Eleanor Donaldson unfit to stand trial in historic sex offences case

Eleanor Donaldson unfit to stand trial in historical sex offences case, judge rules

CHRISTOPHER WOODHOUSE, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

Eleanor Donaldson has been deemed unfit to stand trial on alleged historic sex offences, a judge has ruled.

After hearing evidence from consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Christine Kennedy and considering additional medical reports Judge Paul Ramsey found she would not be able to properly take part in the trial.

Jeffrey Donaldson (63) has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.

Eleanor Donaldson (60) of Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, faces charges of aiding and abetting, which she denies.

The trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday with the selection and swearing of a jury.

Dr Kennedy told the hearing at Newry Crown Court she had prepared two reports on Eleanor Donaldson last October and May this year.

She said in her opinion, given her mental condition, she would be unable to instruct her lawyers, follow the process or give evidence.

Eleanor Donaldson's barrister, Ian Turkington KC, said there were also two other medical reports before the court in relation to her mental health situation.

Unfit to stand trial

Judge Ramsey said he was satisfied on the evidence that Eleanor Donaldson was not fit to stand trial.

Eleanor Donaldson will now be subject to a trial of the facts. A jury will determine whether she committed the alleged acts but the process cannot result in a criminal conviction.

The judge heard further legal submissions during yesterday's hearing on whether that trial of the facts should run alongside the trial of Jeffrey Donaldson or as separate proceedings at a different time.

He is due to rule on that point today.

Neither Jeffrey or Eleanor Donaldson were present in court for the ruling.

They were not required to attend.

Jeffrey Donaldson has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences, including one count of rape, as well as allegations of indecent assault and gross indecency.

The alleged offences span a time period between 1985 and 2008, and there are two alleged victims.

Jeffrey Donaldson, the MP for Lagan Valley since 1997, 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. 

'A trial of the facts': What is the seldom-seen scenario ex-DUP leader's wife will now face?

CHRISTOPHER WOODHOUSE, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

In a trial of the facts, the accused cannot be convicted of the offences with which they are charged.

This seldom-seen scenario comes about because it has been determined the defendant is not mentally capable of taking part in the trial process.

They can only be determined to have committed the alleged offences, or not to have done so, based on the evidence put forward by the prosecution and defence.

If the jury determines the accused did commit the acts, it then falls to the judge to determine the most suitable way in which to deal with the defendant.

Under the legislation which allows for a trial of the facts, The Mental Health Order (Northern Ireland) 1986, a prison sentence is not an option available to a judge.

Ivor Bell and Jean McConville

A notable example of a trial of the facts in Northern Ireland is that of former IRA commander Ivor Bell, who was subject to one for the murder of Jean McConville.

He faced two charges of soliciting the murder of the mother-of-10 in 1972, but was deemed unfit to stand trial due to a diagnosis of dementia in December 2018.

The killing is among the most notorious of the Troubles due to false claims spread by the IRA that Ms McConville was an informant, and the secret burial of her body, which was not recovered for 25 years.

The 37-year-old was abducted from her home in Divis flats in west Belfast.

She was shot and secretly buried on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth, with her remains not found until 2003.

In 1999 the IRA finally admitted responsibility for her disappearance. No one has ever been convicted of her murder.

An investigation by the Police Ombudsman found no evidence to support the claims Ms McConville had been passing information to the security forces.

The case against Bell was based on admissions made in an interview given to the Boston College project by a person identified as 'Z'. Bell denied he was 'Z'.

However, Mr Justice O'Hara ruled the recordings were not reliable and therefore could not be used as evidence against him. The jury was then directed to acquit him on the charges as the judge determined they could not find that he was responsible for soliciting Ms McConville's murder.

Former teacher abused 19 boys across 25 years

Chris McNulty, Irish News, May 21st, 2026

A FORMER schoolteacher who sexually abused 19 boys over a 25-year period will be sentenced later this year.

Details of the depraved actions of Patrick Sharkey were revealed at Letterkenny Circuit Court yesterday.

Sharkey, now 83, sat emotionless in the dock, listening with the aid of a court-provided hearing device, during proceedings before he was remanded in custody by Judge John Aylmer.

He will be sentenced in June by Judge Aylmer. Sharkey, with an address at College Green, Belfast, was before the court on foot of guilty pleas to a total of 132 charges – a mix of indecent assault and sexual assault.

The charges related to a total of 19 victims and spanned dates between 1970 and 1995. There were 59 offences in relation to one of the victims while some of the other injured parties were the victims of 15, 14, 10 and six counts.

Some offending occurred when children travelled from school to take part in extracurricular activities and they stayed in Sharkey’s parents’ house in Clonmany, Co Donegal while other offences took place when they were on trips to Dublin.

Sharkey had been living in France when he flew into Birmingham in 2022 and was arrested by detectives on foot of warrants that had been issued.

Some of his victims, supported by family members, were present for a sentencing hearing at Letterkenny Courthouse. In the body of the court, some hugged tightly and others wept as Sharkey’s vile offending was relayed.

Sharkey, originally from the Clonmany area, was a teacher at St Joseph’s High School in Coleraine during the time of his offending. Many of the victims were students in the school. The school no longer exists with the site set to be used for housing.

The court heard that Sharkey was a substitute French teacher who also took care of after-school activities. Sharkey was also “very involved”

‘Patrick Sharkey took something out of me that never returned’

Series of victims tell court of the extent of sexual abuse suffered at the hands of depraved Donegal schoolteacher, 83, over 25 years with a youth club and a social club, while he helped to lead a cross-community initiative in the early 1990s.

Sharkey was also involved in canoeing and taught that activity regularly. Sharkey was interviewed on three occasions by detectives and made only “partial admissions”, the court heard.

The court heard that Sharkey later told investigators: “Some time in the last six months I’ve come to the conclusion that I shouldn’t have touched those people at all.”

