Does PSNI turn blind eye to crime in marching season?

No amount of ‘copagranda’ can mask fact that PSNI turns blind eye to crime in marching season

John Laverty, Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

 I'm delighted that Stephen Nolan's doing a second series of Peelers: The PSNI for Real. The first one was both entertaining and enlightening, and lived up to Nolan's promise that it would show the “human side” of policing here.

Some have dismissed it as mere “copaganda” for the PSNI, but the disturbing scenes of what appeared to be heavy-handedness deployed against vulnerable street druggies would suggest otherwise.

In hindsight, the uniformed officers might have done some things differently, and the same applies to the six-part series itself.

Yes, it did a fine job highlighting those people who, unlike the rest of us, rush towards danger and not away from it.

Remove the Norn Iron accents and the words “PSNI” and “Belfast”, however, and this could have been about any similar-sized city or town in the UK or Ireland.

Drug addicts, drunk and disorderly revellers, dangerous e-bikers, “diffing” and casual racism; cops confront this sort of stuff every day in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol and Ballyshannon, not just Belfast.

Unique challenge

What I wanted to see more of was the thing that makes the PSNI unique — dealing with the sectarian landscape. Although that side of things has improved significantly since the pre-Good Friday Agreement days, Northern Ireland still has less public support for its police force than elsewhere in the UK.

It's also the only force compelled to endure ongoing public and political surveillance of Protestant/Catholic recruitment and, consequently, its recurring inability to get anywhere near the magical 50-50 percentage figure.

Furthermore — and perhaps more pertinently — it's the only force compelled to “turn a blind eye” to widespread criminality during a certain part of the year.

We're talking about what happens during the so-called “marching season”, although the marches themselves — up to 3,000 of them, mostly but not exclusively on the unionist side — are rarely (notwithstanding traditional “flashpoints”) blighted by serious trouble.

No, the focus today is on the erection of paramilitary flags and bonfire construction.

You could set your watch by this yearly bout of serious law-breaking — exemplified last week when UDA banners appeared on lampposts in east Belfast to widespread complaints — three months after the PSNI issued new guidance to officers about removal of such material.

Clarity

As Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said at the time: “We're really clear that when it comes to the display of any material that constitutes an offence, the PSNI has a clear obligation to act.”

Let's see how “really clear” this guidance is acted upon from now until the end of August.

Less contentious are the bonfires which, quite rightly, are bastions of community pride and no one would want to interfere with that.

The best ones are lovingly, impressively and meticulously constructed using mostly white pallets donated by or bought from local businesses — but there's no getting round the fact that the higher quality blue and red ones are stolen property.

Ironically, Nolan brought this topic up recently — and wasn't shy about pointing an accusing finger at the police for failing to act on it.

In case you're unaware, the blue pallets are owned by a company called CHEP (Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool) which doesn't make them available for sale, only rental. So how come thousands of these things are ending up as firewood every summer?

CHEP told the Belfast Telegraph in April that it's well aware its pallets are used for bonfires here, and appealed to organisers not to use (or indeed burn) their “legal property”.

It's a similar tale with the red ones owned by French firm LPR (La Palette Rouge), which also operates a strict hire-and-return policy.

And, of course, no one can claim that the PSNI hierarchy aren't aware of this because CHEP officials have met with them to discuss it!

Knock

This prompted the following statement from Knock HQ: “Police are taking a multi-agency approach, working alongside stakeholders and other agencies in relation to bonfires and associated community and public safety concerns. This work may include reports of pallet theft. As with all types of theft reports, police will take steps, with stakeholders where appropriate, to prevent crime and deter offending.”

The phrase “where appropriate” is doing a lot of heavy lifting here for our hardworking, underappreciated, understaffed peelers who have better things to spend their time on than tracking down square platforms of blue or red-tinted wood.

They also have to consider the risk of inciting serious community tension by removing flegs and bonfire material, hence the obvious temptation to overlook sophisticated criminal activity (involving sourcing, industrial scale theft, transport and collection) for the sake of community self-regulation and, frankly, a quiet life.

Also, what “concerned resident” is prepared to pass on to authorities the registration numbers of clandestine, pallet-bearing lorries?

This is one of those stories us media types describe as a hardy annual, but that's the point; lack of law enforcement isn't copaganda, it's part of the “tradition”.

DUP urges the Parades Commission to block a march for Palestine

CONOR COYLE, Irish News, May 28th, 2026

DUP MLAs met with the Parades Commission yesterday to express their opposition to a Palestine solidarity march which goes through a predominantly unionist village.

The party has warned of a repeat of disorder which took place last year, in which four people were arrested at an unnotified counter-protest in the village of Scarva.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Lurgan branch has organised the 25-mile ‘Great March for Gaza and International Justice’ walk from Lurgan to Newry, a large part of which takes place on the Newry Canal towpath. Part of the towpath goes through the Co Down village, and saw unnotified counter-protests held last year.

Up to 1500 people are expected to take part in the march from Lurgan to Newry on June 6.

There was a large police presence as dozens of protesters gathered in Scarva last year, as a similar IPSC-organised march passed through the area.

Lurgan IPSC have said the planned march “is a peaceful, community-led” march which is “not a divisive green and orange issue”.

DUP MLAs Diane Dodds, Jonathan Buckley and Diane Forsythe all met with the Parades Commission on Tuesday, which has marked the parade and the counter protest as “sensitive” and is due to make a decision on whether they can proceed lawfully as planned.

Village residents oppose ‘overtly political demonstration’

The representatives claimed the route for the march “has been deliberately chosen to provoke tensions within a quiet rural community which neither supports nor welcomes it”.

“People understand and respect the role of lawful and established cultural events within community life,” the statement said.

