Almost half of NI race rioters reported for domestic abuse
Luke Butterly, The Detail and Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
FIGURE FOR REGION (48%) HIGHER THAN UK AVERAGE (41%), REVEALS INVESTIGATIVE SITE
Almost half of those arrested for race-hate disorder in Belfast last August had previously been reported to the PSNI for domestic abuse.
The police data, obtained through a freedom of information (FOI) request by investigative website The Detail, highlights a significant overlap between public violent disorder and domestic violence.
Sonya McMullan of Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland said the figures were, unfortunately, not surprising.
“These displays of public violence and disorder on our streets were meant to be a reaction to violence against women and girls, yet those who were creating this disorder themselves had histories of domestic abuse,” she said.
The murders of three children in Southport at the end of July 2024 sparked riots in south Belfast and in towns and cities across England.
Far-right activists and social media accounts often justified violent protests as a reaction to wanting to protect women and children.
Seven businesses in Sandy Row, Donegall Road and Botanic were ransacked in targeted attacks by rioters following a far-right anti-immigrant march on August 3, 2024.
In the following days, unrest and attacks on the homes and businesses of those from ethnic-minority backgrounds continued.
There were 48 people arrested in relation to the disorder, of whom 23 had been reported for domestic abuse.
The figures for Northern Ireland (48%) were higher than the UK average (41%).
Groups working with women in Northern Ireland said that the figures showing high rates of race rioters with histories of domestic abuse here were not surprising.
“The figures are extremely important to highlight, because they show what we in the women's movement have said from the start — that violence and racism did not stem from a righteous revulsion at violence against women and girls,” said Elaine Crory of the Women's Resource and Development Agency (WRDA).
“From the very start, the violence itself made victims of more women and girls and destroyed people's homes and their sense of safety — all hallmarks of domestic abuse offenders.
Political cover
“Politicians who give cover to this kind of argument really need to face this and seek to understand how their language can actually lead to justifying violence against women and girls.
“Ideally, they should withdraw their comments and endeavour to learn from experts in the field.”
Women's Aid told a parliamentary committee last year that PSNI statistics — which already show domestic abuse accounting for one in five of all crimes — are only the “tip of the iceberg in terms of the epidemic that domestic abuse is in our society”.
Ms McMullan said there is a normalisation of violence on our streets, as well as against women.
“In Northern Ireland, we are a society coming out of conflict, a society experiencing inter-generational trauma, and over the years have seen a normalisation of violence on our streets.
“It is clear that these latest outbursts of public disorder caused intimidation and fear within communities and caused many to have to leave their homes.
“The issue of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland is at crisis point. We need to act now, resource services appropriately, manage the issue of serial, repeat offenders and hold them to account to keep everyone safe on the streets and behind closed doors.”
Some of those arrested were children — the youngest being just 11 years old.
Most of the children and young people engaged in the disorder were not previously known to the police, according to internal documents from a multi-agency meeting at the time, obtained through a separate FOI request.
The document states that the PSNI were “concerned about extremism, radicalisation and exploitation of children”, while the Department of Justice's Youth Justice Agency advised that “when [we] dig into radicalisation [we] often find other vulnerabilities like domestic circumstance”.
Nic Murray contributed to reporting.
Riot accused is bailed on strict condition he helps integrate migrant families
Alan Erwin, Irish News, August 8th, 2025
A TEENAGER accused of involvement in the “disgusting” Ballymena riots will only be released from custody if he pledges to assist with integrating migrant families into the local community, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mr Justice McAlinden granted conditional bail to Darren O’Neill (18) after hearing that the racially-motivated disorder has cost the Northern Ireland economy millions of pounds.
In June this year police were attacked by fireworks, petrol bombs and masonry during three consecutive nights of unrest sparked by an alleged sexual assault on a schoolgirl in Ballymena.
Homes and businesses were also targeted during the violence which then spread to parts of Larne, Newtownabbey, Portadown and Derry.
The court heard some properties were set alight while ethnic minority occupants were present, forcing families to flee for safety.
O’Neill, of Drumtara in Ballymena, faces charges of riotous assembly, burglary with intent to steal and arson in connection with prolonged outbursts of serious violence on June 10.
He was allegedly captured on CCTV throwing a rock and a metal pole at police lines in the Clonavon area of the town, as well as dismantling a trampoline for parts to use as missiles.
Later in the footage he joined others entering a house which had been ransacked the previous night and attempted to remove a table for a road barricade, according to the prosecution.
O’Neill was then allegedly observed in a group who tipped a car onto its roof after the vehicle had been set on fire at Larne Street.
He subsequently handed himself in to police and confirmed that it was him in the footage.
Thomas McKeever, defending, told the court his client is an orphan and never previously been in trouble.
“There was no premeditation, he got caught up in the riot but accepts fully that his actions were completely deplorable,” the barrister submitted.
Condemning the rioting, Mr Justice McAlinden branded it “a very, very dark passage of time in our recent history”.
He stated: “The nature of the offending here was quite disgusting.”
But the judge also said he had been moved by a report from a social worker who described O’Neill as “a good person with a good heart”.
