Ex-UUP councillor: Irish language is my heritage, unionism is getting it wrong
Linzi McClaren says she was deemed “too controversial” to become an MLA and criticised unionism’s hardline stance on the Irish language
Irish language is my heritage and unionism is getting it wrong, says former UUP councillor
CONOR SHEILS, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
A FORMER UUP councillor who dramatically quit politics last week has said the Irish language should be cherished and told how she was deemed “too controversial” to be an MLA.
Linzi McLaren, formerly the party’s only female councillor on Ards and North Down council, decided to step down from her role over what she said were “grave errors” on the Irish language, and the role of female representatives within the UUP.
Speaking about the her thoughts on the Irish language in the wake of her resignation, she described the language “as much my heritage as anyone else’s” and said that political unionism’s approach to the language encouraged “others to weaponise it politically”.
“For me, the Irish language is my heritage as much as anyone else’s and should be cherished”, she told BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme.
“Historically, the Irish language was heavily suppressed in the 18th and 19th centuries. If unionism continues to adopt a ‘never, never, never’ approach, it incentivises others to weaponise it politically. Had unionism been more conciliatory in terms of the Irish language, it wouldn’t now be something people want to be everywhere.”
She went on to say that the UUP is trailing behind other parties in terms of female representation.
Ex-UUP councillor Linzi McLaren, who dramatically quit politics last week, has said the Irish language should be cherished and that she was deemed “too controversial” to be an MLA
One female MLA
“Women make up half of our population, nearly. We look at Sinn Féin, we look at the DUP, we look at the Alliance. We have a female first and deputy first minister, and yet we have one female MLA in the Ulster Unionist Party, and only a quarter of councillors are female.”
Asked about her ambitions to go to Stormont she said she “absolutely wanted to be an MLA”.
“Whilst I loved being on the council and it was the honour of my life to be voted in, I was, I suppose, more interested in the bigger legislative issues,” she said.
“I think I would have been a good MLA. I certainly made an impact as a councillor.”
However, Ms McLaren, a former police officer, said that some within the party deemed her “too controversial” for the role.
“In order to become an MLA you have to have the support of your association it became very obvious to me that I didn’t have that. I would have been described amongst members of my association as too controversial to be an MLA.”
Speaking about her decision to quit politics, she described herself now as “politically homeless” as she did not align with the direction the UUP was taking.
“I felt that I had no choice but to resign from politics, saying that politics has very much become my life,” she said.
“It would have been wrong and disingenuous of me to remain as an independent. I am not naive to the fact that a lot of my votes were also for the Ulster Unionist Party. I think it would be extremely unfair of me to remain on as an independent if I had not been voted in as an independent.”
The UUP was contacted for comment.
‘Never, never’ approach
“If unionism continues to adopt a 'never, never, never’ approach, it incentivizes others to weaponise it politically. Had unionism been more conciliatory in terms of the Irish language, it wouldn’t now be something people want to be everywhere."
Meanwhile, she went on to say that the UUP is trailing behind other parties in terms of female representation.
“Women make up half of our population, nearly. We look at Sinn Féin, we look at the DUP, we look at the Alliance. We have a female First and Deputy First Minister, and yet we have one female MLA in the Ulster Unionist Party, and only a quarter of councillors are female.”
Asked about her ambitions to go to Stormont she said she “absolutely wanted to be an MLA”.
“Whilst I loved being on the council and it was the honour of my life to be voted in, I was, I suppose, more interested in the bigger legislative issues,” she said.
“I think I would have been a good MLA. I certainly made an impact as a councillor.”
However, Ms McClaren, a former police officer, said that some within the party deemed her “too controversial” for the role.
“In order to become an MLA you have to have the support of your association it became very obvious to me that I didn’t have that. I would have been described amongst members of my association as too controversial to be an MLA.”
Speaking about her decision to quit politics, she described herself now as “politically homeless” as she did not align with the direction the UUP was taking.
“I felt that I had no choice but to resign from politics, saying that politics has very much become my life,” she said.
“It would have been wrong and disingenuous of me to remain as an independent.
“I am not naive to the fact that a lot of my votes were also for the Ulster Unionist Party. I think it would be extremely unfair of me to remain on as an independent if I had not been voted in as an independent.”
The UUP has been contacted.
For those still arguing about Irish and Ulster-Scots: catch yersel on
TOM COLLINS, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
EMBARRASSINGLY, my grasp of the Irish language can be summed up in a simple phrase – cúpla focal.
