MI6 and Army at odds on how to defeat PIRA: Generals ultimatum on releasing senior Provos
SAM MCBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph. April 15th, 2026
CONTINUED HEAVY CASUALTIES WOULD MEAN FALLING ARMY RECRUITMENT AND MORALE, SAID MOD
As the Troubles escalated in 1972, MI6 and the Army's top brass disagreed on how to defeat the IRA, with the military wanting firmer measures which the intelligence agency feared would be counter-productive.
Declassified files opened at The National Archives in Kew also show the Army's most senior officer in Northern Ireland told his superior that they had 13 weeks to “break the will of the IRA” and if that didn't happen then “we must expect a drastic reduction in the Army's potential”.
The previously secret documents reveal the tensions between political and military considerations as the Army sought to get tougher while civil servants and ministers feared the hardening of nationalist opinion after debacles such as internment and the seminal atrocity of Bloody Sunday.
On 14 February 1972, a draft letter from the General Officer Commanding (GOC) for Northern Ireland to Downing Street was sent to the NIO.
The letter, marked 'secret — perimeter', claimed that about 25% of the present internees were categorised as least dangerous — “mostly those who actually throw the bombs and fire the rifles” but “they are all IRA men” and could go “straight back to their previous activities”.
Nevertheless, he said that reluctantly the Army “would accept in principle” their release if political considerations made it desirable.
On 31 July, Lt General Sir Harry Tuzo, a key British military figure in shaping the early response to the outbreak of mass violence, wrote to the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Michael Carver, to say he'd told the Secretary of State that “we have 13 weeks to break the will of the IRA” and if that didn't happen then “we must expect a drastic reduction in the Army's potential”.
Two days later, a senior MoD official told the NIO that they estimated “we have to put about 700 Provisionals out of circulation in one way or another before success can be regarded as close”.
He said “closing our ears to the storm of protest which, predictably, is already building up” was “vital”.
Two interrogation centres opened without prior political approval
On 11 August, the Chief of the General Staff told Secretary of State Willie Whitelaw that “two interrogation centres had been in operation since the start of Motorman,” the large-scale operation to re-take 'no-go' areas.
A secret minute of their meeting shows that Whitelaw told him “it was unsatisfactory that this should have been done without proper authority, while the matter was still under discussion by ministers”.
The secret minutes of a meeting on arrest and detention policy, held on 25 August, recorded that it was chaired by Major General Robert Ford, the Commander Land Forces, and attended by key MI6 figure Frank Steele.
Ford conveyed the “serious anxiety” of Army commanders “responsible for the domination of hard catholic areas in Belfast and Londonderry in accordance with the aims of Phase 3 of Operation MOTORMAN”.
He said that “the soldiers, who placed themselves at considerable risk to apprehend those known to them as Provisional 'Officers' found it most frustrating that these same men were, in so many cases, back on the streets directing further violence almost immediately after arrest”.
He delivered an ultimatum: “We were now reaching the stage at which either those important Provisionals were put out of the battle or we stopped arresting them. The latter course was unacceptable.”
Most arrestees back on the street
He said that of 45 Provo officers arrested since the start of Operation Motorman, 16 had been charged so far (“six allowed bail!”), three had been detained and 21 released. (These are the figures as they appear; they don't add up.)
He said that “some form of detention, under whatever name, was essential to an attrition rate against the IRA”.
Dennis Trevelyan from the NIO “accepted the difficulties set out” but that “detention orders are unlikely to stand close legal scrutiny and are in any case politically undesirable in the present climate of trying to attract some degree of support from the Catholic community”.
Steele from MI6 said that internment “was counter-productive not only on political grounds but also on security grounds in that it tended to breed a new younger and even wilder brand of replacement IRA”.
Ford told the meeting that “we are up against a strong and well-organised terrorist organisation which was getting stronger”.
The meeting agreed that, subject to the Secretary of State's approval, all future Provisional IRA officers would be the subject of an application for a detention order if they couldn't be charged with an offence.
That same day, a secret memo from John Halliday in the NIO said there were signs that the Provos were “switching from indiscriminate bombing and shooting attacks towards a policy of more carefully-laid ambushes and more accurate sniping attacks on the security forces”.
Already, 14 members of the security forces had been killed since Motorman with 56 wounded. Questions about the Government's plans for dealing with the level of military casualties were building up, he said, and “are difficult to handle”.
In a secret 31 August 1972 letter to senior NIO official Neil Cairncross, RC Kent in the MoD expressed concern that “of the known 'officers' of the Provisional IRA who had been arrested in the period since Motorman something like half had subsequently been freed, apparently without any attempt being made to obtain detention orders against them”.
He said the MoD was “acutely conscious that the time during which the Army can maintain its present force levels in Northern Ireland is strictly limited”.
