British Reg involved in Springhill deaths is linked to other killings
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, May 4th, 2026
THE British Army regiment whose members were found by an inquest to have killed five innocent Catholics has been linked to multiple other deaths in west Belfast during the Troubles.
On Thursday, a coroner found the force used by British soldiers who targeted the victims – a priest, a father-ofsix and three teenagers – was not reasonable.
Fr Noel Fitzpatrick (42) Patrick Butler (38), John Dougal (16), David McCafferty (15), and Margaret Gargan (13) were shot dead in the Springhill/Westrock area of west Belfast on July 9 1972.
High Court judge David Scoffield, who was sitting as a coroner, found soldiers attached to the King’s Regiment “lost control”.
It has now emerged that soldiers from the regiment have been linked to a series of other civilian deaths during a tour of west Belfast between April-August 1972.
Formed in 1958, the regiment continued until 2006 when it was merged into The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
Research carried out by the Paper Trail charity links the regiment to a series of fatal shootings.
Seven members of the regiment were also killed during its tour in 1972, which took place in the worst year of the Troubles.
‘West Belfast bore brunt of King’s Regiment’s revenge’
Researcher Ciarán MacAirt has found evidence that members of the King’s Regiment were watching Kelly’s Bar, at the junction of Whiterock and Springfield roads, in west Belfast when a bomb went off on May 13 1972.
Turf Lodge man John Moran (19) died 10 days later.
While Mr Moran’s family and others believe loyalists were to blame, the then-Secretary of State William Whitelaw claimed the bomb was left by the IRA.
Mr MacAirt says the regiment supported “state disinformation that the bombing was the result of an IRA own goal”.
The explosion sparked a series of events that resulted in the deaths of four men, including King’s Regiment soldier Alan Buckley (22), later that day.
Thomas McElroy (50) was killed after loyalists opened fire on the bar after the bomb attack, while Na Fianna Éireann member Michael Magee also lost his life in an accidental shooting.
That evening, Catholic father-offour Robert McMullan (32) was shot dead in New Barnsley Park, in an attack his family believe was carried out by the British army.
“ Paper Trail discoveries proved that these series of (killings) should be examined together in a wider inquiry
‘Deliberately fired’
Paper Trail has since found evidence that members of the King’s Regiment “deliberately fired at a target” in the area at the time Mr McMullan was killed.
The charity has also established that members of the regiment fired shots in the area where 13-year-old Martha Campbell was killed a day later on May 14, 1972.
The following month, on June 25, Catholic man James Bonner (19) was shot dead by members of the regiment as he travelled in a car taken without the owner’s permission in the Whiterock Road area of west Belfast.
A High Court judge later found the force used was excessive.
The following month, and just days after the Springhill/Westrock massacre, the IRA shot dead Kingsman James Jones, who was aged 18, in west Belfast.
He was the 100th soldier to be killed during Operation Banner, the British army’s response to the emerging conflict.
His father took his own life just weeks after his son was killed.
An hour after Mr Jones was killed, Protestant man Thomas Mills (50) was shot dead in the Ballygomartin Road area of west Belfast.
While the IRA was initially blamed, it has since emerged that Mr Mills was shot by a member of the King’s Regiment.
Mr MacAirt says files he has unearthed reveal that members of the King’s Regiment also captured a loyalist gunman who had been firing across the Springfield Road.
He said the gunman was later released after discussions between the RUC and former UDA commander Andy Tyrie.
It emerged last year that Tyrie asked the British army to return a .45 pistol used to kill Anthony Davidson at his Clovelly Street home, in west Belfast, in July 1972.
Mr MacAirt said the King’s Regiment “left a trail of human devastation in their wake from the summer of ’72 and the heroic families and their legal teams have been fighting since then for truth and justice”.
“Paper Trail discoveries proved that these series of (killings) should be examined together in a wider inquiry as they proved that when Kingsmen were killed or injured, the local west Belfast community bore the brunt of their revenge,” he said.
“Other murders during this terrible period remain unclaimed to this day.”
Army shootings inquest gives 'measure of justice': Bishop
GRÁINNE NÍ AODHA, Belfast Telegraph, May 4th, 2026
MASSGOERS TOLD FINDINGS ON WHITEROCK DEEPLY SIGNIFICANT FOR TIRELESS FAMILIES
The finding that two soldiers “lost control” when they shot dead five people in Belfast more than 50 years ago has delivered “a measure of justice”, a Catholic bishop has said.
Bishop of Down and Connor Alan McGuckian said the truth “restores” the dignity of the victims and the publication of the truth “is of profound importance”.
The Springhill/Westrock inquest published findings on Thursday that two soldiers “overreacted and lost control” when they shot dead five people in Belfast almost 54 years ago.
A Catholic priest, a father-of-six and three teenagers were shot dead in the Springhill and Westrock areas of west Belfast on July 9 1972.
Mr Justice Scoffield said that Father Noel Fitzpatrick (42), father-of-six Patrick Butler (38), and teenagers David McCafferty and Margaret Gargan were unarmed and posed no risk when they were shot.
In the case of 16-year-old John Dougal, the coroner said he was unable to conclude whether he was armed when he was shot, but said he was likely running away when he was shot in the back and the level of force used was not reasonable.
