Irish Republican News: Archives

August 27, 2021

Loyalist gangs targeting EU citizens

A loyalist paramilitary group in the Dungannon area has posted an image of a masked gang alongside a caption threatening “foreign nationals” who they said were “from the nationalist end of the town”.

PSNI silent on death threats

The PSNI has received loyalist death threats against more than 30 prominent nationalists and republicans but failed to pass them on, it has emerged.

Unionist protests against the Irish protocol of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement appear to be petering out after less than fifty people gathered for a high profile rally in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh on Wednesday, 25 August.

Fresh inquest opens into plastic bullet killing

A new inquest into the death of a 10-year-old boy in Belfast in 1975 has heard his injuries were “consistent” with being shot at by British soldiers firing plastic bullets.

Anger at GAA all-Ireland advertisement for PSNI

The GAA has been condemned after it published advertising for the Crown Forces in a match programme for the All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park in Dublin last weekend.

Gun salute at hunger strike commemoration

Members of the family of Mickey Devine took part in an unveiling for his 40th anniversary last weekend. Irish National Liberation Army Volunteers fired a volley of ten shots in salute to their comrade and the other nine hunger strikers who died in 1981.

Joe Whitty

Nineteen-year-old Irish republican Joe Whitty died on hunger-strike on the 2nd September 1923, 98 years ago this week.

Interview with Gerry Adams

As part of a wide-ranging interview, former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has said he believes the Dublin government should immediately kick-start planning for a united Ireland and that a border poll could happen within as little as three years.

August 21, 2021

‘Uncomfortable’ truth behind informers challenged

The daughter of a member of the RUC (now PSNI) police killed in a Provisional IRA action in 1990 is to take an unprecedented lawsuit over allegations the killing took place as part of a British ‘psy-ops’ intelligence agenda.

Soldier’s trial for McAnespie killing to go ahead

There has been a welcome for a judge’s ruling that there are sufficient grounds that a former British soldier accused of killing Aidan McAnespie in County Tyrone in 1988 should stand trial.

Unionists urged to embrace Protocol trade potential

Loyalists opposed to Brexit’s Irish trade Protocol have put up threatening posters bearing the image of infamous sectarian serial killer Billy Wright.

Marching season winds down

Loyalist parades and bonfires have continued across the Six Counties ahead of the ‘Last Saturday’ parades by the Royal Black Preceptory, the senior organisation associated to the anti-Catholic Orange Order.

Families mark anniversaries with new determination

The family of Eamon McDevitt, who was shot dead by the British Army in Strabane, in 1971 have described the last half century as ‘50 years of injustice’.

Derry man was a ‘brave and courageous soldier’

Dozens of republicans joined members of his family this week to pay tribute to Eamonn Lafferty, the first IRA Volunteer killed by British forces in the conflict in Derry.

Mickey Devine

Commemorations are taking place in Derry and in the US to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Mickey Devine, the last of the H-Block prisoners to give his life after 60 days on hunger strike.

Unionists know the British will eventually withdraw

This place is the only part of the UK which has a legal and constitutional right to secede. Yet, despite in their hearts knowing these truths, most unionists refuse even to think about preparing for inevitable British withdrawal.

August 14, 2021

The British and Unionist Broadcasting Corporation

Allegations of institutional sectarianism at the BBC have resurfaced after it aired a clip during its primetime Newsline TV news programme which included the obscene sectarian slogan ‘F*ck the Pope’.

Intense pressure on London to back away from impunity plan

UN human rights experts have expressed “grave concerns” over a plan by Britain to provide an effective amnesty to those who carried our killings and other crimes on its behalf in the north of Ireland.

Grieving family’s home raided; Blanketman laid to rest

British Crown Forces raided the family home of the late Irish National Liberation Army Volunteer James McWilliams only two days after his tragic passing this week.

Belfast march marks 50 years since Ballymurphy shootings

The 50th anniversary of the deaths of ten innocent people who were shot and killed in a British Army operation in Ballymurphy was marked in Belfast on Sunday, August 8.

Tribute to ‘Hooded Man’ on internment anniversary

Wreaths have been laid at the grave of Gerry McKerr in County Armagh to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of internment.

Republican bonfire tensions decline

There were no significant bonfires to mark the anniversary of the introduction of internment in west Belfast this year, although a confrontation with PSNI police in Dungannon, County Tyrone led to a night of trouble there.

Thomas McElwee

An account of the life of Thomas McElwee, the ninth hunger striker in the 1981 protest to die, 40 years ago this week.

Unity debate can’t wait until unionists are ready

Those who seek change need to get on with constructing a robust and persuasive case for a united Ireland, writes QUB academic Colin Harvey.

August 7, 2021

‘Makey-up’ government changes law to suit itself

The disdain for Covid-19 rules by Irish political figures has brought about a loosening in the regulations to combat the disease as the Dublin coalition struggles to quell public anger over a rule-breaking party linked to a crony appointment.

Crime spree of East Belfast UVF revealed

Drug-dealing loyalist paramilitaries are running riot in east Belfast and engaging in a shocking litany of crimes with little interference from the PSNI, according to a report drafted by the paramilitaries themselves.

Bloody Sunday ‘was successful operation’ - TUV man

A unionist election candidate has described the Bloody Sunday massacre as a “successful operation” and praised the British soldiers who killed fourteen innocent civil rights demonstrators in Derry in 1972.

Family of UDR victim retraumatised by Tory amnesty plan

The family of murdered independent councillor and civil rights activist from Tyrone, Patsy Kelly, have taken to social media to express their outrage and trauma at British government plans to introduce a blanket amnesty for the conflict.

British public ahead of politicians on Ireland

Voters in Britain who support the reunification of Ireland outnumber those who support the union by three to one, according to a new poll. Barely one in ten oppose Irish unity, while more than half failed to express an opinion.

Union backs prison move by Craigavon Two’s Wootton

One of two imprisoned victims of a miscarriage of justice is threatening legal action in a bid to force prison authorities to transfer him out of the high-security Maghaberry jail used for political prisoners.

New tribute to hunger strikers

A new community-organised 1981 Hunger Strike mural in the Beechmount area of Belfast was unveiled last weekend as part of 40th anniversary commemorations.

Internment 1971

A report on the horrors committed by British forces in implementing internment without trial in the north of Ireland. ‘Operation Demetrius’ began fifty years ago this week.