He said that if there continued to be “heavy military casualties without any very obvious offsetting operational or political dividend”, they had to be aware of the impact not only on public opinion but “the longer term effect on Army recruiting and morale”.
PIRA 'used 1471 phone feature to confirm suspicions that woman was RUC informant'
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, April 15th, 2026
DEMAND FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO MURDER OF MOTHER-OF-THREE BY PROVOS IN 1994
A simple mechanism that allowed landline users to check the last caller is said to have sealed the fate of a mother-of-three murdered by the IRA.
In July 1994, members of the ISU — the Provos' so-called “nutting squad” — abducted and killed Caroline Moreland on suspicion of being an informer.
The 34-year-old Catholic woman was interrogated and tortured for two weeks before her body was dumped near Rosslea, Co Fermanagh.
Kevin Winters, solicitor for Ms Moreland's family, has called for a public inquiry into her murder.
The murder was investigated by the Operation Kenova team, despite the fact that the informer Stakeknife, known to be Freddie Scappaticci, was not involved. He had been stood down from the ISU in 1990.
The Kenova team found that a prominent member of Belfast PIRA was involved in the abduction and murder of Ms Moreland, and that the vehicle used to abduct her was driven by the suspect's brother.
They also found that Ms Moreland was taken to the Republic and held at an address linked to a known PIRA sympathiser.
What the report didn't state was that the IRA, after having suspicions about Ms Moreland being compromised, sent someone she trusted to investigate her phone activity.
Believed to be on the periphery of the republican movement, Ms Moreland was allowing her house to be used for meetings. However, after a number of key arrests, suspicion fell on her. An IRA man who was close to her was told to try to gain information.
The man called to her west Belfast home, and when Ms Moreland left the room, he rang 1471 on her landline — the form of communication that would have been used between Special Branch and informants in the 1990s.
Ringing 1471 on a BT landline was used to identify the last person who called the number. An automated voice would repeat the number and often the time of the call.
The IRA man then pressed 3, which was the method used on a BT phone to return the call and was put straight through to the RUC.
This confirmed the IRA's suspicion and plans were then made to take Ms Moreland away and interrogate her.
“She was already under suspicion, but that was all the confirmation that was needed,” said a senior republican source.
The murder caused unrest locally within the ranks of the IRA, with some senior members opposed to killing the young mother. They argued that much more senior informants escaped the same fate due to the ceasefire being called shortly afterwards.
Procedural obligations of Article 2 not fulfilled
Last year, the High Court refused leave by Ms Moreland's family's legal team to challenge Secretary of State Hilary Benn to hold an inquiry into her murder, saying the investigation was the remit of Kenova.
Following the publication of Kenova, Mr Winters has again called for a public inquiry.
Mr Winters said: “It is our position that the state's procedural obligations under Article 2 ECHR are not fulfilled by the publication of the Kenova report alone.
“While Kenova represents a significant investigative process, it cannot satisfy the requirements of an Article 2 compliant investigation where issues of state involvement and intelligence handling remain unresolved.
“These obligations require a process with the independence, scope and powers of a public inquiry.
“It also remains the case that the individual known as Stakeknife has not been formally identified, while it is accepted that Freddie Scappaticci had no involvement in the murder of Caroline Moreland. This raises the fundamental question of why this case was included within the Kenova terms of reference and whether its inclusion diverted attention from other lines of inquiry.”
Mr Winters added that the “outworkings of Kenova point to systemic penetration of the PIRA internal security unit by multiple agents, not solely the individual known as Stakeknife, and grounds to suspect that additional agents may have had involvement”.
PSNI Troubles payouts to increase by 500% this year
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
THE cost of conflict-related payouts made by the PSNI is set to rocket by more than 500% this year.
Details of the huge projected jump in settlement costs comes as the PSNI confirmed there were 1,207 “conflict related actions” against the force at the end of December.
Police have confirmed the “current estimate of costs for settling high value claims” for 2025/26 is £1.8m.
However, police believe that figure could rise by more than 500% to £11m in 2026/27.
The PSNI has been engaged in a series of ongoing negotiations to resolve outstanding legal claims relating to the Troubles.
Many of those involved in legal action are the victims of suspected collusion between the police, other state agencies and loyalist paramilitary groups.
In response to SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath, the PSNI said it is “important to note that there is significant uncertainty associated with these cases in relation to timing and amount, making actual costs difficult to predict”.
Mr McGrath said those impacted most by the Troubles have a right to seek redress.
Impact of Dillon case
“Victims and survivors, despite best efforts by the previous Tory government, have a right to seek redress via civil action, a point upheld by the Court of Appeal in Dillon,” he said.
“It is now important the justice minister and finance minister find a way to meet the financial challenges facing our police service or risk progress in the 25th year of the PSNI.”
