After ricocheting from one scandal to the next since his appointment,
disgraced 26-County Minister Alan Shatter is to finally face a
parliamentary motion of no confidence.
![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/rn.gif) | ![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif) |
March 29, 2014
Humiliated Minister clings to post
After ricocheting from one scandal to the next since his appointment,
disgraced 26-County Minister Alan Shatter is to finally face a
parliamentary motion of no confidence.
Bell gets bail as PSNI postpone Adams response
The PSNI have yet to say if they are seeking to question Sinn Fein
leader Gerry Adams following the arrest and charging of his former
comrade, Ivor Bell, on IRA charges last week.
Hunger strike over treatment of segregated prisoner
Republican prisoners in Maghaberry held a 48-hour hunger protest this
week in support of a prisoner held in the jail’s punishment block for
the past three years.
My sectarian slaughter ‘saved the Union’ - Hutchinson
The leader of the UVF paramilitary-linked Progressive Unionist Party
(PUP) Billy Hutchinson has claimed his role in the murder of two
Catholic men 40 years ago ‘helped prevent a united Ireland’.
Loyalist extemism promoted as Irish language is sidelined
Loyalists who wore balaclavas during a ‘show of strength’ close to a
north Belfast interface were taking part in “street theatre”, according
to the Stormont-funded ‘Ulster Political Research Group’ which has links
to the unionist paramilitary UDA.
Killing taigs - the truth
The cousin of two Catholic brothers murdered by Billy Hutchinson in 1974
responds to the PUP leader’s attempt to justify his actions.
The Shannon One
79-year-old Irish peace activist Margaretta D’Arcy’s was this week
released from prison, after serving a three month sentence for
protesting the use of Shannon Airport by those engaged in war crimes.
Can we defeat this injustice?
With one stroke the crown has muted the
Westminster outcry over its bartered OTR immunity certificates, placated
unionist adherents and sent a sinister warning to potential independent
republican candidates or campaigners.
March 26, 2014
Judicial system in disarray after new spying scandal
The Dublin government is in crisis and the 26 County judicial system on
the point of collapse following revelations that illegal recordings
have been made of telephone conversations to and from police stations
for some three decades.
March 25, 2014
Garda Commissioner quits after corruption scandal
The chief of the 26 County Garda police, Martin Callinan, resigned today
after refusing to withdraw his condemnations of two whistleblowers who
exposed corrupt practices in the force.
March 22, 2014
‘Vindictive’ policing as 77-year-old is charged
Veteran republican Ivor Bell has been charged this Friday night with
IRA membership and “aiding and abetting” the execution of informer Jean
McConville in 1972.
Sharp tactics put PSNI into New York parade
The organisers of the New York City St Patrick’s Day parade infuriated
Irish opinion in the city with a last minute u-turn to include a
contingent of anti-Irish PSNI police while continuing to ban gay and
lesbian organisations.
Force’s disregard for woman’s life caught on video
Video footage has emerged showing two members of the PSNI in Derry
laying an incapacitated St Patrick’s Day celebrant in a bus lane in
Derry.
Loyalists attack St Patrick’s Day celebration
Britain’s Union Jack flew over Belfast City Hall on St Patrick’s Day,
but that did not prevent loyalists gathering to attack Irish language
speakers attending a cultural event there.
‘New’ IRA claims sophisticated attack
A mortar rocket attack against a PSNI patrol in west Belfast last
weekend involved new technology and equipment, according to a statement
issued this week in the name of the IRA.
Alliance candidate backs a united Ireland
A leading member of the traditionally pro-union Alliance Party has
astonished everyone by declaring her support for a United Ireland.
Govts turning backs on innocent Irish people
Gerry Conlon and Paddy Hill, two men who suffered among the worst
miscarriages of justice in British history have accused the Irish and
British governments of turning their backs on innocent people sent to
prison.
Derry’s great escape artist
Seventy-one years ago Derry republican Hugh McAteer pulled off a series
of daring feats and in the process made headlines around the world.
Michael McMonagle looks at his extraordinary life.
March 15, 2014
NY parade organisers may reverse decision on PSNI - claims
Organisers of the New York City St Patrick’s Day parade have come under
heavy political pressure to reinstate a contingent of PSNI police in
Monday’s world-famous parade.
New York sends PSNI home
In a sudden turnaround, an ad-hoc campaign by Irish Americans has
succeeded in preventing the inclusion of a delegation of PSNI police
(formerly RUC) in this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in New York.
Obama ‘disappointed’ by talks as British eye prosecutions
Just five months before the 20th anniversary of the Provisional IRA’s
original ceasefire declaration, US President Barack Obama has expressed
disappointment at the failure of Irish politicians to deal with the
collapse of the latest mediation talks.