His barrister, Eugene Grant SC, with Maddie Grant BL, instructed by solicitor Patsy Gallagher, said that “the prospect of dying in prison is real” for Sharkey.

Previously, Sharkey served a sentence at Maghaberry Prison in Northern Ireland having been jailed at Antrim Crown Court in 2023. Three of the victims in that case overlapped into the matter before Letterkenny Circuit Court.

Detective Garda Johnny Gallagher from Buncrana Garda Station outlined the evidence in the case to Barrister for the State, Fiona Crawford BL.

‘Pretty much every night’

One victim, who was the subject of 59 counts, told detectives: “Pretty much every night I was in Clonmany with Patrick Sharkey, he sexually abused me.”

He said he was “so shocked” and said that he “didn’t know what to do”.

Another person was just seven years old when Sharkey began to sexually abuse him.

“I had no idea what he was doing except I didn’t like it,” the victim recalled to detectives.

One of the victims outlined that he was 12 and the accused was in his 30s when Sharkey took him on an activity which lasted for three or four hours.

They later returned to Sharkey’s house and the court heard that the young victim woke up the following morning and had a pain in his private area.

Sharkey told the young boy that “sometimes you get sore in places” after canoeing. Another day, he told how Sharkey was “all over me” when they were in the shower while the victim also remembered Sharkey placing his hand inside his underwear and sexually assaulting him.

Another victim, who said he was “proper scared,” later told detectives.

“It was just horrible. I didn’t know what to do.”

One victim, the subject of 10 counts on the indictment, told how he went to Dublin 18 times with Sharkey and he was subjected to sexual assaults “half the time” while another incident occurred in Clonmany.

I couldn’t deal with it. Patrick Sharkey took advantage of me when I was only 13 years old

Sharkey was approximately 53 years old when he began sexually assaulting another boy, who was 13 at the time. He recalled how Sharkey had plied him with cider before he started to kiss him on the back and then sexually assaulted him.

He told how he closed his eyes and “just waited for it to stop”.

“I was in shock or fear,” he told detectives. This victim said Sharkey came into a bedroom and started cuddling him before kissing him on the neck, cheek and face. “I was petrified and didn’t sleep,” he said.

He recalled how Sharkey bought cider for him on another day and the two were in a room later in the daytime while on another occasion, Sharkey performed a sex act on the boy after they had been out to an activity.

“I just zoned out,” the victim said in a victim impact statement in which he added that he had suffered suicidal ideations and became depressed, falling into alcohol abuse and having to endure anxiety.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards

Another man said he saw media reports regarding Sharkey in Northern Ireland when he decided to make a complaint.

He remembered how Sharkey would take children hillwalking as part of an orienteering exercise as they were doing the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Sharkey took them to Clonmany and when he woke up in a house Sharkey had his hand on his penis.

“I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I turned around to face the wall to get away from him (Sharkey).”

He told investigators that Sharkey attempted to penetrate him but he picked up a shoe and hit Sharkey before fleeing from the room. One victim remembered how he tried to push Sharkey away but said “he was too big and he was too strong”.

Another man told Gardaí how he felt that “Patrick Sharkey took something out of me that never returned” while another of Sharkey’s victims said he started to take drink and drugs as a result of what had happened.

Another of Sharkey’s victims said he has been trying to block out the incidents for 40 years while another of his victims told Gardaí: “I was just terrified and I pretended to be asleep.”

A couple of the injured parties remembered how Sharkey would sometimes drive a car and allow them to sit on his lap but as the boys held the steering wheel they were sexually assaulted by Sharkey.

Mr Grant said that his client, who worked at the Coleraine school from 1966 to 1997, has been residing in a hostel in Northern Ireland and asked the court to consider the signed guilty pleas as well as Sharkey’s advanced years and his history of heart failure.

Sharkey was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in June.

Civil service boss admits administative schlerosis at Stormont is getting worse 

SAM McBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

BRADY STRUGGLES TO ANSWER WHETHER SHE IS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR STATE OF ORGANISATION, DESPITE COSTING TAXPAYERS £290K A YEAR

The civil service has got even worse in at least one key area since a damning Audit Office report in January, its boss Jayne Brady has admitted.

Appearing before the Assembly's Finance Committee, the head of the civil service also said she was willing to have her performance judged before getting salary hikes, after this newspaper revealed she got huge pay increases for “satisfactory” performance — without anyone actually judging whether she'd performed satisfactorily.

Ms Brady evaded a series of awkward questions during two and a half hours of questioning by MLAs, often providing long jargon-heavy answers to simple questions.

Ms Brady, who has headed the civil service since 2021, now costs taxpayers £290,000 a year — far above the cost of the Prime Minister, or the First or Deputy First Minister.

The leader of Stormont's Opposition, Matthew O'Toole, asked Ms Brady about why the organisation she leads hasn't been sufficiently reformed after the devastating RHI inquiry and multiple Audit Office reports.

The SDLP MLA, who chairs the committee, said: “I think it is clear to even the most fair-minded observer that reform has fallen far short of what people had a right to expect. What in your view has gone wrong?”

Ms Brady responded by saying she “welcomed” auditors' highly-critical reports but admitted: “The pace of change hasn't been as we would have hoped.”

She went on: “I don't want to sit here and bring any excuses to bear; the pace isn't as we would have wished. The context in that scenario was obviously a collapsed Executive for two years…”

Temporary promotions

Mr O'Toole highlighted that 13% of the entire civil service are now on temporary promotions, asking: “What is the target to reduce that, and by what date?”

Ms Brady responded: “So, the, we will talk to some of the objectives there. I think there's 3.7k that are currently in TPs and there are recruitment competitions in place in terms of fulfilling those which are included as vacancies. At an SCS level, if I gave you an example from what I delivered…”

Ms Brady's continued without directly answering the question. For the senior civil service, she said it was her objective to have no temporary promotions by the end of this year for grades three and five.