Mr McGrath said the mechanisms that are compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should be put in place.
“Such civil actions should create an impetus to see ECHR compliant, adequately funded legacy mechanisms delivered sooner rather than later to meet the needs of troubles victims,” he said.
Last year PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher revealed that between 2018 -2024 his force resolved 30 civil cases at a cost of £25m. At the time, he said of that figure £7.3m went to victims, with £17.7 paid to lawyers.
A Department of Justice spokesperson said: “Despite the significant financial pressures facing the Department, the Minister has consistently prioritised funding for PSNI, whilst being mindful of the pressures elsewhere within the Justice System.
“As a result, PSNI funding has increased from £783 million in 2022-23 to £948 million in 2025-26. This represents an additional £165 million or 21% over the last three years. The Resource budget of £948 million allocated to PSNI in 2025-26 represented approximately 66% of the total funding available to the Department.
“The multi-year budget is yet to be agreed. The Justice Minister will continue to engage with Ministerial colleagues to advocate for additional funding for policing, as well as the whole of the justice system, to ensure we have a Justice sector that is funded appropriately now and in future years, which is currently not the case.”
Man convicted of murdering British soldier in Derry secures date for bid to clear name
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
A MAN convicted of murdering a British soldier in Derry 42 years ago has secured a date for his legal bid to clear his name.
John McDevitt claims he was coerced by police into making a false confession to the killing of Private Neil Clarke on Easter Monday back in 1984.
A body which examines potential miscarriages of justice has referred the case back to the Court of Appeal amid concerns over the credibility of police witnesses.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan confirmed yesterday that the appeal will be heard over two days in June.
Mr McDevitt, 61, may also be called to give evidence as part of the challenge to his convictions.
‘‘ He (John McDevitt) has maintained his innocence and campaigned for over 40 years, and now there are several applications to admit new evidence which will form part of the appeal
John McDevitt’s solicitor, Patricia Coyle of Harte Coyle Collins
Private Clark was shot dead after he exited a military Land Rover attacked by petrol bombs at Bishop Street in Derry.
Police later arrested Mr McDevitt along with seven others and questioned him at the Castlereagh detention centre in connection with the killing.
The Derryman was interviewed 23 times over the course of five days, according to hislawyers.
Despite challenging the evidence against him, he was ultimately convicted of murder following a trial in 1986.
Guilty verdicts were also returned on other charges related to the same incident, including wounding, attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and possessing firearms with intent.
Mr McDevitt spent 12 years in prison but has always maintained his innocence.
In 2024, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) referred Mr McDevitt’s murder conviction back to the Court of Appeal on the basis that some officers involved in taking the disputed admission statement were discredited in separate proceedings.
Four further convictions have also been sent back for re-examination.
Defence lawyers contend it was a false confession following coercive and oppressive police interviewing techniques.
Mr McDevitt attended court yesterday along with supporters, including Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, to hear that the appeal will now go ahead before the summer recess.
Dame Siobhan told defence and prosecution representatives: “We will confirm the timetabled (hearing) of June 17 and 18.”
Speaking outside court, Mr McDevitt’s solicitor, Patricia Coyle of Harte Coyle Collins, said: “My client welcomes this opportunity to clear his name.
“He has maintained his innocence and campaigned for over 40 years, and now there are several applications to admit new evidence which will form part of the appeal process.”
Judge told case against Lyra McKee accused ‘wholly circumstantial’
ASHLEIGH McDONALD, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
A SENIOR judge was told yesterday that the prosecution’s case against a Derry man accused of a range of charges including rioting and murdering journalist Lyra Mc-Kee is “wholly circumstantial”.
Ms McKee (29) died after being struck by a bullet fired at police Land Rovers parked in the Fanad Drive area of Creggan during serious unrest on April 18, 2019.
Nine men from the city are currently on trial at Belfast Crown Court on a range of charges arising from the riot on April 18 as well as street disorder in Derry two days beforehand.
Three defendants have been charged with murdering Ms McKee, possessing a firearm and ammunition and other linked offences including rioting and both possessing and throwing petrol bombs.
They are not alleged to have fired the gun used to kill Ms McKee but with intentionally encouraging or assisting the gunman on a joint enterprise basis.
The trio are Paul McIntyre (58) from Kells Walk, 25-year old Jordan Devine from Bishop Street and Peter Cavanagh (37) from Mary Street – all of whom deny the charges against them.
Their co-accused were charged with offences including rioting and throwing petrol bombs.They are Christopher Gillen (45) from Balbane Pass, Joseph Campbell (25) from Gosheden Cottages, 33-year old Patrick Gallagher from John Field Place, Jude McCrory (28) from Gartan Square, Joseph Barr (37) from Sandringham Drive, 57-year old Kieran McCool from Ballymagowan Gardens.
