Amid the latest bout of crisis talks in Belfast, SDLP leader Alasdair
McDonnell has warned that the Democratic Unionist Party simply don’t
want to work with Catholics.
Jeremy Corbyn has reiterated his support for a united Ireland amid an
ongoing hysterical reaction in Britain to the election of the socialist
as leader of the Labour Party there.
The body of a homeless man could be the first of several grim
discoveries through the winter months following a complete failure of
the coalition government to confront the crisis of poverty and
inequality in the 26 Counties.
The independence of the planned Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) has
already been compromised by news that the British Direct Ruler Theresa
Villiers is to grant herself a power to veto the contents of
investigation reports to families on ‘national security’ grounds.
Like many other men and women before and since
Tomas Ceannt demonstrated incredible courage and selflessness in the
struggle to free Ireland from British occupation.
The way the British government has
handled the impasse is very instructive. They did not give in to
unionist amateur dramatics, ultimatums, hissy fits or walk outs.
Sinn Fein has said it is willing to help find a way to deal with armed
groups, including former Provisional IRA elements, as it was confirmed
that multi-party crisis talks are to go ahead at Stormont next week.
Sinn Fein has said it is preparing for government in the 26 Counties and
has refused to rule out any potential coalition partners following the
forthcoming general election.
A state funeral for 1916 martyr Thomas Kent took place yesterday in a
re-interment openly stage-managed by the Dublin government to boost its
nationalist credentials.
There are concerns that the PSNI is attempting to conceal levels of
loyalist violence after they refused to describe an arson attack on a
second Gaelic sports club in Tyrone as sectarian.
Criticism of Corbyn’s non-singing of the British
national anthem, or the clothes he wears, or his beard, are obviously
superficial to the brink of ludicrous.
The DUP leader Peter Robinson has said the failure of the British government
to make a statement addressing its demands has ‘delayed’ the start of
crisis talks aimed at rescuing the North’s political institutions.
The cycle of crisis in the north of Ireland lurched towards the
farcical this week as the Democratic Unionist Party blustered and
threatened but, in the end, fudged an ultimatum to pull down the
political institutions over allegations that the Provisional IRA still
exists.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said he wants to meet the PSNI police
chief over the arrest of his party’s northern chairman in the murder
inquiry which sparked the current political crisis.
A woman who witnessed an alleged shoot-to-kill incident in 1998 in
County Wicklow was later visited by senior gardai and told to “stay
quiet”, a commission of investigation into the fatal shooting has been
told.
A member of the deaf community in Derry says she was traumatised after a
heavy-handed PSNI police raid on her home in the Shantallow area of
the city on Tuesday.
Two explosions which shook the village of Ahoghill, County Antrim in
the early hours of Thursday morning have been blamed on a drugs dispute
among rival unionist paramilitary gangs.
A 26 County police team led by the Garda Commissioner’s husband has been secretly spying on water charge protesters amid further allegations of
political policing of left-wing TDs.
In a dramatic day in Belfast, DUP leader Peter Robinson has backed away
from a threat to immediately collapse the Six County Executive, instead
opting to step aside temporarily and withdraw all his Ministers,
leaving one.
A Stormont committee has refused to adjourn the Six County Assembly
despite a DUP threat that it would otherwise pull down the North’s
political institutions.
The PSNI police this morning arrested three very senior Provisional
republican figures in connection with the murder last month of Belfast
man Kevin McGuigan -- one of whom, Bobby Storey, is the chairperson of
Sinn Fein in the Six Counties.
Crisis talks due to begin tomorrow in Belfast face an uphill battle
amid serious attacks on the Six-County political process by both the
British government and unionists over the past 48 hours.
The DUP leader Peter Robinson has offered to take part in a fresh round
of multi-party talks as a deep crisis over allegations that the
Provisional IRA still exists appears set to extend over a period of
weeks or months.
A prominent former IRA Volunteer has spoken out for the first time to
defend himself after unionists called for him to be returned to prison
by the British authorities.
The interim report of the Fennelly Inquiry on policing matters in the
26 Counties has revealed a catalogue of delinquency and deception at
the highest levels of the State’s justice system.
A witness at an investigation into political corruption by a committee
of the Stormont Assembly has claimed to have hundreds of hours of tapes
revealing “an ingrained culture of inappropriate and possibly illegal
conduct” across the political, banking, legal and accountancy sectors.
A State funeral is to be held for 1916 Rising hero Thomas Kent -- one of
only two rebels executed by the British outside of Dublin -- after DNA
testing confirmed that remains found in Cork Prison belong to him.
Bill Peterson looks at the extraordinary military campaign of France’s
General Humbert 217 years ago this week, which some historians say laid
the groundwork for the Easter Rising over a century later.
The 26 County Taoiseach Enda Kenny is facing calls for his resignation
after an inquiry found today that the former Garda police chief
commissioner Martin Callinan felt obliged to retire as a result of a
message conveyed from the Taoiseach.