“However, there is understandable anger when an overtly political demonstration is brought into an area despite clear local opposition and after the scenes witnessed previously.

“There is widespread concern that the same tensions and disruption could again arise if this parade is permitted to proceed.

“Residents are entitled to go about their daily lives without unnecessary disruption from what is widely viewed as a deliberately provocative parade which serves no legitimate purpose within the area.”

Arrests

Four men were arrested in the Co Down village last year following what the PSNI described as “minor disorder”.

Marchers were met along the route at points by counter-protesters carrying Israeli flags.

A heavy police presence was visible at points where counter-protestors had gathered, including Bleary outside Craigavon, and Scarva, where the four arrests were made.

A group calling itself Scarva Concerned Residents signalled earlier this month it would hold a protest during the march to oppose what it calls a “republican pro-Gaza parade”.

Scarva Concerned Residents notified the Parades Commission of its intention to hold a protest during the Palestinian support march. The counter-protest has also been marked ‘sensitive’.

Flyers circulated on social media state “Scarva rejects republican propaganda” and “our village our choice”.

A loyalist band from Markethill in Co Armagh has also organised a “sponsored walk” along the towpath from Scarva to Portadown, which will pass in the opposite direction to the pro-Palestinian march at around the same time. It has also been marked as “sensitive” by the Parades Commission.

COMMENT:

Several DUP politicians meet with the Parades commission over a Palestine march yet don’t support victims in the courts or for public inquiries.

Have the same politicians ever accompanied victims  seeking justice?

The marchers don’t protest over the murders by Hamas on 7th October.

The DUP want special protection for veterans regarding murders they were alleged to be connected to. Why?

Why can the justice system not apply to Veterans in the same way as murders carried out by civilians? Use the same process.

A hierarchy is being created at the behest of politicians and paramilitaries. On the run letters, Queens Pardons and amnesties and special treatment for veterans. Won't leave too many to prosecute.

The hypocrisy and double standards by our biggest parties is sickening. Two Unionist leaders at Stormont without a vote between them and Sinn Fein politicians who won't take their seats at Westminster, although the grants and expenses come in handy says it all about our fantastic democracy.

It doesn't exit or deliver for the people. Is this what the people of the 26 counties/Ireland want to join into?

It’s ok to wave a Palestine flag, but not a union Jack or Tricolour. Sinn Fein calls out Israel on Palestine/Gaza but it slips their minds over Hamas and Hezbollah murders of Israelis. DUP visits Israel, supporting them, but the IDF murders of civilians slips its mind.

What a lovely bunch of caring tolerant non-partisan independent politicians we have here - With  one motto, " Its the fault of the other ones, not us!!"

God help Ireland/Ulster, Northern Ireland or whatever name our politicians use to stay on the gravy train. Who's wiping Who's eye?

Raymond McCord, Victims campaigner

‘Underestimation and denial’ of extent of racism in Northern Ireland

REBECCA BLACK, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, May 28th, 2026

There is an underestimation, and denial by some, of the extent of racism in Northern Ireland, a Stormont committee has heard.

It comes after police figures indicated that 2025 saw the highest numbers of racist incidents in the region since records began in 2004.

The year saw 2,048 racist incidents and 1,280 race hate crimes, including significant race-related disorder in Ballymena, Co Antrim.

Graffiti that has been condemned as “hate-filled” appeared on shop shutters in Newtownabbey only yesterday morning.

The writing appeared on the front of a shop in the Abbots Cross area, which is beside a local primary school.

The PSNI has confirmed it is treating the incident as a hate crime.

The area has a history of anti-immigration incidents. Earlier in the month, graffiti saying “evict locals at your own risk” appeared in Rathcoole.

At Stormont yesterday, the Executive Office scrutiny committee heard views that the proposed race relations strategy and delivery plan does not do enough.

‘Honest acknowledgement’

Fidelma Fearon of Minority and Ethnic Support in Armagh told MLAs that addressing issues must start with an “honest acknowledgement”.

“There is a concern from the people that I have talked to that Northern Ireland continues to underestimate and at times deny the true extent and impact of racism experienced by the minority ethnic communities,” she told MLAs.

“Any credible framework must begin with an honest acknowledgement of the state of the issue and the urgent need for systematic action.”

She said the Draft Framework Race Relations and Delivery Plan 2026-2028 does not address the harm already inflicted.

“There is a concern that the draft framework for race relations does not adequately address restorative or reparative justice for minority ethnic communities who have experienced racism, exclusion, intimidation and systematic inequality over years,” she told MLAs.

“While the framework focuses on relationship building and cohesion, it does little to acknowledge or repair the harm already experienced by affected communities.”

She also criticised “broad and insufficiently defined” outcomes and an absence of clear targets.

“There is significant concern also regarding the continued absence of modern and robust race equality and hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland, existing legislative protections and policy approaches are widely viewed as outdated and insufficient to address the realities of modern racism, online hate discrimination and community intimidation experienced by the minority ethnic communities today,” she said.

‘More urgent response required’

“They feel government has a duty not just to promote good relations but to actively intervene where racism and discrimination and inequality persist. A stronger and a more urgent response is required.”

Liz Griffith of the Law Centre (NI) questioned the use of terminology.

“The concept of racial equality has a meaning in international law, a really clear meaning that puts precise legal obligations on states and government departments, and in contrast the concept race relations doesn't bring that same clarity,” she said.

“We would say that this document needs reconfigured and it needs to be a racial equality strategy.”

She also questioned the “silence” on the relationship between racial equality and emigration.

“We would also think that the department needs to grapple with the links between anti-immigration movements, the far right and racist violence,” she said.

“It has really shied away from all of these issues.”

