Chief constable hits out at ‘shocking statistic’ as north’s murder rate doubles
Boutcher ‘considered asking for help from other UK forces’ as 10 lives lost in less than two months
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, September 6th, 2025
THE number of murders in Northern Ireland is more than double the same period last year.
Six men, two women and two children have been murdered in the last 10 weeks. This compares with four in the same period in 2024.
The number of murders has stretched the PSNI to the extent that the chief constable considered drafting in homicide detectives from Britain to assist in the cases.
Jon Boutcher told Thursday’s Policing Board meeting he had considered asking for help from other UK forces, as his detectives’ caseloads were “already far too high”.
He described the 10 murders as a “shocking statistic”.
The latest case for detectives was opened on Thursday, with the death of a man named locally as Chrissy Burns, who was found with serious head and facial injuries at a property in the Cusher Green area of Mountnorris, in Co Armagh.
Mr Burns was aged in his forties, and understood to be originally from Warrenpoint.
A former school pal remembered him in an online tribute as having a “heart of gold”.
Police said a 39-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, and remained in custody yesterday.
On August 24, convicted paedophile Sean Small was found dead at his home at Slievenabrock Avenue in Newcastle, Co Down.
The 84-year-old had been recently released on licence from prison after serving half of his six-year sentence handed down in 2022 when he pleaded guilty to sex offences against a child and a vulnerable young woman.
Small’s neighbour in Slievenabrock Avenue, Mark William Bready (41), has since appeared in court charged with his murder and has been remanded in custody.
Children witness fatal stabbing
Just three days earlier, a horrific murder of a man, witnessed by children playing nearby, stunned the community of Twinbrook on the outskirts of west Belfast.
Shane Lowry, who was 37, was stabbed to death in Mulberry Park, at the rear of a house it is understood he shared with his father.
In the aftermath of the killing, the victim’s 32-year-old brother Martin Lowry, of no fixed abode, was charged with his murder and later appeared before Lisburn Magistrates’ Court where he was remanded in custody until later this month.
On August 10, a murder probe got under way following the death of a 56-year-old grandfather and father-of-two, Stephen Brannigan, at a house in Downpatrick’s Marian Park.
Police investigating the murder linked the death to a “brutal attack” on a priest, Fr John Murray, that same day at St Patrick’s Church.
A 30-year-old man, Hugh Malone, who is originally from Belfast but of no fixed abode, was charged with the murder of Mr Brannigan and the attempted murder of Fr Murray.
At his appearance at Newtownards Magistrates Court three days after Mr Brannigan’s death, Mr Malone was remanded in custody. He appeared before the court again via videolink from Maghaberry Prison on Thursday.
In the aftermath of the killing, concerns were raised after it was reported it took police 45 minutes to respond to the emergency call made by a relative of Mr Brannigan after discovering his body.
Fr Murray, who had been struck with a bottle during the attack at his church, will require indefinite inpatient care, his parish said this week.
Maguiresbridge
Meanwhile, on July 23, one of the most harrowing murder investigations for detectives in recent years began following the slaying of a 45-year-old woman and her two beloved children at their home outside the quiet Co Fermanagh village of Maguiresbridge.
Police responded to an early morning 999 call made from the home of Vanessa Whyte (45) and her son, James Rutledge (14), and 13-year-old daughter Sara Rutledge.
Chillingly, the emergency operator was met with silence upon answering the call, before a disturbance could be heard on the line. The operator’s return call to the house went unanswered and police rushed to the scene to be faced with the horrific murder scene.
Ms Whyte, who was a highly respected veterinary surgeon, was the biggest fan of her two GAA-playing children, who were both active and accomplished members of local clubs.
Sara played with St Mary’s Maguiresbridge Ladies GFC, and in a feature posted by the club to social media in 2023, she spoke of wanting to be a vet – just like her mother – when she grew up.
James was a rising star in hurling, playing for St Patrick’s Lisbellaw, while he had also been a member of Fermanagh’s U-15 squad. Like his sister, he was a pupil of Enniskillen Royal Grammar School.
A police cordon off Newry’s Fisher Park following the death of Igors Gavrolov.
Vanessa Whyte and her children Sara and James: The three victims died as a result of fatal gunshot wounds.
The only suspect in the brutal triple murder was Vanessa’s husband and the father of Sara and James, Ian Rutledge.
The 43-year-old was found at the scene with gunshot wounds police believe were self-inflicted. The agricultural contractor died in hospital six days later, having never regained consciousness.
In the wake of the murder, it emerged that Rutledge had been accused of domestic abuse by Vanessa in the week before her and her children’s lives were taken.
It was reported that Vanessa had confided in a friend that her husband had tried to strangle her at their Maguiresbridge home.
Fire murder suspect
In Ballymoney on July 1, firefighters responding to a blaze at an apartment in Ballymoney’s Main Street discovered tattoo artist Paddy Douglas, who was rushed by paramedics to hospital where he died.
It was initially thought the fire that led to the 55-year-old’s death was accidental, but investigating police soon launched a murder probe after forensic investigators found the fire may have been caused by direct ignition.
A 34-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, later appeared in court charged with Mr Douglas’ murder. At a court hearing, a defence lawyer highlighted the forensic report also said an electrical fault could have been to blame.
The accused was remanded in custody following her initial court appearance.
At a Ballymena Magistrates Court hearing later that month, a judge ordered the owners of the building in which Mr Douglas’ flat was located, to grant access to a defence expert so they can conduct an inspection.
Less than two months before his death, Mr Douglas had proudly posted a picture of himself to social media with his newborn grandson.
On June 28, 40-year-old Igors Gavrilovs was found by responding emergency services with a serious injury in Newry’s Fisher Park.
He later died in hospital and his wife, Zivile Geringiene (50), of no fixed abode, was charged with his murder, with the offence aggravated by reason of domestic abuse.
She was remanded in custody following an appearance at Newry Magistrates Court.
On the same date as the death of Mr Gavrilovs, the picturesque village of Donaghadee, on the coast of Co Down, was left stunned by the horrific murder of Sarah Montgomery on June 28.