I suspect most readers will not need a translation because it applies to them also.
But that in no way diminishes our pride in the Irish language, our belief in its continued importance to the cultural fabric of this island, or our disappointment (and that is putting it mildly) at the refusal of unionism to recognise that it is as much part of the warp and weft of their tradition as it is the nationalist one.
I also take enormous pleasure in the way Ulster-Scots enriches our language and differentiates Ulster from the other three provinces of this island.
The Irish, we know, have a way with words, and the brilliance of our poets, novelists and songwriters comes from their ability to draw on a rich blend of words and phrases in the mash-up that is Irish, English and Ulster-Scots.
Some of my favourite words are Ulster-Scots – numpty, thran, thole, foundered and scunnered among them.
By this point some people will be screaming “houl yer wheest” at their paper or mobile device, angered that I might appear to be making an equivalence between an ancient language and what many describe as just a regional dialect – a vernacular slaughtering of the English language.
Well, “catch yersel on”, as May McFettridge might say.
Put pedantry to one side
This is one of those areas of life where I believe it is important to put pedantry to one side. Let’s leave that debate to linguists having a bit of banter in the senior common room at Queen’s.
You cannot argue for respect to be shown to the Gaelic language and then disrespect Ulster-Scots, for in doing so you disrespect hundreds of thousands of fellow Irishmen and women.
If the new Ireland we are working for is to reach its full potential, the Ulster-Scots tradition must be an essential part of it.
Seamus Heaney understood that well in his riotous celebration of Ulster-Scots – A Birl for Burns – inspired by a trip through Ayrshire, Rabbie Burns’ country, in the company of the Scottish novelist Andrew O’Hage:
‘From the start, Burns’ birl and rhythm,
That tongue the Ulster Scots brought wi’ them
And stick to still in County
Antrim Was in my ear. From east of Bann it westered in On the Derry Air.’
“ In a world that is increasingly homogenous, we need to do all we can to nurture the cultural markers that make human beings unique – and language is one of the most important
Fighting over the relative status of Irish and Ulster-Scots is a futile occupation.
In a world that is increasingly homogenous, a world that has been colonised by American culture and values, a world where difference is grossly undervalued, we need to do all that we can to nurture the cultural markers that make human beings unique – and language is one of the most important of those markers.
Let us put to one side the thran way the Northern Ireland Executive went about the selection process for new commissioners for Irish and for Ulster-Scots; the overdue appointment of Pól Deeds and Lee Reynolds is pure dead brilliant.
But the challenge for them is immense.
Language reduced to proxy
The debate about Irish and Ulster-Scots has become a proxy for the ideological tussle between Orange and Green.
Deeds and Reynolds need to work together to depoliticise the language debate and to persuade the public at large that Ulster Gaelic and Ulster-Scots gives this place a unique cultural fingerprint that should and must be celebrated.
For too long, this debate has been played as a zero-sum game.
This approach – a win for you is a loss for me – has been particularly to the detriment of Irish; but not exclusively so.
Dismissing Ulster-Scots as a joke doesn’t do much to enhance the drive for peace and reconciliation either.
These appointments, and the new Office of Identity and Cultural Expression to be chaired by Katy Radford, provide an opportunity for us to move forward.
But for their appointments to yield real benefits they will need to secure the active support of the first and deputy first ministers – the word ‘active’ here is particularly important.
And they will require a level of maturity from the political class here which has a disappointing tendency to use the language as a stick with which to beat their opponents.
Their success will be judged in many ways, but the biggest success will be ensuring that all traditions here come to treat Irish and Ulster-Scots with respect, and see them as vital parts of our unique shared cultural heritage.
It’s been a long time in coming, but better a late thrive than niver dae weel.
Slán go fóill.
Policing Board laptop stolen from Belfast city centre pub
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRSPONDENT, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
THE PSNI is investigating the theft of a Policing Board laptop from a Belfast city centre pub.
A data breach was reported after the device, which was in a rucksack, was taken from the bar last month.
Details emerged as legal action was launched by a group of former PSNI officers and staff in relation to a major data breach in 2023.
During that breach highly sensitive information, which included staff surnames and workplace details, was contained in a spreadsheet inadvertently attached to a Freedom of Information response.
The personal data remained on a specialist website for a period of time before being removed.
Police believe the information later came into the possession of dissident republicans.
