SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, November 7th, 2026
Sinn Féin support has surged following the resurrection of the Drumcree parade dispute, while the DUP has slumped to a five-year low.
Michelle O'Neill's party is now outpolling Gavin Robinson's by two to one as nationalists mobilise behind it.
On 28pc, Sinn Fein has climbed six points since August — the highest rise ever recorded for any party in a single period in a LucidTalk poll.
The DUP has fallen a point to 14pc, which brings it into precarious territory as it was already reeling from a three-point drop following Jeffrey Donaldson's conviction for child rape.
On 15pc, the UUP is down a point, but it remains the most popular unionist party, with Jon Burrows the most highly rated unionist leader.
The TUV is the sole unionist party to make gains in the wake of the Drumcree dispute, climbing two points to 14pc, level with the DUP.
The SDLP has fallen two points to 11pc, but Claire Hanna remains the most popular party leader by a considerable margin. The Alliance slump continues as it falls to single digits for the first time in a LucidTalk poll in five years — it is down a point to 9pc.
Once comfortably the third-largest political force in Northern Ireland, it is now in sixth spot and is on course to lose a crop of seats in May's Assembly election if it doesn't soon start to reverse the trend.
SF eats into smaller parties
Sinn Féin has eaten into the support of the smaller parties, with the Greens (4pc), Aontú (2pc) and People Before Profit (1pc) all down a point. Others/independents are unchanged on 2pc.
Some 3,989 people took part in our online poll from October 29 to 31, the largest ever held in Northern Ireland. The sample was scientifically weighted to reflect the population.
While the personal ratings of every unionist leader have fallen since Drumcree, the scores of their nationalist counterparts have risen. On 52pc, Claire Hanna is up two points overall and 11 points with nationalists to retain her place as the best-rated party leader. Jon Burrows is in second spot on 45pc, down a point from April, but it's the lowest drop of the four unionist leaders scored.
Michelle O'Neill is up three points overall and 14 points with nationalists to take third spot on 41pc. She is marginally ahead of Ms Hanna — 76pc to 74pc — with nationalist voters.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and Gavin Robinson have suffered the greatest drops, with both down eight points. With a 36pc rating, the deputy First Minister remains ahead of the DUP leader.
On 30pc, Mr Robinson has fallen 11 points with unionists to tie with Naomi Long and Jim Allister in last place.
The TUV leader has fallen four points, while his Alliance counterpart is down two points. Mrs Long was once regularly the most popular politician in Northern Ireland.
Her score has again dropped among Alliance and Green voters (55pc) who now rate Ms Hanna (69pc) much higher.
UUP burrows into DUP
On 67pc, Mr Burrows is by far the most popular leader among unionists with Mr Allister on 59pc, Ms Little-Pengelly on 56pc, and Mr Robinson on 48pc.
The Stormont Executive has lost popularity with every voting group and is down five points to 29pc. It scores 32pc with nationalists (-4); 27pc with Alliance/Green voters (-2); and 26pc with unionists (-8)
Andy Burnham is significantly more popular than his predecessor in Number 10. On 45pc, the Prime Minister is up 21 points on Sir Keir Starmer.
He is liked best by Alliance/Green voters (62pc), followed by nationalists (49pc). But his score of 35pc with unionists is still almost three times better than Sir Keir managed. On 40pc, Chris Bryant is up 10 points on Hilary Benn. Like his boss, he's highest rated by Alliance/Green supporters (57pc) and nationalists (46pc) with unionists (29pc) scoring him lower.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin scores lower with nationalists (32pc) than both British politicians. However, his overall rating is up two points to 37pc. Mary Lou McDonald is up four points to 35pc. She is the most unpopular leader on these islands with unionists who score her at just 5pc.
Robinson's stance 'hasn't earned him confidence a party leader needs' - TUV
ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, November 7th, 2026
REACTION AS DUP CHIEF RANKED THE LEAST POPULAR UNIONIST FIGURE
A collapse in support for Gavin Robinson must act as a wake-up call to the DUP leader, rival unionists have said.
The TUV claimed the results show unionism “wants leadership with clarity and conviction”.
According to our poll, Mr Robinson is now the worst-rated unionist figure, with an approval rating of just 47pc among unionist voters.
This compares with 68pc for Carla Lockhart, 66pc for Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows and 60pc for TUV leader Jim Allister.
Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, the legal adviser to the Portadown District Orange Lodge, had an approval rating of 55pc with unionist voters, according to the poll, which asked respondents to score key figures' recent performances.
It comes amid the continuing fallout from the Drumcree dispute, with Mr Robinson so far resisting calls to pull Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy First Minister, thus ousting Michelle O'Neill as First Minister.
Unionist voters are divided on this issue, according to the poll, with 49pc in favour of Ms Little-Pengelly resigning and 43pc against.
Among DUP voters, 47pc want her to remain in post and 45pc are in favour of her resigning.