The coroner said that the two soldiers who shot them, known only as Soldier A and Soldier E, had “overreacted and lost control”, and fired prematurely without carrying out a risk assessment.
Long shadow of Legacy
Bishop McGuckian told a congregation gathered at the Corpus Christi Parish yesterday morning that it was “abundantly clear” that the legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland continues to cast “a long shadow”.
He paid tribute to families who “courageously sought truth and justice” while carrying “loss for generations”. “The findings of this inquest acknowledges that this is a moment of deep significance for the families of these unlawful killings, your wider parish community and for all who carry the memory of what happened here on 9th July 1972,” he said.
He said the findings that the soldiers had used a level of force that was “unreasonable and unjustified” restored the victims' dignity and delivered “a measure of justice”.
“While no legal finding can ever undo the pain of such loss, the public naming of this truth is of profound importance,” he said.
“Truth restores dignity to the deceased, and it brings a measure of justice to those who grieve.
“I want to speak directly to the families who have carried this loss for generations. I pay tribute to each of you who have courageously sought truth and justice for your loved ones carrying the cross of grief, misinformation and injustice.
“You have lived too long with silence. You have borne your suffering with remarkable restraint and dignity.
“Your perseverance in the search for truth and justice has been vindicated.”
The bishop also paid tribute to Father Fitzpatrick, who he said had stood with the community “in a time of fear and violence”.
The inquest found that the priest was likely tending to the dead, dying or injured, and was being helped by Mr Butler when they were both shot in the head with the same bullet.
The coroner said the priest, who was shot first, was “recognisable” as a priest at the time and said the soldier had “fired prematurely”.
Bishop McGuckian said: ““His life and death remain a powerful witness to the Gospel values of service, compassion, and reconciliation in the midst of conflict.”
‘Masked men dragged my daughter down stairs by her hair’
Victims of race hate attacks speak out as online tool is launched to map crimes by local area
CONOR COYLE, Irish News, May 4th, 2026
A KUWAITI mother has described the impact of a terrifying incident in which three masked men broke into her home and dragged her 10-year-old daughter down the stairs while her nine-year-old son tried to protect her.
Azari Nasir’s home was broken into by the three men, one of whom was dressed in military uniform, in the Glen Road area of west Belfast in October last year.
The PSNI described the incident as a burglary but are also treating it as a “racially motivated hate incident”, while no arrests or prosecutions have been made to date in connection with it.
Ms Nasir has spoken about the impact of the incident on her and her children, saying that they are now too afraid to leave their home. She spoke to The Irish News at the launch of a new online tool mapping the number of race hate attacks in Northern Ireland by local area.
The most recent figures from the PSNI show that race hate incidents and crimes are the highest they have ever been since records began in 2004, with more than 2,000 incidents and 1,200 crimes recorded by police in a single year.
“I thought maybe it was the police because it was a loud knock, we didn’t open at first but then they came to the back door as well,” Ms Nasir told The Irish News.
“We were afraid to open the door, but they pushed the door and were able to come in.
“Three men came into the house, who were all masked. One of them was wearing a military uniform. They put their arms on my chest so I couldn’t move.
“My daughter was sleeping upstairs. They went up and dragged her by the hair down the stairs.
“My daughter is only 10-yearsold, my son is only nine and he saw me being restrained and his sister being dragged. As young as he is, he tried to defend us but he was too small.
“This is what affected me the most, my children being harmed. I didn’t care about the house being looted but the impact on my children has traumatised me.”
Afraid to go out
Ms Nasir says she came to the north last year and the attack has left them afraid to go out.
“We were okay until this attack happened, and after that we were really afraid. We are afraid to answer the door, or go to the park or the street.
“My daughter is really badly affected, she started wetting the bed after it happened and really needs help. The police didn’t help much.”
A young Kurdish woman also described being on the receiving end of a number of race hate incidents due to the fact she wears a hijab.
Hani describes an incident where she was waiting on a bus to work on the Falls Road, when a man she believed to be more than 60 years old attempted to rip the headwear from her head.
“F*** you and f*** your hijab,” she reported him as saying.
“I just froze because I didn’t know what to do. He just kept swearing at me and then cycled away.
“There was nothing I could do. I want to feel like I belong here, but they are just taking that away from me. I cried a lot that day because I’m trying to just be normal.
“Another time, I was going to college in the morning and two guys came up to me and started touching my neck. I was just sitting in the front of the bus.
“When I tried to move his hand away, he accused me of assaulting him and shouted to the rest of the bus to say that I had assaulted him.
“Everybody in the bus was silent. They kept shouting at me. I tried to stay calm, but nobody in the bus said anything.
“Eventually a guy came along, who I believe was African, and I told him what had happened. He defended me as much as he could, and they punched him. They got him off the bus and continued to attack him.
“I have this feeling inside that they hate me.
“There are people who are racist, then there are people who are quiet about what happens. It gives them the power of being bigger than you and that they can put you down.”
Sam Aljabri from Yemen arrived in the north four months ago, initially being housed by the Home Office in the Chimney Corner Hotel in Newtownabbey, which has been subject to weekly protests from anti-immigration groups.
