Monthly Archives: January 2019

It has taken how long? Several months at least but finally a journalist covering the Brexit story, in this case John Campbell of the BBC, has gone to the trouble to actually read the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) to check whether Leo Varadkar is correct in stating that a hard Border would offend the GFA.

And his conclusion, as readers of thebrokenelbow.com will know full well, is that GFA says nothing – nada – about the nature of the Border, ‘hard’, ‘soft’ or middling and all those politicians, from Varadkar to Mary Lou have either been pulling the wool over our eyes or have themselves failed to complete the simplest of due diligence.

As for the hacks, it takes about 30 minutes to read the GFA so one can readily understand why so many journalists have failed to read the document at the heart of this controversy. I mean, that’s half an hour that could be better spent fiddling one’s expenses.

Anyway here is the BBC article. Read more »

A BELFAST woman is suing British agent Freddie Scappaticci for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a child.

Court papers seen by The Irish News reveal that the IRA member is accused of assaulting the woman between 1976 and 1978. She is claiming for personal injury, loss and damages.

The woman is believed to have been a teenager at the time. It is understood the allegations were reported to police. Read more »

The recent Divisional Court judgement which stipulated that Michael Stone must stay in prison until at least 2024 has wide ranging ramifications. He is a loyalist who has been left behind. He deserves political and community support.

This week Belfast High Court will rule on an application by lawyers acting for Michael Stone seeking certification of an appeal to the Supreme Court. This follows last week’s decision by the Divisional Court, with Mr Justice McCloskey and Mr Justice Colton sitting, to rule that Michael Stone must remain in prison without parole until at least 2024. Read more »

Belfast High Court will hear a Judicial Review challenge into the PSNI’s unlawful seizure of journalistic material beyond the scope of their search warrant in a gross act of bad faith. The judgement will have ramifications for a wide range of activists and journalists.

The upcoming Judicial Review (JR) I have brought before the High Court raises important issues around the exercise of police powers and the issue of journalistic material being seized beyond the scope of warrants. It will, naturally, affect me as the applicant- but more importantly it will have ramifications for a wide range of people, including those who create journalistic material. Read more »

On this Stormont map we have lost the place of working politics.

Yes Parliament Buildings still stands at the top of the Stormont hill – but in name only; and, in a week, when Martin McGuinness and David Ervine were remembered, there is no sense that the brokenness can be mended; certainly not yet and not now.

“I think that courage was a characteristic of both Martin McGuinness and David Ervine that is sadly lacking in many of today’s politicians,” Dr John Kyle of the Progressive Unionist Party told this website. Read more »

The Milltown Cemetery bomber is set to go before Parole Commissioners next week in a bid to be freed from jail.

But lawyers for the sister of one of his victims claimed he should be made to serve nearly six years more behind bars on a sentence imposed to punish and deter him from any future offences. Read more »