Lili Wu, managing director of the Chinese Welfare Association, raised concern at the levels of race hate crime, and also warned that some incidents are not reported to police due to factors such as language barriers and lack of awareness on how to report. She said they have received reports of harassment and discrimination in daily life, and that some Chinese children are subjected to racist bullying at school.

She said more should be done to improve public trust in the hate crime reporting process, as well as stronger anti-racism education, public awareness campaigns and initiatives to promote understanding, respect and social cohesion.

Play park damaged by prematurely lit bonfire

ABDULLAH SABRI, Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

COUNCILLORS HAVE SLAMMED THE 'UNACCEPTABLE' VANDALISM AFTER CONCERNS WERE RAISED OVER THE PYRE EARLIER THIS MONTH

Damage caused by a bonfire built on a playground in east Belfast has been branded “unacceptable” by local councillors.

The Belfast Telegraph had previously reported concerns from locals and elected officials on the potential damage the pyre could cause.

It has since been lit, causing significant burn damage to the surface of Skipper Street play park, located a short walk from the Connswater area.

It's understood the pyre was lit last Thursday evening.

The Alliance party's Jenna Maghie, who warned of the bonfire's risks earlier this month, expressed her frustration at the “deliberate destruction” of the park.

The Ormiston councillor said that the costs to mend damages will come at the ratepayers' expense.

“It's extremely frustrating to see the deliberate destruction of a Belfast City Council play park,” she said.

“This park is an important community resource that should be accessible to families and children.

“It is unacceptable that the park will now need to be closed for an extended period, and that council maintenance funds will now have to be used for its restoration.

“This is ratepayers' money that could be better spent on replacing parks that genuinely need attention.

“Those responsible for the damage to the park have shown a complete disregard for public facilities, ratepayer funding, and the impact their actions have on the community and future generations.

“Everyone has the right to celebrate their culture, but this must always be done in a safe, respectful and legal manner.”

Collateral damage

When this newspaper spoke to locals earlier this month, most of them were not aware the bonfire was being built in their area.

One pensioner raised concerns with it being in close proximity to the park.

“Because it means the park is going to be destroyed too,” she said. “I didn't know anything about it as well. It will wreck the park. It's alright if it had been outside of the park — not inside.”

One young mother said she wasn't aware the beacon was being built, but had no issue with it, highlighting that festivities around the Eleventh Night can be family-friendly.

She said: “If it's something that the kids are all doing, it's getting them involved in something, it's good for them in that sort of way,

“As long as they have like a wee barbecue and sweets and crisps — they love it.”

Another local woman, who was also unaware of the bonfire, feared it could be dangerous being “too close to the park”.

A Belfast City Council (BCC) spokesperson said an assessment of the cost of damage has not been made.

The play park was closed at an earlier date this year due to vandalism.

The spokesperson said: “We have temporarily closed our Skipper Street playground due to fire damage to the soft surface area.

“Signage is in place to inform the public.

“We are also aware of bonfire material being collected nearby on our land.

“We continue to engage with elected representatives and community representatives to minimise any potential negative impact of bonfires on local residents, businesses, customers and property.”

Prejudice towards LGBT+ community growing: Cumming

LYNN RUSK, Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

Alan Cumming said he feels prejudice towards the LGBT+ community has become increasingly palpable in recent years.

The Scottish actor stars in Russell T Davies's new Channel 4 drama Tip Toe, which explores the dangers and prejudice facing LGBT+ people today.

The 61-year-old actor and presenter, known for Cabaret and hosting the US version of The Traitors, said he has experienced significant hatred directed at him on social media. “I do feel it quite palpably at times,” he said.

“I live in a very privileged, liberal queer bubble, of course, but sticking your head above the parapet to shout things means that I feel the hatred, or certainly I see it on my phone, towards myself.

“In my real life, thankfully, I don't encounter much of it.”

Cumming, who owns a gay bar and club in New York, said his staff have also noticed a shift.

“Even in New York, which is very much a liberal bubble, I've noticed things shifting,” he said.

“In my club, the young people working there are talking about feeling more anxious about taking the subway and going about their lives.”

In Tip Toe, Cumming plays Leo, the owner of a bar in Manchester's Gay Village who becomes embroiled in a feud with his troubled next-door neighbour, played by David Morrissey.

The series explores mob mentality and the most corrosive forces facing LGBT+ people today.

“It was interesting to explore all of that in a way that isn't sensationalist for the sake of it, though it is sensational, and rightly so, but also nuanced,” he said.

“What I loved was how flawed the character is, how broken he is underneath it all.

“He's very lonely and fragile, even though he presents with bravado.

“I also loved that he is HIV positive, and that it only really comes out through his anger at how people with HIV/Aids are treated.

“And it felt like the perfect time in my life to do it, it really was a convergence of many things.”

Are Sinn Féin's Stormont failures or down to incompetence'

JON BURROWS, Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

PLATFORM

Sinn Féin are having a moment — and it is not a good one. Their leadership, and many allies in the commentator circuit, increasingly sound like people suffering a crisis of confidence.

The political project they promised voters has stalled. In 1998, Sinn Féin promised a united Ireland by 2016. That date came and went. Since then, there have been repeated predictions that Irish unity is “inevitable” or “within touching distance”. However, constitutional change is no closer than it was 28 years ago.

The legal threshold for a border poll under the Belfast Agreement is nowhere near being met. There is no momentum for Irish unity here, nor is it a priority issue for most voters in the Republic.

Some commentators in Dublin now argue that Sinn Féin's obsession with constitutional politics is why they are struggling to convince southern voters they are ready for government. At a time when people are worried about housing, healthcare, childcare, energy and access to public services, Sinn Féin continue to make Irish unity their defining priority. The recent by-election results in Dublin and Galway underline the point.