He describes the fear and intimidation felt by those being housed in the hotel, who have to leave early in the morning when protests take place before being smuggled in through the back door of the hotel by police officers just to attend an urgent appointment.
Knife threats
Now housed in separate accommodation with other asylum seekers, Mr Aljabri says he has called the PSNI on several occasions to deal with another resident who has committed assaults within the building and threatened others with knives.
“One night he was beating a girl in his room, we heard the noise. When he finished beating her, he came down to where we were sitting and he threatened us all with a knife,” he said.
“There were four of us and we were able to detain him to the wall until the police came and arrested him and took the knife.
“What really shocked me was that the next day he was released and went back to the same accommodation, a guy who has beaten a girl physically and threatened everyone’s life.
“One week later, something similar happened again and the police have now been there four times. He is still in the accommodation.
“It’s really frustrating, I’m not sure what they are waiting for to do something about it. Do one of us have to be killed for them to do something? If that happens, we all know what people on social media will be saying, that an asylum seeker has done this and done that.
“The vast majority of refugees and asylum seekers are not like that, they are looking for a better life and to learn trying to integrate with the community here.”
A new online tool named RISE has been published mapping race hate crimes and incidents across the north divided by electoral wards.
The tool has been developed by a number of local charities, including human rights network Participation and the Practice of Rights, who say there has been an “explosion” of race hate attacks in the north and described immigrants’ trust in the PSNI and other public bodies as being at “rock bottom”.
The PSNI says it has maintained contact with the victims of the Glen Road attack, and despite “significant work” being carried out through forensics, house-to-house enquiries and review of CCTV, has identified no new lines of enquiry.
The force said it is aware of ongoing issues at the asylum seeker accommodation in the south Belfast area and had arrested a man in his 20s on suspicion of common assault and possession of an offensive weapon, who was released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.
Superintendent Joanne Gibson, PSNI Hate Crime lead, added: “Hate crimes and incidents have a devastating impact on victims, their families and communities.
“It is totally unacceptable that individuals should be targeted simply because of who they are or where they come from.
“As a Police Service, we will do everything possible to prevent and detect hate crime and bring those responsible before the courts. We will continue to engage with representatives from a range of communities to provide support and reassurance.”
Nolan's ‘Peelers’ series a harrowing insight into our problems
DAVID GRAHAM, Belfast Telegraph, May 4th, 2026
Anyone who hasn't watched Peelers: The PSNI for Real, the new BBC documentary fronted by Stephen Nolan, should make it a priority.
The Justice Minister and some of her Executive colleagues will have watched what unfolds from behind the sofa. At the very least, if they possess any self-respect or capacity for reflection, they should be watching it through their fingers, because it is not an easy watch. It is as distressing and draining as any horror movie I've watched.
The series lays bare the serious physical and emotional pressures facing frontline police officers. It depicts an under-resourced service where, at times, officers who appear under-trained and overworked are sent into situations for which they seem ill-prepared.
This is not a criticism of the individuals who had the courage to put themselves in the public eye, particularly given the ongoing threat from republican terrorism. Rather, it is an indictment of the system which expects them to operate this way.
What Peelers exposes is a police service that, in its current form, is not fit for purpose. It is clearly under-resourced — something repeatedly highlighted by senior policing figures. The PSNI currently has around 6,300 officers, well below the 7,500 recommended in the Patten Report. Numbers have fallen significantly over the past decade, even as policing demands have become more complex. The '50-50' experiment has failed, and the programme appears to show that distrust is prevalent in each community.
The PSNI budget was £1bn in 2010 when policing was devolved, and hasn't changed. In 2010, the health budget was £3.3bn; it's now £8.4bn, yet Peelers shows that the PSNI is actually at the front line of mental health services. Legacy costs are £24m per year, but the Westminster Government refuses to assist the PSNI in that. There are nearly 200 PSNI staff in legacy who could be in our neighbourhoods.
Damning reflection on Stormont
When you consider the harrowing incidents shown in the programme, it becomes a damning reflection on Stormont and the ruling classes. For too long, the perception that government is failing to deliver for people on the ground has persisted, and here it is laid bare.
There is clearly a drug epidemic in Belfast. Some scenes are reminiscent of Trainspotting, written in the 1990s to depict the heroin crisis in Edinburgh.
We see members of the public, clearly under the influence of drugs and alcohol, confronting police officers. At times, it appears officers use excessive force. Other times, they seem physically unable to restrain individuals effectively.
Yet, what is undeniable is the risk officers face to both their physical safety and mental wellbeing. Being required to restrain individuals, use spit guards and endure shocking levels of verbal abuse while working countless hours of overtime raises a simple question: how many people would do this job, regardless of pay?
We've recently endured the mind-numbing political point-scoring between both sides regarding how much Sinn Féin actually supports the PSNI, instead of finding common cause to make working as a police officer a more palatable career.
The central problem highlighted by Peelers is that Stormont, and particularly the Department of Justice, have questions to answer.
We have come to accept the Department of Justice as a political compromise. Unionists once claimed success in securing republican acceptance of policing and justice, while nationalists maintained that unionists could not be trusted with the portfolio.
