Irish Republican News: Archives

September 30, 2017

Catholics free ‘shared community’

Catholic families in a cross-community housing development in Belfast have been ordered to leave their homes in a sectarian threat from the unionist paramilitary UVF.

Adams recommits to Stormont at Ashe commemoration

Speaking at Sinn Fein’s main commemoration for hunger striker Thomas Ashe, who died as a result of force-feeding five days into a hunger strike in Mountjoy Jail in September 1917, Gerry Adams has said said his party is still committed to making a deal with the DUP to return to powersharing.

EU parliament to back special status for North

In a u-turn, the European Parliament is set to call for the North of Ireland to remain part of the EU single market and customs union.

Documents prove military lied about killings

Fresh inquests have been sought into the deaths of two IRA Volunteers in separate incidents in 1972 and 1973 after documents emerged which confirmed that the men were unlawfully killed by British soldiers.

Judicial review takes place into Hegarty decision

Self-defence claims raised by a British soldier who shot an innocent teenager at point-blank range in Derry 45 years ago have been stripped of all credibility, the High Court has heard.

The crisis of the Spanish state

Ahead of the October 1 referendum on self-determination, the Spanish government is engaged in a level of political repression in Catalonia not experienced since the days of the Franco dictatorship.

A prisoner’s final and most terrifying weapon

The oration delivered by Tommy McKearney, a former Hunger Striker, over the grave of Thomas Ashe at the national hunger strike commemoration of the 1916 Societies.

Language row betrays aims of Bobby Sands sacrifice

I would be incensed if the value of the sacrifice of the hunger strikers and all those others who sacrificed their lives during the struggle were reduced to the value of an Irish language act.

September 23, 2017

‘Freedom for Catalonia’

A sudden and violent attempt to suppress the Catalan independence movement by the Madrid government has shocked those struggling for self-determination across the world.

Soldiers’ impunity bid challenged by victims’ families

A demonstration in support of killer British troops was dramatically opposed by relatives and supporters of their Irish victims.

Funeral of republican allowed use flags

There are hopes that a church ban on the use of Irish flags to honour republicans will be dropped after a priest fulfilled the dying wish of a lifelong republican and allowed his coffin to be draped in the Irish tricolour and Starry Plough.

Shell to hell as flames erupt from refinery

A fault at the controversial Corrib gas terminal operated by Shell in County Mayo has terrified local residents who do not believe a “burning off” process at the plant is safe.

Trump administration seen turning its back to Ireland

The US administration has been urged to reverse a decision to abolish the post of special envoy to the north of Ireland.

Unionists urged to “fill up” social housing

Unionists have expressed their support for a residents’ group which has called for a social housing development to be “filled up with people from the loyalist/unionist community”.

The sack of Balbriggan

A look at an infamous event in the Tan War in County Dublin, 97 years ago this week.

The dismaying case of Tony Taylor

If you drive around the north of Ireland you’re sure to come across one of the signs: three words that test our notion of democracy.

September 16, 2017

Injustice upon injustice in supergrass ‘trial’

There have been protests against the planned use of a paid informer in the non-jury trial of republican political activist Kevin Braney, the chairperson of Saoradh in Dublin.

Disbelief as RHC murder gang seeks respectability

Using a long-standing cover name, loyalist paramilitaries in the UVF have sought to be legalised in a plan which has brought anger and incredulity to its victims.

Border checkpoints ‘would be a provocation’

The president of Republican Sinn Fein, Des Dalton, has warned that that border checkpoints following Brexit could become a target for militant republicans amid a surge in interest in republican politics.

Loyalists planned to set fire to ‘every street corner’

Loyalists planned widespread disturbances across the Six Counties in response to council threats against their bonfires, it has been revealed.

Bereaved son wins recognition of investigation’s failings

A man whose parents were killed when loyalist paramilitaries colluded with British Crown forces has won High Court permission to challenge the refusal of the state to oversee and fund an effective investigation.

Fine Gael MEP indicates Irish neutrality on offer to EU

There are concerns that Irish neutrality could be the price paid by the Dublin government for the European Union to defend its interest in the Brexit negotiations with Britain.

Republican politics must be relevant

The text of the oration delivered by Francis Mackey (pictured) of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement at the graveside of Alan Ryan earlier this month.

Thank God Dave Cullen doesn’t know me

It is clear that the 26 County state is intent on smashing Republicanism. If they are not using the word of a superintendent to jail political activists, they are prepared to use the word of an even more despicable type.

September 10, 2017

Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan quits

The Garda police Commissioner in the 26 Counties, Noirin O’Sullivan, has announced that she is retiring after a litany of scandals and disgraces finally overwhelmed fierce resistance in government circles to her relinquishing the post.

September 9, 2017

Coalition closer as Adams to step back

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams has made the first step in his gradual withdrawal from front-line politics in a historic shift which he believes will help pave the way for a new generation of party leaders.

New financial scandal hits DUP

In the latest financial scandal to embroil the North’s largest unionist party, a newspaper has alleged that prominent DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr accepted holidays worth a hundred thousand pounds from a country he is now helping to secure a trade deal.

Joint authority ‘is out’ - Theresa May

A belligerent British government statement, apparently ruling out a role for the 26 County government in the running of the Six Counties, has cast a shadow over efforts to restart powersharing talks in Belfast.

Prison authorities up harassment of republicans

The mother of a two-year-old boy has told how they were refused entry to Maghaberry prison for a family visit because her son was wearing camouflage-patterned shoes.

‘Sinister’ MI5 effort targets RNU figure

A prisoner support organisation has said they have passed on a recording of a conservation in which a member of British military intelligence attempted to extract information about recently released remand prisoner Carl Reilly.

Six Counties made to disappear by Irish TV

The flagship chat show of Ireland’s state-run TV network sparked outrage when a map of Ireland showed the Six Counties of the north of Ireland cut off.

Britain out of Ireland

The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) has said it is supporting a ‘border poll’ on unity as part of a new campaign for a United Ireland outside of the EU. An extract from its new policy document, ‘Britain out of Ireland - Ireland out of the EU’.

Sinn Fein is committed to restoring the institutions

In the cut and thrust of negotiations there is always the risk that someone will say something that makes the process of achieving agreement more difficult.

September 2, 2017

Glenanne plot ‘went to the top’

A former RUC police officer this week said he believed the British government was aware of the activities of the Glenanne Gang’s death squads at the very highest level.

Equality denied as Foster demands return to government

A decoy talks proposal by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster for a ‘parallel’ process alongside the Stormont Assembly has been dismissed by northern nationalists as an attempt to muddy the political waters.

Special Brexit deal likely as ‘nobody’ wants to do border checks

Sinn Fein has urged the Dublin government to block talks on future ties between Britain and the European Union as not enough progress has been made on agreeing the status of the border through Ireland once Britain exits the EU.

Derry museum occupied over memorial including British soldiers

Two women who lost loved ones in the conflict have occupied the Museum of Free Derry in the city’s Bogside, refusing to get out at closing time and sleeping overnight on the floor after a row over a notorious exhibition which equates Bloody Sunday victims with their killers.