Bloody Sunday: Judge rules that ‘decisive’ statement evidence can be heard in Soldier F trial
By Rebecca Black and David Young, Belfast News Letter, September 24th, 2025
A judge has ruled that key hearsay evidence in the trial of a former paratrooper accused of two murders on Bloody Sunday can be admitted as evidence in his trial.
Judge Patrick Lynch, who is presiding over the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, granted an application by the prosecution to admit a number of statements made by other soldiers on the ground during the shootings in Londonderry on January 30 1972.
These statements include claims that the accused veteran, known as Soldier F, fired shots in the courtyard where the two men he is accused of killing were shot.
In making the application at Belfast Crown Court last week, the prosecution had characterised the evidence as “decisive” to the case.
Members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday after a civil rights march.
Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney.
He is also charged with five attempted murders during the incident in the city’s Bogside area, namely of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon, Patrick O’Donnell and a person unknown.
He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.
Last week, prosecution barrister Louis Mably KC argued that statements given by soldiers G and H to the Royal Military Police (RMP) on the night of the shootings, and to the Widgery Tribunal in 1972, are the only evidence “capable of proving” Soldier F fired his rifle at civilians in Glenfada Park North.
“This is decisive evidence,” he told the court.
Defence barrister Mark Mulholland KC, acting for Soldier F, argued against the application to admit the hearsay evidence, describing the contents of the statements as “contradictory, unreliable and inadmissible”.
Delivering his ruling at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday morning, Judge Patrick Lynch said the prosecution has acknowledged it is “totally dependant” upon the hearsay statements by soldiers G and H.
But that the defence challenged the admissibility of those statements, arguing they do not meet the requirements of admissibility.
The judge said it would be “inappropriate at this stage to give reasons for my decision”.
“I am not only Judge in relation to legal issues but also the tribunal of fact, with the ultimate responsibility of determining guilt or innocence based upon such facts as I decide have been proven to the criminal standard, that is beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
“I shall therefore not give reasons at this stage for the admission of the statements but shall do so in due course, if necessary.”
The trial is set to sit again on Friday when a timetable will be agreed to hearing the remaining evidence.
Victims’ families welcome ruling
This evidence will include statements by men who were shot but survived the incident, as well as eye witnesses.
Speaking outside court, solicitor Ciaran Shiels, who supports the Bloody Sunday families, welcomed the ruling.
“The admission of this evidence has been described as decisive evidence,” he said.
“The families are very pleased that the judge saw merit in the prosecution’s submissions. They welcome very much the judgment and they look forward to the evidence starting to be called.”
Meanwhile Paul Young of the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement expressed disappointment following the ruling in a brief statement.
“The decision today will be met with great disappointment by the veterans who served in Northern Ireland,” he said.
Beattie has no confidence in Dublin over legacy dealings
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, September 24th, 2025
A UNIONIST MLA has said he has “not one bit” of confidence in the Irish government’s dealings over the legacy of the Troubles.
Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie made the remarks as the assembly debated Dublin’s role in a new legacy framework and the need for the arrangements to attract support from victims and survivors.
Last week the UK and Irish governments said they had reached agreement on how killings from the Troubles should be investigated.
The new framework includes commitments to fundamentally reform the mechanisms established in the 2023 Legacy Act.
The DUP introduced the motion to the assembly yesterday which called for the proposals to be the subject of “serious and sustained engagement with innocent victims, survivors and their advocates”.
Their motion also raised concern that the UK government had entered legacy discussions with Dublin while “acquiescing on the abject failure of the Irish Government to provide answers for those families who suspect Irish state involvement in the murder of their loved ones”.
A Sinn Féin amendment removed some references to the Irish government as well as the word “innocent” in relation to victims.
The amended motion called on the UK government to “urgently provide assurances that any agreement reached in principle with the Irish Government on legacy commands the broad support of victims and survivors”.
‘Safe haven for terrorists’
Mr Beattie told MLAs that the debate was about the Irish government’s role in legacy.
He said: “The fact is Ireland was used as a safe haven for terrorists who were comfortable to attack civilians in Northern Ireland safe in the knowledge they could go back to the Irish Republic and be safe.
“Do I have confidence in the Irish Government and their legacy dealings with the Troubles? Not one bit.
“Here’s why, because the former Irish justice minister (Michael McDowell) made it clear in 2021 when he said the government has decided it is no longer in the state’s interest to investigate and prosecute Troubles-related crimes.