The result has been a revolving attempt at neutrality from the Alliance Party, bar a short stint from Claire Sugden. Presented as balance, in reality, it has amounted to little more than political window dressing.
This does not resolve the underlying issues. It papers over cracks and exposes the broader inadequacies of Stormont itself.
There is a growing acceptance that having Stormont functioning, in any form, is better than not having it at all. Peelers challenges that assumption because what we see is not delivery, it is dysfunction. Stormont is not delivering for ordinary people when it comes to policing, social issues or the wider challenges that stem from poor health and education outcomes.
Rooted in legacy of Troubles
The drug epidemic did not emerge overnight. It is rooted in the legacy of the Troubles, in poverty and in failures within education. Then add in undocumented immigration, the scourge of paramilitaries and continued sectarian division. Above all, it reflects a failure of funding and long-term strategy.
Stormont's inability to agree or implement an effective budget compounds the problem. The system itself often appears unworkable with limited tangible outcomes.
Sinn Féin's continual contradictory approach to terrorism exacerbates the current situation. It would appear what happened prior to 1994 was some form of heroic quest against imperialism, injustice and where there was no alternative but violence.
Yet, when a militant republican carries out similar terrorist attacks in 2026, they're lambasted for being traitors to the very cause Sinn Féin memorialises in illegally erected statues and commemoration events.
In reality, this environment places already overworked and underpaid police officers under even greater strain as they check under their cars for bombs before they drop their kids off at school. That is why I have a degree of sympathy towards the Department of Justice. But sympathy cannot replace accountability.
For too long, Naomi Long and the Alliance Party have been allowed to position themselves as the reasonable centre whilst presiding over, or at least sustaining, a system that is clearly failing.
Voters were told to expect better. They were told to demand better. They were told that unionists were “male, pale and stale”.
If what we see in Peelers: The PSNI for Real is what 'better' looks like, then standards have not just slipped — they have collapsed.
Society in Northern Ireland is at breaking point. We cannot continue to take the sticking-plaster approach as we have all so willingly done with Stormont for a generation.
Sands statue going nowhere, says SF on 45th anniversary of his death
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, May 4th, 2026
PARTY MLAS REMAIN DEFIANT FOLLOWING PLANNING PERMISSION CONTROVERSY
Sinn Féin has said the statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is “going nowhere”, as it was erected “by the people and for the people of this community”.
Party MLA Danny Baker was speaking at an event in Twinbrook in west Belfast to mark the 45th anniversary of Sands' death, on the 66th day of his hunger strike.
The statue, unveiled beside a remembrance memorial last year, did not have planning permission from Belfast City Council, which said no further action would be taken and deemed it not expedient to act, allowing the statue to remain.
However, a DUP motion before the Belfast City council last Thursday, calling for the matter to be “reconsidered”, was passed, with support from other unionists and the Alliance Party.
SDLP councillors left the meeting before the vote.
Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Paul Doherty later quit the SDLP in a dispute over a vote on the statue.
Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, who was the main speaker, told the crowd that Sands was “an icon and legend for freedom-loving people throughout the world” and that, in recent weeks, his “memory and legacy has been attacked by those who have a selective memory”.
In what was a defiant speech, the MLA, who spent 55 days on hunger strike whilst an IRA prisoner, directed comments towards unionists on a number of occasions.
He said the IRA violence was “a direct response to the violent and repressive nature of the Orange state, layered upon 800 years of British colonial occupation”.
“I say to unionists: save your lectures and your moralising for others,” he said.
“We will commemorate our patriot dead in our own way.”
Sands was 27 and the elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone when he died in 1981.
Emotion vs rights
Pat Sheehan said Sands was the “first republican of our generation to stand for election in the North”.
“Maggie Thatcher had asserted that the prisoners had no support, and that the IRA had no support. And massive pressure was brought to bear on the electorate, from all quarters, not to vote for Bobby.
“Despite all of that, the people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone came out in their thousands and elected Bobby as a member of the Westminster Parliament.
“It was a very emotional day, not least for us in the blocks. There was apprehension and nervousness beforehand, because if Bobby had lost, Thatcher would have claims that even his own people didn't support him, and that would have been a massive, demoralising blow for us,” said the West Belfast MLA.
“The people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone had vindicated and validated our right to be recognised as political prisoners. Forty-five years on, looking back, I'm sure many would agree that was the day criminalisation was defeated... and it showed the incredible potential for the future of our struggle.
“Today, in 2026, we are the largest political movement on the end of Ireland. An Irish republican holds the First Minister's role in a state that was designed for that never to happen.
“Unionism wants to turn back the clock. They won't succeed. The change that has happened and the change that is continuing to happen has one destination,” he added.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett condemned the comments, saying: “Sinn Féin's response is a brazen attempt to place themselves above the law, just like they did with Covid restrictions and Bobby Storey's funeral.
“This statue was erected without planning permission, yet, rather than respecting due process, they are defiantly saying the rules simply do not apply to them. Utter arrogance.
“They are the largest party in Belfast City Council.
“They cannot behave as though they are above the rules they expect others to follow.
“There must be one law for everyone. Planning regulations cannot be selectively enforced depending on who is involved.”
