Monthly Archives: October 2018

Bizarre tragicomic episode yesterday on the legacy issue which reveals the politics-on-stilts nature of the discourse around legacy, demonstrates SF intolerance of questions that undermine their own contention that the 1700 plus killings by the Provisionals “don’t count”. Read more »

Eyebrows were raised on the 2^nd October when Arlene Foster commented that the Good Friday Agreement wasn’t sacrosanct, hinting that she would like to amend it to accommodate Brexit. Her words been praised but also widely condemned. Leo Varadkar responded by saying that “the Good Friday Agreement is not up for renegotiation” in the Dail.

Anyone paying close attention will notice that Foster’s comments are very similar to statements made by her party colleagues, Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson over the years. Brexiteers like Kate Hoey have also talked about amending the Agreement. Read more »

In anticipation of the end of the consultation period on Friday for the proposals  on dealing with the Troubles’ legacy,  the secretary of state Karen Bradley writes in Eamonn Mallie’s website..

As the consultation is still live, I will not, at this stage, comment on specific suggestions. Read more »

Soon decisions will have to be made on the Legacy consultations.

We shouldn’t burden families who lost loved ones with the responsibility of having to design or determine a legacy process.

Nothing that can be done or will be done will ever fully meet their expectations, whether in terms of justice, truth or information. Read more »

Thousands of businesses across Northern Ireland could still be victims of extortion by criminal gangs, according to the taskforce set up to tackle paramilitaries.

In its annual report, the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) said paramilitary groups are extorting small businesses. Read more »

Former Government Sports Minister and current Labour MP Kate Hoey recently visited East Belfast Football Club, as the Alliance party and Sinn Fein continue to wage a sectarian campaign against the club, the young players and their families. Read more »

That ebullient and creative academic Pete Shirlow recently wrote a piece in the Belfast Telegraph discouraging the indulgence of Northern Irish whinging about ourselves as “ a place apart”, and unloved in GB.   You can argue this either way. As he says: “ The idea that most people in Britain do not give a monkey’s is as true as it is false… I am sure most people in Britain never think about Northern Ireland, but they probably never think much about Glasgow or Cardiff either. Read more »

More invaluable historical information from the MacLean Report on the 1997 killing of LVF leader Billy Wright by the INLA inside the Maze prison, this time about the operation of the RUC Special Branch and allied intelligence bodies. Some of the detail refers specifically to issues raised by the Wright slaying but that does not detract in the slightest from the value of this study: Read more »

For as long as I can remember I have advised fellow reporters to fully read the reports of government inquiries, especially those dealing with security issues thrown up by the Troubles.

I do that because invariably there are little, and sometimes, sizeable and valuable diamonds of information hidden in interminable pages of dull text. But you have to read it all to find them. I usually take my own advice but here I must admit to one occasion when I ignored my own counsel. Read more »

The Troubles was one of the darkest periods in Northern Ireland’s history. It has had a profound and lasting impact on the lives of so many in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom as a whole.

I have been deeply moved by the personal stories of pain and suffering endured by the families of the victims and survivors. I firmly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to be heard and have a say in how we best move forward. Read more »