“Yet the Irish Government stands with their hands in their pockets complaining about the UK Government’s legacy (policy) while they do absolutely nothing.”
Mr Beattie referred to the 1998 Omagh bombing, which killed 29 people, including a mother pregnant with twins.
He said: “The Irish have not done enough, if anything whatsoever.
“The Omagh bomb was constructed in Ireland, the explosives sourced in Ireland, the timer power unit built in Ireland, the car was stolen in Ireland, the murderous operation was planned and mounted from Ireland, and the murderers, the perpetrators, returned to Ireland, yet the Irish Government thinks it is nothing to do with them.
“It is utterly scandalous.”
Introducing the motion, DUP MLA Diane Dodds said it was a crucial moment for the assembly.
She said: “This assembly has, once again, the opportunity to stand with the innocent victims of terrorist violence in showing support for it.
“The DUP will always stand with the innocent victims of terrorism and we are putting on record once again that there can be no viable process on legacy which does not have access to truth and justice at its heart.”
Sinn Féin MLA Linda Dillon said Troubles victims would decide on the process which meets their needs.
She said: “The DUP do not get to decide who a victim is.
“The definition of a victim is outlined in the 2006 Northern Ireland Act. You don’t get to decide it, I don’t get to decide it, nobody in this chamber gets to decide it.
“Every single family who lost a loved one feels the same pain.”
‘Political blame game’
Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw said the DUP motion risked being more about “political point-scoring than real commitment to truth, justice and accountability for victims and survivors”.
She added: “Victims are not best served by jabbing rhetoric or by a political blame game, passing responsibility back and forth between jurisdictions.
She said the Alliance MLAs would back the Sinn Féin amendment.
Ms Bradshaw said: “I feel the amendment better places the emphasis on the lived experiences and realities of victims and survivors here.”
SDLP Stormont leader Matthew O’Toole raised the murder of GAA official Sean Brown and his widow Bridie’s search for answers.
He said: “Bridie Brown is 87 years of age. She wants, in her final years, to receive some level of truth and justice for her family.
“The British state is preventing her from getting that because it will not release information germane to the investigation.
“Just as we stand with the Omagh families, just as we stand with the victims of Kingsmills, just as we stand with Bridie Brown and her family and the families of all victims in our conflict, we will always call for a system that does right by all victims.”
The amended motion was carried by the assembly.
Long voices opposition to ‘interlocutor’ appointment
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News and Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
THE appointment of an “interlocutor” to examine whether a formal process of engagement with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland is required to bring about their disbandment risks undermining work done to tackle organised crime, Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long has said.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has announced that Fleur Ravensbergen will take up the role of Independent Expert on paramilitary group transition to disbandment.
Ms Ravensbergen is a conflict resolution and negotiation practitioner and a lecturer in conflict resolution and governance at the University of Amsterdam.
The appointment has been made jointly with Jim O’Callaghan, the Irish Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
Making the announcement, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said it was right that the governments “test whether there is more that can be done to end paramilitarism”.
The two governments committed to making the appointment earlier this year following a recommendation from the Independent Reporting Commission (IRC) that a “twin track” process of law enforcement and tackling the roots of paramilitarism is needed.
Mr Benn said: “The government is committed to working with partners in Northern Ireland to support efforts against the enduring threats and harms posed to communities by paramilitary groups.
“There is no justification for paramilitary groups and they should have left the stage long ago.
“But they haven’t. It’s therefore right that we test whether there is more that can be done to end paramilitarism.”
He added: “This appointment follows the commitment made by the UK Government and the Government of Ireland to commission a short scoping and engagement exercise to assess whether there is merit in, and support for, a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment.”
‘Veneer of legitimacy’
But Alliance Party leader Ms Long said paramilitary groups should already have disbanded.
She said: “Governments engaging directly with illegal organisations risks providing a veneer of legitimacy to paramilitary groups and criminal gangs, which persist based on a combination of threats, intimidation, and organised crime.
“The appointment of an interlocutor risks undermining the good work which is already being done to end paramilitarism and organised crime.
“The idea that paramilitary groups can transition into law-abiding entities has long since moved beyond the point of credibility.
“They cannot continue to be treated as if they are genuinely committed to reform – that moment passed long ago.”
She added: “Whilst we all want to see paramilitarism ended and those currently engaged in it to desist, I cannot understand what the impediment is to them doing so now, if they are genuinely keen to do so.
