[Irish Republican News]

June 8, 2023

[Irish Republican News]



Focus on commemoration a distraction

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Unionists are piling pressure on Sinn Féin MP John Finucane to withdraw from a commemoration of IRA Volunteers who died in the conflict as part of their unending campaign to depict Irish resistance to British rule as “terrorism”.

Published June 8, 2023



DUP ‘dinosaur’ predicts political ice age

paisleyjr.jpg After an election in which the nationalist share of the vote overtook the unionist one for the first time, a senior DUP figure has admitted it could be an “ice age” before powersharing ever returns to Belfast.

Published June 1, 2023



Call to set unity vote as support for union fades

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

Published May 25, 2023



Vote Irish Republican

pollingstationbelfast1200.jpg 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.

Published May 18, 2023



Calls for change at Coronation protests

coronation.jpg 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.

Published May 11, 2023



PSNI facilitate sectarian expulsion

lurgandoor.jpg 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.

Published May 4, 2023



Sinn Féin to attend Coronation

oneillcharles.jpg Sinn Féin is struggling to convince republicans that it has not broken away from its roots after it agreed to send First Minister-elect, Michelle O’Neill, to attend the Coronation of Charles as King.

Published April 27, 2023



Loyalists threaten election candidates and workers

aontuira.jpg Three political parties have been targeted by loyalists ahead of local elections next month.

Published April 20, 2023



PSNI ‘plant bombs’ after trashing cemetery

derrycemetery.jpg Britain’s ‘dirty tricks’ department has been accused of planting bogus devices at Derry city cemetery in order to attract international condemnation for the New IRA.

Published April 13, 2023



DUP boycott undermines peace deal anniversary

varadkarbidendonaldson.jpg Confirmation that US President Joe Biden is to visit Ireland next week to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement will bring international attention to the unionist boycott of the political institutions set up under the peace deal.

Published April 6, 2023



British Army saturates republican areas

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Anger is mounting after several days of aggressive British military operations in which masked and armed soldiers conducted searches and raids in Derry and Tyrone.

Published March 30, 2023



DUP still says no

donaldsondc.jpg The DUP continue to defy the EU, the US government, their own government in London and their own voters, as overwhelming support for a renegotiated Irish Protocol of Brexit left them with no excuse for not ending their boycott of powersharing in Belfast.

Published March 23, 2023



Documents reveal plastic bullets cover-up

plasticbulletsguns.jpg The British Crown Forces hid their role in the deaths of children killed by rubber and plastic bullets during the conflict, it has emerged.

Published March 16, 2023



Warning over British ‘Dirty Tricks’

keadytrash.jpg PSNI claims that the New IRA collaborated with loyalists in a gun attack against one of its senior figures has been widely ridiculed and rejected by the armed group itself.

Published March 9, 2023



DUP isolated as Tories hail Brexit deal

charlesvdl.jpg The DUP is under intense pressure to end their boycott of the power-sharing institutions in the North of Ireland after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted he was a “over the moon” at a deal agreed with the EU to end seven years of tensions over the implementation of Brexit.

Published March 2, 2023



Tory psychodrama boosts DUP wreckers

rmjwa.jpg Proposals for a deal to finally end the dispute over the implementation of Brexit in the north of Ireland have been derailed by the intransigence of Tory and unionist extremists.

Published February 23, 2023



Unionism’s heart of stone

daithistone.jpg Hardline unionists succeeded in winning approval for a provocative monument to partition at Stormont on the day their boycott of the Assembly blocked over a hundred organ transplants.

Published February 16, 2023



DUP running out of excuses

dupsupremecourt.jpg Unionists have failed in their legal attempts to force a renegotiation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement after the Supreme Court in London unanimously dismissed a challenge to its new trading procedures.

Published February 9, 2023



Schoolchildren targeted by anti-Irish hate

irishout.jpg Widespread disgust has greeted a sectarian sign which was placed by loyalists outside a school for young children in Clough, County Down.

Published February 2, 2023



Report on arrest of journalists suppressed

birneymccaffreystuff.jpg An official report on an infamous arrest operation against two journalists investigating collusion in 2018 has been withheld, with only a small summary released into the public domain.

Published January 26, 2023



Tribal trophies of the SAS

sasuniform.jpg Reports that close-up images of the bodies of eight IRA Volunteers postered the wall of a British Army training camp, and the tooth of one of the victims extracted as a ghoulish souvenir, have been described as “disgusting”.

Published January 19, 2023



Second-class citizenship

cleverlytalks.jpg The British government has created a huge obstacle in efforts to restore powersharing in the north of Ireland after it dramatically excluded Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald from multi-party talks on Wednesday.

Published January 12, 2023



‘Coalition of reactionaries’ opposed to peace

donaldsontrimble.jpg Newly released State papers from the 1990s have cast a new light on efforts by unionists in Belfast and London to frustrate the peace process – and how much the peace depended on the Sinn Féin leadership, particularly Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness.

Published January 5, 2023



Top Dublin official is British spy

spystock.jpg There have been calls for an internal investigation by the Dublin government after a former British agent revealed that a senior Irish official has been working for British military intelligence for more than three decades.

Published December 22, 2022



Spooks fear Stakeknife report as publication looms

scappaticci1200.jpg A report into one of the most controversial episodes of the conflict is facing censorship by British state agencies even before it is published in the new year.

Published December 15, 2022



Historic day as language rights signed into law

dreamdearg3.jpg The passage of Irish language legislation into British law has been welcomed as a “historic milestone” by campaigners who are now seeking the implementation of the law, including the appointment of the north’s first Irish language commissioner.

Published December 8, 2022



Opposition to amnesty bill boosted by conviction

mcanespiehappy.jpg The response of the London government to the conviction of a British soldier for the death of a young Tyrone man has beeen described as “shocking”.

Published December 1, 2022



Scotland denied freedom vote

sturgeon1200.jpg A judgement by the Supreme Court in London that a Scottish independence referendum cannot be held without the backing of the Westminster parliament has made clear that the ‘United Kingdom’ is a union that exists by force, not by democracy.

Published November 24, 2022



Britain’s dirtiest secret

lurganmartyrs.jpg The son of an IRA Volunteer shot dead in the first of a series of planned British ambushes forty years ago has said he will never give up his fight for the truth.

Published November 16, 2022



New decade, same old British approach

heatonharris2.jpg The British government has ripped up a requirement for holding an election in the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ Stormont talks deal.

Published November 10, 2022



Loyalist bluff must be called

loyalistflag.jpg Despite mixed messages from the British government, nationalists and republicans are clear that new threats of political conflict by unionist paramilitaries cannot be allowed to succeed.

Published November 3, 2022



Paramilitary influence pushing DUP towards election

maskeddup.jpg A Six County election appears set to be called on Friday as the DUP, the main unionist party, continues to boycott the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

Published October 27, 2022



Liam Campbell is back home

liamcampbelhappy.jpg Dundalk republican Liam Campbell, extradited to Lithuania earlier this year, is back in Ireland after a court there terminated the criminal case against him. It is likely the final chapter in a 12-year saga of politically motivated state harassment directed against the prominent republican.

Published October 20, 2022



Demonisation of Irish resistance fails again

irelandwomen.jpg Strong public acceptance of the legitimacy of Ireland’s fight against British rule continues to frustrate those seeking to marginalise our cause.

Published October 13, 2022



Confident Irish nationalism reaches out

meaneynesbitt.jpg A major conference in Dublin last weekend brought more than 5,000 people together to hear a debate on the subject of Irish unity and the way forward for the island of Ireland.

Published October 6, 2022



The rationale for the Union has gone

partitionwrong.jpg The release of census figures has removed any justification for the British partition of Ireland.

Published September 29, 2022



Unionists reject census results in advance

census21.jpg Unionists have been attempting to play down the significance of the results of the 2021 Census for the north of Ireland.

Published September 22, 2022



Death of Queen undermines Union

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Decades in the planning, a massive operation to honour the late Queen of England has failed to dispel questions over the future of the monarchy or the unity of their kingdom.

Published September 15, 2022



Little trust in Liz Truss

trusspm.jpg Nationalists have been viewing the installation of a new British administration with alarm after two fanatical Brexiteers were appointed to Belfast.

Published September 7, 2022



Questions mount over loyalist violence

udahandmural1200.jpg The PSNI have been accused of playing down a loyalist campaign of terror in the Coleraine area after a series of petrol bomb attacks were blamed on UDA paramilitaries.

Published September 1, 2022



Support abides for armed struggle

resistance.jpg Seven in ten nationalists in the north of Ireland accept there was no alternative to the “violent resistance” of republican armed groups to British rule, according to an opinion poll.

Published August 25, 2022



Yes to justice for Noah

noahprotest2.jpg Several thousand people protested in Belfast city centre last weekend against a secrecy order placed on investigations into the death of Noah Donohoe.

Published August 18, 2022



Judge demands political statement from internee

internmentprotests.jpg One of ten republican activists interned by remand following a large-scale arrest operation in 2020 has been told by a judge he must make a statement supporting a ‘shared island’ in order to be considered for bail.

Published August 11, 2022



Britain accused of condoning Noah’s murder

noahprotest.jpg A wave of outrage has followed the decision by the new British Direct Ruler to sign a secrecy order covering files on the death in 2020 of 14-year-old Catholic boy Noah Donohoe.

Published August 4, 2022



Majority in North now back immediate reunification

pollvote.jpg The latest poll results in the Six Counties point to a sharp decline in support for unionism and the emergence of a clear majority in favour of Irish reunification.

Published July 28, 2022



Irish Unity ‘by 2030’

mcdonaldcanberra.jpg Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has predicted a referendum on the reunification of Ireland would take place “in this decade” and that Ireland is “in the end days of partition”.

Published July 21, 2022



Hopes for a ‘reset’ in London

newtories.jpg The edging out of Boris Johnson as British Prime Minister this week has raised hopes that his successor will end the multiple attacks of his government on the Good Friday Agreement.

Published July 14, 2022



‘Pray for Johnson to go’

johnsonout.jpg After one of the most bizarre days in British politics, Boris Johnson is still clinging to power in London despite no fewer than 42 resignations from his government, including a record 14 Ministers in one day.

Published July 6, 2022



McGurk’s Bar report quashed after seven year fight

mcgurks1200.jpg A deceptive police report into the McGurk’s Bar bomb atrocity is to be quashed in its entirety, concluding a titanic legal battle between victims of the atrocity and the PSNI.

Published June 30, 2022



Peace under sustained attack

johnsontruss.jpg With plans well advanced in London for a hard border through Ireland and a blanket amnesty for British war crimes, there is a consensus among nationalists that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is under unprecedented attack.

Published June 23, 2022



Irvine arrest highlights new collusion fears

irvinetwaddell.jpg A notorious UVF paramilitary figure was on a peace scholarship backed by the Dublin government when it is alleged he was involved in a dramatic hoax car bomb attack on its Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Coveney.

Published June 16, 2022



‘Ban the Orange Order’

dundonald.jpg A wave of revulsion at chanting about the murder of a young Catholic bride on her honeymoon has brought pressure for the Orange Order to be treated alongside other racist and supremacist groups.

Published June 9, 2022



Unionists object to reminder of colonial past

plantationmap.jpg Unionist indignation at the public use of the word ‘planter’ by visiting US politician Richard Neal has highlighted their denial of the history of settler colonisation in the north of Ireland.

Published June 1, 2022



Red letter day for the Irish language

ladearg.jpg A new sense of empowerment was evident in the largest ever demonstration for Irish language rights in Belfast last weekend, as up to 20,000 people demanded overdue legislation to protect the rights of Irish speakers under British rule.

Published May 26, 2022



Britain lurches from ‘law, law’ to ‘war, war’

johnsonthales.jpg Fears of a trade war and renewed conflict in the north of Ireland have increased dramatically after the British government this week tore up the Irish Protocol of Brexit in a flagrant breach of international law.

Published May 19, 2022



Old order fails to grasp seismic change

donaldsonjohnson.jpg Rejectionist unionism continues to be indulged by the British government, despite Sinn Féin winning the Stormont Assembly election and nationalist parties outpolling unionist parties in a Six County election for the first time.

Published May 12, 2022



Counting the changes

election2022.jpg The increasing confidence of Irish nationalism and the declining power of unionism has become clear in an election campaign marked by signs of incremental but irreversible change.

Published May 5, 2022



Noah’s face slashed from posters

noahposters1.jpg Posters seeking justice for schoolboy Noah Donohoe have been attacked in a predominately unionist area of north Belfast.

Published April 28, 2022



Easter events overshadowed by violent PSNI operation

arrestderryeaster.jpg A PSNI arrest operation at a major Easter commemoration in Derry resulted in scenes of violence and renewed a controversy over the force’s handling of traditional republican parades in the north of Ireland.

Published April 21, 2022



Unionism split by actions of extremists

beattieposter.jpg Hardline unionists have been blamed for a shocking incident that saw a noose placed around the neck of an image of Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie.

Published April 14, 2022



Minister potentially funding his own assassins

coveneyalert.jpg The 26 County Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, has been funding organisations linked to unionist paramilitaries who have been threatening to assassinate him, it has emerged.

Published April 7, 2022



Who stands behind ‘Brexit’s bombers’?

antiprotocol.jpg Questions are being raised over the role of unionist politicians and media in motivating a hoax bomb attack at an event in north Belfast on Friday morning, 25 March.

Published March 31, 2022



Anger at stealth move to harden Border

borderforce.jpg A plan by the British government to restrict movements of non-Irish citizens of the European Union on the island of Ireland has come under renewed criticism following a vote in the Westminster parliament.

Published March 24, 2022



Donaldson’s role in ‘dirty peace’ no clearer

denisdonaldsonbig2.jpg An official report into the murder of Denis Donaldson, an MI5 informer operating at the highest ranks of Sinn Fein, has not quelled speculation over his killing.

Published March 17, 2022



Irish neutrality ‘under siege’

kingnorkaiser.jpg Efforts to exploit the invasion of Ukraine to push for an end to Ireland’s military neutrality have been condemned.

Published March 10, 2022



End the Occupations

russianoccupation.jpg In full support of peace and freedom for the people of Ukraine, Irish nationalists and republicans have been leading calls for a reassertion of Ukraine’s national sovereignty and for an end to military expansions across the world.

Published March 3, 2022



Russian invasion condemned

kyivbombed.jpg Irish political leaders have been joining international condemnation of a Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.

Published February 24, 2022



US call for end to amnesty plan

lantos.jpg With evidence piling up of systematic collusion by the British Crown Forces in the murders of more than a thousand innocent Irish civilians, US political leaders have vowed to help stop London passing a blanket amnesty.

Published February 17, 2022



Systematic collusion now undeniable

ormeauroad30.jpg The publication of a detailed report on the extensive collusion between RUC police and loyalist death squads in south Belfast in the 1990s could mark a turning point in the campaign for truth and justice in the north of Ireland.

Published February 10, 2022



‘We will see them in the dock’

mcaliskeysunday.jpg Several thousand people marched behind the slogan, ‘There is no British Justice’ as the campaign for those killed and injured by the British Parachute Regiment in Derry on Bloody Sunday marked its 50th year.

Published February 3, 2022



A wound that isn’t healed

bernardmcguigan.jpg The Irish President, Micheal D Higgins, Taoiseach Michael Martin, and former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn are among those set to take part in events this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

Published January 27, 2022



Vindication, but what next?

greenwichvictims.jpg A self-censored report by the Police Ombudsman has played down what it described only as ‘collusive behaviour’ and ‘collusive activity’ by the Crown Forces in the murders of 19 civilians by the North West UDA between 1988 and 1994.

Published January 20, 2022



Tory upheaval complicates Brexit talks

johnsonapology22.jpg Deepening chaos at the top of the Conservative government in London has increased uncertainty ahead of key talks on the north of Ireland.

Published January 13, 2022



A sign of broken promises

irishsignblasted.jpg There were celebrations for Irish speakers on New Year’s Day as the Irish language became an official language of the European Union, but it has piled on pressure for the implementation of rights for speakers in the north of Ireland.

Published January 6, 2022



MI5’s border campaign

mi5spain.jpg British military intelligence escalated its efforts to target Irish political activists in border areas over the Christmas period.

Published December 30, 2021



PSNI lies exposed at the highest level

hoodedsupreme.jpg A historic legal victory has been achieved with a ruling at the Supreme Court in London against the PSNI police for its refusal to investigate the torture of a group of civilians known as the ‘Hooded Men’.

Published December 18, 2021



Break the electronic border

electronicborder.jpg A British government plan for ‘electronic visas’ could be one of the most significant attempts to enforce its control on the north of Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Published December 11, 2021



US tariffs for pariah British state

uksteelexports.jpg The US government is to use tariffs on British steel as part of an international push to force the British government to honour its treaty obligations towards Ireland, it has been reported.

Published December 3, 2021



Demanding truth for Noah

noahdonohoeprotest.jpg Hundreds gathered in North Belfast this week to mark to call on the PSNI to come clean about Noah Donohoe’s death on what would have been his 16th birthday.

Published November 26, 2021



Fresh border protests against British threats

bcabposter.jpg The group Border Communities Against Brexit will protest at five locations on the border on Saturday, November 20, in support of the Irish Protocol and to stop the London government from moving to collapse the Brexit accords.

Published November 20, 2021



Support for Ireland against perfidious Britain

article16.jpg An international effort is coming together to try to stop the British government from collapsing the Irish Protocol of Brexit and causing potentially catastrophic damage to the peace process.

Published November 13, 2021



Triggering trouble

lanarktrouble.jpg Children in loyalist areas are again being manipulated by unionists and Tories to provide the illusion of ‘street chaos’ for their own selfish political agenda.

Published November 6, 2021



Sinn Féin to support juryless courts

mcdonaldaf.jpg A motion before Sinn Féin’s annual conference to rescind the party’s opposition to the Special Criminal Court could be key to unlocking its access to government in Dublin.

Published October 30, 2021



End partition now

toriespartition.jpg A large security operation failed to prevent republicans protesting against a provocative commemoration of the partition of Ireland which took place in Armagh on Thursday.

Published October 23, 2021



Jingo Johnson paints up a storm

johnsonpaints2.jpg There is a growing belief that the Tory government in London is manipulating Brexit tensions for electoral purposes, regardless of the mounting political crisis in the north of Ireland.

Published October 16, 2021



Snub to Higgins as Govt figures to attend Partition event

coveneychambers.jpg Fine Gael’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and Fianna Fáil’s Chief Whip Jack Chambers are to represent the Dublin government in an event to mark the centenary of the partition of Ireland and the creation of a unionist-dominated statelet in the North.

Published October 9, 2021



A wrecker’s charter?

unionistleaders.jpg A unionist election deal could be forming around a plan to pull down Stormont if the Brexit Protocol is not scrapped, or if Sinn Féin becomes the largest party after the next Assembly election.

Published October 1, 2021



Johnson gets the message

johnsondc.jpg London’s refusal to honour its treaty obligations towards Ireland have been called out by Joe Biden in a major setback for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his first meeting with the new US President.

Published September 25, 2021



President rises above unionist attacks

presidentmichaeldhiggins.jpg The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, has hit out at those who have insisted he attend an event to publicly celebrate the partition of Ireland.

Published September 18, 2021



DUP’s Brexit blackmail

donaldsonthreat.jpg The DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has set an agenda for political turmoil in the north of Ireland with a threat to pull out of the North’s political institutions if his demands on the Irish protocol are not met.

Published September 11, 2021



Scotland’s shame

faminesongrangers.jpg Anti-racism charities in Scotland have condemned the police there for not intervening while a group of over 100 soccer fans marched through Glasgow city centre singing the anti-Irish tune ‘The Famine Is Over, Why Don’t You Go Home’.

Published September 4, 2021



Loyalist gangs targeting EU citizens

moygashelmob.jpg 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”.

Published August 27, 2021



‘Uncomfortable’ truth behind informers challenged

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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.

Published August 21, 2021



The British and Unionist Broadcasting Corporation

bbcbuilding.jpg 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’.

Published August 14, 2021



‘Makey-up’ government changes law to suit itself

varadkarrte.jpg 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.

Published August 7, 2021



Irish school forced out of east Belfast

naiscoilnaseolta.jpg There has been a shocked reaction across Ireland and abroad to news that an Irish language nursery school due to open in East Belfast has been forced to relocate as a result of loyalist pressure.

Published July 31, 2021



Judge demands inquiry into Omagh bomb

omaghbomb600.jpg The British government has said it will “take time” to consider its options after a judge called for an inquiry into state actions in connection with a bomb which was allowed to detonate on a street in Omagh, County Tyrone in August 1998, killing 29 people.

Published July 24, 2021



The mother of all cover-ups

murfewis.jpg The British government’s move to block official investigations into its history of war crimes in the north of Ireland has unleashed unprecedented anger at a historic act of British bad faith.

Published July 17, 2021



PSNI defy ministers over bonfire

bonfiredonaldson.jpg The PSNI police have won a judge’s backing for their decision to ignore Stormont Ministers in relation to a violent loyalist bonfire gang.

Published July 10, 2021



‘We will fight on’

michaelmckinney.jpg The families of victims of killer British soldiers will continue to fight for justice after Crown prosecutors announced they are discontinuing proceedings against the only soldier to face charges for the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre, as well as those soldiers involved in the murder of 15-year-old Daniel Hegarty.

Published July 3, 2021



MI5’s evil tactics exposed

vickyduffy.jpg A Lurgan mother-of-three has spoken out after an intimidating encounter with MI5 left her feeling “stalked” by British military agents.

Published June 26, 2021



Unionism in turmoil as basic rights asserted

pootscamera.jpg A second collapse of the leadership of the largest unionist party, in the face of Irish language speakers receiving a commitment that their rights will be protected, marks a further loosening of the grip on northern politics by the DUP’s extremists.

Published June 19, 2021



Loyalists march as ‘sausage war’ looms

maskedmarch.jpg Scores of masked paramilitaries took part in illegal loyalist parades this week ahead of a key Brexit deadline for EU safety checks on goods traded from Britain into the north of Ireland.

Published June 12, 2021



A royal insult

hillsboroughcrown.jpg A decision by the London government to rechristen a village in County Down in honour of the English royal family is the newest British humiliation to be directed at the nationalist people of occupied Ireland.

Published June 5, 2021



Ireland stands with Palestine

palestineprotest.jpg A vote by the Dublin parliament to adopt a Sinn Féin motion condemning the annexation of Palestinian lands by Israel has been hailed as a historic recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

Published May 29, 2021



Loyalist teen threatens MPs with Brexit violence

joelkeys.jpg The use of violence in response to port checks is ‘not off the table’, a 19-year-old linked to loyalist paramilitary gangs told Westminster MPs in an extraordinary meeting on the consequences of Brexit.

Published May 22, 2021



Joy turns to anger at mealy-mouthed apology

ballymurphyafter.jpg The families of the Ballymurphy massacre victims have rejected a British letter of apology and have called for the disbandment of the regiment responsible for the slaughter of their loved ones.

Published May 15, 2021



Tories plan blanket amnesty for state killers

bloodysundayrites.jpg A move by the British government to halt prosecutions for any and all crimes committed by the British Crown forces in the North of Ireland has provoked widespread shock and anger.

Published May 8, 2021



Betrayal and upheaval in the DUP

pootsfoster.jpg Politics in the north of Ireland is facing a period of transition as unionist extremist and religious fundamentalist Edwin Poots emerged as the most likely person to take over the helm of the DUP.

Published April 30, 2021



Rage in Derry over PSNI shooting

celandine.jpg A vulnerable Derry man has been left fighting for his life after the PSNI used CS nerve spray against him before shooting him at point-blank range.

Published April 24, 2021



Catholics forced out amid fears of new violence

portadownmasked.jpg A loyalist paramilitary crime gang in County Antrim has “ordered” the removal of Catholic families from housing estates in the latest episode of sectarian violence in the north.

Published April 17, 2021



Nationalists urged to remain calm

burningbus2.jpg Sinister efforts to involve nationalists in the current wave of loyalist violence are continuing after a week of some of the worst disturbances seen in the north of Ireland in over eight years.

Published April 10, 2021



Let him rest in peace

funeralstorey.jpg An attempt by unionists to weaponise Covid-19 regulations to demand prosecutions of leading members of Sinn Féin over the funeral last June of party colleague and IRA veteran Bobby Storey appear to have failed.

Published April 2, 2021



London made to pay for brutality of Paras

parasbelfast.jpg A north Belfast man has received a five-figure compensation pay out from the British Ministry of Defence over serious assault and torture almost 50 years ago.

Published March 27, 2021



Operation Sledging

ballymagowan.jpg A policing operation in Derry in which two Creggan women were assaulted by the PSNI as part of a day of state violence has drawn intense criticism.

Published March 20, 2021



Tories aim for maximum provocation

johnsontroops.jpg British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a galling visit to the north of Ireland on Friday as part of a Tory onslaught to preserve the union. Rubbing elbows with occupying British soldiers at a helicopter base, Johnson’s visit appeared designed to deliberately infuriate nationalists.

Published March 13, 2021



Loyalist threat to wreck peace deal

loyalistguns.jpg Loyalists paramilitaries are acting in concert with hardline Brexiteers to try to intimidate the European Union with the potential of violence in the north of Ireland.

Published March 6, 2021



DUP openly working with loyalist gangs

dupudauvf.jpg The DUP has “given cover” to the ongoing crimes of the loyalist paramilitary UVF and UDA after a high-level meeting took place between the party and representatives of the two organisations.

Published February 27, 2021



‘Anti-Irish abuse must stop’

mccleans.jpg Irish soccer international James McClean has welcomed widespread support after speaking out about anti-Irish abuse directed towards him and his family in England.

Published February 20, 2021



Nationalists turn against PSNI

psniout.jpg An egregiously insensitive example of PSNI harassment has led to a surge in nationalist support for disbandment of the hated police force.

Published February 13, 2021



Brexit deal could unravel

protocolposter.jpg A weak response to the controversial inclusion of a reference to Brexit’s Irish Protocol in preliminary EU legislation for vaccine exports has encouraged unionist extremists to believe they can force a renegotiation of Brexit’s protocol on Ireland.

Published February 6, 2021



Britain signals readiness for debate on Irish Unity

lewisqt.jpg An acknowledgement by the head of Britain’s government in Ireland that there should be a ‘conversation’ about Ireland’s constitutional future has been welcomed.

Published January 30, 2021



Pressure on govts to facilitate Irish Unity poll

osbornerobinson.jpg A clamour for a realignment of borders in the aftermath of Brexit has seen the most senior figure in David Cameron’s former Tory Cabinet join increasing numbers of unionists in admitting that Ireland could soon be reunited.

Published January 23, 2021



Helicopter attacked as armed groups remain active

psnichopper.jpg A high powered gun attack took place against a Crown Forces helicopter on Thursday near Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh. The attack took place in the border area near where the Continuity IRA launched a booby-trap attack in 2019.

Published January 16, 2021



Brexit advances Irish economic unity

brexitflags.jpg The Dublin government is being urged to help facilitate the increasing reality of Irish unity following the end of the Brexit transition period and the creation of an Irish Sea border.

Published January 9, 2021



UDA order mother of murder victim to flee

quinnscarrick.jpg Drug-dealing loyalist paramilitaries have ordered a grandmother and her family out of their homes over Christmas for daring to speak out against them over the murder of her son.

Published December 30, 2020



Stormont exposed by Covid failure

fostercovid.jpg The inability of the Six-County Executive at Stormont to govern effectively has been highlighted by the announcement on Friday of a hard ‘lockdown’ for six weeks as well as a week-long 8pm curfew to begin on St Stephen’s Day.