Unborn child
The heavily pregnant 27-yearold mother-of-two was found dead at her home in the village’s Elmfield Walk area.
Zak Hughes, a 28-year-old from Belfast’s Ardglen Place, later appeared in court charged with her murder, and also charged with destroying the life of Ms Montgomery’s unborn baby.
He was remanded in custody at Newtownards Magistrates Court.
Ms Montgomery’s murder prompted hundreds to attend a vigil for her in Donaghadee, where she was remembered as a loving mother to her two young girls, and someone excited for the birth of her third child.
The popular woman, who worked with the fundraising branch of Donaghadee RNLI, was also a carer for her elderly grandparents and two autistic brothers.
Police investigating her murder later arrested a 42-year-old woman on suspicion of assisting an offender, but later released her unconditionally.
Coroner re-assures family of murdered loyalist over inquest
DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, September 6th, 2025
A CORONER has made clear he will not allow slippage in preparations for an inquest into the murder of a prominent loyalist in Portadown.
Richard Jameson was shot dead outside his home in the Co Armagh town in January 2000 in an attack attributed to the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).
The 46-year-old was shot multiple times in the head and chest.
The killing took place amid a feud between the LVF and rival Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).
A long-delayed inquest into Mr Jameson’s death has yet to commence.
A review hearing was convened by coroner judge Richard Greene KC in Dungannon courthouse yesterday.
During the short hearing, the coroner heard updates from the legal parties involved in the proceedings on the protracted process of disclosing and security screening police evidential files that are relevant to the inquest.
Judge Greene said the inquest was not affected by the legal guillotine imposed under the contentious Legacy Act of the last Conservative government that saw a range of inquests halted.
“I can let the family be assured that, despite the fact that unlike previous inquests of a similar nature, where there was a guillotine effectively imposed upon the court, there is no such difficulty in this inquest,” he said.
Mourners carry the coffin of Richard Jameson, who was shot dead in January 2000
“But that does not mean to say that timetables will be allowed to slip and that I expect in December, when the matter is reviewed, that a lot of the material on the agenda, in particular the undertakings and timetables for the processing, evaluation, marking up of the sensitive material will, if it isn’t already in an advanced state of completion, concrete timetables, realistic timetables will be provided so that a date for this inquest can be given,” he added.
Noting that other inquests have been hit with delays around the disclosure process, the coroner added: “We will not be letting this matter slip.”
The next review hearing was listed for December 12.
Catholic families targeted amid rising sectarian tensions in north Belfast
Seanín Graham, Northern Correspondent, Irish Times, September 6th, 2025
In a north Belfast housing scheme once billed as ‘lifetime homes’, the last Catholic family on Annalee Street live behind locks, alarms and cameras as threats against them mount
On the inside of a front door in a Belfast housing development, a letterbox is fitted with a lock to stop petrol bombs being thrown in.
Each morning, the couple living in their redbrick new-build home unlock the specially designed mechanism before opening a padlock on their front gate to let the postman in.
This was supposed to be their “dream home”. They moved in last November after spending years on a social-housing waiting list.
Today, they are the last Catholic family living on Annalee Street in north Belfast, about 3km from the city centre.
Every window in the house is alarmed and five security cameras – triggered by any movement outside – send images to their mobile phones which vibrate constantly in their hands. They are desperate to leave.
“We’ve always lived in mixed areas; we always wanted it to be cross-community for our daughter,” said the woman, who does not want to be identified.
“I am disabled and we had lost everything materially. My husband lost his job. We’ve been in homeless places that had rats and mice. This was us; this was our chance to get a new life.
“The street is right on the peace line between the two communities but there hadn’t been any trouble there in a long time. Even though we had it in the back of our heads about what it used to be like, we thought: ‘We’re moving on; this is a new generation’.”
For the past week, anger at sectarian and racist attacks in this interface area of Lower Oldpark has dominated the news agenda in Northern Ireland.
Arson attacks in Ballymena and the targeting of a home in Donaghadee, Co Antrim, are also being investigated as race-related hate crimes by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
On Tuesday, a meeting was attended by police, politicians, community groups and residents in north Belfast to address what one woman described as “sustained intimidation” by loyalist paramilitaries since May.
An Ulster Defence Association (UDA) flag flies from a lamp-post at the end of Annalee Street, where three Catholic families have fled their homes.
Windows in one property along the otherwise pristine row of 10 houses are boarded up.
Every other lamp-post in the street is bedecked with Union Jack flags, which were put up by masked men in July.
Tuesday’s meeting took place in Girdwood Community Hub, a “shared space” leisure centre on a site that was formerly a British army barracks directly facing Annalee Street.
Clifton Park Avenue, the street leading to Girdwood, was once the “no man’s land of no man’s lands”, according to Sinn Féin North Belfast MP John Finucane.
He organised the meeting and warned of a “sinister element” involved in the intimidation.
“I think common sense would tell you there’s not an individual group of racists attacking people and a separate sectarian group. The two go hand in hand,” he said.
When Finucane was a pupil at St Malachy’s College in north Belfast in the 1990s, British army helicopters regularly landed at the huge military base as he played football.
“In years gone past this was an incredibly dangerous place ... the amount of people that would have been killed not even within a square mile of here,” added the MP, who is awaiting a public inquiry into the death of his father, the solicitor Pat Finucane, who was murdered by the UDA in 1989.
“Where we had the meeting – at Girdwood – is testament to the amount of change that’s taken place.
“The point is not to bring it back to the past but the point is there’s a tremendous amount of work that’s been done on all sides, at all levels, whether it’s community, political, civic, international, to invest in areas that needed it. Girdwood is a really good example of that – shared housing is a really good example of that.
Malevolent forces
“But there are those malevolent forces that still exist in these areas that see that as a threat, that see progress as a threat. And they are determined to bring areas like that, and society in more general terms, back to 30 years ago.”
The new Clanmil Association development on Annalee Street was built on land that had lain derelict for decades after Catholic residents were burnt out of their homes at the beginning of the Troubles in 1969.
