Civil action over alleged police collusion in 1973 loyalist murder of Catholic teen to be struck out

Alan Erwin, Irish News and Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

A CIVIL action over alleged police collusion in the loyalist murder of a Catholic teenager more than 50 years ago is to be struck out, the High Court has ruled.

The sister of Eileen Doherty sued the chief constable amid claims that the RUC operated and controlled members of the paramilitary organisation responsible for killing her in south Belfast.

But a judge threw out the case after finding no evidence that police were involved in the sectarian shooting.

Master Bell held: “Allowing the statement of claim to proceed in this unparticularised state, without any facts which might indicate that the defendant is responsible for Ms Doherty’s murder, would distort the civil process that has operated in a particular way for decades.”

The 19-year-old victim was shot three times after her taxi was hijacked by gunmen on the Annadale Embankment in September 1973.

She had been returning home to the west of the city from a visit to her fiancé.

In 2013, Robert Rodgers (71) was convicted of the murder following a review of available evidence.

Although not suspected of firing the fatal shots, he was found guilty as part of a joint enterprise to kill.

Rodgers, formerly of Tierney Gardens in Belfast, had already received a life sentence for the separate murder of Catholic man Ciaran McElroy in the north of the city in 1974.

Sister seeking damages

Lawyers representing Ms Doherty’s sister, Jacqueline Doherty, issued civil proceedings against the PSNI, seeking damages for alleged negligence, misfeasance in public office and conspiracy to injure.

It was contended that police had colluded with loyalist terrorists in recruiting, directing and supervising agents in the UVF, including those involved directly or indirectly with the murder of the deceased in September 1973.

Further claims were made about providing information, weaponry and expertise to paramilitaries which assisted in targeting victims of sectarian killings.

Counsel representing the chief constable applied to have the action struck out on the grounds that it featured nothing more than bare assertions.

The general use of state agents to penetrate terror groupings could not establish liability in the individual circumstances of the case, it was contended.

Ms Doherty’s legal team countered that the sectarian murder of her sister was based on a contention that police operated a system of collusion with loyalist paramilitaries back in 1973.

They insisted that the claim should not be halted before the defendant disclosed any sensitive material which may support their case.

However, Master Bell stressed that neither Rodgers nor any individual had been identified as an agent.

“The essence of the plaintiff’s case is: Ms Doherty must have been killed by someone who was a member of the UVF; the police had informers in the UVF; therefore the defendant is vicariously liable for her murder,” he said.

“If this is the legal theory of the case, then the police and the Ministry of Defence are civilly liable for every murder carried out by every proscribed organisation in which they had informers.”

With no evidence that any police officers or weapons were used in the killing, he ruled it would be an abuse of process for the lawsuit to continue.

“To allow the plaintiff’s statement of claim to proceed in this unparticularised state holds out illusory hope and unrealistic expectations both to the plaintiff and to other litigants,” Master Bell added.

“The only beneficiaries from such hopeless litigation are the legal profession.”

Ms Doherty’s lawyers confirmed they intend to challenge the ruling.

Solicitor Padraig Ó Muirigh said: “We are disappointed with the judgment and will be appealing it in due course.”

Arrest over vigilante behaviour targeting east Belfast minorities

Abdullah Sabri, Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

A man has been arrested as part of a PSNI investigation into vigilante activity in east Belfast over recent weeks, as police said people are being targeted by vigilantes due to the “colour of their skin”.

Police said the 37-year-old was arrested over a number of suspected offences including assault, criminal damage and theft. He remained in custody last night.

The arrest comes after a group of around a dozen men branding themselves the East Belfast First Division (EBFD) posted a number of videos approaching members of the ethnic minority community.

Last week, DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly condemned the groups, saying they have “no place in Northern Ireland”, while the police called the activity “racism pure and simple”.

Some videos show EBFD members demanding to see their passports and “papers”, with other footage showing a man telling the person stopped that “anyone that is on these streets at night time, they will be asked what the f*** they're doing”.