Published December 19, 2020



Britain bows to pressure on border

govemaros.jpg Concessions by the British government have boosted hopes that a remilitarised border through Ireland can be avoided after Brexit, although overall negotiations on a trade deal with the EU could still fail.

Published December 11, 2020



Loyalist leaders were British agents, court hears

reawright.jpg Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) founder Billy Wright was a state-sponsored agent, Belfast Crown Court has heard. It was alleged that the man known as ‘King Rat’ was just one of a number of unionist paramilitary bosses on the British payroll.

Published December 4, 2020



Decision day for Finucane inquiry

finucanejohngeraldine.jpg Monday has become a day of reckoning as the date a court was told Britain will finally make a decision known on a public inquiry into the assassination of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.

Published November 27, 2020



Jingo Johnson bangs the drum

johnsonarmy.jpg British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced the biggest expansion of the British military since the Cold War, calling for Britain to go on the offensive and end an “era of retreat” in the aftermath of Brexit.

Published November 20, 2020



Madness of DUP’s veto on public health

dupvetocovid.jpg Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald has accused the DUP of exploiting Covid-19 as an ‘orange versus green’ issue in a week she described as ‘shameful and depressing’.

Published November 14, 2020



Tories wary as Biden elected US President

biden.jpg The new US President-elect Joe Biden could make a visit to Ireland’s border area as part of an intervention on Brexit, according to reports.

Published November 7, 2020



Clashes as anger mounts over policing

derryclash.jpg There has been sporadic unrest in Derry over three days as a provocative Crown Force operation took place in the area of Racecourse Road, Greenhaw Road, Glengalliagh Road and Fern Road.

Published October 31, 2020



Fury at homes abuse cover-up

babyshoes.jpg An adoption rights activist born in one of Ireland’s notorious ‘mother and baby’ homes has described a move to seal records about the institutions for thirty years as a denial of justice.

Published October 23, 2020



Scotland pushing at the door

scots58.jpg Post-Brexit Europe will see a border between Scotland and England if the result of the latest poll, which found 58% of Scots now support independence, is borne out in a referendum.

Published October 16, 2020



Tories back death squads, condemn human rights lawyers

patfinucanebig600.jpg An attack on human rights lawyers by the British Prime Minister has been described as “appalling” and “ shameful”.

Published October 9, 2020



A legacy wiped from the map

orahillyhouse3.jpg The house of the O’Rahilly, a famous historical landmark once home to the 1916 Easter Rising leader Michael Joseph O’Rahilly, was tragically and deliberately demolished in the early hours of Tuesday morning, September 29.

Published October 2, 2020



Solidarity camp at Maghaberry gates

hungerstrike2020.jpg Protests in support of hunger striking prisoners are due to take place in Belfast and outside Maghaberry Prison on Saturday, where a solidarity camp is to be established.

Published September 25, 2020



Solidarity hunger strike at Maghaberry

hijjawi.jpg The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association have said they are gravely concerned at the “medieval” behaviour of the Maghaberry prison regime towards Palestinian prisoner Dr Issam Hijjawi.

Published September 19, 2020



Perfidious Albion 2020

johnsonpinocchio.jpg The political clock has been turned sharply back as the world grapples once again with a British government acting in bad faith on Ireland and blithely reneging on peace deals.

Published September 11, 2020



Alliance blocks Irish signage

naomilong600.jpg The latest proposals for dual Irish and English language street signs in Belfast were voted down this week as the leader of the supposedly cross-community Alliance Party claimed that the sight of the Irish language in public is “contentious”.

Published September 4, 2020



‘Internment 2.0’

saoradhaf19pale.jpg A Palestinian doctor and political activist has been charged under the “Terrorism Act”, alongside nine Irish republicans as part of a major Crown Forces operation to imprison leading members of the Saoradh political party.

Published August 28, 2020



Saoradh under attack

saoradhunderattack.jpg Raids have taken place over four days across three jurisdictions in one of the largest actions in recent years by state forces against a legal political party.

Published August 21, 2020



Donohoe family seek justice

fionanoah.jpg Fiona Donohoe, the mother of 14-year-old Noah Donohoe, has begun a justice campaign and is seeking public assistance for an investigation into the unexplained death of her son in June of this year.

Published August 14, 2020



Rioting follows PSNI raids in Derry

derrytrouble.jpg Vehicles were hijacked and burned and the PSNI were attacked with petrol and paint bombs in three nights of disturbances in Derry this week following brutal police raids in the city.

Published August 7, 2020



One law for them

threestooges.jpg The culmination of weeks of outrage over the new Dublin government’s attempts to seize new powers and perks, while stripping benefits from newly unemployed citizens, saw this session of parliament culminate in an angry walk-out by several parties.

Published July 31, 2020



Sinn Féin MP questions Good Friday Agreement

franciemolloyflat.jpg A veteran Sinn Féin politician has created a storm after he expressed his personal concern that the public had been cheated by the Good Friday Agreement.

Published July 24, 2020



‘A Twelfth like no other’

twelfth2020.jpg Loyalist bands defied public appeals to call off marches because of the coronavirus on Monday and insisted on holding hundreds of parades to mark a sectarian battle victory.

Published July 17, 2020



Stormont dances to a loyalist tune

nolanlowry.jpg A range of politicians and mainstream media have jumped on a loyalist bandwagon to stigmatise mourners at the funeral of legendary figure Bobby Storey, and mount a political attack on Sinn Fein.

Published July 11, 2020



‘We will continue his struggle’

adamsstorey.jpg Thousands of people watched the funeral procession take place in west Belfast on Tuesday, of the late Bobby Storey, Sinn Féin’s chairperson in the Six Counties and a renowned Provisional IRA figure who died last Sunday week.

Published July 3, 2020



A pact among devils

coalitionffgg.jpg Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have voted overwhelmingly to enter into a three-party coalition in Dublin which they say will “stand up” for Ireland at this time of crisis, but which republicans and socialists believe will only preserve the hegemony of a privileged minority.

Published June 26, 2020



End British export of rubber bullets

plasticbulletsmural.jpg There has been a surge of pressure for an end to Britain’s trade in plastic and rubber bullets following disturbing scenes of serious injuries to Black Lives Matter protestors in the US.

Published June 12, 2020



‘Hierarchy of victims’ may be used for payment scheme

brandonlewis.jpg The British government once again stands accused of reneging on its commitments after it insisted on a legal definition of a victim which would exclude thousands of nationalists and republicans.

Published June 5, 2020



Who killed Seamus Ludlow?

ludlowbaty.jpg On the day it emerged that the most senior British military figure linked to the killing has died, an Irish court has served to maintain an official cover-up of the murder of Louth man Seamus Ludlow.

Published May 29, 2020



CIRA patrolling openly

cirapatrol.jpg The Continuity IRA, which says it has been recruiting and regrouping in the Fermanagh area, has released pictures of one of its armed patrols along a border road. It has claimed the organisation “can operate at any time day or night in south Fermanagh”.

Published May 22, 2020



A battle won

desouzashappy.jpg Every person born in the north of Ireland is currently regarded as a European Union citizen for immigration purposes after the British government backed down in the face of a marathon campaign by a Derry woman and her US-born partner.

Published May 15, 2020



Escapee’s conviction declared miscarriage of justice

kevinbarryartt.jpg The conviction of one of those who escaped Long Kesh in 1983 and who settled in the USA, Kevin Barry Artt, has been quashed two decades after the British government ended its efforts to extradite him.

Published May 8, 2020



Divided we fall as lockdowns clash at Border

gardapsnicovid.jpg The Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has spoken out about the danger of having two jurisdictions in Ireland in the current health crisis, saying it is wrong to have an all-island approach to animal care, but not human healthcare.

Published May 1, 2020



Colombia three get amnesty, 19 years on

colombia3.jpg Three Irish republicans once accused of training rebels in Colombia’s civil war have been granted an amnesty nearly two decades after they were arrested.

Published April 24, 2020



‘New IRA’ vows to continue struggle

nirastat2020.jpg In an Easter statement, the New IRA has said it remains committed to bringing the British government’s undemocratic rule in occupied Ireland to an end. It dismissed the idea of a border poll in the aftermath of Brexit, and warned the British establishment listens only to “physical force”.

Published April 17, 2020



Jackboots follow public health failure

covidcheck.jpg Police in the 26 Counties have been given unprecedented powers as state efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus are being displaced by an authoritarian crackdown set to last well into the summer.

Published April 10, 2020



Demand for island strategy as virus deaths mount

islanddistance.jpg The North’s political leaders must depart from the British government’s coronavirus strategy and urgently harmonise with the South, a leading medical professor has said.

Published April 3, 2020



Anger as vital equipment runs short

ppe.jpg Government politicians who paid tribute to healthcare workers this week have been accused of hypocrisy over their failure to supply enough equipment to protect the workers or to take care of the ill.

Published March 27, 2020



Tories back away from ‘herd cull’ plan

johnsonvirus.jpg Amid warnings that health care systems in Britain and the north of Ireland were facing a potentially catastrophic meltdown, both Tories and unionists in Ireland have ended their hands-off approach to the coronavirus health crisis.

Published March 20, 2020



Ireland divided along border by virus response

viruspress.jpg Efforts to contain the spread of Coronavirus have become dangerously split across the island of Ireland after a division emerged between governments in Dublin and London on how quickly the virus should be allowed to spread.

Published March 13, 2020



State report confirms East Tyrone collusion

cappagh91.jpg Concern within the British Crown Forces over MI5’s involvement in a killing campaign has emerged in a report released to families of the victims of the Cappagh killings. It is the first time a state report has confirmed collusion, according to a lawyer for the families.

Published March 6, 2020



A State in limbo as political elite panic

nazisfrally.jpg Efforts by the establishment in Dublin to demonise Sinn Féin have reached unprecedented levels in the aftermath of their performance in the 26 County general election, with politicians going so far as to compare a series of Sinn Féin public meetings to the Nuremburg rallies of Nazi Germany.

Published February 28, 2020



Smears fly as reaction carnival continues

drewharrishat.jpg Efforts by the right in Ireland to counter and undermine Sinn Féin’s advance in the recent 26 County general election have reached extraordinary levels of desperation following an intervention by the Garda police Commissioner, Drew Harris.

Published February 21, 2020



Establishment circles the wagon

electionmap102.jpg A sense of crisis has gripped the Irish ruling classes after Sinn Féin nearly tripled its vote in last weekend’s election to Leinster House and took the first steps in the formation of a new government in Dublin.

Published February 14, 2020



Sinn Féin at the threshold of Cabinet power

sfge2020.jpg With Sinn Fein topping opinion polls in the 26 Counties for the first time, an ambush of party leader Mary Lou McDonald by state broadcaster RTE over a comment by a party colleague 13 years ago has jeopardised what is still widely expected to be a good election for the party.

Published February 7, 2020



Britain waves goodbye

farageflag.jpg

Britain is set to formally quit the European Union late Friday, closing the chapter on nearly half a century of integration with its European neighbours and leaving the north of Ireland in a limbo between two powerful economies

Published January 31, 2020



British Army was behind Miami Showband massacre

showbandbomb.jpg Shocking new documents have disclosed that British Army intelligence officer Robert Nairac was responsible for the planning and execution of the Miami Showband Massacre, in which three innocent band-members were killed.

Published January 24, 2020



Varadkar’s election plan unravels

varadkarflanagankeane.jpg The 26 County election campaign has had the most shocking start imaginable after body parts of a murdered 17-year-old boy were found in a bag in north Dublin.

Published January 17, 2020



Sinn Féin agree to return to Stormont

returntostormont2.jpg Three years after they collapsed, Sinn Féin has made a decision to return to the partitionist institutions at Stormont, with party leader Mary Lou McDonald stating that it is the “responsibility of every party to ensure the Executive meets”.

Published January 10, 2020



A century of cover-up for miscarriages of justice

conlonreleased.jpg More than 1,000 files on the Guildford Four, Maguire Seven and Birmingham Six, notorious miscarriage of justice cases involving innocent Irish civilians living in England, are to remain secret almost a century longer than they were supposed.

Published January 3, 2020



DUP’s death grip on Stormont

dupsmithhandshake.jpg The DUP have come under pressure to relinquish their veto over political change at Stormont following round-table talks over the future of the Belfast Assembly this week. Both the London and Dublin governments accused the party of blocking a pre-Christmas deal on restoring the North’s suspended political institutions.

Published December 21, 2019



Belfast goes green

cands19.jpg The north of Ireland has voted for more nationalists than unionists in a Westminster parliamentary election for the first time after two hardline unionists were voted out.

Published December 14, 2019



DUP in distress

ulsterhalldup.jpg The north of Ireland appears set for an extended period of unionist protest after an event took place on Friday night at the Ulster Hall, the latest in a series of meetings organised by loyalists which have echoed with the word ‘betrayal’.

Published December 7, 2019



Republicans come together for unity

unitymarchlifford.jpg Thousands of people took to the streets of County Donegal and County Tyrone last weekend to demand a united Ireland.

Published November 30, 2019



Sinister UDA figures behind hate banners

finucanebanner2.jpg Unionist banners have been erected by the UDA targeting the family of Pat Finucane, the Belfast defence lawyer who in 1989 was assassinated by a UDA paramilitary death squad in collusion with British military intelligence.

Published November 23, 2019



DUP hypocrisy amid poster war

19wmelecposters.jpg Sinn Féin has accused the DUP of forming electoral alliances with active paramilitaries and demonising republicans and nationalists in an attempt to provide itself with cover.

Published November 16, 2019



UDA threat alters election contest

stittfoster.jpg A decision by the Ulster Unionist Party to stand aside in North Belfast following loyalist threats of violence has been condemned, despite the insistence of the party’s new leader Steve Aiken that the move was not connected to the threats.

Published November 9, 2019



UDA’s election coercion for DUP

aikenudadodds.jpg Loyalist paramilitaries have issued threats against the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in a bid to force it to withdraw from the Westminster election in north Belfast against Nigel Dodds, the Deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Published November 2, 2019



Loyalists beat the drum

loyalistsconclub.jpg The leaders of a number of loyalist paramilitary factions have held talks to discuss how to force the British government into a u-turn over a draft Brexit deal agreed this month between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union.

Published October 26, 2019



Nationalists told they are British, not Irish

desouza1910.jpg The British government has been accused of deliberately failing to implement the provisions of Good Friday Agreement in its domestic law following an appeals court ruling which found that an Irish woman from County Derry is legally British and not Irish.

Published October 18, 2019



‘Open the path to freedom’

johnsonvaradkar2.jpg The British government and the European Union are being urged to seize the moment to prepare for peaceful Irish unification after Brexit negotiators shied away from a disastrous agenda to reinforce partition.

Published October 12, 2019



Jingo Johnson’s mad Brexit

borisborderzone.jpg Preparations are underway for a crash Brexit after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed a barely believable set of proposals for the border through Ireland which appeared designed to be instantly rejected by Dublin and the European Union.

Published October 5, 2019



Chaos deepens as Fascist Tories incite Brexit violence

johnsoncommons2.jpg Warlike rhetoric and subtle threats of violence against MPs by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson drew a furious response and threatened to overwhelm the return of Westminster this week.

Published September 28, 2019



First hearing in Bloody Sunday trial

sundaytrialhearing.jpg After almost 48 years, the case of a British soldier accused of murder during the Bloody Sunday massacre, the first and only prosecution for the 1972 killing spree, finally began at Derry’s courthouse on Wednesday. However, proceedings were adjourned until December.

Published September 21, 2019



British politics in meltdown

commonsprorogued.jpg There were extraordinary scenes in the London parliament this week as opposition MPs staged an angry protest against the suspension of Westminster and accused the British Prime Minister of lying to the English queen in order to secure the Crown’s authority for the shutdown.

Published September 14, 2019



Barbaric Brits threaten kids

psnibyrne.jpg The chief of the PSNI police is under pressure to resign after proposing one of the most inhumane public control strategies of any Crown Force leader in the past 50 years, the removal and detention of innocent nationalist children.

Published September 7, 2019



Tories dispense with democracy

johnsondictator.jpg The far-right Brexit ‘war cabinet’ under unelected Prime Minister Boris Johnson has edged closer to outright fascism after it secured a royal order to shut down the Westminster parliament in London for over a month.

Published August 30, 2019



Border bomb is Brexit statement

gatebomb.jpg A bomb which exploded less than a mile from the border on Monday has delivered an IRA message about Britain’s plans to reinforce partition as a result of Brexit. The blast was heard on both sides of the border.

Published August 23, 2019



Derry parades crisis

parabandderry.jpg There have been calls for sectarian parades to be banned from Derry after an inflammatory display by a loyalist flute band led to three nights of serious disorder this week.

Published August 17, 2019



Sinn Féin’s message of defiance to Johnson

andersonhs19.jpg At the annual hunger strike commemoration organised by Sinn Féin, party MEP Martina Anderson told the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that his government’s “days in Ireland are numbered”.

Published August 9, 2019



Tory ‘War Cabinet’ sets scene for violence

warcabinet.jpg A so-called War Cabinet has been formed by the new British prime minister, Boris Johnson to aggressively force Ireland to accept a hardening and reinforcement of Britain’s century-old border across the island.

Published August 2, 2019



New Direct Ruler arrives in Ireland

juliansmith.jpg The new British Direct Ruler, Julian Smith, has received a mixed response from Sinn Féin ahead of his arrival in Belfast to take control of British government operations in the north of Ireland.

Published July 26, 2019



The face of ‘the Twelfth’

morgans.jpg A savage sectarian attack in County Down has left a man fighting for his life.

Published July 19, 2019



UVF's gun law at hate bonfires

uvfbonfire19.jpg The UVF’s reign of terror in east Belfast appears intact after it forced a humiliating climbdown by Belfast City Council over an illegal bonfire which had forced the closure of a leisure centre.

Published July 12, 2019



Inquiry ordered into state collusion in murder campaign

glennaneappeal.jpg Following a damning judgement at the Court of Appeal in Belfast earlier today [Friday], the PSNI has been forced into establishing an independent investigation into the British state’s role in a killing machine that left more than a hundred people dead.

Published July 5, 2019



SF pays tribute to PIRA ceasefire leader

kevinmckennafuneral.jpg Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams delivered the graveside oration at the funeral of the former chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, Kevin McKenna, who passed away earlier in the week at the age of 74. In his address, Mr Adams hailed the pivotal figure as “a republican soldier who had the politics to know when to fight, and the political vision to know when to talk”.

Published June 28, 2019



Unite Ireland so we can have Brexit, say Tory members

johnsonhunt.jpg There has been a welcome in Ireland for the result of a survey of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party which revealed that most of its members would be willing to see Irish reunification if it meant that England could leave the European Union. The poll puts the Tories completely at odds with their DUP allies in the London government.

Published June 22, 2019



Final journey for IRA legend

coffinmckee.jpg Thousands lined the streets of west Belfast today as republicans from across Ireland gathered to pay tribute to Provisional IRA founder Billy McKee, a man who dedicated most of his life to the cause of freedom and lead the defence of the nationalist people at a time of their greatest need.

Published June 15, 2019



Malicious agenda beaten

journoswin.jpg Two investigative journalists have accused the PSNI of “malicious intent” after a bogus case against them in relation to a documentary on collusion in the north of Ireland was finally dropped.

Published June 8, 2019



British general derided at massacre inquest

generaljackson.jpgg A claim that the British Army “don’t do conspiracies” by one its most infamous liars, General Mike Jackson, drew derision and frustration in equal measure at the inquest into the Ballymurphy massacre this week.

Published June 1, 2019



INLA leader laid to rest

inlafuneral.jpg Several thousand people attended the west Belfast funeral of leading republican socialist ‘Marty Mac’ Martin McElkerney on Wednesday. A former PoW, Mr McElkerney was closely involved in the IRSP’s peace strategy after being released from Long Kesh prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Published May 25, 2019



Euro election could make history

allisteranderson.jpg Sinn Féin’s European election candidate in the Six Counties, Martina Anderson, clashed with hardline unionist Jim Allister on live television as campaigning for the European elections to be held across Ireland reached a climax.

Published May 18, 2019



Optimism urged for new talks process

talks1905.jpg Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she believes an agreement can be reached after round-table five-party talks began in Belfast this week for the first time in more than a year.

Published May 11, 2019



Unionist hardliners count the cost

alliancevictory.jpg A second day of counting in the local elections has confirmed that the traditional unionist vote is well down across the Six Counties, while the moderate Alliance Party are the main beneficiaries of the election.

Published May 4, 2019



‘New IRA’ accepts blame for riot death

saoradhdublinmarch.jpg The ‘New IRA’ has admitted it was behind the gun attack on the PSNI that led to the death of journalist Lyra McKee during a riot in Derry last week.

Published April 27, 2019



‘Senseless’

riotpics.jpg There have been appeals for calm following the tragic death of a journalist during heavy rioting in a republican area of Derry on Thursday night.

Published April 20, 2019



No restriction on armed PSNI crossing border

drewharriscar.jpg An extraordinary incident involving Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has forced the Dublin government to confirm that heavily armed members of the British Crown Forces are routinely making incursions into all areas of the 26 Counties without any checks or controls.

Published April 13, 2019



Irish are ‘second class citizens’ in new GFA breach

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The British government has provoked anger after it said Irish citizens born in the north of Ireland cannot vote in a unity border poll or any other referendum under British law, and cannot have the same rights as other EU citizens.

Published April 6, 2019



Standing up to the Fascists

bcab1903.jpg The people of the border communities in Ireland are today demonstrating against the demands of the unionist far right as Britain moves closer to a crash exit from the European Union and a remilitarisation of the border area across Ireland from April 12.

Published March 30, 2019



One million attend anti-Brexit march in London

brexitrallylondon.jpg A huge protest against Brexit in London today is thought to be one of the biggest in British history.

Published March 23, 2019



Soldier F - A Bloody Sunday scapegoat

sundayconference.jpg The British government is seeking to maintain a cover-up of the Bloody Sunday massacre after it was announced that only one soldier will be prosecuted for the killings.

Published March 16, 2019



Obscenity

bradleyred.jpg Widespread revulsion has greeted a statement by the British Direct Ruler Karen Bradley that killings by members of the Crown Forces in the north of Ireland are “not crimes”.

Published March 9, 2019



‘We won’

finucanessupremecourt.jpg The Supreme Court in London has unanimously backed the appeal by the family of Pat Finucane against the refusal of the British government to carry out a proper inquiry into his 1989 murder by state agents.

Published March 2, 2019



MI5’s plan to foment civil war

johnweir600.jpg A film which exposes a horrific plot to massacre Catholic children and nuns at a school has premiered in Belfast. It also reveals the rationale behind MI5’s most shocking target.

Published February 23, 2019



Hamilton - the face of collusion in 2019?

hamiltoncap.jpg PSNI chief George Hamilton stands accused of subverting justice in regard to dozens of loyalist killings in the late 1980s and early 1990s after secret police documents relating to collusion unexpectedly came to light.

Published February 16, 2019



‘Dial moving’ for a border poll

mcdonaldmarr.jpg There are signs of a growing acceptance in London that a referendum on unity in the Six Counties will be required in the circumstances of Britain’s departure from the EU.

Published February 9, 2019



Help sought from America as Tories bin peace deal

congressboyle.jpg US Congressmen could once again be called on to act in support of peace in Ireland after the British government openly reneged on a deal to prevent a hard border after Brexit.

Published February 2, 2019



A century of armed struggle

derrybomb19.jpg A spectacular bomb attack at Derry courthouse last weekend followed by a series of hoaxes appears designed to deliver a message about the continuing ability of the ‘new IRA’ to carry on its armed campaign.

Published January 26, 2019



British military reinforcements for Brexit

britreserve.jpg Plans are in train to send British Army Reservists to the north of Ireland to deal with the consequences of a crash Brexit at the end of March.

Published January 19, 2019



Judge ‘protects his paymasters’

roseannmallon600.jpg A coroner has somehow found no evidence of collusion in the notorious murder of a nationalist pensioner who was shot dead by loyalists as her home was being actively surveilled by the British Army.

Published January 12, 2019



MI5 ‘tampered with Enniskillen bomb’ - STATE PAPERS

MI5letter.jpg British intelligence knew in advance about the Enniskillen bombing of 1987 and altered the timing to kill civilians and create a “massive backlash” against the IRA, according to an anonymous letter by an MI5 agent, written 30 years ago and declassified this week in Dublin.

Published January 5, 2019



The new Land War

strokestownaftermath.jpg 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.

Published December 22, 2018



‘The Irish should know their place’

tories.jpg 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.

Published December 15, 2018



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

pritipatel.jpg 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.

Published December 8, 2018



Emotions run high as new group holds meetings

dailabortion.jpg 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.

Published December 1, 2018



The Border ‘will be maintained by the gun’

hallidaydodds.jpg Amid a hostile reaction by unionist politicians to a draft Brexit deal, one TUV politician has warned that the border through Ireland will be “maintained by the gun”.

Published November 24, 2018



DUP MPs told to ‘get over yourselves’

dupmps.jpg The DUP leadership is completely at odds with civic unionism after a draft Brexit deal won praise across the north of Ireland, particularly from farmers and business interests who see significant advantages in proposed arrangements to facilitate trade with both Britain and the EU.

Published November 17, 2018



Save ‘Our Precious Union’ from Brexit - DUP

fostermay2.jpg The paradox of the unstoppable force of Brexit and the DUP’s immovable intransigence may be resolved within days amid reports of a looming showdown between the British Prime Minister and the DUP.

Published November 10, 2018



‘Shitshows’ by Brexit Brits

raabwarrenpoint.jpg British government ministers are treating the north of Ireland as a colonial outpost which must be visited, however briefly, in order to maintain the validity of their jurisdiction.

Published November 3, 2018



Higgins re-elected as President

higginsreelected.jpg Michael D Higgins will serve another seven year term as President of Ireland as tallies and early results in Friday’s Presidential election bore out the results of two exit polls which last night indicated he is set to be elected on the first count.

Published October 27, 2018



Brexit tensions ratchet higher

newrycustoms.jpg Concerns are growing that a failure to negotiate a solution to the issue of the border after Brexit could spark a return of serious violence in the north of Ireland.

Published October 20, 2018



Scotland marches for freedom

auob1018.jpg Over 120,000 people joined a march for Scottish independence through Edinburgh last Saturday in the largest ever march about the issue.

Published October 13, 2018



Foster’s blood and thunder

fosterbirminghamtory.jpg DUP leader Arlene Foster has described her party’s opposition to a deal in Brexit negotiations that would result in new checks on goods moving across the Irish Sea as a “red line” that is “blood red”.

Published October 6, 2018



No compensation for Bloody Sunday

michaelquinn.jpg A damages payment to a survivor of the British Army’s Bloody Sunday massacre is being seen as a step towards the goal of achieving real justice for the victims, rather than compensation.

Published September 29, 2018



May heads for the cliff

maybrexitpeech.jpg An aggressive and staunchly unionist speech has increased fears that British Prime Minister Theresa May is prepared to ignore warnings and crash Britain out of the European Union early next year.

Published September 22, 2018



Gangsters

fourgang2.jpg Over a thousand people marched in Dublin on Wednesday after the new Garda Commissioner colluded with hired thugs in an attempt to suppress opposition to the government’s housing policy.

Published September 15, 2018



‘Ignorant’ Bradley blocks court-ordered election

bradleywestminster.jpg After admitting to a parliamentary magazine that she hadn’t understood how the North of Ireland is divided politically, British Direct Ruler Karen Bradley has introduced legislation at Westminster to halt Six County Assembly elections until 2019.