The Policing Board later commissioned an independent review of the breach, which made 37 recommendations for improving information security within the PSNI.
Days later the PSNI was caught up in a second data breach controversy when it emerged a police laptop and notebook had fallen from the roof of a moving vehicle on the M2 motorway.
The Policing Board is now facing its own data breach incident after last month’s laptop theft.
It is understood the device was stolen from a Policing Board staff member at a city centre bar between 5pm-6pm on October 8.
One man has been charged in connection with the theft and has appeared before court.
Established in 2001, the board is made up of political and independent members who provide an oversight and scrutiny role.
A spokeswoman for the board confirmed “a data breach was reported by a member of the board staff on October 8”.
“In line with data protection requirements the matter was reported, as a precautionary measure, to the information commissioner and the theft of the rucksack was also reported to the PSNI,” she said.
“The laptop was immediately decommissioned by IT Assist and all other material in the rucksack was recovered by police as part of their investigation.”
‘No identified risk’ to PSNI members
The spokeswoman added that “there was no identified or residual risk to any police officer or police staff member”.
Man (38) charged with theft
Reacting to the news, SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath said: “Given the technological age we live in and how most of our professional lives and work are saved on IT devices such as laptops we need to be exceptionally careful and ensure that devices aren’t left lying around in public.
“I would be keen to know exactly when the device was wiped to ensure that there was no window of opportunity for information to have been accessed by any unauthorised individual and will be checking this out with officials.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police received a report at around 9.40am on Thursday, 9th October of a stolen backpack, which contained a laptop, from licensed premises in the Great Victoria Street area of Belfast.
“Officers attended the location and, following initial enquiries, arrested a 38-year-old man later the same day in the Antrim Road area of Newtownabbey. The man was subsequently charged with theft and appeared before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, 11th October.”
Meanwhile… 2023 PSNI data breach was due to ‘gross negligence’ and ‘a systemic failure’, court told
At least four individuals could have spotted what was about to be accidentally published, counsel claims
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
A MAJOR data breach within the PSNI was due to gross negligence and systemic failures, the High Court heard yesterday.
Counsel for thousands of the officers and civilian staff suing over the release of their personal details claimed at least four individuals could have spotted what was about to be accidentally published.
A judge was also told the disclosure came at a time when dissident republican terrorists were assessed as posing a severe threat.
Legal action centres on the unprecedented data breach which occurred in August 2023.
Names, ranks and roles of nearly 9,500 PSNI officers and staff were inadvertently published in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
The details were downloaded as an Excel file from the PSNI’s human resources management system and then uploaded onto a website.
Within days of the leak it was confirmed that dissident republicans had accessed the information.
Up to 8,500 of those affected are seeking damages, with group actions being pursued and six test cases identified as part of efforts to manage the scale of litigation.
Claims have been brought for negligence and breaches of data protection and privacy.
PSNI has no funds to settle actions
Although the PSNI has already accepted liability for what happened, the court heard it does not have the funding to settle the actions.
Last week it emerged that the UK Treasury has rejected a request from the Stormont executive for financial help in footing the overall estimated £120m bill.
Despite all plaintiffs being granted anonymity, evidence in the first test case was put on hold today amid issues about screening the witness from public view.
Instead, Gavin Millar KC made opening submissions on behalf of thousands of those seeking compensation.
He set out how the FoI request led to the PSNI’s entire workforce data being attached to the document proposed for disclosure.
A judge was told the 2023 data breach came at a time when dissident republican terrorists were assessed as posing a severe threat to the police
“At least four people, as it went through that internal process, failed to spot the tab with this huge quantity of data,” Mr Millar told the court.
“It’s gross negligence, it’s a systemic failure and that will have to sound on damages.”
The PSNI has already been fined £750,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office for the data breach.
But according to counsel, the incident was so serious that a private sector organisation would have faced a penalty of more than £5m.
He told the court that a section of the document with the personal details was posted on a wall in west Belfast later that month.
“All of this was happening at a time when a severe terrorist threat was recognised by MI5,” Mr Millar said.
“(And) there are continuing concerns about possession of the spreadsheet, you can’t quantify who has got it and what they are doing with it.”
He argued there was a lack of care shown for serving police officers who had taken care to ensure only close family and friends knew about their jobs.
Referring to how some staff learned of the breach, the barrister added: “You will hear evidence from plaintiffs that the media had the story before that notification went out from the PSNI.”