Challenges for DUP
A TUV spokesperson said the most striking finding is that Jim Allister is rating significantly higher than Mr Robinson, adding that Ms Lockhart's popularity is “no surprise”, given her “courageous decision to stand by her beliefs and ordinary citizens and reject the DUP's 'O'Neill must stay' mantra”.
They said Mr Bryson “has provided leadership both in the run-up to the Drumcree decision and in its aftermath which simply wasn't forthcoming from the lead unionist party.
“These figures suggest that unionists want leadership with clarity and conviction. Gavin Robinson's approach has not earned him the confidence that a party leader needs, either across unionism or even among a substantial section of DUP voters,” they added.
Mr Bryson said the poll results are “obviously personally pleasing” and there is a “big house unionist establishment”, of which the DUP is a part, that is “totally disconnected from the grassroots”.
“The poll shows a large section of unionism wants to fight back, and is fed up with the appeasement of nationalism,” he said.
Speaking on the BBC's The View programme on Thursday night, the DUP's Gordon Lyons said the poll results “reflect the anger that is out there”.
“That is anger at what Sinn Féin have been doing over the last number of weeks — the arrogance that has been shown by Sinn Féin and the law-breaking that has taken place as well,” he said.
“We can't be in that situation where we have a First Minister who says 'I will decide what laws I want to follow. I will decide whether I think that I should follow the laws.'”
Asked if his party leader's poor rating puts the DUP in a difficult position, Mr Lyons said “absolutely not”, although he said he recognises that there is a “difference of opinion on strategy” within unionism.
The UUP said unionist voters want leadership that is “confident, credible and focused on the future”.
“The DUP's internal difficulties are a matter for the DUP. But the poll also shows that a large majority of Ulster Unionist voters do not want the Executive collapsed,” they said.
“They want a budget agreed, waiting lists brought down and Stormont delivering for families - and so do we.
“Pulling down devolution would only hand a gift to those who argue Northern Ireland doesn't work.”
Sinn Féin has hit jackpot
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, November 7th, 2026
Drumcree has turned into the biggest self-inflicted political wound of decade
Sinn Féin could scarcely have imagined a more spectacular turnaround. From a five-year polling low to a record-breaking surge, it has hit the political jackpot.
The irony is that the party is not the primary author of its own great fortune. It owes a fulsome 'Go raibh míle maith agat' to the DUP and every unionist who thought that reopening the Drumcree dispute was a good idea.
This is the biggest self-inflicted political wound of the decade in Northern Ireland.
Nationalism has united around Michelle O'Neill's party in the wake of the Orange Order's ill-fated attempt to march down the Garvaghy Road, while unionism is even more divided.
In our August poll, Sinn Féin had a nine-point lead over the SDLP: today it has almost doubled to 17 points. By contrast, there is an almost even three-way unionist split now with only a point between the UUP, DUP and TUV.
But can SF deliver?
The republican party's record in government has been nothing to write home about. There's an empty wasteland on the Andersonstown Road where Casement Park was supposed to stand.
Failing to deliver a flagship infrastructure project in the heart of west Belfast — its own political stronghold — raised serious questions about Sinn Féin's ability to deliver.
The DUP stopped the Good Jobs Bill, and Irish language signs at Grand Central Station have (at least temporarily) been thwarted by Jamie Bryson.
Sinn Féin seemed anaemic in its response to such setbacks. Then, 40 days ago, it had to make a big call over Drumcree. The party went all in, choosing to block the Garvaghy Road. It drew a political line in the sand.
That decisive action has rebuilt its relationship with its core base, who thought it had become too institutionalised, polished and detached from everyday struggles.
To those people, Sinn Féin demonstrated that — despite holding the office of First Minister — it hadn't forgotten its roots and was still willing to engage in direct, street-level protest when it mattered most.
Our poll shows that the party's choice has also won it support from a range of other voters who had previously given their allegiance to the SDLP, Alliance, the Greens, People Before Profit and Aontu.
Pyrrhic Orange victory
The Orange Order may have won almost all the legal battles, but that pales into insignificance compared to the political victory that Sinn Féin secured. Had the march gone down the Garvaghy Road, it would have been disastrous for the party. Drumcree would have been added to the list of its other failures.
Its Assembly election campaign was launched in Cookstown this week with the message 'No Going Back'. Expect to hear that slogan time and time again over the next six months.
Its rivals hope that Sinn Féin has already maxed out its support post-Drumcree. But if the DUP pulls Emma Little-Pengelly from the Executive — removing the First Minister with her — another bounce for O'Neill and her party is likely.
Some unionists have tried to dress up defeat as victory by arguing that Sinn Féin actions on the Garvaghy Road have alienated the politically unaligned voters that it was trying to win over to the idea of Irish unity.
Drumcree march opposed across board
That is wishful thinking. On Drumcree, these voters are far more aligned with nationalist than unionist thinking.
