Irish Republican News: Archives

May 25, 2023

Call to set unity vote as support for union fades

The political dynamic in the north of Ireland has changed significantly after nationalism vaulted ahead of unionism in Thursday’s council elections.

Sinn Féin seen as political juggernaut

Final results from the North’s latest elections have confirmed Sinn Féin as again the big winner, with its share of the vote jumping almost 8% to 31%, and winning 144 of the 462 council seats available, up 39 on the 2019 result.

Irish neutrality under threat

The 26 County Tánaiste Micheál Martin has begun to erode Ireland’s long-standing and internationally respected policy of military neutrality.

Judicial review sought after inquest refusal

An inquest into the assassination of independent councillor and civil rights activist Patsy Kelly almost 50 years ago has been refused.

Son bids for new investigations into killings of parents

The only surviving son of INLA figures Dominic and Mary McGlinchey has launched a court bid in an attempt to compel Gardaí police to reopen the investigations into their murders six years apart.

GAA targeted once again

A hoax bomb attack at pitches used by a Gaelic sports team is just the latest incident in a campaign of intimidation against Irish culture in east Belfast.

National Famine Commemoration Day

Speaking in Milford, Donegal, President Michael D Higgins delivered an address for the official commemoration of the Great Hunger by the 26 County state. President Higgins’ address in full.

A Unionist veto dressed as conflict resolution

Imagine people in Britain were told Brexit would not happen because only a narrow majority had voted for it? That the issue was so divisive it required a supermajority of 60 percent before it passed?

May 20, 2023

Election piles on pressure for a border poll

Nationalist voters now clearly outnumber unionists according to election counts which have concluded in the North’s council elections.

May 19, 2023

Unionism 'has lesson to learn' as Sinn Féin makes historic inroads

Local election results show that Sinn Féin continues to power its way to become the largest party in the north of Ireland at council level, ahead of the unionist DUP, with some commentators suggesting that nationalist voters could now outnumber unionist voters for the first time.

Sinn Féin set for record as nationalist vote up strongly

Sinn Féin are on course to become the largest party at council level in the North as the party looks set to repeat its success in last year’s Assembly elections.

May 18, 2023

Vote Irish Republican

After a low key campaign, today’s council elections in the north of Ireland could turn the dial against unionist misrule and boost efforts to tackle inequality and discrimination at council level.

Refugee failure spills onto streets

A complete collapse in the Dublin government’s immigration policy has led to homeless asylum seekers being attacked in the streets and a makeshift camp getting burned out by racists.

Prisoners face potentially harmful doses of radiation

Prison authorities failed to inform republican prisoners at Maghaberry jail about the dangers faced from the overuse of body scanners, it has emerged.

Sudden death of former Blanketman Rab Kerr

Robert ‘Rab’ Kerr, who spent three years ‘on the blanket’ in the H-Blocks and took part in the republican prisoners’ escape in 1983, passed away suddenly in hospital on Sunday, May 14.

Mass marks the 50th anniversary of Michael Leonard

A special anniversary Mass was held at the weekend to remember a County Donegal man shot dead by the RUC police 50 years ago next week.

Sectarian abuse aimed at Armagh GAA fans

A group of Armagh Gaelic football supporters were subjected to sectarian hate incident outside a takeaway in the village of Markethill on Saturday.

Britain is continuing the Palestinian catastrophe

Britain’s role in the Nakba, the Palestinian displacement of 75 years ago, is not restricted to its actions in the 20th century, writes Leanne Mohamad, a British Palestinian human rights activist based in London.

Interview with family of Adrian Carroll

In a rare interview the brothers and sisters of Adrian Carroll have told how they continue to “remember him every day” despite the passing of four decades.

May 11, 2023

Calls for change at Coronation protests

A hostile reaction to Sinn Féin’s attendance at the coronation of King Charles last weekend could change the political landscape ahead of local council elections in the North.

Secret RAF deal exposed

The Dublin government has been urged to come clean about a secret air defence arrangement operated with the British government for decades.

Minister faces criminality investigation over land deal

Weeks of stonewalling by the Dublin government and the mainstream media are at an end after Gardaí said they are investigating allegations that 26 Minister of State Niall Collins corruptly assisted the purchase of public land by his wife.

RUC man escapes charges over killing

The mother of an unarmed IRA Volunteer shot dead more than 30 years ago has said she is disappointed by a decision not to prosecute the RUC man who killed him.

‘Bill of Shame’ Commissioner must be British

The British government is pressing ahead with plans for an overarching cover up of its war crimes in the north of Ireland after it emerged that it is recruiting a British citizen to head a new ‘investigation unit’.

Actions of killer agents should see major inquiry

A leading lawyer has warned that an inquiry “looms large” over the role of two suspected British agents operating in the County Down area in the 1990s.

A tale of two bail systems

Inequality in the treatment of republicans and loyalists when it comes to receiving bail was highlighted this week when a loyalist charged with possession of an assault rifle and large quantities of drugs and cash, and two others accused of forcing a young Catholic family to flee their home, were all quickly released on bail.

We’ve been celebrating the anniversary of the wrong ‘98

They have been commemorating the wrong anniversary. Instead of celebrating the partition of Protestants and Catholics into two separate groups in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, would it not be more appropriate to commemorate one of the few historical occasions when political unity overcame sectarian division?

May 4, 2023

PSNI facilitate sectarian expulsion

A shocking attempt by loyalist thugs to force out a Catholic family in Lurgan, County Armagh has raised tensions ahead of local elections in the north of Ireland.

O’Neill will not pledge allegiance at Coronation

A request by the new King of England to his claimed subjects to collectively pledge their allegiance has raised the temperature of a debate over Sinn Féin’s vice-president Michelle O’Neill attendance at King Charles’s Coronation in London.

Irish activist dies fighting Russian invasion

A Mayo man described as a committed socialist and republican has died while fighting as part of international resistance to the Russian occupation of Ukraine.

Widow won’t rest until truth is revealed

The widow of independent councillor Patsy Kelly has described a report into the murder of her husband as the ‘start of closure’ for the family after it moved closer to uncovering the details of Crown force involvement in the killing.

Family faces unending delay for justice

The niece of a County Fermanagh republican whose murder in 1974 was claimed by loyalists has said it is “disgraceful” that a Police Ombudsman’s investigation into the killing will not begin before 2027.

Palestinian hunger striker dies

Linah Alsaafin of Al Jazeera on the death of popular Palestinian leader Khader Adnan following a hunger strike protest against Israeli internment.

I fought a monster today

Black flag vigils are taking place in Dublin and elsewhere on Friday to mark the anniversary of the death of 1981 hunger striker Bobby Sands. The following piece by Sands was originally published in 1978.

Sinn Féin and their new King

Like any other Republican I would rather stand on a terraced street in silence with an unbowed and unbroken Republican family as they remember their husband, father and grandfather than stand in the presence of the enemy that murdered him as they crown their next leader.