Releasing O’Neill under strict conditions, he imposed a requirement that the defendant must participate with a Ballymena-based charity or organisation helping immigrant families to integrate.
“He has to sign an undertaking that he will meaningfully engage in that work if he wishes to be granted bail,” Mr Justice McAlinden insisted.
Authorities lost the skull of man shot dead by PIRA
Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, August 8th, 2025
AUTHORITIES in the south of Ireland have lost the skull of a man shot dead and secretly buried by the Provisional IRA more than 40 years ago.
Eugene Simons (26) was taken across the border by the IRA after going missing on New Year’s Day 1981.
Originally from the Castlewellan area of Co Down, his remains were accidently discovered buried in a bog near Dundalk, Co Louth, in May 1984, by a man walking a dog.
He is one of a group of people known as The Disappeared, who were abducted, killed and buried by republicans during the Troubles.
While the Simons family was aware that the missing remains could not be located, details have now been confirmed in a report provided to the family by Operation Kenova.
The 42-page report provides a rare glimpse into the often brutal battle between the IRA and state agencies over information and reveals the full extent intelligence available to the security forces.
It was set up in 2016 to investigate the activities of the British agent known as Stakeknife – identified as Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci in 2003.
A former commander of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), Scappaticci has been linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions.
Also known as the ‘Nutting Squad’, the ISU was responsible for hunting down and killing informers during the Troubles.
It is believed some of those interrogated by the unit were tortured in a bid to extract confessions.
IRA has never claimed responsibility nor given reason for the killing and secret burial of man
The IRA has never claimed responsibility or provided an explanation for why Mr Simons, who was also questioned by the republican group in 1980, was killed and secretly buried.
New Report
The new report now confirms that Stakeknife was involved in the 1980 interrogation of Mr Simons and the “planning of his abduction and murder” in 1981.
In a shocking twist, it has emerged that authorities lost the dead man’s skull after it was recovered close to the border in north Co Louth.
The wider family was made aware of the development after they met Operation Kenova last year.
The report reveals how Mr Simons father Walter Simons, who died in 2019, believed his son’s skull “was still in the possession of the state pathol-ogist John Harbinson” – who attended the scene.
Operation Kenova reveals that “extensive enquiries” were made with the assistance of gardaí and victims’ support group Wave to locate the missing remains.
“Sadly, despite extensive enquiries and searches of potential locations within the Republic of Ireland, Eugene’s skull has still not been located.”
The report also provides fresh background information about the circumstances of Mr Simons’ abduction and death.
It reveals that in 1980 the IRA’s ISU was investigating the organisation’s “South Down/Castlewellan” ASU (Active Service Unit) “as they believed there was an informant operating within that unit”.
Army Intelligence
The Kenova report confirms “this intelligence report originates from a reliable army intelligence source who is close to key personalities within the ISU”.
The investigation team also states that no intelligence has been recovered to support the suggestion that the military or RUC had “prior knowledge” that Mr Simons was to be taken by the IRA in August 1980.
It has now emerged that police arrested Mr Simons four times between October 1978 and July 1980 – the last time just weeks before he was first lifted by the IRA.
He was also held by the RUC for two days in May 1980.
Kenova reveals that information was received from an informer on two occasions that month.
It revealed that following the arrest of four “South Down IRA suspects” earlier that month “there was believed to be possibly two ‘touts’ in that unit and the IRA Internal Security Unit (ISU) were investigating”.
The report adds that information was also received on two occasions in July 1980 “that there was a suspected informer within the South Down/Castlewellan PIRA who had not yet been lifted”.
Operation Kenova says it “strongly” suspects this intelligence, while it doesn’t name Mr Simons, “relates directly to him”.
Mr Simons was also arrested in February 1980 and interviewed numerous times.
Kenova records that investigators found a note on a custody record referring to “RUC CID officers taking Eugene out of the custody suite”, but with no reason given.
He was released without charge after six days.
Information received from an informer in August 1980 provides details of Mr Simons’ abduction in Dundalk, Co Louth.
It is claimed Mr Simons was taken to a farm near the Co Monaghan village of Inniskeen where he was interrogated by three people given the ciphers K, L and M.
Kenova says “they (PIRA ISU) had a tape recorder with them to record the confession of Eugene, but he did not break”.
Mr Simons was then released and told to remain in Castlewellan.
An informer provided more information about the abduction outside a bar at gunpoint before Mr Simons was taken to an “old straw barn” where he was interrogated and beaten up while “guarded by four armed masked men, three of whom were in possession of Armalite rifles and the other an automatic Sten gun”.
While not dated, information received from an informer in 1980 stated “there had been doubts about Eugene being a tout”.
“Other volunteers remained under suspicion including a ‘local hood’,” the report says.
Kenova also states that information obtained in November 1980 claimed that “Eugene had been stood down by PIRA as he was believed to be an informant”.
Operation Kenova has described the interrogation of Mr Simons in 1980 as “brutal”.
It also says the RUC were aware of the “extent of the interrogation” days later and there is “evidence that Eugene was warned about his safety by the RUC”.
Intelligence sourced after the 1981 abduction and murder suggest that Mr Simons admitted to a person known as Suspect E that he “was a Special Branch (SB) tout” five days before Christmas.