A 10th defendant, 58-year old William Elliot from Ballymagowan Garden in Derry, passed away in England in last February.
All nine accused have denied the charges levelled against them.
The trial is now in its final stages and yesterday Jordan Devine’s barrister addressed Mrs Justice Smyth and said the case against her client was “wholly circumstantial”.
He has been charged with offences on both April 16 and 18, 2019.
In her closing submissions, Eilis McDermott KC said the evidence presented against her client “can be distinguished from the evidence presented against the other alleged masked suspects”.
These reasons, she said, included “no evidence” of identification or recognition from any witness or controlled police viewing and no cell site analysis.
‘No purported forensic link’
Ms McDermott spoke of “no purported forensic link” between Devine and clothing or vehicles examined at the scene and no gait analysis that suggested he was one of the masked suspects.
The defence barrister also said there were “no instances” on the footage of the riot where Person B, the masked suspect alleged to be Devine, “appears partially or fully unmasked”.
Ms McDermott also addressed the murder charge against Person B.
Pointing out this masked man was “not part of the shooting party”, the defence barrister said this suspect “does not leave with the shooting party”.
Next to address Mrs Justice Smyth was Joe Campbell’s barrister, Seamus McNeill KC.
Saying it would be “quite impossible to distinguish” Person B was shouting, Ms McDermott said the prosecution’s contention that by raising his arm Person B was aligning himself with the shooting party did not establish he was encouraging the gunman to shoot to cause death or serious injury.
Alleged to be Person F on the footage, Mr McNeill described the prosecution’s case against his client as “weak”.
The barrister spoke of imagery analysis which he said had “notable limitations” and was “riven with limitations”.
Also raised was what Mr McNeill described as the prosecution “latching on to” Campbell’s weight.
He said: “There is no evidence Mr Campbell is the only large person who lives in the Creggan area of Derry.”
The last barrister to provide oral defence submissions was Niall Hunt KC who is representing Jude McCrory.
Pointing out his client has been charged with riotous assembly and throwing petrol bombs on April 18, 2019, Mr Hunt said it was the Crown’s case that McCrory and a co-accused brought an MTV film crew to the scene where masked colleagues waited for them to begin petrol bombing.
It’s also the Crown’s case that McCrory appeared to be in a position of authority amongst the crowd and demonstrated support for the disorder.
Mr Hunt spoke of the context of the film crew being in Derry that day and how they were brought to the scene of the riot that evening.
He said McCrory accompanied them throughout the day and that prior to the riot, when news reached him and the TV crew about the raid on a house in Creggan, McCrory “could not have known about it before it happened”.
Mr Hunt said as the raid unfolded and security personnel arrived at the scene, trouble was anticipated in the area and a crowd had gathered “long before Reggie Yates and his film crew arrived” with McCrory.
He added there was “nothing to be read into the fact” that a masked man spoke to McCrory at the shops.
Mr Hunt said his client lived and was known in the area, was a member of Saoradh and that people with masks “do appear” at scenes of street disorder – but there was no evidence the two men knew each other.
Defence closing speeches are due to continue today.
At what age should a child be held criminally responsible?
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, April 15th, 2026
Given that any child who enters the criminal justice system is more than 50% likely to reoffend within three years, at what point do we accept that prosecution and potential imprisonment is not the answer?
At 10 years old, Northern Ireland has the lowest age of criminal responsibility in Europe. For the majority of Europe the age is 14, and in Azerbaijan it is 16.
In February, Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit called for an amendment to the age of criminal responsibility, saying it should be increased to 16.
The West Belfast MLA said: “Raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 16 is long overdue. This is also in line with both developmental science and international human rights standards.
“Unnecessary criminalisation at such a young age stifles the future opportunities and outcomes of children, pushing many who are already vulnerable into the youth justice system and custody.
“Prison is a failed institution, characterised by harm, violence and hopelessness. It is no place for children, many of whom have already had the worst start in life.
“Rather than criminalisation and imprisonment, a fair and decent society must invest in welfare and restorative justice, giving every child the support they need to fulfil their potential.”
It is an issue that has been debated in the past, but without agreement.
Many years ago, I attended a press conference calling for the introduction of a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland. Part of that would have raised the age of criminal responsibility to 16.
It was predictably met with opposition from those who feel that teenage children should be treated like adults when they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
An example often cited is the two children prosecuted for the murder of James Bulger.
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were 10 when they abducted, tortured and murdered the two-year-old in February 1993.
In June 2001, they were released on life licence and handed new identities protected by a court injunction granting them lifetime anonymity.
Two things can be true at once.
Venables and Thompson needed to be detained for their horrendous crime, but hard cases make bad law.
