Second Sinn Féin worker outed as UK agent – ISN
January 20th, 2006
Dublin – A second employee of Sinn Féin, the Northern Ireland political party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), has emerged as a long-time British agent, the second such revelation in recent weeks.
Richard Lavelle from Fermanagh, near the border with the Irish Republic, admitted on Thursday that he was an agent for the Special Branch of the UK security services, which worked to counter the activities of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (P-IRA).
The statement follows the 9 December revelation that Denis Donaldson, a senior Sinn Féin official and former IRA man who served a prison sentence for an attempt to bomb a distillery and government buildings, had been a British agent for over 20 years. (more…)
Northern Ireland’s farewell to arms? – ISN
November 1st, 2005
With the IRA disarmed, Northern Ireland seems to have its best chance to implement its much-heralded 1998 peace agreement. However, mutual distrust and irreconcilable visions of where Northern Ireland’s long-term future lies will loom over what is likely to be a piecemeal return to the working parts of that peace deal.
Some two months after the Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced on 28 July the end of its 40-year armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland, the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IMC) said the IRA had “met its commitment to put all arms beyond use in a manner called for by the legislation”.
Before that, Northern Ireland’s peace process had stalled. Now, the hope is that IRA disarmament will mean an eventual return to the devolved executive and assembly – the institutional centerpieces of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement – and the development of a more stable post-conflict transition. (more…)
Loyalty under duress – ISN
October 15th, 2005
As Northern Ireland’s majority British-Protestant community struggles to come to terms with a peace process it views as offering more to the Irish nationalist-Catholic minority, it lashes out – not against its old tribal enemy – but against its own internal rivals and the British government by which it seeks to remain governed.
By Simon Roughneen in Belfast for ISN Security Watch (12/10/05)
Since late 2004 – after the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) allegedly stole €33.5 million from a Belfast bank and IRA men murdered Belfast Catholic Robert McCartney – the world has once again turned much attention to the Northern Ireland peace process and the activities of the IRA and Sinn Féin, the political party linked to the group.
This attention increased after 28 July, when the IRA publicly called an end to its war against British sovereignty over Northern Ireland, and on 26 September, when the group appointed to oversee the disarming of Northern Ireland’s paramilitaries said the IRA had given up all its weapons.
But another community in Northern Ireland has recently gained much attention, as well. The Protestant community, though arguably less prominent internationally than its Catholic nationalist counterpart, makes up 56 per cent of the region’s population. (more…)
Former paramiltary leader killed – ISN
October 6th, 2005
A leading former member of Northern Ireland’s largest unionist-loyalist paramilitary group was assassinated at his home in Belfast.
Jim Gray, a former commander in the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) was shot late Tuesday several times at close range in his doorway by two gunmen. His killing came six months after his ouster from the UDA, of which he was a commander, following a dispute with his former colleagues. (more…)
Unionists react colly to IRA disarmament – ISN
September 26th, 2005
DERRY – Northern Ireland’s largest pro-British unionist party reacted sceptically to an announcement on Monday that the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had destroyed all of its weapons.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley said there was no real verification of IRA decommissioning in Monday’s announcement, adding it showed the duplicity and dishonesty of the British and Irish governments as well as of the IRA.
Paisley said the Commission had simply taken the IRA’s word at face value. “Not one iota was given to verify that assurance,” he said. (more…)
Orange Order says ‘we’re not to blame’ – ISN
September 14th, 2005
DERRY – At a press conference earlier on Wednesday, the Protestant Orange Order refuted claims by the head of Northern Ireland’s police that it was to blame for a weekend of rioting in Belfast and elsewhere.
This statement came hours after the announcement by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain that the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) ceasefire was no longer recognized.
While there is no link between the Orange Order and the UVF, members of both organizations were involved in three days of violence in Belfast and other towns in Northern Ireland from Saturday to Tuesday.
Rioting broke out on Saturday after the local authorities rerouted an Orange Order parade away from a Catholic nationalist area of west Belfast. (more…)
Loyalist riots continue – ISN
September 12th, 2005
DERRY – Protestant loyalists attacked local police and British troops in Northern Ireland for a third day on Monday in clashes prompted after the authorities rerouted a planned Orange Order march.
Masked men and youths confronted police across Belfast and other towns, and extremists shot at police backed by British soldiers late on Sunday, but there were no casualties.
At least 50 police officers were hurt in the violence, which saw petrol bombs, blast bombs, and pipe bombs thrown at police.
After some of the worst violence in Northern Ireland since the signing of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, the blame-game is being played by all sides. (more…)
Paisley willing to meet Archbishop – ISN
September 8th, 2005
DERRY – In his first public interview since the Irish Republican Army (IRA) vowed to end its armed campaign in July, hardline Protestant unionist leader Ian Paisley on Sunday gave a positive assessment of the troubled region’s political future and said he would agree to meet Ireland’s Catholic leader.
Speaking to Irish state broadcaster RTE, Paisley said he believed peace in Ireland was possible in his lifetime.
Paisley – the leader of Northern Irelands largest party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) – has long been an ardent opponent of Irish nationalism in Northern Ireland, and is now the leading political voice in pro-British unionism in the area.
Paisley, who opposes the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended the over 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, went on to say he was willing to meet the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady. (more…)
Man faces trial for bombing – ISN
September 8th, 2005
DUBLIN – A member of a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) has been ordered to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the 1998 Omagh bombing, considered the worst attack in North Ireland in the last 30 years.
Sean Hoey faces a total of 58 charges relating to the bombing that devastated the Northern Irish town of Omagh and other activities attributed to the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA) in 1998. (more…)
‘Love Ulster’ campaign sparks criticism – ISN
August 30th, 2005
DERRY – A new grassroots campaign dubbed “Love Ulster”, on Monday began disseminating newsletters across Northern Ireland aimed at denouncing nationalist dominance over the political process.
The Love Ulster campaign will disseminate 200,000 free newsletters across Northern Ireland, highlighting unionist concerns at political concessions granted to Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) since the latter’s statement that it was ending its nearly four-decade campaign of violence against British rule. (more…)