That disconnect is becoming increasingly obvious in Northern Ireland, too. Many voters — including Sinn Féin's own — look at Stormont and their ministers' failure to deliver meaningful progress on the issues that affect daily life.

The question increasingly being asked is this: is Sinn Féin's failure to govern effectively deliberate, or are they simply incapable of delivering? For a long time, I believed it was strategic. I increasingly fear it is incompetence.

Sinn Féin are the largest party in the Assembly. They control some of the most powerful departments in Stormont, including finance, economy and infrastructure. Yet, despite these levers of power, their record on delivery is remarkably poor.

Take the economy.

For years, Sinn Féin championed the harmonisation of corporation tax with the Republic — a policy first advanced by the Ulster Unionist Party because we understood the need to grow Northern Ireland's private sector.

Today, Sinn Féin barely mentions it. Instead, their focus has shifted toward a trade union-inspired “Good Jobs Bill” which businesses warn could damage investment and job creation. Their proposed rates revaluation was disastrous for our hospitality sector and led to a U-turn.

Then there is infrastructure. Our roads are littered with potholes, perhaps the most visible manifestation of ministerial failure. Man walked on the moon in 1969, but Sinn Féin cannot deliver decent roads in 2026.

More than £150m has been spent on the A5 without a single metre of tarmac being laid. The project has become entangled in legal difficulties linked to climate legislation Sinn Féin championed. Scotland adapted its legislation to allow major infrastructure projects to proceed, only in the last weeks has Sinn Féin indicated they would countenance adapting the Climate Change Act.

The same pattern exists with housing. Northern Ireland faces a chronic shortage of social and private homes. One major reason is the failure to upgrade waste-water infrastructure, leaving around 100 areas unable to support development. The consequences are soaring rents, rising house prices, and young people unable to get onto the housing ladder. Businesses are also held back because they can't access water.

Again, Sinn Féin control the department responsible and there is no urgency or delivery.

Casement Park is another example. It should be built, but public investment must be fair and equitable across all sports. It cannot be right that one sporting project receives disproportionate funding while facilities across football, rugby and grassroots community sport continue to struggle. Equality must mean fairness for everyone.

Against this backdrop, there are growing fears that Sinn Féin may once again manufacture a political crisis and walk away from government altogether.

That must not happen. The collapse of Stormont should now be permanently off the table for every party. No matter how frustrated anyone becomes, collapsing our institutions cannot continue to be treated as an acceptable political tactic. Stormont is not perfect. It has over-promised and under-delivered. The institutions were originally designed to “exist, not excel” — to maintain stability after conflict rather than maximise governmental effectiveness. But Northern Ireland has changed. Society has changed. Expectations have changed.

Reforming Stormont

That is why the Ulster Unionist Party is advocating reform to make Stormont more effective, efficient and accountable. Our people deserve better delivery, not more managed decline. We are the only unionist party to favour operational reform, but with the preservation of cross-community protections.

That means ministers being held accountable for outcomes. It means faster decision-making. It means ending the culture where parties blame everyone else while avoiding responsibility themselves. Most importantly, it means recognising that stable government is a democratic necessity, not an optional extra. The response to political frustration cannot be to collapse the institutions every decade and walk away.

We all know the journey that brought Northern Ireland to this point has not been easy. Compromises were made to secure peace. As much as I scrutinise Sinn Féin's performance and condemn their eulogising of past violence, I do recognise they have moved significantly in recent decades. But the one thing we should never compromise on now is having government and striving for better governance.

Those who want to collapse our devolved government threaten public services, investment, stability and community confidence.

Northern Ireland needs leadership and competence. It needs ministers who solve problems rather than create them. It needs parties prepared to work together in the interests of the people we serve.

If Sinn Féin want to convince voters in the Republic that they can govern Ireland, they must first demonstrate that they can govern effectively in Northern Ireland. To date, they are failing.

We are one year away from another Assembly election and the formation of a new Executive. There is still important work to do in this mandate.

The Ulster Unionist Party will continue to provide constructive and principled leadership, regardless of the challenges ahead.

The electorate will judge every party next May. But before then, all of us should focus on finishing this Assembly term with meaningful progress — because whatever our political differences, our people deserve no less.

Jon Burrows is leader of the Ulster Unionist Party

Down man wins case for state payments after IRA punishment-style shooting

ALAN ERWIN, Irish News and  Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

A CO Down man exiled with his family after an IRA punishment-style shooting was unlawfully refused a victim’s payment, a High Court judge has ruled.

Mr Justice Scoffield identified a legal error in the decision to deny compensation to both Peter McCabe and his daughter Jeanitta who witnessed the aftermath of the attack on him.

He also backed their joint challenge to the qualifying guidance for payouts under a scheme for Troubles Related Incidents (TRIs).

Both compensation applications should now be redetermined by a Victims’ Payments Board panel, the judge directed.

Mr McCabe was shot in the leg after masked men entered the family’s home in Newry in September 1990.

A second round was fired at him but deflected off a typewriter he had lifted to shield himself.

The gunmen declared that they were from the IRA and told him he had 24 hours to leave Ireland, the court was told.

Mr McCabe stated he feared being killed if he disobeyed and relocated with his family to Britain.

They lived in exile at bed and breakfast houses throughout England and Scotland before returning to Northern Ireland five years later.

In 2021, Mr McCabe applied to the Troubles Permanent Disability Payment Scheme – set up to provide financial support for those living with physical or psychological injuries sustained as a result of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

His daughter Jeanitta also sought a pay-out for the trauma she suffered as a 10-year-old child present at the scene of the shooting.

The Victims’ Payments Board, which oversees the scheme, turned down both applications on the basis it was not established to be a TRI as defined by the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019.