Earlier in the hearing, counsel for the Chief Constable confirmed the force is currently not in a financial position to try to settle the claims through a “universal offer”.
“That offer cannot be made in the absence of funding from the UK Treasury; the Northern Ireland Executive does not have the funding,” he told the court.
DUP apparently willing to burn bridges to defend the indefensible
JOHN MANLEY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
THE Stormont assembly returned from its mid-term recess into the midst of a row that had been brewing for a week. There was therefore a sense that MLAs had some catching up to do, or were at least keen to blow away those Halloween cobwebs.
The issue in question centres not only on Education Minister Paul Givan’s decision to travel to Israel alongside unionist colleagues, but the use of his department’s resources to publicise a school visit in illegally-occupied East Jerusalem. Yesterday’s heated Stormont debate came a week after the Department of Education issued an ostensibly innocuous press release and social media post about the minister’s visit to the Ofek School, where affluent Jewish, Christian and Muslim children are taught side-by-side.
The minister insists there was “no political conotation” in the press release, though opponents may argue that its tone cast the Israelis in a positive light – a portrayal that clearly conflicts with that of an administration accused of war crimes and genocide in Gaza. There are also questions about why, on a trip Mr Givan undertook in a personal capacity, he chose to opportunistically don his minister’s hat.
With Sinn Féin and the SDLP having already agreed to support Gerry Carroll’s no confidence motion, initially yesterday all eyes were on Alliance to see if Naomi Long’s party would also back the People Before Profit MLA’s motion, which is expected to be debated either next week or the following week, due to the assembly’s rigid business rules.
Split along familiar lines
Ahead of MLAs debating an urgent question on the matter tabled by the SDLP, Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson revealed that his party would be backing Mr Carroll’s motion, leaving the chamber split along increasingly familiar lines, with the TUV and UUP supporting their unionist counterparts.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson is adamant that the education minister is going nowhere and that Sinn Féin, Alliance and the SDLP are dancing to Mr Carroll’s tune. The East Belfast MP is right insofar as the minister cannot be forced from office but that won’t prevent his opponents making as much mud as possible stick in regards to his Israeli-government sponsored “fact-finding mission” – one of many issues that have irked the socalled progressive parties in recent months.
As expected, the well-attended afternoon debate produced very little light, although the minister did reveal that his permanent secretary – former prisons chief Ronnie Armour – had already conducted a “review” of the Israel trip and given him a “clean bill of health”.
According to Mr Givan, the permanent secretary found the visit to Ofek School was directly related to his ministerial portfolio and was therefore approved.
The Irish News has requested the review but at the time of writing has yet to be furnished with a copy.
Proxy debate
Exchanges across the chamber largely consisted of criticism of Israel and retorts from the DUP benches about alleged support for Hamas.
“Exchanges across the chamber largely consisted of criticism of Israel and retorts from the DUP benches about alleged support for Hamas. Predictably, selected Sinn Féin members’ historical association with the IRA was also cast up
Predictably, selected Sinn Féin members’ historical association with the IRA was also cast up, in scenes that at times were reminiscent of school debating society.
Nobody’s mind was changed and no new elements introduced to a dispute in which all sides are preaching to the converted. The DUP has been quick to latch on to the characterisation of the row and assembly debate as “performative” and “pantomime”, in ploy that obviously lacks self-awareness, as the party is arguably unmatched in playing to its base.
The anger is likely to dissipate over the coming days yet this row highlights the fragility of the relations at the heart of the Stormont administration. Every party is clearly politicking but by cosying up to an indicted Israeli government and defending its tarnished reputation, the DUP appears willing to burn bridges back home in its defence of the indefensible.
Givan defiant in face of critics as Assembly debates motion of no confidence over trip to Israel
Andrew Madden, Belfast Telegraph, November 4th, 2025
EDUCATION MINISTER ROUNDS ON OPPONENTS BUT CITY COUNCIL NOW PLANS TO FLY PALESTINIAN FLAG
Education Minister Paul Givan has vigorously defended his controversial trip to Israel, taking aim at Sinn Fein.
The DUP man was speaking in the Assembly on Monday after People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll tabled a 'no confidence' motion in the minister. Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance have said they will support the motion.
While the 'no confidence' motion in the Assembly has no real effect, as only DUP party leader Gavin Robinson can remove one of his ministers, it signals the level of discontent among Mr Givan's critics over the incident.