The majority of young offenders, unlike Venables and Thompson, are a danger to no one but themselves. They are often vulnerable and, prior to offending, have been victims of crime themselves.
In Northern Ireland, we need to consider how we want to treat children who are often coerced or indoctrinated by adults with sinister motives.
During the 2024 race hate riots here, the youngest person arrested was just 11.
The child was charged with possessing petrol bombs in suspicious circumstances, and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place. He was also charged with throwing petrol bombs and causing an explosion.
These are serious charges, but at what point does someone ask why an 11-year-old was on the streets and involved in serious disorder in the first place?
Recent images from a dissident parade in Derry showed young people, some of whom looked of primary school age, holding petrol bombs.
There are those who would look at these images and say they should be locked up and their crimes punished as though they were adults.
But I would argue the opposite. We shouldn't be locking children in cells, but instead looking at the root cause of their offending and asking why.
The Youth Justice Agency deals with child offenders in Northern Ireland. Its statistics show that in 2024-25, there were 2,712 cases where young people came into contact with the criminal justice system. Over 70% were boys.
Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre (JJC) in Bangor houses children aged between 10 and 17 who have received a custodial sentence or are held on remand.
In 2024/25, 2,804 days of custody were provided by the JJC. Of the children held there, 48.4% were in care and 38.9% were subject to a care order. Catholic children are more likely to be locked up than Protestants.
We are failing vulnerable children — failing to protect them from adults who would exploit them.
Children who commit violent crimes can still be detained on protection orders, for the safety of themselves and others, but we need to stop criminalising children who need protection, not punishment.
Locking them up is the easy way out. Helping them escape a cycle of reoffending requires much deeper thinking and a vision of the kind of society we want to live in.
Who will still be left standing after May 7?
ALEX KANE, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
WE’RE just three weeks away from the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and English local council elections on May 7.
And maybe, depending on how bad a night it turns out to be for Labour, just three weeks away from Keir Starmer announcing his resignation.
Right now, he will have a team of number-crunchers calculating the scale of possible catastrophe: a scale that will begin with ‘Phew, that was too close for comfort’ and ending with, to paraphrase Frasier Crane, “Abraham Lincoln had a brighter future when he picked up his tickets at the theatre box office”.
Starmer’s biggest problem, or so it seems to me, is his complete lack of passion.
It’s a problem he shares with David Cameron (still, and by a considerable margin, the worst prime minister in my lifetime).
Passion alone doesn’t make you a great prime minister, of course. Just look at Boris Johnson. But it makes it much easier for you to connect with the different elements of your party’s voting base.
Starmer didn’t do that in the 2024 general election, and he didn’t even manage it afterwards with a thumping majority. The tumbrils are on the way for him, and nobody seems to care – apart from those on his advisory and government payroll.
The Greens and Zach Polanski will also be watched very closely, not least by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who seems to think that electoral success requires nothing more than increasingly absurd photo-stunts and industrial scale jibber-jabber.
The past couple of years should have been perfect storm territory for his party, as both Labour and the Conservatives are falling apart at the seams.
But because he prioritised trivia over hard-nosed politics and deconstruction, he has found himself eclipsed by a leader who isn’t even an MP. Moreover, a leader who is presenting his party as the only way to prevent a Farage government.
‘Stupidly ruthless and ruthlessly stupid’
To be quite honest I no longer care what happens to the Conservative Party. It has morphed into a cross between Fawlty Towers and the Borgias; stupidly ruthless and ruthlessly stupid.
Every piece of credibility was stripped from it between 2016 (Cameron scuttling away) and 2024 (Sunak genuinely believing he could do what John Major did in 1992 and win an election against all the odds).
Kemi Badenoch is both dire and in dire straits. I wonder if, at any point since she became leader, she has actually noticed that almost every problem she points to during her Wednesday showdowns with Starmer can be traced to Conservative governments since 2010.
Sir Keir Starmer reacts to a question from Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch during Prime Minister’s Questions
And, let’s be honest, being duffed up regularly by someone as hapless as Starmer is hardly an advertisement for her supposed abilities.
“ All of the main parties have a lot to prove, and it isn’t just Starmer and Badenoch who will be watching their backs in the early hours of May 8
John Swinney, leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, has surprised a lot of people by putting the party back on its feet after a rough couple of years. It now looks set to form its fifth government – maybe even with an overall majority.
It is also back to the hard sell for a second independence referendum, but getting that would require an increased vote, a convincing overall majority of the votes cast and – the ultimate dream – a remarkably high turnout which gifted them more than 50% of the entire electoral register. But I don’t think that will happen.
Nigel Farage – polling unexpectedly better in Scotland and Wales than seemed likely a few years ago – is hoping for an outcome that utterly spooks the Conservatives and his assorted rivals on the right wing, including Advance UK and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain (which won’t be registered in time to take part in the elections).