Marketed as “lifetime homes”, the social houses were allocated based on need.
Sitting in their livingroom the day after the meeting – which they attended – the couple pointed to the Union flag directly outside. Every time the wind blows, the security lights they’ve installed come on because “the flag is so big and blowing at the front door”.
“It can be quite scary when you’re on your own. I’ve caught myself jumping. The lights are on and off,” the woman said.
“Police came in three weeks ago and were shining torches in the street,” her husband said. “I was at work and my phone kept going off. I looked and there were 100 notifications linked to our security cameras. It was beep, beep, beep. You’re worried all the time.
“I keep my phone resting beside me with the camera view on, so if anything happens I can give it a quick glance to see who it is . It’s not a way to live.”
When the couple first moved into the house last November there was no tension and people were “pleasant”. Then, one evening in May, everything changed.
The couple spoke quietly as they recalled how a masked man came to the window and put his finger across his throat as their daughter and her boyfriend were in the house.
Within 45 minutes, there was “pandemonium” in the street as windows were smashed and one family ordered to leave.
“There was shouting and roaring by masked men saying: ‘You’ve an hour to get out; we’re coming back’,” said the woman.
“There were kids squealing and roaring; they were so frightened.”
For months, the family barricaded themselves into the house and took it in turns to stay up all night to “keep watch”.
“We put the settee in front of our windows to make sure they weren’t put in. The kitchen table was barricaded up against the back door,” the man said.
“I follow the local football team [Cliftonville FC] but I don’t wear colours if I’m going to a match. I’m very conscious I can’t do that.”
At a Northern Ireland Policing Board meeting on Thursday, a senior officer confirmed that individuals linked to the UDA were involved in the sectarian intimidation.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck said there was no intelligence to suggest the attacks were “sanctioned at a senior level” of the loyalist paramilitary group.
To date, one person has been arrested and charged.
The North’s most senior police officer, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher , said the PSNI was “throwing the kitchen sink” at bringing those responsible to justice.
But the couple living in Annalee Street said they have “no faith” in the police. Their support network has been community workers and local councillors, who “check in with them daily”.
“Since May, the threat has always been there. The same guys who put in the windows, we would have seen them walking up and down the street. We would have told the police,” said the woman.
“But there’s only been one arrest.
“If it wasn’t for councillors like Tomás [O’Neill, of Sinn Féin] and Paul [McCusker, an Independent] and all the community workers on the ground, we would have nothing.”
The couple acknowledged that it is a “minority” of people behind the attacks and while welcoming condemnation by Stormont leaders, they want to see action.
They have been informed if they leave their home, the only alternative is a hotel or flat in Co Fermanagh due to lengthy housing waiting lists in north Belfast.
“All I want to do is live here without fear or anything happening to us until we get away,” said the woman.
“The saddest part for me is that we brought our daughter up in cross-community areas – she has Catholic and Protestant friends – but now there is a fear in her. She wasn’t interested in what happened in the past. But now she is asking: ‘Why us?’”
‘Racism has no place in our hospitals’
ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, September 6th, 2025
RACIST attacks and abuse against workers in the Western Health Trust have been strongly condemned.
In a joint statement from leaders and clinicians, said any abuse or violence towards workers would not be tolerated.
Speaking at September’s Trust Board meeting, held at the South West Acute Hospital, Western Trust Chief Executive Neil Guckian said: “We are disheartened to learn of the abuse some of our colleagues have been subjected to and condemn this in the strongest possible terms.”
“We recognise and deeply value the contribution of our international colleagues, who are integral to the delivery of our services,” he said.
“Their skills, knowledge, and commitment strengthen our workforce and enhance the care we provide to our patients and communities. We are proud of the diversity within our organisation and remain steadfast in our support and appreciation for the expertise and experience our staff bring from across the world.”
Roshin Rahman chairs the Western Trust’s Ethnically Diverse Staff Network.
“Our staff dedicate themselves to serving our patients and their families, often in the most challenging circumstances, and they deserve to feel safe and supported in our communities,” she said.
“Racism has no place in our hospitals or communities and any racially motivated abuse or violence directed at staff and their families will not be tolerated.
“Such acts are damaging to our staff’s sense of safety, dignity and wellbeing and also affect our teams collectively.
Western Trust staff have issued a joint message of support for staff that have suffered from racist attacks or abuse
“They undermine morale and threaten the values of respect, compassion and inclusion that are fundamental to the care we provide.”
The Trust has pledged to support any member affected by hate crime alongside the PSNI and wider community.
Mr Guckian added: “Our message is very clear. We stand united with all our staff, their families and our communities against racism and we will continue to promote a culture of equality, respect, and zero tolerance for discrimination.”
The Trust’s Ethnically Diverse Staff Network has developed a new Staff Intranet Hub, which offers support and signposting information for staff experiencing racial abuse.
It follows a joint statement from the Stormont Executive this week, with leaders calling for a “zero-tolerance” approach to racist and sectarian attacks and support for tougher prison sentences.
In what Amnesty International has dubbed “a year of hate and fear,” record levels of racist hate crimes in Northern Ireland have been recorded – with 2,049 race incidents and 1,329 race crimes from July 1 last year to June 30 this year.
Most of the attacks have been centred in Belfast, including recent reports of vigilante gangs confronting ethnic minorities.
Ballymena experienced a surge in attacks after racist riots broke out in June, with members of the town’s
Last week, cars belong to members of Ballymena’s Filipino community were also destroyed in an arson attack.
O'Neill offers her sympathy on death of Duchess of Kent
DEVOUT CATHOLIC KATHARINE, WHO HAS DIED AT 92, DROPPED ROYAL TITLE IN 2002
LAURA ELSTON, Belfast Telegraph, September 6th, 2025
First Minister Michelle O'Neill has expressed sympathy following the death of the Duchess of Kent.
She joined with Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly in sending condolences on the royal's passing.
Katharine (92), wife of the late Queen's cousin the Duke of Kent, died on Thursday evening.
