British Prime Minister David Cameron is to appoint a judge to
investigate the operation of a scheme to deal with those ‘on-the-run’
from conflict-related prosecutions after Peter Robinson yesterday
threatened to quit as the North’s First Minister.
Donegal republican John Downey walked free today after a court in London
said charges against him of taking part in an IRA campaign in 1982
amounted to “an abuse of process”. But the decision to release him has
created confusion and anger in the north of Ireland over a previously
secret scheme to tackle the issue of OTRs -- those ‘on the run’ from
outstanding conflict-related prosecutions.
Stephen Murney was cleared of outstanding ‘terrorism’ charges this
afternoon amid strong criticism of the system of internment by remand
being operated by the PSNI police and Crown prosecutors against
republicans in the north of Ireland.
The 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny is resisting intense pressure to
sack his Minister for Justice Alan Shatter amid a tsunamic scandal over
his handling of police corruption and misconduct.
DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness will join
Irish officials travelling to Washington DC next month ahead of St
Patrick’s Day, but a high-profile meeting with US President Barack Obama
may not now take place.
It has been revealed that British military intelligence decides if
victims of sectarian attacks in the Six Counties should receive measures
to protect their homes.
The 32 County Sovereignty movement has strongly condemned the PSNI in
Derry after it said a young mother was subjected to a “very public
humiliation” as she was leaving her child to Long Tower school in the
Brandywell.
The Basque armed group ETA has made a significant step towards
decommissioning the weapons used in its campaign for independence and
freedom -- but the Spanish government immediately rejected the move.
Why doesn’t Gregory Campbell launch a campaign to lift The Power of
Orange Knickers up the charts? This would be a more apt and less risible
response to the success of Glasgow Celtic supporters in pushing The
Roll of Honour into the BBC’s chart show.
The Dublin government has been rocked by shocking revelations of a
‘black ops’ spy operation at the headquarters of the police ombudsman’s
office, the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
The leader of the Irish Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore, has distanced
himself from a proposal by Sinn Fein to form a left-wing coalition to
“take on” the main conservative parties in the 26 Counties, Fine Gael
and Fianna Fail.
There has been a deterioration in the conditions for republican
political prisoners held at Maghaberry prison in County Armagh after
prisoners were left without heat and food for two days in a row last
weekend.
There have been calls for an investigation into whether a Crown force
informer in the north of Ireland was allowed to continue to engage in
child sex abuse in exchange for spying on the INLA, the Irish National
Liberation Army.
The widow of Pat Finucane has said she believes the full truth behind
his murder has yet to be exposed - but when it is, it will affect other
families.
A major protest against the erosion of the Irish language and the
rights of Irish speakers takes place at 2pm later today [Saturday] at
the Garden of Remembrance in Dublin. An article on ‘Lá Mór na Gaeilge’
by Tomaí Ó Conghaile, editor of NÓS
Speaking on the eve of the Sinn Fein annual conference, the Six-County
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has urged the DUP to turn away
from loyalist extremism and bring an end to the “embarrassing” political
stalemate at Stormont.
A Catholic schoolteacher at a north Belfast school has been forced to
leave her school district after becoming a a target for a sectarian
loyalist hate campaign.
Several thousand marchers in Derry have heard fresh demands that those
responsible for the Bloody Sunday massacre be held accountable for their
actions.
Concern is growing for the well-being of jailed peace activist and
writer Margaretta D’Arcy who remains in Limerick prison despite
international protests for her release.
Breandan Mac Cionnaith, general secretary of eirigi, sets out his
party’s views on the conflict in the Six Counties and the challenge to
republicanism.