Any slippage will embolden them, maybe even to the extent of working on some sort of pre-2029 general election alliance.
Like unionism in Northern Ireland, Farage has the kind of enemies who would tolerate victory for others if it brought him and Reform down to earth with a mighty crash. An outcome which would be welcomed by the Conservatives, too.
All in all, May 7 has the potential to be a genuinely interesting mid-term election.
All of the main parties have a lot to prove, and it isn’t just Starmer and Badenoch who will be watching their backs in the early hours of May 8. So too will Ed Davey and the leaders of the Conservatives and Labour in Scotland and Wales.
Polanski has to prove that the Greens are taken seriously; certainly more seriously in electoral terms than they have been up to now.
By-elections attract enormous attention for the party that wins, but to be taken really seriously a minority party has to win at the elections which follow.
Farage, though, has most to lose. If anything goes wrong for Reform on the night, he will get the blame. He doesn’t like blame.
And he doesn’t like hanging around if he doesn’t continue to smell victory on the wind.
'I'm a politician in my own right': New DUP MLA hits back at misogynists
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, April 15th, 2026
JULIE MIDDLETON VOWS 'TO GIVE 100%' TO CONSTITUENTS AFTER SPOUSE QUIT DUE TO MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES
New DUP MLA Julie Middleton says she isn't “a puppet on a string” for her husband Gary after she was co-opted into his Assembly seat.
The Foyle representative hit out at sexist comments suggesting she didn't deserve to be in Stormont and should be at home looking after her spouse.
She said: “I am a politician in my own right. I was elected to council three years ago and I've loved every single day of it. I never had going to Stormont in my sights, but that is how it has worked out.
“I am my own person. I do things my way. I'm not a puppet on a string for Gary. That's not the dynamic of our relationship. He wouldn't want that.
“Gary is very respectful of me. There are times we completely agree on issues, and other times we talk them through.”
Mr Middleton announced last Thursday that he was quitting the Assembly to deal with significant mental health challenges. His wife was co-opted into his seat on Monday.
“I understand that people question the whole mechanism of co-option,” she said.
“I didn't create it. I didn't draw up the legislation. I didn't plan for this to happen. No family would want to go through what mine has. You don't have a career goal in mind when your husband is unwell.
“But the co-option system exists. I believe I've been co-opted on merit. I would not have taken the seat otherwise because my integrity means the world to me.
“I know what I'm capable of. I know I'm a hard worker. I know what I've achieved for people. I'll be seeking my own mandate in next May's Assembly election. In the meantime, I'll give my constituents 100% as I did on council.”
‘Misogyny and mistruths’
Ms Middleton described some comments online about her co-option as unfair. “There has been misogyny and mistruths from a very small minority. There's a big difference between scrutiny and misogyny, between scrutiny and abuse. A line must be drawn.
“It's not right or fair to say 'Your husband's sick. You should stay at home and watch him 24/7'. That wouldn't do Gary any good.
“I have been in public life for three years. I've supported Gary in his recent challenges and I've supported the kids. It may mean working late and little sleep, but I'm up for that.”
Ms Middleton added: “It's the first time there has been a woman unionist MLA in Foyle. I think it's positive to have such a female voice in the constituency.
“I'm compassionate and a good listener. I love helping people and solving problems. The past few days have been a bit of a whirlwind, but I'm very excited about what lies ahead.”
She said her husband had told her to “go to Stormont and be yourself”.
“On Monday evening, he asked me if I had got on ok, and that was it. We switch off in the house. Ours isn't a political home.”
Ms Middleton said she “valued and appreciated” Sinn Fein MLA Carál Ní Chuilín calling out descriptions of her as “misogynistic and patronising”.
She said it had been extremely difficult for her husband to attend medical appointments as a public figure.
“I went with him every time to the GP and mental health practitioner. When Gary was in the waiting room, everybody knew who he was,” she said.
“Four or five people would come over to talk to him about issues; one or two would give him a look like 'Why aren't you at work?' That was unfair given the amount of hours he put in when incredibly unwell.”
Ms Middleton grew up in Nelson Drive in the Waterside area of the city. Her mother worked in a nursery and her father was a tree surgeon.
She went to university in England and worked in Lancaster as an RE teacher before returning home in 2010.
The Middletons have two children — David (8) and 22-month-old Ellianna.
“I had 10 miscarriages before Ellianna was born. There was never any medical diagnosis.
“It was a very trying time. I decided to go on council because I assumed I couldn't have any more children, and then along came my beautiful daughter.”