Published September 8, 2018



Journalists seized in PSNI’s war on truth

journosarrested.jpg

The PSNI stand accused of once again actively colluding in a loyalist massacre by directing the arrest of two award-winning investigative journalists who worked to expose the truth behind the 1994 Loughinisland killings.

Published September 1, 2018



Oppression ‘backfiring’ on PSNI

stopandsearch2.jpg With incidents of harassment by the PSNI rising significantly, a report for the Stormont administration has admitted that the abuse of stop and search powers is actually bolstering support for republican groups in Derry.

Published August 25, 2018



Omagh’s appalling vista

nualaoloan600.jpg There has been an outcry after former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan hinted at a police cover-up and said she was certain the PSNI (then RUC) ‘could have prevented’ the 1998 Omagh bomb attack, in which 29 civilians died.

Published August 18, 2018



Britain gears up for Brexit oppression

bordersearch.jpg

A new border zone is being set up by the British government in which military and customs officials would have additional powers to stop, search and interrogate members of the public within a mile-wide strip across Ireland.

Published August 11, 2018



Sinn Fein wavers on border poll

marylouwaver.jpg Sinn Fein has denied media claims of internal disagreements after a significant shift in the party’s attitude on Irish reunification was unveiled by party leader Mary Lou McDonald on Monday but largely recanted less than 24 hours later.

Published August 4, 2018



Protestants ‘must be protected’ in United Ireland

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Former DUP leader Peter Robinson has said he believes reunification could happen because of Brexit and has called for a debate on “protections” for the unionist community.

Published July 28, 2018



UVF handed PSNI database

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In a major incident of potential collusion, elements within the PSNI have passed on to loyalist paramilitaries the details and electronic data of hundreds of people who they have been spying on.

Published July 21, 2018



PSNI raids follow peace rally

sfpeacerally.jpg The homes of republican youths in Derry are currently the focus of a PSNI crackdown following several nights of clashes around a major sectarian parade through the city centre.

Published July 14, 2018



Savagery of bonfire thugs

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A Catholic man was dragged from his car and severely beaten in broad daylight in a rabid attack by loyalist thugs enraged by the failure of their bonfire nearby. It is believed the victim was attacked randomly and was only identified as Catholic by the football jersey he was wearing.

Published July 7, 2018



Collusion monster is Garda Commissioner

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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”.

Published June 30, 2018



Sham prosecution falls apart

damienmclaughlin.jpg 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.

Published June 23, 2018



Royal visit denounced as one-sided, anti-republican

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

Published June 16, 2018



Robinson backs ‘fixed’ border polls

peterrobinson600.jpg 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.

Published June 9, 2018



‘The North is next’

northisnext.jpg 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.

Published June 2, 2018



‘New politics’ brings historic change

repealcastle.jpg An overwhelming vote in favour of repealing the 8th amendment of the Irish constitution has opened the way for the liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion laws, with a final result of 66.4% to 33.6%.

Published May 26, 2018



May runs away from border poll

andersonbradley.jpg Theresa May has privately ruled out a vote on Irish unity within the north of Ireland because it could produce a majority in favour, according to leaked reports from a secret Tory briefing.

Published May 19, 2018



British soldiers gloat over massacre

hereford.jpg Former members of the British Crown Forces have been sharing photographs of the assassinated IRA Volunteers of Loughgall and gloating about how they held “parties” in the van in which three of the martyrs were killed, it has emerged.

Published May 12, 2018



Lives of Irish women sold out by the state

vickyphelan.jpg A dodgy deal for cut-price cancer tests and a subsequent cover-up wrecked the health of hundreds of Irish women over the past decade, with 17 deaths attributed to the scandal.

Published May 5, 2018



Sinn Fein accused of ‘political oppression’

doorrammed.jpg The PSNI have taken to using saws and battering rams in raids on the homes of republican activists in Derry following appeals by Sinn Fein for “tangible action” against armed groups in the city.

Published April 28, 2018



Britain launches ‘Border Force’

customs.jpg A new ‘Border Force’ recruitment drive is being seen as the latest sign that the British government is planning to impose a hard border across Ireland after Brexit, and the manner of its implementation is in line with the extreme right-wing policies of the British government’s Home Office.

Published April 21, 2018



IRSP HQ raided

irspraid.jpg The headquarters of the Irish Republican Socialist Party were raided by the PSNI police on Friday in the latest show of strength by the Crown forces against republicans in Belfast and Derry.

Published April 14, 2018



PSNI oppression fails to halt Rising commemorations

saoradheasterderry18.jpg A 76-year-old woman injured during a Crown Force operation to disrupt an Easter 1916 commemoration in Lurgan has come to symbolise the defiance of republicans against a new effort to disrupt republican Easter parade colour parties.

Published April 7, 2018



Easter commemoration attacked by PSNI

commem2.jpg The PSNI have this afternoon attacked an Easter commemoration in Lurgan, County Armagh, injuring a woman and dramatically raising tensions ahead of a weekend of commemorative events.

Published March 31, 2018



Hand over inquest funds, court orders

timefortruthscales.jpg In an emphatic ruling, a High Court judge has issued a “mandatory order” to civil servants in Belfast and London to provide long-denied funds for legacy inquests in the North of Ireland.

Published March 24, 2018



Taoiseach plays the gombeen for Trump

varadkargombeen.jpg The 26 County Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is facing calls to resign after he bragged about how he subverted the state’s planning process on behalf of Donald Trump’s business interests during the traditional St Patrick’s Day lunch in Washington DC.

Published March 17, 2018



DUP looks to London

fosterbcc2.jpg Sinn Fein has warned that the DUP has “checked out” of any attempt to restore the powersharing institutions in Belfast as the Tory government in London introduced an effective Direct Rule budget for the North of Ireland.

Published March 10, 2018



‘Action needed’ from British as DUP dump process

mcdonaldoneillno10.jpg Details of a draft talks agreement on the restoration of powersharing between Sinn Fein and the DUP have exposed the opposition of powerful unionist hardliners to even the most moderate accommodation with nationalism.

Published February 24, 2018



DUP can’t tolerate Irish

fostergaelicsign.jpg There is mounting concern that unionists in the north of Ireland are incapable of treating nationalists with respect after the DUP suddenly backed away from a deal which would have legislated for the rights for Irish language speakers.

Published February 17, 2018



Adams: ‘I did my best’

adamsflag600.jpg As he hands over the reins to Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has been giving interviews and facing a welter of last-minute criticism from his political opponents.

Published February 10, 2018



Haggarty to go free in brazen cover-up

haggartyout.jpg There was widespread shock this week after it was confirmed that loyalist Special Branch double agent Gary Haggarty could be freed within weeks despite pleading guilty to five murders, five attempted murders and hundreds of other crimes.

Published February 3, 2018



ONH ceasefire welcomed

onhmural3.jpg Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) have confirmed no immediate plans to decommission their weapons following the breakaway IRA group’s announcement that it is to “suspend all armed actions against the British State”.

Published January 27, 2018



McDonald confirmed as next leader of Sinn Fein

maryloupreselect.jpg Mary Lou McDonald will succeed Gerry Adams as Sinn Fein leader, the party has confirmed, and will formally ascend to the leadership at a special Ard Fheis [conference] next month.

Published January 20, 2018



‘Thanks for eternity’

rosaleensands.jpg Tributes have been paid to Rosaleen Sands, the mother of hunger striker and MP Bobby Sands, who passed away on Friday.

Published January 13, 2018



DUP ‘in denial’

fosterflag.jpg The DUP has been accused of not facing reality after the hardline unionist party called for a return of full Direct Rule of the north of Ireland from London, and condemned comments by the 26 County Taoiseach that he supports a united Ireland.

Published January 6, 2018



Adams seen ready to end conflict in 1987

adams1987.jpg The Dublin government’s first intelligence on Sinn Fein’s peace initiative of 1987 claimed that Gerry Adams disapproved of some IRA actions and that the Sinn Fein leader saw the armed struggle as a “political liability”.

Published December 30, 2017



Britain’s Brexit lies

daviddavis.jpg There was outrage in Ireland this week as British negotiators backed away from commitments on the Irish border reached in a deal with the European Union on the terms of its departure.

Published December 16, 2017



Smokescreen hides Brexit border chasm

brexitdeal.jpg A tsunami of spin in regards to the Irish border has scraped the British government into a second round of negotiations with the European Union over its departure, but at the expense of any confidence in the negotiations process.

Published December 9, 2017



Brexidiots

brexidiots.jpg The failure of the British body politic to understand the implications of reinforcing the border through Ireland has dominated news coverage at a critical juncture in the negotiations over Britain’s departure from the EU.

Published December 2, 2017



Election likely as Varadkar defends disgraced Minister

varadkarfitzgerald.jpg The 26 County minority government could collapse on Tuesday after Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar refused to back down over a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister, Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald.

Published November 25, 2017



45 years for the truth

francisrowntree600.jpg Rulings that the murder of 11-year-old British Army victim Francis Rowntree was ‘not justified’ and that the rubber bullets fired at him were lethal have been widely welcomed, although 45 years late and following the recent death of his mother.

Published November 18, 2017



RSF figure ordered held without trial

gabrielmackle.jpg A prominent Armagh republican, Gabriel Mackle, has been interned on the orders of the British Direct Ruler James Brokenshire.

Published November 11, 2017



An end to the Good Friday Agreement?

stormont1117.jpg An attempt to inject urgency into the Stormont talks process this week failed to resolve a stand-off over the Democratic Unionist Party’s refusal to implement past agreements on equality and respect for nationalists, leading to speculation that the process has reached an endpoint.

Published November 4, 2017



Saoradh leaders held in raids

raids.jpg Saoradh has protested against the detention of its chairperson, national organiser and two Belfast activists, after they were seized in early morning raids on Thursday.

Published October 28, 2017



Britain ready for border conflict

britsborder.jpg The British government has said it is ready to send British soldiers into Irish border areas if Britain leaves the EU without a Brexit deal.

Published October 21, 2017



UVF case abandoned

garyhaggarty600.jpg Another loyalist ‘supergrass’ case has collapsed with the news that not one of the loyalists or Special Branch police named in court by informer Gary Haggarty will face prosecution.

Published October 14, 2017



‘Long live Catalonia’

catalans.jpg Irish nationalists have united in solidarity with Catalonia and in condemnation of the attempted suppression of this week’s independence poll.

Published October 7, 2017



Catholics free ‘shared community’

cantrellflags.jpg 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.

Published September 30, 2017



‘Freedom for Catalonia’

guardiacivil.jpg 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.

Published September 23, 2017



Injustice upon injustice in supergrass ‘trial’

portlaoisesupergrass.jpg 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.

Published September 16, 2017



Coalition closer as Adams to step back

thinkin17.jpg 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.

Published September 9, 2017



Glenanne plot ‘went to the top’

johnweir600.jpg 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.

Published September 2, 2017



Loyalist bid to ‘cleanse’ Derry’s Waterside

watersidepogrom.jpg Five Catholic and mixed families have been forced out of their homes in Derry amid a pogrom by loyalist paramilitaries in the predominately Protestant Waterside area of the city.

Published August 26, 2017



Brexit blame game underway

mayflags.jpg Claims by the British government that they wish to impose no additional border reinforcements in Ireland following their departure from the European Union are being treated with scepticism.

Published August 19, 2017



Youths riot over bonfire raids

creditfallsfire.jpg A one-sided approach by council authorities to bonfires has been blamed for a riotous conflagration in nationalist areas of Belfast city centre this week which threatened to reignite conflict at sectarian interfaces in the city.

Published August 12, 2017



Historic Dáil document on peaceful unification

unitingdoc.jpg An Irish parliamentary report on achieving Irish unity has placed the republican goal of a united Ireland in the context of 26 County constitutional parliamentary politics for the first time.

Published August 5, 2017



PSNI’s Glenanne cover-up fails

glenannefamilies2.jpg In a dramatic vindication for the grieving families, the High Court in Belfast has accepted that the PSNI wrecked an investigation into collusion by Britain in the notorious Glenanne Gang, which was responsible for killing 130 Catholics.

Published July 29, 2017



Orange Order not shamed by hate fiesta

popecostume.jpg The Orange Order has refused to apologise after photographs emerged of supporters in Scotland wearing bizarre and shocking costumes expressing racist and sectarian hate.

Published July 22, 2017



Sickening sectarianism

mcguinnessbonfire.jpg The Democratic Unionist Party has caused a furore by issuing conflicting statements about the burning of a coffin effigy of the late Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness on a loyalist bonfire in east Belfast on Tuesday.

Published July 15, 2017



Culture of hate

carrickfergusbonfire.jpg Stung by criticism that it has conspired in loyalist paramilitary crime, Belfast city councillors have now attempted to limit the size of four ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires, despite having previously funded and supported the infamously sectarian displays.

Published July 8, 2017



DUP triumphant as peace deal is shredded

dupno10.jpg A deal between the Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party could allow the unionist hardliners to control British policy in the north of Ireland for the lifetime of the current Westminster parliament.

Published July 1, 2017



‘Brexit to them gently’

queensspeech.jpg English royals Elizabeth and Charles Windsor have delivered the legislative agenda of the presumptive minority government in London for the next two years which revolves around its uncertain plans to withdraw from the European Union.

Published June 24, 2017



Peace warnings as May plays the Orange card

newsfdowningst.jpg An attempt by British Prime Minister Theresa May to placate the North of Ireland parties over her plans to form a pact with hardline unionists saw Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams tell her that her government is “in clear breach of the Good Friday Agreement”.

Published June 17, 2017



The devil and the DUP

duptheresamay.jpg Sinn Fein has played down the impact of a deal between unionists and Conservatives as it emerged the Democratic Unionist Party will support a minority Tory government in London.

Published June 10, 2017



Brazen murder as UDA rewards DUP with election support

hornerfoster.jpg A brutal murder by the unionist paramilitary UDA of a feud rival and its subsequent election endorsement of the DUP has dramatically raised the issue of collusion between unionist politicians and loyalist murder gangs ahead of next week’s Westminster election.

Published June 3, 2017



Rogue statelet

fitzpatrick.jpg The collapse of the trial of notorious Irish bankster Sean FitzPatrick has increased suspicions that the 26 County state is deliberately facilitating white collar crime.

Published May 27, 2017



Varadkar set to become next Taoiseach

varadkarcoveney.jpg The current Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar looks well placed to win the Fine Gael leadership contest and take over as head of the Dublin government.

Published May 20, 2017



Peace messages and protest amid royal tour

adamscharles2017.jpg A visit by British royals to Ireland has again polarised republicans, with protests organised as leading Sinn Fein figures greeted Charles Windsor and his wife Camilla.

Published May 13, 2017



ONH denies ceasefire reports

onhpic.jpg The republican armed group known as Oglaigh na hEireann has denied reports that it is involved in talks with the British or 26 County governments or that it is on the verge of disbanding.

Published May 6, 2017



EU backs united Ireland plan

kennytusk.jpg An official statement by the European Union that it will accept a future united Ireland into the EU has been cautiously welcomed by republicans as bringing international diplomatic recognition for impending Irish unification.

Published April 29, 2017



Talks abandoned until after Westminster election

stormontnoentry.jpg Crisis talks in the north of Ireland have been suspended until June following the decision of the British Prime Minister to call a snap general election, an unexpected move which angered politicians in Belfast and cast new uncertainty over the future of Stormont and its powersharing institutions.

Published April 22, 2017



‘Clear names of Scap’s victims’

scapbig.jpg Sinn Fein has been urged to exonerate those republicans and others who were executed as ‘informers’ on the orders of a British double agent operating inside the Provisional IRA.

Published April 14, 2017



Kenny’s Brexit breakdown

kennymerkel.jpg The Dublin government’s failure to secure any kind of veto for Ireland in the negotiations following Brexit has been strongly criticised as a dereliction of its duties.

Published April 7, 2017



Hope for Ireland as Brexit gets real

brexitletter2.jpg Despite the Brexit process, the north of Ireland could remain in the European Union pending a unity referendum, according to papers published this week by a European Parliament committee.

Published April 1, 2017



‘Freedom fighter’

mcguinnesscortege.jpg Grief turned to pride for Sinn Fein this week as tens of thousands paid their respects to a leader who came to symbolise peace in Ireland and the process through which the Provisional IRA gave birth to a political powerhouse.

Published March 24, 2017



National rights denied as Tories assert English rule

maywestminster.jpg There has been an angry response in both Ireland and Scotland after British Prime Minister Theresa May said she would block referendums on Irish unity and Scottish independence following the Brexit vote to leave the European Union.

Published March 17, 2017



Growing consensus that time has come for unity

brexituk.jpg There have been vocal and widespread calls for Irish reunification in the face of the British government’s determination to leave the European Union and a historic election result last week which has delivered unprecedented political strength for nationalism and Sinn Fein.

Published March 10, 2017



Election transformation

fosterelectionlost.jpg Thursday’s election has significantly altered the make-up of politics in the north of Ireland as a more focussed and energised Sinn Fein enticed republican voters back to the polls and historically ended the unionist majority at Stormont.

Published March 4, 2017



DUP face day of reckoning

duppress.jpg The north’s largest unionist party is increasingly fearful ahead of next month’s Stormont Assembly election amid predictions that it could fall below the thirty seats it needs to hold on to its veto over political change in the north of Ireland.

Published February 24, 2017



Kenny facing heave after ‘shambolic’ episode

endakennytired.jpg The 26 County Taoiseach Enda Kenny is struggling to retain the leadership of his Fine Gael party after his ponderous and contradictory responses to allegations of a smear campaign against a Garda police whistleblower.

Published February 17, 2017



Westminster vote undermines 1998 peace deal

westminsterbrexit.jpg In a potentially historic development, the London parliament has voted to allow the British government renege on the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement as part of its negotiations to leave the European Union.

Published February 10, 2017



‘Frictionless’ border checks as Britain waives the rules

gardacheckpoint600.jpg The British government appears to be planning a return of customs controls across the Six County border and may even be hoping to push all of Ireland out of the EU following hardline statements on its Brexit plans this week.

Published February 3, 2017



PSNI man shot as tensions mount in Belfast

psnishot1701.jpg The ‘New IRA’ has claimed responsibility for the ambush of a PSNI patrol in North Belfast on Sunday in which a member of the force was struck twice. The attack, which took place on the Crumlin Road close to a north Belfast interface left the victim with injuries to his arm.

Published January 27, 2017



McGuinness bows out

mcguinnessretiresbogside.jpg An emotional Martin McGuinness has said he wants to become an ambassador for peace after the former Sinn Fein deputy First Minister quit electoral politics this week due to ill-health.

Published January 20, 2017



Crisis talks fail, election due

sftalksrhi.jpg The north of Ireland is inexorably heading for an election following the resignation of Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and the failure of last-minute talks efforts by the two governments.

Published January 13, 2017



Stormont in the balance as DUP defy corruption scandal

fosterarrogant.jpg Sinn Fein has issued repeated warnings that the Six County institutions are now at a “defining point” after the unionist First Minister Arlene Foster again refused to step down over allegations that she and her Democratic Unionist Party orchestrated the enrichment of insiders, supporters and party donors through a bogus ‘green energy’ scheme.

Published January 6, 2017



Making hope and hunger rhyme

foodparcels.jpg The centenary year of the 1916 Rising ends with new optimism over a campaign of direct action against inequality headed by a motley group of musicians, actors and writers. However, the sight of thousands of people braving the cold to receive food handouts in Dublin and Limerick has highlighted the scale of the challenge.

Published December 24, 2016



Sinn Fein could turn against corrupt DUP

bellfoster.jpg Over a thousand people have attended protests in Belfast and Derry calling for DUP leader Arlene Foster to resign as Six County First Minister after a public display of DUP infighting over corruption allegations.

Published December 17, 2016



Process in crisis as Stormont rots

rpgvideo.jpg There are concerns over the political direction in the north of Ireland after a video emerged which appears to show a heavily armed breakaway IRA unit on patrol in north Belfast -- in the same week that the police confirmed that unionist paramilitary activities are being illegally funded from Stormont.

Published December 10, 2016



Adams hits back after e-mail ‘leak’

brianstackbig.jpg Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams is facing another battery of accusations and condemnations after it emerged that earlier this year he emailed the names of four senior republicans allegedly involved in an unsanctioned 1983 IRA killing to the Garda police Commissioner.

Published December 3, 2016



PSNI ‘targeting our kids’

saoradhkid.jpg There was outrage in west Belfast this week after a ten year old girl was pictured being harassed by the PSNI.

Published November 26, 2016



Extradition ordered over 1996 PIRA attack

jimmycorry.jpg The High Court in Dublin has ordered the extradition of a man accused of being involved in a Provisional IRA mortar attack on a British army barracks in Germany 20 years ago.

Published November 19, 2016



Discretion trumps all

trumpvictory.jpg Despite consternation and disbelief in Ireland at the result of the US Presidential election, political leaders including 26 County Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams were among those to congratulate Donald Trump this week on his election as US President.

Published November 12, 2016



Sinn Fein ‘faces immense challenge’ on Brexit

sfwestminster.jpg There was a potentially significant development in the Brexit crisis this week when Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, refused to rule out his party taking up its four seats in Westminster ahead of a potentially critical vote on the issue in the London parliament.

Published November 5, 2016



Death of a traitor

raymondgilmour.jpg The lonely death of an IRA informer has drawn attention to the contempt which British agencies hold for those who have betrayed their own communities to take the queen’s shilling.

Published October 29, 2016



Child’s political conviction over water protest

jobstownprotest.jpg There have been international protests after a judge in Dublin convicted a 15-year-old boy of illegally “imprisoning” the Irish Tanaiste [Deputy Prime Minister] by peacefully demonstrating against water charges in front of her police-escorted car.

Published October 22, 2016



Shifting lines as Brexit tempo increases

borderprotest.jpg The first shot in Britain’s departure from the EU has been fired across Irish bows after its governor in the north of Ireland, James Brokenshire, said Ireland should form part of Britain’s new immigration controls.

Published October 15, 2016



Tories lurch towards the extreme

maythatcher.jpg British Prime Minister Theresa May has drawn comparisons to Margaret Thatcher after she outright rejected Irish and Scottish concerns over Brexit and moved to quash the right of Irish and other EU citizens to live and work in Britain and the north of Ireland.

Published October 8, 2016



Orange parade ‘returns’ after 3 years

garcprotest0916.jpg An Orange Order parade was forced through the greater Ardoyne area in north Belfast on Saturday morning, October 1, amid a military-style policing operation and a bitter war of words among nationalists.

Published October 1, 2016



Soldiers reveals spying, shoot-to-kill bid

charlieone.jpg A former British army soldier has admitted he planted listening devices in the homes of senior politicians in the north of Ireland, years after the 1994 ceasefires and some still thought to be in use today.

Published September 24, 2016



Adams and McGuinness reveal timescale to quit

sfthinkin2016adams.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has announced that he will step down from his leadership role as part of the party’s ten year plan. Mr Adams indicated a time frame within ten years for his departure as party president, and confirmed that it was a matter of not ‘if, but when’.

Published September 17, 2016



PSNI accused after CS gas death

gerardmcmahon.jpg A man from a well-known republican family died at the hands of the PSNI on Thursday amid a new wave of police harassment and abuses in Belfast.

Published September 10, 2016



Fake economy exposed by Apple tax ‘windfall’

noonanapple.jpg The Dublin government is the subject of anger and ridicule after it defended illegal tax dodges by multinational corporations and rejected a European ruling that it receive up to 13 billion euro in unpaid taxes from US corporation, Apple.

Published September 3, 2016



‘Don’t take them down’

glenariffegates.jpg The chairman of a County Antrim Gaelic sports club has resigned after it voted to remove entrance gates dedicated to the memory of two Irish War of Independence martyrs in order to secure a grant from a unionist-controlled council.

Published August 27, 2016



Sinister agenda sees McKay ousted

daithimckaybig2.jpg Senior Sinn Fein political figure Daithi McKay, who worked to expose wrongdoing in the murky world of Ireland’s NAMA property deals, could end up being the only direct casualty of the scandal following his forced resignation this week.

Published August 20, 2016



Feud fears as Stormont cosies up to killers

boreland.jpg The Six County administration in Belfast has been accused of sustaining loyalist criminality following the murder of a former UDA leader by a rival loyalist gang.

Published August 13, 2016



Loyalist parade intimidation ends

twaddellprotestmarch.jpg Three years of nightly loyalist disturbances in north Belfast appear to be at an end after a group of Orangemen said they have suspended their attempts to march into the republican Ardoyne area.

Published August 6, 2016



Kenny ‘flip flops’ with push for border controls

maykennydowning.jpg Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams has expressed his party’s dismay after a meeting on Brexit between the 26 County Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the new British Prime Minister Theresa May focused exclusively on the imposition of new customs and immigration controls along the Irish border.

Published July 30, 2016



Changed utterly? Party leaders accept reunification drive

kennymacgill.jpg In a potentially historic advance, the Irish Taoiseach and the leader of the largest opposition party in the Dublin parliament have both said they recognise the prospect of a referendum to bring about Irish reunification.

Published July 23, 2016



Councillor attacked at Ballycastle parade

mcshaneinjured.jpg Independent nationalist councillor Padraig McShane was attacked and left bleeding from his head in the most serious incident arising from the ‘Twelfth’ parades by the anti-Catholic Orange Order on Tuesday.

Published July 16, 2016



Unionists ‘veto’ Irish Brexit forum

kennyfoster.jpg Sinn Fein has called on the Taoiseach to press ahead with a plan to convene a national, all-Ireland forum on dealing with the fallout of the British vote to leave the EU.

Published July 9, 2016



Unionists fear unity, demand border troops

nesbittbryson.jpg Unionists have expressed concern at a renewed support for Irish nationalism and republicanism following the result of the recent British referendum to leave the European Union.

Published July 2, 2016



Disunited Kingdom

brexitresultmap.jpg Pressure for Irish reunification is at its highest in a generation after a shock ‘Leave’ result in the British referendum on the European Union is set to force the north of Ireland out of the EU and could bring a virtual iron curtain down across the island of Ireland.

Published June 25, 2016



MP killed for ‘British freedom’

coxmair.jpg The British political system has lurched into crisis following the murder of a progressive MP and embittered exchanges ahead of this weeks’s referendum on EU membership. Campaigning in the referendum, which could have profound significance for Ireland and Scotland, has been suspended.

Published June 18, 2016



Brexit: Ireland’s opportunity?

cameronmerkel2.jpg Loyalties are divided among Irish republicans over the ‘Brexit’ referendum as a new battle over Britain’s place in Europe brings the potential for a period of significant political change in Ireland and Britain.

Published June 11, 2016



The new heavy gangs

evictiongang.jpg Masked gangs are now evicting people from their homes in the 26 Counties at the behest of international vulture funds, who have ordered a wave of repossessions to extract profit from their newly acquired loan books.

Published June 4, 2016



Gardaí in crisis

noirinosullivan.jpg As ordinary Gardai police struggle to contain the escalating gangland war, Garda chiefs have been warned by a policing watchdog that public trust in the force is fading over repeated scandals and failures.

Published May 28, 2016



SDLP quits Stormont Executive

sdlpout.jpg The SDLP has quit the devolved administration in the Six Counties in the latest development to hit the formation of a new Executive in the North.

Published May 21, 2016



Stormont resumes with UUP as ‘Official Opposition’

uupbig.jpg The leader of the unionist DUP, Arlene Foster, and Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness have been formally returned as the Six County First Minister and Deputy First Minister respectively ahead of formulating a ‘Programme for Government’ for the Stormont Executive.