“There can be no negotiation or sweeteners involved, so it is difficult to see what purpose an interlocutor will serve, but easy to see how it could give these groups a credibility which they don’t deserve.”
Ms Ravensbergen will take up the role within the existing IRC and is expected to complete the scoping and engagement exercise and submit a report by August 2026.
The appointment will be for a period of one year.
Publication of review on PSNI spying an important day for freedom of press
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
MCCULLOUGH PROBE INTO SURVEILLANCE WELCOME, BUT IT WILL NOT TELL THE FULL STORY
Respected barrister Angus McCullough KC will publish his review today into PSNI surveillance of journalists and legal professionals in the course of their work.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher commissioned the report last year following an Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ruling in the case of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey.
It promised to give an entirely independent oversight of any police use of surveillance against certain journalists, lawyers, NGOs and regulators.
And for those colleagues who will get the information confirming what they may have previously suspected, I am delighted this will now be brought out into the open.
But the public should be aware that not all potential police misconduct when it comes to spying on journalists will be included in the review.
I am one of four people who have been told they are outside the terms of reference.
This was despite having been initially told I met the criteria.
After meeting with Mr McCullough — someone I believe approached this review honourably and with true intention — I thought I might finally get some answers.
I remain disappointed that the surveillance, which I have been told by my own sources crossed acceptable lines on a number of occasions, continues to remain secretive.
I am one of a handful of security journalists who was working here during the period under review.
In May I received an email stating I would no longer be part of the review and therefore will have to wait on the outcome of an IPT investigation, a body I have had little correspondence from.
The IPT is also not obliged to give a timeframe on how long an investigation might take, but in reality it could be up to five years.
Financially prohibitive to get to the truth
Taking a case to the IPT is financially prohibitive.
Vincent Kearney's legal team headed by Jude Bunting KC have done remarkable work in forcing information into the public domain.
Just last week in documents submitted to the IPT, MI5 conceded it obtained data from the journalist's phone on two occasions in 2006 and 2009.
Mr Kearney, who now works for RTE, described the admission as “unprecedented”, and said it was “deeply concerning” for himself and other journalists.
Mr Kearney said that his legal enquiries, backed by the BBC, would seek to establish as much detail as possible about the nature of the two instances of unlawful intrusion, and whether MI5 was responsible for any more.
Without the financial backing of the state broadcaster, this intrusion by the intelligence agency into the freedom of the press might never have come to light.
According to sources, the McCullough review will reveal surveillance on two high profile solicitors and a senior broadcast journalist.
The cases they were working on at the time were stories I was also involved in.
And yet, whatever information the McCullough team uncovered in relation to myself will not be included in the review.
I strongly believe I have been subject to lasting and intrusive surveillance, through phone interception and more intrusive covert surveillance, including the use of covert human intelligence sources.
That surveillance crossed the line from acceptable actions to keep the public safe, into police intrusion, meddling with the media and compromising source protection.
I had hoped the McCullough review could provide answers in relation to this.
Instead, the wait goes on — the wait for an IPT investigation and a potential legal case I have as yet to secure funding for.
The publication of this review is an important day in the fight for openness and transparency, but also in securing assurances such practices are no longer being used.
A free press is essential in any democracy, and the media should be allowed to do their jobs free from political and police pressure.
You have only to look at what is happening in the US, with the targeting of journalists daring to challenge Trump, to see what can and has happened when the press no longer are able to do their jobs free from intimidation and intrusion.
The McCullough review will provide some long awaited answers, but it must be noted it is not the full picture and there remains many unanswered questions in relation to the targeting of sections of the media — specifically those of us who were working in crime and security during the time period under scrutiny.
Journalist investigating Noah’s death was spied on
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 24th, 2025
A JOURNALIST who investigated the death of teenager Noah Donahoe was placed under targeted surveillance by the PSNI, a major review into police snooping has found.
Details have emerged as part of a review into the extent of PSNI spying on journalists, lawyers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which is set to be published today in Belfast.
The McCullough Review, headed by London-based barrister Angus McCullough KC, was established last year after it emerged the PSNI had been spying on journalists over several years.
The Policing Board and Police Ombudsman are also included in its terms of reference of the review, which covers the period from 2011 -2024.
While the review is being officially published today, drafts of the 200-page document have been circulated to some interest groups over recent days.