But when pressed on this, she then said that “there can be strategic reasons for having temporary promotions in place, where it is a time-bound piece of work, where there is an objective to have that removed, where the job is being re-evaluated”.

Mr O'Toole picked up on the fact that the 3,700 figure is even worse than the 3,192 temporary promotions referred to in January's Audit Office report — itself a figure up from 1,844 in 2019.

Pressed on the overall target for the civil service, Ms Brady again declined to answer the question straightforwardly, instead batting it over to a more junior official, Catherine Shannon.

Eventually, she agreed that the figure should be going down by the end of this year.

She said a new pilot scheme would reduce the time for recruitment “down from months to a period of 10-12 weeks” — even though 10-12 weeks is also a period of months.

Mr O'Toole asked: “Are you personally accountable for the state of the civil service? Is that something you would take personal professional accountability for?”

Ms Brady replied with a long answer which didn't answer the question: “No, I think the committee are well aware of the constitutional arrangements in the civil service. I am head of the civil service.

“I am secretary to the Executive and I am principal adviser to FM and DFM. The departmental order gives the responsibility for ministers to organise the functions of their department as they see fit, and it has the general management of the service and the civil service order is responsibility [sic] for the Department of Finance.

“However, in the reality of the situation where we need collective leadership and collective driving, I have a role and I have a hugely important role in driving this important people agenda within those constraints.

Who’s in charge?

“So what I have done is I have established a civil service board similar to external type board structures. I have reconstituted it. I have three non-exec external directors to hold us to account and to chair the committees — one of the committees is delivering in terms of the people strategy…”

The answer continued in this vein until Mr O'Toole interrupted: “With the greatest of respect, I just asked you whether you are personally, professionally, accountable for the performance of the civil service.

“I would have thought that was a relatively straight yes or no answer — and you didn't give me an immediate 'yes'. Isn't that a problem with our structure?”

Ms Brady replied: “I sit in the constitution realms [sic]. The Department of Finance minister has responsibility for the general management of the service.

“I believe I am the leader to provide that leadership and provide account for my permanent secretaries within the constitutional position and I take that extremely seriously…”

Mr O'Toole asked her if it was a “fundamental problem” that she wasn't really in charge and couldn't line manage officials in other departments.

Ms Brady said there had been past recommendations which would have moved closer to that position but she had applied for the job in the knowledge of what it was.

She then said: “But I don't abdicate the responsibility. I am here driving leadership across the service… no civil servant sets the direction; the direction is set by our ministers, by our programme for government, by the Executive.”

The DUP's Diane Forsythe said that across the civil service “there is a real culture and perception of no consequences for whenever things go wrong… it's not a good look”.

She asked Ms Brady what she had done personally to hold senior civil servants to account when they had failed and undermined public confidence.

Ms Brady said she “can't comment on any individual cases” but she “put in place new structures” and “I manage that performance approval process”.

Mrs Forsythe pressed Ms Brady on specific examples, asking about recent minutes of Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald's meeting with US bank Cantor Fitzgerald — which were just three bullet points, even though the meeting seems to have scuppered 300 jobs.

Drawing attention to civil service record keeping, which was meant to improve after RHI, and whether that was “good enough”, she asked what Ms Brady she was doing.

The civil service boss said she couldn't discuss that case but that she had got involved in various cases where she thought “potentially” the civil service “wasn't delivering”.

Former UUP leader Steve Aiken accepted there had been “political failure” but said there was also “a real failure in leadership and delivery from the whole senior structure of the civil service”.

Pressed by him on whether the A5 failures showed the civil service was “inept”, Ms Brady claimed the years of delay in building the A5 road was “largely due to the complexity of the legal environment we now work within”.

‘Very low digital maturity’

She said a recent audit showed the civil service has a “very low digital maturity” and so officials need more training.

Ms Brady said part of the solution involved increased use of AI, with the rollout of Microsoft CoPilot — an AI question and answer interface — across the civil service “to free people up to be more focussed on the areas where they will add their differentiating value”.

Ms Brady said there had “never been a performance management process” for the head of the civil service since 1999 and said she would “fully accept” that.

Police Federation chief says devolution has been ‘disastrous’

REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, May 21st, 2026

DEVOLVED government in Northern Ireland has been “disastrous”, according to the head of a police representative body.

At a time of historically low police officer numbers and PSNI budget strain, Liam Kelly accused administrations in Belfast and London of “passing the parcel of blame in a game of unedifying brinkmanship”.

Mr Kelly said the PSNI is facing three years of projected budget deficits over the next three years, with “frightening numbers” from £65 million this year, to £96 million in 2027/28, to £106 million in 2028/29.

He said the books “simply cannot be balanced”, and claimed they are “staring at a financial meltdown”, adding: “Our political leaders must share most of the blame for this crisis.”

Addressing the Police Federation for Northern Ireland’s annual conference in Belfast yesterday, Mr Kelly also backed a recent challenge by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to politicians to show their support for police.

He said ahead of the 25th anniversary of the creation of the PSNI in November, “the outlook has never been as bleak or filled with as much foreboding”.

He noted that in November 2001 there were around 7,500 full-time police officers serving a population of around 1.69 million, while today there are “disgracefully” 6,315 police officers serving a population of 1.93 million.

“When you remove student officers from this total, the figure slides down towards 6,000,” he added.

Mr Kelly went on to reference the many Stormont collapses over the last 25 years, and went on to claim that a “blind eye was turned to falling police numbers”.

He also claimed that the PSNI “disgustingly remains languishing at the back of the queue when it comes to funding and having effective resources”, as well as referencing the current political failure to agree a proposed three-year budget.

“Devolution was meant to be a boost, a better way of delivering accountable government,” he said.

