End of Boucher Road concerts as council votes in favour of new GAA and football pitches
ABDULLAH SABRI, Belfast Telegraph, February 14th, 2026
COUNCILLORS ALSO AGREE 4.48% RISE IN DOMESTIC RATE
Belfast City Council has come to an agreement on the future of the city's biggest outdoor venue, with concerts at the site coming to an end.
An increase in the district rate was also struck following a vote of deferral at the council's monthly meeting on Monday.
The council's Strategic Policy and Resources Committee (SPRC) had previously voted to end concerts at Boucher Playing Fields and transform the site into GAA and football facilities.
The venue has hosted large gigs featuring big names since 2010, and the concerts are a major source of income to the city's economy.
But locals have been complaining for years about the problems they bring, including disruption and logistical challenges for local residents.
Night of chaos
It was expected that the decision would be ratified on Monday night by the full council, but instead it was deferred after a night of chaos at City Hall.
Three separate proposals were passed, however, confusion arose as councillors were seeking confirmation on how the different proposals contrasted with each other.
At last night's special meeting, Green Party councillor Aine Groogan — who led calls to defer the vote of Boucher Road's future on Monday — proposed to go ahead with the building of sports pitches.
Sinn Fein councillor Ciaran Beattie reiterated comments made on Monday that the issue of a lack of investment in GAA pitches stretches back years.
He cited a study in 2011 noting that there was a deficit of 38 pitches in the city. Since then only five pitches have been built, he said.
Mr Beattie referred to commentary from residents who felt like “prisoners in their own homes” in relation to events that occur at the site.
Meanwhile, TUV councillor Ron McDowell maintained his position of opposing any changes to the music venue.
He claimed there was a “certain amount of fear” from councillors to speak out against the GAA.
But the Alliance Party's Jenna Maghie urged the importance of obtaining a report outlining the logistics of the development of sports facilities.
‘I want us to do it with all the information on the table’
“My daughter's been out to Gaeltots on Saturday mornings for ages now,” Ms Maghie said. “I want to support that but I want us to do it with all of the information that's on the table.”
A proposal to defer the future of the Boucher Road subject to the return of a logistical report was defeated following a vote by the council.
However, a second proposal was carried that would see the site house new GAA pitches and other “facilities and infrastructure”.
Speaking after the vote, Sinn Fein councillor Natasha Brennan said: “It is fantastic that Boucher Road has been given the green light to transform into a first-class sporting hub in 2028, with bookable facilities including two GAA pitches and one intermediate soccer pitch.
“This will be particularly welcomed by Gaels in the city who have had to contend with underinvestment and a lack of provision for decades.
“There will also be sufficient time to find an alternative venue to continue hosting large-scale events in the city, safeguarding the social, economic and cultural benefits they bring.”
Raising £218m in rates
Meanwhile, the council also voted over the setting of domestic rates last night.
The SPRC had previously proposed that the rate increase should be set to 3.8% for 2026/27.
That would raise £218,945,031 over the financial year, according to documents from the committee.
A vote to defer the matter back to the SPRC committee was successful during a previous meeting on Monday, with 46 for and 11 against.
However, the council had a statutory duty to have a rate struck by February 15, leading to councillors convening for a special meeting last night.
Councillors voted against an initial proposal to set a rate of 4.25%.
Instead, agreement over an increase of 4.48% was reached.
DUP man hits out at bonfire builders as row splits community
JESSICA RICE, Belfast Telegraph, November 14th, 2026
COUNCIL REMOVES PALLETS GATHERED MONTHS AHEAD OF ELEVENTH NIGHT
A Belfast community has been left divided after a dispute over early bonfire building.
This week, several pallets that had been left on land in the Cregagh area of east Belfast in preparation for Eleventh Night pyres were removed by Belfast City Council.
According to locals, gathering of materials started six months before the traditional July bonfires.
A local DUP councillor said it was right that the material was removed.
Davy Douglas described the early preparations as “unacceptable”.
In a Facebook post, he said: “Massive thanks to Belfast City Council for removing the pallets from the Cregagh Green.
“Collecting began shortly after Christmas. This is unacceptable for the people who live in the area and is a waste of council resources to keep removing this material.”
A question of timing
Mr Douglas made clear he doesn't take issue with bonfires but said the builders should wait until later in the year to begin preparations.
He said Urban Youth Project, a local community group for young people, had requested that all collecting cease until May 1.
“This is more than enough time to enable a safe, respectful (and clean and tidy) celebration of culture,” Mr Douglas added.
Some residents commenting under Mr Douglas's post said the pallets had become a tripping hazard.
In response to them being removed, a representative for the bonfire builders also shared a statement on social media.
They explained that they were not the only area that had begun preparations, branding their removal an “absolute disgrace”.
“Every other loyalist estate is collecting or already building their bonfire with the help and the backing of their community,” they said.
“What's the problem with our own doing it?
“There has been constant complaints guided towards kids enjoying their culture and it has been gathering the last couple of years.”
The representative said they began preparing earlier in the year to occupy children in the area.
‘Nothing in the Cregagh for kids to do’
They added: “There's nothing at all in the Cregagh for kids to do, and it's not as if they're getting up to no good.
“They're keeping up with traditions that have never been a problem at all.
“There's nothing but a children's play park, a run-down community centre and one football pitch that is always waterlogged.”
The representative warned the removal of the pallets has created tension in the area.
“Young people have been collecting for years and removing that privilege from them will only result in endangering community relations with others and within our own estate.,” they added.
The representative explained they needed to start collecting pallets early to ensure they had enough for the bonfire.
“Pallets are collected early and this is decided by the collectors and builders, as our bonfire relies on having a large amount of pallets; this is a consequence of years of being let down by empty promises of deliveries and funding for pallets.”
The Urban Youth Project thanked the council for removing the pallets and addressed the matter in a Facebook post.
It said: “We know this is an important part of cultural identity in our community and something many of you are proud to be involved in. As a group, we want to support this in a way that keeps the area safe, tidy, and respectful for everyone who uses the green space.
“Over the past few years, pallets have been getting collected very early and left lying in the field.”
It said this caused problems such as giving the appearance of fly tipping, leaving the grass unable to be cut and creating safety risks for young children.
Bones of contention
Bonfires have been a bone of contention across Northern Ireland for years.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) confirmed the site of one of last year's most controversial bonfires still contains “fragments of asbestos”.
NIEA also warned that the public should stay off the privately-owned land at Meridi Street in the south of the city for “public health reasons”.
It has also confirmed that an environmental crime investigation at the site off the Donegall Road is continuing.
The Eleventh Night bonfire on the site last summer was the focus of health warnings, political rows and legal challenges before it was ignited.
The NIEA said since May 2025 it has been “focused on the landowner's efforts to remove the asbestos safely from the site”.
It added: “Asbestos is particularly dangerous when disturbed, making its professional removal, with considerations around public safety, a highly specialised, complex, delicate, and time-consuming operation.