They don't just believe the Orange march should have been banned, eight in 10 Alliance and nine in 10 Green supporters back blocking the Garvaghy Road, although some believe O'Neill herself shouldn't have done so. These voters score the First Minister higher (47pc) higher than any unionist leader, including Little-Pengelly (26pc). Two years ago, they preferred the deputy First Minister to O'Neill.
However hard it tries to focus on Sinn Féin's record in government, the SDLP will struggle to lay a glove on its rival over the coming months. Its criticism will simply bounce of the republican party. Yet given raised emotions over Drumcree, Claire Hanna will surely breathe a sigh of relief at our poll.
The SDLP is down just two points to 11pc, exactly where it was in April — and that's an improvement on the 9pc it secured in the last Assembly election under Colum Eastwood's leadership. Hanna remains her party's best asset. Not only is she the most popular leader in Northern Ireland, but to score just two points behind the First Minister — 74pc to 76pc — among nationalists at this time is no mean feat. Given the breadth of her voting base in South Belfast and Mid Down, Hanna has a tightrope to walk that O'Neill doesn't.
Still — given Sinn Féin's likely strength in May and its election strategy — the SDLP could well struggle to hold onto some of its current Assembly seats, let alone win new ones.
It will need to convince more Alliance supporters to switch and for that party's transfers to heavily go its way in key battlegrounds.
After Sinn Féin, the TUV has the most to celebrate in our poll. On 14pc, its support is almost double what it secured in the last Assembly election, which brings a whole raft of seats into play for it in May. The biggest risk for Jim Allister's party is the DUP doing what he is asking and crashing the Executive. Such a move would inevitably win back some voters who had shifted to the TUV.
Our poll isn't a spectacular one for the UUP, which is down one point to 15pc, although that's still four points better than what it achieved in the 2022 Stormont election.
UUP challenge
As an extremely ambitious politician, Jon Burrows will have hoped that the dial would have shifted upwards for him again, particularly in light of the DUP's difficulties.
Yet the fact that his party has stayed ahead of Gavin Robinson's, albeit narrowly, is a positive for him. Burrows' strong communication skills mean he remains the most popular leader among unionists.
His weakness is the lack of a hard-hitting, visible team behind him. He must struggle on with the one he has until May when he hopes for new additions.
While Sinn Féin is almost matching its 2022 election vote, the DUP is seven points down on what was a disastrous result for it back then.
Lockart and Little-Pengelly
Had our poll been carried out after Carla Lockhart resigned, the results could have been even worse for the party.
Some Stormont sources believe it is a matter of when, not if, Robinson pulls the plug on the Executive in order to scrape back at least a bit of the support his party has lost.
The East Belfast MP never lets doubt or panic show, but these poll numbers — especially his own low personal rating — will make him uncomfortable. While he's not actively disliked by voters, he is struggling to connect with them.
It all raises serious questions about ongoing speculation that he might swap Westminster for Stormont. Would Robinson 'coming home' next year to run for the Assembly and become deputy First Minister work as well as some think?
Although Little-Pengelly may face friction with DUP MLAs, she remains notably more popular than her leader among unionist voters.
NI's vast wealth that Stormont refuses to tax
SAM McBRIDE, Northern Ireland Editor, Belfast Telegraph, November 7th, 2026
OUR ANALYSIS SHOWS ONE IN FIVE NEW CARS IS A PREMIUM BRAND AS NI'S RICH LIVE IN OPULENCE WHILE PUBLIC SERVICES CRUMBLE
Throughout Northern Ireland, thousands of people have never had it so good.
They're living lives of opulent extravagance which make a mockery of Stormont's attempt to imply that almost everyone is hovering not far above the breadline and so couldn't afford to pay a penny more to help resolve its budgetary crisis.
More than seven months into the financial year, our embarrassment of an Executive still can't even pass a budget — and on the basis of last year, even if it manages to agree a budget it's unlikely to stick to it.
The excuse thrown up by the Executive is that the Treasury won't send it enough money. Apparently £32 billion is nowhere near enough.
Ministers resolutely refuse to tax the rich by seeking to minimise the immense wealth across Northern Ireland, mostly by refusing to acknowledge that anyone here is wealthy and if that proves unsustainable then by seeking to suggest there aren't very many such people.
Ministers suggest there's little they could do to bring in significant new revenues to pay for what they insist are crucial priorities.
Rather than tax those who could pay more — or trim wasteful spending to find the money from massive existing budgets — ministers insist that the only possible solution is for the Treasury to send them even more cash.
This risible populism is exposed by a Belfast Telegraph analysis of just two indicators of wealth: Property sales and new car sales.
Ferrari and Mansion Index
This 'Ferrari Index' and 'Mansion Index' show people are spending millions of pounds on houses in Northern Ireland — and even a second-hand car is for sale for millions.
