Irish Republican News: Archives

June 30, 2018

Collusion monster is Garda Commissioner

Widespread shock at the appointment of a sinister RUC figure as 26 County Garda police commissioner has been followed by a row after Sinn Fein vowed to “hold him to account”.

Crown force oppression as marching tensions escalate

An elderly nationalist collapsed as he was arrested by PSNI police after he tried to remove provocative banners in praise of an infamous loyalist paramilitary in Moygashel, County Tyrone, on Thursday.

Gestures could signal Stormont turning point

A series of choreographed political gestures could be preparing the way for a return of the Stormont Assembly as both Sinn Fein and the DUP have said they are ready to restore the Six County political institutions.

Pressure grows on SCC over fast-track convictions

A conviction by the juryless ‘Special Criminal Court’ (SCC) in Dublin has been overturned on appeal, raising new questions over a court whose main purpose has always been to efficiently imprison Irish republicans.

Finucanes take justice quest to Supreme Court

The widow of murdered Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane has said she is optimistic that the Supreme Court in London will finally rule in favour of a full public inquiry into her husband’s death.

Census could be used as border poll test

Sinn Fein has said the public appetite for a border poll in the North should be tested with a question in 2021 census.

Remembering the hunger strikers

An oration delivered in Duleek, County Meath by Cait Trainor on the 10th anniversary of the opening of their hunger strike memorial garden.

The Caledon squat, 50 years on

A family’s decision to make a stand over housing set in motion a chain of events that would give rise to the civil rights movement 50 years ago and thrust Ireland into the international spotlight.

June 26, 2018

Notorious RUC figure to be made Garda Commissioner

Drew Harris, a current Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI police in the Six Counties, is to become the new Garda police commissioner in the 26 Counties, it has been confirmed.

Collusion strategy published after 38 years

A secret MI5 report that resulted in the RUC (now PSNI) police protecting its agents and informers regardless of their role in the conflict has been made public after 38 years.

June 23, 2018

Sham prosecution falls apart

A judge in the non-jury trial of a prominent republican has admitted the prosecution was based entirely on allegations extracted by police threats and ordered him to be released, more than five and a half years after he was initially charged.

Secrecy bid over Miami Showband massacre

The British Crown Forces are refusing to release documents relating to top loyalist paramilitary Robin ‘The Jackal’ Jackson, a former British soldier linked to the Miami Showband massacre and other suspected acts of collusion.

Britain ‘playing a game of chicken’ with Brexit

Sinn Fein and Fine Gael have warned the British government against last-minute negotiations on the border ahead of a crucial June 28-29 summit to finalise a Brexit deal.

New Sinn Fein direction as McDonald defies critics

Sinn Fein wants to be part of an administration in Dublin after the next general election, party leader Mary Lou McDonald has confirmed, as she set out a change of strategy for her party.

Bonfires build as Foster criticises ‘anti-Orange’ prejudice

The unionist paramilitary UVF are being blamed for an ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfire being built close to a children’s play park in a built-up residential area of Belfast.

Anglo fraud kingpin jailed

There have been calls for greater efforts to tackle white-collar crime after former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David ‘The Drummer’ Drumm received only a six year sentence for his central role in a 7.2 billion euro fraud which marked a low point in Ireland’s financial crisis.

James Connolly and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee

This week in 1897, James Connolly was arrested and detained for organising a series of protests in Dublin over Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, some of which resulted in riots.

Arlene, reconciliatory gestures and coat-trailing

I want Arlene and the Orange Order to look at this huge institution which creates division again and again every year, in a society which is already divided.

June 19, 2018

British soldier to face prosecution

A British soldier who shot dead a man as he walked through a British Army checkpoint in the North of Ireland is to face prosecution.

Resignations follow SF conference votes on abortion

Sinn Fein’s internal difficulties have worsened following a combative display by the party leadership at a weekend conference saw the party adopt a hardline pro-abortion stance, including a ban on dissent on the issue by its elected representatives.

June 16, 2018

Royal visit denounced as one-sided, anti-republican

The latest visit by British royals to Ireland has once again sown division among nationalists and republicans.

Sinn Fein conference polarised by abortion stance

Sinn Fein faces difficult decisions today at the party’s annual conference as a row over the the party’s attitude to abortion threatens to overshadow the launch of its bid to enter government following the next 26 County general election.

Fascists on the march in Belfast

A rally by far-right unionists and neo-Nazis at Belfast City hall last weekend has raised concerns over the increased visibility of fringe loyalist groups ahead of the sectarian marching season.

Hooded men praise move to appeal European ruling

The Dublin government is to appeal the European Court of Human Right’s finding that 14 Irishmen were not tortured by the British Army in 1971.

Housing failures ‘could collapse government’

With the 26 County housing crisis threatening to spiral out of control, Sinn Fein have begun a new campaign against the man most hold responsible for the scandal, Fine Gael Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

GAA urged to ‘show solidarity with the oppressed’

Nationalists and republicans are being urged to unite to support the Palestinian cause amid signs that the Irish establishment is seeking to protect Israel from the fallout over recent atrocities.

RSF Bodenstown Address 2018

An abridged version of the main oration delivered by Republican Sinn Fein Ard Chomhairle member, John Joe McCusker, following the party’s annual commemorative parade to the grave of Theobald Wolfe Tone last weekend.

‘Real change is within our grasp’ - SF

The full text of the keynote speech by Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Michelle O’Neill to the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis 2018.

June 9, 2018

Robinson backs ‘fixed’ border polls

Peter Robinson, the former leader of the hardline unionist DUP, has suggested agreement on a strategy for phased reunification could allow him to support a Six County referendum on unity.

Flags and banners ‘designed to spread fear’

Loyalists have begun hoisting flags and banners and painting kerbstones in locations across the North in advance of the summer sectarian parades by the Protestant marching organisations.

British injustice pursues dying republican to the grave

One of the oldest republican prisoners in Maghaberry Prison, Sean O’Neill, has passed away from cancer in Limerick this week while still being actively sought by the British authorities in the North for “breaching bail”.

‘Spycops’ inquiry reveals Irish political groups targeted

Sinn Fein and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) were infiltrated by an undercover British police unit which is currently the focus of a major inquiry in England.

Coalition rumours mount as Varadkar launches Feile

A rumoured alliance between Sinn Fein and Fine Gael appears closer this week after Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar launched the West Belfast festival, Feile an Phobail, on Friday.

US-based escapee seeks to overturn conviction

A former political prisoner, who fled to the United States after being part of the 1983 mass escape from the H-Blocks of Long Kesh 35 years ago, is making a new attempt to clear his name.

Dennis Heaney

A statement issued through the Pat Finucane Centre by the family of Dennis Heaney, who was shot dead on the streets of Derry by undercover SAS soldiers on 10th June 1978, 40 years ago this week.

Septic Ulster

Theresa May’s new list of working peers includes an ex-MP from the proppers-up of her government, the Democratic Unionist Party: the Rev William “Boxcar Willie” McCrea, veteran gospel-singing politician.

June 2, 2018

‘The North is next’

The issue of women’s rights and access to abortion are now being placed alongside calls for same-sex marriage as part of an equality agenda being opposed by unionists.

Exhaustion at Britain’s scattershot border ideas

Britain’s cartwheeling approach to Brexit and the north of Ireland has reached a critical point with a new plan to expand the Irish border into a ten-mile demilitarised ‘buffer’ zone.

Momentum seen behind Sinn Fein policy shift

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she expects her party will endorse the provision of abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy following last Friday’s 26 County referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment, which gave a pregnant woman only an equal right to life as her unborn child.