“Removal of the asbestos commenced on August 4, 2025 following an initial delay to allow for the site to be fully secured.
“The landowner's remediation work on the site concluded on November 21, 2025, and NIEA appointed an independent environmental consultant to carry out an assessment of this work.
“The preliminary report of the independent assessment has confirmed the remaining presence of fragments of asbestos on the site, which were left behind after the landowner's remediation work.”
The NIEA said the material “currently presents minimal risk” within the secure site. But it added: “These risks increase where members of the public trespass onto this privately owned land.”
It said unauthorised access to the site could amount to a criminal offence.
Bonfire site still contains ‘fragments of asbestos’
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
A SITE in Belfast which hosted a loyalist bonfire last year still contains “fragments of asbestos” following the completion of remediation work, an environmental assessment has found.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) has warned that the public should stay off the privately-owned land at Meridi Street in the south of the city for “public health reasons”.
It has also confirmed that an environmental crime investigation at the site off the Donegall Road is continuing.
A contentious bonfire on the site last summer was the focus of health warnings, political rows and legal challenges before it was ignited on the Eleventh night.
In a statement, the NIEA said since May 2025 it has been “focused on the landowner’s efforts to remove the asbestos safely from the site”.
The bonfire at Meridi Street in south Belfast last summer was the focus of health warnings, political rows and legal challenges before it was ignited on the Eleventh Night
It added: “Asbestos is particularly dangerous when disturbed, making its professional removal, with considerations around public safety, a highly specialised, complex, delicate, and time-consuming operation.
“Removal of the asbestos commenced on August 4 2025 following an initial delay to allow for the site to be fully secured.
“The landowner’s remediation work on the site concluded on November 21 2025, and NIEA appointed an independent environmental consultant to carry out an assessment of this work.
“The preliminary report of the independent assessment has confirmed the remaining presence of fragments of asbestos on the site, which were left behind after the landowner’s remediation work.”
The NIEA said the material “currently presents minimal risk” within the secure site.
Increased risk when public trespass on site
But it added: “These risks increase where members of the public trespass onto this privately owned land.
“For public health reasons, NIEA urges that unauthorised persons should not, under any circumstances access this site.
“Unauthorised access to the site could amount to a criminal offence.”
The statement said: “NIEA will continue to work with the landowners, Belfast City Council, the Public Health Agency, the PSNI and other partners on this matter.
“Due to the fact that this matter is subject to ongoing legal proceedings, NIEA is unable to comment further.”
Safety concerns were raised over asbestos at the site ahead of the bonfire being lit there last summer.
The location is also close to an electricity substation which powers two hospitals.
The PSNI last year declined a request from Belfast City Council to remove the bonfire before it was set alight.
The NIEA said at the time that suspected asbestos had been found at five locations on the bonfire site and 20kg of material was removed.
Environment Minister Andrew Muir later said he was “very disappointed” that the Eleventh Night bonfire was lit despite public safety warnings over the site.
TUV says the PSNI cannot claim to be acting on terror symbols 'while IRA tributes remain tolerated'
By Adam Kula, Belfast News Letter, February 12th, 2026
The TUV has said that whilst republican areas remain “saturated” with tributes to murderers, the PSNI cannot be claiming to tackle terror symbols.
It comes after news emerged this week that the PSNI has formalised its policy on paramilitary and “offensive” emblems into a Service Instruction to officers, telling them to remove such items if it is safe.
If this is not possible, it suggests officers contact the property owner (like the Department for Infrastructure), which can in turn call on the police – whose attendance “will be contingent on our own assessment of its feasibility, necessity, proportionality and legality”.
The Service Instruction also says “negotiation” to remove flags remains open to officers.
In any case, “failing to act is not an option”, it says.
Sammy Morrison, the TUV’s policing and legacy spokesman, and press officer, said: “Unionists will have no confidence whatsoever in new guidance on ‘public displays’ unless it is applied consistently across Northern Ireland – including to the countless IRA murals, plaques, memorials and other displays which glorify terrorism and have been left untouched for decades.
Areas ‘saturated’ with IRA tributes
“The police cannot credibly claim that ‘failing to act is not an option’ while republican areas remain saturated with tributes to IRA murderers, and while GAA trophies and clubs continue to honour men who took part in the terror campaign.
“The real test is simple: will this instruction be enforced equally against IRA propaganda, or will it become yet another exercise in selective policing where law-abiding communities are scrutinised while republican glorification is tolerated?
“Unionists have seen this pattern too many times before – strong words and swift action in one direction, silence and excuses in the other.
“If the PSNI is serious about tackling unlawful and intimidating displays, then it must start with those which celebrate terrorism, not merely those which happen to be politically fashionable targets in the current climate.
“Anything less will deepen the perception that policing in Northern Ireland remains uneven, politicised and unwilling to confront republican paramilitarism.”
When these comments were put to it, the PSNI said it had nothing to add to earlier statements.
Previously it had quoted Chief Superintendent Gillian Kearney as saying: “As a police service, we are dedicated to safeguarding people and property while taking action against any offenders of hate crime incidents.
“There has always been guidance available to our officers on the steps that can legally be taken in regard to complaints on public displays.
"This has now been developed into a service instruction which outlines clearly when to act and how to respond.
“The primary responsibility for removing material remains with the material’s owner, or the owner of the street furniture or property where it’s displayed.
"However, where any offences have been committed, the circumstances will be investigated within statutory functions, and in accordance with law and Human Rights obligations.
“Our officers, who are well supported by this information, will engage and work with local community representatives and partner agencies in relation to any complaints about displays in public spaces.”
Witnesses in Gerry Adams civil trial should not be anonymous, court told
Danny Halpin, Belfast Telegraph, February 14th, 2026
A witness due to give evidence against Gerry Adams in a forthcoming civil trial should not be anonymous because he has “published multiple articles in his own name”, the High Court has been told.
Three men who were injured in Provisional IRA bombings on the UK mainland in the 1970s and 1990s are bringing legal action against the former Sinn Fein president for just £1 in damages.
John Clark, a victim of the 1973 Old Bailey bombing in London, Jonathan Ganesh, a 1996 London Docklands bombing victim, and Barry Laycock, a victim of the 1996 Arndale shopping centre bombing in Manchester, all allege that Mr Adams was a leading member of the Provisional IRA on those dates, including of its Army Council.
Mr Adams denies that he had any role in the Provisional IRA and is opposing the claim, which will go to trial on March 9.
Edward Craven KC, for Mr Adams, said in written submissions for a hearing yesterday that there is “no cogent evidence” that two anonymous witnesses due to give evidence in support of the three men would face any risk if their identities were revealed.
‘Witness wrote multiple articles under his own name’
He said: “The claimants' solicitors did not disclose that one of the two witnesses, witness B, has published multiple articles under his own name.”
He added that those articles “expressed detailed views about various issues concerning the Troubles” and that the witness had “openly published such information about his past roles in Northern Ireland”.