Lyons ends funding for language project
JOHN BRESLIN, Irish News, May 4th, 2026
DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has wiped out funding for a project crucial to helping councils with dual language policies, including the proper translation of street signs into Irish.
The shock move to remove funding for the near four-decade old Northern Ireland Place-Name Project has the potential to halt or severely delay council plans to erect Irish-English street signs, critics say.
It comes amid an ongoing and often acrimonious debate over bilingual signage, pitting those arguing for policies lowering the approval threshold for new signs, led by Sinn Féin, and those opposed, particularly Mr Lyons’ DUP.
Mr Lyons was challenged to explain why the funding understood to be approximately £90,000 a year was taken away from the organisation, with questions asked on whether it was “politically motivated”.
A Department for Communities (DfC) spokesperson said the project “has received funding at various points from a number of Northern Ireland departments”.
“The latest funding agreement for the project concluded at the end of April. In addition to the conclusion of funding, the project has faced ongoing staffing challenges,” a spokesperson said.
“Arrangements are in train to ensure that the Project’s database remains available to researchers.”
In a statement, the project said it “has now reached the end of its current funding period and the team is in the process of winding down activities”.
“We regret that we are no longer in a position to respond to requests for information or translations. We appreciate your understanding as we conclude this phase of its work,” it added.
‘Many see it as DUP taking aim at Irish language’
“Any update will be shared here should the situation change in the future.”
The Place-Name project was born in 1987 with the aim of researching the origins and meanings of local place-names, based on a collection of over 30,000 names of settlements and physical features.
Names derived from sources stretching back over 2,000 years – from Ptolemy’s Geography to the first Ordnance Survey conducted in Ireland between 1824 and 1846 – were identified and catalogued, the project explains on its website.
In recent years, the project led by Professor Mícheál Ó Mainnín and assisted by a full-time researcher and volunteers has played a vital role in ensuring the proper Irish translation is included on new dual language street signs.
Funding in three-year cycles has been provided by the DfC for the past six years, prior to which it was managed by the Department of Finance.
Conchúr Ó Muadaigh, advocacy manager with Conradh na Gaeilge, said the Place-Name Project is “written into the street naming policies of our local councils as the academic service that provides the final translation for our dual-language street name signs”.
It has provided “that excellent service in the face of ever-increasing demand in recent years”.
“The news that the Place-Name project is ‘winding down activities’ and no longer taking applications essentially means the project will be closed due to a lack of funding,” he said.
Mr Ó Muadaigh added: “At best, the Department for Communities has completely failed to give the project the necessary long-term financial support and backing to allow them to continue.
“At worst, many may see this as a DUP controlled department essentially shutting down the engine room that informs all dual-language street signs, taking aim once more at the Irish language and the rights of our community.
“The department… must move to urgently clarify this long-term funding.”
‘Serious consequences’
“The decision to withdraw this funding will have serious consequences for local councils and their ability to continue that work,” SDLP communities spokesperson Mark H Durkan said.
“The communities minister was aware that funding was required for this team to continue and must now explain clearly why it has been denied,” the Foyle MLA said.
“Given the importance of this work to the Irish language, there are legitimate questions about whether this decision was politically motivated.”
Mr Durkan added that the project has “played an important role in translation work for dual-language signage, which is becoming increasingly common”.
“It’s deeply disappointing that a project which has contributed so much to life in Northern Ireland has been forced to cease operations after nearly three decades,” he said.
“The NIPNP has helped us better understand our shared history, the places we come from and how many of those place names came to be.
“It has also been vital in supporting the Irish language, tracing the links between original Irish place names and the versions used today.”
Sinn Féin MLA Colm Gildernew said he raised the issue directly with Mr Lyons.
“The Place-Names Project has been vital in enabling us to better understand our rich heritage through its research and preservation work,” Mr Gildernew said.
“I will be raising this again with the minister as a matter of urgency.”
Royal Mail ‘disappointed’ first King Charles postbox vandalised within 24 hours
CONOR SHEILS, Irish News, May 4th, 2026
THE Royal Mail has said it is “disappointed” after the first postbox bearing the cypher of King Charles in Northern Ireland was vandalised less than 24 hours after it was unveiled in Belfast.
Republican socialist group Lasair Dhearg covered the York Street box in stickers overnight last Wednesday, less than a day after it was unveiled as the first in the north to carry the King’s cypher.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We were disappointed to see that the new parcel postbox on York Street has been defaced. We will arrange for it to be restored as soon as possible.”
The box was unveiled on Wednesday morning by children from Belfast Royal Academy, Lord Lieutenant of Belfast Dame Fionnuala Jay-O’Boyle, and High Sheriff of Belfast, DUP councillor Frank McCoubrey.
It was also the first of 600 new solar-powered parcel postboxes being introduced across the UK by Royal Mail.
TUV representative Samuel Morrison condemned the targeting of the postbox with stickers.
“I think it’s indicative of what the treatment unionists can expect, and what their culture can expect, in a new Ireland, whenever they can’t even tolerate so much as a postbox when they’re still part of the United Kingdom,” he said.
“This is the sort of agreed Ireland that people are pointing towards when people can’t even tolerate a postbox.
