July 29, 2017

PSNI’s Glenanne cover-up fails

glenannefamilies2.jpg In a dramatic vindication for the grieving families, the High Court in Belfast has accepted that the PSNI wrecked an investigation into collusion by Britain in the notorious Glenanne Gang, which was responsible for killing 130 Catholics.

Finucane family granted appeal to Supreme Court

johnfinucanemedia.jpg The widow of murdered defence lawyer Pat Finucane has been granted permission to take her bid for a public inquiry into his death to the highest court in England.

Orange disorders exposed

ridingthegoat.jpg There is a growing media focus on the Orange Order in the north of Ireland after reports that the secretive anti-Catholic organisation has a violent initiation ritual known as ‘riding the goat’, and that its members were told not to use the phrase ‘Rest in Peace’ as it is too Catholic.

‘Defiant’ Varadkar will not advance new electronic border

varadkarpress.jpg There are indications that the Dublin government may be waking up to the risks involved in reinforcing the partition of Ireland after it rejected the prospect of a new economic border to impose Brexit.

Tories evasive as questions hang over new DUP role

torydup.jpg The British government may be planning to supplant the power-sharing Executive at Stormont with the ‘consultative committee’ set up as part of the deal with the Democratic Unionists to prop up the Tory government at Westminster, it has been warned.

Loyalists seeking confrontation with marches

udamarchormeau.jpg Loyalists marched through a mixed community in south Belfast on Friday night in a show of strength in tribute to notorious UDA paramilitaries linked to a string of sectarian atrocities.

The RUC and its deadly legacy in Sri Lanka

srilankastf.jpg A Tamil widow who says 10 of her relatives were massacred by Sri Lanka’s police in 1986 has lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman in the North after links from the RUC (now PSNI) to the country’s security forces emerged.

IRA membership charges on the increase

scc.jpg Over the last few months I think we have all noticed the upsurge in IRA membership charges facing Republicans in the 26 Counties, it seems every other day someone is up in the Special Criminal Court.

July 22, 2017

Orange Order not shamed by hate fiesta

popecostume.jpg The Orange Order has refused to apologise after photographs emerged of supporters in Scotland wearing bizarre and shocking costumes expressing racist and sectarian hate.

Politics as usual as Irish unity seen in reach

martinadams2.jpg Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams TD has said that Micheal Martin “needs to get serious about a United Ireland” following the Fianna Fail leader’s refusal to support the establishment of a parliamentary committee on Irish Unity.

Extraditions opposed

liamcampbell600.jpg A third attempt to extradite Liam Campbell to Lithuania is being opposed over the nature of the prison conditions in the country.

Adams challenges internment-related convictions

longkeshcamp.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has launched a legal bid to overturn two historical convictions for attempting to escape from Long Kesh internment camp.

Call for big turnout for Tony Taylor

tonytaylorlorraine.jpg Nationalist and republican groups are coming together this weekend to again demand freedom for imprisoned Irish activist Tony Taylor.

Fears for republican held with criminals

lukeoneillposter.jpg Protests are being organised on behalf of a republican prisoner who is being kept in isolation among the general criminal cohort at Maghaberry jail.

Is radical republicanism making a comeback?

saoradhrally.jpg Is the stage now set for the politics that once informed an entire movement in the North to re-emerge?

July 15, 2017

Sickening sectarianism

mcguinnessbonfire.jpg The Democratic Unionist Party has caused a furore by issuing conflicting statements about the burning of a coffin effigy of the late Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness on a loyalist bonfire in east Belfast on Tuesday.

No trouble at Twelfth parades

ardoyneparade17.jpg The height of the Protestant marching season passed more quietly than recent years as Orangemen and bandsmen largely respected the rulings of the Parades Commission, which adjudicates on the routes of contentious parades.

Varadkar opposes unity referendum

varadkartime.jpg Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has expressed his surprise at remarks made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, during an interview with Time Magazine, in which he says that he is ‘very much opposed’ to a referendum on Irish reunification.

Council erects UDA flags

udaholywood.jpg Links between local councils and loyalist paramilitary groups continue to grow with the erection in north Down of banners carrying the motto of infamous UDA death squads.

Spooks seek informers in Tyrone

packycartybig.jpg Saoradh, the new republican political party, has alleged that British military intelligence (MI5) has been targeting Irish republicans in County Tyrone, in attempts to recruit British agents and informers.