Following the arrest, a senior PSNI officer said that the individuals involved are “confronting and intimidating innocent members of the public, largely on the basis of the colour of their skin”.

Generating fear in Community

District Commander Superintendent Gavin Kirkpatrick said: “The activity of these individuals has been generating fear in the community and it has to stop.

“Those involved have neither the legal nor the moral authority to do this. It is the responsibility of the police service to enforce the law in Northern Ireland.

“Over the past week we have been deploying additional targeted police patrols in east Belfast to engage, challenge and monitor these groups and provide reassurance to the community.

“We have made one arrest and our investigations are continuing. I want to urge anyone who has been a victim of these groups to report it to police. We will robustly deal with any offences brought to us.”

Supt Kirkpatrick added: “Let me be very clear, these groups are not protecting the community from anything.

“In reality these groups are frustrating our efforts to provide a policing service to the people of east Belfast by forcing us to redirect our limited resources to monitoring them. I urge everyone involved in this type of activity to stop.”

Tik Tok accounts shut down

Last week it emerged TikTok accounts linked to EBFD were shut down as the platform acted to ban the videos.

The @irishbreedulsterr handle, which belonged to the Irish Bred Ulster Rared TikTok account, had amassed more than 19,500 followers and over 116,000 likes on the platform before it was banned.

Sinn Fein MLA Deirdre Hargey also confirmed she has written to the Justice Minister about the groups.

“Racism, racist violence and intimidation is unacceptable, wrong and it must stop immediately,” she said.

“These so-called vigilante groups do not represent our society, they simply want to control communities through violence.

“Political leaders have a responsibility to show leadership, call out racism and stand with the victims of this intimidation and violence.

“I have written to the Justice Minister offering to work alongside her and the police to ensure that those responsible are held to account.

“I would also call on anyone with information to provide this to the police to assist in their investigations.”

Hate pyres shame Derry... bravery is needed to extinguish them once and for all

OPINION: Garrett Hargan, Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

NO MORE EXCUSES... BURNING EMBLEMS ONLY GIVES OXYGEN TO SECTARIANISM

Sectarian bonfires that took place in Londonderry over the weekend have no place in a civilised society.

It is time excuses were put to bed. And I, for one, hope the last embers have burned out on hate pyres that do nothing but shame a city I'm proud to call home.

Bonfires have significantly reduced since I was a child but a small number remain in the city.

It has to be accepted that it's a failure in nationalist and republican leadership in the city that they've reared their ugly head once again.

West Belfast has eradicated them entirely and, while dissident factions are linked, there's no reason Derry can't do the same.

I am still trying to comprehend how anyone could be so callous as to put the name of a 15-year-old boy from a unionist community who died in tragic circumstances on the Creggan bonfire. What was that ever going to achieve?

Poppy wreaths and a historic Apprentice Boys flag were placed on the pyres. Stealing and burning them is disrespectful and disgraceful. It achieves nothing.

I understand the political sensitivities around poppy wreaths in republican communities.

People in Derry were murdered by the Army. Those communities will never forget those events.

Family and some of the kindest, most thoughtful and caring people I've ever met are from Creggan. This is not done in their name. This does not represent them in any way, shape or form.

As far as the Bogside one is concerned, the Meenan Square site is due to be redeveloped so no bonfire will take place at that location in 2026.

I'm not as confident as others who seem to suggest that will draw a line under the matter. It could be displaced to somewhere nearby.

Individuals determined to stoke hate

There are obviously determined individuals who want to keep it alive.

Furthermore, it was managed with a level of 'professionalism' I've not seen in other years: materials were gathered earlier; lorries dropped off pallets; construction machinery was on-site to assist; and they mentioned a Bogside Bonfire Committee.

 On the day, I noticed a coffee truck, stalls with food and a firework display beforehand. Afterwards, organisers boasted of 7,000 people attending.

I couldn't verify that figure. Many attended. But that doesn't actually mean they all support it. People spectate during rioting even though they wouldn't participate or condone it. 