The barrister also said that there were no references to fears for their safety in the witness statements given to the court.
He said: “If they held genuine and objectively well-founded fears for their safety if their identities were to become public, then one would logically have expected those fears to be reflected in those witness statements.
“The absence of any reference to such fears in those statements is therefore significant.”
Anne Studd KC, for the three men, said anonymity for the witnesses should continue, after an order made in August last year.
She told the court that one witness said in his statement that he believes “the Provisional IRA or people associated with it still exist”.
She added: “This case is very likely to increase interest again in these issues and this witness, with his past experience, is concerned about that.”
In written submissions, she said: “The claimants concede that the statements in support here do not go as far as to provide the court with objective evidence upon which it could be satisfied as to real and immediate risk to life or serious harm.”
She continued: “However, there is clear and cogent evidence of objective and subjective risk of harm which is far from fanciful in the context of this claim.”
In response to one witness publishing articles under his name, she said “the circumstances where the witness has given previous information publicly previously is very different”.
Ms Studd also applied to include more witnesses being able to give evidence at trial, which Mr Justice Swift allowed.
The judge also said that the application last year to anonymise the two witnesses was not made correctly.
He said: “Therefore, the appropriate course will be to discharge the order and consider again whether the anonymity sought by witness A and witness B should be granted.”
He continued: “In the meantime, the order that has been made must remain in force.”
Liz Kimmins's Dept wrote to her office manager to remove 1916 sign at traffic junction
By David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, Friday 14th, 2026
The DUP chair of Stormont’s infrastructure committee says there are ‘significant questions’ for Liz Kimmins after he discovered that her department had written to her own Sinn Fein office manager seeking the removal of a billboard the party has claimed it doesn’t own.
Peter Martin has revealed that the infrastructure department (DfI) had written to the party three times, including to Councillor Aidan Mathers, who manages the minister’s MLA constituency office.
The MLA had submitted a Freedom of Information request to Ms Kimmins’s department, seeking details of who they had written to requesting the removal of the billboard at the Egyptian Arch in Newry.
The response revealed that all three enquiries were sent to Councillor Mathers – whose is listed as Liz Kimmins’s constituency office manager on the council’s register of interests.
A similar request by the TUV councillor Keith Ratcliffe uncovered emails which he says shows an expectation by DfI that SF would “arrange for all these illegal advertisements to be removed immediately”.
The issue was debated in the Assembly last month, when MLAs passed a DUP motion stating that the minister’s “failure to resolve this situation in favour of the public interest and rule of law represents a breach of the Ministerial Code”.
Liz Kimmins was heckled by MLAs when she said that there “is no Sinn Fein billboard” at the site in Newry during a Stormont debate last month. In recent correspondence, the minister said she had sought the removal of the billboard on two occasions, “once by email and once by letter” – but did not say who she had written to.
In its response to Mr Martin’s Freedom of Information request, DfI detailed three letters – two of which were during the period Ms Kimmins has been minister.
In August 2023 DfI Roads, Newry, Mourne & Down West Section Office sent an email to Cllr Mathers. On 5 November 2025, DfI sent an email to Councillor Mathers, enclosing a letter addressed to the Sinn Féin Constituency Office in Newry. Then on 25 November, it sent an email to Councillor A Mathers and Sinn Fein MP Dáire Hughes, “enclosing a letter addressed to the Sinn Féin Constituency Office in Newry requesting the removal of all illegal advertisements throughout areas of Newry City, and within the boundaries of the public road”.
Mr Martin, says the matter raises significant further questions for Liz Kimmins and SF.
“Liz Kimmins’s Department was not only writing to SF in relation to the billboard, but the correspondence was to her Constituency Office via her Office Manager. Given the direct link to the Minister and the potential for a significant conflict of interest, the public deserves to know exactly what role Liz Kimmins has played in the handling of this case.
“During the Assembly debate, Liz Kimmins made the ridiculous claim that ‘there is no Sinn Fein billboard’.
“Given that DfI have been writing to her office manager for more than two years on the issue, are we to assume that Liz Kimmins simply doesn’t speak to the staff she employs? That has about as much credibility as Michelle O’Neill claiming not to have seen a former staff member standing a few feet away from her.
“Even at its most basic level however, the public may ask, if the Minister doesn’t bother responding to letters from her own Department, then why should they?”
DfI declined to comment, and SF did not respond to a query from the News Letter.
Stormont leaders engage with external organisations ‘less than every other day’
JOHN MANLEY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
STORMONT’S first and deputy first ministers’ schedule involves fewer than one meeting with external organisations every other day, official records reveal.
Data published as a requirement in the aftermath of the RHI scandal shows that in a 12-month period Michelle O’Neill conducted 153 meetings and engagements with fellow ministers, sectoral representatives, and officials from other departments or arm’s length bodies, while Emma Little-Pengelly was involved in 148 such meetings.
The data covering the 12 months to the end of September last year indicates Stormont’s leaders, whose salaries are £125,000 respectively, are on average involved in fewer than four meetings or engagements each week.
Each joint first minister has three advisers. Last week, The Irish News reported how the six aides were awarded inflation-busting pay rises two years running which brought the total cost of their salaries to more than £450,000.
The public data about meetings with external organisations is designed to improve transparency and strengthen ministerial accountability. Some information may be withheld, in instances where it is deemed commercially sensitive or where disclosure is not in the public interest, however, the rationale for withholding must be recorded.
Notably, Ms O’Neill’s October 2024 appearance at the TEO committee, where she was questioned about Sinn Féin’s safeguarding scandals, is recorded as taking place one month later than it did, as is the first minister’s controversial meeting with committee chair Paula Bradshaw beforehand.
Junior Ministers even less active
The data shows the junior ministers were involved in fewer meetings than the first ministers.
Sinn Féin Junior Minister Aisling Reilly took part in 100 meetings, while her DUP counterpart Pam Cameron attended 63.
During the three-month period from June to September, Ms Cameron, who was replaced by Joanne Bunting in the £59,000-a-year role last September, recorded just one meeting: her attendance at the North-South Ministerial Council.
Elsewhere, the data reveals that the economy minster conducts the most business with external organisations, with Conor Murphy and his successor Caoimhe Archibald taking part in 436 meetings over 12 months.
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons racked up 276 meetings over the same period, while his DUP colleague Paul Givan took part in 259 in his capacity as education minister.
Next busiest meeting outside groups was Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir with 207, followed by Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd and his successor since February last year Liz Kimmins, who recorded 140 and 65 meetings respectively.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt took part in 154 meetings, while Justice Minister Naomi Long recorded 106.
Ms Archibald conducted 62 outside meetings up to February last year in her role as finance minister, while Mr O’Dowd took part in 62 up to the end of last September.
Court cases can take over 9 years to resolve
JOHN BRESLIN, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
SERIOUS criminal offences allegedly committed as long as nine years ago and more have still not been disposed of by the courts, it can be revealed amid renewed debate over the increasing delays plaguing Northern Ireland’s justice system.
