Irish Republican News: Archives

December 28, 2012

British sought hunger strike 'capitulation'

Official records have revealed that the British government had a plan to ‘brainwash’ Long Kesh hunger strikers to end their protest individually.

Corey’s bail order overturned

British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers has won a legal bid to continue the internment of veteran republican Martin Corey.

PSNI target Christmas celebrations

A County Derry Sinn Fein councillor has accused the PSNI police of harassment after his brother’s house was raided on Christmas Eve, while the family of an eirigi activist were kept apart for the holiday by bizarre bail demands.

Flags tension dissipates

Protests by loyalists and hardline unionists on the issue of flying the British flag at Belfast City Hall have sharply decreased in size and number.

Coalition targets internet critics

The 26-County government has been accused of planning to introduce censorship and free speech ‘chilling’ measures following the tragic death last week of Fine Gael’s junior minister at the Department of Agriculture, Shane McEntee.

Arson attack on Catholic church

A Catholic priest has urged those responsible for a suspected sectarian arson attack on his County Antrim church to leave their Catholic neighbours in peace.

The 1982 papers

A look at some of the other stories which emerged from initial reviews of the archived classified papers, partially declassified in Dublin, Belfast and London this week under the ‘30 years rule’.

Calls for full dialogue falling on deaf ears

2012 again saw the dialogue of the deaf at Stormont, and all the evidence suggests 2013 won’t be any different.

December 21, 2012

Loughinisland report quashed

The report of the former police ombudsman into the murder of six men in the Loughinisland massacre has been scrapped after a court hearing on their judicial review.

Fresh loyalist disturbances underway

Loyalists are again attempting to bring the North to a standstill this evening with road closures in Belfast and across the north.

Family’s nightmare as retrial expected in ‘Micky Bo’ murder

A retrial is to be sought in the case of three Ballymena men whose convictions were quashed this week for the 2006 sectarian murder of Catholic teenager Michael McIlveen.

Progress seen in Bloody Sunday justice campaign

The Bloody Sunday families have welcomed news that former British soldiers may finally be questioned by the PSNI as part of a murder investigation into the killings.

Pan-unionism returns as Stormont flags talks stall

Multi-party talks on the flags issue at Stormont have been suspended until next year following an announcement that a forum to unite different forces within unionism has been organised.

Family of UDA ‘romper room’ victim seek answers

The family of a Catholic murder victim are calling for a new investigation into his death amid claims that his killers were informers protected by the police and British intelligence.

Four martyrs commemorated in Belfast

A commemoration event in memory of Joe McKelvey, Liam Mellows, Richard Barrett and Rory O’Connor took place in Belfast’s Milltown Cemetery on December 8.

The only credible action is a public inquiry

There were several, simultaneous, overlapping and complementary conspiracies which taken together inescapably amount to ‘an overarching state conspiracy in the murder of citizens through collusion’, one of whom was Pat Finucane.

December 17, 2012

Clashes follow traffic chaos in Belfast

Trouble broke out tonight in several areas after Belfast was again brought to a standstill by groups of loyalists demanding the return of the British flag on Belfast City Hall.

December 14, 2012

Spin and shadows

Most of the 500-page review of the 1989 murder of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane released this week has been heavily censored “in the interests of state security”, the Finucane family has been told.

PSNI facilitating loyalist roadblocks

The failure of the PSNI to move small numbers of loyalists from busy public roads has brought Belfast and nearby towns to a halt for several hours at a time this week during some the busiest days of the year.

Unionists feud in flags blame-game

The former Ulster Unionist First Minister David Trimble has accused DUP leader Peter Robinson of cynically stoking tensions over the flying of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall in order to win back his parliamentary seat in its former East Belfast stronghold from the Alliance Party.

Nationalists arrested amid loyalist disorder

A PSNI operation against the nationalist residents of Ardoyne has heightened tension at a time when the Six-County police have openly facilitated loyalist roadblocks and disturbances.

Labour party in crisis

The chairman of the 26-County Labour Party Colm Keaveney has called for a special party conference amid upheaval within the organisation, founded by Irish socialist heroes James Connolly and Jim Larkin, over its support for a swingeing right-wing Fine Gael budget.

Protestants decline as ‘Northern Irish’ are tallied

The Protestant population is continuing to fall with the gap between the two religious traditions narrowing further.

Change comes dropping slow. Oh so slow.

Most shameful of all is that disorder arose because nationalists and republicans engaged in a democratic act of decision-making.

Catholic tide can’t be held back

Falling below the 50 per cent figure was a staggering psychological shock for unionists, many of whom still have it fixed in their head that they amount to two thirds of the north’s population.

December 12, 2012

Finucane family reject de Silva report

The widow of murdered Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane today dismissed the report into his death by British barrister Desmond de Silva as “a sham” and “a whitewash”

Cameron admits collusion, denies conspiracy in Finucane murder

The British Prime Minister has admitted the assassination of Pat Finucane was “an appalling crime” which involved three state agents, the RUC police and the British Army, but he has stopped short of ordering a public inquiry.

December 10, 2012

Unionism in ‘identity crisis’ as violence expands

The leaders of the two main unionist parties held urgent meetings on the unionist identity tonight following a week of violence and disorder in the North of Ireland.

December 8, 2012

Unionist intimidation and violence continue

Trouble has broken out again in Belfast this evening after more than a thousand loyalists, including a number of masked paramilitaries, marched to the city centre to demand the Union Jack flag be reinstated year-round atop Belfast City Hall.

December 7, 2012

Bigots turn against Alliance

A wave of unionist violence and intimidation has followed a vote in the Belfast City Council on Monday to sharply reduce the number of days the British Union Jack flag flies over the City Hall.

Unionists seeking flags ‘revenge’

Unionist politicians are to try to turn the tables after a vote to reduce the flying of the British Union Jack flag above Belfast City Hall -- with a motion that the ‘Butcher’s Apron’ flies 365 days a year above Stormont, the seat of the Six County Assembly.