Under its guidance, punishment attacks carried out by paramilitary vigilantes may be ineligible for payments if the incidents are not related to the region’s constitutional status or political/sectarian hostility.

Hierarchy of punishment

The McCabe family challenged the refusal of payments by claiming the Board wrongly interpreted what qualifies as a TRI and created a “hierarchy” of punishment.

Their lawyers argued it had unlawfully focused on finding a single reason for the shooting incident.

Counsel for the Board responded that the father and daughter were deemed ineligible after assessing all available evidence against the relevant legal provisions.

However, Mr Justice Scoffield held that the panel who refused compensation wrongly sought to identify one motivation for the attack on Mr McCabe.

“Those who perpetrated such acts during the Troubles, or were pressured into doing so, did not always have single or clearly defined reasons,” the judge said.

He found the policy guidance wrongly indicated paramilitary-style attacks on individuals perceived to be engaged in anti-social behaviour or crime should not be regarded as meeting the definition of a TRI.

“That statement is too absolute to represent an accurate reflection of the statutory test discussed above,” he said.

“A material reason may be to further the terrorist organisation’s operations in a variety of ways as part of its campaign related to the constitutional status of Northern Ireland or political or sectarian hostility.

“In such cases, it is quite possible that a vigilante-style paramilitary attack could be a qualifying TRI.”

Quashing the refusal of victims payments to the father and daughter, Mr Justice Scoffield confirmed: “The decisions will be remitted to an appeal panel of the Board for further determination in accordance with the judgment of the court.”

However, the judge also cited Mr McCabe’s previous criminal record and a rule which potentially denies a victim’s payment to those with relevant convictions.

He added: “If the Board is satisfied on further consideration that, on the balance of probabilities, the incident giving rise to the applicants’ injuries was a TRI, it may then have to turn its mind to (that) regulation.”

SF press officer who quit over paedophile reference now working for Falls Community Council

JOHN MANLEY, Irish News, May 28th, 2026

THE senior Sinn Féin press officer who resigned after providing an employment reference for a suspected paedophile is now working for a west Belfast community group where his brother is a director.

Seán Mag Uidhir, the party’s former head of communications at Stormont, quit his post on the eve of Sinn Féin’s 2024 ard fheis after it emerged that he wrote a reference for former colleague Michael Mc-Monagle, who was later convicted of sex offences.

Fellow press officer Caolán McGinley, who once headed Sinn Féin’s youth wing in Derry, also quit the party over the controversy in September 2024. Mr McMonagle went on to secure a job with the British Heart Foundation before being found guilty on 14 charges, including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced to nine months in custody and a further nine months on licence.

Sinn Féin said the references had been provided without clearance from party officials.

Mr Mag Uidhir and Mr McGinley quit their posts before an internal investigation was concluded.

It has now emerged that Mr Mag Uidhir secured a job with Falls Community Council last year.

He is currently employed as heritage outreach and engagement co-ordinator for the exhibition ‘The Falls: Where the Troubles Began’ at St Comgall’s – Ionad Eileen Howell, a refurbished former primary school on Divis Street.

Mr Mag Uidhir’s brother, former IRA prisoner Harry Maguire, is a director of Falls Community Council.

After The Irish News contacted both Mr Mag Uidhir and Falls Community Council in relation to the former press officer’s appointment in autumn last year, a response was issued through a solicitor.

His solicitor Padraig Ó Muírígh said in a statement: “I am instructed by my client that Sean Mag Uidhir is currently employed as a Heritage Outreach and Engagement Co-Ordinator for the exhibition ‘The Falls Where the Troubles Began’.

“I am further instructed that Mr Mag Uidhir was recruited after an open and transparent recruitment process. Harry Maguire (Director) had no role in that recruitment process.”

The former Sinn Féin press officer, who once edited the North Belfast News, has appeared in social media posts promoting the exhibition looking at the early days of the conflict.

In newspaper coverage of The Falls – Where the Troubles Began launch last year, Mr Mag Uidhir described the exhibition as “powerful” and “an authentic experience”.

Donaldson subjected children to ‘traumatic incidents’, court hears

JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, May 28th, 2026

TWO women who accused Jeffrey Donaldson of sexually abusing them claim the former DUP leader subjected them to “difficult and traumatic incidents” when they were children, his trial has heard.

The prosecution case against Donaldson has been set out for the jury at Newry Crown Court.

The former MP is accused of rape and several counts of gross indecency and of indecent assault.

Donaldson, 63, has pleaded not guilty to the 18 alleged offences.

The charges span a time period between 1985 and 2008 involving two alleged victims.

Donaldson’s wife Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending. She is facing a trial of the facts.

Jeffrey Donaldson, wearing a blue suit, stood in the dock with his hands joined as the charges against him and his wife were read to the jury of seven men and five women.

Summary of evidence

Barrister Rosemary Walsh KC opened the prosecution case by summarising the evidence.

She told the jury they would hear evidence from witnesses as well as police interviews carried out with the Donaldsons at the time of their arrest in 2024.

Ms Walsh said two complainants had come forward to police more than two years ago and reported “difficult and traumatic incidents they say happened when they were children”.

She said the evidence of the two complainants would in part be delivered during the trial by pre-recorded interviews. She said they would be cross-examined by barristers but would not come into the court.

Ms Walsh said that in March 2024 Complainant B told police that she had been sexually abused when she was a child and that she remembered two incidents “vividly”.

Court told Donaldson apologised to complainant ‘for what had happened in the past’

In the first alleged incident, she told the police that Jeffrey Donaldson had put his hands down her underwear, pulled her legs apart and then sexually assaulted her.

In the second incident she told police that Donaldson had lifted her top and started to touch her breasts.