Ten per cent of certain Crown Court cases that began with a reported incident happening around the middle of 2016 or earlier had still not been disposed of by the end of March last year.
These cases are ones where defendants were summoned to court following an investigation rather than the more immediate charging to court after a police arrest.
In 2024/2025, the median time it took for all cases to be finally disposed of by the highest criminal court was 750 days, or just over two years, the Assembly’s Justice Committee heard on Thursday.
For those cases where the defendant was more immediately charged to court, the median time before a plea or conclusion of a trial was one year and five months, with the longest taking over two and a half years or more.
Figures compiled by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunal Services break down the number of days by which 90% of cases have been dealt with. At the end of 2025, 90% of ‘summons cases’ were disposed of within 3,279 days, or eight years and nine months.
10% of ‘summons cases’ are incidents that happened in mid-2016 or earlier
While there is no breakdown on what type of cases are taking this long to complete, court insiders say they are more likely to involve more complex fraud.
NAMA Fraud Case
Most notably, it took 12 years before the NAMA fraud case, which ended last week with an acquittal, came to trial. This was believed more widely to be an outlier.
Across both Crown and the Magistrates Courts, sexual offences take the longest to deal with at a median of one year and seven months, followed closely by fraud.
The trial of a man accused of the murder of Natalie McNally is due to go ahead four years after her death
Delays in the justice system were brought into sharp focus recently by two high profile murder cases, that of Natalie McNally and Chloe Mitchell.
The long delayed trial of a man accused of the January 2022 murder of Ms McNally, a pregnant 32-yearold from Lurgan, is expected to begin in the coming days. This was confirmed after the Criminal Bar Association, whose members are on ‘strike’ over legal aid payments, decided to make an exception to allow the trial to proceed.
However, the family of Ms Mitchell, 21 when she was found dead in early June 2023, are still waiting to find out whether the trial of her accused killer will go ahead this month.
Michael Agnew, a deputy director at the Public Prosecution Service (PPS), during testimony before the justice committee, referred to the barristers withdrawal of services and said it was resulting in a very low disposal rate, driving caseloads and delay up further.
The “increasingly digital world” is complicating investigations and prosecutions in terms of evidence and material considered for disclosure, he added.
Mr Agnew described as concerning the number of live cases currently in the crown court – 1,280, up from 670 in early 2020.
“There is no doubt the pressures in the Crown Court are very significant, and we need to understand and be realistic about the current situation and the challenges that lie ahead,” he said.
He also noted that “delays will often work in favour of a defendant”.
“Dragging a case out can, in certain types of cases, lead to a victim withdrawing their evidence, or generally just being so keen to move on with their life that they will be content for a case to be resolved by way of a plea to a lesser offence,” he said.
SF slams 'anti-democratic crackdown' on Palestinian solidarity after court ruling
GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph, February 14th, 2024
A court ruling that found the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful has been welcomed by some political parties in Northern Ireland.
The group remains banned for now to allow for further legal arguments and to give the government time to consider an appeal.
The group has undertaken 385 direct actions in protest at the situation in Palestine and the actions of the Israeli government since 2020, according to police.
The High Court said a “very small number” of those actions amounted to terrorism.
However, three senior judges said that while Palestine Action uses criminality to promote its aims, its activities had not crossed the very high bar to make it a terrorist organisation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would appeal against the court's decision.
‘Hugely significant’
Sinn Fein National Chairperson Declan Kearney MLA has said the High Court ruling is “hugely significant”.
He added: “It vindicates the position of thousands of activists, including the brave hunger strikers, that highlighting genocide is not a crime.
“The state suppression of the Palestinian solidarity movement has failed in its attempt to silence those exposing Israeli war crimes, which have been aided and abetted by Britain.
“Instead of considering an appeal, the British government must now lift the ban on Palestine Action without delay and bring its anti-democratic crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists to an immediate end.
“This British government should, with immediate effect, quash the convictions and end the prosecutions of those brought before the courts under this outrageous, draconian and now deemed unlawful legislation.”
Mr Kearney concluded: “The British government should now fundamentally change its position towards the rights of the Palestinian people, end its complicity in the illegal occupation of Palestine, the ongoing genocide and annexation, and get on the right side of global morality and international law.”
SDLP Foyle MP Colum Eastwood also welcomed the ruling.
He said the decision to proscribe Palestine Action “criminalised peaceful protest against and genocide and led to students and pensioners being dragged into police stations for holding signs demanding an end to war crimes — that's why I voted against it.”
Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit said: “This is a great victory for the solidarity movement, and states what was obvious to the vast majority of people all along.
“From the beginning, this was an authoritarian move designed to clamp down on opposition to British support for Israel's genocide.
“As I and countless others have repeated again and again: the real terrorists are those who committed and supported genocide.
“The proscription of Palestine Action should now be lifted. All those arrested on spurious charges associated with the terrorism proscription, including People Before Profit activists, should have these charges dropped immediately.
“Ultimately, this shows that western powers can try and suppress solidarity with Palestine — but they'll fail. Fair play to those who fought this ban, on the streets and in the courts.”
Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, took legal action against the Home Office over then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision last year to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The decision was announced in the wake of the group claiming responsibility for causing an estimated £7 million of damage to military tanker planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
2,700 arrests
The protest group Defend Our Juries said more than 2,700 people have been arrested for holding up signs supporting Palestine Action since the Government's ban came into effect.
The Home Secretary meanwhile said she was “disappointed” by the ruling and officials fear it could severely restrict the Government's discretion to act to ban organisations in the future.
“The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees.
“As a former Lord Chancellor, I have the deepest respect for our judiciary.
“Home Secretaries must however retain the ability to take action to protect our national security and keep the public safe.”
Scotland Yard acknowledged the “unusual circumstances”, of the High Court ordering the ban to be quashed but keeping it in place while an appeal is considered, was likely to cause “confusion among the public”.
A Met statement said: “Officers will continue to identify offences where support for Palestine Action is being expressed, but they will focus on gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said they were “deeply concerned” by the High Court ruling and welcomed the Government's intention to appeal.
“Palestine Action has repeatedly targeted buildings hosting Jewish communal institutions, Jewish-owned businesses, or sites associated with Israel, in ways that cause fear and disruption far beyond the immediate protest sites”, the groups said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp also said the Government should appeal because “there can be no hesitation when public safety and national security are at stake”.
Mike Nesbitt pauses NI's involvement in UK puberty blocker trial
By David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, February 14th, 2026
Stormont’s health minister Mike Nesbitt has suspended Northern Ireland’s participation in a UK-wide puberty blocker trial – until a legal challenge to the scheme has concluded, the News Letter can reveal.
The Ulster Unionist Party minister confirmed the major policy shift in a statement to this newspaper – just days after a review by Baroness Cass welcomed the work the Department of Health had undertaken so far to prepare for participation in the scheme.