The report reveals that wellknown investigative journalist Donal McIntyre was placed under a Directed Surveillance Application (DSA).
Mr McIntyre has been involved in an investigation into the death of teenager Noah Donohoe in June 2020.
The 14-year-old was found in a north Belfast storm drain six days after he was reported missing by his family.
Snooping review expresses ‘significant concerns’ about PSNI ‘defensive operations’
Directed surveillance can include covert recording of a person’s movements, conversations and other activities.
In a report to the Policing Board last year the PSNI claimed that during the period covered there had been “no authorised use” of the power.
In his report Mr McCullough states “that has been shown in the work of the review to be incorrect”.
The report confirms that DSAs were put in place in relation to the surveillance operation targeting journalists Trevor Birney, Barry McCaffrey and a former Police Ombudsman official.
Last year the London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) found the PSNI and Metropolitan Police unlawfully spied on all three.
The tribunal had been examining allegations that the journalists were subjected to unlawful surveillance over a 2017 film about the 1994 Loughinisland atrocity.
Six Catholic men were shot dead in the UVF attack, which involved collusion.
The IPT examines complaints from people who believe they have been the victim of unlawful covert interference by state agencies.
Last week the PSNI apologised after it emerged that it had failed to disclose important information to the IPT about Mr McCaffrey during the tribunal process.
The McCullough Review has also found that a third, unnamed journalist, was the subject of a DSA, although the report states “this appears to have been appropriately obtained and conducted”.
McCullough confirms that a lawyer was also subjected to DSA during the period covered by the review.
“We have found two other DSAs within the current remit of the review both relating to the same lawyer who was apparently reasonably suspected of involvement in serious criminal activity,” the document states.
Mr McCullough also raises “significant concerns” about what are described as PSNI ‘defensive operations’ carried out by its Professional Standards Department.
“This aspect of the review’s findings is a particular concern,” he states.
Mr McCullough reveals that between 2011 and March 2023 a list of journalists’ contact details were checked against PSNI communication system records “with the intention of identifying unauthorised contact between PSNI officers or employees and journalists”.
Mr McCullough referred to the process as ‘washing through’ the “journalists’ numbers against PSNI records”.
Last year the London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) found the PSNI and Metropolitan Police unlawfully spied on journalists Barry McCaffrey, left, and Trevor Birney
The practice was only “formally discontinued” in May last year.
Mr McCullough sets out in his report that no legal advice appears to have been sought “in relation to the legality or propriety of the practice”.
He also says “there seems to have been a lack of awareness until very recently that it might give rise to issues in relation to data protections and the rights of those whose data was being used unknowingly”.
Mr McCullough says the practice “does not appear to have been necessary or proportionate” or compatible with the “rights of journalists” whose data was being processed.
PSNI should refer itself to Information Commissioner
Mr McCullough has proposed the PSNI should now refer itself to the information commissioner adding that the “scale and duration” of ‘defensive operations’ is of “significant concern”.
The report confirms that from January 2011 to November 2024 the PSNI made 378 applications for communications data from journalists.
A total of 155 applications were made for lawyer communications data, with 138 being approved.
Of these 37 applications “related to the lawyers’ own data”.
In its report to the Policing Board last year, which covered from up to March last year, the PSNI said applications for communications data had been made in respect of 500 lawyers and 323 journalists.
In total 16 recommendations have been made by Mr McCullough.
Meanwhile, members of the Policing Board were provided with copies of the report yesterday and later held a ‘special’ meeting in Stormont, which was attended by senior PSNI officers including Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.
It is understood the board members discussed whether an inquiry under Section 60 of the Police (NI) 2000, which allows the board to hold an inquiry following a report by the Chief Constable, will be necessary.
It is believed potential costs and duration of any such inquiry, up to three years, were discussed but that no decision was reached.
What are they trying to hide from people?
ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, September 24th, 2025
THE SDLP has accused Stormont departments of hiding information from the public over planning meetings for the long-delayed A5 redevelopment.
West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan said he was “shocked” to receive a heavily redacted response over the details of 13 meetings between the departments for infrastructure (DfI) and environment (DAERA).
Held between August 2022 and June 2024, the purpose of the meetings is understood to have been for DfI officials to seek advice from DAERA on the project.
In June, a High Court judge halted work on the A5 after ruling that the plans did not comply with Stormont’s climate change targets.
Sinn Féin’s Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins is appealing the ruling, with support from Alliance’s Environment Minister Andrew Muir.