Ms Walsh said Complainant B had said there were other incidents and that Donaldson had put his hands down her pants “a lot”.

The barrister told the jury that Complainant B had later been at a meeting with Donaldson at a Christian centre and he had “apologised to her for what had happened in the past”.

Ms Walsh then turned to the evidence that would be presented during the trial by Complainant A.

Complainant A also made a statement to police in March 2024.

She alleged that Donaldson touched her on a number of occasions under her top when she was a child.

She told police that touching her had become something he had “done quite often”.

She told police that Donaldson would make comments about her appearance, including the size of her breasts.

She recalled one incident where she claimed that Donaldson had been “looking at her private parts”.

The jury was told that the Donaldsons had been arrested on March 28, 2024 and were subject to a number of police interviews.

In Jeffrey Donaldson’s interview, when Complainant B’s account was put to him, he said it was “unbelievable” that he would have touched her in a sexual way.

Regarding Complainant A, he denied that he ever rubbed her breast.

Eleanor Donaldson

Eleanor Donaldson is facing a trial of the facts, not a criminal trial, after Judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds.

The trial of the facts will test the evidence in the case but cannot result in a criminal conviction.

It is being heard by the same jury, with proceedings against both Donaldsons running simultaneously as part of one overall trial process presided over by Judge Ramsey.

The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks.

Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.

He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.

Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions.

Opening statements heard in stifling heat as former DUP leader comes under spotlight

MARK ROBINSON, Irish News, May 28th, 2026

THE one-time leader of the DUP sat in courtroom one at Newry Crown Court yesterday flanked by two prison officials.

Jeffrey Donaldson wore a suit and tie, as he did when he was a high profile political figure, but this scene was a far cry from his previous life.

The sweltering heat of the May heatwave made for an oppressive atmosphere as the prosecution case against Donaldson, and his wife Eleanor, was opened amid an anticipation that had been mounting for months.

An overview of the alleged crimes, the charges in full, and a summary of what Jeffrey Donaldson told police in his initial interview were among the details which emerged from the prosecution’s opening statement.

Back before Newry Crown Court, a long list of 18 charges against the long-standing unionist politician were read out. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Donaldson, standing with his hands in front and court staff on either side of him, looked straight ahead as they were read out to the court.

Inside an increasingly warm courtroom one, prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh KC then addressed the 12-person jury, consisting of five women and seven men, by telling them that she was going to provide them with “an overview” about “what this case is about”.

The proceedings, however, in keeping with the nature of the case to date, were delayed.

Having initially been set to start yesterday morning, due to legal submissions, this ended up being pushed back to 2pm.

When she got around to delivering her opening statement, Ms Walsh and her counterparts were noticeably without their wigs and cloaks – something which she pointed out to the jury.

Judge Paul Ramsey, in recognition of the heat in the stuffy courtroom, had granted them permission not to wear them.

‘A lot’ to get through

And in keeping with this, she informed the jury that if they should need any breaks, they were to let the court know – as there was a “a lot” for her to get through. And there was.

In presenting a summary of the evidence which is expected to be heard in the trial, Ms Walsh reminded the jury that what she was saying in her statement was not evidence itself.

Rather, they would need to take the evidence when it is presented to them in the days and weeks ahead.

She informed the jurors that the two complainants, who are both female, will be giving evidence of events that they say occurred when they were children.

As such, she said they will “not always have full or complete” recollections of the alleged events, as they are childhood memories.

She noted, however, that some elements are remembered “very vividly”.

The first part of their evidence will be presented to the court in a pre-recorded statement, known as ‘achieving best evidence’, or ABE, and they will then be questioned by the prosecution and the defence.

As Ms Walsh proceeded to inform the jury of a summary of the alleged offences against the complainants, known as witnesses A and B, Donaldson could be seen taking notes.

Details of the offences which are alleged to have been committed against witness B were read first to the court, before later moving on to witness A.

The trial was told that both women had approached the police with the historical offence allegations in early 2024, with both Jeffrey and Eleanor Donaldson questioned in March of that year.

Summaries of their initial interviews were also included in Ms Walsh’s statement, which will be revisited later in the trial.

She noted that they had both responded to all questions put to them and that they had denied the offences.

Eleanor Donaldson, who will face a ‘trial of the facts’ alongside her husband’s criminal trial, was absent from court yesterday and will remain so throughout after being ruled unfit to stand trial.

She cannot be found guilty, but instead the jury must decide if she ‘did do the acts’ or is not guilty.

Eleanor had been charged with aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged crimes, which she has denied.

The full list of charges, and what the jury will need to consider for each in order to come to a conclusion, was then also read out and related to the incidents which had been described in Ms Walsh’s summary of the evidence.

With the heat increasing throughout the afternoon, opening statements drew to a close at 4.20pm.

The judge, following the end of the prosecution’s opening, reminded the jury that it was a “preview” of what is to come in the trial, and is not evidence itself.

“The evidence starts tomorrow,” he said.

Donaldson apologised to one of his alleged victims at church retreat in mid-90s, trial hears

ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, May 28th, 2026

JURORS ALSO TOLD SECOND COMPLAINANT WROTE TO TWO DEFENDANTS ABOUT SECRET 'SHE HAD TO KEEP'

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson apologised to one of his alleged victims at a church retreat in the mid-1990s, a court heard yesterday.

Donaldson (63) has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged historical sex offence charges dating from 1985 to 2008.

The former MP arrived at Newry Crown Court at around 9.15am with his solicitor John McBurney.

His wife Eleanor Donaldson is charged with aiding and abetting. She will not be in court and is facing a trial of the facts, after the trial judge Paul Ramsey ruled she was medically unfit to stand trial.

There are two female complainants, Witness A and Witness B.