It is recorded that Mr Simons told Suspect E that he had been asked to set up them and Suspect I “so that they [RUC] could ‘stiff’ them”.
Eugene Simons’ sister Moira Todd has previously said that her brother was threatened by RUC officers at Castlereagh police station that he would be branded an informer unless he worked for them
It is also reported that on the morning of the 1981 abduction three suspects, R, K and L “briefed two members of PIRA to interrogate Eugene”.
“Once he was interrogated, Eugene was to be shot and buried because he did not admit his involvement with RUC SB in August (1980) and (therefore) had no immunity,” the report states.
“Later, in the Republic of Ireland, he agreed to tape record his complete involvement with SB (Special Branch),” the report says.
Operation Kenova reveals this information was marked ‘No further dissemination of this intelligence by HQNI’ and the originator has requested that there be ‘no downward dissemination’ (NDD) or ‘action taken without reference to originator’.
Investigators say that at this Mr Simons was “clearly still alive”.
More information received in January 1981 suggests that a Suspect R claimed that Mr Simons had made two tape recordings “confessing he worked for RUC SB”.
“Three South Down PIRA members interrogated Eugene, and he had admitted wearing a wire in PIRA meetings,” Kenova says.
“Suspect E was one of those who interrogated Eugene who had claimed during interrogation that Suspect E was also an RUC SB informant,” the report says.
Investigators say that a source suggested Mr Simons had “admitted all of his involvement with RUC SB”.
“PIRA General Headquarters (GHQ) were in possession of the confession tapes and would make the decision as to whether Eugene would be executed,” according to Kenova.
“If he is executed, he will be buried in a hole with no publicity,” it adds.
The report claims that two others, Suspect D and Suspect E, were also interrogated by PIRA and cleared.
Kenova believes security forces knew Simons to be killed
Kenova believe this intelligence shows that the security forces knew Mr Simons was still alive and was going to be killed. Information received in September 1981 identifies two members of the IRA’s court martial team and confirms the Co Down man was killed south of the border.
Information sourced in February 1982 identifies a man believed to be involved in the interrogation.
“The intelligence is not specific about which interrogation the suspect was involved in albeit it is Kenova’s assessment it was more likely to be the August 1980 event as ‘2 Belfast men’ are described as interrogating Eugene,” the report said.
“Suspect U is also named as possibly being the one who had shot Eugene.”
“Information was that Eugene had ‘been pushed down a hole after being shot’,” the report says.
Intelligence provided in March 1982 suggests that Mr Simons and other members of the of the “Castlewellan PIRA Unit” were interrogated at a farm near Bailieborough.
It was also suggested this was the same place Co Tyrone man Seamus Morgan had been held before he was shot dead in March 1982.
Republicans in Co Tyrone have since strongly disputed claims made at the time by the IRA that Mr Morgan was an informer.
The report confirms that Mr Simons was last seen by his wife Mary at house lived in by two suspects, B and C, in the Burrenbridge area on New Year’s Day 1981.
The couple had spent the previous night at the property after socialising in Castlewellan in the company of several people who later emerged as suspects.
Mr Simons’ sister Moira Todd has previously said RUC officers threatened that her brother would be branded an informer unless he worked for them months before he was abducted and murdered.
Some of those thought to be involved when Mr Simons was lifted by the IRA in 1980 have also been linked to the 1981 incident.
A case file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in April 2021 in respect of charging four people, Suspects A, D, E and T, in connection with abduction and murder, Suspects A, D, E and T.
In December 2023 the PPS announced that no-one would be charged.
Simons probe linked to RUC leaks to PIRA
Connla Young, Irish News, August 8th, 2025
THE abduction and killing of Co Down man Eugene Simons more than 40 years ago featured in a “sensitive investigation” into the leaking of information by an RUC officer to the Provisional IRA.
Details have emerged after Operation Kenova recently provided a private report to the 26-year-old’s family.
Mr Simons (26) was taken across the border by the IRA after going missing on New Year’s Day 1981.
His remains were accidentally discovered buried in a bog near Dundalk, Co Louth, in May 1984, by a man walking a dog.
Mr Simons’ case has been investigated by Operation Kenova, which recently presented his loved ones with a private family report.
Operation Kenova was set up in 2016 to investigate the activities of the British agent known as Stakeknife – identified as Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci in 2003.
A former commander of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), Scappaticci has been linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions.
Also known as the ‘Nutting Squad’, the ISU was responsible for hunting down and killing informers during the Troubles.
It has now emerged that the case of Mr Simons was considered by an investigation headed buy an assistant chief constable “from a source outside the RUC”.
While no year have been given, the report also looked as how information was passed to former well known Sunday Times journalist Chris Ryder, who died in 2020.
Operation Kenova says “the focus of the investigation examined alleged leaking of key information to PIRA by a corrupt RUC officer, also to establish how secret information was leaked to Sunday Times journalist, Mr Chris Ryder”.
As a result of a review Kenova says three RUC officers, 1,2 and 3, “were identified as of significance”.
Both Police Officer 1 and Police Officer 2 were retired CID detectives who initially agreed to discuss the case.