She was known for consoling losing Wimbledon finalists, notably a tearful Jana Novotna in 1993, and presented trophies at the championships for many years.
Preferring to be known as Mrs Kent, she dropped her HRH style in 2002, retreating from royal life to spend more than a decade teaching music in a state primary school in Hull.
Buckingham Palace said the duchess died peacefully at her Kensington Palace home surrounded by her family.
It said: “The King and Queen and all members of the royal family join the Duke of Kent, his children and grandchildren in mourning their loss and remembering fondly the Duchess's life-long devotion to all the organisations with which she was associated, her passion for music and her empathy for young people.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales paid a personal tribute.
In a message on Kensington Palace's official social media accounts, William and Kate wrote: “Our thoughts today are with the Duke of Kent and his family, particularly George, Helen and Nicholas.
“The duchess worked tirelessly to help others and supported many causes, including through her love of music.
“She will be a much missed member of the family.”
Ms O'Neill said: “I offer my condolences to the Duke of Kent and his family as they come to terms with the passing of the Duchess of Kent.
“I wish to acknowledge the sorrow that many people will feel at her loss.”
Ms Little-Pengelly offered her “deepest condolences on the sad passing” of the Duchess of Kent.
She added: “As the oldest member of the royal family, the Duchess of Kent was widely respected for her grace, empathy, dignity and devotion to public service across the United Kingdom.”
A devout Catholic, the duchess became the first member of the royal family to convert to the faith for more than 300 years, doing so in 1994.The duchess will be expected to have a Catholic funeral, attended by senior royals including the King and Queen — the first Catholic funeral service held for a member of the royal family in modern British history.
The duchess volunteered for the Samaritans, toured countries as a Unicef ambassador and, in 2004, founded the charity Future Talent.
Born Katharine Lucy Mary Worsley on February 22 1933, she had an aristocratic upbringing as the only daughter of landowner Colonel Sir William Worsley - a baronet - and Lady Worsley of Hovingham Hall, near York.
She married King George V's grandson Edward, Duke of Kent, dubbed Steady Eddie by the royal family, in a grand ceremony in York Minster in 1961.
The pair have three surviving children.
Residents of loyalist area against development plans for bonfire site
‘The character of the area is at risk – it could be the end of Sandy Row as we know it’
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, September 6th, 2025
DEVELOPMENT plans for a contentious bonfire site close to Belfast city centre have led to locals saying that part of a neighbouring loyalist area will be “lost forever”.
The site at Hope Street is owned by the NI Housing Executive, which is planning to transform the currently disused space to build “much needed new homes, creative open space and provide new employment opportunities”.
The site has been used by locals from Sandy Row to build annual Eleventh Night bonfires. These include a pyre in 2017 that forced the evacuation of a nearby apartment block when it was lit.
In the months leading up to the Eleventh Night each year, the site becomes a dumping ground for material including pallets to be torched.
The bonfire at Hope Street in Belfast pictured earlier this year; inset, bonfire material including pallets and cable reels at the Hope Street site in May of this year
Locals are now questioning the details of the proposed social housing development.
They have also hit out at a proposal to official designate the site as ‘city centre’ in terms of the Housing Executive’s waiting list, and not Sandy Row.
A public meeting was scheduled for Thursday night, with local residents due to discuss concerns over the type of housing planned for
Hope Street, and also the loss of the area’s “character”.
Billy Dickson, of the Blackstaff Residents Association, has previously campaigned against the demolition of the Boyne Bridge just yards from the Hope Street site, and also against dual language signage featuring Irish at the nearby Grand Central Station.
He says residents seek new housing in the style of now-demolished terraced streets that once threaded the staunchly loyalist area.
“We made these proposals quite some time ago in relation to Hope Street, which is one of the oldest areas in Belfast, and one of the few to retain some of its character,” he said.
“It’s Sandy Row, but under the current plans for the site, it will no longer be considered so. We are in danger of losing that entire end of Sandy Row forever, given we’ve already lost the Boyne Bridge.
“The character of the area is at risk – it could be the end of Sandy Row as we know it.”
However, the Housing Executive has said locals have been kept up to speed with the plans, and encouraged to have their say from when a public consultation was launched back in 2023.
“The Hope Street site offers huge potential to build much needed new homes, creative open space and provide new employment opportunities,” a spokesperson told the Irish News.
“The development of new homes will be based on identified housing requirements, taking account of housing market demand and waiting list information.
“While the Hope Street site is located within the Belfast City Centre Waiting List boundary, this does not preclude anyone adding this area of choice to their housing application.”
The Housing Executive held a community ‘drop-in’ session in the area last week, with the Hope Street development team in attendance to answer questions.
“We have agreed to hold these sessions on quarterly basis, which will give the community ample opportunity to have their voices heard,” the spokesperson added.
“We are aware of a meeting in the Sandy Row area regarding the Hope Street development.
“In the time ahead, we will continue to engage with local representatives to provide updates and we’ve also distributed community newsletters, which we will circulate on a regular basis, providing information on future plans and contact details for liaison with our staff.”
Natalie's family in 'bittersweet' visit to old school for anti-violence conference
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 6th, 2025
The mother of murdered Natalie McNally said a visit to her old school for a conference on ending violence against women and girls was “bittersweet”.
Bernie McNally was speaking after the event at Craigavon Integrated College, formerly Brownlow Integrated.
It was attended by First and Deputy First Ministers Michelle O'Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, DUP MP Carla Lockhart, Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood and UUP MLA Doug Beattie, as well as 6th form pupils from the school and students from Lismore College.
Natalie was 15 weeks pregnant when she was killed in December 2022.
Lisburn man Stephen McCullagh has been charged with her murder and is due to stand trial in November.
The McNally family took part in a panel discussion and spoke about Natalie's happy times at the college.
Mum Bernie said: “It is a happy/sad occasion; happy because of all the good memories, but sad at the events that have taken us back here... so, bittersweet.
“There's a lovely (memorial) bench under the oak tree, it is a fantastic spot, and I hope they all come and sit... it is very welcome and special.”