“In our experience, instead of being a positive step, it has been disastrous.

“We have London and Belfast passing the parcel of blame in a game of unedifying brinkmanship.

“We have Belfast complaining of insufficient financial resources. The police budget is squeezed where continued constrained one-year financial settlements are an obvious barrier to forward-planning.”

PSNI Recovery Plan in “grave doubt”.

Mr Kelly said the PSNI Recovery Plan, which planned to deliver an increase to 7,000 officers by April 2028, is in “grave doubt”.

“By April 2026, the end of year one of the recovery plan, we were supposed to grow by 150 officers so we would have 6,500 in service,” he said.

“Despite the belated funding we’re currently at 6,315 – 35 officers less than where the original baseline was drawn in 2025.

“The next staging post in April 2027 projected we would have 6,750 officers in post. That would require a growth of 435 officers in year.

“On average PSNI conservatively lose around 350 officers per year, so recruitment would have to be in the region of 800 officers to just catch up.

“Let’s be honest – that is now simply not going to happen. Even with the best will in the world, the knock-on effect to get to 7,000 officers by April 2028 has effectively evaporated.”

He reiterated: “This is a crisis. We’re not crying wolf or scaremongering”, adding: “the time for intervention is right now”.

Meanwhile, Mr Kelly acknowledged there could be “more from a Catholic background in its (PSNI) ranks”.

But said he said with “indifferent political approach taken by some parties, combined with community opposition and a terrorist threat to those who take the brave decision, it’s little wonder there’s a reluctance to raise heads above the parapet and come forward”.

He said the reintroduction of 50-50 recruitment would be a “backward step and lead to understandable resentment”.

“Engineering the figures would be a lazy way of trying to fix a societal problem,” he said.

“From this platform today, I join the Chief Constable in saying bluntly that it’s time everyone did their bit in a more vocal and assertive way to promote a career in policing.

“Those applicants from a Catholic background in particular have to be given specific reassurance from nationalist politicians and church leaders that there is no impediment or threat to them becoming police officers.

“Too often, there’s a rush to criticise, but when it comes to giving wholehearted encouragement and unequivocal endorsement of a career in policing, quite a few usually vocal spokespeople develop a case of laryngitis. “Their silence is deafening.” He added: “It’s time for all of them to get off the fence.”

'Sinister and unacceptable' - UDA flags condemned by councillors

ABDULLAH SABRI, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

A number of loyalist paramilitary flags erected in east Belfast have been condemned by local councillors, with calls for the authorities to take a proactive approach to their removal.

At least three of the UDA banners were recently raised on lampposts in the Cregagh Road and Rosetta Road area.

It's not known exactly when the latest UDA flags were erected; however, Lisnasharragh councillor Brian Smyth has called for police to take a “front-footed approach”.

“Many people will find paramilitary flags being displayed as deeply sinister,” the Green Party councillor said.

“These organisations are nothing more than drug-trafficking criminal gangs who offer nothing positive to the communities they supposedly claim to represent.

“As Greens, we believe that shared space shouldn't be neutral and grey, but that a line needs to be drawn towards any of these criminal organisations of any political shade.

“The DfI and PSNI need to take a robust and front-footed approach to dealing with this and on a consistent basis.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said: “The proliferation of illegally erected flags, often used to intimidate and mark out territory, is totally unacceptable. The department continues to engage with the PSNI to identify the most effective ways to tackle this problem and has contacted them about the flag at Rosetta.”

Alliance Party councillor Michael Long said there was “no place” for illegal banners and said he had informed the PSNI about the issue.

He called for greater powers in the Assembly to tackle such displays.

The Lisnasharragh councillor said: “Alliance has always strongly condemned the placement of sectarian flags and emblems from proscribed organisations on public property.

Marking territory

“Such displays seek only to mark territory and create division, and there is absolutely no place for them in society.

“It is clear more action is needed in order to address this issue and prevent groups from erecting these displays to intimidate and claim areas.

“My Alliance colleague Paula Bradshaw MLA is bringing forward her Private Members' Bill to the Assembly which aims to establish a legislative framework to tackle unwanted flags and emblems on public property.

“Alliance remains committed to addressing these issues and working towards creating a shared society free from division and fear. I have raised the recent placement of these flags with the DfI and PSNI.”

“Paula Bradshaw's consultation on flags and emblems closed in June last year and has not reached first stage.

“More importantly, the Executive should act to provide a clear legal framework for dealing with these issues.”

SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole also took to social media to denounce the flags.

He said: “I have reported this UDA flag which just went up in Rosetta and DfI have confirmed it will be removed. Territory marking like this, particularly using paramilitary flags, should firmly be left in the past.”

One of the last major displays of paramilitary flags was in June of last year when UDA banners were raised near Knocknagoney police station.

The issue gained particular traction due to a member of west Belfast rap trio Kneecap being charged under the Terrorism Act for allegedly displaying a flag at a London concert in support of a proscribed group (Hezbollah). The case was thrown out on a technicality.

Education Authority defends £113k salary for a new legal chief despite price rise in school dinners

MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

The cash-strapped Education Authority (EA) is seeking to appoint a new chief legal officer by offering a base salary more than £10,000 over the rate applied in other government departments.

According to the job description, “the current salary range for the post is £102,877 up to £113,524 per annum (under review)”.

The EA has defended the salary, despite the equivalent position in the health service listed as Band 8D, which starts at £91,342 and tops out at £105,337 — or roughly equivalent to a Stormont minister's salary.

The successful candidate will have a starting salary just shy of the highest available in the Department of Health at a time when the EA is coming under serious financial pressure.

A spokesperson for the EA said: “The chief legal officer is a member of EA's corporate leadership team, providing strategic leadership for legal services and contributing to delivery of the organisation's wider objectives.