The row continued last night and now the Palestinian flag is expected to fly at City Hall later this month.
Old Park Sinn Fein councillor Ryan Murphy put forward the proposal at last night's Belfast City Council meeting. The motion passed with 41 for and 15 against. The proposal will see the Palestinian flag flown on November 29 to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the People of Palestine.
Mr Murphy said: “In light of the continued genocide against the people of Gaza, it is right that we show solidarity and support to them as they face a continuing barbaric onslaught from the Israeli military.
“This involves fundraising initiatives, ethical procurement policies and acts of solidarity such as the support for this proposal.”
Walkout
The vote followed a row in City Hall over Mr Givan's trip to Israel, with half the chamber left empty after a walk-out by Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Greens and People Before Profit.
SDLP Deputy Mayor Paul Doherty also walked out over how DUP Lord Mayor Tracy Kelly had dealt with an attempt by Sinn Fein to raise the issue. He said if she was going to “shut down” debate on Palestine, “we're shutting down the meeting”.
TUV councillor Ron McDowell accused SF of trying to “hijack” the meeting.
It took around an hour for councillors to return and proceedings to resume, after which they voted for the Palestinian flag to fly at City Hall - a move that will infuriate unionists.
Mr Givan has faced intense criticism after joining a delegation of unionist politicians on a six-day tour of Israel, particularly because he asked his department to promote his visit to a school in east Jerusalem on social media.
Protesters calling on Mr Givan to resign gathered outside Parliament Buildings as the Assembly met, while 13,500 people have now signed a petition urging him to quit.
‘Scholasticide’ condemned
Speaking in the Assembly, Sinn Fein's Pat Sheehan branded the IDF's actions in Gaza as “scholasticide” — the targeting of its education system.
“Over 20,000 children and 500 teachers have been killed in Gaza over the last two years,” he said.
“Tens of thousands of others have been maimed and injured. If that isn't scholasticide, I don't know what is.
“Anyone with an ounce of honesty or integrity knows that what's happening in Gaza is genocide.”
UUP MLA Steve Aiken, who took part in the trip, said the actions of Hamas on October 7, 2023 was “pure, unadulterated, evil”.
“The testimony we heard directly from the innocent victims was in many, if not all cases, harrowing,” he said.
“So harrowing that even as a military veteran, I find it hard to comprehend. The levels of abuse, torture, sexual mutilation and violence and pure brutality that occurred... are unfathomable.
“Far from victory to the Palestinian resistance, it was a horrific example of what I can only describe as pure, unadulterated evil.”
The DUP's Jonathan Buckley branded the debate and the attacks on his colleague “bare-faced and brass-necked”.
“Why? Because he had the audacity to visit the State of Israel,” he said.
“Because he had the audacity to visit a school in Jerusalem, an integrated school where Arabs, where Christians and Jews are all educated together.
Dragging Sinn Fein ‘by the nose to leftist extremism’
“But we all know what today's debate is actually really about. Comrade Gerry Carroll has Sinn Fein by the nose, and dragging them to the leftist extreme extents that he often does in this place.”
Mr Givan dismissed the criticism over his trip.
The Education Minister said he visited many sites of “atrocities” committed by Hamas during the conflict, including the site of the Nova festival, where hundreds were murdered.
“They're just some of the voices and that human story needs to be heard,” he said.
“That's why I and the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland are appalled by the manufactured outrage of the extreme left led by Gerry Carroll, who on the 7th of October tweeted 'Victory to the Palestinian resistance'.
“He never once apologised, and yet he is supported now by the Alliance Party, by the SDLP and by Sinn Fein.
“Sinn Fein don't surprise me. Terrorists supporting terrorists will never come as a surprise to me.
“But I, Madam principal Deputy Speaker, will continue to raise my voice for the innocents.”
In response to a later oral question in the chamber, Mr Givan said: “I had the opportunity to visit Israel last week and what I was able to bear witness to was intolerable suffering, loss of life at the hands of terrorists and across the Middle East, conflict in Gaza, Palestinians have suffered terrible and endured loss of life.
“Hamas using and abusing their own population as human shields. And Mr Speaker, I was formally invited by the government of Israel to participate in a delegation of devolved nations.
“No public funds were spent on the visit. The trip was planned and organised by the Israeli embassy. No departmental officials participated in the trip overall or in the visit to Ofek school, which was organised by the hosts.”