Published May 14, 2016



Protest vote ‘cannot be ignored’

mccannelected.jpg The final results of the Stormont election show a small drop in support for Sinn Fein and the rival nationalist SDLP, and no change at all for the unionists, with the Green Party and socialist People before Profit making small gains.

Published May 7, 2016



First steps to ‘Fianna Gael’ coalition deal

fiannagael.jpg Two months after the general election, the two largest parties in the 26 Counties have reached a potentially historic agreement to form a minority government.

Published April 30, 2016



Ard Fheis targets coalition talks

marylousfaf16.jpg The Sinn Fein annual conference is taking place this weekend with the party facing an election to the Belfast Assembly early next month and a potential second general election to the Leinster House parliament in Dublin. Over 2,500 delegates are attending the annual conference in the Convention Centre in Dublin.

Published April 23, 2016



Family walks out of inquest over delays, secrecy

denisdonaldsonbig2.jpg The family of the Sinn Fein official turned informer, Denis Donaldson, have walked out of the inquest process after police stalling tactics led to his inquest being adjourned for the 19th time.

Published April 16, 2016



The uncivil war

kennymartindail.jpg After weeks of shadow-boxing and pretence, a blistering row between the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael leaderships suggests that it is unlikely that any pact will be agreed soon to form a new government in Dublin.

Published April 9, 2016



Spirit of 1916 reclaimed?

2016gpo26coarmy.jpg In a remarkable weekend of events to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising, Irish president Michael D Higgins called for Irish people to take responsibility for building ‘a true Republic’. However, republican commemorations heard condemnations of the 26 County state for continuing to ‘turn its back’ on the people of the Six Counties.

Published April 2, 2016



Symbolic shift in west Belfast

muralsdivis.jpg There has been an outcry over the destruction of a republican mural of IRA Volunteer Kieran Nugent who started the blanket protest in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh. It was replaced with a mural depicting unionist leader Edward Carson.

Published March 26, 2016



Triumph as 1916 battle site is saved

moorestvictory.jpg In a landmark victory for republican heritage campaigners, a High Court judge has granted that a number of buildings on and around Dublin’s Moore Street are a battlefield site worthy of the designation of national monument.

Published March 19, 2016



Government on hold

kennyresigns.jpg Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has formally taken on the role of Acting Taoiseach until a new government is formed in Dublin or, as appears increasingly likely, a second general election takes place.

Published March 12, 2016



Parties wary after ‘fundamental realignment’

donnchadholaoghaireelected.jpg Following an election count which lasted six days, the new Dublin parliament will meet next Thursday to elect a new Taoiseach, although no new government is expected to be formed for several weeks.

Published March 5, 2016



Sinn Fein ‘has broken the duopoly’

dessieellissf.jpg Prominent figures in the Dublin government are set to lose their seats as early estimates from the count centres have borne out exit poll predictions that revealed a last-minute swing back to the opposition parties and independents, with Sinn Fein now in a pivotal position.

Published February 27, 2016



Smears and set-ups by government and media

ferguscrawford.jpg The coalition government has been accused of resorting to a campaign of scare tactics and media manipulation as it faces being ousted when votes are counted next weekend.

Published February 20, 2016



Drugs gangs run amok

crimsregency.jpg Serious questions have been raised about the handling of policing by Fine Gael’s Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald following two shocking gang-related killings in Dublin..

Published February 13, 2016



Inquiry demanded as alleged informer flees

murrays.jpg A former commander of the Provisional IRA in Ardoyne has said he has been forced to flee his home after receiving death threats over allegations he was a state agent, which he denies.

Published February 6, 2016



British war crime on the Shankill

shankilbomb2.jpg There has been a shocked reaction to evidence that the 1993 Shankill Road bomb, in which nine civilians and one IRA Volunteer died in a premature explosion, was planned by a double-agent working in concert with the British Crown forces.

Published January 30, 2016



It’s 1984, not 2016, in the Irish Police State

tricolourgardai.jpg The staggering amount of surveillance being undertaken by the authorities in the 26 Counties has been revealed with more than one thousand new spy requests on citizens initiated every month.

Published January 23, 2016



Kenny angered by DUP’s centenary snub

fosterkenny.jpg In an unusual development in the peace process, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has criticised the new DUP leader Arlene Foster after she denounced commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Published January 16, 2016



A carnival of self-deception

newyear2016.jpg New Year’s Day brought the first official efforts of the year to revise and sanitise the centenary of the 1916 Rising, with the rebels’ goal of an Ireland free from British rule getting airbrushed from the official narrative.

Published January 9, 2016



‘End the Kangaroo courts’

murphyadams.jpg Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said the use of non-jury trial in the case of a prominent republican accused of tax evasion is “just plain wrong”.

Published December 30, 2015



Branch’s dirty war continues

rucspook.jpg There are fears of continuing ‘dirty tricks’ by the PSNI police after it emerged that four members of its intelligence division concealed information about an attack in which a Catholic member of the force was injured almost six years ago.

Published December 19, 2015



‘We will not go away’ - victims

relativessignatures.jpg Victims of the conflict in the north of Ireland have directly accused the British government of a “shameful failure” to address the need for truth and justice.

Published December 12, 2015



Recriminations continue over talks deal

uniteprotestsf.jpg The PSNI police chief George Hamilton has said his force can’t be blamed for the failures of the ‘Fresh Start’ talks agreement amid angry exchanges over the deal within the nationalist community.

Published December 5, 2015



Wave of armed actions

psnishotscar.jpg A gun attack on a PSNI patrol in west Belfast has been claimed for the ‘new IRA’ amid a series of alerts and incidents attributed to the breakaway IRA groups.

Published November 28, 2015



Fury at ‘Thatcherite’ talks deal

freshstart2.jpg There are fears that this week’s talks agreement represents such a victory for unionist and British negotiators that it could wreck the North’s political process, rather than sustain it.

Published November 21, 2015



Humiliation once again

mcguinnessgstq.jpg Sinn Fein has accused unionists of embarrassing Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness by making him stand for a rendition of ‘God Save the Queen’ at a Poppy Day event at Stormont.

Published November 13, 2015



Robinson under pressure to quit as talks wind down

robinsontanned.jpg DUP leader Peter Robinson is likely to resign ‘within weeks’, according to reports, as it emerged that he is to be investigated by the PSNI over comments he made in regard to a property deal nine years ago.

Published November 6, 2015



Progressive alliance stumbles

right2change.jpg A weak and largely negative response by socialists and social democrats to a vote transfer pact with other progressive election candidates could have opened the door to a further five years of right-wing government in Dublin.

Published October 31, 2015



Contradictions multiply at Stormont talks

talksresumesf.jpg DUP Ministers suddenly returned to work and multi-party talks have resumed following the publication on Tuesday of a British intelligence report that claims the Provisional IRA, INLA, UVF, UDA and Red Hand Commando all still exist and control arms, but are ‘committed to peace’.

Published October 23, 2015



The Loyalist Blackmail Council

lccstatement.jpg A statement issued in the name of the main unionist paramilitary organisations vowing to “eschew all violence and criminality” has been greeted with profound scepticism across the political divide.

Published October 16, 2015



UDA ignored as bombers strike again

derrybomb.jpg There has been a deafening silence from unionist leaders in response to a statement attributed to the unionist paramilitary UDA in which it declares it will never “go away”.

Published October 10, 2015



PSNI defiant as Adams cleared over 1972 killing

adamshamilton.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has warned there are elements within the PSNI police in the North who are working against his party after it was confirmed he will not be prosecuted in connection with the IRA execution of an alleged informer 43 years ago.

Published October 3, 2015



SDLP spells it out

alasdairmcdonnell2.jpg Amid the latest bout of crisis talks in Belfast, SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell has warned that the Democratic Unionist Party simply don’t want to work with Catholics.

Published September 26, 2015



Talks back on track

mcguinnessrobinsonclash.jpg Sinn Fein has said it is willing to help find a way to deal with armed groups, including former Provisional IRA elements, as it was confirmed that multi-party crisis talks are to go ahead at Stormont next week.

Published September 19, 2015



Return to the brink

arlenefoster.jpg The cycle of crisis in the north of Ireland lurched towards the farcical this week as the Democratic Unionist Party blustered and threatened but, in the end, fudged an ultimatum to pull down the political institutions over allegations that the Provisional IRA still exists.

Published September 12, 2015



Stormont back from the brink

robinsontanned.jpg The DUP leader Peter Robinson has offered to take part in a fresh round of multi-party talks as a deep crisis over allegations that the Provisional IRA still exists appears set to extend over a period of weeks or months.

Published September 5, 2015



Unionists head for the exit

nesbittrobinsonforum.jpg The devolved administration in the north of Ireland is moving towards collapse as both of the main unionist parties have said they are ready to withdraw from the power-sharing coalition with nationalists.

Published August 29, 2015



‘IRA has left the stage’ - Adams

adamsconfused.jpg In response to a growing media furore, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has insisted that the Provisional IRA were not involved in the killing of Kevin McGuigan in east Belfast earlier this month.

Published August 22, 2015



Bomb attack hits MI5 base

vanbombpalace.jpg The political crisis in the North deepened this week when a bomb attack struck the British Army’s Palace Barracks, the headquarters of MI5 in Ireland.

Published August 15, 2015



Anti-internment message ‘must be heard’

ail.jpg Loyalists say they will attempt to block a nationalist civil rights march through Belfast on Sunday. The UDA’s political wing, the UPRG, has threatened to “stop republican scum from marching on the streets of Belfast”.

Published August 8, 2015



British Army carry out Derry raids

britsgalliagh.jpg There has been an angry response after British soldiers mounted raids in Derry’s Galliagh area this week, with Sinn Fein describing them as “unacceptable”.

Published August 1, 2015



INLA presence felt at funeral

inla.jpg The attendance of a large colour party at the funeral procession of republican socialist matriarch Peggy O’Hara last weekend has outraged politicians and encouraged the PSNI to make a number of provocative raids, including at the home of the dead woman’s grief-stricken family.

Published July 25, 2015



Loyalist gunmen issue threat after riots

newloyalistsguns.jpg Loyalist disturbances have continued in north Belfast since an anti-Catholic Orange Order parade was rerouted from the nationalist Ardoyne area on Monday.

Published July 18, 2015



Hatefest

loyaliststwelfth15.jpg Loyalist intimidation has reached shocking new levels after sectarian graffiti appeared in south Belfast that threatens to ‘crucify’ Catholics, while Nazi flags were erected near a loyalist bonfire site in County Antrim.

Published July 11, 2015



Stormont link to secret millions

cerberusnama.jpg A senior politician in the north of Ireland has been identified as the recipient of a giant payoff as part of a billion euro property deal which could threaten the continued functioning of the Stormont administration.

Published July 4, 2015



Solidarity of the people

greecewaterprotest.jpg The Dublin government has been accused of lining up with the IMF and the EU institutions to inflict further suffering on the Greek people even as it continues to impose further austerity cuts here.

Published June 27, 2015



Bigotry after tragedy

nyt.jpg Evidence of anti-Irish attitudes in the upper echelons of the US media has shocked the Irish public as it struggles with a disaster in Berkeley, California, that this week claimed the lives of six students and injured a further seven.

Published June 20, 2015



‘Open the vaults’

collusionvictims.jpg The head of the PSNI police in the north of Ireland, George Hamilton, has said the force has a “vault” of secret information on the conflict in the North but is concerned its release would create a “one sided focus” on the force’s actions.

Published June 13, 2015



Bell prosecuted as SF pair acquitted; Fennell bailed

fourcourtslaganside.jpg The case against two high-profile Sinn Fein activists accused of IRA membership collapsed this week after key witnesses withdrew their evidence in a dramatic week for republicans in the court.

Published June 6, 2015



A secret army of assassins

museumgun.jpg A new BBC documentary has raised awareness and prompted new questions about the scale and extent of Britain’s use of state agents to kill innocent civilians in Ireland.

Published May 30, 2015



Historic step for equality

referendumcount2015.jpg Ireland has become the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a popular vote, with indications from all count centres across the country showing ‘Yes’ votes outnumbering ‘No’ votes by about two-to-one.

Published May 23, 2015



Finucane sham exposed

desilvareview.jpg Documents presented to a judicial review this week have confirmed that the British government staged a fake ‘review’ three years ago before announcing its predetermined decision to rule out a public inquiry into the killing of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.

Published May 16, 2015



Election nightmare as Tories triumph

cameronhappycar.jpg The result of the British general election is a setback for Irish republicans with the loss of a key seat to unionists in the North while the Tories under David Cameron secured a slim overall majority in London.

Published May 9, 2015



A parliament in denial

milibandcleggcameron.jpg With just days to go before a potentially historic Westminster general election, a further rise in support for the Scottish National Party is already creating a crisis in British politics which will likely have implications for Ireland.

Published May 2, 2015



Internment fears for residents’ spokesperson

damianfennell.jpg A republican activist who has campaigned against sectarian parades in north Belfast has been arrested and charged in connection with a speech he made at Easter.

Published April 25, 2015



Loyalists escalate race violence

racistarson.jpg There has been a new spate of racist attacks across Belfast, with the Polish community being particularly targeted by loyalists.

Published April 18, 2015



Adams shifts stance on ‘border poll’

adamsroslea.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams made a call for a “referendum on Irish unity” on Easter Sunday as he spoke at a 1916 commemoration in Roslea, County Fermanagh. He did not specify if the referendum should be a national one or the ‘border poll’ within the Six Counties, as Sinn Fein has previously argued for.

Published April 11, 2015



‘Ireland’s Alamo’ saved

1916painting.jpg There has been a broad welcome for news that the site of the last stand of the 1916 rebels during the Easter Rising is to be bought by the 26 County State for 4 million euro.

Published April 4, 2015



Water protests continue amid corruption questions

right2watermarch.jpg Just under 90,000 people marched in Dublin on Saturday in the latest anti-austerity protest against the 26 County government’s new water charges as a scandal over the operation of Irish Water, the new national water board, has expanded.

Published March 28, 2015



Washington takes a back seat

adamshillaryclinton.jpg Political activity in the north of Ireland was unexpectedly set back this week when the US State Department cancelled a meeting with Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams in Washington DC.

Published March 21, 2015



Hope abides for ‘crucified’ Stormont

stormontstrikemar13.jpg Almost a hundred thousand people took the streets in the North’s biggest protest against austerity cuts on Friday as Sinn Fein battled accusations that it has let down working class voters and the poor in the negotiation of the Stormont House Agreement.

Published March 14, 2015



‘Taoiseach or bust’

sfaf2015.jpg Sinn Fein has categorically ruled out joining a coalition government in Dublin as junior partner after elections due early next year. The party is holding its Ard Fheis (annual conference) in Derry this weekend.

Published March 7, 2015



‘Criminals’ and ‘touts’ in south Armagh

frankmccabejr.jpg Sinn Fein has warned that a lack of confidence in the PSNI police is encouraging illegal activity in border areas.

Published February 28, 2015



Kincora victim’s first step

garyhoy.jpg An abuse victim is hopeful after winning the first stage in a battle to have a Westminster parliamentary inquiry look into allegations that senior unionist politicians, businessmen and high-level British state agents connived in a paedophile ring at the notorious Kincora care home in Belfast.

Published February 21, 2015



Attack on democracy

gardaarrest.jpg A number of children have been arrested in Dublin after being caught up in a shocking crackdown by the 26 County state against anti-austerity protests in the capital.

Published February 14, 2015



Prison a ‘pressure cooker’

maghaberryprotestfeb.jpg A republican political prisoner was badly beaten by warders at Maghaberry jail last week following confrontations over new changes to the prison regime.

Published February 7, 2015



Turmoil in north Belfast

meehanfennell.jpg In a night of drama for north Belfast, Martin Og Meehan, a prominent republican spokesperson in the area, has been dramatically expelled by two organisations for allegedly ‘collaborating with loyalists’.

Published January 31, 2015



Britain’s chopper propaganda

choppercrossmaglen.jpg A newly-released British military file has finally admitted that a British Army helicopter, said to have crashed in a 1978 air accident, came down trying to avoid IRA gunfire.

Published January 24, 2015



Billions written off

michaelnoonangrumpy.jpg The coalition government has indicated it has abandoned efforts to recover 30 billion euro pumped into Ireland’s banking system following its collapse in 2008.

Published January 17, 2015



A state of denial

emigrant.jpg The Dublin government issued a number of statements to claim the successes of its economic policy this week, even as thousands of recent emigrants bade tearful farewell to their loved ones following a Christmas break in Ireland.

Published January 10, 2015



FitzGerald fuelled Thatcher’s intransigence

fitzgeraldthatcher2.jpg Declassified papers have revealed Margaret Thatcher’s infamous “out, out, out” speech on nationalist aspirations in Ireland may have been motivated by a summit in which the Dublin government admitted it was working towards a “lowering of expectations” rather than Irish reunification.

Published January 3, 2015



Talks to go on

sfstormont.jpg The North’s five main parties have asked British prime minister David Cameron for 2 billion pounds (€2.55 billion or $3.15 billion) financial package over ten years as talks continue on issues such as parades, flags and the past.

Published December 20, 2014



Cameron storms out

cameronstormont.jpg The shambolic nature of the talks process at Stormont was exposed this week when British Prime Minister David Cameron suddenly abandoned the negotiations with no plans to return.

Published December 13, 2014



Beyond death’s door

jonathoncorrie.jpg The death of Kilkenny native Jonathan Corrie, a 43-year-old who had suffered mental ill-health and addiction problems, on a freezing night within feet of the seat of power, has shocked the public may have killed off the Dublin government’s chances of re-election.

Published December 6, 2014



Election campaign ‘underway’

adamskenny3.jpg Fine Gael has drawn the opening lines of attack for the next election, targeting Sinn Fein on economic policy and setting the scene for a new left/right alignment in Irish politics.

Published November 29, 2014



Tactical retreat for PSNI

grenadelauncher.jpg The PSNI have withdrawn from an area in republican north Belfast following a grenade attack by the ‘new IRA’.

Published November 22, 2014



1916 redacted

ireland2016kenny.jpg The Dublin government has been accused of attempting to erase the 1916 Easter Rising from the history books following a disastrous and deeply conflicted launch of commemorative events for the anniversary.

Published November 15, 2014



PSNI retaliate after IRA attack

efpcreggan.jpg There were clashes in the Creggan area of Derry this week following an attack by the ‘new IRA’ in which an armoured police patrol was struck by a mortar rocket.

Published November 8, 2014



Terror in the Short Strand

pensionershortstrand.jpg The nationalist residents of the Short Strand endured five nights of loyalist violence this week in east Belfast as loyalist mobs attacked with petrol bombs, fireworks and other missiles.

Published November 1, 2014



The abuse of power

kennycahill.jpg A mud-slinging campaign by the Irish political establishment has effectively halted Sinn Fein’s rise to become the largest party in the 26 Counties.

Published October 25, 2014



Stormont crisis over unionist bad faith

mcguinnessrattledrobinson.jpg The North’s political process has ground to a halt after the DUP dramatically reneged on a deal to appoint a Sinn Fein Speaker of the Stormont Assembly and then entirely boycotted the opening of a new round of talks in Belfast.

Published October 18, 2014



Sinn Fein surge continues

mcdonaldadams.jpg With two by-elections to the Dublin parliament taking place this week, a poll has shown that Sinn Fein’s support has risen to become the joint largest political party in the 26 Counties.

Published October 11, 2014



‘No funds’ for war crimes investigations

bloodysundaybody2.jpg Plans to abandon or scale down a number of investigations into past British atrocities in the north of Ireland are being blamed by Stormont ministers on a cut in the British exchequer’s annual block grant for the Six Counties.

Published October 4, 2014



Files destroyed as RUC team vet shoot-to-kill reports

drewharris.jpg Top secret files relating to the killing of nine men in County Armagh more than 30 years ago were destroyed just weeks before an inquest into the deaths was due to begin, it has emerged. Other files are still being edited for ‘sensitive’ information by former members of the murderous RUC Special Branch.

Published September 27, 2014



Upheaval for the union

nazisglasgow.jpg Loyalists have engaged in a violent ‘show of strength’ in the centre of Glasgow as Britain faces unprecedented constitutional change following a narrow defeat for Scottish independence in Thursday’s referendum.

Published September 20, 2014



Robinson demands new peace deal

stormontbig.jpg Sinn Fein has accepted that the North’s political process is in serious trouble following a call by the DUP for the St Andrew’s Agreement to be renegotiated.

Published September 13, 2014



Envy and anticipation ahead of Scottish vote

salmondbook.jpg On September 18, between the hours of 7am and 10pm, full sovereign power will lie in the hands of the Scottish people, who must decide whether to keep it or give it away.

Published September 6, 2014



UDA groups target Catholics, seize arms

sturgeoninjuries.jpg A 22-year-old Catholic man is recovering in hospital after being beaten by a gang armed with iron bars and a hatchet in front of his partner and new baby.

Published August 30, 2014



Gary Hart in new US peace effort

garyhart.jpg Former US Democrat presidential candidate Gary Hart is set to begin discussions next week with the Dublin and London governments in what is being seen as an attempt to again kick start peace talks in the Six Counties.

Published August 23, 2014



Fitting tribute for republican veteran

tonycatneyfuneral.jpg A furore has arisen over the funeral of well-known republican and former IRA PoW Tony Catney, who died on Saturday after a long battle of cancer. The funeral featured a military-style honour guard.

Published August 16, 2014



Warning over Stormont impasse

royalavenueloyalists.jpg A massive security operation is being put in place ahead of an anti-internment parade through Belfast city centre on Sunday, amid warnings that the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is facing its “greatest challenge”.

Published August 9, 2014



Expel the ambassador

gazapetition.jpg A petition for the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland to be expelled has received almost 30,000 signatures.

Published August 2, 2014



‘Shameful’ abstention on Gaza

dublingazaprotest.jpg A decision by the Dublin government on Wednesday to abstain in a key vote on an emergency debate at the United Nations Human Rights Council on the conflict in Gaza has provoked a crisis over Ireland’s managing of its foreign affairs.

Published July 26, 2014



Stop the slaughter

gazafuneral2014.jpg The Dublin government has failed to condemn the latest massacre in Gaza despite Israel intensifying operations against the sealed-off Palestinian enclave, and has declined to even call in the Israeli ambassador.

Published July 19, 2014



Adams hung in effigy

adamseffigy.jpg A figure of Gerry Adams was hung from a makeshift gallows on a loyalist bonfire in County Antrim before being set alight last night, Friday, 11th July.

Published July 12, 2014



Pan-unionism raises the stakes

robinsonorange.jpg The main unionist parties may be planning for serious disturbances in north Belfast next weekend after the Parades Commission rerouted a hugely contentious anti-Catholic march away from nationalist estates in north Belfast.

Published July 5, 2014



Drumcree tensions renewed

orangearchportadown.jpg The Drumcree marching dispute in Portadown could be reignited after the Parades Commission this week stunned nationalist residents by initially permitting an Orange march on the lower end of the Garvaghy Road, the scene of some of the North’s most intense parades violence, before changing its mind.

Published June 28, 2014



‘Two sides of truth’

maskedpsni.jpg Efforts by British and unionist politicians to to overturn a side-deal concession given to Sinn Fein during peace negotiations could backfire after it was revealed that controversial ‘letters of comfort’ given to Sinn Fein supporters may also have been given to members of the British Crown forces.

Published June 21, 2014



Children used for coercion

sammycusickflat.jpg A local election candidate has suffered a heart attack after a PSNI raid in which his 11-year-old daughter was subjected to psychological terror.

Published June 14, 2014



Demands for inquiry into mass graves

tuamgrave.jpg The international media descended this week on a town in the west of Ireland following shocking claims that an order of nuns may have buried hundreds of infant children in an unmarked mass grave between the 1920s and the 1960s.

Published June 7, 2014



Public outrage at racist remarks

mcconnellrobinson.jpg The DUP leader and First Minister Peter Robinson sparked widespread public outrage this week when he made derogatory comments about Muslims. He was speaking in defence of a north Belfast Pastor, who described Islam as “heathen” and “satanic”.

Published May 31, 2014



‘Change is coming’ - Sinn Féin

adamselectionpress.jpg Local and European elections are taking place today and tomorrow [Thursday and Friday] in the Six and 26 Counties respectively. The elections are likely to confirm that Sinn Fein is the dominant political force on the island of Ireland and for the first time, is now equally strong in both the 26 Counties and the Six Counties.

Published May 22, 2014



Sectarian killing unpunished

kevinmcdaidbig.jpg The trial of a loyalist gang involved in the death of Catholic community worker Kevin McDaid has ended with all of the charges against them being dropped or reduced to minor ones.

Published May 17, 2014



Jubilation and recrimination as Adams is freed

adamsdancingafricans.jpg A high stakes game in the North’s unfinished peace process played out before the world’s media last week. But almost twenty years after the Provisional IRA’s ceasefire, the shock detention of Gerry Adams on allegations of past IRA activity ended in a dramatic triumph for the Sinn Fein leader.

Published May 10, 2014



Political chaos as Adams is arrested, interrogated

freegerryadamsandmural.jpg Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams is facing a fourth night in jail at a notorious British Crown force interrogation centre in Antrim as a crisis over the failure to deal with the past conflict in the north of Ireland begins to threaten delicate policing agreements.

Published May 3, 2014



A Rising challenge

kilwilkieeaster2014.jpg In its Easter statement, the ‘new IRA’ has declared that it has built a “sustainable military campaign”, but that responsibility for further conflict “rests with the British government”.

Published April 26, 2014



Anglo boss goes free

fitzpatrickcleared.jpg The disgraced chairman of Anglo Irish Bank has been cleared this week of hatching a highly illegal loans-for-shares plot months before the bank’s collapse. Two of his colleagues were found guilty.

Published April 19, 2014



Banquet gesture draws Tory hate

tebbitgodsavethequeen.jpg Efforts to boost reconciliation between the 26 County state and Britain during the formal visit to London by 26-County President Michael D Higgins were undermined by a leading Tory’s call this week for the murder of Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness.

Published April 11, 2014



No charges over UDA mob terror

udarampage.jpg Between 100 and 200 armed loyalist paramilitaries ransacked houses and assaulted residents in Larne in a mob attack carried out with apparent impunity by the south Antrim UDA.

Published April 5, 2014



Humiliated Minister clings to post

shatterapology.jpg After ricocheting from one scandal to the next since his appointment, disgraced 26-County Minister Alan Shatter is to finally face a parliamentary motion of no confidence.

Published March 29, 2014



‘Vindictive’ policing as 77-year-old is charged

ivorbell.jpg Veteran republican Ivor Bell has been charged this Friday night with IRA membership and “aiding and abetting” the execution of informer Jean McConville in 1972.

Published March 22, 2014



New York sends PSNI home

stpatricksnyc.jpg In a sudden turnaround, an ad-hoc campaign by Irish Americans has succeeded in preventing the inclusion of a delegation of PSNI police (formerly RUC) in this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in New York.

Published March 15, 2014



Devices intercepted amid prison tensions

maghaberrybig.jpg Two letter bombs addressed to Maghaberry Prison were intercepted this week following a violent confrontation inside the jail.

Published March 8, 2014



Stormont off the rails over OTRs

robinsonstormont.jpg The past has once again come back to haunt the north of Ireland when it emerged in an Old Bailey trial this week that some republicans ‘on the run’ (OTR) from conflict-related prosecutions have privately received assurances that no prosecutions are due.

Published March 1, 2014



Minister for misconduct

alanshatterbig.jpg The 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny is resisting intense pressure to sack his Minister for Justice Alan Shatter amid a tsunamic scandal over his handling of police corruption and misconduct.