“The role has been externally job evaluated and placed within EA's chief officer salary band of £102,877 to £113,524, in line with comparable senior posts and informed by NICS deputy secretary Grade 3 pay levels.

“It reflects the strategic importance of legal expertise within one of Northern Ireland's largest public sector organisations.”

One of the key responsibilities of the role will be to ensure that EA lives within its annual budget allocation from the Department of Education.

Applications closed last Monday.

Unavoidable cost pressures

Over the past two years, many services usually provided by EA have been cut.

Last December, the head of the EA issued a warning over the funding deficit being faced by schools. He said any cost-saving measures that can be implemented are “barely scratching the surface” of a £300m shortfall.

Richard Pengelly informed Stormont's education committee that cost-cutting measures being introduced would save around 10pc of what is required under current budgeting concerns.

There was a further warning from the Education Minister Paul Givan that “the department cannot meet its current teachers' pay obligations without a ministerial direction, which I am now taking to the Executive”.

Mr Pengelly told MLAs: “Education continues to face unavoidable cost pressures and rising service demands associated with delivering statutory and policy obligations that the current budget does not fully address.

“For the third year running, demand-led, statutory pressures will go unfunded. Savings plans currently being implemented can only reduce this deficit by 10% at most.

“Achieving in-year savings by EA is severely limited. Around 85pc of our annual expenditure is incurred on payroll costs — this includes pay for teachers and school support staff.

“Making significant reductions to this cost, apart from the implications for service provision, would require a funded severance scheme. Such a scheme is not available.”

Savings measures taken by the EA have seen school dinners rise in price by 50p since January. Mr Pengelly also said “the increasing cost of home to school taxis is of significant concern”.

Taxi firms were asked for a 10pc reduction in rates, with contracts to be re-tendered this summer with a focus on value for money and sustainability.

The cost of music tuition also rose between 10-20pc in January.

Mother of son with SEN takes Caleb's Cause to King at Hillsborough Castle

Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

A campaigning mother, whose 18-year-old son is about to leave special education and be left to fend for himself, has turned the pressure on the Health Minister to begin making plans for future legislation.

Alma White took her Caleb's Cause campaign to Hillsborough Castle yesterday, where she met the King and presented him and the Queen with Caleb's Cause T-shirts to highlight her campaign.

“I went along with two Caleb's Cause T-shirts in my hand, wrapped in white ribbon, hoping for a chance to see the King and Queen. I wasn't supposed to be in the line-up, but I got to meet him away from the crowd with a select few,” she told the Belfast Telegraph, having been invited to the garden party for her work in the community.

“His aide saw my T-shirts and I just asked if I could present them. This was a moment for all our young people. I wanted the King to remember this logo and the meaning.

“The King took time to talk to me and I told him: 'These T-shirts represent Caleb and so many others with disabilities. We want to gift them to you and the Queen.'

“I did say I would do everything I could to fight for Caleb and others like him. I told him that including our SEN kids in his recent King's Speech in Parliament offered hope and he told me: 'Now we need action, not just words.'

“I told him Caleb's Cause is here, because our children and adults with disabilities matter. I was determined not to leave without taking that opportunity, and I'm so grateful he took the time to chat about it.”

Alma accused the Health Minister of inflexibility, but this is fuelling her determination to make a real change for other families following behind her.

Being left with no future

Ms White, who's son Caleb is set to leave school at the end of the current term, said that she was heartened by cross-party support during an Assembly debate this week, but the fact remains that hundreds of children due to leave the SEN system are being left with no future, with nothing in place to care for their needs once they leave school.

While Ms White said the motion brought to the Assembly by the SDLP “wasn't exactly what she was hoping for”.

She said that, after years of campaigning, she was “happy to see the issues facing SEN pupils when they turn 19 years old getting the access to debate it deserves”.

“This is, though, primarily a health matter. It was disappointing not to have the Health Minister there to respond to or show support for the motion,” she said.

Rather than the Health Minister respond to the motion, it was Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald who addressed the Assembly, to outline what her department has been doing to improve the passage from SEN into further education.

“This does have to be a cross-departmental process, but health has to take a lead,” said Alma.

“I was a little taken aback by the number of MLAs who were present in the chamber for the debate. It was heartening to see the support for what I'm trying to achieve.

“But there remains the key issue that the Minister for Health has told us: there is no time to introduce any legislation during the current mandate.

“More than that, there is no indication that any forward planning is being made to ensure things are in place to progress on this as early as possible in the next Assembly term.”

Ms White thanked Ms Archibald for “taking the first steps”, as she told the Assembly of plans to support thousands of SEN pupils.

“But Caleb, and many others with very complex needs, need a plan too,” she added.

“Sadly, we are left feeling invisible as there is no system in place tracking their needs, and no one knows how many young people are sitting at home with no access to support or provision.

“It all means that parents have little choice other than leaving work to provide the care their children need.

“There's the constant worry for parents of what will happen once they're no longer able to provide that care in the future.

“We need to see a lifelong plan for young people like Caleb and the many more who will follow him through education in the future. Disabilities do not disappear with age.”

The SDLP motion, which was supported by the Assembly, had called on the Executive to bring forward legislation guaranteeing clear legal entitlements and consistent, high-quality support for young people with SEN up to the age of 25.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has maintained there is not enough time before the end of the current mandate to introduce the legislation that would be required.

Which is the world's most expensive children's hospital?

John Laverty, Belfast Telegraph, May 21st, 2026

I'll bet you didn't know that Belfast is currently in a race with Dublin to build the world's most expensive children's hospital. Won't that be something for the eventual winner to be proud of?

Think of the gloating afterwards; “They thought we could build this thing for X amount of public money, but we showed 'em we could do it for multiple times that — and take aeons longer. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!”

The current standings: Belfast's new children's hospital on the Royal Victoria Hospital complex was originally slated to cost £250m and finished by 2020. The latest estimate is closer to £700m, with a completion date early in the 2030s.