So, to put it bluntly, I believe most of them would not give a damn if the bonfire disappeared next year. 

The excuses need to stop. Bonfires are not benefiting working-class communities in Derry. 

I understand criticism of Stormont failing Derry — I've written about it more than most — but burning symbols unionists value will solve none of that. 

Another element of this is the need for consistency from politicians. Claims that these pyres were not condemned by nationalist and republicans are, to put it mildly, disinformation. 

Failure of political leadership

DUP MP Carla Lockhart said: “Once again we see the republican/nationalist hyperbolists silent when their own people resort to type.”

 That's wrong on two counts.

 Firstly, I've covered Derry bonfires for years; they've been widely condemned.

 Secondly, it seems to be tarring entire communities with the same brush.

 In May, months before the bonfire was built, SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said there was “no doubt” bonfires are “divisive” in our communities.

 I believe the Foyle MP should have been more vocal the past week.

 His colleague Mark H Durkan did, however, speak out on numerous occasions, saying “no bonfires” should take place and calling for regulation.

 In July, still a full month before the bonfires, Sinn Fein was forthright in its condemnation, branding them “anti-community” and attracting “anti-social behaviour” which “threatens the health and wellbeing of local residents”.

 Again, weeks before the pyres were lit, Sinn Fein MLAs called for “statutory agencies to take action” against Derry bonfires, saying there was “no place in 2025 for illegal bonfires”.

 Indeed, those behind the Bogside pyre hit out at Sinn Fein and Padraig Delargy's name appearing on the Creggan bonfire, showing that his words struck a nerve.

 A look through Ms Lockhart's X account appears to show that she made no comment about offensive bonfires over the Twelfth.

 DUP MLA Gary Middleton also accused nationalist and republican politicians of losing control of their areas.

 Is he saying the DUP still has influence in unionist areas where offensive bonfires are built, but chooses not to exert it? Very little is ever said about sectarian bonfires in unionist areas of Derry too. The Fountain one contained a threat to shoot 'Taigs'.

Politicians should not gaslight the public by accusing opponents of double standards they have exhibited. 

Don't hide away when offensive bonfires take place over the Twelfth then emerge in time for those in Derry to shake your fist and say: “I condemn all bonfires.”

 The truth is, some politicians condemn “all bonfires” when it's convenient to do so.

 Consistency is desperately needed in NI politics — without it, sectarian hatred is given oxygen.

 Bravery is needed within communities to steer young people away from futile bonfires and to end the cycle of hate.

Anger as historic Apprentice Boys flag 'was burned' on Bogside bonfire

Jessica Rice, Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

A last-minute attempt to stop an historic flag from being burnt on the Bogside bonfire failed.

Independent republican councillor Gary Donnelly said he was unable to save the Apprentice Boys flag from the flames.

The replica crimson banner was stolen from St Columb's Cathedral.

Mr Donnelly said: “I believe that the flag was burnt on the bonfire.

“I think it's sad to hear because any historic flag, no matter what community it belongs to, it has that connection to the city.”

Mr Donnelly said negotiations with young people who organised the pyre broke down.

He added: “They were returning items and then they felt like they were being met with a brick wall, so the communication deteriorated.”

The Bishop of Derry was among those who had called for the centuries-old flag to be given back to the cathedral.

Apprentice Boys governor William Walker said he was “saddened” by the theft.

He said: “It's hard to believe that anyone would enter the grounds of a church to steal anything.”

An important part of Derry’s history

Foyle DUP MLA Gary Middleton said the incident was “deeply upsetting” for many.

Mr Middleton added: “The crimson flag is an important part of our history.

“To go into a church premises and steal... that is completely unacceptable.

“To hear that it has been burnt is deeply upsetting for many people across our communities.”

A US flag flown in Derry on the day President John F Kennedy was assassinated, and stolen from Foyle College, was also feared to have been torched, after it was seen flying from the top of the bonfire.

However, Mr Donnelly said it had been handed back, along with a number of other items that had been placed on the pyre.