New party leader Jon Burrows has previously publicly opposed medical or pharmaceutical interventions on children, but had also said Northern Ireland’s transgender services should be in line with the 2024 national Cass Review findings.
In a statement, Mr Nesbitt said: “Having taken account of the ongoing Judicial Review into the UK Government’s clinical trial of puberty blockers, I have decided to suspend Northern Ireland's agreement to participate in the UK wide trial until the legal process has concluded.
“Should the trial ultimately be given the green light to proceed, I shall take the views of Executive colleagues before any potential lifting of the pause.”
A review of Northern Ireland’s transgender service reported this week that the local health service is making “rigorous and demanding” changes to meet minister Nesbitt’s previous commitment to be part of the scheme.
It would have seen local children take part in tests to establish the effectiveness of the hormone-blockers on dealing with gender distress in children.
The drugs block normal physical development, and their use has been backed by Sinn Fein, Alliance and the SDLP in the past – and described as “gender affirming care”.
A UK-wide review into gender medicine resulted in a ban on their routine prescription amid safety concerns.
The local review by Dr Hilary Cass this week highlighted safeguarding concerns – including “parental motivations” – which may drive social transitions of children “inappropriately”, requiring “careful assessment”.
The Ulster Unionist Party had this week backed Mr Nesbitt on the issue – saying he faced a choice between “a very, very small number of local people participating in the UK trial” – and being unable to secure an indefinite ban on prescription of the drugs, which he introduced in 2024.
The local Cass Review found that the NI lifespan service introduced under Mike Nesbitt has “some distinct advantages” over English equivalents – such as an existing link with CAMHS services, which was described as “an important benefit of the NI service”.
Advantages to NI service
Baroness Cass found that children in Northern Ireland benefit from these arrangements, which contrast with historical arrangements in England, where direct GP referrals “created an undifferentiated caseload of young people with complex presentations”.
Her report also also gave detail on the demographics of children presenting to the health service with gender issues.
Many of the children have a history of trauma and bullying and many are “known to ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder] services”.
They are commonly presenting at 12-13 years old, are more commonly girls, who are often same sex attracted.
There were also “instances of children presenting from the same school and class”.
On his first day as an MLA, the party’s new leader Jon Burrows made clear that he did not support pharmaceutical or medical interventions in children.
Burrows vs Nesbitt
Asked in August about a row over Mr Nesbitt funding a gender service with no lower age limit on referrals, Mr Burrows told the News Letter: “I think there needs to be real clarity as to what the service entails, what the boundaries are for it. We need to know more about the nuts and bolts of it, and ensure that everything we do is consistent with the Cass review findings.
“I think that’s critical, and we cannot relax the position that medical interventions for children are entirely inappropriate, certainly pharmaceutical ones,” he said.
In December, the party’s health spokesperson rowed back from comments in which he said he was “fully supportive” of a campaign against the trial.
Alan Chambers later said that while he is “uncomfortable with elements of the clinical trial” – it was a recommendation of the 2024 Cass Review of NHS gender identity services, which his party “fully supported”.
The policy change comes after growing unease within the party about the puberty blockers trial. Before Mr Nesbitt had made his decision, Upper Bann MLA Doug Beattie had told the News Letter that he remained “concerned about any interventions with pre-pubescent children who are questioning their gender identity”.
He said that “putting children onto a potentially harmful trial is not something I can personally support.
“I also accept there are more knowledgeable people on this issue than me, including clinicians, so in many ways my position is from a conscience standpoint.
“That said, why can any trial not use those who have already been subjected to puberty blockers before the ban being examined to see what physical and psychological effect they have had on them; therefore protecting our children?”
SF slams 'anti-democratic crackdown' on Palestinian solidarity after court ruling
GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph, February 14th, 2024
A court ruling that found the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful has been welcomed by some political parties in Northern Ireland.
The group remains banned for now to allow for further legal arguments and to give the government time to consider an appeal.
The group has undertaken 385 direct actions in protest at the situation in Palestine and the actions of the Israeli government since 2020, according to police.
The High Court said a “very small number” of those actions amounted to terrorism.
However, three senior judges said that while Palestine Action uses criminality to promote its aims, its activities had not crossed the very high bar to make it a terrorist organisation.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would appeal against the court's decision.
‘Hugely significant’
Sinn Fein National Chairperson Declan Kearney MLA has said the High Court ruling is “hugely significant”.
He added: “It vindicates the position of thousands of activists, including the brave hunger strikers, that highlighting genocide is not a crime.
“The state suppression of the Palestinian solidarity movement has failed in its attempt to silence those exposing Israeli war crimes, which have been aided and abetted by Britain.
“Instead of considering an appeal, the British government must now lift the ban on Palestine Action without delay and bring its anti-democratic crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists to an immediate end.
“This British government should, with immediate effect, quash the convictions and end the prosecutions of those brought before the courts under this outrageous, draconian and now deemed unlawful legislation.”
Mr Kearney concluded: “The British government should now fundamentally change its position towards the rights of the Palestinian people, end its complicity in the illegal occupation of Palestine, the ongoing genocide and annexation, and get on the right side of global morality and international law.”
SDLP Foyle MP Colum Eastwood also welcomed the ruling.
He said the decision to proscribe Palestine Action “criminalised peaceful protest against and genocide and led to students and pensioners being dragged into police stations for holding signs demanding an end to war crimes — that's why I voted against it.”
Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit said: “This is a great victory for the solidarity movement, and states what was obvious to the vast majority of people all along.
“From the beginning, this was an authoritarian move designed to clamp down on opposition to British support for Israel's genocide.
“As I and countless others have repeated again and again: the real terrorists are those who committed and supported genocide.
“The proscription of Palestine Action should now be lifted. All those arrested on spurious charges associated with the terrorism proscription, including People Before Profit activists, should have these charges dropped immediately.
“Ultimately, this shows that western powers can try and suppress solidarity with Palestine — but they'll fail. Fair play to those who fought this ban, on the streets and in the courts.”
Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, took legal action against the Home Office over then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision last year to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The decision was announced in the wake of the group claiming responsibility for causing an estimated £7 million of damage to military tanker planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
2,700 arrests
The protest group Defend Our Juries said more than 2,700 people have been arrested for holding up signs supporting Palestine Action since the Government's ban came into effect.
The Home Secretary meanwhile said she was “disappointed” by the ruling and officials fear it could severely restrict the Government's discretion to act to ban organisations in the future.
“The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees.
“As a former Lord Chancellor, I have the deepest respect for our judiciary.
“Home Secretaries must however retain the ability to take action to protect our national security and keep the public safe.”
Scotland Yard acknowledged the “unusual circumstances”, of the High Court ordering the ban to be quashed but keeping it in place while an appeal is considered, was likely to cause “confusion among the public”.
A Met statement said: “Officers will continue to identify offences where support for Palestine Action is being expressed, but they will focus on gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said they were “deeply concerned” by the High Court ruling and welcomed the Government's intention to appeal.