Legal challenge to Tory/DUP pact

ciaranmcclean.jpg An agreement between unionists and the Conservative Party at the Westminster parliament is set to be challenged in the courts.

Modernising internment

internment1971.jpg A look at the evolution of internment, from a speech delivered by National PRO of Republican Network for Unity, Nathan Stuart, at a picket organised by the Anti-Internment Group For Ireland (AIGI).

Orange Order can no longer claim ownership of the north

orangemarch600.jpg It has been a long slow painful process and of course it’s not completed yet. However Orangemen can no longer march where they want or where they aren’t wanted.

July 12, 2017

Bonfire chaos reaches new level, says fire service

bonfirebuilding.jpg Last night saw an almost 50% increase in bonfire-related emergency callouts since last year as state-funded loyalist ‘Eleventh Night’ blazes damaged property and threatened lives across the North.

July 8, 2017

Culture of hate

carrickfergusbonfire.jpg Stung by criticism that it has conspired in loyalist paramilitary crime, Belfast city councillors have now attempted to limit the size of four ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires, despite having previously funded and supported the infamously sectarian displays.

System fights back after jury’s ‘not guilty’ verdict

paulmurphy2.jpg The outcome of the Jobstown trial is causing chaos for the political establishment in Dublin after an attempted frame-up failed to jail a sitting TD and other left-wing activists.

EU insists on Brexit border controls

barnier.jpg There are concerns that the European Union is ready to sacrifice Ireland in its Brexit negotiations after EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier declared that a “frictionless” EU border across Ireland is not possible following Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

Scottish clampdown on Orange sectarianism

faminesongglasgow.jpg A complete ban on Orange Order marches is being considered in Glasgow, Scotland after council officials examined footage showing a sectarian and racist song being chanted at a parade last weekend.

Taylor takes legal action as protests are held

whitelinenewryaigi.jpg Interned Derry republican Tony Taylor is to sue the British government for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment.

The Craigavon Two - Eight years of silence

woottonmcconville.jpg Dublin City Council this week passed a motion calling for the release of Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton, victims of a miscarriage of justice in March 2009. Gavin O’Reilly takes a fresh look at the case.

There can be no return to the status quo

equalitymarch.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams on the Stormont talks process which collapsed this week.

Breakdown in talks an avoidable mess

brokenshiremedia.jpg As they say in Belfast, the dogs in the street could see there was no prospect of a deal to restore power-sharing.

July 4, 2017

Tory/DUP pact blamed as Stormont talks end in failure

sftalks0717.jpg The collapse of talks to revive power-sharing has been described by Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill as a “monumental failure” by British Prime Minister Theresa May who she said had “set back decades of work” in the peace process.

July 1, 2017

DUP triumphant as peace deal is shredded

dupno10.jpg A deal between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party could allow the unionist hardliners to control British policy in the north of Ireland for the lifetime of the current Westminster parliament.

Landmark trial boosts left-wing activists

jobstown6.jpg The 26 County political establishment suffered a devastating blow on Thursday when a jury rejected an attempt to jail six political activists on accusations that they had ‘kidnapped’ former Taoiseach Joan Burton and her secretary.

Stormont talks slide through another deadline

odowdkearney.jpg Despite a sudden flurry of activity, the Stormont talks passed through another British-imposed deadline on Thursday, the fourth this year.

New SF outreach initiative dismissed by DUP

agreedfuture.jpg The DUP has immediately rejected a renewed Sinn Fein campaign to convince unionists of the merits of a united Ireland.

Ardoyne schoolkids targeted again

kerbsholycross.jpg Loyalists have renewed sectarian intimidation at the Holy Cross Catholic Girls School in the Ardoyne district of Belfast by painting red, white and blue paint on kerbstones and the letters ‘LA’ at the entrance.

Saoradh suffers split; SF councillors feud with party

saoradhmeeting.jpg Saoradh, the Irish republican party formed last September, has experienced a serious split with the resignation of 23 members from its Belfast branch.

Michael Collins and the killing of a Field-Marshall

fieldmarshall.jpg The IRA assassination of British Field-Marshall Henry Wilson, 95 years ago this week, was a turning point in Irish history, writes Rob Baker

DUP losing battle for Irish-free zone

achtprotest.jpg To the surprise of no-one the Stormont talks foundered on the DUP's adamantine refusal to concede an Acht na Gaelige.

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