All of this is quite open; the sources analysed by this newspaper are public.
Stormont officials and ministers cannot plausibly be blind to vast houses as they travel or unable to spot the sea of flash cars on the roads; they know there is great wealth here and are choosing not to tax those people — yet then claiming to the Treasury that these people don't exist to any appreciable extent.
This is both politically dishonest and unsustainable.
Contrary to Stormont's stance, The Sunday Times rich list estimates that pharma heiress Lady Ballyedmond and her family are worth about £898m, fuel baron Michael Loughran and family are worth about £770m, and agri-food commodity magnates Robert and William Barnett and family are worth about £715m.
These are the very richest people in Northern Ireland, not all of their assets are in Northern Ireland, and there aren't very many people with such extreme wealth. But there are tens of thousands of people who are unquestionably not poor.
Northern Ireland has about 90,000 people who are higher rate taxpayers, meaning they earn more than £50,270. Some of these people will be nurses or builders or school teachers who are earning just over that threshold — and if they are the sole breadwinner in a family, they won't be wealthy.
But plenty of people are seriously wealthy.
12,500 millionaires
Barclays Wealth & Investments estimated in 2018 that Northern Ireland had about 12,500 millionaires.
There is no official data to verify this, but there are other clues.
I examined property sales in Northern Ireland by analysing listings on PropertyPal, the main website for house sales.
Right now, there are more than 560 houses for sale at half a million pounds or more.
That is just on one website, and only covers what's now on the market — which is a tiny fraction of the most expensive houses.
There are 100 houses for sale for a million pounds or more. To suggest that people paying or getting paid such sums — as happens every week — are in the slightest financial difficulty is demonstrably ludicrous.
The most expensive house on sale right now is a £4.5m five-bed mansion in Cultra with an all-weather tennis court, four and a half acres of gardens, a four-car garage, a drawing room, a wine room, a boot room, a dressing area, and a host of other features foreign to most normal houses.
An 11-bed Regency mansion in Groomsport is on the market for £3.5m. Set in 12 acres, it has seven reception rooms, a chauffeur's cottage, a stable block, a walled garden, a carriage house, a 'gracious reception hall', a morning room, a wine cellar, a library, an inner courtyard, and servants' quarters.
A £3.25m eight-bedroom property in Dromore has a banqueting hall and heated outdoor swimming pool; a £2.9m five-bed Holywood home has a home cinema room and bar area, a gym and a sauna; a £2.9m 11-bed house in Helen's Bay has a billiard room, plant room, turret room and eight acres of manicured landscaped gardens.
A seven-bedroom £2.7m house in Craigavad has a library, games room, wine cellar and dressing room.
£2.5m six-bedroom house in Cultra has a private sitting room in the main bedroom, along with 'his and hers dressing areas'.
A £1.9m house in Holywood has a poker room; a £1.9m nine-bedroom house near Bushmills has a barbeque room and a Japanese garden. A £1.5m five-bed home in Enniskillen contains its own full-sized pub. These homes aren't only in leafy south Belfast and north Down. There's a £2m house for sale in Carrickfergus, a £1.9m house in Portstewart, a £1.7m house in Donaghadee, a £1.5m house in Lisburn, a £1.3m house for sale in Lurgan, a £1.3m house in Londonderry, a £1.3m house in Warrenpoint.
Over 9,000 luxury cars
Last year there were 45,649 new cars registered in Northern Ireland.
Of those, my analysis shows that 9,224 were premium or luxury cars — brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley and Jaguar.
That means that one in five new cars sold in Northern Ireland last year was an expensive choice and as such as an expression of being at least comfortably off, and in many cases of being wealthy.
These makes represent the upper end of the market, even if within their many models some are vastly more expensive than others.
These simply could not be the cars chosen as new vehicles by those struggling to keep the lights on or to feed their family or to heat their homes.
The cheapest Audi, for instance, is the A1 which costs at least about £22,000. Despite that outlay, it's tiny. The reason people would pay so much more for this vehicle is that it's fancy, or in the words of What Car? magazine, it is “a posh small car”.
There are many non-premium brands which offer high end vehicles. You can spend £86,000 on a Toyota Land Cruiser or £95,000 on a VW Touareg, but those are not included in my figures because the DVLA data doesn't record which Toyotas or Volkswagens are being bought in Northern Ireland.
Therefore, the figures here represent an underestimate of those buying very expensive new cars.
Many people now do not buy their cars outright when they drive them out of a showroom, choosing instead to either finance them with borrowing or through rental agreements.
This simply means that the total bill is even higher. It doesn't negate the fact that they are choosing a far more expensive vehicle because they believe they can afford it.
And that's just the new car market.
Second hand car sales demonstrate the same pattern.
There's a Lamborghini Aventador for sale in Warrenpoint for £529,995. A second-hand Lamborghini Revuelto is for sale in Dungannon for £499,000. A used Porsche 911 is on the market for £279,995 in Crumlin.