The McNally family have thrown themselves into campaigning for an end to violence against women and girls.
Dad Noel said had the tragedy hit someone else, Natalie would have “been the first trying to help”.
He added: “The whole community has done a lot to keep Natalie's memory alive and the support has been fantastic — the politicians, the sports clubs, everyone in the Lurgan community and from both sides of the community, they have all supported Natalie to the hilt.
“Every time there's another tragedy, another young girl who has been killed, it just brings it all back to us.”
Ms O'Neill said: “Events like this are so important, so thanks to the college...
“To all the young people here, you are growing up in a different world to the one I grew up in... growing up, the things I accepted as 'that's just how it goes', that's not your world now, and I am grateful for that.
“It is your energy, your drive, your determination that says: 'This is not good enough, we do not accept that'.”
Ms Little-Pengelly added: “A better future is possible, but it is only possible if we all work together. I don't want a single woman or girl in Northern Ireland to live their life in fear.
“Every single person in Northern Ireland is valuable to us … this is something that is going to continue as we pass it to your generation and beyond.”
Ms Eastwood shared her experience of growing up in a household with domestic violence.
“I nearly lost my mum, and it is just through the grace of God that my mummy is still alive and brought me and my brother and stepbrothers up to advocate for ourselves.
“I had seen many, many acts of physical violence towards my mum... my mum loved her violin, that was her way of communicating with the world, that was her release from her prison.
“In the midst of a row, my dad decided to take the violin that my mum had had in our family for 100 years and he smashed it against the kitchen table, and in that moment I was just so relieved that it wasn't her.”
OPINION: What would happen if police took on the thugs?
NEWTON EMERSON ON THE WEEK THAT WAS
THE PSNI has said UDA members and “local groups” are involved in racist and sectarian intimidation in north Belfast, forcing at least four families from their homes.
A convoluted police statement added that this has not been “sanctioned at a senior level”.
Familiar questions are being asked about why a proscribed organisation is still given this kid-glove treatment.
That leads onto a more general question about the official approach to threats and intimidation.
The PSNI’s view is that it cannot guarantee the safety of households due to the admittedly vast resources required to guard property around the clock.
Catching those responsible only worsens the danger if a paramilitary gang will take revenge.
So, to ‘keep people safe’, officers must complete the intimidation by telling the victims to move out.
This surrender to thuggery is an understandable response to a genuine dilemma, and there is little hope of doing better until it is confronted.
If the PSNI took a proper stand somewhere against intimidation, would it have the legal and political cover for the crackdown on culprits and the risk to victims this would involve?
Can the UK ignore Human Rights Convention?
A NEW paper from Westminster’s leading think tank, Policy Exchange, argues that the Good Friday Agreement does not require UK membership of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This goes further than Reform leader Nigel Farage, who said last week that the agreement would have to be renegotiated.
It is also goes further than the familiar argument that the UK could leave but the convention could remain “in Northern Ireland law”, which is all the agreement specifies.
The paper’s authors are serious legal academics and it has support from serious Conservative and Labour figures, so it is likely to prove influential.
Its case is that the agreement consists of two parts: a British-Irish treaty and a multi-party agreement – the Stormont talks document.
Only the treaty is binding in international law and it does not mention the convention. It merely requires both governments “to support, and where appropriate implement” the multi-party agreement.
A ruthlessly pedantic legal argument can be made for this, although the politics of it are another matter.
What might be said objectively is that it pushes the letter of the agreement as far as nationalism pushed the ‘spirit of the agreement’ during Brexit.
Sinn Fein launches unification campaign in Dublin City Council
EVERYONE was quick to condemn Farage for riding roughshod over the Good Friday Agreement but for the moment, it is far more concerning when Sinn Féin does the same.
The party has successfully proposed a motion at Dublin City Council calling on the Irish government to prepare for a united Ireland and “work to secure a date” for border polls, north and south.
While preparation is everyone’s right, demanding a date for a border poll breaks the letter and spirit of the agreement.
“If the PSNI took a proper stand somewhere against intimidation, would it have the legal and political cover for the crackdown on culprits and the risk to victims this would involve?
Other parties expressed reservations on this but felt bounced into passing the whole motion regardless.
Even if they have no respect for the agreement, those parties might have the wit not to be used by a rival.
Sinn Féin is clearly ramping up the republican rhetoric as a distraction from its various political woes.
Who will foot the NI Landfill Bill?
LANDFILL tax was devolved to Scotland and Wales in 2015 and 2018 respectively but Stormont has not bothered to request the power, despite this being recommended in 2022 by the Independent Fiscal Commission, set up by Sinn Féin’s former finance minister Conor Murphy.
Consequently, Northern Ireland will be hit by plans to phase out the lower rate of landfill tax for rock and soil by 2030.
Reports in England are warning this will increase the cost of building each new house by between £22,000 and £28,000, with some estimates putting it as high as £52,000.
Stormont’s Climate Change Act requires 10% of the total travel budget to be spent on ‘active travel’ by 2030
Northern Ireland’s construction industry predicted disaster when Sinn Féin proposed a developer levy to fund NI Water that would have added a few thousand pounds to each new house.
Funding NI Water’s shortfall entirely from this levy would have cost £15,000, which even Sinn Féin declared unthinkable.
STORMONT’S Climate Change Act has caused chaos well beyond the A5.
It requires 10% of the total transport budget to be spent on “active travel” – walking and cycling – by 2030.
The Department for Infrastructure has neither the ability nor the intention to do this, so it is passing off major road resurfacing schemes as new greenways by marking cycle lanes out on the adjacent pavements, whether or not they make any sense as cycling and walking routes.
One of these active travel projects is on the A2 between Ballykelly and Greysteel. The work has already caused months of disruption and it has just been extended until early next year.
Residents interviewed for a BBC report all questioned if a greenway was necessary, which suggests they believe the department’s line to some extent.
A legal target for active travel is thus causing a public backlash against active travel, while still not delivering useful active travel facilities. What a triumph for all involved.
Who is anti-Irish?