Foyle College was built on the site of a former US naval base, where the banner had been flown in November 1963.

The councillor said it had been secured and was in a safe place.

He added: A process is under way for the flag to be handed back.”

IRA's Stormont spy ring had information on prison officers, loyalists and Army chief

Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

IT ALSO CONTAINED MAP AND DETAILS ON CASTLE BUILDINGS, KEW FILES SHOW

When busted in 2002, the IRA's Stormont spy ring had gathered a host of material which could be useful to terrorists — including a map of Castle Buildings with instructions about its zones, passwords and security information, declassified files have revealed.

The operation was disrupted on October 4, 2002 by a high-profile PSNI raid on Sinn Fein's Stormont offices — something which had immediate political consequences.

The devolved institutions — which until then had been headed by a declining SDLP and the already weakened UUP leader, David Trimble, toppled — and weren't restored until 2007.

Sinn Fein always furiously denied that there had ever been a spy ring, claiming that the raid was politically motivated police interference.

Two years later, the most senior republican arrested in those raids, Denis Donaldson, would publicly admit to having spied for Britain for years — a confession which came after the case against him collapsed, and after initial support for him from then Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and other senior republicans. Newly-declassified Government files held at The National Archives in Kew reveal some of the contemporaneous information being fed into Downing Street at the time.

Several documents marked 'secret' have not been released.

Passing the buck

Three days after the 'Stormontgate' raid, Adams phoned Secretary of State John Reid, complaining that he'd “caused him a huge problem”.

Reid retorted that “it was Adams who had caused him the huge problem”, a note of the call said.

Speaking obliquely, Adams claimed that “we were all victims of events outside of everyone's control”.

Other documents make clear that the Government didn't believe this, seeing Adams as a key figure in both the IRA and Sinn Fein.

On November 27, 2000, senior NIO official Bill Jeffrey recorded a private meeting with weapons inspector Martti Ahtisaari. The former Finnish president said that he had been meeting “the two Gerrys” — Adams and Kelly — and suggested Government meetings with senior IRA figures.

The NIO man told him: “Since so many prominent members of Sinn Fein were members of the IRA, we tended to take the view that discussions with Sinn Fein were discussions with the IRA.”

Adams has always maintained that he has never been in the IRA.

An October 7 memo from Duncan Gilchrist in the NIO told Downing Street about the initial findings of the investigation.

He said that “the hard copy information seems, on initial investigation, to be concentrated in the period May 2001-August 2001 (though with some possibility that some might have originated in March 2002). This seems to have been the material taken by the former messenger here.”

The memo went on: “The information found on a database about prison officers looks much more threatening.”

An attached note, based on PSNI information, said there were a “range of documents” which had “clearly come from Castle Buildings”.

Senior British Army and Loyalist leaders targeted

They included the name and address of a serving police officer, the registration numbers of vehicles used by the Army's General Officer Commanding (GOC) and VIPs which had 'GOC' written beside them, secret documents relating to NIO and MoD meetings, and restricted documents which included a record of a meeting in Downing Street between Jonathan Powell and David Trimble in which decommissioning and IRA activity in Colombia were discussed.

He said there was also a map of Castle Buildings along with written instructions about various zones within the area, passwords and security information.

There was “detailed information on specific loyalist figures, including addresses and pattern of life”.

Most significantly, there was an intelligence summary of the prison service database for the Maze, Magilligan and Maghaberry prisons, something “clearly prepared to summarise its usefulness”. The material included the full name, rank, prison and home addresses of prison officers, “potentially running to several hundreds”.

Intriguingly, a briefing for the Secretary of State's phone call with Brian Cowen said: “This may not be the end of the political turbulence. Further matters may come to light of a similar nature during the coming week.”

Donaldson's intelligence role wouldn't emerge for another two years. Months later, he'd be murdered in rural Donegal. His killers have never been caught, an inquest into his murder has still not been held, and a potentially explosive journal he was writing has still not been returned to his family.