A jury of seven men and five women were brought into the court just after 2pm.

Due to the heat in the court, the judge made the unusual decision of allowing legal counsel to remove their wigs and gowns in court.

They were introduced as Ian Turkington KC on behalf of Eleanor Donaldson, with Kieran Vaughan KC representing Jeffrey Donaldson.

Rosemary Walsh KC opened the prosecution case by explaining to the jury what they could expect during the trial.

She told the jury they will hear the police interviews with both defendants taken at the time of their arrests.

ABE interviews

She said the two witnesses had stepped forward and reported “difficult and traumatic incidents” they alleged happened to them when they were much younger and that their “achieving best evidence (ABE)” interviews would be shown to the jury.

Ms Walsh said that after the pre-recorded ABE interviews are played to the jury, the women would then answer questions from both the prosecution and defence.

She said Witness B claimed she was sexually abused by Jeffrey Donaldson, claiming the defendant would put his hand in her pants “a lot”. Jurors heard the witness alleged there are two incidents she remembered “vividly”.

The first was an incident prior to starting secondary school.

She told police she remembers he touched her chest and put his fingers inside her genitals and then pushed her feet apart and sexually assaulted her.

She claimed she couldn't sleep and that the next morning she “felt sick”.

The second incident she said was at a different location and that after going to get something she was followed by the defendant who, she said, pulled her top up and felt her breasts.

She claimed that Eleanor Donaldson walked in and then walked away, closing the door behind her.

Apology

As a teenager it was said Witness B became involved in drugs and was sent to a Christian rehabilitation centre in the mid-90s.

She became friends with a woman there and said she told her she had been sexually abused.

A meeting was later set up between the witness and Jeffrey Donaldson by people at the church.

Witness B said it was all a bit “weird” and that at that meeting Donaldson told her he wanted to apologise about what happened in the past.

The prosecution then turned to the evidence of Witness A. Ms Walsh said Witness A's ABE evidence was taken on March 8, 2024.

She told police of occasions, aged six or seven, when she experienced “sensations in her private area”.

Jurors heard how she recalled an incident where Jeffrey Donaldson rubbed under her “sports bra” and that touching her in this way “was a very casual thing” and would happen “quite often”.

She also recalled an occasion when she was 12 or 13 and Jeffrey Donaldson asked for a kiss, put his tongue in her mouth and pushed it around. She said she also told this to Eleanor Donaldson who allegedly “laughed it off”.

Witness A said she went to university and around this time she became aware that what happened was “wrong and not normal”.

Witness Confided in husband

Witness A met her husband and she told police he was the first person she told about the abuse.

Witness A said she sent a letter to the two defendants about the secret “she had to keep” and the “inappropriate sexual behaviour”.

Witness A reached out to a minister in her church and later spoke to a police officer about the criminal justice system but made no specific complaint at that time.

Witness A and Witness B made a formal complaint on March 7, 2024.

Jeffrey and Eleanor Donaldson were then arrested on March 28, 2024 and interviewed on a number of occasions.

Jeffrey Donaldson was asked about Witness B's allegations, and said he “had no memory of that happening” and that it was “unbelievable”.

He denied lifting her top and touching her breasts. He said there was one occasion when they were alone and she had sat on his knee but that nothing untoward had happened.

The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks.

Jeffrey Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged at the end of March 2024.

He resigned as DUP leader and was suspended from the party after the allegations emerged.

Weeks before his arrest, he had led the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont after a two-year boycott of the power-sharing institutions.

The case continues.

UFU has repeatedly lobbied infrastructure minister for more money for A5 land

CONOR COYLE, Irish News, May 28th, 2026

REPRESENTATIVES for the Ulster Farmers’ Union have repeatedly lobbied Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins for higher land valuations for farmers affected by the plans to build the A5.

The Department for Infrastructure has lodged an appeal to a High Court decision to quash the project last year over a failure to meet climate change laws brought in by Stormont in 2022.

The case was taken by the Alternative A5 Alliance, a group of landowners and environmentalists opposed to the major infrastructure project in its current form.

Fifty-seven lives have been lost on the current A5 since the upgrade was first approved by Stormont in 2007.

The ongoing legal case in the High Court is expected to reach a conclusion in September of this year, but the status of the land previously vested by the department, but later returned to landowners, has been a contentious issue.

Correspondence in the last 12 months show the farmers’ union raising repeated concerns over the value of land which is to be vested to the department in order to build the £2bn road.

The Farmers’ Union has defended its engagement with the department and Ms Kimmins, saying its role is “to represent those farm businesses and landowners…to ensure they are treated fairly”.

Laws on compulsory purchase of agricultural lands in the north state that the landowner “should be no worse off in financial terms after the acquisition”, but also that the landowner “should be no better off”. Compensation paid is calculated based on its “open market value”.

The value of agricultural land hit record highs of more than £15,000 per acre in 2025, while prices in Co Tyrone, where the majority of the A5 would be built, have risen by 24% last year to £17,578 per acre.

The correspondence between the union and the department was issued after a Freedom of Information request from The Irish News, which asked for all contact between the two parties in the last year.

The FOI response showed 30 separate documents of letters, emails and meeting minutes exchanged by farmers and the department in that time, all related to the A5.

On June 24, 2025, the UFU wrote to the Infrastructure minister’s Private Office requesting an “urgent meeting…to ensure affected farmers and landowners have clarity” after the High Court decision to quash the road project.

On June 25, 2025, correspondence showed a UFU representative telling DfI officials they had been “inundated with our members coming to us for clarity”.

Request for meeting

A letter to landowners dated July 2, 2025, outlining the return of vested land to them was also shared with the UFU, advising them of compensation arrangements in return for the land previously vested.