“I would note that while there might be an attack on this postbox by republicans, I note the absence of attacks on other depictions of His Majesty and of his sovereignty with this part of the United King-dom, such as the money that people in all parts of Belfast, unionists, nationalists and others, seem quite happy to use.”
The stickers have since largely been removed from the postbox.
Earlier this year, Lasair Dhearg claimed responsibility for pouring red paint over a statue of Queen Victoria at the Royal Victoria Hospital in west Belfast.
The PSNI has been contacted for comment.
Time to stop pandering to those in British Army who pulled triggers
MARK THOMPSON, CEO OF RELATIVES FOR JUSTICE, Irish News, April 4th, 2026
PLATFORM
IN Britain, the mantra from British army veterans’ associations is that former soldiers face ‘vexatious prosecutions’ and ‘old men are dragged through the courts’, their homes ‘searched’ and taken under ‘armed guard’ as part of ‘reinvestigations’ about killings during the conflict.
If the intended purpose is to evoke emotions, presenting those who pulled triggers and took life as victims stirs abhorrence.
It feeds the type of populism where facts, rational and logical debate, and in this case, the rights of those bereaved and injured by the British army in Ireland, are intentionally undermined and displaced. And where the rule of law and courts are dismissed as ‘lawfare’.
Despite killing 315 people, the overwhelmingly majority uninvolved Catholic civilians including women, two priests, and over 60 children, only a handful of British army prosecutions took place.
Convictions were even rarer. Only four soldiers were convicted in respect of four teenagers killed in three separate shootings. One was overturned on appeal. The remaining soldiers were released after serving a few years of life sentences and, to add insult to injury, returned to their regiments.
The circumstances of these several hundred killings were always controversial and remain disputed. In more recent times, one soldier was convicted for manslaughter, receiving a non-custodial sentence.
Large numbers of republican combatants were killed while unarmed. The deployment of covert units alongside the SAS led to setpiece ambushes within restricted ar-eas, referred to as kill zones.
Arguably, given the levels of planning and duration of prior surveillance, options for safe and effective arrest within the rule of law were disregarded. Evidence points towards republican combatants regularly being captured, then executed.
Investigations were deliberately perfunctory. Oftentimes, soldiers responsible for fatal shootings were questioned as witnesses, and not as suspects. Civilian eyewitnesses were harassed and threatened. The homes of those killed, including civilians, were often raided and relatives harassed.
Contradictory soldier statements were largely ignored and opportunities to amend statements inconsistent with forensic and ballistic evidence, became the norm.
During the conflict approximately 24,000 republicans served sentences. Figures from the PSNI and the prosecution service reveal the majority of legacy investigations and prosecutorial decisions since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement have focussed mostly on republicans followed by loyalists, then former soldiers. To suggest otherwise is a distortion.
Over 300,000 British soldiers were sent to the north spanning 25 years of conflict – a handful of prosecutions hardly constitutes a ‘witchhunt’. There are no vexatious prosecutions. I challenge anyone claiming so to state which case.
Unlike the Centre for Military Justice, the veterans lobby is more interested in those within their ranks who killed Irish citizens than the needs of 700 families of British soldiers killed during the conflict. That tells us everything.
The question remains – if they did nothing wrong why do they want to stop lawful examination of unsolved killings?
It’s through this lens we view their opposition to legacy investigations, rights, justice, and historical clarification as they try to defend the indefensible through the shameful Tory Legacy Act.
Faced by a belligerent Tory government that couldn’t care less about victims on our island, or in Britain, the Irish government rightly lodged an interstate legal challenge to the Legacy Act in the interest of all victims.
The joint framework of last year between both governments was an attempt to yet again set out the lawful way forward for the new London government. Unfortunately, the Labour government unilaterally published a separate six-point plan to ‘protect’ veterans.
Non-negotiable rights
However, despite the jingoistic clamour for political survival in local government elections in Britain on May 7, the rights of all victims to accountable justice are non-negotiable.
UN Special Rapporteur, Professor Bernard Duhaime, recently said of the ‘NI Troubles Bill’, that seeks to make very modest amendments to the Legacy Act:
“…claims of disproportionate targeting of veterans are simply not supported by the evidence. Protecting individuals from poor-quality investigations is one thing; shielding anyone from accountability where evidence exists is quite another, and the Bill must not permit that outcome.”
After decades of impunity, the ‘Mother of all parliaments’, led by a human rights barrister, struggles under the weight of human rights, rule of law, due process, and justice when it comes to Ireland.
John Finucane MP was right to caution British secretary Hilary Benn that his ‘Troubles Bill’ is in danger of becoming veterans’ legislation. In short – a victim-makers’ charter for back door immunity.
It’s time the pandering stopped to those within the British military who pulled triggers, and its intelligence services and RUC special branch who colluded with illegal paramilitaries.
It’s time the silent majority were heard above the shouts and misinformation of those who have most to fear from the truth.
Sands statue going nowhere, says SF on 45th anniversary of death
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, May 4th, 2026
PARTY MLAS REMAIN DEFIANT FOLLOWING PLANNING PERMISSION CONTROVERSY
Sinn Féin has said the statue of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands is “going nowhere”, as it was erected “by the people and for the people of this community”.
