Over a million households have boycotted the 100 euro household charge
in an extraordinary act of public defiance against an austerity flat tax
imposed by the Dublin government.
Three homes of Republican Sinn Féin members were raided by armed PSNI
and CID police units this week in Craigavon in County Armagh. In each
home computers, media storage devices and mobile phones were seized.
A decision by former 26-County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former European
Commission Padraig Flynn and other party colleagues to resign from
Fianna Fáil this week over the report of the Mahon tribunal is being
seen as a potentially defining moment in the battle against corruption
in Ireland.
The family of a man shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries while eight
undercover British soldiers were hiding nearby yesterday criticised a
decision not to hold an inquest into the murder.
A newlywed Derry couple have recounted how a planned five day break in
Spain turned into a nightmare after they were approached by
British military intelligence.
The date for the referendum on the European Union’s permanent austerity
treaty has been set as Thursday, May 31st, opening the way for a debate
on a treaty which, if passed, could restrict Ireland’s economic freedom
forever.
Dublin bankers cashed in Pádraig Pearse’s life insurance policy just
weeks after he was executed in 1916 and used the money to redeem a
series of promissory notes.
The latest reminder of where the Orange Order are headed comes in the form of Danny
Kennedy’s decision to duck out of the Ulster Unionist leadership
contest.
Corruption affected every level of government from cabinet ministers to
local councillors during two decades of political dominance by Fianna
Fáil, according to the final report of the Mahon planning tribunal.
Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy has described a loyalist march which was
allowed to take place as local residents were celebrating St Patrick’s
Day in the centre of Armagh, as having “killed the spirit of St.
Patrick”.
The main contender for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party has
said unionists should have nothing to fear from a border poll in the
North on reuniting Ireland.
Amid signs of increased patrols by British soldiers, a group of activists at Queens’ University in Belfast has succeeded in
preventing a British military recruitment exercise on the campus.
A number of Irish political leaders gathered in Washington this week
for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams
thanked US supporters for their past commitment to the peace process
and discussed a number of ongoing issues.
The Bogside and Brandywell Monument Committee
held a commemoration in Derry this week for nineteen-year-old Colm Keenan and
eighteen-year-old Eugene McGillan, who were shot dead by British
soldiers in the Dove Gardens area of the Bogside on March 14, 1972.
Spare us your indignation, Micheál Martin. Button your disgust, Fianna
Fáil. We don’t want to hear it. You had your chance and you chose to do
nothing. So don’t pretend to be shocked now.
The Dublin government’s futile attempts to secure relief from its
budget and banking crises continued this week in the face of
increasingly arrogant debt repayment demands by European Union
authority figures.
An eírígí activist has said he was offered a cash inducement in return
for information about the organisation’s future direction during a
disturbing roadside encounter on the outskirts of Belfast.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson and US sports wear manufacturer Nike have
both been forced to apologise to the Irish community after making
insults related to St Patrick’s Day.
The two murdered mayors’, is still a familiar Limerick expression,
particularly among older citizens. Both were killed by the Black and Tans in the small hours of Monday 7 March 1921.
The family of Sam Marshall are to seek a full inquest into his death
after it was revealed this week that he was under observation by at
least nine British soldiers when he was killed in 1990.
One of the most senior figures in the Sinn Féin leadership has
challenged members of the organisation to “say sorry for the human
effects of all actions during the armed struggle”.
The early-morning destruction by the Gardai police of the ‘Occupy Dame
Street’ protest camp took place as the divide between Ireland’s 99% and
a ruling elite appeared wider than ever.
A loyalist march has incredibly been given permission to march directly
through the centre of Armagh next Saturday, on a night when thousands of
people will have descended on the city for its annual St Patrick’s Day
celebrations.
The Six County ‘Minister for Justice’ David Ford has clashed with a
prisoner recently released from Maghaberry over the treatment of
political prisoners and the ongoing ‘dirty protest’ at the jail.
Republicans have
been saying for years now that they’re sorry the conflict happened, that
life was lost. That’s not the same as saying they think their armed
campaign was a mistake.
The Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott is quitting as party leader.
Elliot said tonight he would not seek re-election to the position at the annual
general meeting, in just over three weeks time.
Fine Gael leader and 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny provoked the wrath
of a large swathe of Irish public opinion this morning when he signed
the EU’s Fiscal Compact Treaty, without waiting for a referendum of the
people of the State.
Unionists should attend republican events -- and nationalists turn out to
mark unionist anniversaries -- in a bid to prevent historical centenaries
such as the 1916 Easter Rising fuelling public unrest, Sinn Féin has
said.
Sinn Féin West Tyrone MP Pat Doherty has told Britain’s Direct Ruler, Owen Paterson, that his government cannot rule out
an independent international Truth Commission for the North of Ireland.
On the eve of his party’s annual Ard Fheis conference, Fianna Fáil
leader Micheal Martin has suddenly sacked his deputy leader and the
grandson of party founder Eamon de Valera, over his stance on the EU
Treaty referendum.
The text of an address delivered by Sinn Féin leader
Gerry Adams as he launched the party’s ‘Love Rural Ireland’ campaign
this [Friday] morning in Castlebar.