The ‘New IRA’ has claimed responsibility for the ambush of a PSNI patrol
in North Belfast on Sunday in which a member of the force was struck
twice. The attack, which took place on the Crumlin Road close to a
north Belfast interface left the victim with injuries to his arm.
Gerry Adams has warned that Brexit will wreck the fundamental human
rights safeguards set out under the Good Friday Agreement. The Sinn Fein
leader pointed out that rights enshrined in the 1998 peace deal would be
negated by Britain simply pulling out of the EU.
A Conservative MP and former British army officer, Bob Stewart, has said
he worked as “kind of a torturer” when he was serving in the north of
Ireland.
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams has said the party’s new Six County leader,
Michelle O’Neill, “needs to grow into the job”, but could work alongside
DUP leader Arlene Foster in the Stormont Executive if corruption
scandals are resolved.
In a major policy shift, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald has said that her
party could take part in the next coalition government as a junior
partner of either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail.
The families of some of the 48 young people who died in the 1981
Stardust fire disaster in Dublin have expressed concerns over a proposed
review of new evidence in their campaign for a fresh inquiry.
A statement by Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill on taking over from Martin
McGuinness and taking up the new position within the party of ‘Leader in
the North’.
An emotional Martin McGuinness has said he wants to become an ambassador
for peace after the former Sinn Fein deputy First Minister quit
electoral politics this week due to ill-health.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said his party will make the
announcement of Martin McGuinness’s successor next week. Speaking to RTE
news on Friday, he insisted the former deputy First Minister is just
“standing down” from office and he hopes that he will be back.
The DUP ‘Communities’ Minister Paul Givan has been accused of acting to
a sectarian agenda after he distributed almost two million pounds in
grants to loyalist organisations, Orange lodges and Protestant church
groups.
The British Army appeared in numbers in west Belfast last weekend as
troops in full uniform were deployed alongside PSNI police in the
Poleglass area of West Belfast.
A landmark speech on Britain’s departure from the European Union has
failed to allay fears of “hard border” controls and economic chaos
across the island of Ireland.
Events to mark the annual commemoration of the Bloody Sunday massacre
begin this week in Derry building to the march and rally on Sunday,
January 29. A look at this year’s context and the programme of events,
which are spread over two weeks.
Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness has effectively retired from politics
after announcing he will not be standing for re-election in the 2 March
poll to the Belfast Assembly.
The British government has announced that elections to the Stormont
Assembly wil take place on Thursday, March 2nd after the Sinn Fein/DUP
power-sharing Executive formally collapsed this afternoon.
The north of Ireland is inexorably heading for an election following
the resignation of Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness
and the failure of last-minute talks efforts by the two governments.
Martin McGuinness has called for his privacy to be respected by the media
after a newspaper published details of a serious illness for which he is
said to be receiving treatment.
Protests are being organised following a series of heavy-handed police raids
on the home of republican activists over the Christmas and New Year
period.
A woman forced from her home in a sectarian attack in Belfast has said
she was told of a loyalist death threat by representatives of a
so-called loyalist ‘community group’ which is funded by the Stormont
administration.
A group of homeless people vacated a state-owned office building in
Dublin on Thursday, ending a month-long squat that brought international
attention to the housing crisis in Ireland.
A political commentary by Kevin Meagher, former Special Adviser to the last
Labour Government in Britain, about the new potential for Irish
reunification.
Sinn Fein has expressed a much tougher line against the intransigence
and bigotry of the DUP following yesterday's resignation by Martin
McGuinness from the party's post of Deputy First Minister. An election
to the Stormont Assembly in Belfast appears certain to be called next
Monday and is due to take place within weeks.
Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has resigned in
protest at unionist arrogance and intransigence, collapsing the
Stormont Executive and throwing a question mark over power-sharing and
the political process in the north of Ireland.
Sinn Fein has issued repeated warnings that the Six County institutions
are now at a “defining point” after the unionist First Minister Arlene
Foster again refused to step down over allegations that she and her
Democratic Unionist Party orchestrated the enrichment of insiders,
supporters and party donors through a bogus ‘green energy’ scheme.
A former leader of Britain’s Liberal Democrats has called for a “united
Ireland in Europe” as a means of dealing with the fallout over Britain’s
Brexit decision to quit the EU.
State papers have shown the degree to which former 26 County Taoiseach
Garret Fitzgerald accepted the Tory line in exchanges with British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher 30 years ago.
British soldiers of the Ulster Defence Regiment tried to intimidate a
26-County army checkpoint in County Donegal following unionist protests
against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement.
Housing activists in the 26 Counties have handed an open letter to
Finance Minister Michael Noonan, calling on him to order the use of
vacant, state-controlled properties to house the homeless.
The number of patients stuck on trolleys awaiting beds in hospitals in
the 26 County state has broken new records, forcing Minister for Health
Simon Harris to apologise for his failure to deal with the crisis.
In January 1976, the Reaveys and O’Dowds - two Catholic families living
within 15 miles of each other in Co Armagh - each lost three loved ones
at the hands of a notorious Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) gang reputed to
contain dozens of members of the British Crown forces.
Serious damage is being done to the integrity of politics and action is
urgently needed to restore public confidence and trust in the north’s
political system.