Party MLA Danny Baker was speaking at an event in Twinbrook in west Belfast to mark the 45th anniversary of Sands' death, on the 66th day of his hunger strike.
The statue, unveiled beside a remembrance memorial last year, did not have planning permission from Belfast City Council, which said no further action would be taken and deemed it not expedient to act, allowing the statue to remain.
However, a DUP motion before the Belfast City council last Thursday, calling for the matter to be “reconsidered”, was passed, with support from other unionists and the Alliance Party.
SDLP councillors left the meeting before the vote.
Belfast's Deputy Lord Mayor Paul Doherty later quit the SDLP in a dispute over a vote on the statue.
Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, who was the main speaker, told the crowd that Sands was “an icon and legend for freedom-loving people throughout the world” and that, in recent weeks, his “memory and legacy has been attacked by those who have a selective memory”.
In what was a defiant speech, the MLA, who spent 55 days on hunger strike whilst an IRA prisoner, directed comments towards unionists on a number of occasions.
He said the IRA violence was “a direct response to the violent and repressive nature of the Orange state, layered upon 800 years of British colonial occupation”.
“I say to unionists: save your lectures and your moralising for others,” he said.
“We will commemorate our patriot dead in our own way.”
Sands was 27 and the elected MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone when he died in 1981.
Emotion vs rights
Pat Sheehan said Sands was the “first republican of our generation to stand for election in the North”.
“Maggie Thatcher had asserted that the prisoners had no support, and that the IRA had no support. And massive pressure was brought to bear on the electorate, from all quarters, not to vote for Bobby.
“Despite all of that, the people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone came out in their thousands and elected Bobby as a member of the Westminster Parliament.
“It was a very emotional day, not least for us in the blocks. There was apprehension and nervousness beforehand, because if Bobby had lost, Thatcher would have claims that even his own people didn't support him, and that would have been a massive, demoralising blow for us,” said the West Belfast MLA.
“The people of Fermanagh and South Tyrone had vindicated and validated our right to be recognised as political prisoners. Forty-five years on, looking back, I'm sure many would agree that was the day criminalisation was defeated... and it showed the incredible potential for the future of our struggle.
“Today, in 2026, we are the largest political movement on the end of Ireland. An Irish republican holds the First Minister's role in a state that was designed for that never to happen.
“Unionism wants to turn back the clock. They won't succeed. The change that has happened and the change that is continuing to happen has one destination,” he added.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett condemned the comments, saying: “Sinn Féin's response is a brazen attempt to place themselves above the law, just like they did with Covid restrictions and Bobby Storey's funeral.
“This statue was erected without planning permission, yet, rather than respecting due process, they are defiantly saying the rules simply do not apply to them. Utter arrogance.
“They are the largest party in Belfast City Council.
“They cannot behave as though they are above the rules they expect others to follow.
“There must be one law for everyone. Planning regulations cannot be selectively enforced depending on who is involved.”
Memorial quilts honour 600 Troubles victims
MARK ROBINSON, Irish News, May 4th, 2026 (with additional information from SEFF director Kenny Donaldson)
A SERIES of memorial quilts honouring approximately 600 Troubles victims is to go on display in Armagh this month.
Developed by volunteers from victims group SEFF, the quilts remember men, women and children from across the community who were “murdered or killed as a result of terrorism and other criminal violence”.
The latest quilt, entitled ‘The Quiet Courage’, will be dedicated at St Patrick’s, Church of Ireland Cathedral on Sunday, May 17, during a special service of remembrance, thanksgiving and reflection.
The entire collection will be on display in the cathedral from May 8 until May 21.
SEFF director Kenny Donaldson said that the newest quilt will “reflect the strength of women” throughout the Troubles “when so often they were the anchor within families and communities”.
He added that the key messages of the collection are that “violence was futile and totally unjustified, those remembered are wholly innocent and the legacy of those represented will live on amongst those left behind”.
“The quilts were developed by a team of special volunteers within SEFF under the guidance of a project facilitator,” he said.
“The quilts humanise those being remembered who may be said to be ordinary people, but who were actually extraordinary to those who they were known to best.
“SEFF’s doors are open to all who meet our ethos. The organisation is not defined by constitutional politics or denominational religion – it’s our values that unite us, consistent opposition to all criminal violence”.
He added that the SEFF family “always remembers and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead, thus ensuring that the true legacy of those taken is preserved”.
“A warm invitation is extended to individuals and groups (including schools) from across Armagh City and beyond to visit the exhibition, and of course the Sunday Service,” he said.
“The exhibition will be staffed throughout by SEFF personnel”.
As well as depicting the futility of violence, SEFF's Director Kenny Donaldson says that as well as facilitating the display of the “there will be a special Service of Remembrance, Thanksgiving and Reflection taking place in the Cathedral on Sunday 17th May 2026 @ 3.15pm when a new tapestry titled; The Quiet Courage will be dedicated. This piece will reflect the strength of women over the course of the years of 'The Troubles,' when so often they were the anchor within families and communities.