Mere pennies, say the Dubs. Their project — which was also meant to be ready for business in 2020 — may now be operational some time next year, at a cost of over £2bn; roughly four times the original estimate.

That makes Dublin the winner, right?

Fair dues; we may have beaten them on the “unacceptable delays” front yet, when it comes to budget busting, our southern neighbours clearly have the edge. But wait a moment... there's a VAR-style check going on.

And they're saying that... yes... Dublin's 533-bed NCH (National Children's Hospital) is the clear winner when it comes to excessive overspend of public funds — but Belfast's 155-bed NCH (New Children's Hospital) trumps that if you go by the 'cost per bed' metric.

And in that regard, Belfast's hozzie (at £4.5m per bed) is in the world's top 10 costliest current builds and Dublin's (a mere £4.12m per bed) isn't. Result!

Moreover, there's still enough time to further balloon Stormont's Department of Health budget and get us closer to the cherished numero uno spot a few months before the gargantuan £3.75bn Dallas Children's Hospital (£6.8m per bed) blows everyone else out of the water in 2031. Everything's bigger in Texas...

This would clearly irk Dublin, whose proud residents had got it into their heads that they had both the Irish and worldwide bragging rights when it came to overpaying for a shiny new kids' hospital. Not so.

Aren't they aware that us Nordies have far more experience when it comes to blowing shedloads of public money on problematic capital projects?

For an example, you won't have to look far from the construction site of the children's hospital — virtually next door, in fact — where the 'Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital' is now 11 years behind schedule, is weighing in at almost twice its initial £57m budget and remains embarrassingly empty after dangerous bacteria was found in the water system.

The first babies that were scheduled to be born there, back in 2015, are now preparing themselves for secondary school.

Or the York Street Interchange, aimed at finally improving traffic flow on the habitually clogged Westlink/M2/M3 junction: first estimate £125m, latest estimate £300m; money already spent on God-knows-what: £27m.

Corridor or Clogged door?

A5 upgrade, anyone? Initial estimate £560m, current estimate £1.7bn (£500m of which has been pledged by the Irish Government), £150m already spent on 'consultancy and legal fees', but not a single square foot of tarmac laid on the proposed 58-mile 'Western Transport Corridor' between Derry and Aughnacloy.

In retrospect, perhaps our Assembly should not have passed that 2022 climate change legislation that made the whole shebang illegal...

Consequently (and with the A5 ruling being appealed), over £25m in funding was handed back by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in the last financial year for projects, including £4.5m for expanding the Glider service, £16.3m for the Enniskillen bypass and £2.2m for a new Lagan pedestrian bridge.

In short, our hapless devolved government has blown roughly three quarters of a billion more than first budgeted on four major capital projects, one of which is 'finished' but unopened, another which is under construction, and the other two not yet started, while handing back 25 million on other failed ideas.

At least the DfI finally got Belfast Grand Central Station up and running — albeit at a cool £140m more than its initial £200m estimate.

With this in mind, what hope does the Department for Communities/DUP's perpetually gestating baby — Casement Park — have?

Quick résumé on the state of play just two miles up the road from the children's hospital build: initial estimate £77.5m, new estimate £270m, promised funding £170.5m, shortfall close to £100m.

But we all know it will ultimately cost far more than that because sports/concert stadiums are notorious for spiralling massively over budget.

Maybe that's something our indefatigable, recently pay-boosted MLAs could discuss when taking a well-deserved break in Stormont's luxurious Blue Flax canteen — refurbished for nearly £200k more than anticipated.

There's no expense spared when it ain't your own dough, eh?

Martin to raise treatment of flotilla activists with Macron

RTE News May 21st, 2026

There are around 15 Irish citizens on board the flotilla that were detained by Israel, according to organisers

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is to raise Israel's treatment of EU citizens from the Sumud Flotilla with French President Emmanuel Macron during a meeting in Paris.

Mr Martin wrote to European Council President Antonio Costa asking that he put the issue on the agenda of the upcoming EU summit.

Mr Martin said leaders should now consider the suspension of all or parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement as a result of what he called the illegal detention of EU citizens by the Israeli Defence Forces in international waters.

There are around 15 Irish citizens on board the flotilla that were detained by Israel, according to organisers. Hundreds more participants from other countries have also been detained.

In a video on social media, Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is shown walking among some of the detainees and saying they should remain in prison for a long time.

The footage also shows Mr Ben-Gvir heckling and waving an Israeli flag among the detained activists.

The Taoiseach is due to visit the Élysée Palace during which he will raise the matter with Mr Macron, with the two leaders also set to discuss the Middle East, Ukraine and EU security.

Tánaiste Simon Harris said the "actions of the Israeli government towards illegally detained members of the Sumud Flotilla, including Irish and EU citizens, is disgusting and cannot be consequence free."

In a statement he described the forcible detention of the activists as a "further clear breach of international law".

He added: "Illegally detaining citizens in international waters and then degrading them. It is despicable.

Condemnation is important but not enough."

Mr Harris said he fully supports the work being done by the Taoiseach and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and that he intends to raise it with fellow European People Party leaders.

"There must be a strong, unambiguous EU response and I reiterate the calls for the suspension of trade elements of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

"This has been our consistent position as a country. It is long past time for Europe to act," Mr Harris said.

Visit ahead of EU presidency

Mr Martin's visit is part of preparations as Ireland takes up the presidency of the EU Council for six months from July.

The EU Council is the group of heads of state and ministers from the 27 EU countries' governments.

It is in charge of legislation and involves gatherings of EU ministers who have similar briefs, for example, the Foreign Affairs Council.

Ireland will take responsibility for planning and chairing EU Council meetings and negotiations and representing the council in discussions with the European Parliament and European Commission.