He said he requested that the department “issue a factual press release to share the inclusive education practice that I observed”, describing it as “strictly non-political and focused solely on the educational aspects of the visit. No departmental resources were used to publicise any political message.”
Mr Givan accused Mr Carroll of “manufacturing this outcry”.
Speaking at Stormont outside the chamber, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said it was “absolutely appropriate the minister is now being held to account”.
“I think the motion today is merely reflecting widespread public disbelief and anger at the fact the minister made this trip,” she said.
“He should have not made this trip, and no department of the power-sharing administration should have had any hand in it.”
Speaking prior to the debate, Alliance deputy leader Eoin Tennyson said there are questions for Mr Givan to answer in his ministerial capacity, and to “ensure some accountability”, the party would back the motion of no confidence.
“To engage in that visit at such a politically sensitive time is nothing more than provocative, and the minister needs to account for his judgment as to why he was part of a propaganda mission for the Israeli government,” he said.
“There are serious questions also over the Civil Service in terms of why the parliamentary resources were used to promote this propaganda mission.
“There are questions about whether, and why, no officials were present if Paul was there in a ministerial capacity.”
MLA voices concern over asylum seekers ‘abusing dental provision’
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
A DUP MLA has said medical professionals have raised concerns that adult asylum seekers in Northern Ireland are presenting themselves as children to access dental services.
Health minister Mike Nesbitt told Jonathan Buckley that if he is holding information about the practice then he should present it to the police.
During ministerial question time at the assembly yesterday, Mr Buckley asked Mr Nesbitt about the “huge pressures” facing dentists.
He said: “Can I ask has he received any concerns from dental practitioners regarding potential abuses of dental provision and wider social services available to asylum seekers in Northern Ireland?”
The health minister said he was unaware of any reported abuses.
Mr Buckley added: “Dental practitioners and social workers have been in contact with me raising concerns that a number of asylum seeker patients who, in their professional opinion, are most certainly adults, are presenting themselves as children when accessing dental treatment in Northern Ireland.
“They feel unable to voice their concerns for fear of being branded far-right or racist.
“Can I ask the minister, does he acknowledge that if this is happening, this is of huge concern, it presents wider safeguarding issues for wider use of social services?
“Will the minister commit to looking into this issue which warrants serious investigation and commit to come back to the House?”
Mr Nesbitt responded: “I would suggest if the member is holding that information, he should not hold it and he should pass it immediately to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and indeed potentially the Safeguarding Board of Northern Ireland.”
DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley questioned health minister Mike Nesbitt over possible dental care abuses
Taoiseach to attend Enniskillen Remembrance Sunday service after Simon Harris skipped 2024 event
ADRIAN RUTHERFORD, Belfast Telegraph, November 4th, 2025
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is expected to attend this weekend's Remembrance Sunday service in Enniskillen.
He is set to lay a wreath at the town's cenotaph — after predecessor Simon Harris missed the ceremony last year.
Mr Martin is heading to the COP climate summit in Brazil this week. However, he is expected back in Ireland by Saturday and intends to be in Enniskillen for Sunday's commemoration.
Another Irish government minister will be at the ceremony at City Hall in Belfast.
It continues a near-annual tradition started by former taoiseach Enda Kenny in 2012. The Irish premier has missed the ceremony on just two occasions.
In 2018, Leo Varadkar went to the Armistice centenary commemoration at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
And last year, Mr Harris did not attend, with Heather Humphreys, the then Irish social protection minister, taking his place.
Ms Humphreys also represented the Irish government at the 2018 event.
Last year, Mr Harris said he chose not to attend the Enniskillen commemoration on advice from his “most senior officials”.
He said the attendance of the taoiseach was based on the presence of members of the Northern Ireland Executive.
Mr Harris said: “This was on official advice from the most senior officials in my department because there isn't — I don't believe — a representative from the Northern Ireland Executive attending which is when the Taoiseach of the day — whoever he or she is — would usually attend too.”
Mr Kenny became the first taoiseach to attend a Remembrance Day service when he visited Enniskillen in 2012.
The move was seen as symbolic of greater recognition afforded in the Republic of Ireland to Irishmen who fought and died serving in the British Army in the First World War. His attendance also marked the 25th anniversary of an IRA bombing at the memorial in 1987.
Eleven people who had gathered to pay their respects to the war dead were killed and dozens injured in the no-warning blast on November 8 1987, minutes before the ceremony was due to start. A 12th victim died 13 years later having never woken from a coma.
