain

The planned visit to the 26 Counties by Elizabeth Windsor, the ‘Queen of England’, will not harm the peace process but could benefit it, Britain’s newly-appointed Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, Hugo Swire, has claimed.

Anthony McDowell

At the time of his death, Anthony McDowell (13), lived with his family in Duneden Park, Ardoyne. He was shot dead on 19th April 1973, by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment.

Orange marches and pigswill

It's absolutely unbelievable what happens here over the Twelfth period.

July 9, 2010

Ombudsman suspends report publication

A report into one of the worst attacks of the conflict was put on hold today after bereaved relatives condemned its findings.

July 8, 2010

McGurk report whitewash

Families of those killed in the loyalist bombing of McGurk’s Bar in north Belfast have branded an independent report into the atrocity, which found no evidence of Crown force collusion, a “whitewash”.

Euro court slaps down repressive PSNI powers

The British government has been forced to reconsider stop-and-search powers following a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling.

Still no, say Orangemen

The Orange Order has rejected draft legislation to deal with coat-trailing sectarian parades just days before the ‘Twelfth’ Battle of the Boyne marches.

Families sue over murder weapon handed back

The families of five men shot dead by loyalists in a Belfast bookmaker’s are suing the head of the PSNI police for failing to prevent their deaths.

Coalition targets the weakest

As 26-County Ministers gave themselves three months vacation this week, thousands marched in protest against new cuts to services for disabled people and carers.

Ex-Green councillor joins Sinn Fein

A Cork-based councillor Chris O’Leary, formerly of the Green Party, joined Sinn Fein today.

The Falls Road curfew

The Falls Road curfew of the summer of 1970 is regarded as a major turning point in the early history of the conflict.

Hunger striker helped others laugh through tough times

It does not happen very often that the publication of this column coincides with the anniversary of one of the 10 men who died on hunger strike in the H-Blocks in 1981.

July 6, 2010

Teen battles bullet injury

A Catholic teenager is in a serious condition in hospital after being hit by a plastic bullet fired by the PSNI in west Belfast at the weekend.

Shock at Ardoyne parade decision

There has been a furious response after a loyalist parade on ‘the Twelfth’ was given the go ahead to pass a highly contoversial north Belfast.

PSNI base attacked

A gun attack took place on Crossmaglen PSNI base at the weekend. Shots were aimed at the south Armagh PSNI barracks shortly before 11pm on Saturday night.

Classified internment documents uncovered

Hundreds of republicans remained interned without trial in the early 70s because the British authorities manipulated the so-called review process, according to newly discovered documents.

Fianna Fail fraying at the edges

The 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen is said to be struggling to maintain control over his Fianna Fail party amid an escalating jobs crisis.

Pope is ‘progeny of hell’ - Paisley

A sectarian outburst by former DUP leader Ian Paisley just days after an to mark his contribution to the peace process has embarrassed the political establishment in the North.

Connolly and the Irish Language

Imposing English as the first language of Ireland was a pre-meditated project of the English invaders to attempt to condition the people they wished to oppress.

Why we can’t let parade rules trample over civil rights

There will be a civil rights march in Derry on October 5.

July 1, 2010

Riot follows Craigavon arrests

Heavy rioting has broken out in Craigavon tonight following PSNI operations in north Armagh.

Drumcree parade rerouted

The Drumcree Orange parade this Sunday will not be allowed to pass down the nationalist Garvaghy Road for a twelfth year, the Parades Commission has decided.

Diplock court convicts MI5 sting victim

A Lurgan man set up by the MI5 agent posing as an arms dealer was found guilty by a non-jury Diplock court this week despite substantial legal concerns over entrapment and the virtual purchase of his arrest.

Kenny accepts army council disbandment

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has said he accepts the Provisional IRA and its army council “are no more”.

Arrest precedes new Shell pipeline plan

There have been renewed efforts to prevent the construction of Shell’s high-pressure gas pipeline and onshore refinery in county Mayo following the imprisonment of local environmental campaigner, Maura Harrington.

Call for govts to do more for justice

Speaking during a debate in the Dublin parliament on the report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, Sinn Fein’s Caoimhghin O Caolain said it was “a disgrace” that the 26-County Government had cut funding for the only victims’ group in the State, Justice for the Forgotten.

Remembering day in June helps build a better future

The people of Belfast’s Ballymacarrett-Short Strand area have made a valuable contribution to the struggle for a united Ireland.

Robinson ditched by NIO and DUP will follow suit

As a political figure Peter Robinson has been terminally weakened.