More than 50 people have died on the 58-mile road between Aughnacloy in Co Tyrone and Newbuildings in Co Derry since the work was scheduled to begin nearly 20 years ago.
The SDLP have accused Sinn Féin of failing to protect the upgrade from legal challenges and allowing the estimated cost to balloon from £800m to £2.1bn.
The SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan said he was ‘shocked’ by the amount of material redacted in a query about the A5
After a Freedom of Information request, Mr McCrossan shared images of the heavily redacted response from DAERA and said DfI had yet to respond.
“It’s bad enough that the A5 has been halted due to the previous minister and the department’s failure to properly consider environmental regulations,” he said.
“People in this community were justifiably angry when it emerged that DfI and DAERA had met 13 times to discuss the A5 project.
“I wanted to establish exactly what went on in these meetings, how these mistakes were made, and how we can prevent them happening again. I submitted FOI requests to both DAERA and DfI and have been shocked by what I’ve received.
‘The stakes couldn’t be higher’: McCrossan
“DfI have yet to respond, while DAERA sent me pages of documents with almost all useful information redacted. This simply isn’t good enough – the public deserve answers. What are they trying to hide?
‘Lives are on the line’
“The stakes here couldn’t be higher – lives are on the line. The SDLP will keep fighting to see the A5 project delivered and for openness and transparency from those responsible for this latest delay.”
In one of the documents, a department official concluded that due to various exceptions in the material: “I am satisfied that the public interest is best served by withholding this information.”
A DfI spokesperson said: “Since the A5 judgment the department has been inundated with a number of additional enquiries… and officials are working extremely hard to accommodate them.
“We are continuing to work through all requests. Given that the appeal process is ongoing, we are currently giving consideration to what information would be appropriate to release at this point. We will respond to Mr McCrossan as soon as possible.”
During an assembly debate on Monday, the SDLP’s Patsy McGlone commented: “It is not clear whether the DAERA advice was wrong or whether DfI ignored it as well.”
Ms Kimmins responded: “No matter how many times I say this, it does not seem to be landing.
“If the departmental statement that was published by my predecessor had been read in full, you would have seen that all the Planning Appeals Commission recommendations were indeed addressed and acknowledged as part of that ongoing work.
“Will the Member now agree with me that DAERA was consulted on that engagement, as happened throughout the process?”
She also said that “as much evidence as possible” on the decision-making process would be provided as part of her ongoing legal appeal.
DAERA have also been contacted for a response.
SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan says his party will keep fighting to see the A5 upgrade delivered.
NI Water still can't produce whistleblower policy over month after request
SAM MCBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
MLA CONCERNED ABOUT 'BIZARRE' RESPONSE TO TELEGRAPH'S QUERY
More than a month after being asked for a copy of its whistleblowing policy, NI Water has been unable to produce it — despite trumpeting the document to Stormont.
The publicly-funded utility's treatment of whistleblowers is under scrutiny after it claimed to have fully investigated corruption allegations made by a contractor, many of which it later transpired had not been examined — and then the longstanding contractor was dumped by NI Water.
More than a month ago, the Belfast Telegraph asked NI Water for a copy of its whistleblowing policy — a document which most public sector bodies make freely available on their website, setting out how someone can raise concerns, assuring them that they will not be victimised, and providing details of external support organisations who can advise those wanting to raise the alarm about their rights.
NI Water responded to our Freedom of Information request last week by admitting that all such requests should be responded to within 20 working days but in this case there were “exceptional circumstances where the information requested has been of a complex and voluminous nature”.
NI Water did not explain why that was the case here, simply saying that it may not release the whistleblowing policy until the 15th of October — almost two months after the request was first made.
We had also asked for previous versions of the whistleblowing policy as well as the current version, as well as all material relating to the policy from the three weeks prior to the request.
We asked NI Water how releasing a copy of a policy which every employee should have to hand could be considered “exceptional” and suggested if it was claiming the previous versions involved considerable work that it give us the current version now, with the other iterations to follow later.
NI Water did not respond.
The NI Audit Office's advice to public sector organisations is that “all staff have a role to play in preventing fraud” and this involves “fraud and whistleblowing policies”.
SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone, who has been raising concerns about how NI Water is run, said it was “just bizarre that a publicly-funded body can't even produce its whistleblowing policy”.