“Eugene was advised about taking appropriate safety precautions, however, he wanted to return home as he had recently remarried
Retired officer
Both had given statements to the ‘outside force’ in 1981.
Police Officer 1 confirmed that in August 1980 he received detailed information about the interrogation of Eugene at the hands of the PIRA earlier that month”.
In a July 1981 statement he said he “believed Eugene to be deceased”.
Kenova reports that both officers were “reluctant to provide any further details to Kenova detectives as to how they made that assumption” and declined to provide new statements.
Police officer three also provided a statement to the leak investigation in 1981 and has since talked to Kenova investigators
He revealed that while Mr Simons was in custody during one of the four times he was arrested “some items were seized from him that might have belonged to PIRA”.
“Officer 3’s assessment that it was this seizure of material that had led to PIRA suspecting Eugene was an informant,” the Kenova report states.
“He said that the information held by the RUC SB in July 1981, was that Eugene was already deceased.
“This was seven months after Eugene’s disappearance.”
Elsewhere in the Kenova report it was recorded that investigators found a note on a custody record referring to “RUC CID officers taking Eugene out of the custody suite, but with no reason given” during an arrest in February 1980.
It is not known if these matters are linked.
Mr Simons’ sister Moira Todd has previously said RUC officers threatened that her brother would be branded an informer unless he worked for them months before he was abducted and murdered.
“Eugene was in Castlereagh before the IRA lifted him, they told him they would put it out that he was a tout, if he didn’t work with them, they would put it out that he was a tout anyway,” she said.
Police Officer 3 confirmed that he was approached by Eugene’s father, Walter Simons, in January 1981 and that he advised him to report his son as missing.
He also urged him to seek the advice of prominent human rights campaigner Fr Denis Faul.
“He said that intelligence received from a reliable source had suggested that Eugene had been terrified upon returning from his interrogation at the hands of PIRA (in August 1980) and that he had also been badly beaten,” the Operation Kenova report states.
Police Officer 3 recalled that “the intelligence source believed that Eugene was in serious danger”.
He added that by August 1981 he was aware that on January 1 that year, Mr Simons left the north with seven suspects, ciphered A-J.
“All of the men returned to the area with the exception of Eugene,” the report confirms.
The retired officer said that when “he received information that Eugene had been murdered he arranged a meeting with Walter Simons and explained to him what had happened”.
“Kenova has found material that suggests that Police Officers 1- 3, upon receipt of intelligence from a sensitive source, acted correctly in warning Eugene of the threat to his life and offering him the opportunity to relocate,” Operation Kenova said.
“Eugene was advised about taking appropriate safety precautions, however, he wanted to return home as he had recently remarried.”
A new border on the island of Ireland is born
Margaret Canning, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
ANALYSIS: THE DIFFERENCE IN TARIFFS NORTH AND SOUTH MAY NOT BE BENEFICIAL AT ALL
A new US regime of imposing 15% tariffs on imports from the Republic of Ireland, and the rest of the EU, started on Thursday.
But it's unclear whether the differential with the UK's 10% tariff will amount to a tangible benefit for companies in Northern Ireland while trading with the US.
In fact, one dairy spokesman in the Republic believes the industry north of the border may actually end up worse off.
The new EU tariff of 15% replaces any pre-existing tariff on a particular product travelling from the territory into the US.
Of course, 10% sounds like a better deal, but the UK's rate will be stacked on top of any previous tariff on products under the UK's status as a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) in trade terms.
That means it looks likely that dairy products travelling from the EU to the US will be charged a lower tariff than those entering from the UK, including Northern Ireland.
But spirits, including Irish whiskey, previously enjoyed 'zero for zero' tariff status in a mutually-beneficial deal for bottles of Irish whiskey and Bourbon traversing the Atlantic.
Bushmills vs Jameson’s
Now Irish whiskey from the Republic will be subject to a 15% tariff — higher than the 10% tariff on whiskey coming from a Northern Ireland-based maker like Old Bushmills Distillery. In theory, that will make Bushmills better value for a US drinker than Jameson's.
But Eoin Ó Catháin, director of the Irish Whiskey Association, said it was still in talks with the US administration about a carve-out from the EU-US deal which would bring a return to zero for zero tariffs.
And he said it was hard in the first instance to discern whether a product from NI was actually technically UK-made.
“Supply chains often criss-cross the border so the liquid you might use, particularly in a new distillery which might not have a fully-matured liquid, might be considered an EU product.
“But for someone who distils their own liquid, they would be considered a UK product. So Northern Ireland would be at a certain advantage, if you look at it in a very binary way.
“As an all-Ireland association and with our US colleagues, we don't want to be in this situation in the first place. Zero-zero tariffs make an even playing field, no tariffs to be paid going in and out of the major markets and that's why we've really succeeded.
Changing situation
“With this, there might be a temporary advantage for NI products, but negotiations on the zero-zero tariffs with the US are continuing so there could be a situation, in three weeks where we'll get an exemption for spirits.”
Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said the 5% difference was meaningless: “There's really no advantage here. The reality is that everybody's getting hurt by tariffs, from the US consumer right through to producers in the UK, in Ireland and in Northern Ireland.
“Nobody will be betting tens of millions of pounds on manufacturing facilities in the north on a trade policy that could change on a whim.”