But all of those seem cheap compared to the £2.5m being sought in Newtownabbey for a 16-year-old Bugatti Veyron.
Earlier this year an economist who works for a major financial institution described Northern Ireland as “a middle class protection racket”. His point was that Stormont has consistently protected those who could afford to pay more tax — and who if they lived anywhere else in the UK would face far higher bills.
In line with this, Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant said after meeting all the Executive parties on Thursday that not a single party presented him with proposals for how to raise additional money from those who could pay.
Nobody represents the poor
For years, Sinn Féin hid behind the DUP, suggesting that it was the unionist party which was stopping it from enacting staunchly socialist economic policies.
Now, having chosen Stormont's two economic ministries for the first time in history, that fig leaf has withered and Sinn Féin's real policies in this area have been exposed.
For the most part, they are almost indistinguishable from those of the DUP.
This was seen most starkly when the party decided — of its own volition — not to end the policy whereby the richest homeowners have their rates bills subsidised by the poorest.
Not only did Sinn Féin not change the policy, but its then finance minister, Caoimhe Archibald, said publicly that it would be wrong to ask the wealthiest homeowners to pay their full rates bills without the rest of us subsidising them to some extent.
It was a revelatory moment in which the party seemed to forget that at the start of this century its economic policy was so far to the left that it said no business should be allowed to own property.
Even Tories to left of NI ministers
Even Chris Heaton-Harris, the former Tory secretary of state appointed by Liz Truss, had been willing to consider hitting the wealthy here, asking officials to examine getting rid of the rates cap which protects the wealthy from the bills they would otherwise have to pay.
There are perfectly respectable right wing economic arguments against taxing the rich heavily, but Sinn Féin claims to be a left-wing party.
This is part of a pattern of Executive ministers refusing to take responsibility for the consequences of their own decisions.
When the Treasury looked over Stormont's books earlier this year and identified billions of pounds of potential revenue-raising or savings, Finance Minister John O'Dowd said the analysis “doesn't take into account our rurality” because a more dispersed population means there is a need for a bigger public sector.
Yet it is Stormont which has encouraged a more dispersed population by deregulating rural planning, allowing a proliferation of houses scattered across the countryside, unlike England's far stricter greenbelt rules.
That was a Stormont policy choice — and it carries with it cost implications. To try to use that now as an excuse as to why London needs to send us more money is limp.
While Stormont can't set income tax or duties on imports, it has the power to raise money through taxes on property, water charges, or a host of other areas which it could target howsoever it saw fit.
Yet after meeting the Executive parties on Thursday for talks on the absence of a budget, the Secretary of State told BBC Newsline that “nobody's come up with a single suggestion” for revenue-raising.
Much of this is the fault of successive governments. Bryant seemed amazed that the parties don't believe him when he says “there is no more money”.
But just weeks ago he was offering them more money — vastly more in the form of an additional £1.5 billion over the next three years. They are quite literally being rewarded for failure.
Having repeatedly backed down in the face of Stormont's obstinacy, successive governments have created a monster whose fiscal recklessness is now almost untameable.
UK subsidies not going to poor
Yet none of this is benefiting the people of Northern Ireland. Many public services are out of date and can't plan coherently because of budgetary uncertainty.
From the cratered surface of the roads to the filthy state of Lough Neagh, evidence surrounds us that Stormont's policies aren't making our lives better.
Even those diagnosed with cancers requiring urgent treatment can't be seen in time.
Demanding more money from London and pretending it can't be raised here is good politics if you define politics as getting re-elected.
But it's dreadful politics if you regard politics as what it ought to be: A means to an end whereby society becomes fairer and those who can help those whose need is greatest are asked to contribute their fair share.
The mournful reality is that Stormont afflicts the afflicted and comforts the comfortable.
What an inglorious legacy ahead of what may be the looming collapse of this lamentable Executive.
Martin the first Irish premier to attend PSNI passing-out ceremony
DAVID YOUNG, Belfast Telegraph, November 7th, 2026
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has become the first Irish premier to attend a passing-out ceremony for new police officers in Northern Ireland.
Mr Martin attended the attestation of 36 new officers at the PSNI's training college at Garnerville in east Belfast yesterday.
The event came at the end of a week that marked the 25th anniversary of the PSNI, which replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary in 2001 as part of peace process policing reforms.
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant also attended the ceremony along with PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.
“I would like to extend my congratulations to all of the new constables conferred at today's attestation ceremony at the Northern Ireland Police College,” said Mr Martin.
“This is no doubt a proud day for the new officers and their families, and I wish them every success in their policing careers.
25 years old
“I am especially pleased to mark 25 years since the establishment of the PSNI and the significant achievements made since the Patten Commission.
“The creation of the PSNI was a key part of delivering the Good Friday Agreement and the peace that it made possible.