Mr McGlone highlighted that in July the Infrastructure Minister, Liz Kimmins — who is responsible for NI Water — told him in response to an Assembly question that NI Water had told her department “that its Speak Up (Whistleblowing) policy sets out the circumstances in which those making disclosures about wrongdoing will qualify for protection”.
Ms Kimmins also said: “In accordance with that policy, NI Water will not tolerate discrimination, bullying, harassment or victimisation of anyone under any circumstances; any of these actions constitutes a serious disciplinary offence which can lead to dismissal”.
The Mid Ulster Assemblyman said: “The oversight department clearly has a whistleblowing policy so therefore should an arms' length body not have a whistleblowing policy or is that so secret that they have to keep that hidden?
“In this day and age of open and transparent government, one of the first things you'd want to know is that people can blow the whistle about things that they see as potentially wrong.”
Last month, an NI Water whistleblower told this newspaper that his advice to others who see what they suspect is fraud in the public sector in Northern Ireland was to “shut your mouth” because after blowing this whistle, his contract with NI Water — for which he'd been working for 20 years — was ended, just weeks after a senior NI Water director wrote to him personally to praise the quality of the firm's work.
NI Water insisted that decision was entirely unrelated to him raising concerns.
Bryson calls on DUP to 'ratchet up the cultural war' against nationalism
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
LOYALIST SAYS HIS LEGAL BID OVER IRISH LANGUAGE SIGNS AT STATION 'JUST A START'
Jamie Bryson has called on the DUP to use “every tool at its disposal” in the Executive to “ratchet up the cultural war” against nationalism.
The loyalist said his legal case against Sinn Fein Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins' plans to erect Irish language signs in Belfast's Grand Central Station was just the start of a wider war unionism would wage.
He was speaking at the State of the Union debate in Ballymena last night along with Orange Order chief Mervyn Gibson, DUP MLA Paul Frew, TUV MP Jim Allister, UUP MLA Jon Burrows, PUP leader Russell Watton, and former DUP adviser Lee Reynolds, who is to become Ulster-Scots commissioner.
The event, part of a festival to mark the 113th anniversary of the Ulster Covenant opposing Home Rule for Ireland in 1912, was chaired by former head of communications at Rangers FC David Graham, an ex-DUP adviser.
Mr Bryson said: “The DUP should not be in the Executive. But whilst they are, then they must use every tool at their disposal to ratchet up the cultural war. Unionism and loyalism have been passive for too long.
Tit for tat
“If we can't walk Drumcree or the Crumlin Road, then they can't have Irish language signage. If the Orange Order don't get equivalent investment, then not a penny more should go to the GAA.
“If they want to continue to target our cultural celebrations, then we should target theirs and the DUP in the Executive should lead that fight It is time for strength, not weakness.”
He said unionism owed nationalism nothing. “Remember the protocol? Remember how they put their foot on the neck of unionism and trampled all over the previously sacred principle of cross-community consent?
“Remember Drumcree? Remember the Crumlin Road? Remember the Union flag at City Hall? We have had two decades or more of being meek victims in a cultural war, it's about time they got a bit back.”
He claimed “for decades nationalism have had it all their own way in the courts”. They were “aghast that unionism would dare to challenge them” in that arena.
“Well, I have got news for you. We are coming, we are coming down that road, and we will use the law to return the serve,” he said.
“There will be pushback both from nationalism and the establishment — in the media, legal profession, academia and the Belfast Agreement contrived quangos. So be it. Bring it on.”
He said Ms Kimmons must “surrender unconditionally” or else the case would go to a full hearing “where she will lose”.
He said his legal action was supported by the DUP, TUV, UUP, PUP and Orange Order.
‘No doves and no deals’ with nationalists
“On this occasion, I am the applicant in the case. The power is in my hands and, rest assured, there will be no doves and no deals,” he added.
Mr Graham said there was recognition by “everyone in the broad unionist family that unionist co-operation is essential”.
He said: “There is a wide range of people represented here tonight with a wide range of views. There will always be difficulties and disagreements but everyone wants the same outcome — the maintenance of the Union.
“As chair, my focus is on the common ground. It's important that we use events like this one tonight as a catalyst to get the key influencers in unionist politics around the table.”
Mr Allister said the Ulster Covenant demand for “equal citizenship” had never been more relevant.
“When the constitutional guarantee in the Act of Union of free and unfettered trade between and within all parts of the UK is in suspension, then equal citizenship is being denied,” he said.