In addition, he said the 5% could easily be wiped out by factors such as higher product costs, wages and salaries “never mind currency fluctuations between sterling, dollar and euro”.
Milk is another liquid which crosses the border, as dairy co-ops in the Republic have large numbers of farmer members in Northern Ireland to collect milk from.
Lakeland Dairies, based in Cavan, is one example, and manufactures dairy products in Coleraine and Strabane.
And because the UK tariff of 10% is stacked upon a pre-existing tariff, its products coming from the Republic could end up paying a lower tariff as they enter the US.
Asked whether this could mean a new strategy of moving production over the border, a Lakeland Dairies spokesperson declined to comment.
Ian Stevenson, CEO of Dairy Council NI, said the trade agreements concluded by the EU and UK with the US did provide “some” certainty and stability. He added: “Our dairy businesses are very experienced operators in international markets and are well used to dealing with different market requirements and tariff rates.
“Supply chain operations on the island aren't likely to be reconfigured, if at all, until the full detail is known of the USA deals with EU and with the UK.”
However, Conor Mulvihill, a director at Dairy Industry Ireland, said: “It looks like NI will have far higher tariffs than the south as the UK tariffs are 'stacked' 10% on top of existing MFN, while the EU 15% are all-in.
Tariff border
“It looks like NI dairy and other industries will be at a severe disadvantage. Our big point is that a tariff border on the island of Ireland — no matter which side it benefits — helps no one.”
It's hoped that a joint EU/US technical document will shine further light on the situation.
Asked if it had concerns about the impact of any trade border on the island of Ireland presenting a disadvantage to NI firms, the Department of Business and Trade in London said: “Businesses in Northern Ireland will benefit from our Plan for Change and the recent trade deals that the UK has struck. Smoother trade is important to us, which is why we welcome the deal between the US and the EU, and we continue to monitor the impact of any tariff changes.”
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister and Tanaiste Simon Harris said yesterday he is “eager” to see further progress on trade talks around certain sectors, including the drinks industry.
“Whilst there are some areas that have already been agreed as exempt from tariffs between the US and the EU, I'm very eager to see more progress made in more areas, including for the drinks industry, which is an important part of the Irish economy,” Mr Harris said.
“We'll also need to continue to work in the time ahead to tease through the detail in relation to particular sectors.”
The Department for the Economy declined to comment.
Today’s society has greatest levels of inequality since Victorian times
Letters. Irish News, August 8th, 2025
“The collapse of all these societies was caused by the curse of inequality, where a few ultra-powerful oligarchs and their lackeys, whose greed knew no bounds, brought about total collapse
THE economist and academic Professor Richard D Wolff has long argued that ‘capitalism’ was never a good idea and that in its 300-plus years of existence, has lurched from crisis to crisis. It’s default position is always towards greater levels of inequality.
According to former city trader Gary Stevenson, there has been only one period when gross inequality wasn’t the norm, from 1945 to 1978, when there was a more equal distribution of wealth that was achieved in part by higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy.
After that period, neoliberalism, or how to benefit the poor by giving the rich more money, became the dominant ideology. It was a system based on the premise that ‘greed is good’ and has left us with the greatest levels of inequality since Victorian times. We have more food banks in the UK than McDonald’s branches.
In 2022 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that 3.8 million adults and one million children were living in destitution in the UK. Doctors are reporting a huge increase in the diseases of poverty, malnutrition, rickets and scurvy which were all too common in Victorian times. In 2023, 464,000 people were admitted to hospital with disease-related malnutrition. This is equivalent to more than 50 people admitted to hospital every hour.
Inequality is now at an unprecedented level and as professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have demonstrated in ‘The Spirit Level’, almost everything – from life expectancy, to mental illness, violence to illiteracy – is affected not by how wealthy a society is, but how equal it is.
According to Dr Luke Kemp, in his just published Goliath’s Curse which covers the rise and collapse of 400 societies over 5,000 years, the collapse of all these societies was caused by the curse of inequality, where a few ultra-powerful oligarchs and their lackeys, whose greed knew no bounds, brought about total collapse. The people in control, then as now, he labels as extreme narcissistic: Trump, psychopathic Putin and Machiavellian Xi Jinping. The elites have an abundance of these qualities.
Dr Kemp points out that earlier civilisation collapses had limited impact on the wider global stage but today, because of our interconnectedness and other extreme dangers, global pandemics, nuclear proliferation, AI and climate change, the collapse of modern civilisation could mean no way back and the end.
JIM CURRAN Downpatrick, Co Down
158 homes in NI worth at least £1m for sale this year ... up a third in 12 months
Margaret Canning, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
The number of homes in Northern Ireland priced at £1m and above has increased by over a third in a year, according to new analysis.
Website PropertyPal said it had listed 158 £1m-plus houses for sale in the first half of 2025, up from 60 in the first half of 2019.
House prices have risen significantly in Northern Ireland since 2019, expedited by the “race for space” triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic when demand for bigger homes shot up.
The government's residential property price index shows that between the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2025 — the most recent period for which official stats are available — the average house price has shot up from £132,623 to £185,037, an increase of nearly 40%.