Hurling in public illegal - PSNI
The PSNI have been accused of taking Catholics in the north of Ireland
“back to the dark days” after several young people were stopped in the
street by members of the force for playing Gaelic games.
MI5 agent recorded making recruitment bid
British intelligence agents have been recorded making an overt approach
to a former prisoner in Belfast City Centre, just days after he lost his
job in a call center due to ‘security reasons’, according to the
Republican Network for Unity.
IRA warning over prison crisis
In a strongly-worded statement warning of further attacks,
responsibility for two letter bombs addressed to prison staff at
Maghaberry jail has been claimed in the name of ‘the IRA’.
Garda whistleblowers vindicated
An investigation into the quashing of penalty points by the Garda police
in the 26 Counties has found consistent and widespread wrongdoing within
the force, humiliating Dublin’s Justice Minister Alan Shatter and the
Garda police commissioner, Martin Callinan.
Tony Benn
Former British cabinet minister and lifelong radical Tony Benn died
today [Friday] at the age of 88.
Indomitable spirit of hunger striker lives on
There are events in one’s life, big and small, which are life-defining
and life-shaping, even though at the time you might not know it.
Meeting Bobby Sands for the first time became for me life-defining.
March 8, 2014
Devices intercepted amid prison tensions
Two letter bombs addressed to Maghaberry Prison were intercepted this
week following a violent confrontation inside the jail.
Bloody Sunday families fear immunity deal
The revelation that an administrative scheme to deal with IRA ‘On the
Run’s’ (OTRs) has been operating quietly for at least 13 years has
angered some of those bereaved by the Bloody Sunday massacre and other
state killings.
Terror on show at council hall
The unionist paramilitary UDA put on a
so-called ‘show of strength’ in a community centre owned and operated
by Belfast City Council last weekend.
No charges for sectarian march breaches
There has been an outcry after charges were dismissed
against 17 members of a hardline loyalist band who paraded past a
Catholic church in defiance of a legally-binding ban on sectarian
displays.
RSF man arrested and charged for using Irish
The National Treasurer of Republican Sinn Fein was arrested and charged
by the PSNI for speaking Irish, the party has said.
Ballymurphy inquest advances
The Ballymurphy massacre families have welcomed the opening in Belfast
of the preliminary stage of the inquest into the August 1971 killings
in which eleven people died at the hands of the British Army over the
space of three days.
Murney describes Maghaberry horror
Eirigi press officer Stephen Murney has given an account of the
physical and mental torture he endured while interned at Maghaberry
prison, outside Lisburn over the past 14 months.
“We broke Armagh, it never broke us”
The reflections of a group of republican women ex-prisoners and the
trauma, emotional and physical, that many of these women suffered and
overcame during their time in prison.
March 1, 2014
Stormont off the rails over OTRs
The past has once again come back to haunt the north of Ireland when it
emerged in an Old Bailey trial this week that some republicans ‘on the
run’ (OTR) from conflict-related prosecutions have privately received
assurances that no prosecutions are due.
Some republicans vexed by secretive process
The disclosures made in John Downey’s case could have altered the
course of Gerry McGeough’s trial or appeal, according to his legal
team, as the evidence presented at the Old Bailey could have confirmed
that 216 “pardons” had been issued to republicans.
Charity insiders earn millions as homeless numbers multiply
An ongoing row over salaries at Irish state-funded charities and
voluntary organisations took a fresh twist this wee, when it emerged
that senior executives at Rehab, who have long refused to reveal their
base salary payments, have awarded themselves lucrative bonuses.
Britain maintains silence at Marshall ambush inquest
British forces have said they will not disclose information to those
injured in the ambush and murder of Lurgan man Sam Marshall in March
1990.
Jobs and heritage face destruction on Moore Street
The great-grandson of Irish patriot James Connolly has criticised plans
to demolish a Moore Street bakery at the historic site of the 1916
Rising and erect a shopping mall.
Demonstrations continue for language rights
More than ten thousand have taken to the streets in recent weeks in
protest at the Dublin government’s failure to protect the linguistic
rights of Irish speakers, and further protests are planned.
The death of Sam Marshall
As preliminary hearings into his inquest get underway, a look at the
murder of Sam Marshall, a close friend of veteran Irish Republican Colin
Duffy, which took place 24 years ago this week, and the efforts of
assassinated human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson to pursue justice in
the case.
Robinson hedged threat with sufficient waffle
Peter Robinson’s resignation threat shows what a savage blow the failure
of the prosecution of John Downey has dealt to the political process in
the north.