“When added in is the disenfranchisement of being unable to make our own laws in over 300 areas of law, but rather, colony like, being subjected to foreign EU laws, then equal citizenship has become a fiction.”
The TUV leader said in 1912 the threat to equal citizenship came from the attempted imposition of devolution to a Dublin Parliament.
“In 2025 it is the Stormont Executive that presides over much of this deprivation of equal citizenship,” he said.
“When in these 300 areas of law we are now governed by precisely the same laws as prevail in the Republic, then, the protocol-intended constitutional change is obvious — except, it seems, to those happy to embrace it by sustaining Stormont to implement it.”
He added: “If our forefathers had had the same accommodating attitude in 1912, then there would have been no resistance and no Northern Ireland.
“And if they'd packaged a climbdown in lies and deception, then we wouldn't be honouring their memory, but despising their weakness.”
Man goes on trial over 'nakedly-sectarian' pipe bomb attack at East Belfast GAA club
JOHN CASSIDY, Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
DEFENDANT (59) DENIES POSSESSION OF EXPLOSIVES AND INTIMIDATION
An east Belfast man has gone on trial accused of being behind a “nakedly sectarian” crude pipe bomb attack against a GAA club.
John Wilson denies possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances.
The 59-year-old, of Lower Braniel Road, denies three further offences of attempting to intimidate members of the East Belfast GAA club “unlawfully by force, threats, or menaces'' from attending or playing sports at Henry Jones Playing Fields.
Opening the Crown case, a prosecutor told the jury at Belfast Crown Court that all charges related to August 5, 2020, when two pipe bomb devices were recovered.
“They were the component parts to a bomb. These were crude devices and they would not have been effective if they had detonated,” he said.
“The offences in this case were nakedly sectarian, which raises passions in Northern Ireland.”
The jury heard a “threatening in nature” 999 phone call was made at 8pm, from a payphone outside a pharmacy on the Ballygowan Road.
The caller claimed four pipe bombs had been left at the Henry Jones Playing Fields.
One male who attended the training session that night said the following afternoon he received a WhatsApp group message to check his car.
“He found an object sitting in the joint of the windscreen on the passenger side. He said it was cylindrical in nature, wrapped in silver duct tape with a bolt at one end and what appeared to be a wire protruding at the other,” said prosecution counsel.
A second male also attended the training session, but was not able to remove his car from the park during the alert.
The following day, he retrieved his car and drove to a petrol station and observed a silver cylindrical object “similar to a roll of bin liners” between the wiper and the bonnet.
He drove his car to a nearby building site and alerted police. It was examined and found to be similar to the first device.
A forensic scientist said the two devices “represented the separated components of pipe bomb-type improvised explosive devices”.
A female club member who attended the session later checked her car and found a black-handled screwdriver in the passenger side wiper well.
The prosecutor said: “These were the same methods being used, but instead of a pipe bomb, it is a screwdriver that is being used, which was intended to intimidate, as others had had pipe bombs left on their cars.”
‘GAA not welcome’
He said the club had only been set up 11 weeks earlier, and there had been “some backlash” after the first training session in June 2020. The jury heard that in July 2020, the pavilion at the playing fields was sprayed with the words 'GAA Scum' and 'GAA not welcome'.
The prosecutor said CCTV footage from the pharmacy on Ballygowan Road was seized by police and this showed a silver Peugeot Partner van arriving in the rear of the pharmacy, “and that van is connected to the accused''.
The driver got out and walked towards the phone box in front of the pharmacy at around 8pm and remained for around 50 seconds.
Police went to Wilson's home and he was arrested. Items were recovered, including silver duct tape and a mobile phone.
Examination of his phone revealed messages about the incident, as well as an apparent grievance with the East Belfast GAA using the playing fields.
In one exchange on Facebook Messenger on July 17, 2020, Wilson stated, “Ok mate, what's happening with this GAA, surely something needs to be done?”
A further message stated, “I have a plan LOL.”
On July 23, he was asked if he had taken up 'funny football'. Wilson replied: “Not happy mate. Watch this space LOL.”
The man corresponding with Wilson stated 'Fenian Lives Matter', to which Wilson replied, “Scum mate.”
Another message said: “I was up a few times and got dirty looks for wearing a Northern Ireland top. They just park anywhere. No one can get past.”
On August 10, he wrote: “Ok mate, have had a running battle the past three or four weeks with the GAA up at Henry Jones. They have just took over. Good people can't even kick a ball with their kids.”