In a meeting with Tony Blair on October 8, 2002, Trimble “complained that when suspicion had been aroused, the NIO messenger had been transferred to Reg Empey's department, without any warning about him”, a note of the meeting said.

Hap hazard search

In a letter to Downing Street that same day, the principal private secretary to the Secretary of State, Peter Waterworth, said that the Assembly Speaker had complained about how the police went about the search.

He said Lord Alderdice objected that “it took the police from 8.15am, when they first arrived, to 1pm to produce a warrant, although they had assured the doorkeepers that one had existed”.

He also said that the search did not appear thorough (floppy disks and CDs were removed but not computers or their hard drives) and that “the police apparently inadvertently took away a key”.

Mr Waterworth said “the police did not remove any computers/hard drives because none of the three computers in the room belonged to Donaldson”.

A confidential briefing document giving 'lines to take' said it was unacceptable that information was being gathered for targeting purposes both in the Stormont case, the Castlereagh break-in and “material found in possession of JJ O'Hagan”.

In response to the question 'why search Sinn Fein offices in Parliament Buildings?', the same document said that Stormont wasn't among the locations originally down for searching. It said: “Following completion of the initial searches on October 4, the senior investigating officer decided two other premises should also be searched — Parliament Buildings and the Falls Community Council offices.”

A month after the raid on Stormont, Trimble told new Secretary of State Paul Murphy that “the last straw for him had been the political espionage — which indicated leadership involvement or approval”.

Dying eels writhing amid algae prompts fresh warning over Lough Neagh crisis

Paul Ainsworth, Irish News, August 19th, 2025

FOOTAGE of eels dying amid the algae choking Lough Neagh suggests the body of water itself is facing the demise of its ecosystem, it has been warned.

The return of the bluegreen algae this summer has once again highlighted the perilous state of the lough, and prompted calls for measures to tackle the issue.

However, new footage has emerged of one of its best known creatures, eels, dying as a result of the sludge covering vast swathes of the lough.

Videos of eels at Lough Neagh writhing as they die on top of the algae – taken by Ardboe man Kevin Quinn – were shared by the Western Shore Angling group, which has been highlighting the threat to the lough for several years.

One of the videos shows three eels all writhing on the algae close to the lough shore.

An eel writhes on algae covering the surface of Lough Neagh in footage by Kevin Quinn and shared by Western Shore Angling on Facebook

The footage follows last month’s announcement that eel fishing in the lough is suspended for the rest of the year.

The Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-Operative Society, said eel fishing had become a “casualty of significant environmental change within the lough”.

Western Shore Angling’s Mick Hagan, who comes from a family of Lough Neagh fishermen, told The Irish News the footage shows “the lough is dying”.

He also warned that the lough’s eel population could disappear entirely if solutions are not agreed.

“The footage was taken recently by a fisherman, and what we see happening is the eels are starved of oxygen, so are coming up through the algae to get it, where they then die.

“It’s distressing to see, and it shows how at risk eel fishing in the lough is. There are examples across the world of fish populations, such as Atlantic salmon, moving away entirely from traditional habitats such as rivers.”

Lough Neagh eels spawn across the Atlantic ocean before travelling thousands of miles to Lough Neagh, where they mature before making the return journey.

Lough itself may be dying

“Eels use their sense of smell to travel, so I fear not only is the eel fishing industry dying, the lough itself is too.”

Last week, Sinn Féin Mid Ulster MP Cathal Mallaghan visited the lough, and warned algae “remains a serious environmental and economic issue for those living and working around the lough”.

“It is important that all relevant agencies work together to set out what actions can be taken in the short term, alongside longer-term measures to improve water quality,” he said.

Last year the Lough Neagh Action Plan was approved by the Stormont executive, with the majority of measures led by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

A DAERA spokesperson said the images were “a graphic and distressing reminder of the critical need to back the interventions required to address the crisis facing Lough Neagh and other waterways”.

“Whilst there is no quick fixes Minister Andrew Muir is determined to turn the tide on water quality by delivering the actions set out in the Lough Neagh Report in partnership with others, recognising that collective action is essential,” they said.