“The Government of Ireland is committed to building on the achievements of that peace, deepening the co-operation across our jurisdictions, and harnessing the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement.”
Commenting after the event, Mr Boutcher said: “This week, the Police Service of Northern Ireland turned 25, and today's attestation of 36 student officers is a tribute to the dedication and commitment of each of them.
“The officers attested in front of their extremely proud families, they will go out and police the streets of Northern Ireland with a determination to keep everyone safe. Our first set of Police Service of Northern Ireland officers entered Garnerville in November 2001 and were part of the new beginning policing.
“Since the inception of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, 25 years ago, over 6,000 officers have taken the same oath, with the first squad attesting on April 5, 2002.
“These new officers will be working in districts across the country, working alongside every other officer who has graduated from the Police College in the last 25 years.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each person who has attested today and wish them every success in their policing career.
“We should all congratulate and thank each officer for stepping up to be a member of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
“Being a police officer is the finest public service anyone can do.”
The Chief Constable highlighted that the PSNI had recently launched a fresh recruitment campaign.
FG figures in the dark on united Ireland plan
MARK HENNESSY, Ireland and Britain Editor, Irish Times, November 7th, 2026
Harris promised a ‘blueprint’ but party’s leadership has caused irritation by keeping details of a key document under wraps
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris surprised even his own gathered in the O’Reilly Hall in University College Dublin this summer when he pledged that his party would have “a blueprint for a unified island” ready by November.
The Tánaiste’s language marked a significant change in his interest in the subject. When he took over as taoiseach in April 2024, he said it was “not where my focus and priority is right now”.
From the off, the report to be published this afternoon and debated by the Fine Gael ardfheis tomorrow morning in Cork has been handicapped by Harris’s excitable description in the summer.
It will not, in fact, lay out a blueprint for unification.
But it is still a significant moment in the unification debate, putting into the mainstream in the Republic the economic and political challenges and opportunities posed and offered by a united Ireland.
It will comprise four elements, including a detailed examination of northern opinion steered by the Ulster University academic Prof Deirdre Heenan and an economic analysis by Prof Stephen Kinsella.
In addition, there will be sections penned by Harris and by the chair of Fine Gael’s Northern Ireland Engagement Group, Senator Emer Currie, whose father Austin was both a co-founder of the SDLP and a Fine Gael TD.
Harris’s decision last June to announce the work in a speech to mark the centenary of the birth of former leader Garret FitzGerald surprised even some of those given the task of putting it together.
Led by Currie, the Northern Ireland Engagement Group has spent months hearing the opinions of the party’s membership and engaging with northern politicians of nearly all hues.
Did not engage
In London, they met the Democratic Unionist Party’s Gavin Robinson and Nigel Dodds.
The latter did not engage on unification, but he did offer “robust” opinions about the Republic’s failings during the Troubles.
However, the Northern Engagement Group’s membership, excluding Currie, has had little or no involvement in the actual drafting of the document – a point that has rankled with some.
The final drafts of the Harris and Currie texts had still not been signed off on late on Thursday, with the final recommendations not yet circulated.
So far, the party leadership has decided to keep a close grip on the report, including offering the Fine Gael parliamentary party only the most basic level of detail about its contents. However, a few things are clear.
First, northern political and business opinion of all hues – with the exception of the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) – were keen to engage. Indeed, they volunteered to speak to Heenan.
Equally, they did not want “to speak about anthems, flags, or identity”, as one person familiar with the discussions put it; “instead, they wanted to speak about what unification might look like, and how it would benefit people, or not”, the source said.
Clearly, some unionist voices engaged believing that the more people in the Republic encounter the detail of the challenges to be faced, the less appetite they will have for unification.
The debates among Fine Gael members revealed a number of opinions, including those concerned that the party should be seen to accelerate debate on a subject best handled slowly and carefully.
“Some didn’t believe that Harris’s language in the beginning was the wisest, that maybe he and others had lost the run of themselves and that they have set expectations that cannot be met,” one source said.
Doubtful about unity
In addition, rank-and-file members who debated in Sligo, Wexford, Dublin and elsewhere believed the subject of unification must not be left in the hands of Sinn Féin.
Others believe many northerners doubtful about unity will engage with Fine Gael, but not any other party in the Republic, and that the party has never made enough of its own record.
“We are ‘the united Ireland’ party after all. It’s in our name, it’s in our history,” said one individual who has been closely involved in the work over the past number of months.
However, the document’s drafting has caused irritation.
Speaking on Thursday evening, former Fine Gael MEP and one-time Alliance Party leader John Cushnahan said he still had not seen a final text and he did not believe that anyone else in the group, other than the chair, had either.
Cushnahan has never been in favour of over-eager talk on unification, preferring the slow and steady approach long adopted by the leader of Fianna Fáil, Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Last week Martin, no doubt spurred by the impending arrival of Fine Gael’s document, said officials would examine future constitutional options, including Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom.