"SEFF is committed to supporting victims/survivors of 'The Troubles' across Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and further afield and we have a local delivery base located outside Richhill which services victims/survivors across the Southern Region of Northern Ireland.
"Across the memorial quilts which will be displayed, are remembered approximately 600 victims, ordinary yet extraordinary men, women and children from across the community”.
"The key messages of the memorial quilts are:
· Violence was futile and totally unjustified
· Those remembered are wholly innocent
· The legacy of those represented will live on amongst those left behind.
"The quilts were developed by a team of special volunteers within SEFF under the guidance of a project facilitator. The quilts humanise those being remembered who may be said to be ordinary people but who were actually extraordinary to those who they were known to best".
Mr Donaldson added: "SEFF's doors are open to all who meet our ethos. The organisation is not defined by constitutional politics or denominational religion - its' our values that unite us, consistent opposition to all criminal violence".
The Quilts which will be displayed are titled; Your Legacy Lives On, Terrorism knows No Borders, Uniting Innocent Victims, Through Remembering, We Build Bridges, Brougher Mountain Innocents Remembered, Lives that Mattered and Diversity in Life, Remembered in Unity, our Oragnsiational tapestry (which takes the form of a tree depiction with branches illustrating growth and devleopments over the years) and the new tapestry piece; The Quiet Courage.
Mr Donaldson continued: "Each of the Quilt brand titles reflect core messages we wish to represent through the lives being remembered and also honoured. The basis for the quilts can be found in comments made by many families, no-one remembers us, no-one cares, we are forgotten. The SEFF Family ALWAYS remembers and will continue to do so in the months and years ahead, thus ensuring that the true legacy of those taken is preserved".
"A warm invitation is extended to individuals and groups (including Schools) from across Armagh City and beyond to visit the Exhibition, and of course the Sunday Service. The Exhibition will be staffed throughout by SEFF personnel".
For further information please contact the SEFF Office on: 028 677 23884 (selecting option 1) or by contacting Kenny Donaldson, SEFF's Director directly on: 0044 7900 882770.
Who are SEFF? - Supporting, Empowering, Fair and Focused
Orginally South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) and was founded on 15th August 1998 to provide practical and emotional supports for a large number of individuals who had been through traumatic experiences as a consequence of ‘The Troubles.’ Since June 2025, the organisation operates solely as SEFF.
SEFF is also one of 24 groups attached to the Innocent Victims United umbrella organisation with a combined membership of over 14,500 individual victims survivors based in Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and mainland Europe.
Mission Statement
‘Supporting Victims and Survivors, Strengthening Communities.’
We do not divide PUL (Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist) and CNR (Catholic, Nationalist, Republican) Rather we divide on the basis of our values; those who used, justify, excuse or seek to diminish the effects of violence are them'uns and us'uns are those of us who stand consistently against such activities - this transcends denominational religion and politics.
Children’s charity accuses Stormont of ‘ignoring experts and avoiding targets’
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, May 4th, 2026
Head of Save the Children NI speaks out after consultation findings released
STORMONT has been accused by a children’s charity of “evading timelines, ignoring experts and avoiding targets” on poverty almost a year on from the agreement on a long-awaited strategy to tackle the issue in Northern Ireland.
The head of Save the Children NI has said the lack of a specific poverty plan is now a “political position” as he called on action to finally be taken for communities in need.
His comments come after the recent release of public consultation findings on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy that was agreed by the Executive last May.
That was almost two decades on from when it was first promised in 2006 under the St Andrew’s Agreement.
Three months before the draft strategy was agreed, a High Court ruling found Stormont’s Executive Committee was in breach of its legal obligation to adopt a strategy, in a case taken by human rights organisation, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ).
Following the agreement on the draft strategy, the document was slammed as “not fit for purpose”, with almost 50 charities signing a letter saying families facing poverty “deserved better”.
The 10-year draft strategy went out for public consultation after it was agreed by the executive, closing last September.
It is estimated that around a quarter of all children in Northern Ireland live in poverty.
Now Peter Bryson, head of Save the Children NI, said it was time to see a real outline for finally tackling poverty in the north.
“It’s seven months since the strategy consultation closed and people have been waiting for an update, a sign that a concrete plan is imminent,” he said.
“Instead, what has been released is a summary of responses, but still no accompanying commitments, targets or timeframe.”
Unmet obligations
He said that in 2006 when the le-gal requirement for the executive to deliver a strategy was made, “poverty and inequality were recognised as inseparable from building a stable and peaceful society”.
“Twenty years on that obligation remains unmet. Meanwhile, children and families face worsening circumstances,” he added.
“The absence of a specific poverty plan is a political position. The executive has shown it is skilled at evading timelines, ignoring experts and avoiding targets.
“But poverty pressures are getting louder. People need to know their needs are being taken seriously. Communities deserve so much more than low-bar documents and strategies.
“We all want to make this work. For the sake of the children who live it every day we’re asking – when will a plan on poverty and inequality get real?”
The consultation response document states its findings will “inform the next steps in the development” of the Anti-Poverty Strategy
A Department for Communities spokesperson said: “The Department has published the summary report of the consultation on the Executive’s Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy. Officials are now working to update the strategy, taking account of the consultation, ahead of consideration by the executive.”