There will be approximately 30,000 delegates coming to Ireland over the six-month period, with meetings taking place over four-and-a-half months when the breaks over August and the Christmas period are excluded.

Departmental officials are also finalising Ireland's policy priorities, which are to be published next month.

The Taoiseach and French President Emmanuel Macron will also discuss the Middle East and Ukraine

The leaders will discuss preparations for the presidency and the focus on competitiveness, the EU's next budget and security, as well as EU enlargement, as part of Ireland's tenure.

The two leaders will also discuss international issues such as the conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Mr Martin said Ireland would be taking the helm of the EU Council presidency at "a time of great challenge and uncertainty" in the world.

"I look forward to discussing with President Macron his priorities for our term in office and how we can work together to improve the lives of Europe's citizens and enterprises," he said.

He said: "I will brief the president on our plans to focus on improving EU competitiveness, negotiating the Union's next budget and security.

"We will also seek to make progress on EU enlargement.

"I also look forward to discussing global challenges, including conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine."

While in Paris, Mr Martin will visit the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) , where he will announce the launch of a new archival project to improve access to historic documents related to Ireland in French archives.

With the Paris branch of Conradh na Gaeilge, the Taoiseach will present a copy of the first English-Irish dictionary, An Focloir Bearla-Gaoidheilge, or Begly's Dictionary, which was first published in Paris in 1732, to the CCI.

He will also deliver the keynote address at the conference, Tearmann thar Toinn: The Irish Language in Europe.

The Taoiseach said: "Bilateral relations between France and Ireland are excellent at all levels - political, economic, cultural and people-to-people - underpinned by our historical friendship and shared EU membership," Mr Martin said.

"While in Paris, I am also looking forward to marking the deep cultural ties and shared heritage with France through a number of events at the Centre Culturel Irlandais, the home of Irish culture in France.

"I will launch the Journey to Europe: Archives of the Irish in France project, which will identify and digitise material of significant Irish interest housed in French archives."

This project, he said, "will improve our understanding of our deep historical relationship".

"In my keynote address, I will also reflect on the Irish language in Europe, both past and present, as we continue to promote our native language as a vibrant part of our cultural identity," he added.

‘It’s disgusting behaviour’ — Taoiseach condemns treatment of Irish detainees as video shows activists bound and ‘mistreated’ in Israeli custody

Irish Independent, May 20th, 2026

Margaret Connolly is believed to be among activists detained at Ashdod port. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has instructed the activists to be deported as soon as possible

Irish citizen manhandled as Israeli minister gloats at detainees from flotilla

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has condemned the “disgraceful” treatment of Irish activists detained by the Israeli government from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Video footage released by Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir showed dozens of detained flotilla activists bound, kneeling, and in some cases violently pushed to the ground while Ben‑Gvir walked among them waving an Israeli flag and telling them that they should remain in prison for a “long, long time”.

“We’re appalled and shocked at the behaviour of Minister Ben-Gvir in respect of how he heckled and mocked, essentially, and insulted people on the Sumud Flotilla, and also the manner in which they’ve been tied with [their] hands tied behind their back and so on,” said the Taoiseach.

‘Shocking footage’

“It’s shocking footage. And many other European countries have articulated our absolute disgust with what has transpired here. I will be raising it at EU level, I already am, and engaging with our counterparts.

“This is continued unacceptable behaviour by Israel, generally completely out of step with and in breach of international military law.

“It’s disgusting behaviour, it’s disgraceful. It’s a blight on the Israeli government and other European leaders are likewise calling this out.

“I will at the European Union level seek to get a broader agreement, particularly in terms of the European Union-Israeli Association agreement, that it’s no longer tenable [and] that it would be business as usual with Israel, given its scant regard for European Union citizens.

“The right to protest is a sacred one within any democracy. The flotilla was in international waters and people were essentially abducted by the Israeli government on the high seas [and] have been brought to detention locations. Our immediate objective is to get Irish citizens released as quickly as possible.

“Our ambassador and our consular officials are working on that [but] they have not yet had sight of our citizens or have had any access to them as of yet.”

The sister of President Catherine Connolly, Dr Margaret Connolly, is believed to be among the activists currently being detained at the Israeli ​port, Ashdod, before being ​taken to prison.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since condemned his security minister for posting the video, adding that he instructed the activists to be deported as soon as possible.

In the video, Ben‑Gvir is seen walking among some of the approximately 430 detained activists flanked by police and soldiers, saying: “Welcome to Israel, we are the landlords.”

One handcuffed activist shown in the video shouting “Free Palestine” as Ben-Gvir was walking past was immediately pushed to the ground by security personnel.

Video footage

The video showed activists with their hands tied behind their back kneeling with their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area at Ashdod port in Israel and on the deck of a ship.

In a second video, Ben-Gvir says the activists “came here all full of pride like big heroes. Look at them now.”. He then appeals to Mr Netanyahu to grant him permission to imprison them.

“I say to prime minister Netanyahu, give them to me for a long, long time, give them to us for the terrorist prisons, that’s what it should look like,” Ben-Gvir said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee has also demanded the “immediate release” of the Irish activists.

She sharply condemned the “utterly appalling and unacceptable behaviour” of the Israeli government, saying lreland’s embassy in Tel Aviv had “formally raised this matter with the Israeli authorities and have demanded proper and humane treatment of our Irish citizens”.

“At my instruction, Ireland’s ambassador to Israel has demanded immediate assurances that the welfare and wellbeing of all Irish citizens is safeguarded, and that they are afforded all the protections that they are entitled to under international law.

“I have also demanded their immediate release. I can assure their families and loved ones that our citizens will be afforded all appropriate consular assistance and support as soon as we secure access to them.

“These actions cannot be allowed to continue,” she said in a statement posted on X.