A ROW over Irish language policy at Belfast City Council caused the DUP Lord Mayor to warn those involved “we’re not at a football match, boys”.
It culminated with Sinn Féin’s council leader, Ciaran Beattie, telling DUP councillor Dean McCullough that his party “do not like Irish” and many people might consider this “racist”.
McCullough repeatedly asked “Are you saying we’re racist”, while Beattie replied “You’re anti-Irish”.
What McCullough should have asked is whether Sinn Féin thinks unionists and nationalists are different races, with Irish belonging to nationalism alone.
That is not the party’s official position, yet Beattie’s accusation makes no sense otherwise.
Flags and PTMS
THE proliferation of national flags across Britain is being widely compared to Northern Ireland. Most reactions are predictable, although a former soldier living in York has given his local newspaper an original angle.
Nigel Bensen told the York Press: “I was quite shocked to see all the Union and Cross of St George flags hanging from every lamppost. As an army veteran who served for two years in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s, seeing these flags has triggered uncomfortable memories of the loyalist estates.”
Asked if he was worried about post-traumatic stress disorder, Bensen said he did not suffer from it himself but worried others might.
“It left me feeling quite uneasy,” he said. “If I’d seen an Irish tricolour in the distance, I think I’d have been finished.”
‘People are mulling it over’ – SF’s slow, slow race to the Áras
Harry McGee, Political Correspondent, Irish Times, September 6th, 2025
Unsure of the wisdom of risking Mary McDonald, names including Rose Conway- Walsh and even Gerry Adams are being considered
On September 20th, a month after every other political party has already done so, Sinn Féin’s Ard Comhairle, the party’s governing body, will finally make the big decision about its approach to the presidential election.
The party’s decision-making process has become the longest slow bicycle race in recent political history.
Its continuation into the autumn has led to frustration among the three parties that already back the “united left” candidate, Catherine Connolly: Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit.
With time moving on and key strategic decisions to be made, they want to know if Sinn Féin is with them, or will the party beat its own drum?
During a recent visit to west Belfast, Connolly criticised delays in naming candidates, without naming any particular party. She described the delays as “Lanigan’s Ball”, saying it was “disrespectful” to the Constitution.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik was uncharacteristically direct in her criticism of Sinn Féin this week, accusing it of “dithering” over its decision on Connolly.
The sense of impatience is not shared by Sinn Féin. “We can’t understand why everybody else seems to be panicking,” says a senior party TD. “We have a decision to make and we will make it in our own good time.”
The two previous presidential campaigns show Sinn Féin followed its own precedent. In 2018 Liadh Ní Riada was named on September 16th. In 2011, it was September 18th when Martin McGuinness was dramatically announced.
In addition, the party’s internal process was far more complicated this time. Another senior TD says it stems from the party getting its call completely wrong on the referendums last year – on family and care in the home.
“There was a lot of criticism from members about having no role in the decision,” says the TD.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald decided there would be a full party-wide consultation this time, involving all of the party’s cumainn (branches). It took some time and involved collating thousands of responses into a report that was discussed by its ruling ardchomhairle earlier this summer.
“There was no clear majority view. It was split between people who favoured a Sinn Féin candidate and those who strongly believed we should explore a joint candidate with other progressive parties of the left,” says the TD, who, like all Sinn Féin contributors to this article, is speaking on the basis of anonymity.
And that question has yet to be settled.
“The parliamentary party and the leadership is broadly in a similar position to the wider activists, which is weighing up the two options very carefully,” says the TD.
“There are challenges and opportunities in both courses of action. It’s not like we’ve made a decision and we’re keeping it secret. I think people are still mulling it over.”
‘Away day’
The sequencing has been laid out. The party will begin an “away day” parliamentary party meeting on Monday, which will be dominated by the issue. The prevailing view of the meeting will form the basis of further deliberations by the party’s six-person national officer board, composed of McDonald, vice-president Michelle O’Neill and four senior officials. The board will make a recommendation to the Ard Comhairle at the September 20th meeting.
Conversations with more than a dozen parliamentarians gave no clear indication of a possible candidate. In one sense it was like an episode of The Traitors: plenty of names, many suspicions but a complete lack of evidence on which to ground them.
There are a number of TDs who want the party to back Connolly, but then there are others who are adamant that it should be a Sinn Féin candidate.
Both McDonald and O’Neill’s names have been mentioned, and neither have dismissed themselves entirely. Some parliamentarians have told The Irish Times that McDonald has said she has no interest in the role.
But then in recent interviews, she has not closed it off.
“I’m in public life for the long haul and I’m committed to representing people, to doing my level best always,” she said in an ambiguous response to a question about standing for election in an interview with the Journal last week.
“Do you really want to stand your party leader, and the person you want to become taoiseach, as a presidential candidate?” says one TD who believes she will not stand.
The name of former party leader Gerry Adams is also mentioned by some. He is now 76. Would he come out of retirement?
He is revered by republicans but would face the same headwinds and confrontations over the IRA’s legacy from the Troubles that McGuinness faced in 2011.
One name that has cropped up repeatedly in recent weeks has been Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh. It is understood that if asked, she would stand but she has not canvassed for it. In recent interviews she has sounded not unlike an Áras candidate, with her contributions focusing on a united Ireland. Her problem would be recognition; unlike McDonald, she is not a household name.
The party does want to build up a coalition of the left in the Oireachtas and this would present an opportunity to bolster it by backing Connolly.
“There’s a lot of respect for Catherine inside the party, particularly on social justice, neutrality, and on housing,” says a senior figure. “We also like the way she conducts herself in a calm, measured and thoughtful way.”
However, almost all TDs point to the election as an opportunity to put the issue of a united Ireland front and centre. With Connolly as candidate, that would not be the focus, some say.
Support for a united Ireland
Aware of that reservation, she has spoken publicly – and deliberately – of her support for a united Ireland during August, most recently in her west Belfast visit that was seen as her effort to assuage concerns she might not be sufficiently republican.
“We encouraged her to speak out. I, for one, was convinced by what she said,” says one TD who supports her.