DUP - Council’s praise for outgoing Irish president ‘disrespects unionists’
FRANCOIS VINCENT, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
THE DUP has refused to back a council motion praising outgoing president Michael D Higgins, branding him a “foreign head of state”.
The DUP on Mid Ulster District Council said the motion at a recent meeting “disrespects the unionist community”.
A large majority of councillors backed the motion tabled by SDLP Magherafelt councillor Christine McFlynn.
It was tabled ahead of Michael D Higgins stepping down as Irish president next week, when he will be succeeded by Catherine Connolly.
The motion states the council “fully acknowledges the outstanding 14 years president Michael D Higgins has served his country and the people of this island, championing equality, inclusion, human rights, and civic ethics, often speaking out on social justice and global solidarity”.
The motion recognised his 2014 state visit to Britain – the first by an Irish head of state – and said it was a “significant step in post-Troubles reconciliation and international diplomacy”.
“This council will write to president Higgins to thank him for his commitment, passion, and duty of service to the people across this island,” it added.
Ms McFlynn recalled the president’s visit to Mid Ulster in 2018, and said: “As the president of the Irish nation, Michael D Higgins is the president of every Irish citizen on this island and across the world.
“He is my president, and the president of every Irish citizen in Mid Ulster, and we look forward to the time when all Irish citizens in the North can vote for our president.”
Invitation to Catherine Connolly
Ms McFlynn also proposed the council invite incoming president Connolly to visit Mid Ulster “at the very earliest occasion she can”.
However, DUP councillor Wesley Brown said the motion was “wholly inappropriate”
“On a number of occasions, president Higgins has strayed far beyond a neutral role; he has spoken in ways which have been deeply political and dismissive of the British identity and our unionist culture,” he said.
“Far from being a neutral or reconciliatory head of state, his interventions have often heightened and highlighted division, rather than healing it.”
Mr Brown said the motion “exaggerates the significance of the 2014 state visit to the United Kingdom” by President Higgins.
“Reconciliation has been driven painstakingly by people across our communities, not by one presidential trip or one symbolic gesture.
“To credit President Higgins in such a manner is both misleading and insulting to those who have done the real hard work of peace-building, and therefore this motion is simply not accurate.
“Moreover, this council should remember that the president of the Republic of Ireland does not speak for the people of Northern Ireland, or for Unionists.
“Our constitutional position within the United Kingdom is clear and it’s been settled.
“To lavish praise on a foreign head of state as if he were universally accepted across Northern Ireland, ignores and disrespects the Unionist community.
‘Definitely not my President’
UUP councillor Trevor Wilson said: “I too would just like to say that he is the president of Ireland, but not Northern Ireland as such.
“And while he might be Councillor McFlynn’s President, he definitely is not mine.
“Within the Unionist community, he is seen as a reality denier.”
He added President Higgins’ refusal to attend a religious service in 2021 marking the centenary of Northern Ireland “showed how much of a denier he really was”.
The amended motion was carried, with 25 votes in favour and 12 against.
Ms McFlynn thanked those who supported her motion, and again referred to the 2018 visit by president Higgins to Mid Ulster, which included an appearance at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace centre in Bellaghy.
“When Prince Charles and Camilla came to Mid Ulster a few years ago, I myself welcomed him in the greeting party, along with our chair at that time,” she said.
“I made him very welcome, and I just wish our unionist colleagues in the chamber had welcomed our president when he came to Seamus Heaney (HomePlace) at the same time.
“Not one of them turned up.”
Ready market for illegal weapons in North - man gets 12 years after Garda gun smuggling raid
STEPHEN BOURKE, Irish News, November 4th, 2025
Mark McCourt (34) offered to throw in 10 pipe bombs as ‘free gift’ to seal £75,000 deal to supply arms haul that came from America
THE leader a gun-running ring smuggling arms into Ireland from America has been jailed for 12 years after being caught “red-handed” in a garda raid during which parts for six assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized.
Mark McCourt (34) and with an address at Edenreive in Cloghoge outside Newry, was sentenced by the Special Criminal Court yesterday having pleaded guilty in July participation in a criminal organisation’s efforts to import restricted weapons between February 2023 and July 2024, and possession of firearms.