PIRA bomb
Ms Middleton's grandfather Cecil Davis was injured in an IRA bomb in 1973 when he was in the RUC traffic branch. The device exploded while he was in a police car with three other officers outside Victoria Barracks. Two of his colleagues were killed in the attack.
“My grandfather was left with little to no hearing. He had a period of amnesia. He still suffers from vertigo and wears hearing aids. Nobody was ever convicted of the attack, and I don't think they ever will be.
“Telling the truth about these incidents is very important to me. I don't believe in rewriting history.”
Ms Middleton said her family's experience wouldn't stop her working with Sinn Fein. “I want to see Northern Ireland succeed and move forward. That means working with everybody. I don't believe in building animosity and mistrust,” she added.
Belfast man found guilty of distributing Britain First hate leaflets loses legal battle
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
A BELFAST man found guilty of distributing Britain First leaflets to stir up hatred has lost a legal battle for permission to challenge his conviction.
Senior judges refused to hear Lee Brown’s case because of delays in bringing it to the Court of Appeal.
Lord Justice Colton said: “The non-compliance with the statutory time limit is irredeemable and as a consequence we are deprived of jurisdiction.”
Brown, with an address at Shore Crescent, was prosecuted over material handed out in Ballymena, Co Antrim to promote a rally by the farright group back in October 2018.
Leaflets distributed to households in the Harryville area claimed people in the town were “furious at the massive influx of gypsy migrants from Eastern Europe”.
The flyers included unsubstantiated allegations about antisocial behaviour, foreign nationals “draining” council resources and local politicians doing nothing.
Brown, 35, was charged with one count of distributing threatening, abusive or insulting written material, with the intention of stirring up hatred or arousing fear.
During police interviews he denied protesting against any migrants or being a member of Britain First, and stated that he carried out some “close protection” duties for its leader Paul Golding.
Defence lawyers warned against criminalising speech, and insisted there was no evidence of any trouble due to the literature.
However, in 2019 Brown was convicted at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court and put on probation for a year.
A County Court judge subsequently upheld the guilty verdict but varied the sentence to a £100 fine.
She initially stated a case for the Court of Appeal to determine if Brown’s conviction was compatible with freedom of expression protected by Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
At that stage the court identified a failure to properly analyse the issue in a complex and developing area of law on hate speech and remitted the case for fresh consideration.
In 2023 the conviction was again upheld, leading to Brown’s representatives beginning a process to state a case for the opinion of Court of Appeal judges.
They were asked if it had been unreasonable both to characterise the term ‘gypsy’ as a racial slur and to affirm Brown’s conviction.
But with a 14-day time limit for the process, the court identified a delay in excess of nine months.
Lord Justice Colton, sitting with the Lady Chief Justice, held that there was no reasonable excuse for the hold-up.
Highlighting how Brown has now been convicted of the offence on three separate occasions, the judge said there was nothing to justify extending the permitted period.
He confirmed: “The legal consequence of non-compliance with the statutory time limit to transmit the case stated to the Court of Appeal is that the court declines to hear the case stated.”
Weapons giant Thales expanding its Co Down site to meet demand for missiles
Belfast Telegraph, April 15th, 2026
A weapons giant that supplies missiles to Ukraine is expanding its operation in Co Down.
French owned Thales currently operates a factory in east Belfast and a test facility in Crossgar.
In March 2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the Belfast plant would supply 5,000 lightweight multirole missiles (LMMs) to Ukraine in a deal worth up to £1.6bn.
He said: “My support for Ukraine is unwavering.
“I am determined to find a way forward that brings an end to Russia's illegal war and guarantees Ukraine a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security.
“I am also clear that national security is economic security.
As well as levelling up Ukraine's air defence, this loan will make working people here in the UK better off, boosting our economy and supporting jobs in Northern Ireland and beyond.
“By doubling down on our support, working closely with key partners, and ensuring Ukraine has a strong voice at the table, I believe we can achieve a strong, lasting deal that delivers a permanent peace in Ukraine.”
Ukraine has already put the LMM missile to use as part of its air defences where it has proven to be effective in protecting civilians and critical infrastructure from Russia's ongoing bombardment.
Thales managing director Nigel MacVean said it would be investing £100m as a result, with the opening of a third site that would create 200 jobs.
Now it has been revealed the additional hub will be at the Crossgar site, close to Downpatrick Road.
A planning application says: “The proposed layout has been developed having regard to the established pattern of development within the wider site and the physical characteristics of the site.
“The unit will be positioned between existing buildings to the north and south and immediately west of the internal access road and adjoining industrial building.”
Plans show two new buildings — they are described as a processing plant and a storage facility.
“The proposed development is located within an established and secure industrial site which is served by perimeter security fencing and CCTV network, together with controlled access arrangements,” it adds.
It comes after the UK Government said it will buy more Thales missiles as a result of the conflict in the Middle East to combat the threat of Iranian drones.
