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…)
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…)
DUP to stall peace talks – ISN
August 5th, 2005
DERRY – Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party has threatened to delay talks on restarting the stalled peace process.
Meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday in London, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) outlined its position on political talks aimed at restoring the devolved government to Belfast.
DUP leader Reverend Ian Paisley said the party would require a “prolonged period of assessment” to ascertain whether the Irish Republican Army (IRA) had truly given up its armed campaign. He called for “total decommissioning that everyone can be satisfied with”. (more…)
Hardliners win big in election – ISN
May 9th, 2005
DERRY – As expected, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has emerged as the big winner in Northern Ireland of the UK general election on 5 May.
Friday’s results saw the party led by preacher Ian Paisley gain three seats. The DUP increased its vote share by 11 per cent over the 2001 election results to become the largest Northern Irish party at Westminister, taking half of the 18 seats representing the province.
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), historically the main representative of pro-British sentiment in Northern Ireland, lost four of its five seats, including the constituency of party leader and 1998 Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble.
In response to the crushing defeat, Trimble resigned as party leader on Saturday afternoon. (more…)
Moderates in a pinch – ISN
May 4th, 2005
Citizens of the United Kingdom will be voting in two very different elections on Thursday – one in Britain over issues like the invasion of Iraq, immigration, education, and economic policy, and a second one in Northern Ireland
By Simon Roughneen in Derry for ISN Security Watch
When the Queen’s subjects go to the polls on Thursday, they will essentially be voting in two very different elections. The three main political parties on the British mainland have campaigned on issues such as the legality of the US-British invasion of Iraq, immigration policy, education, and leadership personalities, while the polls in Northern Ireland will feature an entirely different set of actors and factors.
In April, a delegation from the recently elected provincial legislature of Basra, Iraq visited Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland’s two largest cities, to learn about how a divided society functions. For the prime minister’s advisers, the visit from Basra is an opportunity to put a positive spin on Tony Blair’s unpopular decision to participate in the US-led invasion of Iraq (more…)
Unionist urges moderate vote – ISN
April 19th, 2005
DERRY – Speaking on BBC TV over the weekend, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader David Trimble called on voters to support “centrist” parties in Northern Ireland in Britain’s forthcoming general election.
Trimble’s call amounted to asking Northern Ireland’s unionist population to vote for the more moderate nationalist party, the Social, Democratic, and Labour Party (SDLP), instead of the UUP’s rivals within unionism, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). (more…)
Sinn Féin leader tells IRA to accept peace – ISN
April 7th, 2005
DERRY – Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams on Wednesday urged the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to accept peace and give its total support to democratic politics in Northern Ireland.
In what is being described as either a landmark speech or as unconcealed electioneering in the run-up to the 5 May general elections in Britain, Adams said the “struggle had reached a defining moment”.
He appealed directly to the IRA leadership to become activists in a movement to rebuild the struggling Northern Ireland peace process and push for a single all-Ireland state.
“The way forward is by building political support for republican and democratic objectives across Ireland and winning support for those objectives internationally,” Adams said.
Sinn Féin is seen as the political wing of the IRA. Many observers believe that Adams and Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness are members of the IRA leadership. (more…)
Sinn Féin conference overshadowed by murder – ISN
March 7th, 2005
DERRY – Sinn Féin, the political party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), on Friday suspended seven of its members for their alleged involvement in the murder of Belfast Catholic Robert McCartney.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said those suspended were named by McCartney’s family as having been involved in the murder. McCartney’s sisters appeared to a standing ovation at the Sinn Féin annual conference in Dublin over the weekend.
The conference, which ordinarily would have celebrated the centenary of the founding of the party, was overshadowed by the fallout from McCartney’s violent death in Belfast on 31 January and the alleged theft by the IRA of some €38 million from a Belfast bank in December. (more…)