Published February 21, 2014



Bugged and bullied

gsoc.jpg The Dublin government has been rocked by shocking revelations of a ‘black ops’ spy operation at the headquarters of the police ombudsman’s office, the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

Published February 15, 2014



‘Nothing normal’ about Stormont - McGuinness

mcguinnessardfheis2.jpg Speaking on the eve of the Sinn Fein annual conference, the Six-County Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has urged the DUP to turn away from loyalist extremism and bring an end to the “embarrassing” political stalemate at Stormont.

Published February 7, 2014



A hero’s return

murneyout.jpg Stephen Murney has been released on bail at the culmination of a farcical trial in which the prosecution openly sought to criminalise him on the basis of his republican political beliefs and his activism as an éirígí press officer.

Published January 31, 2014



Baggott heads for the door

mattbaggottbig.jpg PSNI Chief Matt Baggott has announced he is to resign as head of the British police in Ireland after almost five years in the post, and will not seek a renewal of his contract when it ends in September.

Published January 25, 2014



Gagged, bound and released

martincoreyflat.jpg After almost four years in jail without charge, Irish prisoner of conscience Martin Corey was released from custody on Wednesday -- but only on condition that he stay away from the media and his home town or face being returned to jail.

Published January 17, 2014



Talks must go on - DUP

robinsonfrazer.jpg Unionists have sought to play down comments by US talks chair Richard Haass in which he blamed them for the failure to reach an agreement on his draft proposals dealing with the issues of flags and emblems, parades, and the past.

Published January 11, 2014



Haass of history?

mcguinnesshaassrobinson.jpg Talks on a range of contentious issues involving the North’s main political parties collapsed for a second time within a week on New Year’s Eve, with mediators Richard Haass and his colleague, Meghan O’Sullivan, again returning swiftly to the US.

Published January 4, 2014



Stopping Sinn Fein

adamsmcguinnessold.jpg The Dublin government was deeply concerned at the British government’s failure to counter growing support for Sinn Fein in 1983, historical papers have revealed. Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald even believed a British policy was in place to support the party and protect its leaders from arrest.

Published December 28, 2013



Haass talks falter after unionist ‘histrionics’

haassosullivan2.jpg US mediator Richard Haass has been forced to remove a reference to the Irish tricolour flag as unionists ratcheted up their demands in ongoing talks on flags, parades and the past in the north of Ireland.

Published December 20, 2013



Second ONH bomb explodes

stannesbombonh.jpg A small bomb exploded Friday night in the centre of Belfast, causing no injuries but raising fresh fears of a return to a more serious level of conflict in the north of Ireland.

Published December 14, 2013



Tribunal of spin

breenbuchanan.jpg Eight years after it was established, the report of the Smithwick Tribunal was finally published on Tuesday evening, but its contradictory conclusions immediately sparked a storm of spin and recrimination.

Published December 6, 2013



Troops raid homes over IRA ‘surge’

ardoynesoldiers.jpg British soldiers have taken part in raids on homes in north Belfast this week after the chief of the PSNI police warned of a sharp increase in the activity of breakaway IRA groups.

Published November 29, 2013



The murder and repression force

mrfattack.jpg A BBC Panorama documentary in which former plain-clothes British soldiers admitted carrying out undercover gun attacks in nationalist west Belfast has led to a public outcry and demands for an inquiry.

Published November 23, 2013



British police to patrol Irish streets

britishpolice.jpg Police from England, Scotland and Wales could become a permanent feature of the PSNI’s patrols in the north of Ireland as an alternative to the return of the British Army, it has emerged.

Published November 15, 2013



All-Ireland soccer team proposed

faiifa.jpg The prospect of an all-Ireland soccer team was dramatically raised by the 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny at a sports reconciliation conference in Armagh City this [Friday] morning.

Published November 8, 2013



Special Branch link to death of prisoner

johnbradybig.jpg A hearing before the North’s senior coroner has heard an admission that PSNI Special Branch visited an interrogation suite where a Strabane republican was found dead four years ago.

Published November 2, 2013



The assassination agenda

lethalalliessplash.jpg Members of the British Crown forces were central to the orchestrated murder of prominent Catholics, according to new research based on official state investigations and military files.

Published October 25, 2013



A one-way ticket for Irish youth

emigrationbig.jpg A shocking Famine-era ‘solution’ to the problem of youth unemployment has dominated this year’s announcement of Budget plans by the coalition government in Dublin.

Published October 18, 2013



Mayhem as militants fill political vacuum

kevinkearney.jpg The organisation describing itself as the ‘new’ IRA said this week it had executed a major drug dealer in north Belfast amid escalating violence on the streets of the Six Counties.

Published October 11, 2013



Senators facing the axe

seanadnocampaign.jpg Turnout in today's 26-County referenda could be close to a record low as voters appear to be staying away from a potentially historic ballot on the abolition of the Seanad, the upper chamber of the 26-County parliament.

Published October 4, 2013



Peter Robinson, First Bigot

peterrobinsonstormont.jpg A sectarian outburst by the DUP leader Peter Robinson has disgusted nationalists and escalated the sense of crisis in the North’s political process.

Published September 27, 2013



Pushing back

gardapepperspray.jpg Garda police resorted to pepper spray and brute force on Wednesday in one of the most violent days of protest yet seen on the streets of Dublin against the austerity program of the 26 County state.

Published September 20, 2013



Tense exchanges ahead of talks

talkspresshaass.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has accused the British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers of an “unacceptable intervention” ahead of talks about dealing with the past as well as the issues of parades and flags.

Published September 13, 2013



Strip-search ‘had impact of sexual assault’

sharonrafferty.jpg Details have emerged this week about the brutal strip-searching of a female republican prisoner at Hydebank Wood Prison.

Published September 6, 2013



UVF arms threat

holeingroundarms.jpg There are fears that loyalist paramilitaries may be rearming after one of the largest weapons caches found in the North in two decades was uncovered entirely by accident this week.

Published August 30, 2013



Price’s torment continues

marianpricebig3.jpg A conviction against former internee Marian Price has been rescinded by a court the day after it was imposed in the latest twist to the saga of harassment and oppression of the former republican prisoner.

Published August 23, 2013



Historic H-Blocks in jeopardy

longkeshbig.jpg The Stormont administration has suffered another blow to its credibility after the DUP ended its support for a plan to develop a peace centre at the site of the former Long Kesh H-Blocks.

Published August 17, 2013



Breaking through

antiinternment.jpg

Up to ten thousand republicans, socialists and concerned citizens took part in a civil rights march against internment through Belfast this evening despite heavy rioting by loyalists and a political campaign to demonise those taking part.

Published August 9, 2013



Castlederg massacre ‘would be a great service’

ruthpattersonflat.jpg A unionist councillor was charged by the PSNI this evening over her public support for the idea of a loyalist massacre at next week’s republican commemoration in Castlederg.

Published August 2, 2013



Twelfth riots ‘a taster’

twelfthwoodvaleprotest.jpg After warning that the July 12 conflict was “only a wee taster” of future protests, the anti-Catholic Orange Order and its loyalist supporters have said they will make weekly bids to march through the nationalist Ardoyne community in north Belfast.

Published July 26, 2013



Ardoyne under siege

loyalistrioters.jpg After a week of the most intense loyalist violence, a decision by the Parades Commission to reroute another planned march by the anti-Catholic Orange Order has been welcomed as good news.

Published July 19, 2013



Loyalists ‘planning new Drumcree’

bonfireeffigy.jpg A total of eighteen mass sectarian rallies are being held today across the Six Counties, marking the height of the Protestant marching season and the most difficult and dangerous period of the year for Catholics.

Published July 12, 2013



G8 security used against Short Strand

steelwall.jpg A giant steel wall was erected around the Short Strand enclave in east Belfast this week in an unprecedented military operation to seal off the nationalist enclave ahead of one of a number of sectarian Orange Order parades.

Published July 5, 2013



Anglo fraudsters exposed

anglobankers.jpg Telephone conversations recorded five years ago between top bankers at Anglo Irish Bank at the heart of the bank’s collapse have enraged the Irish public and confirmed that a culture of delinquency and deception lay behind its failure and nationalisation by the 26-County state.

Published June 28, 2013



G8 shame - and pride

g8puppets.jpg The sycophantic feting of the world’s most powerful leaders in the British-occupied north of Ireland this week has disgraced politicians in both parts of the island.

Published June 21, 2013



Oppressive G8 policing underway

g8protestlondon.jpg A member of eirigi has become the first person to be arrested ahead of a giant security clampdown on political protests in advance of the G8 summit in the Irish border county of Fermanagh gets under way within the next few days.

Published June 14, 2013



Death of a Republican legend

ruairiobradaigh4.jpg Ruairi O Bradaigh was “a towering figure” of Irish republicanism who came to embody the “very essence” of the Republican tradition, his successor as leader of Republican Sinn Fein, Des Dalton, has said.

Published June 7, 2013



Marian is home

marianpricesepia.jpg The release of Irish prisoner of conscience Marian Price is being celebrated as a significant victory for justice campaigners and a key step in securing the freedom of other prisoners currently interned in the north of Ireland.

Published May 31, 2013



‘Bad faith’ highlighted by new arrest

johndowneytoobig.jpg Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has accused the British government of breaching commitments given during peace talks over a decade ago following the arrest of leading Donegal Sinn Fein member John Downey.

Published May 24, 2013



‘High level’ collusion admitted

cameronfinucane.jpg Senior British government officials permitted a campaign of state-backed killings by unionist paramilitaries and the RUC (now PSNI) police to be conducted at the height of the conflict, a senior security adviser for the British government has finally admitted.

Published May 17, 2013



Mini-Twelfth ‘madness’

drumcreeorangebig.jpg A decision to allow the anti-Catholic Orange Order to gather in a public park surrounded by Catholic homes in Portadown has been described as ‘an act of unionist political madness’ by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC).

Published May 10, 2013



Craigavon Two appeal ‘sabotaged’

craigavonappeal.jpg An appeal by two men convicted of a Continuity IRA attack in 2009 was dramatically derailed this week after the PSNI arrested and interrogated a key witness in an apparent attempt to pressure him into withdrawing his evidence.

Published May 3, 2013



Holy Cross tensions renewed

holycrossprotest.jpg Loyalists have returned to intimidate the Holy Cross Catholic girls’ school in north Belfast, almost 12 years after a previous campaign of violence and terror made international headlines.

Published April 26, 2013



PSNI back UVF flag display

uvf100flag.jpg Masked loyalist paramilitaries erected more than 600 UVF flags in east Belfast last weekend along key arterial routes, without consultation or notification in an operation that involved cherry pickers operating in broad daylight.

Published April 19, 2013



Celebrations follow Thatcher’s death

thatcherparty.jpg There were street parties in Derry and Belfast following news of the death of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher this week.

Published April 12, 2013



Commemorations in contrast

easter2013b.jpg Thousands of republicans gathered at scores of events across Ireland last weekend to mark the 97th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.

Published April 5, 2013



Old order reasserts?

helenmcentee.jpg Ireland’s two largest conservative parties battled it out yesterday in a by-election count which saw the left-wing vote decimated and Fine Gael ultimately hold onto a seat thanks to a wave of sympathy for a grieving daughter.

Published March 29, 2013



Apology but no answers

johnpatcunningham.jpg The family of a man with special needs shot dead by British soldiers in County Armagh almost 40 years ago have said an apology from the British government is not enough.

Published March 22, 2013



Civil rights denied in Derry

donnellyarrested0313.jpg The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM) has reacted angrily after three of its members in Derry were arrested Wednesday and charged with “terrorist offenses” for having participated in a peaceful ceremony last year to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.

Published March 15, 2013



‘Infiltrated’ claims follow mortar bid

berlingovan.jpg An attack apparently planned by the ‘new IRA’ against the PSNI’s Strand Road base in Derry bore the hallmarks of a similar attack in 1991 by the Provisional IRA on Downing Street, according to security experts in the North.

Published March 8, 2013



PSNI finally acts

brysondowsonfrazer.jpg Two prominent loyalists and a British right-wing extremist have been arrested and charged in the first action so far against the alleged ringleaders of the recent disturbances in Belfast and across the North.

Published March 1, 2013



Orangemen ‘can march at will’

orangemarchbig2.jpg The Protestant marching orders have said they can simply bypass the Parades Commission in the future after loyalist flags protestors held scores of parades last month without any approval.

Published February 22, 2013



UUP in meltdown

mccreamccallister.png Two senior figures have quit the Ulster Unionist Party and are set to form a rival political organisation after a row with party leader and former television presenter Mike Nesbitt suddenly erupted into a full party split.

Published February 15, 2013



A legacy of debt

kennynoonandail.jpg Public demonstrations are to be held around the 26 Counties tomorrow (Saturday) to demand a fairer deal on the state’s banking crisis, which will now leave taxpayers paying €60 billion for one bank alone.

Published February 8, 2013



‘A moment in history’

dolourspricefuneral.jpg The funeral of Dolours Price on Monday was a seminal event for Irish republicans as they paid their last respects to an IRA heroine.

Published February 1, 2013



A tragic loss

doloursflag.jpg The passing of Dolours Price, a republican legend, has come as a deep shock to the entire community, regardless of politics or allegiance.

Published January 25, 2013



Short Strand stands unbroken

shortstrandflag.jpg The Short Strand, a small working class nationalist and republican enclave of less than 3,000 men, women and children, has come under a renewed siege in the past week by violent loyalists.

Published January 18, 2013



Garda pact with loyalist ‘idiot’

williefrazer.jpg A deal between the 26 County Garda police and arch-loyalist Willie Frazer for a secret protest in Dublin has been revealed -- just hours after Frazer said he would not condemn an assassination attempt on the life of Six County Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Published January 11, 2013



Unionist aggression

flagriotalbertbridge.jpg Unionists and loyalists angered by the removal of the British Union Jack flag above Belfast City Hall are increasingly turning to violence and threats as their protests fail to deliver any progress.

Published January 4, 2013



British sought hunger strike 'capitulation'

hungerstrikersold.jpg Official records have revealed that the British government had a plan to ‘brainwash’ Long Kesh hunger strikers to end their protest individually.

Published December 28, 2012



Loughinisland report quashed

loughinislandvictims.jpg The report of the former police ombudsman into the murder of six men in the Loughinisland massacre has been scrapped after a court hearing on their judicial review.

Published December 21, 2012



Spin and shadows

patfinucanebig2.jpg Most of the 500-page review of the 1989 murder of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane released this week has been heavily censored “in the interests of state security”, the Finucane family has been told.

Published December 14, 2012



Bigots turn against Alliance

allianceburned.jpg A wave of unionist violence and intimidation has followed a vote in the Belfast City Council on Monday to sharply reduce the number of days the British Union Jack flag flies over the City Hall.

Published December 7, 2012



éirígí under attack

leesonmurney.jpg Republican socialist group éirigí is being subjected to a concerted smear campaign following the arrest of one of its members this week.

Published November 30, 2012



A prisoner initiative

maghaberrybig.jpg A decision by a group of 22 prisoners on Maghaberry’s Roe 4 landing to call off their ‘dirty’ [no-wash] protest to facilitate talks on a solution to the prison crisis has been welcomed by politicians in the North.

Published November 23, 2012



The liquidation of Gaza?

gazabombed.jpg Israel is feared to be planning a scorched-earth invasion of the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza after days of heavy bombardment reduced large areas of the territory to rubble and killed dozens of men, women and children.

Published November 16, 2012



Politics and policing collide

padraicwilsonprotest.jpg Padraic Wilson, a former leader of IRA prisoners at Long Kesh jail and now a senior Sinn Féin figure, was released on bail on Tuesday after the party strongly protested a court decision to remand him on IRA membership charges.

Published November 9, 2012



Maghaberry crisis turns fatal

blackcar.jpg The shooting of a senior British prison official has drawn attention to the conflict in the north of Ireland and the increasingly bitter dispute over the treatment of republican prisoners at Maghaberry jail.

Published November 2, 2012



Internment by deception

kevinmarrymurphy.jpg A County Tyrone republican has lashed out at the justice system in the North of Ireland after charges against him and four others were quietly dropped by Crown prosecutors this week -- after more than 14 months held without bail at Maghaberry prison.

Published October 26, 2012



Kenny says ‘No’

kennydailbig.jpg The 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled out any political moves towards a united Ireland by 2016, the centenary of the Easter Rising, despite a historic step towards Scottish independence this week.

Published October 19, 2012



The Burnings 2012

ardsarson.jpg A Catholic mother and her three children narrowly escaped being burned to death today following a loyalist attack.

Published October 12, 2012



Austerity protests multiply

ballyfermotprotest.jpg A number of protests took place in Dublin this week as the 26-County government faced a mounting corruption scandal and a wave of anger over policies which favour the wealthy over the poor.

Published October 5, 2012



Anger at Covenant ruling

carrickhillresidents.jpg Nationalist residents of north Belfast have said they are “bewildered” by a decision of the Parades Commission to permit a giant unionist parade to march past St Patrick’s Church in Belfast and the Carrick Hill interface on Saturday, with only the lightest of restrictions.

Published September 28, 2012



‘The IRA is gone’ - Adams

marianpricerallly1209.jpg Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has condemned so-called ‘dissidents’ in Dublin despite a rally in the city last weekend which saw hundreds of republicans of all hues unite to march in support of interned political activist Marian Price.

Published September 21, 2012



Reprisal raids follow Ryan funeral

ryanfuneral.jpg The 26 County police have carried out a wave of raids and arrests following a large IRA funeral in Dublin for Alan Ryan.

Published September 14, 2012



A first step

loyalistriotbig.jpg The most senior of the Protestant marching organisations has taken the unprecedented step of apologising to the clergy and parishioners of the Catholic St Patrick’s Church after three nights of march-related violence in north Belfast.

Published September 7, 2012



Churchmen lead the way

stpatricksprotest.jpg A row has developed between Protestant church leaders and the anti-Catholic loyal orders following Saturday’s Royal Black Institution march in Belfast.

Published August 31, 2012



The Price of oppression

marianpriceprotest.jpg The family of interned political dissident Marian Price have hit out at the North’s prison authorities after warders refused to leave the room while the veteran republican underwent an invasive medical procedure.

Published August 24, 2012



Nationalists told: 'Stay indoors'

pubdamaged.jpg A Catholic pub was attacked by loyalists during a ‘feeder’ Apprentice Boys parade in County Down last week -- but the DUP has said there would have been no violence if nationalists had stayed indoors.

Published August 17, 2012



Serious clashes over internment bonfires

endinternment.jpg A 13-year-old girl was among those arrested after the PSNI attacked nationalist anti-internment bonfires this week.

Published August 10, 2012



Price in intensive care

marianpricebig.jpg Interned political dissident Marian Price has contracted pneumonia, it has emerged.

Published August 3, 2012



Historic IRA realignment

lraflags.jpg A regrouping of previously distinct breakaway IRA groups is being described as the most significant development within physical-force republicanism since the Provisional IRA split in 1997.

Published July 27, 2012



Sectarianism on show

loyalistclub.jpg A member of Sinn Fein has described how he was set upon as he videoed a loyalist ‘kick the Pope’ band deliberately circling and playing sectarian tunes outside a Catholic church during the Orange Order’s main Belfast ‘Twelfth’ parade.

Published July 20, 2012



Parade chaos in Belfast

ardoyneheavyhanded.jpg The sound of gunfire echoed across north Belfast on Thursday night following disturbances over an incendiary and bitterly opposed sectarian parade.

Published July 13, 2012



Marching into the past

orangemarch.jpg A provocative sectarian parade by the anti-Catholic Orange Order has again been given permission to march past the nationalist Ardoyne shops area of north Belfast.

Published July 6, 2012



An ending or a beginning?

mcguinnessqueenhandshake.jpg Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness put clear blue water between himself and mainstream Irish republicanism when he shook the hand of English queen Elizabeth Windsor on Wednesday in a historic but hugely divisive act of political theatre.

Published June 29, 2012



Ballymurphy inquiry ‘not in public interest’

ballymurphypress.jpg The families of 11 people murdered by British paratroopers in west Belfast 40 years ago have said they are “deeply disappointed” by the decision to refuse an independent investigation into their deaths.

Published June 22, 2012



Royal rally hits handshake plan

queenmcguinness.jpg Sinn Fein has said it was caught off guard by the announcement last Friday that the visit of British royal Elizabeth Windsor to Stormont later this month will involve a giant celebration by tens of thousands of unionists.

Published June 15, 2012



Derry tensions escalate

psniderryprotest.jpg Vigilante group RAAD have claimed responsibility for a grenade-style attack on a PSNI patrol in Derry during aggressive Crown force raids in the nationalist Creggan area last weekend.

Published June 8, 2012



No to inequality

nofatcats.jpg At this time, the people of the 26 County state have already begun voting in the EU fiscal treaty referendum. They are facing another crucial decision on the future governance of their state, and rarely have they been so misinformed or deceived.

Published May 31, 2012



Morning raids terrorise communities

psnifinger.jpg The PSNI police have been accused of the outright repression of republicans following a wave of dramatic heavy-handed raids across the North.

Published May 25, 2012



The Fine ‘Gaffe’ party

kennynoonanbruton.jpg Taoiseach Enda Kenny told an unemployed man protesting against budget cuts to get a job, while his Employment Minister Richard Bruton revealed that a referendum re-run has already been considered, in a series of embarrassing campaign gaffes by Fine Gael's leadership this week.

Published May 18, 2012



Marian Price case collapses

marianpriceportrait.jpg The campaign for the release of Marian Price has taken a dramatic turn after a judge dismissed charges against her and three other republicans. Despite the decision, British officials have said the interned former spokesperson for the 32 County Sovereignty Committee will remain behind bars.

Published May 11, 2012



Border bomb warning

borderbomb.jpg A large bomb left on the border last week appears to have signalled an escalation of the armed campaign by the breakaway IRA groups.

Published May 4, 2012



The spies in our midst

armygardaiseanadrevenue.jpg British intelligence agents operate across the 32 counties of Ireland and have received information from politicians, members of An Garda police, Revenue tax officials and the 26-County Army, the Smithwick Tribunal has heard.

Published April 27, 2012



Bleeding us dry

waterchargesbanner.jpg The coalition government’s plans for the introduction of new water taxes has generated a new wave of resentment at the financial pressures being imposed on people in the 26 Counties.

Published April 20, 2012



“There is only one IRA”

riraeaster2012.jpg A member of the breakaway ‘Real IRA’ has told a public Easter commemoration in Derry that the group will continue its armed struggle against British rule in the north of Ireland.

Published April 13, 2012



Unionists see a golden era

nesbittrobinson.jpg The former news anchorman of ‘Ulster Television’, Mike Nesbitt, who was elected new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party last weekend, has said “there has never been a better time” for unionism and said he wants to address Sinn Fein’s Ard Fheis.

Published April 6, 2012



Can’t pay, won’t pay

chargeconcerthall.jpg Over a million households have boycotted the 100 euro household charge in an extraordinary act of public defiance against an austerity flat tax imposed by the Dublin government.

Published March 30, 2012



Decades of lies

bertieahernflat.jpg Corruption affected every level of government from cabinet ministers to local councillors during two decades of political dominance by Fianna Fáil, according to the final report of the Mahon planning tribunal.

Published March 23, 2012



Adams rejects British statements

patersoncameron.jpg A referendum within the Six Counties on the future of the border in Ireland is “inevitable”, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said.

Published March 16, 2012



A managed murder

sammarshall.jpg The family of Sam Marshall are to seek a full inquest into his death after it was revealed this week that he was under observation by at least nine British soldiers when he was killed in 1990.

Published March 9, 2012



Kenny signs treaty

kennysignstreaty.jpg Fine Gael leader and 26-County Taoiseach Enda Kenny provoked the wrath of a large swathe of Irish public opinion this morning when he signed the EU’s Fiscal Compact Treaty, without waiting for a referendum of the people of the State.

Published March 2, 2012



UVF show trial shame

uvftrialenglish.jpg The end of a loyalist ‘supergrass’ trial, which saw twelve alleged unionist paramilitaries cleared of the murder of UDA leader Tommy English in 2000, has again raised fresh question marks over the credibility of the so-called ‘justice system’ in the North of Ireland.

Published February 24, 2012



The Clonoe 514

clonoeposter.jpg More than 500 bullets were fired at four IRA Volunteers who were killed in an undercover British army ambush 20 years ago this week, it has emerged.

Published February 17, 2012



‘Inform or we’ll have you executed’

declanmcnally.jpg A well-known County Derry pub-owner has had a gun held to his head by a member ofthe British Crown forces who threatened to have him killed if he did not become an informer.

Published February 10, 2012



EU-surpers

kennysarkozypatted.jpg Amid outrage over the government’s intensive efforts to avoid a referendum, the leader of the main opposition groups in the 26 Counties have issued separate calls for the people to have a say on Europe’s draconian new finance plan.

Published February 3, 2012



Kenny’s blame game

endakennydavos.jpg Taoiseach Enda Kenny is the focus of mounting anger in the 26 Counties after criticising the Irish people for their “greed” and “mad” borrowing-- just days after he paid one and a quarter billion euros of public funds to international bond speculators.

Published January 27, 2012



RUC killers rehired by PSNI

rucpsniposter.jpg Former RUC Special Branch police who were forced to retire as part of the policing reform process have been rehired as civilian contractors for the PSNI, it has emerged.

Published January 20, 2012



PSNI silence over film set nightmare

jamesturley.jpg A vicious attempt to murder Catholic teenagers last Friday was covered up by the North’s police for over three days before details finally emerged.

Published January 13, 2012



Betrayal and bloody-mindedness

moloneymcintyre.jpg Participants in Boston College’s ‘Troubles Archive’ project have demanded the return or destruction of all of its taped interviews after parts of the archive were delivered to the British Crown forces.

Published January 6, 2012



Provocative ‘history’

margaretthatcher2.jpg The publication of declassified papers from thirty years ago has brought new controversy over the British view of the 1981 hunger strike, in which ten men, including Bobby Sands, died.

Published December 30, 2011



A liberty shredded by Britain

liberty.jpg Pressure is growing for the immediate release form jail of former republican spokeswoman Marian Price after it was admitted that a royal pardon central to her case has been shredded by the British government.

Published December 23, 2011



An appeal for the truth

jackalruc.jpg There have been new calls for a truth commission in the north of Ireland following confirmation that one of the North’s deadliest terrorists was a police agent.

Published December 16, 2011



‘Neither King nor Kanzler’

cameronmerkel.jpg A historic Franco-German drive for a new superstate has seen the Eurocrats of Brussels demand political and fiscal powers to rival those of the US federal government in Washington.

Published December 9, 2011



Police killings shelved

shoottokill1982.jpg A total of 49 cases in which members of the RUC/PSNI police were responsible for extra-judicial killings have been consigned to a “legal limbo”, according to reports.

Published December 2, 2011



The DNA of a frame-up

duffyshiverscourt.jpg There is growing concern that the trial of two men for the Real IRA attack on Massareene British Army base two years ago, currently underway, could result in a major miscarriage of justice.

Published November 25, 2011



No to Berlin’s budget

studentprotest1111.jpg It was revealed today that members of the German parliament have already discussed details of the forthcoming 26-County Budget, including a planned 2% hike in VAT (sales tax).

Published November 17, 2011



Ireland's kleptocrats

aherncowennoonankenny.jpg Over a hundred former government ministers are sharing an annual cash pot of almost nine million euro, it has been revealed. The figures were supplied in response to a Sinn Fein parliamentary question.

