A 22-year-old Catholic man is recovering in hospital after being beaten
by a gang armed with iron bars and a hatchet in front of his partner and
new baby.
Former US Senator Gary Hart this week met with politicians in the North
and representatives from the Dublin and London governments as part of a
new US peace effort in Ireland.
The family of two Catholic men murdered by a loyalist double killer have
demanded to know why his ‘good behaviour’ release licence has not been
revoked - despite being charged with two more attempted murders.
An IRA man who escaped prison more than 50 years ago was given a royal
pardon by Margaret Thatcher’s government, official records from 1985
have revealed.
A former British Army intelligence officer has said he was ordered to
stop investigating allegations of child sexual abuse at a boys’ home in
the Six Counties.
Former US Democrat presidential candidate Gary Hart is set to begin
discussions next week with the Dublin and London governments in what is
being seen as an attempt to again kick start peace talks in the Six
Counties.
Decades after the IRA ceasefire, a former republican prisoner’s wife
has been denied entry to the US because of her husband’s role in the
IRA’s armed struggle.
Republican Sinn Fein has condemned the announcement of draconian new
laws in the 26 Counties which appear designed to prevent any increase in
support for militant republicanism ahead of the anniversary of the 1916
Rising.
A loyalist parade in a County Antrim village on Friday night breached
Parades Commission determinations on numerous occasions, but passed off
without violence.
To allow hundreds of distressed young women to make a lonely journey
across the Irish Sea every year because they have been denied proper
care in their own country is shameful.
A furore has arisen over the funeral of well-known republican and former
IRA PoW Tony Catney, who died on Saturday after a long battle of cancer.
The funeral featured a military-style honour guard.
An anti-internment march passed through Belfast city centre
without major violence last weekend, although two people were injured by
loyalists who threw fireworks and other missiles at the annual
demonstration.
There are fears that loyalist paramilitaries may again ratchet up
violence after a spokesperson for one of their biggest murder gangs said
the response by unionist politicians to recent marching decisions had
“fallen short”.
A packed lecture room at St Mary’s College in Belfast this week heard
John Finucane, the son of murdered Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane, again
raise serious questions about the evidence presented by the prosecution
in the case of the Craigavon Two.
The British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers has been condemned for ruling
out calls for an inquiry into the Ballymurphy killings during a vigil
last Sunday marking the 43rd anniversary of the deaths.
Unionists have failed to prevent a public speaking event in Belfast
featuring radical socialist George Galloway, the leader of the Respect
Party in Britain, who has advocated a comprehensive boycott of Israel
over its war crimes.
A massive security operation is being put in place ahead of an
anti-internment parade through Belfast city centre on Sunday, amid
warnings that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is facing its “greatest
challenge”.
Recently discovered secret documents have revealed that the British
Army’s Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) had primacy over other British army
units in some areas of the north during the conflict.
Former 26-County Taoiseach John Bruton has been asked to stop insulting
the families of those who took part in the 1916 Easter Rising after he
again grabbed headlines by delcaring that the Rising and subsequent War
of Independence should never have taken place.
Protests against fracking in the border areas are reaching a climax as
exploration company Tamboran has until the end of next month to decide
whether to commence drilling or abandon their shale-shifting project.
A campaign is growing in Ireland to support the international movement
of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel over its war crimes
in Gaza.
Former taoiseach John Bruton is on a crusade to revive Redmondism in
Irish politics and to denigrate the men and women who gave us the
Proclamation of the Irish Republic and the 1916 Rising.
A loyalist in his sixties drowned in a south Armagh pond on Monday night
while trying to remove two Irish tricolour flags and replace them with a
British Union Jack.
A meeting between Sinn Fein and representatives of republican prisoners
ended poorly with some of the prisoners issuing a stinging statement
which said the visit had “laid bare” the reality of the current
situation.
Restrictions were placed on Sinn Fein’s annual hunger strike
commemoration this week as a loyalist parade honouring two serial
killers took place with open paramilitary involvement and with heavy
financial support from the state.
The Dublin government has been accused of lying about the level of water
charges to try and get past the local elections after official estimates
of the annual cost of water suddenly escalated this week.
Protestors at a British royal military ceremony were attacked by Gardai
police off camera as an ongoing battle to rewrite the history of events
one hundred years ago played out live on Irish television.
There are two compelling factors that stand out in any examination of
the crisis in Gaza: the persistent intransigence of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israeli unwillingness to pursue a
diplomatic and political solution to the Palestinian tragedy.