Saying that he was “impressed” by Martin’s proposals, Cushnahan said “this is a very difficult time for discussing Irish unity” after the recent dispute over the Orange march at Drumcree, when the Belfast Agreement – the 1998 deal underpinning Northern Ireland’s peace process – appeared under threat.
“It might be more prudent for political parties in this part of the island to tone down their discussions on Irish unity. My fear is that the Good Friday agreement is being undermined,” he said.
“There is still a serious threat to the existence of the project and the Assembly and Executive. I think it might be a more sensible idea if the two main Government parties get together to discuss this issue and come forward with a joint proposal.
“What’s the fallout from Drumcree? The danger is that with unionism in such disarray, it’s not the time to be lobbing united Ireland balls into the court.
“We should concentrate on saving the Good Friday agreement and saving Stormont.”
‘Exponential environmental risks’: Russian tankers threaten Irish west coast
CONOR GALLAGHER and RACHEL LAVIN, Irish Times, November 7th, 2026
218 shadow fleet vessels have passed through the Irish EEZ since the start of this year, some multiple times
On the afternoon of October 24th, while sailing 350km off the Irish west coast, the oil tanker Myra found itself facing the hurricane-force winds of Storm Boelo.
Nine-metre-high waves washed over the sides of the 228-metre vessel while gusts of up 130km/h battered the bridge. At 12:38pm, someone on board sent an SOS.
In response, an RAF Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft departed its base in Scotland a short time later and set a course for the Myra.
But when the aircraft crew made radio contact with the ship, they were informed it was a false alarm. The ship continued south, through choppy seas and high winds.
Shortly before noon the next day, the Irish Coast Guard deployed an aeroplane to inspect the ship as it passed Mayo. It took photographs of the Myra, searching for evidence that damage from the storm may have caused it to leak pollution.
The Myra had departed from Russia a week earlier. It is regularly used to transport Russian oil, prompting the EU to sanction it last year.
The vessel is linked to a shipping company owned by the son of a senior figure in the Iranian regime. While it claims to be flag-registered in Cameroon, International Maritime Organisation records say this is false. This makes the Myra part of the so-called “shadow fleet”, a collection of hundreds of vessels, often registered under false flags, used to evade international sanctions regimes.
It is one of an increasing number of shadow fleet oil tankers travelling through Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the 450,000sq km of sea off the west coast where Ireland maintains certain sovereign rights and is responsible for pollution control.
In recent years, security officials have repeatedly warned of the risks posed by shadow vessels. EU countries have accused them of engaging in espionage and sabotaging undersea infrastructure on behalf of Russia. They have even been accused of launching drones to conduct surveillance operations against European countries.
Less discussed, however, is the environmental risk posed by these ageing oil tankers, particularly to the vulnerable marine ecosystems on Ireland’s west coast.
An Irish Times investigation shows the majority of these ships have serious safety issues, with many recently found to have structural defects, fire hazards or substandard pollution-control measures that could lead to an environmental disaster.
Major defects
This includes the Myra. Since 2020, inspectors in Australia, Belgium, Russia and the US have identified 10 major defects on the 20-year-old ship, including fire safety, structural integrity and watertightness deficiencies.
The Myra was empty when it passed Ireland last month, but around half of the Russian tankers taking the same route are laden with huge amounts of crude oil.
According to data provided to The Irish Times by Starboard Marine Intelligence, a New Zealand-based maritime intelligence platform, 218 shadow fleet vessels have passed through the Irish EEZ since the start of this year, some multiple times.
Of these, 208 were under EU sanctions, while the remainder were under sanctions imposed by the US, UK or New Zealand.
This is a 193 per cent increase in shadow fleet activity compared to the same period in 2025, according to figures provided by the Defence Forces.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces says the number of shadow fleet vessels increased in Irish EEZ waters after then UK prime minister Keir Starmer announced British forces would begin boarding shadow fleet vessels crossing the English Channel. “This elicited a change in pattern of life, with [Russian shadow fleet] vessels using the west of Ireland route instead,” he says.
In other words, instead of risking a naval boarding by taking the safer and quicker route through the channel, vessels are taking the longer route through the stormy waters of the north Atlantic, safe in the knowledge that Irish authorities have limited capacity to seize them.
The British followed through on their threat in June when Royal Marine Commandos boarded the sanctioned tanker Smyrtos as it passed through the English Channel.
“At this point, active enforcement in the channel became a real risk for the shadow fleet. So we saw tankers, especially tankers with false flags, diverting from the channel and over the north of Scotland and west of Ireland,” says Gonzalo Saiz Erausquin, a sanctions expert with the Royal United Services Institute in the UK.
The consequences of a single oil spill from one of these vessels could be devastating, Erausquin says.
