The DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson sparked widespread
public outrage this week when he made derogatory comments about Muslims.
He was speaking in defence of a north Belfast Pastor, who described
Islam as “heathen” and “satanic”.
A group set up to oppose a miscarriage of justice in the conviction of
the Craigavon Two has vowed to continue its campaign despite losing an
appeal this week.
With the summer marching season approaching and the Stormont parties
further apart than ever, the US peace envoy Richard Haass has ruled out
returning to Ireland to broker a deal on parades, flags and the legacy
of the conflict.
The new PSNI Chief Constable in the north of Ireland has been named as
George Hamilton, a veteran of the RUC who is currently serving as the
Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) in the PSNI.
The brother of three south Armagh men shot dead by the Glenanne gang has
accused the British government and political parties of “protecting
their own deep secrets”.
Facts and figures of a historic election for Sinn Fein, in which it won
21% of the national vote across all 32 counties and officially became
the largest party in Ireland.
The Fine Gael/Labour government is in crisis. The election results of
recent days confirm this. They have been effectively given a notice to
quit by the electorate.
Sinn Fein’s Lynn Boylan became the first Irish MEP to be elected to the
European Parliament in this election, topping the poll in the Dublin
constituency by a very wide margin over her mainstream party rivals.
“Something profound has happened in the people’s attitudes to
politics,” said Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, as results
came in across the 26 Counties on Saturday.
An extraordinary election result is unfolding in the 26 Counties as
tallies show that Sinn Fein is now the largest party in Dublin by some
distance, and the three main establishment parties only winning the
support of half of the electorate across the state.
Counting is currently ongoing in the North’s local election results,
with 462 councillors to be elected for the 11 new ‘super-councils’,
which have replaced the existing 26 local councils.
Local and European elections are taking place today and tomorrow
[Thursday and Friday] in the Six and 26 Counties respectively. The
elections are likely to confirm that Sinn Fein is the dominant political
force on the island of Ireland and for the first time, is now equally
strong in both the 26 Counties and the Six Counties.
A guilty verdict against a prominent Lurgan republican has been thrown
out after admissions that RUC police lied to prosecutors and tried to
manipulate the case.
The families of six men killed by either Crown forces or loyalist
paramilitaries are to be awarded damages for unlawful delays in holding
inquests, a High Court judge ruled on Tuesday.
The family of a murdered Catholic politician have begun a civil legal
action against the PSNI Chief Matt Baggott, accusing the police of
repeated failures to investigate the killing.
Former government minister Eamon O Cuiv has warned that the atmosphere
in Maghaberry Prison between republican prisoners and prison authorities
is on a “knife edge”.
A number of events took place last weekend to remember those killed in
the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and wreathes were laid at the Talbot
Street memorial in Dublin and in Monaghan town centre.
A landmark High Court ruling that the relatives of six men are to be
awarded compensation for lengthy delays in holding inquests gives hope
to countless others in similar situations.
The trial of a loyalist gang involved in the death of Catholic community
worker Kevin McDaid has ended with all of the charges against them being
dropped or reduced to minor ones.
A decision by the PSNI police not to investigate the admitted sectarian
murders by an undercover British army unit is being described as a
devastating injustice against the families of the victims.
With his party on the brink of local and European election successes,
party leader Gerry Adams has taken legal action against 26-County media
group Independent News and Media (IN&M) over a recent news report.
Posters for eirigi candidate Maire Drumm are being vandalised in the
Colin area of West Belfast, the party has said, as Sinn Fein and rival
republicans continue to contest the visual spaces open to their
communities.
Victims of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, which took place 40
years ago this week, are to sue the British government for failing to
bring the perpetrators to justice.
There have been calls for action to be taken in the county Derry town of
Limavady after two loyalist bandsmen urinated at the gates of a parish
priest’s home during a parade in the town.
The 26-County Minister for Finance Michael Noonan took part in a
grovelling welcoming party for billionaire businessman Donald Trump at
Shannon airport earlier this week.
The most recent compiled list of Sinn Fein and other
republican candidates contesting this week’s elections, with short
biographies of the Euro candidates.
A high stakes game in the North’s unfinished peace process played out
before the world’s media last week. But almost twenty years after the
Provisional IRA’s ceasefire, the shock detention of Gerry Adams on
allegations of past IRA activity ended in a dramatic triumph for the
Sinn Fein leader.
Despite a display of unity for the start of the Giro d’Italia
international bicycle race in Belfast this week, political relations are
at their lowest for years following the arrest and interrogation of Sinn
Fein leader Gerry Adams.
A new Minister for Justice was hurriedly appointed on Thursday less than
24 hours before the release of an official investigation which concluded
that the former Minister for Justice Alan Shatter had failed to
investigate a disturbing litany of corruption and malpractice.
Two men and two women due to stand trial charged with Provisional IRA
offences were dramatically cleared this week, after the prosecution said
it offered no evidence against them.
The worst day in the history of the recent conflict took place 40 years
ago this week. A report from Justice for the Forgotten, which was formed
in 1996 and continues to campaign for truth and justice for the victims
of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
A long saga of scandal, corruption and the abuse of power came to a
sudden end today with the announcement that the 26 County Minister for
Justice Alan Shatter has resigned.
The DUP has accused Sinn Fein of attempting to “bully” the PSNI into
not charging party leader Gerry Adams over IRA activities. Mr Adams is
undergoing a fourth day of interrogation following his arrest on
Wednesday.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams is facing a fourth night in jail at a
notorious British Crown force interrogation centre in Antrim as a crisis
over the failure to deal with the past conflict in the north of Ireland
begins to threaten delicate policing agreements.
The Ballymurphy Massacre Families have expressed their outrage at the
British government’s response to their call for an independent panel to
be established to investigate the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971.
The PSNI illegally facilitated violent and intimidatory loyalist flag
disturbances, according to ruling by a High Court judge in Belfast this
week. The PSNI’s handling of the demonstrations also breached the human
rights of a nationalist resident subjected to the disorder.
A 15-strong loyalist mob carried out a vicious racist attack on three
young Polish nationals in east Belfast last week as recent racist
attacks linked to British/loyalist extremism has continued.
Two former directors of Anglo Irish Bank convicted of a giant
white-collar crime which was pivotal in the 2008 collapse of the Irish
banking system will not spend a day in jail after a judge said the main
blame lay with government regulators.
A petition calling for a children’s play park to continue to be named
after IRA hunger striker Raymond McCreesh has so far received more than
1,000 signatures of support.
Despite a flagrant
attempt to draw a line under investigations into state terror, Britain reserves the power to prosecute republicans and loyalists as the needs of the ‘peace process’ dictate.
Sinn Fein’s Six-County Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness has
said that the arrest of party leader Gerry Adams by the PSNI last night
was politically motivated.