Published November 10, 2011



The billion dollar giveaway

euimfprotest.jpg Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams led a walk-out from the Dublin parliament this week in protest over the coalition government’s decision to hand over more than 700 million euro (more than 1 billion dollars) to an unknown private investor in the failed Anglo Irish Bank.

Published November 3, 2011



The fixer, unmasked

seangallagher.jpg The 26-County presidential election campaign erupted in a major controversy in its final days as so-called independent candidate Sean Gallagher admitted he secured substantial Fianna Fail ‘donations’ in exchange for dinner in the company of then Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Published October 26, 2011



The search for a new Judas

cashenvelope.jpg British Intelligence agencies sent the wife of a former IRA prisoner an envelope stuffed with cash in an extraordinary attempt to recruit her as an informer.

Published October 20, 2011



Cheated

finucanesdowning.jpg The peace process was rocked this week by the sudden British declaration that a public inquiry will not now be held into the assassination of Pat Finucane.

Published October 14, 2011



The uncivil war

mcguinnessmitchell.jpg A hysterical attempt by Fine Gael and their media allies to attack Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness has seen a surge in support for Mr McGuinness’s campaign and propelled Sinn Fein into second place in the polls.

Published October 7, 2011



Historic campaign underway

aras11.jpg A large crowd turned out in Derry on Thursday as Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness launched his Presidential election campaign.

Published September 30, 2011



Carnival of reaction

mcguinnesscampaign.jpg The nomination of Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness for next month’s election to the President of Ireland has provoked a chaotic and bitter response from the 26-County ‘elite’.

Published September 24, 2011



A Presidential opportunity

martinmcguinnesssmile.jpg On the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016, it could be Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness taking the salute outside the GPO in Dublin, following a dramatic and imaginative proposal by the party this weekend for his nomination in next month’s Presidential election.

Published September 18, 2011



‘A new Republic for 2016’

sfardfheis11.jpg The Sinn Fein annual conference has heard calls for a national conversation on the future of Ireland, between now and the centenary of the Easter Rising in 2016.

Published September 11, 2011



Showdown for Mount Vernon gang

markhaddock.jpg A trial involving 14 unionist paramilitaries which begins this week could see new revelations of conspiracy, collusion and hidden agendas by the PSNI police.

Published September 6, 2011



Omagh agent targeted

dixonbomb.jpg An informer who helped the Garda and RUC police forces to plan, track and co-ordinate the 1998 Omagh propaganda atrocity has escaped serious injury following a targeted ‘Real IRA’ attack.

Published August 30, 2011



End selective internment

smashinternmentposter.jpg Pressure is growing for other internees at Maghaberry jail to be released following the decision to free critically ill Brendan Lillis last week.

Published August 24, 2011



A freedom won

roisinbrendanlillis.jpg There was shock, disbelief and tears of joy for the friends, family and supporters of critically ill prisoner Brendan Lillis on Thursday when news emerged that their campaign had succeeded in securing his freedom -- and a rare victory against state brutality in the North of Ireland.

Published August 19, 2011



The truth about Billy McKavanagh

billymckavanagh.jpg An unarmed Catholic man shot dead by the British army 40 years ago was innocent of any wrongdoing, an inquiry has found.

Published August 13, 2011



Save Brendan Lillis

brendanlillis.jpg Following last week’s refusal by the Stormont authorities to release him, the partner of Brendan Lillis has said their campaign is no longer working to free the ailing prisoner, but to save his life.

Published August 8, 2011



British Army protected UVF ‘Butcher’

udrbutcher.jpg The British Army withheld evidence for more than three decades which confirms that some of its locally recruited units were used to finance and support UVF paramilitary death squads.

Published August 3, 2011



Policing in ‘cloud-cuckoo-land’

baggottmcguinness.jpg A heavy-handed series of arrest operations against families of prominent republicans backfired significantly on the PSNI this week as public opinion turned against them.

Published July 29, 2011



Reject Stormont brutality

lilliscamp.jpg The Six-County administration is still resisting intense pressure to release dying prisoner Brendan Lillis, who remains critically ill at Maghaberry prison despite having the charges which put him there withdrawn.

Published July 24, 2011



Blanketman on the threshold

brendanlillisbed.jpg Supporters of critically ill Maghaberry prisoner Brendan Lillis are to stage a hunger protest in a last-ditch attempt to convince the Stormont and British authorities to release him from prison before he dies.

Published July 19, 2011



The Battle of Ardoyne

ardoyneriot2011.jpg The PSNI attacked a peaceful protest in the republican Ardoyne area of north Belfast to facilitate a sectarian march, triggering hours of rioting on Tuesday evening.

Published July 14, 2011



Austerity protests grow

roscommonhealth.jpg More than a thousand people have protested outside the Dublin parliament as the coalition government begins to wield the axe against frontline health services around the country in order to serve European/IMF demands for spending cuts.

Published July 8, 2011



Nationalist nightmare

riotpsni.jpg The homes of nationalists in the Short Strand were again attacked by loyalists on Friday night as both unionist paramilitaries and the Protestant Orange Order combined to create a living hell for the beleaguered community.

Published July 3, 2011



Police Ombudsman must go

loughinislandvictims.jpg Nationalists have united behind calls for the Police Ombudsman to quit amid outrage over a report in which he denied that the PSNI (then RUC) police had not colluded in the Loughinisland massacre.

Published June 27, 2011



A heroic defence

shortstranduvffirebomb.jpg A sudden, unilateral and large-scale loyalist terror attack on the tiny nationalist community of the Short Strand was bravely fended off this week in an act of courage reminiscent of previous generations of the nationalist struggle.

Published June 22, 2011



100 days of dithering

kennygilmoredither.jpg

Faced with intense criticism over their failure to deal with the deep economic crisis in their first 100 days of office, the 26-County coalition leaders this week renewed promises to ‘burn the bondholders’ of two of the state’s nationalised banks, while vowing to maintain social welfare and income tax at current levels.

Published June 17, 2011



Drugs gang kill top RSF man

liamkenny.jpg A founder member of a Sinn Fein breakaway group was assassinated on Thursday in an attack which has shocked the broader republican community in Dublin.

Published June 12, 2011



Stormont faces appointment test

marymcardle.jpg Sinn Fein is under heavy pressure to sack one of their Stormont advisors as a controversy continued over her appointment this week.

Published June 6, 2011



Prison protest ‘could spill over’

maghaberrycells.jpg Prison authorities at Maghaberry prison have confirmed that a lockdown is being imposed on the republican wings amid a mounting crisis at the jail.

Published May 30, 2011



The collusion spin

rosemarynelsonflat.jpg The British government have been condemned for attempting to protect the PSNI from the fallout of the Rosemary Nelson inquiry.

Published May 24, 2011



Queen of propaganda

queendublincastle.jpg The state visit of Elizabeth Windsor to the 26-County state came to an absurd anti-climax on Wednesday night when the British monarch admitted England’s relations with Ireland have “not been entirely benign”.

Published May 20, 2011



Royal stupidity

queenflat.jpg An unprecedented security lockdown has been put in place in several locations across Dublin, in Cork and in other sites across Ireland in preparation for the first visit to the 26-County state by the 'Queen of England', Elizabeth Windsor.

Published May 17, 2011



Prisoners confront criminalisation

prisonerposter.jpg Republican prisoners were attacked at Maghaberry prison and dragged from their cells at the weekend after a protest action against the failure of the British government and prison authorities to implement an agreement on prisoners’ rights.

Published May 12, 2011



Turnout or turnoff?

stormontfront.jpg Elections are underway in the North today [Thursday], where Sinn Féin is hoping to become the biggest party in the Belfast Assembly.

Published May 5, 2011



Real IRA responds

rirastatement.jpg In a dramatic public address on Easter Monday, the ‘Real IRA’ affirmed its determination to pursue its armed struggle against British rule.

Published April 30, 2011



A new IRA?

iragraffiti.jpg A group of former Provisional IRA members have declared that they will continue the armed struggle until a united Ireland is achieved.

Published April 25, 2011



A stand against the securocrats

sampollock.jpg Policing in the North is once again in crisis after the chief executive at the Police Ombudsman's office suddenly quit, blaming senior government officials for interfering in the office's investigations.

Published April 18, 2011



Adams calls for talks

adamsmedia.jpg Sinn Fein has offered to meet with “the militarist factions” to outline the party’s strategy for advancing republican objectives and in its belief in “the futility of armed actions”.

Published April 13, 2011



A record of hate

gardarapecorrib.jpg A recording of Gardai police laughingly planning to rape two environmental protestors, including a US citizen, has renewed attention on the policing operation to secure the construction of a hugely controversial onshore gas refinery in County Mayo.

Published April 8, 2011



Dublin tugs the forelock

michaelnoonan.jpg The coalition government parties have reneged on promises made during the general election by refusing to share the losses of Ireland’s banks with those who sought to profit from their reckless lending.

Published April 4, 2011



An apology for murder

majellafamily.jpg The British government has apologised for killing a south Armagh girl, who was shot dead by a paratrooper almost 35 years ago.

Published March 29, 2011



‘Job-sharing’ offer rejected

mcguinnessrobinsonchuckle.jpg A suggestion by Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness that he is prepared to consider sharing the role of First Minister if Sinn Fein tops the polls in the North’s Assembly election has drawn a hostile, if predictable, reaction from unionists.

Published March 25, 2011



Circuses

obamaqueenclowns.jpg One of the largest military operations in the history of the 26-County State is being prepared in advance of the back-to-back state visits of British monarch Elizabeth Windsor and US President Barack Obama.

Published March 21, 2011



A week to betrayal

kennygilmorehandshake.jpg The new Fine Gael-Labour coalition has already backed away from pre-election promises to give the people a say on the EU-IMF bailout deal.

Published March 16, 2011



A fresh start

31stdail.jpg A new government has started work following a day in which a significant change in the political order in the 26 Counties finally became tangible at Leinster House.

Published March 10, 2011



A coalition for cuts

kennygilmore.jpg Fine Gael and Labour have reached an agreement on entering a new coalition government in the 26 Counties.

Published March 6, 2011



All change?

adamselection.jpg Predictions of a political transformation in Ireland came to fruition on Friday, when in the space of fifteen hours of polling, angry voters eviscerated the Fianna Fail and Green parties.

Published March 2, 2011



‘Make a stand’ - SF

adamsjimlarkin.jpg In the last pre-election rally, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams vowed his party would stand up for Irish citizens against bad government and bad government decisions.

Published February 25, 2011



The return of Tweedledee?

finegael.jpg Fine Gael is likely to be in a position to form a new Dublin government next week as opinion polls show Sinn Fein, Labour and Fianna Fail now in the race for second place in Friday’s 26-County general election.

Published February 21, 2011



‘Down here’, backs are up

rtedebate11.jpg Political campaigning ahead of the general election has heated up significantly following Monday night’s televised leaders’ debate, which saw sharp clashes between Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin.

Published February 15, 2011



Ousting the corrupt elite

2011daillaunch.jpg Sinn Fein opened its election campaign on Sunday with a strong attack by party president Gerry Adams on corruption in the political system in the 26 Counties.

Published February 7, 2011



A discredited regime evicted

onh.jpg Following over two years of intense political struggle, a general election in the 26 Counties will take place on February 25th following the dissolution of the 30th Dail by President McAleese, on the advice of Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Published February 2, 2011



ONH calls off attack

onh.jpg The breakaway IRA group known as ‘Oglaigh na hEireann’ said this week it had to abandon an attack against the PSNI in north Belfast after a civilian became endangered.

Published January 29, 2011



The establishment closes ranks

kennycowengilmore.jpg The two largest opposition parties in the Dublin parliament, Fine Gael and Labour, have stunned the Irish people after they backed a plan to ensure the passage of Fianna Fail’s financial programme through the Dublin parliament.

Published January 25, 2011



Coalition in meltdown

cowengormley.jpg The wheels finally started coming off Brian Cowen’s premiership this week when he was forced to announce a date for the general election following a devastating bust-up with his coalition partners.

Published January 21, 2011



Cowen’s last stand

michealmartinbriancowen.jpg The 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen may narrowly win a confidence vote among his Fianna Fail party TDs tonight [Tuesday], but his leadership of a withering political organisation is likely to be short-lived.

Published January 18, 2011



‘Golden circle’ meetings exposed

cowentongue.jpg Political condemnation of the coalition government in Dublin has increased after it emerged the 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen held previously undisclosed meetings with the former principal of the fraudulent Anglo Irish Bank in 2008 prior to the public emergence of the banking crisis.

Published January 13, 2011



Ceasefire call dismissed

garydonnellyprotest.jpg A senior Derry republican has challenged a call from local politicians for armed groups to end their campaign, urging politicians instead to “address the causes of conflict rather than vilifying those who are engaged in it”.

Published January 9, 2011



H-Block smashed the phony diplomacy

1980hungerstrikeposter.jpg The emergence of the hunger strike protest in 1980 and the degree to which all sides were unprepared to deal with it are the dominant features of the historical papers which were released over the New Year.

Published January 4, 2011



Behind closed doors

fourcourtsrailing.jpg The 26-County Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has drawn a veil of secrecy around the state’s banking system and the Dublin government’s efforts to reinvent the sector.

Published December 29, 2010



White Christmas chaos

abandonedcars.jpg People returning home for the festive season in Ireland continue to endure hellish travel conditions as an ice storm has severely disrupted road and air transport.

Published December 21, 2010



Betrayed public demands change

dailprotestvote.jpg A poll has confirmed the demand of the people of the 26 Counties for a political renewal following Wednesday’s humiliating vote by the Dublin parliament to cede control of economic decision-making to the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Published December 17, 2010



WikiLeaked: Politics over peace

wikileaks.jpg Classified cables from the US Embassy in Dublin released by the Wikileaks organisation have revealed that the 26-County government acted contrary to nationalist interests and consistently briefed against Sinn Fein during the peace process in the North.

Published December 14, 2010



Bankers celebrate as kids starve

dumpster.jpg Irish children are now scavenging in bins for food, such is the dire level of poverty among some families, even as the Dublin government transferred billions from the poor to the rich.

Published December 10, 2010



Shame on them

healyraelowryharneygormley.jpg A casino in Tipperary and a new road in Kerry are part of two late, shabby back-room deals which have given the green light to a disgraceful political crime.

Published December 7, 2010



SF overtakes Dublin govt in poll

sfgraph.jpg Sinn Fein’s support in the 26 counties has surged according to a new opinion poll, which also predicts Fianna Fail is facing a virtual wipeout in the forthcoming general election.

Published December 3, 2010



Sold out

coweneu.jpg The Dublin government triggered a torrent of national anger on Sunday night when it handed over economic sovereignty to European and International Monetary Fund administrators for an 85 billion euro loan.

Published November 29, 2010



Sinn Fein on the march

dswresult.jpg Sinn Fein’s Pearse Doherty has weakened the Fianna Fail/Green Party coalition’s slender hold on power with a stunning and historic election victory in Donegal.

Published November 26, 2010



Greens ‘cut and run’

greensquit.jpg Independent TDs have joined with the opposition parties to pile pressure on the crumbling Dublin government to pull the plug after the Green Party finally succumbed to public outrage and said it is set to pull out.

Published November 22, 2010



Decline and Fianna Fáil

cowenlenihan2.jpg Pressure is weighing on the 26-County government to leave the stage this week as a team of economists from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Dublin to begin planning massive cutbacks in government spending.

Published November 19, 2010



Adams steps up

adamsmedia.jpg Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has called for others to join with him in providing leadership to help bring Ireland out of the current crisis.

Published November 16, 2010



Sovereignty slipping away

sarkozymerkel.jpg The 26-County government has been almost completely sidelined in the battle over Ireland’s economic destiny as the larger European Union governments and ‘bond vigilante’ investment funds fought over plans to deal with Dublin’s soaraway budget deficit.

Published November 12, 2010



Grenade attack stuns PSNI

grenade.jpg The use of a military fragmentation grenade in an attack on a PSNI patrol in west Belfast marks a new departure for the armed campaign of Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) and the breakaway IRA groups.

Published November 8, 2010



Blood on the streets

studentgardaattack.jpg A brutal Garda attack on a student protest in Dublin which injured and traumatised protesters as young as 16 and 17 years of age has been strongly condemned.

Published November 5, 2010



The IMF man cometh

imf.jpg A bailout of the 26 County state by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is increasingly likely as confidence in the coalition government’s ability to manage the state’s economy ebbs away.

Published November 1, 2010



UVF’s collusion riots

rathcooleriots.jpg The UVF ‘ceasefire’ is increasingly being viewed as a sham after the unionist paramilitary groups organised two nights of heavy rioting in the Rathcoole area of Belfast in response to an ongoing collusion inquiry.

Published October 28, 2010



British subvention slashed

georgeosborne.jpg Thirty thousand public service jobs in the Six Counties are to be eliminated after the British government slashed its promised contribution to maintaining society in the Six Counties.

Published October 24, 2010



26-County democracy in the dock

fourcourts.jpg Five hundred days after the seat was vacated, the Dublin government has incredibly told the High Court that there has been no unreasonable delay in holding a by-election in Donegal South West.

Published October 19, 2010



A national stitch-up?

kennycowengilmore.jpg The Dublin government is to hold talks with the leaders of two of the main opposition parties -- pointedly excluding Sinn Fein -- as it struggles to cope with the consequences of its own ineptitude and corruption.

Published October 14, 2010



Catholic-only internment

internkeshcages.jpg Unionist paramilitaries who killed more than 100 people during the first 18 months of internment escaped detention because the British government believed there was “no serious Protestant threat” to the state, newly discovered papers reveal.

Published October 12, 2010



Shock at 'dissident' support

dissidentgraffiti.jpg Public support for so-called ‘dissident’ republican groups has been significantly underestimated by the Irish political and media establishment, according to academic research published on Thursday.

Published October 8, 2010



Dublin's fight for survival

cowenlenihanbanks.jpg The Taoiseach Brian Cowen has denied the sovereignty of the 26-County state has been jeopardised by the banking and budget crises, even as European officials began dictating Irish economic policy.

Published October 4, 2010



The fifty billion Euro robbery

anglotruckprotest.jpg A massively increased price-tag for the bank bailout by the Fianna Fail/Green Party government has left the 26-County state braced for deeper cuts and rising taxes and blighted the state’s finances for a generation.

Published October 1, 2010



Parades agreement collapses

paradeprotest.jpg The Protestant Orange Order has refused to back new laws to deal with sectarian marches in the North of Ireland, ensuring the controversial Parades Commission will remain in place for at least another marching season.

Published September 27, 2010



Political transformation underway

eamongilmore.jpg A socialist is likely to become the next 26-County Taoiseach according to a new poll, which shows a further decline in support for the Fianna Fail-Green Party coalition.

Published September 24, 2010



‘Dissidents underestimated’ - MI5

mi5logo.jpg The chief of British military intelligence has accepted his organisation has underestimated the capacity of the breakaway IRA groups.

Published September 20, 2010



Cowen shamed

cowendrinking.jpg The 26 County Taoiseach Brian Cowen has been forced to apologise for a Tuesday morning radio interview that embarrassed his Fianna Fail party and generated widespread negative international commentary.

Published September 16, 2010



Dail fiddles as economy burns

dailchamber.jpg Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has called for the Dublin parliament to be reconvened immediately to discuss the banking crisis and soaring unemployment.

Published September 14, 2010



Calling the PSNI to account

harassoharemeeting.jpg A Derry priest has said he is shocked by accusations of harassment against the PSNI police made by republican families in the city.

Published September 9, 2010



Basque ceasefire rejected

eta.jpg The Spanish authorities today defied international peace appeals and said they will maintain their bloody conflict with Basque armed group ETA, which is fighting to win independence for a Basque state northeast of Spain.

Published September 6, 2010



A view to a kill

damienwalsh.jpg British soldiers watched as a pro-British death squad murdered a Catholic teenager in west Belfast, a report by the police’s Historical Enquiries Team (HET) has found.

Published September 2, 2010



Royal Black thugs

royalblack.jpg A Catholic woman in her late 50s was punched and thrown to the ground by three marchers as she tried to cross a sectarian parade by the Royal Black Institution in Ballymena on Saturday.

Published August 30, 2010



A protected species?

frchesney.jpg The British government has apologised for protecting a ‘suspect’ in the 1972 Claudy bombing, but is still refusing to reveal to the public the full details of what it knows about the attack.

Published August 27, 2010



‘Oglaigh na h-Eireann’ speaks out

onhbadge.jpg One of the breakaway IRA groups heavily involved in the recent upsurge of armed actions has confirmed that it is growing in strength and that most of its members are former members of the Provisional IRA.

Published August 23, 2010



Talks ruled out as Donnelly ‘interned’

garydonnellyprotest.jpg There has been a protest at Derry courthouse this [Friday] morning following the arrest and detention of prominent local republican Gary Donnelly.

Published August 20, 2010



Lies upon lies

rubbishbomb.jpg A small explosion inside a rubbish bin in Lurgan, County Armagh on Saturday was the focus of an absurd British propaganda campaign at the weekend.

Published August 16, 2010



Maghaberry protest ends

maghaberrycells.jpg The protest by republican prisoners at Maghaberry prison has ended after three weeks of talks.

Published August 13, 2010



Furore over talks proposal

adamsmaccionnaith.jpg A challenge by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams to rival republican organisations to meet him for discussions about the way ahead has met with a suspicious reaction by the parties involved and condemned by the British government.

Published August 10, 2010



Normalisation under attack

strandroadbomb.jpg A bomb attack on a PSNI base and the attempted assassination of a senior British Army officer have rocked the political system in the North of Ireland.

Published August 6, 2010



H-Block plan agreed

hblocks.jpg Agreement has been reached on the development of the site of the former Long Kesh prison as a peace-building and conflict resolution facility.

Published August 2, 2010



Protest march dodges PSNI

lurganprismarch.jpg Hundreds of republicans were prevented from marching through a nationalist area of Lurgan in north Armagh on Sunday by the PSNI but finally got around them in a game of ‘cat and mouse’.

Published July 26, 2010



Fine Gael takes the soup

brownenvelope.jpg A decision by Ireland’s main opposition party, Fine Gael, to take corporate donations from some of Ireland’s most notorious developers has threatened to re-open splits within the party.

Published July 22, 2010



Facing up to change

rioterstorey.jpg A brief verbal exchange between a former IRA leader and a masked youth has dramatised a potential power shift in republican Belfast and across the North, at least at street level.

Published July 19, 2010



Ardoyne - the new Drumcree?

psniattackardoyne.jpg Some of the worst rioting in years has left scores injured in Belfast after a sectarian parade by the Protestant Orange Order was forced through three nationalist areas in the north of the city on Monday.

Published July 16, 2010



Eleventh mayhem

bonfirehouses.jpg Heavy rioting took place in north and west Belfast overnight arising from loyalist bonfires ahead of today’s climax of the marching season.

Published July 12, 2010



McGurk report whitewash

mcgurksbar2.jpg Families of those killed in the loyalist bombing of McGurk’s Bar in north Belfast have branded an independent report into the atrocity, which found no evidence of Crown force collusion, a “whitewash”.

Published July 8, 2010



Teen battles bullet injury

psniplastic.jpg A Catholic teenager is in a serious condition in hospital after being hit by a plastic bullet fired by the PSNI in west Belfast at the weekend.

Published July 6, 2010



Riot follows Craigavon arrests

craigavonburninglorry.jpg Heavy rioting has broken out in Craigavon tonight following PSNI operations in north Armagh.

Published July 1, 2010



Clashes as key battle recalled

adamsstmatthews.jpg Hand-to-hand fighting briefly broke out in the nationalist Short Strand enclave on Friday night on the eve of a commemoration in the area of the Battle of St Matthew’s.

Published June 28, 2010



‘Normal’ visit by Queen planned

queen.jpg The Dublin and London governments have formally begun the process of arranging a state visit to the 26 Counties by the ‘Queen of England’ Elizabeth Windsor, it was announced yesterday.

Published June 24, 2010



Dirty protest at Maghaberry

dirtyprotest.jpg Protesting republican prisoners in Maghaberry jail in County Antrim have begun a dirty protest after prison authorities refused to implement an agreement made with the prisoners to address their concerns at the conditions.

Published June 21, 2010



The truth breaks free

sundayreportrelatives.jpg Suppressed for 38 years by the mendacity of the British Army and its soldiers, the facts of the bloody massacre of innocent Irish nationalists in Derry in January, 1972 have been affirmed by a British tribunal of inquiry and publicly accepted by a British Prime Minister.

Published June 17, 2010



Anger at Sunday spin

sundayrelatives.jpg The people of Derry and campaigners for the victims of Bloody Sunday across the world are eagerly awaiting the findings of the Saville Inquiry this Tuesday afternoon.

Published June 14, 2010



Fianna fraud

uvf.jpg The 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen is facing a motion of no confidence in the Dublin parliament after his government was harshly criticised by two preliminary reports into the banking crisis and linked to an attempt to falsify the financial position of Anglo Irish Bank.

Published June 11, 2010



UVF threats multiply

uvf.jpg PUP leader Dawn Purvis has resigned after a campaign of intimidation by the unionist paramilitary UVF has seen it issue death threats against its critics and a message of terror against the people of the Shankill Road.

Published June 4, 2010



Israel attacks aid convoy

flotilla.jpg Up to twenty human rights activists are believed to have been killed and scores injured after Israeli commandos attacked a humanitarian aid flotilla of ships this morning in international waters.

Published May 31, 2010



Welcome for Sunday report publication date

freederrysunday.jpg Twelve years after the inquiry began, the Saville report into the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry will finally be published on June 15.

Published May 27, 2010



End Hannaway’s hunger strike

prisonersolitary.jpg There have been calls for urgent efforts to be made to save the life of a republican prisoner on hunger strike at Maghaberry prison.

Published May 25, 2010



Paisley’s lies exposed

reaveypaisley.jpg A Historical Enquiries Team report into the British/loyalist multiple killing of three south Armagh brothers in 1976 has finally confirmed that the murders were purely sectarian.

Published May 20, 2010



Crisis at Maghaberry

maghaberryprotestmay.jpg A Sinn Fein Stormont delegation visited Maghaberry on Friday as anger mounts at the conditions inside the jail.

Published May 17, 2010



Nightmare on Downing St?

cleggcameron.jpg Newly elected British prime minister, Conservative party leader David Cameron has vowed to “alter the shape of British politics forever” as he took office at Downing Street this week alongside his deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Published May 14, 2010



Brown steps aside, calls for talks

gordonbrownquits.jpg British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Monday evening he was quitting as Labour leader as it was confirmed that he is to hold formal talks with the Liberal Democrats over a “progressive coalition” British government.

Published May 10, 2010



Sinn Fein in pole position

westminster2010.jpg A dramatic election in the North has strongly boosted the nationalist parties but appears set to ‘decapitate’ the leadership of unionism.

Published May 8, 2010



Election push comes to shove

electoralofficeni.jpg Sinn Fein has attacked the “blanket denial” of postal and proxy vote applications by the Electoral Office in some areas of the North.

Published May 4, 2010



Boy agent reveals frame-up plot

thomasboyle.jpg A vulnerable teenager in west Belfast was recruited by the PSNI as an informer and then put under pressure to plant explosives and weapons on his neighbours, it has emerged.

Published April 29, 2010



PSNI under pressure

newtownhamilton.jpg The PSNI police is to intensify its campaign in south Armagh after coming in for strong criticism over its response to Thursday night’s bomb attack on its empty base in Newtownhamilton.

Published April 26, 2010



SF sacrifice to save seats

mcdonnellgildernew.jpg A shock announcement that Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey has withdrawn from the Westminster election in south Belfast was greeted with only hostility by the main beneficiaries of the move, the rival nationalist SDLP.