Worldwide, there have been more than 50 collisions and oil spills involving shadow fleet vessels in recent years. Mostly recently, a sanctioned tanker carrying as much as 40 million gallons of Russian oil ran aground off Oman, contaminating many kilometres of coastline.
The increase in shadow fleet vessels off Ireland like this one exposes the State to “exponential environmental risks”, says Erausquin.
This view was shared by a senior officer with the Irish Military Intelligence Service in an interview last April: “If one of these single-skinned 19-year-old tankers hits a bag of crisps off the Aran Islands, you now have millions of tonnes of oil in the water, and there’s no more Wild Atlantic Way. We don’t have the capacity to deal with an oil slick that size.”
The condition of many shadow fleet tankers routing through the Irish EEZ suggests such a disaster may be a matter of when, not if.
Under international maritime law, states must conduct periodic inspections of ships using their ports. International sanctions mean most shadow fleet vessels never visit EU ports. As a result, inspections are typically conducted by authorities in Russia, China and India.
The Irish Times analysed the most recent inspection reports for all 218 vessels that have travelled through Irish-controlled waters this year.
Safety issues were found on more than 156 of the ships during their last inspection, or 72 per cent. In total, 676 individual deficiencies were recorded across the fleet, including a single ship that had 20 defects.
If extreme safety issues are found, inspectors have the power to detain a ship until they are rectified. Fifty of the 218 shadow vessels, or 23 per cent, that passed through Irish-controlled waters have been detained at some point in the past.
Many of the tankers had issues which could directly increase their chance of sinking or causing serious pollution. Fire safety issues were recorded on 71 of the vessels, while structural issues were found on 22. Inspectors found pollution-control failings on 28 of the ships. Two ships had failings across all three categories.
Inspections
Of even greater concern are ships that have not been inspected in many years. One tanker, the White Condor 1, has not been subjected to a port authority inspection since 2018, records show.
Another ship, the Beluga, has not been inspected since 2020, when officials found deficiencies around its ability to keep out water.
The Molly, an 18-year-old US-sanctioned tanker with links to the Iranian regime, last passed through the Irish EEZ in July. According to official records, it has never been inspected.
The age of these ships is also a matter of concern to officials. According to the maritime intelligence publication, Lloyd’s List, the average age of a crude oil tanker is 14.
Records show the average age of the sanctioned vessels travelling off Ireland is 20. The Zambra, a tanker that last entered the Irish EEZ in June, is 27 years old. Its last inspection found eight safety issues, including fire hazards and poor structural conditions.
In 2023, it was briefly detained by Chinese authorities due to pollution-prevention and fire-safety issues.
Many of these shadow fleet vessels should have been scrapped years ago, says Erausquin. “Instead, they were simply being purchased second-hand by Russia to continue their operations in sanctioned trades.”
Russia attempts to hide its connections to the ageing ships by registering them in far-off countries with little ability or interest in enforcing safety regulations, he says.
“Ships can be registered with these countries in a matter of days and sometimes even hours,” says Erausquin.
The crews are often poorly trained, he says. “The companies are often restricted in accessing mainstream crewing agencies. So we see less qualified crews joining these operations, contributing to the risks.”
Irish authorities are slowly waking up to the risks posed by these vessels. According to a Department of Transport spokeswoman, the Coast Guard now conducts regular anti-pollution monitoring using satellite data and its newly acquired fixed-wing aircraft.
It is also drafting a new maritime oil spill contingency plan. Announcing the plan, the Coast Guard says the risk of a big oil spill is increasing “due in part to more shipping activity but also the emerging use of so-called ‘shadow fleets’ in Irish waters.
“These fleets, which work outside of the normal regulatory oversight and sanctions regimes, often use vessels that are ageing, poorly maintained and do not meet accepted international safety standards,” it says.
“Such vessels also operate without adequate inspections, certification, or insurance coverage, significantly increasing the likelihood of incidents in Irish waters and environmental damage.”
The Defence Forces says its two new maritime surveillance aircraft are equipped with advanced sensors capable of detecting oil spills and other discharges.
“If/when potential pollution is observed, details are passed on to the Coast Guard for their assessment,” says the Defence Forces spokesman.
Monitoring of Russian shadow fleet vessels “forms a core part of every Naval Service sailing order”, he adds.
Earlier this year, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee announced new powers that would allow Irish naval personnel to seize shadow fleet vessels by force if nessecary.
However, due to crew shortages, these new powers remain mostly theoretical. The Naval Service is currently only capable of deploying one or two ships to sea at a time, making monitoring such a large area of ocean extremely challenging.
This must be urgently addressed, says Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews.
“The Irish Navy must be fully equipped and empowered to tackle these illegal vessels, not only to fulfil our international obligations but to protect the Irish coastline,” he says.
‘SHADOW FLEET’ MOVEMENTS HOW OIL TANKERS ARE USING IRISH WATERS TO EVADE INTERNATIONAL SANCTION