The LMMs manufactured in east Belfast have already proven “highly capable” for air defence in the region, the Ministry of Defence said.
Kyle Paisley slams Trump's blasphemy after 'Jesus' post
ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, April 15th, 2026
CLERIC LASHES OUT DESPITE TWIN BROTHER IAN BEING A GOOD FRIEND OF THE US PRESIDENT
Rev Kyle Paisley has hit out at the “blasphemy of Donald Trump” after the US President posted an AI-generated image depicting him as Jesus.
Trump has since deleted the contentious Truth Social post, which showed him dressed in robes, appearing to heal a sick man on a hospital bed.
It followed a backlash from both sides of the US political spectrum, including some of Trump's most fervent followers.
The post came as the president engaged in a war of words with Pope Leo.
Now Kyle Paisley, son of the late Rev Ian Paisley and twin brother of one of Trump's loudest supporters, the former DUP MP Ian Jnr, has weighed in on the matter.
Trump has claimed that the illustration depicted him as a doctor, not a divine figure.
In a letter to the Belfast Telegraph, however, Mr Paisley accused Trump of acting “unhinged”, saying he “is not a healer. He's more of a wrecker.”
Low key fuel protests across North lead to traffic delays
MARK ROBINSON, Irish News, April 15th, 2026
FUEL protests caused some traffic disruption yesterday after a series of demonstrations were held across Northern Ireland.
Last week, a social media post calling for protests at eight locations from 2pm on April 14 was shared widely online.
An additional call for demonstrations to take place at two junctions outside Newry at the same date and time was also circulated.
Yesterday, the first slow-moving convoy took place on the Sydenham Bypass near Belfast City Airport at around 11.20am – more than two hours before disruption had been expected. The demonstration had not been one of the original 10 which was circulated online.
Police officers were pictured helping to direct traffic and the hard-shoulder was used by some drivers to pass the convoy before it ended at around 1pm.
Prior to Tuesday, there had been calls for any protests to allow space for emergency services to pass.
At 2pm, when some ten protests were anticipated to get underway, there were just two lorries seen taking part in a drive-slow on the Westlink, which was cleared by 2.20pm.
Elsewhere, slow-moving convoys caused disruption at Ballygawley Roundabout in Co Tyrone and Nutts Corner Roundabout in Co Antrim.
There was also disruption at Toome Bridge on the main A6 Belfast to Derry road for a period yesterday afternoon. Later yesterday evening, a large convoy of around 35 tractors and lorries with flashing lights travelled along both lanes of the A1.
Traffic Watch NI
According to TrafficWatchNI, which is operated by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), three tractors also took part in a citybound drive-slow on the Upper Newtownards Road at 2.40pm and a protest on the citybound M2 briefly took place between Hill Section and the Greencastle junction from 2.10pm until 2.20pm.
There were no signs of demonstrations at Larne Harbour, which had been identified as one of the locations for protests ahead of yesterday. Similarly, protests at Newry did not appear to materialise.
Demonstrations in the north were relatively short-lived and smaller in size than their southern counterparts.
Ballygowan farmer Sam Hanna was joined by his border collie Roy in the cab of one of the lead tractors in the protest on the Sydenham bypass in Belfast, and he said the protest “isn’t about farmers”.
“This is extortionate what we’re getting charged in taxes throughout life – not just fuel, petrol, everything, we’re being extorted,” he said.
He added: “Technically, it’s not us that’s blocking the hard shoulder. We have kept the hard shoulder open. The cars are underpassing the whole way, the police are sitting watching them underpass.
“It’s the cars that are blocking the hard shoulder. There was a couple of emergency vehicles went down, there’s a few there coming, and we pulled over straight away.”
He described the rising price of fuel as the “final nail in the coffin”.
“The south have got 505 million out of it, to the farmers and all,” he said.
“It’s probably a few pounds per litre, but it’s still money getting back, and it’s only figures on a page for them boys, they’re not living in the real world like us and trying to scrimp and scrape. Nobody has savings nowadays. Any money you get it’s to keep you going and keep things ticking over and just joining the dots.”
Mr Hanna further stated: “The UK Government have to act and realistically what we’re doing here, they don’t care what we’re doing. They don’t give a damn about us here and that will show in their response.”
Last week, they disrupted fuel supplies, port operations and caused traffic chaos in Dublin and on motorways across the Republic. Smaller protests continued on motorways around Dublin on Monday.
A no-confidence vote was arranged in the Dáil over the government’s handling of the fuel protests.
In the Republic, the protests have called for a cap on kerosene and diesel as well as the interim removal of carbon tax and excise duty. Fuel duties in Northern Ireland are reserved matters for the UK Government and are not controlled by the Executive.