A letter from Liz Kimmins to the UFU on July 5 rejected a request for a meeting, stating that a meeting had already taken place between her officials and the union.

A further request for an “urgent meeting” with the minister came a month later, with the farming union’s vice president stating that local farmers “continue to be treated with unacceptable disregard by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI)”.

“This shifting of timelines and lack of accountability is unacceptable and has left landowners entirely in the dark,” the letter states.

Minutes of a meeting in November 2025 between the UFU and officials for the A5 project show that the UFU noted that “misinterpretations are causing ambiguity among members” in regard to the current legal case, and that there was “frustration re. the timeline of this process among their members”.

In the same meeting, the UFU queried “whether landowners’ land would be revalued should new VO’s (vesting orders) be required”.

On February 19, 2026, a letter from the UFU to the Infrastructure minister demanded an “overhaul” of the compulsory purchasing and vesting orders system, including “how compensation is calculated and how landowners are treated throughout the process”.

“The emotional and personal strain on farm households is real and must be recognised within any reformed framework,” the letter stated.

In a meeting between the union and officials a day later, a UFU representative “raised concern around land values” and “confirmed that the majority of their member queries are now focusing on land values”.

In March 2026, Ms Kimmins responded by agreeing to a meeting with the UFU over its concerns on the compulsory purchase of land.

Revaluations sought

That meeting then took place on April 14, 2026, in which farmers pressed the minister that the values of land needed to be reevaluated.

Minutes of the meeting show the union “stressed UFU supports the A5WTC (saving lives) but seeks a full review of vesting powers, compensation and landowner treatment, noting multi-generation farms affected; delays have created uncertainty and land values have risen since the Nov 2024 operative date, meaning compensation would not allow replacement land”.

The UFU representative went on to say relationships between it and the department had improved, but “further progress depends on fair land valuation to show respect for landowners”.

The minutes also showed that it was agreed primary responsibility for reviewing vesting procedures rested with the Department for Communities, run by DUP minister Gordion Lyons, and that any change to besting “would require cross-departmental cooperation”.

Subsequent emails show an improvement in relations between the UFU and the department on the issue.

Correspondence sent to landowners from the department in April 2026 show assurances being provided that work will not begin on the site before the end of the year.

A final judgement on the department’s appeal to the High Court to allow the project to proceed is expected to be given in September of this year.

A statement from a UFU spokesperson said it has engaged with several Infrastructure ministers over many years and that it was “difficult to justify” the value of land which has been “frozen at a historic level”. Land values were previously calculated for affected landowners in November 2024.

“Our role is to represent those farm businesses and landowners who may be directly affected by vesting and to ensure they are treated fairly.

“Should the A5 scheme proceed on the basis of values calculated in November 2024, affected farmers could be compensated at a level which does not reflect current land prices in the region.

“That creates a real risk that farm businesses will be unable to replace the land taken from them, leaving them permanently disadvantaged and, in some cases, threatening the viability of the farm business.”

Naomi Long withdraws proposal to increase firearms licensing fees

By Rebecca Black, Press Association, Belfast News Letter, May 27th, 2026

The withdrawal of a proposal to increase fees for firearms licenses in Northern Ireland has been welcomed.

Justice minister Naomi Long has cancelled a consultation into hiking the price of a gun licence. She said that she took the decision after feedback from a public consultation on proposals to amend firearm licensing, which has now been withdrawn.

It had been seeking views on proposals to achieve full cost recovery of firearms licensing, including increasing the cost of a firearm certificate from £98 to £250.

Answering questions about the proposals in the Assembly earlier this month, Ms Long had said they were seeking to recover costs, and that it cost the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) £2 million to subsidise applications last year at a time of increased budget pressures.

On Wednesday, Ms Long said having considered the consultation feedback from consultees and stakeholder groups, and recent advice from officials, she decided to withdraw the consultation.

"Whilst Northern Ireland's firearms licensing fees continue to be heavily subsidised from the core PSNI budget, I believe that it is important to address the concerns raised and my department will take time to carefully consider the issues highlighted," she said.

"I hope that by withdrawing the current consultation, it will provide the space for positive engagement, in good faith, to find a way forward as the current situation is not sustainable.

"Department officials will seek to engage with stakeholders to understand the concerns raised, explore options and develop proposals to inform a new consultation which will launch at a later date."

Reaction

Sinn Fein MLA Emma Sheerin welcomed the move, and described the proposed hikes as "excessive, unfair, and would have had a disproportionate impact on our rural and agricultural communities".

" Sinn Fein opposed these proposals, which came at a time when rural communities are already facing significant increased costs in fuel, home heating oil and fertiliser," she said. "The department sought to increase the cost of a firearms licence application against a backdrop of concerns around the licensing system, including backlogs and long delays in processing licenses."

DUP MLA Trevor Clarke hailed a "welcome rethink".

"I was highly critical of the minister's original plans because they caused real concern among law-abiding firearms certificate holders, clubs and dealers," he said. "The department has now accepted that concerns were raised about both the information provided and the consultation process itself. That vindicates the calls for the minister to pause and think again.

"No-one disputes the need for a properly resourced licensing system, but any changes must be proportionate and based on proper engagement with those affected."

UUP MLA Doug Beattie added: "There was significant opposition to these proposals from across the rural and sporting community, and this U-turn by the minister is the right course of action.

"The proposed increases were disproportionate and the process was clearly flawed.

"Withdrawing the consultation gives space for proper engagement, and any future proposals must be fair and built on a service that actually works for certificate holders.

"Before certificate holders are charged the full cost of this service, the service itself must work.

"The delays and appeals backlog must be addressed first, and any future proposals must protect those who hold weapons for personal protection because they are under threat."