Currently, those with a £1m-plus budget in Northern Ireland are spoilt for choice between period properties, modern builds and locations with expansive acreage or stunning coastal views.
The seven-bed detached Bovagh House in Coleraine is for sale, asking for offers at £1,175,000 and above through agents Templeton Robinson.
The 18th century B1-listed home comes with 35 acres of woodland and pasture.
An opposing style is found at the modern four-bed detached Robinsview — a barn conversion — on Monlough Road in Saintfield. It was built in 2009 and named the 2011 BBC NI House of the Year. It is being sold through estate agents Fetherstons for £1,250,000.
The Northern Ireland postcode most typically associated with £1m homes is BT9 in Belfast, and a striking property at Notting Hill in Belfast is one example.
The Victorian period-style property is on sale through McAteer Solutions for offers around £1,250,000. And while currently split into four apartments, the listing says it could be restored into a single family home.
For those seeking sea air, a three-bedroom recently-built home on the north coast at Ballinlea Road outside Ballycastle is on sale through Simon Brien for £1.1m.
Cultra in Co Down is the location of Northern Ireland's most expensive property on the market at present. 18 The Mansion House, one of the new Ardavon House Apartments, is on sale through Simon Brien and Colliers New Homes — a three-bed penthouse apartment at a cool £3,495,000 taking up the entire second floor of the building.
According to PropertyPal, 158 Northern Ireland properties valued at £1m-plus were available for sale on its portal in the first half of 2025 compared to 117 in the first half of 2024, an increase of 35%.
There were big increases across a number of council areas. In Ards & North Down, 73 homes were listed for £1m or above in the first half of 2025, up from 49 in the same period last year.
In Newry, Mourne & Down, the number increased to 14 in the first six months of this year from four in the first half of 2024.
And in Lisburn & Castlereagh, the increase was from 16 to 22 (38%).
Possibly indicating a lack of supply, the number in Belfast actually decreased by nearly a third in a year. It was the only council area where there were fewer £1m-plus homes listed than in the same period of 2024.
The increase in £1m-plus homes on the market here continues a trend that has been evident since before the pandemic.
According to PropertyPal, there were increases across all council areas since 2019, though with the biggest were in Newry, Mourne & Down and Causeway Coast & Glens.
Jordan Buchanan, chief executive of PropertyPal, which is now part of Irish online classifieds business Distilled, said: “The growth in the number of £1m-plus homes in Northern Ireland reflects both rising house prices overall and a structural shift in demand at the top end of the market.
“As values have increased, more properties are naturally crossing the £1m threshold, but it's also clear that buyer behaviour has evolved, particularly since the Covid period.
“We've seen increased demand from people relocating to Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK and Ireland, attracted by comparative affordability, quality of life, and the flexibility of remote working.
“This rising demand has given confidence to homeowners in the £1m-plus bracket, many of whom are now more open to selling,” he added.
Mark Irwin, partner at estate agency Templeton Robinson, said: “We've seen first-hand the growing appetite for premium homes in both Ards & North Down and Lisburn & Castlereagh.
“These areas offer a strong mix of lifestyle, space, and connectivity that continues to attract high-value buyers.
“The growth in £1m-plus sales reflects a shift in how people want to live post-Covid.”
Patients expect ‘second class’ health as they receive worst care in UK
Conor Sheils, Irish News, August 6th, 2025
AN MLA has said that patients in Northern Ireland have come to expect a “second class” health service after a survey revealed they receive the worst patient care in the UK.
SDLP heath spokesman Colin McGrath made the comments after a UK-wide survey by the General Medical Council found that 54% of medics in the north said they found it difficult to provide patient care at least once a week.
This compared with a UK average of 40%.
When asked to identify the main barriers to patient care, just under seven in 10 doctors reported delays in providing care, treatment, investigations, or screenings compared with a 57% average across the UK.
“We need to be aspiring for better. We need to implement the transformation that allows our hospital sector to deal more efficiently with patients, takes the pressure off primary care, and allows the GP to get on with their all-important preventative work,” the South Down MLA told The Irish News.
54% of medics in the north said they found it difficult to provide patient care at least once a week
“We just go around in circles talking about fixing our health service – but we never actually do it.
“We have waiting lists that other countries would just look at you and laugh.
“We’ve got some of the longest waiting lists in Europe, if not the Western world.”
The same study found that doctors in the north are 8% more likely to be a high risk of burnout than the UK average.
The research also found that doctors in the north are least likely to be categorised as ‘doing well’, with just 23% categorised as such compared with an average 31% of medics across the UK.
According to the survey, ‘doing well’ amounts to not regularly working extra hours and felt able to cope with their workload.
Almost three quarters of doctors in the north reported working beyond rostered hours at least once a week compared with 62% as a UK average.
500 potential victims of trafficking identified
Rebecca Black, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
Almost 500 potential victims of modern human trafficking were identified in Northern Ireland over the last year, a report has found.
he Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) found that 496 potential victims — 338 males and 158 females — were referred to the National Referral Mechanism, a UK framework to identify and support victims.
That was slightly down on the previous financial year (2022-23), when 530 referrals were received, although the general trend was described as remaining upward.