There’s also the fact that Sinn Féin is the largest Opposition party, and has distinct positions.
“If Connolly is the candidate, will the breadth of the Sinn Féin project be represented?” asks one TD rhetorically.
Muiris MacCarthaigh, professor of politics and public policy at Queen’s University Belfast, points to important changes in the nature of recent presidential elections, some of which might feed into Sinn Féin’s thinking.
“The Constitution favoured a party-focused position for elected office, including that of the president. But there has been a definite shift in the last few elections towards a more candidate-focused contest,” he says.
“It does seem to be more about the candidate and the individual. You can see that with Sean Gallagher, who was an outsider, who nearly got through in 2011.
“Even the incumbents tend to be defined less by their party once they are in office. There is also more of a social focus rather than an economic one [in office], which might explain the tendency towards centre- left incumbents in more recent times.”
MacCarthaigh says the presidency tends to evoke conversations about what kind of society we want rather than what kind of economic model we want to follow, even though Michael D Higgins managed to integrate both.
“Fine Gael would be traditionally seen as the party of the economy. But it has never held the presidency,” he adds by way of example.
It can be taken that its choice of candidate will therefore be crucial for Sinn Féin, as will that person’s ability to foreground a united Ireland as an issue.
“My sense is that we are leaning towards running our own person and doing a deal with Connolly for transfers,” says a Sinn Féin TD who wants the party to support the Galway West candidate but senses the ground is shifting.
But who will the party’s nominee be? There may be another fortnight of waiting before the final piece of the jigsaw is placed.
Stormont isn’t working, but ‘Ah sure, what can you do about it?’
PATRICK MURPHY, Irish News, September 6th, 2025
IF the Irish have a defining characteristic, it is probably indignation.
We are particularly good at it here in the north, where we regularly fulminate about the utter uselessness of Stormont.
We rage about the health shambles, Lough Neagh, the collapse of our roads network, the spiralling inequality and poverty, and what is laughingly referred to as our education system.
However, our second national characteristic is, “Ah sure, what can you do about it?”
The evidence for this attitude came this week when the think tank Pivotal produced another report telling us what we already knew – that Stormont isn’t working. Cue indignation, angry comments, pontification and then silence.
The volcano of indignation will now lie dormant until something else triggers it.
Meanwhile, Stormont continues on its merry way, well fed, well paid and oblivious to the real world beyond its carefully manicured lawns.
So how can this happen? The answer is simple: we weave a long tapestry of indignation, rather than seek an explanation.
Without an explanation for Stormont’s failures, we can never argue for an alternative form of government here. Anyway, indignation is so much easier than explanation – and less embarrassing.
The embarrassing explanation, as this column has pointed out more than once, lies with the Good Friday Agreement which created Stormont.
The Executive can never develop or deliver coherent social or economic policies because Stormont was designed as an adornment to a ceasefire, rather than a working model of government.
The sectarian war was to be replicated with sectarian politics in a compulsory coalition.
The inevitable tensions would produce administrative stagnation and thus prevent the development of any form of radical politics here which could pose a threat to Britain, the US or the Dublin government.
Sectarianism would be Stormont’s occupational therapy.
So, the 1998 manifestos of four of the main five parties all began with constitutional promises and pledges, followed by vague social and economic ideas which had no common ground for a coalition. The fifth party, the DUP, had a manifesto which just contained constitutional issues.
No party mentioned the concept of normal politics in terms of left and right. We were to be governed by five apolitical parties, with no opposition (when it came, it arrived too late), and MLAs would ultimately identify as Catholic or Protestant.
Without any reward for non-sectarian politics, there was no chance of coherent social and economic policies. While other wars end in peace, ours evolved into an infinite peace process, headed by a sectarian Stormont.
Suggesting that the Assembly was not fit for purpose was an attack on the peace process and thus constituted blasphemy. (Although as somebody once said, blasphemy is just the truth told too early.)
The system had two inevitable outcomes: the sectarian extremes would rise to the top (which happened within eight years of the Agreement), and they would remain there through sectarian populism.
The result has been administrative stagnation, an outcome implicit in Senator George Mitchell’s recent statement that we should not expect high standards of achievement from Stormont – even though he helped to create it. Stormont was designed to exist, not to do anything.
The upside was that it did not need a high level of ability to run the place. MLAs just had to be able to read prepared party scripts and pretend they were speeches.
Of course, you may offer a different explanation for Stormont’s failure. That would represent progress, because we could then move from describing how terrible Stormont is to discussing why.
In that way, we might propose a solution to its failure. There have been occasional suggestions about “parliamentary reform,” but little beyond that. Pivotal’s solution this week was to urge ministers to show bravery and unity.
That might respectfully be described as naive. Why should ministers show bravery when sectarian entrenchment guarantees re-election? Why show unity when you have been elected specifically to block the other side?
With due respect to the ability of all those involved in Pivotal, it would be helpful if they too would progress from listing Stormont’s administrative failures to offering a conceptual basis for explaining that failure.
Like most people, the GFA might be the explanation which Pivotal seeks to avoid. Suggesting an alternative to the Agreement is the solution which no-one wants to mention.
Instead, we continue to list Stormont’s failures and rather than suggest an alternative form of government, we revel in another outburst of indignation.
It is a reaction which suits Stormont just fine.
GERRY ADAMS: Little Englanders can’t decide our future
Gerry Adams, Belfast Media, September 6th, 2025
RIDING HIGH: Reform leader Nigel Farage and his latest wheeze – selling football shirts to the faithful with his name on the back
RIDING HIGH: Reform leader Nigel Farage and his latest wheeze – selling football shirts to the faithful with his name on the back
PROBABLY more than any other politician in Britain Nigel Farage was responsible for winning the vote on Brexit in 2016. He exploited racism and anti-migrant sentiment, winning new converts over to an English-centred, jingoistic view of the world. The dangers of Farage’s xenophobic beliefs are evident daily across the British news media. Every day attacks increase on refugees and migrants.