“Palestine Action has repeatedly targeted buildings hosting Jewish communal institutions, Jewish-owned businesses, or sites associated with Israel, in ways that cause fear and disruption far beyond the immediate protest sites”, the groups said.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp also said the Government should appeal because “there can be no hesitation when public safety and national security are at stake”.
Mitchell facing fresh questions after release of a haunting journal entry in Epstein files
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, February 14th, 2026
Fresh questions have arisen for former US senator George Mitchell following the publication of a journal in the Epstein files.
In the document, under the headline 'They are always flights of horror', the writer says that Mr Mitchell is someone you expect to be “good, like a grandpa”, but who is “bad”.
A spokesman for the retired politician said Mr Mitchell “never had any contact of any kind with any underage women”.
A range of prominent US figures are mentioned in the 32-page document, which appears to be written by a young female victim of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The journal includes drawings, pictures and text from magazines, and the Sylvia Plath poem 'Stopped Dead'. A birthday card for a 16-year-old is attached to its first page.
Some of the entries have been written in a basic code which has been translated by US forensic investigators. The original version and the translation have both been released.
In the one page which makes mention of Mr Mitchell, the author writes: “There are always flights of horror.
“Whether it's with Jeffrey, Mr Leonsis, Mr Case, Mr Snyder, the Gregorys, Mr Colgan or one being borrowed by a seemingly 'good' federal worker and even rented, it is all horror. And nothing is as it seems.
“I am so confused by everything, and people you expect to be good, like even old senators like George Mitchell, who you think would be good, like a grandpa, are bad.”
In other pages in the document, a mixture of cut-out magazine text and handwritten insertions include the words “Open your eyes”, “Lost”, “On Her Own”, “A Story of a different America” and “Touch one child”.
Further pages include the text “But it doesn't stop there. It never stops”, 'Is There A Way To Break Free”, “No voice”, “Your voice has no power”, “Tears Of Rage”, “I was crying out for help” and “Why didn't anyone Stop It From The Start”.
In a separate document released in the Epstein files, it is claimed that a George Mitchell had sex with a woman several times over two days in Los Angeles.
“He was very nice, happy and he smiled. He had gray hair but not much hair. He told [redacted] that he worked in politics,” the document reports.
It is alleged that the woman went to the Beverly Hills Hotel, where she was taken to a presidential suite.
‘She met a man named George Mitchell’
“She met a man named George Mitchell inside of this room. She did not know who he was but just knew he was a friend of Epstein's,” the document states.
“As she met him in the room he was on the phone with Epstein. He introduced himself and he was doing some work.”
It is alleged that Mr Mitchell told the woman that she would be staying with him in the room.
“They then went for a walk and went shopping. They returned to the hotel and had dinner. Mitchell asked for a massage,” the document states.
According to the testimony in the document, he asked for a sexual act, and sex, “so she complied”.
It claims that, the next day, he told her to stay in the hotel.
“Later, Mitchell wanted to have sex again, so they did. Then they went shopping for suits. There was another man there when they went shopping for suits.
“Afterwards, they went back to the room. Mitchell wanted to have sex two more times,” the document says.
It is alleged that Epstein later told the woman she was doing “very well” and that George Mitchell was “a good friend of his”.
The Belfast Telegraph contacted a spokesman for the retired senator about the allegations in the two separate documents.
The spokesman said: “Senator Mitchell categorically denies this allegation and reiterates, unequivocally, that he never met, spoke with, or had any contact of any kind with any underage women.
“At no time did Senator Mitchell observe, suspect, or have any knowledge of Epstein engaging in illegal or inappropriate conduct with underage women.
“Senator Mitchell profoundly regrets ever having known Jeffrey Epstein and condemns, without reservation, the horrific harm Epstein inflicted on so many women.”
Lolita Express
Flight logs from Epstein's private jet, branded the 'Lolita Express', show that Mr Mitchell was a passenger on several occasions, on US trips, in 1995, the same year he was appointed by President Bill Clinton as US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.
He went on to chair the talks in Stormont that led to the Good Friday Agreement three years later.
Queen's University last week cut ties with the 92-year-old. A £35,000 bust of George Mitchell, which was installed in 2023, has been removed.
His name has also been deleted from Queen's Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.
The move came after a tranche of documents from the Epstein files was released by officials from the US Department of Justice.
Mr Mitchell had said numerous times that he had “no further contact” with Epstein after reading press reports about his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
However, that appears to be at odds with some documents released, which seem to show contact for several years afterwards.
“George Mitchell is my very close friend,” the sex trafficker wrote in 2011. In an email that year, Epstein's executive assistant Lesley Groff is told that the convicted sex offender “would like you to try and schedule George Mitchell to come see him and Peter Mandelson while Peter is in NY”.
An email to Epstein from December 2012 states: “You have senator Mitchell at 4:30 today.”
In an email on August 13, 2013, from Epstein to Ms Groff, he asks her to “contact George Mitchell. Tell him I will be in Thurs and Fri, and Mandelson will be at the house if he has time”.
Another email sent to Epstein from an assistant hours later on the same day states: “Please call Senator Mitchell… he just called and I tried to connect you but you had left the office…”
Several emails sent to Epstein refer to an appointment “with Senator George Mitchell” on November 6, 2013.
An email to Mr Mitchell on September 22, 2015, states: “Hello Senator Mitchell. Hope you are well.
“Jeffrey is asking if you would like to have coffee with Terje Rød-Larsen [Norwegian former diplomat and politician] and Ehud Barak [former Israeli prime minister] next week or with Noam Chomsky [left-wing academic] Sat, Oct 3 or 4.”
A spokesman for Mr Mitchell said that the “few invitations to events extended by Epstein's office” in the years following the sex offender's conviction had all been “declined or deflected”.
Giuffre's deposition
There is no suggestion that appearing in the documents implies misconduct. Many people who have featured in previous releases have strenuously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre's deposition that she was forced to have sex with the senator was unsealed in 2019.
Northern Ireland's political and academic establishment continued to lavish praise on Mr Mitchell, who was front and centre of Queen's celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in 2023.
Mr Mitchell has denied having any contact with the woman who was trafficked by Epstein as a teenager.
A spokesman said: “In the recently released documents, an allegation involving Senator Mitchell by Virginia Giuffre is repeated. It was first made public in 2020 and denied at the time. That allegation is based on a case of mistaken identity.
“In 2021, Ms Giuffre supplied a photograph to OK Magazine, which incorrectly captioned it as depicting Senator Mitchell standing behind Jeffrey Epstein.
“The individual in the photograph was not Senator Mitchell. The publisher acknowledged the incorrect caption and removed it.
“Senator Mitchell reiterates unequivocally that he never met, spoke with, or had any contact of any kind with Ms Giuffre or with any underage women.”
The former senator looks set to lose his Freedom of the City of Belfast, which he was awarded with former US President Bill Clinton in 2018.