It also records that during the financial year 2023-24 some 61 organised crime groups operating in Northern Ireland were being investigated by PSNI.
These gangs were assessed as working alongside others across the UK, Republic of Ireland and other parts of Europe.
There were 222 arrests by PSNI related to organised crime groups, 8,472 drug seizures, and 187 restraint orders, cash seizures, lifted assets and account freezing orders were made.
Cocaine was the most seized Class A drug in Northern Ireland, accounting for 94% of all incidents involving Class A drugs.
Meanwhile the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) recorded 427 cyber crime reports in Northern Ireland, most relating to the hacking of social media and email accounts, with reported losses of £263,300.
However this figure was described as “likely to be a significant underestimation”, with under-reporting an issue.
Justice Minister Naomi Long hailed “another year of excellent results”.
“I am grateful for all the agencies involved in delivering another year of excellent results and for their continued, relentless efforts to tackle organised criminality and seize the proceeds of crime,” she said.
“Organised crime groups show no regard for the harm they are causing to individuals and communities, they are only interested in lining their own pockets.
“As the results of OCTF partner agencies' joint operations show, the harm caused to individuals and communities by these criminals will not be tolerated.”
She added: “It is assessed that 75% of organised crime groups are involved in the supply of drugs, so police alone seizing drugs with an estimated street value of £21m, with Border Force and National Crime Agency involved in further seizures, is a significant blow to these groups. Everybody's help is needed to combat organised crime.”
We need a strong opposition and SDLP are just too small
Alex Kane, Irish News, August 8th, 2025
IT’S now 18 months since the assembly was rebooted: long enough, I think, to offer reflection and judgment on the success of the SDLP’s role as the official opposition.
It isn’t the party’s first time in the role. In May 2016 – shortly after former MLA John McCallister’s private member’s bill to establish an official opposition was given Royal Assent – the SDLP and UUP formed it together.
It was a brave move, because both were entitled to a seat in the Executive and there were internal concerns that giving the DUP and Sinn Féin a fairly free hand could backfire come the next election.
But this was the era of the Nesbitt/Eastwood love-in and what became the “Vote Mike, get Colum’ strategy.
The hope of both leaders was that a few years of cooperative working together in opposition would contrast so well with DUP/SF huff, puff and stasis that the UUP and SDLP would return as the lead parties of their respective communities at the next election.
It didn’t work out like that, of course. Just eight months later, in January 2017, the assembly collapsed following Martin McGuinness’s resignation.
An election in March saw the DUP and UUP lose 16 seats between them (primarily because an earlier agreement between the DUP and SF saw a reduction in MLA numbers from 108 to 90), followed by Nesbitt’s resignation as leader.
By the time the assembly was finally reconvened in January 2020, neither the SDLP nor UUP was prepared to reboot the opposition option. Which was a pity, because the previous experiment never had enough time to be properly put through its paces.
Nowhere else to go
This time the SDLP is in opposition because it had nowhere else to go, having failed to cross the threshold for automatic right of entry to the Executive after its worst ever electoral result.
The problem with an opposition based on just eight MLAs is that there aren’t the numbers to perform the role as it needs to be performed.
There is time set aside for opposition business yet, so far, the SDLP has failed to land the killer blows required to discomfit the Executive parties individually or collectively.
Ironically, more damage is done to the Executive by its own members than by anything the SDLP has been able to do.
And while Matthew O’Toole – for whom I have considerable regard – is good on his feet during debates and interventions, the party lacks those with similar talents.
The other problem is that too much of what passes for opposition amounts to not much more than serial whinge.
The SDLP needs to leave the whingeing to the likes of me and Brian Feeney (who has a cupboard full of prizes for it, by the way!) and, instead, focus almost entirely on the sort of reform which would make both the Executive and the opposition more effective.
Tweedle-dithery-dumb
Push, push and keep on pushing for the end of mandatory coalition; the requirement for programmes of government to be collectively agreed as part of a broader requirement for compulsory joint responsibility; and, if possible, persuade the UUP and Alliance to abandon the present farce and create a genuine, cross-community opposition which maybe, just maybe, could offer a credible alternative to the ongoing clash between the DUP/SF TweedleDither and TweedleDoDamnAll.
During the referendum for the Belfast Agreement I had, until I actually went to vote, a number of reservations. The primary one was about the lack of provision for an official and effective opposition.
My concern was that mandatory coalition, combined with no official opposition option, would simply cement into place an us-and-them Executive in which the members would mostly play to and promote the interests of their own galleries.
My hopes were raised, albeit briefly, during the St Andrews Agreement negotiations, because I dared to imagine that the DUP and Sinn Féin might actually address some of the 1998 teething problems.
But no, they opted for the stupidity of self-preservation and aggrandisement and managed to make matters worse than they had been.
As it stands right now, with a handful of SDLP MLAs embracing what might be described as the ‘ourselves alone’ role in opposition, I’m not sure what they can achieve before the next election – due in 2027.
In fairness to them, it’s less a matter of being a bad opposition in and of itself, than of not being big enough to do the job properly.
Which is why it made sense, as some of its MLAs favoured, for the UUP to join the SDLP in opposition 18 months ago.