The prosecutor said: “We say the messages show a clear animus state of mind by Mr Wilson, which is aimed at the East Belfast GAA club and the use of the playing fields.”
They heard that on the evening of the incident around 7.30pm, CCTV at the playing fields showed a small silver van “consistent with Mr Wilson's van” driving slowly past the entrance.
Six minutes later, a figure walking a large dog goes past cars in the car park.
Wilson was interviewed, but made no comment to police questions.
“After all the evidence was put to him at the second interview, Mr Wilson provided a prepared statement which said the messages on his phone were to his friends to arrange to play football at Henry Jones, but they couldn't get in because of the GAA.”
He further told police that he returned home from work around 3.30pm and at 6.30pm, he left home with his dogs and went to Castlereagh Church to visit a grave.
Wilson said he tried to get into the playing fields, but the car park was full and he parked up on the verge and took his dogs for a walk for about 15 minutes.
The prosecutor said: “He tells police 'I didn't make that phone call. I'm not responsible for that'.
“Members of the jury, that is a lie because at the end of all of the evidence, you are going to be satisfied that he made that phone call and lied to police.
“It's a lie told because he was conscious of his guilt and he told that lie because of the evidence.
“We say that when you stand back and look at all the evidence in this case, you will be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt of the guilt of Mr Wilson to each and every one of these charges.''
Cross Community
A former club official told the court the ethos of East Belfast GAA club was to be 'cross-community' and shortly after setting up, the club grew to 400 members.
The official said they were getting “a lot of abuse from people, even from our community, talking about our flag and our anthem''.
Following the lunch break, the jury heard additional information regarding messages found on Wilson's iPhone.
He sent messages to people including loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and DUP MLA Joanne Bunting. In these texts, Wilson expressed his concerns about the GAA club, people parking on the road and whether the pitches had been booked correctly.
The jury also heard that items seized by police were subject to examination and that Wilson was not linked forensically to any of them.
This included gloves found in his van which were tested for explosive residues.
It also emerged that two weeks before the incident, Wilson conducted multiple online searches for 'fireworks' and 'fireworks for sale'.
Minister considers publishing officials’ advice into football funding decision
NICOLA McBRIDE, Irish News, September 24th, 2025
COMMUNITIES Minister Gordon Lyons has said he would consider publishing advice into decision-making over a funding announcement for football clubs.
Earlier this month 20 clubs were told that they would progress to the next stage of the Northern Ireland Football Fund.
There was criticism from some politicians after clubs from the north west missed out on a share of the £36.2 million funding.
During questions at the assembly, SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan raised the issue with Mr Lyons, asking whether he would publish in full the options and advice he received from officials.
Mr Lyons said: “I am happy to consider doing that. It wouldn’t be what we normally do, simply because of the process and the names involved in the rankings in the clubs and out of respect to them, we wouldn’t normally do this.
“However, some have questioned the process so much, some have tried to inject uncertainty into that process as well that it may be necessary for us to do that. I will be taking advice on that, and we will see where that goes.
“But let me be clear, I will robustly defend the process that was put in place. I will robustly defend my officials against some of the slurs that have been directed towards them, and also the clubs, which have also been called into question. Those that were successful.”
Mr Durkan said: “Well, I certainly didn’t slur any officials, nor did I slur any clubs. Obviously, any and all clubs that were unsuccessful will be unhappy, but there is a common consensus across all clubs and across all communities. Institute and Ards have been particularly hard done by in this process.”
Institute FC and Ards FC, neither of which have their own stadium, were among those to miss out on funding.
Drumahoe-based Institute applied for more than £6 million in funding to replace the Riverside Stadium.
Mr Durkan questioned the minister over what his plans were for these “homeless clubs” which will not receive funding.
Mr Lyons said: “I fully recognise and understand the concern that those involved with those two particular clubs face, and I do recognise the concern that has been expressed.
“From my point of view, we have put through the process that’s currently in place, and there was obviously a different marking scheme for those that did not have their own club when it came to football in need.
“But I will meet with those clubs. I’ll be meeting with them shortly. We will look at options. We’ll talk about the future, but ultimately, it would be great if we could get more investment in football so that more clubs can be taken forward.
“And that’s certainly something that I will be calling for, and I hope to be able to talk to executive colleagues about that, because football is now £50 million behind in terms of fairness.”