Published April 22, 2010



Paralysis

noeldempsey.jpg The Dublin government has been criticised for its response to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, which has cut off air transport to and from the island of Ireland for several days.

Published April 19, 2010



Minister for demolition

ciarancuffe.jpg The Dublin government is to flatten housing developments across the 26 Counties in a desperate bid to reinflate Ireland’s property bubble.

Published April 15, 2010



Baptism of fire

maghaberrybomb.jpg At one minute past midnight on Monday, policing and justice powers became the responsibility of a Six County Assembly for the first time in almost forty years. Just twenty minutes later, a huge blast echoed across Belfast and into neighbouring counties from across Belfast Lough.

Published April 12, 2010



Tinderbox

maghaberrycells.jpg Tensions continue to escalate inside Maghaberry Prison today after republicans were ‘disciplined’ last night for taking part in a 48-hour protest at prison conditions.

Published April 8, 2010



Patriots and traitors

pearsecowen.jpg Republicans are being urged to turn out in large numbers at Easter commemorations across the country this weekend to reassert “the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland” following shocking revelations of corruption and fraud in the Dublin parliament this week.

Published April 2, 2010



Adams linked to IRA actions

adamshughescages.jpg A new book published this week reveals details of controversial interviews given by legendary IRA figure Brendan ‘The Dark’ Hughes to Boston College in 2001 and 2002.

Published March 29, 2010



Deck-chairs on the Titanic

deckchairs.jpg 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen is facing a potential rebellion among his own backbenchers after a reshuffle of his cabinet of Ministers was widely criticised as inadequate in the face of Ireland’s economic crisis.

Published March 25, 2010



MI5 blocks Bloody Sunday report

bloodysunday2.jpg The long-awaited report into the British Army Bloody Sunday massacre will not be released by the current British government, it has emerge

Published March 22, 2010



Cardinal accused of cover-up

cardinalbrady.jpg The head of the Catholic church in Ireland, Sean Brady, is resisting intense calls for his resignation following revelations about his involvement in an 1975 church inquiry into child sex abuser Fr Brendan Smyth, in which two children were forced to take a vow of secrecy.

Published March 15, 2010



Unionism divides as key vote passes

stormontpsni.jpg A historic vote in the Belfast Assembly has bolstered last month’s agreement at Hillsborough on policing and parades but led to renewed divisions between the two main unionist parties in the North.

Published March 11, 2010



UUP rejects ‘dysfunctional’ Stormont

uupmlas.jpg Senior Ulster Unionists have said that they will not be supporting the deal to devolve policing powers from London to Belfast at a crucial vote in the Six-County Assembly at Stormont tomorrow.

Published March 8, 2010



Massacre inquiry ‘pointless’ - Ford

davidford.jpg Victims of Bloody Sunday have expressed outrage at comments by the proposed future Six County Justice Minister David Ford in which he said the Saville inquiry into the killings was “pointless”.

Published March 4, 2010



Dirty war in Derry

ciarandoherty.jpg The family of Ciaran Doherty said he had been under “continuous harassment” from the British secret service (MI5) in the months before he was shot last week.

Published March 1, 2010



Real IRA bomb

newrycourtbomb.jpg The dissident ‘Real IRA’ has been linked to the massive car bomb that exploded outside the courthouse in Newry, County Armagh on Monday night.

Published February 26, 2010



Cold war in Armagh

keadyvan.jpg A marathon Crown force operation has followed the abandonment of a mortar rocket inside a van near the PSNI barracks in Keady in south Armagh on Friday.

Published February 22, 2010



A smear too far

willieodeaworried.jpg The 26-County Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea has resigned in a scandal arising from his attempts to smear a Sinn Fein election rival.

Published February 18, 2010



Sword of Damocles

orangeordersword.jpg DUP leader Peter Robinson signed a post-dated letter of resignation as First Minister to secure his party’s support for local policing and justice in the north of Ireland, it has emerged.

Published February 15, 2010



Crucial weeks for parades

paradesworkinggroup.jpg Both the DUP and Sinn Fein have drawn a line in the sand on the issue of sectarian marches as a working group set up under last week’s agreement at Hillsborough held its first discussions on the issue.

Published February 11, 2010



INLA’s leap of faith

inladisarms.jpg The announcement by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) that it has decommissioned its weapons has been strongly welcomed by the main political parties in Ireland but greeted with condemnation by hardline republican groups and mixed reactions from its own supporters.

Published February 8, 2010



DUP seeks side deal

brownrobinson.jpg Negotiations have ended between Sinn Fein and the DUP but unionists are understood to be continuing to hold private talks with the British government in a bid to ensure sectarian Orange Order parades are forced through nationalist communities.

Published February 4, 2010



Talks enter second week

nightpressconference.jpg Both Sinn Fein and the DUP have said progress has been made in their labyrinthine negotiations over the implementation of the 2006 St Andrews Agreement, and confirmed that the talks will conclude shortly.

Published February 1, 2010



‘It’s not over yet’ - Adams

plenarytalks.jpg Transferring policing and justice powers from the London government to the Belfast administration cannot be held hostage to unionist demands on contentious sectarian parades, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams warned today.

Published January 28, 2010



Now or never

critical.jpg Martin McGuinness has said Sinn Fein has fulfilled its obligations in government and is now insisting unionists and the two government do the same to avoid a political crisis.

Published January 25, 2010



Pan-unionist front

empeycameronrobinson.jpg Secret talks have been taking place between the DUP, Ulster Unionist Party and the British Conservatives which could bolster unionist domination in the north of Ireland for generations to come, it has emerged.

Published January 21, 2010



Historic handshake

handshakegeneral.jpg The DUP leader Peter Robinson has revealed that he has shaken hands with Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness and suggested that he could be reinstated as First Minister within two weeks.

Published January 18, 2010



Process fights back

cowenbrown.jpg 26-County Taoiseach Brian Cowen and British prime minister Gordon Brown declared “early completion” of the devolution of policing and justice powers to the North is achievable despite the turmoil within unionism over the Iris Robinson affair.

Published January 14, 2010



Scandal overwhelms Stormont

stormontscandal.jpg The Belfast Assembly at Stormont was in disarray today as the DUP leader Peter Robinson stepped down temporarily as First Minister following revelations of an affair between his wife Iris, and a 19-year-old youth.

Published January 11, 2010



Strange family Robinson

peteririsrobinson.jpg An unprecendented scandal has embroiled the DUP leader Peter Robinson, and his wife, Iris, who has admitted having an extra-marital affair with a teenage youth.

Published January 8, 2010



British fury over IRA attacks

thatcherlynch.jpg British diplomats complained bitterly in secret about the lack of security provided by the 26-County authorities for British admiral, ‘Lord’ Mountbatten, following his assassination by the IRA, historical papers have revealed.

Published January 2, 2010



Abuse questions mount

liamgerryadams.jpg There have been calls for an inquiry into the police handling of abuse allegations against Gerry Adams’s brother Liam, while the Sinn Fein President has also come under pressure.

Published December 28, 2009



Turmoil for Adams

ainetyrellliamadams.jpg Gerry Adams has spoken of how his late father abused family members when they were children following an explosive family fall-out which has deeply embarrassed the Sinn Fein President.

Published December 21, 2009



Catholic church in crisis

archbishopmartin.jpg The Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has admitted the Catholic church in Ireland is facing a “deep crisis” despite the resignation of the scandalised Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray.

Published December 17, 2009



Stormont pantomine plays out

xmaspanto.jpg The North’s leaders Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness clashed in public today as the problems at the heart of the power-sharing government were air

Published December 14, 2009



A bankrupt budget

budget2010.jpg There has been a furious response to the Dublin government’s decision to reduce social welfare payments and cut the pay of the lowest-paid public service workers in its annual statement of economic policy.

Published December 10, 2009



Social partnership collapses

uniontalks.jpg The Garda police in the 26 Counties are to hold an illegal ballot to join state-wide strike actions following the collapse in pay talks between the Dublin government and Ireland’s main public sector trade unions.

Published December 7, 2009



Confusion and anger as budget looms

cowentongue.jpg The Dublin government has been accused of dithering and weakness after it backed away from a potential deal with the public service trade unions to avert strike action.

Published December 3, 2009



Stormont doubts grow

cowenbrown.jpg The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the 26-County Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, met again in London today [Monday] for talks on the deadlock over the devolution of policing and justice powers to Belfast.

Published November 30, 2009



Govt apologises over abuse, blames church

dermotahern.jpg The Dublin government this afternoon apologised for “failures” by the State in dealing with clerical child abuse and said the “deference” shown to the church in this regard had been “misplaced”.

Published November 26, 2009



Road to conflict?

burntcarclarendon.jpg There have been warnings that armed struggle could once again begin to fill the political vacuum following two incidents in Fermanagh and Belfast involving the breakaway IRA groups.

Published November 23, 2009



Police statelet

marianprice.jpg The PSNI has ramped up a campaign of political arrests with the detention of Marian Price, the National Secretary of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

Published November 19, 2009



Maghaberry tense after ‘lock down’

maghaberry.jpg A number of republican prisoners were denied food for more than 48 hours as a ‘lock down’ and search took place at Maghaberry Prison late last week and over the weekend.

Published November 16, 2009



Informer claim denied

kevinmcquillan.jpg A one-time leading member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party has denied he was a top-level informer.

Published November 12, 2009



Govts put on notice

dayofaction.jpg Tens of thousands of workers took to the streets across Ireland on Friday in a mass display of discontent with the policies of the Six and Twenty-Six County administrations.

Published November 9, 2009



Attack on Britain planned - IMC

imc.jpg An official state propoganda agency has claimed that Irish republicans are committed to launching an attack in Britain “if the opportunity emerges”.

Published November 5, 2009



Handouts for RUC criminals

ruc.jpg The British government has been accused of conceding to unionist blackmail after it emerged that a twenty million pound “gratuity payment” is to be paid to former part-time members of the RUC.

Published November 2, 2009



‘Deal has been done ’ - Adams

adamstalks.jpg The Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has branded as “totally and absolutely unacceptable” attempts by the DUP to attach the parades issue as a new condition to an agreed deal on policing.

Published October 29, 2009



Clarification urged in hunger strike debate

hungerstrikers.jpg The controversy over the 1981 hunger strike has continued with conflicting messages from the current and former Sinn Fein leaders, and from former prisoners who were inside Long Kesh prison at the time.

Published October 26, 2009



Workers plan mass protests

uniteprotest.jpg The 26-County state appears to be heading for strikes and industrial unrest on a scale not seen for many years after Ireland’s major trade unions announced protest actions ahead of the December budget.

Published October 22, 2009



Softening up process

cowenlenihan.jpg The people of the 26 Counties are being prepared for an unprecedented series of wage cuts and devastating cutbacks by the corrupt coalition government in Dublin.

Published October 19, 2009



PSNI stretched by attack, alerts

vanexplosion.jpg Claims that a republican group abandoned a massive van bomb in a border village this week proved unfounded after a dramatic controlled explosion by the British Army revealed the van to be empty.

Published October 16, 2009



Confusion over INLA statement

inlastatement.jpg A decision by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) to formally draw its armed campaign to a close has been welcomed by the political parties in the North but has caused considerable surprise to its own supporters.

Published October 13, 2009



Brady family appeals for justice

johnbradycoffin.jpg

A volley of shots have been fired over the coffin of senior republican John Brady who died in “mysterious” circumstances while being questioned at a PSNI police station.

Published October 8, 2009



John Brady dies in PSNI custody

johnbrady.jpg A well-known republican died in suspicious circumstances at a PSNI base in Derry on Saturday night.

Published October 5, 2009



The last chance to say No

notolisbon.jpg Voters in the 26 Counties have the potential to draw a line in the sand tomorrow against a greedy European superstate in Brussels and the corrupt Fianna Fail government in Dublin.

Published October 1, 2009



O Bradaigh steps down

ruairiobradaigh2.jpg The President of Republican Sinn Fein, Ruairi O Bradaigh has stepped down from the post “for reasons of age and health”. He will continue as a member of the party’s leadership and is expected to move to the position of patron of the party.

Published September 28, 2009



Freedom: one week left?

lisbonflag.jpg The Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign continues to expose a gulf of opinion between the people of Ireland and the wealthy elites.

Published September 24, 2009



Armagh mayhem follows sentencing

vanroadclosed.jpg Three days of serious disorder erupted in north county Armagh at the weekend after three members of the Continuity IRA received heavy sentences for possession of a homemade rocket launcher.

Published September 21, 2009



NAMA: The big lie

lenihan.jpg The 26 County Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has confirmed a bailout measuring in tens of billions of Euro for Irish developers, property speculators and their bankers.

Published September 17, 2009



Bomb warning ignored

roadside.jpg Civilians in Forkhill, south Armagh have expressed their anger after an abandoned bomb was left in a culvert on the border for over a week.

Published September 10, 2009



Victims caught in oil game

brownandgaddafi.jpg The issue of compensation for victims of the conflict in Ireland has become enmeshed in a political row over Anglo-Libyan relations and oil deals believed to be worth billions.

Published September 7, 2009



RIRA roadblock furore

riraleaflet.jpg The PSNI were forced to pull back after encountering a ‘Real IRA’ checkpoint in south Armagh this week, it has been confirmed.

Published August 27, 2009



‘IRRESPONSIBLE AND DANGEROUS’

paradescommission.jpg Tensions have risen in the North ahead of a highly contentious Orange Order parade due to take place in the County Antrim village of Rasharkin on Friday.

Published August 20, 2009



PSNI BRUTALITY ON SHOW

psniabod.jpg

The annual Apprentice Boys’ parade in Derry at the weekend saw a number of acts of deliberate aggression and random violence by the PSNI against nationalist residents.

Published August 14, 2009



IRA PROSECUTIONS DROPPED

mccauleywalsh.jpg The British authorities have dropped plans to extradite four Provisional IRA Volunteers, including two who famously escaped from London’s Brixton prison 18 years ago, it has been revealed.

Published August 7, 2009



‘CRIME OF THE CENTURY’

cowenlenihan.jpg The Dublin government has published draft legislation on its plans to spend almost a hundred billion Euro to purchase property assets at inflated prices from banks, builders and developers.

Published July 31, 2009



REPUBLICANS CREATING ‘NO-GO’ AREAS

ciramanarmagh.jpg Breakaway IRA groups have established an effective ‘no go’ area for the PSNI in County Fermanagh, it has been confirmed.

Published July 24, 2009



ORANGE ORDER
MUST CHANGE

ardoynekids.jpg

The leadership of the Orange Order has rejected a call from Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams for talks between the two organisations following three days of parade-fuelled riots in Belfast.

Published July 17, 2009



SECTARIAN SPECTACLE

orangemen.jpg With the Twelfth of July -- the height of the marching season -- falling this year on a Sunday, annual marches by the Protestant Orange Order will take place instead this Monday.

Published July 10, 2009



‘LARRY THE CHEF’ CLEARED

larryzaitschek.jpg The case against a former chef sought in connection with a break-in at a top British Crown force base in the North of Ireland collapsed today after seven years when prosecutors said he could not receive a fair trial.

Published July 3, 2009



UDA BEHIND MURDER - PSNI

mcdaidaccused.jpg The PSNI police believes that the unionist paramilitary UDA was involved in the murder of Catholic community worker Kevin McDaid in Coleraine last month, it has been revealed.

Published June 26, 2009



BIGOTS TARGET IMMIGRANTS

romanians.jpg More than 100 immigrants were forced to take shelter in a church near Queen’s University this week after four days of racist attacks by loyalist thugs from the Village area of south Belfast.

Published June 19, 2009



UNIONISM FRACTURES

electionhandshake.jpg Sinn Féin headed the poll for the first time in the European elections in Six Counties while the DUP, poll-topper at every other European election, had to be content with taking the third seat.

Published June 12, 2009



SF AT HEART OF
ELECTION DEBATE

ballotbox.jpg A relatively lacklustre election campaign in the 26 Counties erupted into farce in its final days with claims and counter claims among the establishment parties about ‘what to do with Sinn Féin’.

Published June 4, 2009



MOB RULE IN COLERAINE

injuredfleming.jpg The family of Kevin McDaid have accused the PSNI of being culpable in his murder by a loyalist mob.

Published May 29, 2009



ABUSED BY
CHURCH AND STATE

abuse.jpg There has been a wave of outrage after an official report for the Dublin government admitted that thousands of children suffered physical and sexual abuse over several decades in residential institutions run by religious congregations.

Published May 22, 2009



COALITION FACING ELECTION MELTDOWN

govtpoll.jpg With local and European elections less than three weeks away, the latest poll shows satisfaction with the Dublin government has slumped to an extraordinary record low of just ten per cent.

Published May 15, 2009



CENSORSHIP POLICE
MOVE IN

breen.jpg The PSNI police have brought an Irish journalist to court under special anti-terrorist legislation in a move seen as further evidence of a return to traditional repressive state policies against republicanism.

Published May 8, 2009



IRELAND ‘FACING THE ABYSS’

doleq.jpg The 26-County state is set to experience a depression surpassing that of any other industrialised nation for over 70 years, according to official predictions.

Published May 1, 2009



‘ONLY ONE IRA’ - ADAMS

The Sinn Féin leadership has begun a fight-back against rival republican groups who are seeking to maintain an armed struggle against British rule.

Published April 24, 2009



WAR OF WORDS

brokenmemorial.jpg There are concerns that tensions between Sinn Féin and republican dissidents could escalate further.

Published April 17, 2009



CRONY BAIL-OUT

fiannafail.jpg

The Dublin government stands accused of targeting children and other vulnerable groups in the Budget, rather than the banks and property developers responsible for causing the current crisis.

Published April 10, 2009



STATEMENT OF INTENT

burnedtruck.jpg Days of disturbances in the North this week amounted to a show of strength by so-called “dissidents” following a recent PSNI crackdown.

Published April 3, 2009



‘WITCH-HUNT’

duffycharged.jpg Following intense controversy over his continued detention without charge, Colin Duffy was brought to court this [Friday] morning and formally charged in connection with the ‘Real IRA’ attack on Massereene British Army base earlier this month.

Published March 27, 2009



DIALOGUE RULED OUT

irabrown.jpg The British government has rejected any idea of engagement with militant republican groups.

Published March 19, 2009



THE LINES ARE DRAWN

armedpsni.jpg Different IRA factions may have come together to co-ordinate their actions in two deadly attacks this week.

Published March 13, 2009



RE-MILITARISATION REVEALED

recon.jpg British Army special forces soldiers are back in the north of Ireland, according to PSNI Chief Hugh Orde.

Published March 6, 2009



JUSTICE FOR MICKEY BO

mcilveen2.jpg Four loyalists were convicted on Wednesday of the savage sectarian killing of 15-year-old Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen in Ballymena, County Antrim in May 2006.

Published February 27, 2009



SMASH THE GOLDEN CHAINS

goldenchains.jpg The 26-County coalition government of Brian Cowen is in crisis over a ‘golden circle’ of wealthy Irish developers who received almost half a billion Euro to purchase shares in a potentially fraudulent transaction at the scandal-plagued Anglo-Irish Bank.

Published February 20, 2009



DUP SEEKING ‘DEMISE’ OF GFA

gfa.jpg A DUP bid to abolish the main cross-border political institution of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement -- part of an admitted larger plan to collapse the Agreement itself -- failed in the Belfast Assembly this week.

Published February 13, 2009



JOBS SHOCK AS ECONOMY UNRAVELS

bigmarch.jpg

One of Ireland’s leading unions has warned of “catastrophic” consequences following the collapse of economic recovery talks in Dublin at the weekend.

Published February 6, 2009



LEGACY: MONEY AND LIES

europarow.jpg The relatives of those killed by British forces in the north of Ireland have criticised the emphasis placed on so-called “recognition payments” to be paid by the British government to their families as a way of dealing with the past conflict.

Published January 30, 2009



IRELAND HAILS OBAMA PRESIDENCY

obamadc.jpg On a visit to Washington DC to attend the US Presidential inauguration ceremenonies, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said he believes that President Obama can assist the Irish peace process.

Published January 23, 2009



‘CONDEMN CRIMES’ - ADAMS

adamsdiss.jpg Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has accused republican hardliners of demanding protection money from drug dealers and other criminals in the North.

Published January 16, 2009



MASSACRE IN GAZA

gazafuneral.jpg The Israeli bombing of two UN-run schools filled with children taking shelter from the continuing bloodshed in Gaza has provoked protests and increasingly desperate appeals for a halt to the killing.

Published January 9, 2009



1978: DIRTY WAR, DIRTY PROTEST

archives.jpg Previously confidential files released this week in Dublin, Belfast and London under the 30 year ruled provide evidence of the increasing role of the ‘Dirty War’ -- the use of covert intelligence and the SAS shoot-to-kill strategy by the British government.

Published January 2, 2009



IRELAND UNITED IN CRISIS

gnpgdp.jpg Concern in mounting in Ireland this Christmas that a set of rapidly deteriorating market conditions and government mis-steps are threatening to pitch the entire island into an unprecedented economic crisis.

Published December 19, 2008



LISBON II: ‘SMOKE AND MIRRORS’

lisbon2.jpg A second referendum to ratify the Lisbon Treaty will be held in the 26 Counties before October 31st of next year, according to the conclusions of a European Union summit this week.

Published December 12, 2008



NO GUNS, NO PROBLEM

udaguns.jpg The British government has extended a deadline for unionist paramilitary groups to decommission their weapons by another twelve months.

Published December 5, 2008



OVERDOSE FOR UDA’S ‘BLINGADIER’

ihabshoukri.jpg The funeral has taken place of UDA ‘brigadier’ Ihab Shoukri, who died this week after taking a fit brought on by a night of heavy drug use in Newtonabbey, outside Belfast.

Published November 28, 2008



BACK ON TRACK?

stormontstatue.jpg The Stormont Executive met on Thursday for the first time in over five months.

Published November 21, 2008



UDA ‘READY FOR BATTLE’

uda.jpg The UDA has warned of being ready to “do battle” in a statement read to several thousand loyalist supporters at a number of venues in the north of Ireland.

Published November 13, 2008



IRELAND’S HOPES
ON OBAMA

obamasf.jpg Hopes are high that the election of a transformative President in the US could herald an era of progressive change in Ireland.

Published November 7, 2008



CALL IT OFF

rirdrumcree.jpg A coat-trailing and incendiary march by British troops is set to take place in the centre of Ireland’s second city on Sunday despite widespread fears over the potential for serious violence.

Published October 31, 2008



A KIND OF REVOLUTION

budgetmarch.jpg The Dublin government is under further pressure over the October Budget, days after thirty thousand pensioners and students besieged parliament over cutbacks.

Published October 24, 2008



RIP-OFF REPUBLIC

budget09.jpg Hundreds of thousands of Irish taxpayers were the subject of a sweeping and savage range of cuts and taxes this week in order to pay for the gross mismanagement of the 26-County economy by the Dublin government.

Published October 17, 2008



SYSTEM OF INJUSTICE

chrisward.jpg There have been calls for a completely new system of policing and justice in the north of Ireland following the dramatic collapse of the trial of bank official Chris Ward, the only individual accused of the 2004 Northern Bank robbery.

Published October 10, 2008



INSTITUTIONS START TO UNRAVEL

mcguinnessrobinson.jpg The North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC) meeting scheduled for today [Friday] was cancelled in the escalating dispute within the North’s power-sharing administration.

Published October 3, 2008



US BATTLE
FOR IRISH VOTE

obamamccain.jpg Irish-American voters have become the focus of intense campaigning in the US Presidential election as the race for the White House hots up.

Published September 26, 2008



STORMONT FARCE

schism.jpg The North’s strained stalemate exploded in rancour on Thursday when the Stormont’s cabinet-style administration visibly broke into rival factions.

Published September 19, 2008



SDLP CALL FOR
MAJORITY RULE

durkan.jpg SDLP leader Mark Durkan has stunned the political parties in the north by calling for power-sharing between nationalists and unionists, a key safeguard of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, to be scrapped.

Published September 12, 2008



NO ARMY COUNCIL
STATEMENT - ADAMS

adamstalks.jpg Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has stated “categorically and definitively” that the Provisional IRA has left the stage as the DUP continued to demand a statement by the organisation’s Army Council on its status.

Published September 5, 2008



‘POLICING ISSUE
BEHIND RIOTS’

craigavon.jpg Serious rioting broke out this week in Belfast and in County Armagh, where clashes between republican youths and the PSNI police saw a blast bomb thrown and shots fired.

Published August 29, 2008



RETURN OF THE RPG?

rpg.jpg The use of a rocket-propelled grenade by the Continuity IRA against a PSNI patrol marks a further escalation in their ongoing armed campaign.

Published August 22, 2008



PSNI COLLUDE IN MOB ATTACK

PSNI.jpg Two men were treated in hospital for serious head injuries after a loyalist mob, including armed paramilitaries, attacked a republican commemoration in Coleraine last weekend - with the assistance of the police.

Published August 15, 2008



DEVOLUTION LINKED TO IRA COUNCIL

sniper.jpg The British government is ready to declare that the Provisional IRA’s Army Council has disbanded to speed the transfer of policing and justice powers from London to the Stormont Executive in Belfast.

Published August 8, 2008



UDA HOLDS ON TO ARMS

checkpoint.jpg The British government has confirmed that its Direct Rule Minister Paul Goggins and PSNI Chief Hugh Orde held talks with leaders of the UDA murder gangs on Monday night.

The UDA rejected an appeal to begin weapons decommissioning.

Published August 1, 2008



BORDER CHECKS TO RETURN

checkpoint.jpg The first formal border checks between Ireland and Britain for more than 80 years are set to begin following an announcement by the Dublin and London governments on Thursday.

Published July 25, 2008



SARKOZY STORM

sarkozy.jpg A declaration by French and current European Union President Nicolas Sarkozy that Ireland will have to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has generated a furious reaction in Ireland ahead of his planned visit to Dublin on Monday.

Published July 18, 2008



HATE ON PARADE

bonfire.jpg As the height of the Protestant marching season approaches, nationalists are facing a weekend of sectarian intimidation, paramilitary displays, provocative marches and drunken, uncontrolled violence at ‘Eleventh Night’ bonfires.

Published July 11, 2008



MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE

dannymorrison.jpg Sinn Féin’s former publicity director Danny Morrison is set to have his conviction for false imprisonment overturned amid secretive legal moves to conceal the truth in the case.

Published July 4, 2008



‘BIK’ CLEARED
AS TRIAL COLLAPSES

The trial of former IRA chief Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane was brought to a sudden climax on Thursday afternoon, when the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin dismissed all charges against him.

Published June 27, 2008



‘NO MEANS NO’

lisbonresult.jpg The European Union is generating its own crisis as the Eurocrat ‘elite’ refuses to accept Ireland’s NO vote in last week’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Published June 19, 2008



IRELAND SPEAKS
FOR EUROPE

lisbonposter.jpg Irish voters are being urged to go to the polls today to say ‘No’ to runaway plans by the European bureaucracy to create a superstate at the expense of Irish sovereignty and neutrality.

Published June 12, 2008



‘HONEYMOON IS OVER’

mcguinnessrobinson.jpg The new First Minister, Peter Robinson, and Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness, today start talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to try to resolve key issues troubling the peace process.

Published June 6, 2008



BARROSO PUTS
THE BOOT IN

barroso.jpg Thinly disguised threats are emanating from both the European bureaucracy and the Dublin government ahead of the Lisbon Treaty referendum on June 12.

