Irish Republican News: Archives

December 22, 2018

The new Land War

A country farmhouse in County Roscommon became a battle zone last week after a brutal and illegal eviction of a farming family by hired loyalist mercenaries was dramatically overturned by a “flying column” of anti-eviction activists. The perpetrators were beaten or put to flight, and their vehicles torched.

Legal victories for republican accused

North Belfast woman Christine Connor has won an appeal against a 16-year prison sentence in one of a clutch of legal setbacks for the British occupation in the north of Ireland.

Eviction bank targeted by protestors, arsonists

Branches of KBC bank have been attacked amid increasingly angry protests over the role of bankers in the housing and evictions crises.

Light sentences for loyalist murder

Two loyalists have been sentenced to a total of just 13 years for the roles they played in the barbaric murder of Derry civil servant Paul McCauley.

Key ruling for Dublin/Monaghan campaigners

Victims of the worst single massacre of the conflict have secured an order for disclosure of secret state documents in a major legal action over British state collusion with a loyalist murder gang.

Christmas greetings enrage unionists

Unionist councillors in Country Antrim have generated a seasonal news absurdity by complaining over the use of Irish in the annual Mayor’s Christmas card.

Gardai, the Guardians of the Violence

Retired Garda policeman Kevin Taylor has spoken about the background to the raid by a loyalist eviction gang at the McGann family home in Roscommon, who attacked him with the support of serving Gardai.

Resilient too inadequate a word

Resilient is too inadequate a word to describe Sinead and Michael Monaghan. Both have suffered immeasurably during the conflict.

December 15, 2018

‘The Irish should know their place’

Some British politicians have grown resentful of Ireland’s influence throughout Brexit talks, says the BBC, as fears mount that a deal that will prevent a remilitarisation of the border will not be agreed in time.

Former Para says Bloody Sunday massacre was justified

A former paratrooper being investigated for his part in the Bloody Sunday massacre has said he believes it was a “job well done”.

Death of former OIRA leader Sean Garland

There have been tributes to Sean Garland, a former IRA leader who helped to bring about the 1972 ceasefire by the Official IRA. He died on Thursday at his home in County Meath after a long illness.

‘Guilty’ of remembering fallen INLA Volunteers

In what is said to be is the first case of its kind, a Belfast court has found a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party guilty of carrying an Irish National Liberation Army flag during an Easter Sunday commemoration.

Ballymurphy inquest continues amid disclosure concerns

The Ballymurphy massacre inquest has heard details of the murder of John McKerr, a 49-year-old joiner from nearby Andersonstown who had been working at Corpus Christi Church in west Belfast on August 11 1971 when he was shot.

Royal scandal over city hall knobs

Cork City Council has been humiliated after it emerged that it spent almost 6,000 euros on polishing door handles at city hall to prepare for a one-day stop by British royals Charles and his wife, Camilla.

Pearse and the Pillar

The afterlife of the Nelson Pillar on O’Connell Street is every bit as interesting as its lifespan, and from the late 1960s onwards various committees and campaign groups lobbied with the aim of placing a monument in the location where Nelson had stood.

Hard Brexit must mean a Border Poll

The timing for making an argument for a Border Poll or as its now being called a Unity Referendum has become a bone of contention. The negativity about the timing of holding one is creating negativity at the very time we need to examine the issue positively.

December 12, 2018

May wins confidence vote as Brexit chaos continues

British Prime Minister Theresa May has tonight defeated a challenge to her leadership of the Tory Party, winning a confidence vote by 200 MPs to 117.

December 8, 2018

Fury as top Tory warns: ‘We can starve the Irish’

Anglo-Irish relations are at their worst in decades after a senior British Tory MP suggested using the possibility of food shortages in Ireland to coerce negotiators into dropping their opposition to the remilitarisation of the border area after Brexit.

‘I saw soldier spray crowd with bullets’

A witness to one of the killings of the 1971 Ballymurphy massacre, who has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since, has given his first-ever statement on the atrocity to the coroner of the current inquest.

Gem Bar was collusion target, papers indicate

It has emerged that the British Army raided the pub which was the original target of the McGurk’s Bar bombers, two nights before the massacre in which collusion is strongly suspected.

Foster admits making ‘wrong’ statements under oath

DUP leader Arlene Foster is under renewed pressure to quit politics after acknowledging that some of her sworn evidence to a public corruption inquiry is likely false.

Bloody Sunday commemoration to focus on military top brass

The 47th Bloody Sunday march has been launched with the focus returned to the issue to making those ultimately responsible for the slaughter of 13 innocent civilians accountable for their actions.

Unionist bid to steal Christmas from prisoners’ families

A row has broken out after council staff attempted to remove the names of political prisoners from a public Christmas tree in Strabane, County Tyrone.

The 1918 election, a turning point in history

The general election of 1918 provided Sinn Fein with a democratic endorsement both to establish Dail Eireann and proclaim a republic.

Chairman’s address to the 32CSM Ard Fheis

The address to the recent Ard Fheis of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, given by national chairperson Francis Mackey.

December 1, 2018

Emotions run high as new group holds meetings

A debate on abortion legislation in the Dublin parliament has seen a bitter attack by Sinn Fein TDs against former comrades as a potentially damaging split in the party continues to grow.

Loughinisland at the heart of battle over policing

Families of those killed in a notorious loyalist/Crown force massacre have welcomed a judge’s decision to dismiss a legal challenge against the Police Ombudsman’s finding that the police colluded with the killers.

Loyalist violence ignored as gangs issue Brexit warning

Loyalist paramilitaries “have the run of the town” in County Antrim, according to the owner of a repair business in Carrickfergus whose cars have repeatedly been torched.

Breakthrough for equality of symbolism in Derry

Derry City and Strabane council is set to be the first council in the north of Ireland to allow staff members to honour Ireland’s war dead by wearing an Easter Lily, a symbol with its roots in the 1916 Easter Rising.

Early shoot-to-kill incidents recalled

Relatives for Justice have launched a report into the killings of Jim Bryson and Patrick Mulvenna amid outstanding questions about the shoot-to-kill policy of targeted state assassinations which was responsible for their deaths.

Thousands march over housing crisis

Campaigners have taken to the streets of Dublin this Saturday afternoon to voice their anger over the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis.

‘Harness the energy of all republicans’

A speech delivered last weekend by Peadar Toibin TD at the annual commemoration for former Sinn Fein Vice President Frank Driver at Ballymore Eustace in County Kildare.

Loughinisland verdict, families’ vindication

The families of those killed and injured in the Heights Bar have official vindication of the fact that RUC collusion facilitated the murder of their loved ones.