Rejoining the Executive doesn’t seem to be helping it in the opinion polls, does it?
Worryingly, I don’t expect to see an effective assembly opposition any time soon.
New PSNI plan to address ethnic minority concerns
Rebecca Black, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
REPORT OUTLINES STEPS TO ERADICATE RACIAL DISPARITIES IN POLICING HERE
The PSNI has launched a plan to address concerns within ethnic minority communities.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said he wants to ensure everyone feels safe, supported and respected as he launched the Race and Ethnicity Action Plan.
It outlines goals and steps to eradicate racial and ethnic disparities in policing, and includes enhanced training programmes, oversight mechanisms, community engagement and policy reforms.
The plan has been in development since 2024 following racist disorder in Belfast and in Britain following the killing of three children in Southport.
Some businesses belonging to migrants were destroyed in Belfast.
The action plan underlines the need for policing to be visibly anti-racist and make it clear there is no place for hatred and discrimination.
It includes five commitments ensuring people from an ethnic minority background feel safe, valued by and engaged in policing, and that police are respected and trusted.
Police have also committed to “excellence in diversity, equality, representation and inclusivity”.
According to the most recent census, 8.1% of the population here belongs to ethnic minority communities, yet just 0.66% of PSNI officers and 0.75% of staff do.
In his foreword to the report, Mr Boutcher acknowledged public confidence in police “especially among these communities has been impacted by historical injustices, disparities in policing outcomes and a perception of bias within the system”.
“It is our responsibility to not only recognise these concerns, but to actively address them,” he said.
Speaking at the launch event last night, he said: “We recognise the importance of listening to all communities and working together to build a policing service that truly reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
“Recent events have demonstrated the need for decisive action and clear leadership to stamp out racism which clearly exists in communities...
“We are confident this action plan will drive the work of the police service and help us to work more effectively with ethnic minority communities and partners.
“It aligns with PSNI's broader equality, diversity and inclusivity and our work through our Policing with the Community vision, ensuring that tangible actions to address race and ethnicity are embedded across all areas of policing.
“PSNI is committed to regular updates on the progress of the plan and to continuing open dialogue with ethnic minority communities to ensure it meets their needs.”
'Mo Chara knows he is right, he has a great sense of conviction... that counts for a lot'
Niamh Campbell, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
KNEECAP MANAGER LAMBERT UNWORRIED ABOUT RAPPER'S FATE AHEAD OF COURT DATE
Kneecap's manager believes Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, aka Mo Chara, “knows that he's right” ahead of his upcoming court appearance in London.
Ó hAnnaidh (27) was charged in May over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig in London in November 2024.
After being bailed in June at Westminster Magistrates Court, he is due to appear again on August 20.
During a Féile an Phobail event on Wednesday night, band manager Daniel Lambert said: “I don't want to speak for Liam Óg, but I think there's a great sense of conviction that comes when you know that you're right... and you haven't done anything wrong.
“You walk into any room, and there's a group of people against you, but you're clear on what you've done and that you've done the right thing, and that kind of counts for a lot. That's the way he kind of feels about it.”
During his appearance in June thousands of supporters gathered outside the court. Large crowds are also expected on August 20.
He added: “If you ask (lawyer) Gareth Peirce, who is one of the lawyers, she said he had never seen anything like it. It was a proper scrum — there must have been hundreds of police there.”
Mr Lambert was pressed by an audience member on whether “a message of resistance from an artist can still hold weight when the artist profits from platforms that fund war, apartheid and abuse?”
She was referring to Kneecap's pro-Palestinian stance, and their links to Live Nation, a primary promoter for a lot of the band's gigs.
A significant portion of Live Nation is owned by Liberty Media, a US firm that invests in Israel.
Mr Lambert said: “To what level does someone have to be held to account, or should they be held to account?
“Take the example of a band, they first and foremost, should like anybody else, be able to exist and be able to pay their bills and be able to pay the rent and make decisions.
“I know in the case of Kneecap, they've made a lot of decisions that have been and will be fairly detrimental to their careers.
“I met Sony in a skyscraper in Manhattan... and the first thing was, they had just bought the Kneecap film, and they said: 'You need to stop speaking about Palestine'. And the lads said: 'That's not going to happen'.
“They said: 'You need to listen to us, we know what we're doing and that that needs to happen'. They [Kneecap] said: 'You shouldn't have bought the film'.
“But how far do you bring that? You'd essentially be de-platforming yourself entirely if you follow that logic through, and that's not because someone's principles wouldn't be strong enough to do that, but you'd remove your ability to reach your audiences.
“If you did remove yourself from all of them [platforms such as Spotify and Live Nation], remove your ability to communicate to people and have a moral position that was untouchable, but you weren't able to influence young people…
“Is that better that they've done that, and they could hold that position where it's an untouchable moral position, but you haven't influenced young people?”
Mr Lambert also said he didn't know whether an Irish language translator had been secured for the court appearance.
During the first hearing it was reported that Ó hAnnaidh wanted to speak in Irish, but the judge said the court was unable to find a translator at that time.
Under current rules, Ó hAnnaidh's request could be denied, as interpreters are typically only provided in criminal cases where the defendant doesn't understand English.