Mr Netanyahu condemned Ben Gvir over his posting of the video and said: “Israel has every right to prevent provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters from entering our territorial waters and reaching Gaza.

“However, the way that minister Ben Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel’s values and norms.

‘Deport provocateurs ASAP’

“I have instructed the relevant authorities to deport the provocateurs as soon as possible.”

An Israel-based legal advocacy group called Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, accused Israeli authorities of “employing a criminal policy of abuse and humiliation against activists”.

The group said that its lawyers and other volunteers were providing legal advice to activists at Ashdod and were demanding their immediate release.

“The international community must take urgent measures to protect the flotilla members against this brutal and illegal conduct by Israeli officials,” the group said.

The activists — roughly 430 people from multiple countries, including 12 Irish citizens — were intercepted at sea while attempting to breach Israel’s blockade of Gaza and were brought to Ashdod port under heavy military escort.

Declan Bree

Sligo councillor Declan Bree, the husband of Dr Connolly, told the Sligo Champion he hadn’t heard from his wife since Monday when Israeli forces boarded the boat she was on which was heading with aid to Gaza.

He said it was “outrageous that the Israeli regime can illegally abduct” his wife and 11 other Irish citizens aboard the aid flotilla.

The flotilla’s organisers said in a statement today that the activists would be taken from the port to Ketziot prison in Israel’s ​southern Negev desert.

Mr Bree said he had a brief call from his wife on Monday morning before the interception.

“Margaret told me Israeli military ships were approaching the flotilla. However, within minutes the phone signal dropped.

“I expect that was due to the Israelis jamming all communications from the flotilla. In keeping with protocol, she would have thrown her phone overboard before the Israelis boarded her boat.

“Since then, I have had no communication from Margaret. I presume that she and her colleagues were transferred to an Israeli military prison ship.

“The boat on which my wife was sailing was unarmed, its mission peaceful. Yet it was boarded with force by the Israeli military, its crew of international volunteers abducted, and its cargo confiscated.”

Global Flotilla

The Global Sumud Flotilla said that 10 boats in a 60-vessel flotilla were intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces shortly after 9am on Monday.

Organisers said the interception happened approximately 70 nautical miles off Cyrpus.

The flotilla has posted videos from Dr Connolly and five others, which ­appear to have been recorded in advance of their detention.

In her video, Dr Connolly said: “If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces, and I’m now being held illegally in an Israeli prison.”

Mr Bree said: “What we are talking about is the ­unlawful seizure of Irish citizens and citizens of other nations on the open sea, essentially an assertion that the Israeli regime can operate with total impunity, far beyond its own borders, with no consequences.

“Even more alarming is the silence from Western governments. Governments that claim to uphold international law have, once again, said little.

“The targeting of a humanitarian mission aimed at delivering aid to the besieged population of Gaza once again exposes the brutality of the ongoing blockade and the attempts by Israel to silence all voices of solidarity.

“Meanwhile, the Irish Government continues abdicating its responsibility to the Palestinian people, stalling and backtracking on promises to take ­action, failing to enact the Occupied ­Territories Bill, allowing the US military to ­continue to use Shannon Airport and our airspace, and shaming us all by association.

Shannon sanction?

“How many times will Israel kidnap Irish citizens before our government sanctions it? Today the Dáil will consider the Sanctions Against the State of Israel Bill. This will give the Government the opportunity to take a stand against the abuse of power by the Israeli regime.”

Mr Bree said he was very proud of his wife. “Margaret fiercely opposes injustice and she is passionate about the Palestinian cause,” he added.

“In addition to Israel’s campaign of genocide, as a medic she is also conscious that more than 1,700 doctors, nurses, consultants and paramedics have been killed by the Israeli military over the past two years.

“If the Taoiseach and government TDs vote for the bill, it will send a clear message to the Israeli regime that Ireland will not be intimidated, that we will not tolerate our citizens being abducted in international waters and that we will take a stand for peace and justice.

“No act of repression will deter Irish activists or the activists of the international community from standing firmly on the side of justice, peace and international solidarity.

“What has been happening in Gaza in full view of the world is a humanitarian disaster. The bombardment, the massacre of civilians and children, the genocide and the mass displacement of an entire population simply cannot be allowed to continue.

‘Barbaric’

“It is barbaric and a clear violation of international humanitarian law. Our government must now call for the immediate release of all the civilians illegally abducted by the Israeli military and uphold the right of safe passage for vessels in international waters.”

President Connolly said the incident was “quite upsetting” and while very proud of her sister, she is “very worried about her”.

Tánaiste Simon Harris said his thoughts were with the President and other families whose loved ones had been detained.

Mr Harris said: “I was very struck by the President’s comments, because on a purely personal level of course you’d be worried, and my heart goes out to President ­Connolly and her family, and indeed all of the families of those detained. What Israel has done is, in my view, illegal.”

The Taoiseach said the Government “has raised concerns for the welfare of those detained with the Israeli authorities”.

Mr Martin said that “such interceptions and detentions are wholly unacceptable and must stop”, adding that Ireland will “discuss with EU partners how we can ensure the safety and wellbeing of our citizens”.

Mr Bree said the attack on the flotilla “could not happen without Israel receiving the support of US president Donald Trump and his administration”.

US connection

“The fact is that the Israeli regime would not and could not continue to slaughter the civilian population of Palestine if President Trump threatened to withhold American support and arms.

“There would be no genocide in Gaza if Trump and the American administration restrained Israel.

“Israel could not continue its war against the Palestinian people without US bombs, armaments and funding.

“Trump and Netanyahu have no respect for international law. They have no respect for human life – in my opinion, they are warmongers and the personification of evil.

“And as governments, particularly Western governments, have failed to hold Israel to account for its ongoing campaign of genocide and slaughter, it is up to people of conscience in every community worldwide to heed ­Palestinian calls for justice and the right to self-determination.”