Published May 30, 2008



FINAL JOURNEY
FOR IRA HERO

keenan.jpg South Armagh bade farewell to former IRA commander Brian Keenan yesterday [Thursday] before he began his final journey back to his native Belfast.

Published May 23, 2008



TYRONE BOMB SHOCK

A breakaway republican armed group known as Oglaigh na hEireann has been linked to a surprise car bomb attack which injured a member of the PSNI police on Monday night.

Published May 16, 2008



DEVOLUTION DEAL ‘BROKEN’

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness has accused the DUP of reneging on a deal for the devolution of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast this month.

Published May 8, 2008



PARADE TENSIONS SPILL OVER

Missiles were thrown when rival nationalist and unionist groups clashed on Sunday morning following a sectarian parade by the Protestant Orange Order in east Belfast.

Published May 2, 2008



FINUCANE INQUIRY SCANDAL

The public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane has been secretly blocked for nearly two years, it has emerged.

Published April 25, 2008



BRITISH CONSPIRING TO PUSH TREATY

A leaked memo by a senior British diplomat has revealed secret cross-channel plans to convince Irish voters to support the upcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

Published April 18, 2008



REPRESSION AT MAGHABERRY

Five republican prisoners have been moved to solitary confinement in Maghaberry jail after protesting a court ruling on a ban on the wearing of Easter lily.

Published April 11, 2008



BERTIE BOWS OUT

Fianna Fail is expected to elect Minister for Finance Brian Cowen as leader next week following this week’s announcement by Bertie Ahern that he intends to step down as Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fail on May 6th.

Published April 4, 2008



EASTER RISING ‘LIP SERVICE’

Sinn Féin has welcomed the Dublin government’s commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising but has accused the coalition government of merely paying “lip service” to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

Published March 28, 2008



‘QUEEN OF PROPOGANDA’

The English queen Elizabeth Windsor conducted a three-day visit to the north of Ireland this week amid a storm of controversy but without violent incident.

Published March 21, 2008



BATTLE FOR TARA

There was a dramatic escalation of tension this week at the Tara heritage site in County Meath where hundreds of construction workers and Garda police attacked a growing protest determined to save a national monument from destruction.

Published March 14, 2008



END OF AN ERA

Peter Robinson is the clear favourite to succeed Ian Paisley following the historic announcement that he will quit as First Minister and leader of the DUP.

Published March 7, 2008



HAUGHEY AIDED SAS - ADAMS

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has accused the Dublin government under Charles Haughey of providing the information that led to the SAS ambush of three IRA Volunteers in Gibraltar 20 years ago.

Published February 29, 2008



PAISLEY JNR RESIGNS

Ian Paisley Jnr dramatically quit from the northern power-sharing executive on Tuesday, and questions are now being raised over how long his father can remain as First Minister.

Published February 21, 2008



‘STEAK-KNIFE’ SPY FLEES

A former Sinn Féin bodyguard and driver for Gerry Adams has been exposed as a British agent and informer.

Published February 15, 2008



PSNI INTIMIDATION

The PSNI police have again set up a number of road checkpoints across the North amid a general increase in tension between the British Crown forces and republican hardliners.

Published February 8, 2008



DUBLIN ANGER AT COLLUSION COVER-UP

The Dublin parliament is to debate an all-party motion condemning collusion by British forces in atrocities in the North of Ireland.

Published January 31, 2008



AGENTS PROVOCATEUR

A ‘Real IRA’ bomb trial was terminated abruptly on Monday following unchallenged accusations that an informer lies at the heart of the case.

Published January 24, 2008



TELL THE TRUTH, SAY VICTIMS

Victims’ groups have called for an international independent truth commission to deal with the legacy of the last 30 years of war in the North of Ireland.

Published January 17, 2008



BRITISH ‘TRUTH PANEL’ OPPOSED

A panel unilaterally set up by the British government to deal with the desire for truth and reconciliation following the peace process has begun public consultations, provoking anger and controversy over its role.

Published January 9, 2008



OMAGH BLAME GAME

The PSNI police chief Hugh Orde has said it is “highly unlikely” that anyone will be jailed for the 1998 Omagh bomb, following the freeing of Armagh man Sean Hoey and the trial judge’s stinging indictment of the PSNI.

Published January 3, 2008



HOEY FREED

Armagh man Sean Hoey has been cleared of any involvement in the 1998 Omagh bomb attack after a judge today [Thursday] rubbished the case presented by the PSNI/RUC police.

Published December 20, 2007



NEW ARMED GROUP ‘BOGUS’

There is no republican involvement in a campaign of threats and hoaxes against Sinn Féin figures, including the widow of a recently deceased IRA veteran, it has been claimed.

Published December 12, 2007



SPY CLAIMS HIT PEACE PROCESS

A British soldier has caused a scandal by revealing that the British Crown forces are continuing to deploy high-technology spying equipment to monitor the homes and activities of republicans north and south of the border.

Published December 5, 2007



EUROPE BACKS COLLUSION FAMILIES

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled on Tuesday that evidence of British Crown force collusion in the murder of eight men in South Armagh in the 1970s had not properly been investigated.

Published November 28, 2007



MOLLOY REJECTS DUP ‘STUNT’

Sinn Fein assembly member Francie Molloy has rejected as “rubbish” a claim that he has been working as a Special Branch informer for almost 30 years.

Published November 22, 2007



‘REAL IRA’ MOUNT GUN, BOMB ATTACKS

The breakaway republican group known as the ‘Real IRA’ has said it shot two members of the PSNI in Derry and Dungannon, County Tyrone last week, and also detonated a coffee-jar bomb in Newry, County Armagh.

Published November 15, 2007



UDA IN DISARRAY

The UDA decommissioning saga has descended into farce after a breakaway faction of the group denied that it had destroyed a small quantity of guns.

Published November 8, 2007



UDA GANG MAKES ARMS MOVE

A breakaway faction of the UDA has said the British and 26-County governments now recognise it as an independent organisation after it began disarming.

Published November 1, 2007



BORDER CONTROLS TO RETURN

British military checkpoints are to return to the border area between the North and South of Ireland following a British decision to abandon the 'Common Travel Area' which has covered both islands since before partition.

Published October 24, 2007



UDA FUNDING WITHDRAWN

To DUP outrage, a decision to withdraw £1.2 million (Euro 1.7 million) funding for a group connected to the unionist paramilitary UDA has been confirmed after the UDA’s killer gangs refused to disarm.

Published October 17, 2007



CORONER CHALLENGES ORDE ON SHOOT-TO-KILL

The North’s most senior coroner has warned he will consider taking legal action against PSNI Chief Hugh Orde if he refuses to hand over police files relating to the killing of six unarmed people.

Published October 10, 2007



PSNI RAMPAGE IN DERRY

PSNI police clubbed scores of nationalist pub-goers in Derry city centre on Saturday night in some of the worst street conflict seen in the city in years.

Published October 3, 2007



UDA FEUD SPREADS

There are fears other areas are being drawn into a unionist paramilitary feud between rival gangs of the UDA in County Antrim.

tara.jpg

Hundreds of campaigners created a giant human harp in County Meath to mark Tara Heritage Day on Sunday. The protest is the latest in a string of high profile moves to pressurise the government into rerouting the M3 motorway away from the historic site.

The sites under threat are inextricably linked with the harping and bardic traditions for more than 2,500 years. Protests were also held in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dublin.

Published September 27, 2007



PSNI USING CS GAS DAILY

The PSNI have been using CS gas nearly every day on average since a hand-held spray form was introduced three years ago, it has been revealed.

Published September 20, 2007



ASSEMBLY HANDCUFFED

An attempt to secure tax-varying powers for the Belfast Assembly was defeated on Monday. Unionists blocked the Sinn Féin motion after DUP Finance Minister Peter Robinson expressed reservations.

Published September 12, 2007



BRITISH LIE RETRACTED

A retraction of the 35-year-old British Army claim that a teenager shot dead by a soldier in Derry was a “terrorist” has been welcomed by nationalists.

Published September 5, 2007



GANGS BATTLE AT MAGHABERRY

Tensions are high inside Maghaberry prison after clashes between feuding prisoners within the unionist paramilitary UDA.

Published August 30, 2007



DUP MAN ‘TO NAME DOUBLE-AGENT’

A DUP MP is planning to name a senior Sinn Féin figure in parliament who he alleges has secretly been working for the British Crown forces.

Published August 22, 2007



UDA FACE WEAPONS DEADLINE

The North’s Executive has been accused of seeking to avoid a decision over highly controversial government funding of the unionist paramilitary UDA.

Published August 16, 2007



DESTRUCTION OF TARA UNDERWAY

The controversial excavation and demolition of a newly-uncovered national monument at Lismullin in the Tara Valley began yesterday after conservationists were threatened with a potentially violent Garda police arrest operation.

Published August 8, 2007



BRITISH TROOPS CALLED IN

The British Army will cease to provide military support to Crown force policing operations in the Six Counties from midnight.

Published July 31, 2007



PSNI MAN SHOT IN UDA FEUD

A feud between rival factions of the unionist paramilitary UDA erupted in intense clashes at the weekend during which a PSNI policeman was shot in the back.

Published July 25, 2007



INSTITUTIONS MARK RENEWAL

DUP leader and Six-County First Minister Ian Paisley has declared that the conflict in Ireland is at an end.

Published July 18, 2007



BRITISH ARMY LEARN NOTHING

A bizarre British Army document has come to light which purports to summarise the lessons taken by the force from its engagement in conflict in the North of Ireland.

Published July 11, 2007



VICTIMS GETTING SIDELINED

A multi-pronged British strategy to protect their own while downplaying collusion and the rights of nationalist victims could provoke a crisis in the peace process later this year.

Published July 4, 2007



COLLUSION KILLERS GO FREE

A decision taken by the Crown Public Prosecution Service that no members of the British Crown forces are to be charged over collusion investigations has been condemned in the strongest terms by human rights groups and families of the victims.

Published June 27, 2007



GREENS ACCUSED OF SELL OUT

The Irish Green Party has abandoned a number of core political beliefs in order to enter into a coalition government in Dublin, securing the return of Fianna Fail’s Bertie Ahern as 26-County Taoiseach.

Published June 18, 2007



PAISLEY ANSWERS QUESTIONS

The North’s new First Minister Ian Paisley has delivered his first question-and-answer session in the Belfast Assembly in his inimitable manner but without generating fresh controversy.

Published June 11, 2007



INQUIRY OPENS WITHOUT FILES

Files on infamous unionist paramilitary leader Billy ‘King Rat’ Wright have been deliberately destroyed or ‘lost’, an inquiry into his murder has been told.

Published June 4, 2007



CARRY ON, BERTIE?

Talks between Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and potential coalition government partners have been hit by fresh controversy over suspect payments received by him when he was Minister for Finance.

Published May 29, 2007



SF READY TO NEGOTIATE NEW GOVT

Bertie Ahern could be returned as 26-County Taoiseach for a further five years, according to the latest polls, but only if he finds a new coalition partner.

Published May 21, 2007



ELECTION CAMPAIGN SHIFTS GEAR

The election campaign in the 26 Counties is heating up with just over a week left to polling day.

Published May 15, 2007



HISTORY, HYPE AND HOPE

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The Six Counties have a new power-sharing Executive in another historic day at Stormont.

Published May 8, 2007



CONTROVERSY MARKS CAMPAIGN START

Intense election campaigning has begun in the 26 Counties after the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s early morning visit to the Presidential residence, Aras an Uachtarain, to finally dissolve the Dublin parliament on Sunday.

Published May 2, 2007



SF BIDS FOR GOVERNMENT

Sinn Féin’s 26-County TDs today said that they are preparing for the election of a significant number of colleagues in the forthcoming General Election - with the aim of the party being in government north and south of the border.

Published April 27, 2007



COLLUSION 2007

Two members of the British Crown forces are involved in the latest intelligence gathering operation to obtain the personal data of over 150 nationalists from the PSNI police computer system and deliver it to a unionist paramilitary death-squad.

Published April 21, 2007



REPUBLICANS ON NEW UVF HIT LIST

Sinn Féin has challenged unionist paramilitaries in the North to come clean following the discovery of a new hit list of republican murder targets.

Published April 15, 2007



‘REUNIFICATION COMING’

The countdown to a united Ireland is underway, according to Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness.

Published April 10, 2007



HISTORIC HANDSHAKE

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Extraordinary scenes continued in the peace process this week with a public handshake at Farmleigh House in Dublin between DUP leader Ian Paisley and the 26-County Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Published April 5, 2007



SIGN OF PROGRESS

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Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said a breakthrough deal on power-sharing following the first-ever direct talks with DUP leader Ian Paisley means that “a new and unprecedented opportunity for progress now exists”.

Published March 30, 2007



UDA KILLERS GET PAY-OFF

Victims of UDA death-squads expressed outrage at the British government’s plans to give the paramilitary group 1.2 million pounds sterling.

Published March 24, 2007



CROSSING THE RUBICON

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said a political deal to secure power-sharing by March 26 is close and that the British government can “smell” a breakthrough.

Published March 18, 2007



IT’S ‘DEVOLUTION OR BUST’

There is mounting optimism that the peace process can make a historic breakthrough this month after the Dublin and London governments appeared willing to hold to their stated March 26th deadline for the return of local power-sharing in the North of Ireland.

Published March 13, 2007



VOTING UNDERWAY

Voting to the election for the new Belfast Assembly got underway across the Six Counties this Wednesday morning.

Published March 7, 2007



ELECTION CAMPAIGN BUILDS

Unionists in Belfast would benefit from an all-Ireland economy, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said as he launched his party’s platform for the election to the Belfast Assembly.

Published March 1, 2007



ABNORMALITY AT CROKE PARK

Republican Sinn Féin president Ruairi O Bradaigh delivered a letter of protest to the headquarters of the GAA as part of an extremely high-profile demonstration at Saturday’s rugby international at Croke Park in Dublin.

Published February 25, 2007



DUP PUSHES ‘PLAN C’

The Democratic Unionist Party is to push for an alternative ‘Plan C’ -- which would see Sinn Féin excluded from political institutions in Belfast -- should the party fail to satisfy its demands in a future power sharing government.

Published February 20, 2007



CROKE PARK FURORE

The British government may be forced to make a gesture to mark the killing of 14 civilians by British Crown forces at Croke Park in 1920 when British Direct Ruler Peter Hain attends the Ireland v England rugby match there next week.

Published February 15, 2007



REPUBLICANS FACE ELECTION CHOICE

Republican Sinn Féin has confirmed that it will stand at least eleven abstentionist candidates in the Belfast assembly elections, while independent republicans have already declared in five constituencies.

Published February 10, 2007



COLLUSION ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ - BLAIR

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has told Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams it is “unacceptable” that members of the PSNI police colluded in sectarian and other paramilitary murders and that it “must never happen again”.

Published February 5, 2007



HISTORY IS MADE AS SF BACKS PSNI

Sunday’s extraordinary Sinn Fein Ard Fheis saw overwhelming party support for a seismic shift on policing and a clear endorsement for the Adams/McGuinness leadership.

Published February 1, 2007



MURDER CAMPAIGN ‘WENT TO THE TOP’

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness has said collusion in the PSNI/RUC police went “to the very top” following this week’s report which implicated the Special Branch in a decade-long campaign of sectarian murder in north Belfast.

Published January 27, 2007



PSNI KILLERS STILL WORKING

A report by the Police Ombudsman concludes that RUC/PSNI Special Branch police officers colluded in at least 18 murders in the North of Ireland between 1990 and 2003 has been described as ‘the tip of the iceberg’.

Published January 22, 2007



BIG STAKES FOR SINN FEIN

A debate on the acceptability of the PSNI police and British Crown courts in the North of Ireland is currently underway within republicanism.

Published January 17, 2007



DUP HAS RENEGED - SF

Ian Paisley’s DUP have gone back on a deal to agree the devolution of policing, Sinn Féin has said.

Published January 12, 2007



PAISLEY DENIES CHRISTMAS DEAL

A crisis is mounting as a result of the continuing failure of the DUP to respond positively to the decision by the Sinn Féin leadership to recognise the courts and support the police force in the North of Ireland.

Published January 8, 2007



PAISLEY UPS DEMANDS

Sinn Féin has said it is still awaiting a positive response from Ian Paisley’s DUP following its decision to hold a special party conference on supporting the police and recognising the courts in the North of Ireland.

Published January 4, 2007



SINN FÉIN DEBATES POLICING CHANGE

DUP leader Ian Paisley has welcomed moves by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams which could lead the party to a once unthinkable position -- supporting a police force in Ireland while it remains under the authority of the British Crown.

Published December 29, 2006



TALKS GO ON DESPITE DOUBTS

A week of intense talks involving Sinn Féin, Ian Paisley’s DUP and the Dublin and London governments to find a way through the impasse over policing before the Christmas break continues unabated.

Published December 23, 2006



AGREEMENT ON THE EDGE

Key meetings of Assembly committees are taking place in Belfast this week which will seek to bridge significant differences on the issue of the transfer of justice and policing powers from London to Belfast.

Published December 18, 2006



ADAMS MURDER BID ‘THWARTED’

An assassination plot against Gerry Adams by republican hardliners was defeated by security arrangements taken by the Sinn Féin president and his security advisers, Mr Adams has said.

Published December 13, 2006



ADAMS-PAISLEY CONTACT

DUP leader Ian Paisley responded to and made comments directed at Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams across the Belfast Assembly chamber this week in what is being seen as a possible shift in his party’s refusal to talk directly to Sinn Féin.

Published December 7, 2006



PROCESS RESUMES AFTER STORMONT MAYHEM

Crazed killer Michael Stone outlined his plan to mount a Colombine-style assault against the Sinn Féin leadership in a letter to a local newspaper.

Published December 1, 2006



CONFUSION AND TERROR AT STORMONT

The peace process has survived one of its most dramatic days in recent years despite a major political crisis and an almost simultaneous gun and bomb attack at the Belfast Assembly.

Published November 25, 2006



PARTIES UPBEAT AHEAD OF TALKS

The first meeting of the programme for government committee takes place in Belfast tomorrow despite a continuing boycott by DUP leader Ian Paisley.

Published November 19, 2006



SF LEADERS ‘UNDER THREAT’

The lives of Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Gerry Kelly are under threat from hardline republicans, the party has confirmed.

Published November 14, 2006



THE GLENNANE GANG - BRITAIN’S DEATH BRIGADE

A major international report has called for an independent inquiry into what senior British government figures knew about Crown force collusion with unionist death-squads in 74 murders.

Published November 9, 2006



PARTIES FACING TALKS DEADLINE

Ian Paisley’s DUP is likely to give only “a conditional response” to the St Andrews document next week in tactically stating they will only go along with a political deal on power-sharing government if certain demands are met.

Published November 4, 2006



ADAMS WARNING OVER DUP DEMANDS

The British and Irish governments could put progress in the North at risk if they divert from what was agreed at the St Andrews talks and make fresh concessions to the DUP, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said.

Published October 30, 2006



WILL PAISLEY DELIVER?

There are growing concerns that the hardline unionist DUP will remain as negative within the peace process as the party was outside amid ongoing tension over the details of a potential new deal.

Published October 25, 2006



CHALLENGES SURMOUNTABLE - ADAMS

Disagreement over the wording and timing of a pledge of office has emerged as a key stumbling block as negotiations continue over a potentially historic deal between Sinn Féin and Ian Paisley’s DUP.

Published October 20, 2006



DEAL OR NO DEAL?

DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams could hold face-to-face talks as early as tomorrow as the St Andrews proposals are worked through by the two party leaderships.

Published October 16, 2006



HOPES RISING FOR TALKS DEAL

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has said his party is determined to do everything it can to get the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement up and running in Belfast before the November 24th deadline.

Published October 10, 2006



IRA'S WAR IS OVER - BLAIR

The British government has formally acknowledged that the Provisional IRA’s military campaign is over.

Published October 5, 2006



McDOWELL SITS IN JUDGEMENT

The Dublin government is divided by the deep facing 26-County Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, over cash payments he accepted when Minister for Finance in the 1990s.

Published September 30, 2006



NO ANSWERS TO AHERN QUESTIONS

The Dublin government is enveloped in a new and potentially critical corruption scandal over revelations of payments made to the 26-County Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in 1993.

Published September 25, 2006



DUP CAN END DEADLOCK - SF

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on policing, Gerry Kelly, has said the parties could be “very, very close” to an agreement on policing if Ian Paisley’s DUP were to be engage with Sinn Féin in a positive manner.

Published September 19, 2006



PSNI’S FILEGATE

Up to 1,000 murder files held by the Crown police in the North of Ireland have simply “gone missing”, the PSNI have admitted.

Published September 15, 2006



CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Tony Blair's promise to step down as British Prime Minister within 12 months threatens to derail the Irish peace process.

Published September 10, 2006



TALKS HEADED FOR SCOTLAND

A fresh attempt to end the political deadlock in the North of Ireland is to be made next month with intensive talks in Scotland.

Published September 5, 2006



PSNI QUIET ON UDA ARMS FINDS

The PSNI police has been covering up a series of unionist paramilitary arms discoveries -- according to the UDA themselves.

Published August 31, 2006



DUP ‘WON’T LOOK AT US’

Sinn Fein has revealed that Ian Paisley’s DUP are refusing to even look directly at the party’s representatives across the table at meetings intended to prepare the way for the two parties to share power in the Six Counties.

Published August 27, 2006



LOYALIST INTIMIDATION, PSNI VIOLENCE

The Police Ombudsman has been asked to investigate the assault of a Sinn Féin politician by the PSNI police at a weekend loyalist parade.

Published August 22, 2006



COMPROMISE FOR CHANGE - ADAMS

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has called for greater compromise and confidence in dealing with unionists during a significant mass rally in west Belfast.

Published August 18, 2006



CRIMINALISATION ‘WILL BE RESISTED’

Republican prisoners held in Maghaberry jail have concluded a 48-hour fast as part of an escalating protest for the restoration of political status and the implementation of five demands.

Published August 13, 2006



FIREBOMB BLITZ

The Continuity IRA are considered most likely to be responsible for a spate of fire-bomb attacks and bomb alerts in the town of Newry, close to the border, that damaged or destroyed at least four large British retail chain stores.

Published August 10, 2006



SHOUKRI GANG FORCED OUT

The UDA has forcibly ousted its former north Belfast leadership from the city with the tacit support of the PSNI police.

Published August 5, 2006



AHERN’S MASSACRE SHAME

The Dublin government has been forced to end the transport of munitions for the Israeli Army through Shannon Airport following outrage over the massacre of scores of women and children in Lebanon.

Published July 31, 2006



FIVE ATTACKS A DAY

Sectarian attacks are now averaging at least five attacks every day despite efforts of nationalist groups to placate unionists with concessions over contentious anti-Catholic parades through interface areas.

Published July 25, 2006



PENAL POLICING

The arrest of an Irish language school teacher in Belfast for speaking Irish “brings us back to the days of the penal laws”, said Sinn Féin’s Bairbre de Brun.

Published July 20, 2006



NATIONALISTS UNDER ATTACK

A Derry man is fighting for his life following a spate of sectarian attacks surrounding the annual July 12th parades by the Protestant Orange Order.

Published July 17, 2006



SECTARIAN SPECTACLE

Hundreds of ‘11th night’ bonfires were set alight by loyalists across the North last night as tensions mounted ahead of ‘the Twelfth’, a day when over 600 marches are staged by the Protestant Orange Order to mark a 17th century battle victory over Catholics.

Published July 12, 2006



TIME TO GO

26-County Taoiseach Bertie Ahern this week faced calls for an early election amid a public outcry over mounting evidence of serious incompetence within his cabinet and senior civil service.

Published July 7, 2006



IRA MUST REPENT - PAISLEY

DUP leader Ian Paisley has said that there will be no power-sharing with nationalists unless the Provisional IRA “repents of its evil deeds”

Published July 2, 2006



PRISON PROTEST ESCALATES

Republican prisoners at Maghaberry Prison are now refusing meals in an increasing protest for the recognition of political status.

Published June 27, 2006



RIOTERS REWARDED

The Parades Commission stands accused of rewarding loyalist violence after it ruled that a sectarian, coat-trailing march can pass along the nationalist Springfield Road in west Belfast this weekend.

Published June 22, 2006



MARCH AWAY FROM CONFLICT

Relatively little violence at the ‘Tour of the North’ parade in north Belfast on Friday night is being cited as evidence that this year’s marching season could be the quietest for several years.

Published June 17, 2006



END THE DUP VETO

Frustration is growing in the North of Ireland over the ongoing attempts by hardline unionists to obstruct and undermine the peace process.

Published June 11, 2006



HIDDEN AGENDA

Martin McGuinness has accused his enemies of trying to have him killed by claiming he was a British spy.

Published June 6, 2006



UVF SHOOT ‘DOUBLE-AGENT’

A man named in the Dublin parliament earlier this year as a PSNI Special Branch agent linked to a series of murders was shot near North Belfast today.

Published May 30, 2006



ASSEMBLY DISSEMBLING

British Direct Ruler Peter Hain is to press ahead with the formation of an all-party committee at the new shadow assembly to discuss the return of powers from London to Belfast.

Published May 27, 2006



‘CERTAINLY NOT’

There were no surprises as the DUP leader Ian Paisley flatly rejected a bid to form a power sharing executive at the shadow Belfast Assembly on Monday.

Published May 23, 2006



OVERSHADOWED ASSEMBLY

The mood at the first days of a new 'transitional' northern assembly were low key and overshadowed by the sectarian murder of Catholic schoolboy Michael McIlveen in Ballymena.

Published May 17, 2006



BALLYMENA CHALLENGED

Preparations are currently underway for the funeral of fifteen-year-old Michael McIlveen who died on Monday after he was fatally wounded in a sectarian gang attack in Ballymena, County Antrim last weekend.

Published May 13, 2006



LAUGHTER OF OUR CHILDREN?

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A schoolboy savagely beaten in a sectarian attack in Ballymena on Saturday died in hospital on Monday night.

Published May 8, 2006



SUBVERSIVES

Successive British governments failed to act despite having full knowledge of the extensive and murderous collaboration between the UDR and unionist paramilitaries.

Published May 3, 2006



O’HARE RELEASED

Dessie O'Hare, former leader of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), has finally been freed from prison, but not under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Published April 28, 2006



KILLERS ON THE LOOSE

Members of the PSNI police who shot and killed a motorist in County Down last weekend are still armed and on duty, it has emerged.

Published April 24, 2006



RIOTS FOLLOW ARRESTS

Rioting has continued in Lurgan, County Armagh for two days after PSNI police staged a raid on Wednesday on what they claimed was a dissident republican bomb factory.

Published April 21, 2006



EASTER KILLING

A man shot dead by the PSNI at a checkpoint in County Down was unarmed at the time, it has been revealed.

Published April 18, 2006



RISING REBORN?

This weekend Ireland will witness one of the biggest official commemorations of any historic event since partition.

Published April 14, 2006



SF TO ATTEND STORMONT

Sinn Féin has said it will attend the reconvened Belfast Assembly on May 15th with the purpose of forming a power sharing government.

Published April 9, 2006



DEATH OF A DOUBLE-AGENT

The murder of top republican informer Denis Donaldson has caused political shockwaves amid intense speculation about his killing.

Published April 5, 2006



DUBLIN COLLUSION ALLEGED

Evidence has emerged that suggests the Dublin government ordered Garda police not to pursue British military and unionist paramilitary killers of Irish citizens in the 1970s.

Published April 3, 2006



Finucane 'shot 22 times'

A loyalist accused of murdering Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane in 1989 admitted that he was 'massacred' in a taped confession, a court was told today.

Published September 25, 2003