The decision on whether to rescind the honour to Mr Mitchell will be made by councillors.
Strip all royals of panto titles and let Britain enjoy true democracy
PATRICK MURPHY, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
COULD a member of the English royal family be heading for jail for the first time since Charles I was imprisoned in 1647, prior to his execution?
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (both surnames were invented in 1917 to make the monarchy sound more “British”) is facing a number of allegations which could result in spending time at one of His Majesty’s (that his brother’s) prisons.
The English monarch is above the law because he/she is considered “the fount of justice” (although the estimated 100 million Indians who died prematurely under the British Empire between 1881 and 1920 might have disagreed).
As in Iran, he/she is also head of the state’s official religion.
However, other members of the royal family do not enjoy that same privilege.
If the police are investigating Peter Mandelson over claims of leaking confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein, they are presumably honour-bound (although the English police have not always displayed an abundance of honour) to investigate Andrew for the same alleged offence.
It has been suggested he shared confidential information with Epstein about investment opportunities in gold and uranium in Afghanistan, following his official work as trade envoy to Asia in 2010 and 2011.
Trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality and they are also bound by the Official Secrets Act. Andrew has denied abusing his position.
There is also the small matter of Andrew’s alleged dealings with the paedophile Epstein, which may have broken British law (as personified by his brother).
So will one royal prosecute another? The answer is that the monarchy will do anything for self-preservation.
Jailing Andrew might be unwelcome, but if it preserves the monarch as the head of the British class system, that is what will happen.
This is why Charles has said that Buckingham Palace (meaning himself) would support the police as they consider allegations against Andrew.
In an attempt to distinguish “good royals” from “bad royals,” Charles stripped his brother of an entire pantomime of titles, most of which were derived from medieval plunder, theft and land grabs. Other titles were invented to legitimise social snobbery.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faces the possibility of a police investigation over his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein
For example, the late queen waved a magic wand or whatever and turned Andrew into Baron Killyleagh, a title she just invented, as his wedding gift in 1986.
So, a woman who claimed to be superior to the rest of us sat in one of her 22 royal residences and conjured up a noble title for her favourite son. How ridiculous is that?
It is equally absurd that another son could more recently wave a different magic wand and strip Andrew of that title, plus half a dozen others, including the Order of the Garter (Don’t ask).
The whole concept of royalty is just nonsense, with its reference to “commoners” (that’s us) and the notion of royal blood.
Medical science tells us that there are eight main blood groups and royal is not one of them.
The monarchy is often defended as being a tradition surviving from medieval times.
Burning women for being witches was also a medieval practice, but that’s hardly a reason for indulging in it today.
All of this would be harmless if it were not for two important facts.
Subsidising the obscenely rich
The first is that the royal family (which includes 17 princes and princesses) costs us about £500 million annually, according to the anti-monarchist group Republic.
The king also has a private annual income of about £27m from the Duchy of Lancaster and the next king, William V, has an annual income of about £23m from the Duchy of Cornwall. We are subsidising the obscenely rich.
The second fact is that the monarch can interfere in politics.
A 2021 Guardian investigation revealed that the Queen lobbied government to change a draft law to hide her private wealth from the public.
The monarch has sight of all parliamentary legislation in advance, including those which affect his/her land holdings and all other assets.
Keir Starmer (remember him?) says Andrew should give evidence to US lawmakers about Epstein, but not to parliament, because royals cannot be the subject of any parliamentary debate. English royalty is immune from democracy.
Stripping Andrew of various titles merely reinforces the monarchy.
Only by stripping all “royals” of their self-anointed titles will Britain enjoy true democracy.
That would break with tradition, and a (decreasing) majority of the British people just love traditional inequality, particularly since they regard it as patriotic to fight for king and country.
However, as Samuel Johnson said, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel – and royal scoundrels have certainly made great use of it.
Parties clash with officials on GAA pitch plan for nature site
MICHAEL KENWOOD, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
SINN Féin and the SDLP have clashed with Belfast City Council officials over environmental work at the proposed site for a GAA pitch plan.
The two nationalist parties are saying community gardens, pioneering Queen’s University research plots and a wildflower meadow at the Lower Botanic Field in Stranmillis were always a “meanwhile use” – in preparation for the field being dug up for a 3G Gaelic pitch.
However, at a City Hall committee meeting, a council official said that the hundreds of thousands of pounds that has been put into the field via the EU Upsurge environmental project would never have been funded if the project had been anything other than permanent.
Locals who use the Lower Botanic field in Stranmillis were perplexed and outraged last Friday after Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey posted on Instagram what she described as “confirmation (of) the delivery of new GAA pitch” in reference to a decision made at a Belfast City Council committee meeting.
No local consultation
Residents from the area have complained that the announcement came out of the blue, with no local consultation, and that the whole question of the Botanic Field’s use appears shrouded in secrecy in council meetings and minutes of committees.
The announcement by Sinn Féin ultimately proved to be premature, after the full council on Monday agreed to shelve the plans for further discussion, but locals who use the field have expressed alarm and uncertainty about the future of the space.
Sinn Féin and the SDLP are saying the field has been long earmarked for a GAA pitch, according to the council’s Pitch Strategy targets, and the biodiversity and community work there was only temporary.
Other parties are saying the pitch strategy clashes with the council’s own Biodiversity Strategy at the location, and that there are legal obligations that come with the EU Upsurge funding.
Meanwhile, local residents and community groups are looking at how to defend the field from what they believe is City Hall decision-making being imposed without consultation.
At the council’s Climate and City Resilience meeting on Thursday, Alliance councillor Tara Brooks posed 17 questions regarding the matter, to be answered in an officer report for next month.
The questions include confirmation on whether there has been any community consultation with residents regarding the plan to remove or relocate the upsurge project and build a fenced pitch in the location.
She also asked what time commitments were given to the Upsurge project by the council, in terms of the land use and the extent of the site available. Council officers were asked to confirm if it was intended as ‘meanwhile-use’ and if it was made explicit at the time when the project was approved by councillors. They have been asked if it was made explicit at the time to project participants and in the EU Grant application.
Councillor Brooks also asked about the time requirements of the Upsurge project from the funders, and wanted confirmation if there was a commitment at the site until 2020.
She asked about the implications if the contract was broken, if there was a financial risk that the grant funds for the remainder of the project would not be paid, and if there was a chance that the council would be barred from applying for future EU Horizon funding. She asked if there was a “reputational risk” to the council.
Councillor Brooks said: “I absolutely love the Upsurge Project, I am a huge fan and am very aware of the thousands of hours of community volunteering that have gone to make it a success.
“I think it is very important that we fully understand the implications of the decision. And again I want to be clear, my approach would be the same regardless of the sport – football, GAA, anything that is going to impact that site. It is not anything to do with a specific sport.”
A council officer said the Upsurge project at Botanic was “very much seen as an exemplar demonstrator project” and added “council officers were dedicated to the long term success of that demonstrator”.