“The Lough Neagh Report includes 37 actions focused on education, incentivisation, regulation and enforcement, with 14 delivered to date and 22 in progress.”

Palestine Action Arrests expose terrorism laws as unworkable nonsense

Malachi O’Doherty, Belfast Telegraph, August 19th, 2025

Politics is getting real again and it is time for policing to catch up.

Arresting decent people for protesting in support of Palestine Action may provide the police with the statistics for impressive crime clear up rates, but it exposes the law as fatuous.

I don't know how Palestine Action came to be classified a terrorist organisation.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper simply tells us that she has intelligence on the matter.

We don't know what that intelligence is and the issue is complicated by the fact that the legal definition of terrorism is so vague. Any act or threat of vandalism to advance any cause can meet the definition.

The action of Palestine Action was spray painting military aircraft. This was “serious damage to property” which was “designed to influence the government”.

There are significant precedents of people carrying out acts of protest vandalism and being acquitted by juries or treated leniently by courts.

Journalist Eamonn McCann and five others were acquitted by a jury of criminal damage and affray at Belfast Crown Court in 2008 after they had invaded the offices of Raytheon, a company that made patriot, tomahawk, cruise and sidewinder missiles.

A year later, women acquitted on similar charges said they believed the jury had accepted that they had invaded the offices “in order to protect the lives and property of people in the Gaza Strip and to stop alleged war crimes being committed by the Israeli forces”.

These were all members of the Derry Anti-War Coalition. Ms Cooper would have branded them as terrorists.

In 1983, a group of anti-nuclear weapons protesters did almost exactly what Palestine Action did. They spray painted an American spy plane and disrupted construction work in protest against cruise missiles being stationed in Britain. Charges against them were dropped. In other protests, only small fines were imposed on women convicted and some went to prison rather than pay.

Protestors exposing unworkable law

What is impressive about the people lying down on the ground and getting arrested under terrorism charges for supporting Palestine Action is that, in a minimally painful and disruptive way, they are exposing a law as pointless and unworkable. And they have been gifted the opportunity to do so through the folly of the Home Secretary.

She has done this at a time when the prisons are so overcrowded that this government has already had to release convicted criminals to free up space for anti-migration protesters.

Street politics has become serious again and the government and the law will have to keep up.

It is not now centrally about ill-mannered speech being criminalised or cancelled, nor about gender and identity, the issues that have fired up social media.

People are insisting on the right to oppose war and migration and there are no simplistic legal measures available to a government that wants to stop them doing that.

Anyway, sometimes outrage is impractical and emboldens the very people you oppose.

We have been through a period of political evolution towards the lessening of public concerns enabling politicians and others in power to look as if they are making radical change through shallow symbolic actions.

Diane Abbott got suspended from the Labour Party for saying something that seems obvious, that the Irish experience of racism is different from that of black people because blackness is visible on the street, while Irishness is not.

But it's too late for Keir Starmer to be seeking left-wing kudos for being tough on the faintest sniff of racism. There's a war on.

He idiotically called for Kneecap to be barred from Glastonbury and contributed to their growing popularity.

An ignorant racist discovered on Friday that he could get a football match stopped just by shouting an insult at Antoine Semenyo when he was about to take a throw-in.

Where is the sense in giving this power to such people?

Government failing to address real issues

Free speech is free when government agrees with the issue. It's great to see huge Pride parades through our cities, but something is askew when politicians get propaganda advantage by joining in while failing to address real material problems — like our water and sewage shambles, for instance.

Our concern about racial prejudice is good, but has been turned against us by Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu whines about every criticism being anti-Semitic as if jibes and name calling hurt him more than his rockets hurt Gaza. He is the one who most insults Jews by insisting that his excesses against Palestinians are done in their interests. The protesters for Palestine Action are part of a shift in concern from identity and prejudice towards worry about war.

The decision to arrest them for making simple gestures is too much in line with the nonsense that what people say, even when it endangers no one, warrants packing our prisons with them.