Farage has also exploited the divisions within the British Conservative Party. Theresa May and Boris Johnson said they were for completely cutting Britain from all its legal and legislative connections and treaty obligations with Europe. One of these is the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR was incorporated into the law of the North as an integral part of the Good Friday Agreement. It was written into the Agreement as a way of protecting equality and human rights and preventing any return to the discriminatory and sectarian policies implemented under the Stormont Regime.
Farage has now made the withdrawal of Britain from the ECHR a major plank of his political programme for the next British general election. As the right in Britain become ever more strident, Farage has set his sights, very publicly, on renegotiating the Good Friday Agreement and clearing the way to extricate Britain from the ECHR.
Not surprisingly, Sammy Wilson of the DUP has welcomed the Farage commitments. The Good Friday Agreement remains anathema to many within the DUP who seek to delay and dilute the implementation of its provisions.
This week a right-wing think tank in London – Policy Exchange – has claimed that Britain can quit the ECHR without impacting the Agreement. This same group was credited by former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for helping his government to draft anti-protest legislation. Its opponents accuse it of advocating and assisting the targeting by the state of the right to free speech and the right to free assembly.
Farage and his Reform Party have become a potent force in British politics. In June, IPSOS published a poll showing that Reform UK was on a 34 per cent vote share – nine points ahead of the Labour Party. The Conservatives were on 15 per cent. Last week The iPaper published a poll claiming that Reform UK were now 15 points ahead of Labour.
There are significant dangers in this situation for the people of Ireland. We have already witnessed many examples of Starmer’s ineptitude in government and his willingness to move ever rightward in his efforts to see off the challenge of Farage and the far right. His determination to defend the status quo is also evident in its approach to legacy issues – for example his refusal to agree an inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown – and his determination to re-write the law to prevent 400 former internees, illegally detained in the 1970s, from receiving their just compensation.
The Good Friday Agreement is an international treaty to which the Irish government is a co-signatory and co-guarantor. It was endorsed in referendums by the people of the island of Ireland. No British government has the right to rewrite it. Can we trust Keir Starmer to defend the Good Friday Agreement? Absolutely not. He has already instructed his Ministers to issue new ‘guidance’ to judges on how they should interpret parts of the ECHR. Not a good sign.
There is an onerous responsibility therefore on the Irish government to make clear to the Starmer government its implacable opposition to any attempt to renegotiate the Agreement. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin needs to stand over all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, including those still outstanding like a Bill of Rights for the North.
This current threat to the Good Friday Agreement brings home the importance of the Irish government pushing for, and winning, the unity referendum provided for by the Agreement. Political stability and the future prosperity of our island nation cannot be left to the whims of the little Englander tendencies that brought us Brexit. Our future rests with the people of this island not with Nigel Farage, Keir Starmer or the rest.
Irish Guards express pride during visit to Northern Ireland to mark 125th anniversary
By Rebecca Black, Belfast News Letter, September 6th, 2025
A young Irish Guards drummer has described taking part in a parade in his home town as a day he will remember for the rest of his life.
The Irish Guards and their band are taking part in an historic visit to Northern Ireland for a series of events to mark the 125th anniversary of the regiment.
Crowds gathered at Belfast City Hall to watch the guardsmen in their distinctive uniform take part in a Remembrance Service for their fallen, following a Beating Retreat at Carrickfergus Castle on Thursday.
Events will continue over the weekend including a Freedom of the Borough Parade in Bangor on Saturday which is expected to be attended by thousands.
The visit will also see the laying up of old Colours at St Mark’s Church, Dundela, in Belfast on Sunday.
The regiment, based in England, were formed in 1900 and has seen action in both world wars as well as modern operations including Iraq, Afghanistan, and South Sudan.
Training Ukrainian recruits
Recently, they have been involved in training Ukrainian recruits on Operation Interflex and in nations across Africa.
They are also well known for their dual role as a ceremonial and operational regiment.
Leader of the DUP Gavin Robinson (third left) is seen among the Irish Guards and their band, as he is among special guests joining them at Belfast City Hall
Leader of the DUP Gavin Robinson (third left) is seen among the Irish Guards and their band, as he is among special guests joining them at Belfast City Hall
Jai Wilgaus, a drummer in the Irish Guards band who is originally from Carrickfergus, said the visit to had been a highlight of his army career to date.
“It has meant a lot. Parading in Carrickfergus, because I’m from Carrickfergus myself, was amazing,” he told the PA news agency.
“On those streets where I used to run around with my mates, now taking part in this with my closest friends in the pipe band. Parading beside Carrickfergus Castle, such an historic castle. It was very special to me, and one of those days I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“The reception we have got makes us so proud of our regiment, and see my family clapping, what I’ve accomplished, where I came from, being back in my home town, makes me really proud.”
The 20-year-old has been in the army for three years, and was in a musical band before that.
“I was in Edinburgh to do the drummers course for six months, and that was one of my best experiences,” he said.
Guardsman Aryan Joshi, 20, from Bangor, said it had been a great experience, adding he was looking forward to the parade in his home city on Saturday.
“We were recently involved in Trooping The Colour, that was quite an experience, it’s hard to describe what it is like being there in person, all the work leading up to it and then the big day itself,” he said.
“A highlight of this visit for me will be the laying up of the old Colours on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, proud grandmother Marie Johnston and mother Isobel Gorman, from Belfast, were excited to see their grandson and son lead as Drum Major.
They said he has worked hard, including service in Afghanistan and helping to train Ukrainian soldiers, adding they were very proud for the rare opportunity to see him parade in Northern Ireland.
“He’s worked hard to get where he is, he deserves to be where he is, as the rest of them do, they’re a very proud regiment, and we’re so proud of him,” Ms Johnston said.
DUP leader and East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson was among the special guests who attended the service.
He said he was humbled to take part.
“This week, the Irish Guards have been involved in a series or special, significant and historic events, culminating with the laying of their Colours at St Marks, Dundela on Sunday,” he said.
“Today Remembrance at City Halls Cenotaph was fitting and historic occasion for which I was humbled to be a part. For 125 years, the Irish Guards have served our nation with distinction and long may they continue.”