Impact assessment
He said officers were also working to bring the Pitches Strategy implementation plan to a council committee in March, and added this was “still a work in progress,” which would include an impact assessment statement on Upsurge, to be considered for the decision on the Botanic site.
Sinn Féin councillor Séanna Walsh said: “If my memory serves me right, at the time, it was always seen that it wasn’t going to be a permanent feature, that it was a temporary project, and there was funding for a particular period.
“That’s the way I have always looked at this project, that it was a learning project, that people could take lessons from it that could be applied anywhere. Other sites have been mentioned, one of which is the Waterworks.”
Another council officer said: “The project predates a lot of us in the room. We have had quite a lot of discussion with the project managers and the EU trying to work out the history of this project.
“But what I have been told is that the project would never have been funded had it been known there was going to be a ‘meanwhile’ temporary project. The EU would not have funded it. Somewhere along the lines, something has gotten mixed up.”
Sinn Féin councillor and committee chair Micheal Donnelly said: “It should come as no surprise to anyone in this committee, none of the 16 members or the council officers, that there is a Pitches Strategy coming, or that this site has been scoped out.”
He said officer information regarding an expectation of permanence from the EU was “new to me”.
SDLP councillor Donal Lyons said: “I remember distinctly being told it was a meanwhile use by various officers at Party Group leaders (meetings). That was communicated to us over a period of months over the years.”
Stormont environment watchdog wait goes on
JOHN MANLEY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
ANDREW Muir has effectively conceded there will be no independent environmental protection agency (EPA) established within this mandate due to blockage by the DUP, which the minister claims is “without rhyme or reason”.
His party, Alliance, is now exploring the possibility of a private member’s bill to bring Northern Ireland’s environmental governance in line with Britain and the Republic, however, time constraints mean it is unlikely to progress before the next Assembly election in May 2027.
Efforts to progress the commitment made in 2020’s New Decade New Approach deal to create of an environmental watchdog were again rejected by DUP ministers at an Executive meeting earlier this month.
It’s understood the DUP has not offered an explanation for its opposition to the measure but Mr Muir has accused the party of “choosing instead to throw personal insults as a vain attempt to deflect from their own ridiculous position”.
Previous efforts to establish an EPA were blocked by the then environment minister Arlene Foster nearly 20 years ago. In the time since, water and air quality has deteriorated as agricultural production intensified under the Executive-endorsed ‘Going For Growth’ strategy.
Under investment in water
Under-investment in wastewater infrastructure has also been blamed for environmental damage.
Earlier this week, DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen, who held the agriculture and environment portfolio for eight months up to January 2017, said Mr Muir “needs to put the toys back in the pram and start working to find consensus on these issues”.
She described as “ridiculous” the Alliance minister’s call for the Irish and British governments to lead a process of reform “to end the vetoes and the cycle of crisis and collapse”.
The Strangford MLA said Mr Muir needed to “strike a proper balance -protecting our environment while also safeguarding our economy and agri-food sector”.
In October, an advisory panel established by Mr Muir recommended the establishment of an independent regulator as part of its review into regional environmental governance.
The minister told The Irish News that the case for an independent EPA was “clear and indisputable”, citing the state of Lough Neagh and the illegal dump at Mobuoy as “providing two stark examples as to why”.
He said the DUP wished to “retain the right for political interference in the environmental regulator”.
Only place on these islands without environment regulator
“It seems the DUP are content with an Irish Sea border when it suits them, with Northern Ireland the only part of the UK and Ireland without an independent environmental regulator,” he said.
“In November, I was clear that I needed swift Executive approval if I was to deliver the required legislation to establish an independent regulator in this mandate as a minister and it is deeply regrettable that the DUP has deliberately run down the clock on this possibility. Alliance will be exploring other avenues, including bringing forward a privately drafted bill.”
Dr Sharon Thompson, the RSPB’s regional head of policy and advocacy, urged the Executive to reconsider Mr Muir’s proposal.
“This let-down has continued for the last 20 years, and time and time again successive governments have failed to deliver this essential environmental governance,” she said.
“Currently, we are the 12th worst region for biodiversity loss in the world, and we remain the only part of the UK and Ireland without an EPA, despite multiple reviews, most recently, independent expert advice from the review of environmental governance, calling for this.”
Residents ‘miffed’ at missing deadline for survey on dual-language signage
TANYA FOWLES, Irish News, February 14th, 2026
FERMANAGH and Omagh District Council have heard that residents of two roads which were put forward for dual language signage have been left “miffed” after missing out because the requisite surveys were not returned in time, and there is no mechanism to repeat the process within the current council mandate.
Concerns were also raised over the number of invalid surveys being returned amid queries on whether they are “difficult or more guidance is needed”.
This month 10 roads were brought before the Environmental Services Committee of which six met thresholds of 15 percent of residents in favour.
Councillor Marty McColgan, Sinn Fein said residents of Culmore and O’Kane Park In Omagh, which did not meet the threshold are unhappy.
She added: “They are a bit miffed that the survey was put out in the mouth of Christmas when people had other priorities. We are concerned around the low response and wondering of it was a good idea to give these out at Christmas. Is there any possibility of that being taken into account and having this looked at again?”
On checking the records Director of Community and Wellbeing John Boyle advised notification sent out to householders on December 11 2025 with a return date of January 8 2026.
He said: “There was a four week period for people to respond. There was also an email sent to all elected members in that district to remind residents that this was out. The same process is followed in every single month at the request of members.”
While accepting this was done over the Christmas period, he added: “There is that four week period and you will appreciate there is s along list of roads that we are trying to get through. We have a steady progress in place and I think there is sufficient time to allow people to return responses.”
Difficulty filling out forms
In terms of recourse or having the matter looked at again, Mr Boyle said: “The policy is quite clear in that its only allowed once within a council term, so it could not be looked at again in this term.”
Councillor McColgan noted: “There’s only 14 months left in this council term. It’ll not be long going in.”
Party colleague Councillor Dermot Browne also queried the number of invalid responses and asked: “Why so many people were not filling these in correctly? Are they difficult or is more guidance needed?
Mr Boyle replied: “The forms are very simple. The reasons for invalid forms include being received after the closing date, not being signed or more than one person signing per form, the forms are incomplete or returned blank, the occupier is not on the Electoral Register and finally the survey was undeliverable and returned by Royal Mail.”
Councillor John McClaughry, Ulster Unionist, registered ongoing dissent at the process pointing out from the list: “Only one road got to 50 percent. Also less than 10 per-cent in two of the largest estates in Omagh.”
This was supported by Councillor Paul Robinson on behalf of the Democratic Unionists.
Sinn Fein’s Councillor Declan McArdle commended Mr Boyle and his staff for “the work put in for dual language signs and a lot of people in Erne West are looking forward to them. It’s great to see and keep up the good work. There’s a bit of fine tuning to be done, but we’ll get there”.
The recommendations for signs passed by majority.