McCourt told one prospective customer he would throw in 10 pipe bombs as a free gift to seal a €75,000 cash deal to supply guns and ammunition smuggled by air from America, a sentencing court heard earlier this year.
Detective Inspector Shane McCartan of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, who led an investigation into the gang’s activities last year, told the three-judge court in July that a firearms technician had been able to assemble 82 gun parts seized in a raid on a property in Co Louth last year into six assault rifles and a dozen pistols.
Some 1,200 rounds in 9mm calibre and nearly 400 in .223 were also seized from a shed in Ardee where Mr McCourt and his co-accused were arrested on July 19 2024, the inspector said.
It took the Garda Emergency Response Unit 15 minutes to get into the premises after the shutter was pulled down when officers attempted to execute the search warrant, the court was told.
Weapons parts imported and reassembled
Det Insp McCartan told the court he was “fully satisfied” that there was a criminal organisation in existence under the “control and direction” of McCourt. He said the function of the organisation was “the importation of firearms components from the USA to Ireland and the reassembly of these restricted firearms for onward distribution to other criminal organisations”.
Passing sentence yesterday, Ms Justice Karen O’Connor, sitting with Judge Elma Sheahan and Judge Marie Keane, said the court was concerned with the fact that McCourt was “caught red-handed and with a degree of bravado”.
McCourt had been “nonchalant” in his references to weapons used by criminals to kill and execute “serious offending, including the institution of fear and intimidation”, she said.
“With no evidence of the court to any threat to him, he was essentially running a business, it can be inferred, for material gain,” she added. She said the arms smuggling offences were at the “top end of the scale”.
The court jailed McCourt for 12 years for arms smuggling on the basis of a 15-year headline sentence with mitigation of 20% for his early guilty plea.
He has also been concurrently sentenced to 10 year years on four firearms possession charges, reduced from 12-and-a-half years on the same basis. The remainder of the 20 counts on the indictment were taken into account.
At a sentence hearing in July, Det Insp McCartan said McCourt had already been identified in connection with the suspected importation of firearms when the defendant was arrested for something else on May 24 2024 and had his phone seized.
Gardaí were able to extract data from the phone shedding light on the activities of the smuggling ring in the preceding year, along with conversations with prospective customers in messages on Signal, WhatsApp and Snapchat, the witness said.
Det Insp McCartan said McCourt and his co-accused both flew to Las Vegas, Nevada on three occasions in April and May 2023.
On April that year, following their return from the trip, McCourt told one prospective customer — who used the alias ‘The Keeler’ – “we got sorted this evening” and that it would take a few hours to “stick them all together”, the court was told.
“So get the cash ready lol,” McCourt added, before telling ‘The Keeler’ to “get another phone” as a “burner”.
In further text exchanges with ‘The Keeler’, McCourt wrote: “€75k cash is (the) best price” and that he had “another man there for them today”.
He said the receiver of the firearms would need “a dry place like a hot press or that” as a “stash spot”.
The weapons haul seized by Gardaí in Ardee, Co Louth which led to the Mark McCourt case
“If they get damp, they won’t fire, that’s why you see boys there and they’re misfiring, because the gunpowder in the bullet is damp,” McCourt wrote.
Pipe bombs were free
He then added: “Tell them 75k and I’ll throw in the 10 pipes for free.”
Det Insp McCartan said: “It’s my belief that refers to pipe bombs.”
He said one of a number of videos found on Mr McCourt’s phone, which were screened in court in July, had captured a serial number on an AR- 15 rifle made by Anderson Defence traced to a sale on February 10 2023 at a shop called Parumph Guns and Ammo near Las Vegas.
“It was purchased by the co-accused on February 10 2023,” the witness said.
As the videos were screened for the court, Det Insp McCartan said that what was being shown were “AR-15 assault rifles, military grade” and their magazines, including one “drum magazine” which could hold upwards of 50 bullets. A “significant quantity” of loose rounds was also to be observed, he said.
When a detective held up an example of one of the seized rifles in court, the detective inspector said: “Judge, it should be noted that all of the firearms had their serial numbers bored off.”
Prosecuting counsel Simon Matthews BL, said that after another trip to Las Vegas in May 2023, a text from McCourt’s phone to a prospective buyer under the alias ‘Vladimir Putin’ said: “I can get an AR15 in 6.5 Creedmoor. It’s better than the 7.62; she’ll drop a deer at 900 yards, no problem.”
‘Vladimir Putin’ then asked about buying a “7.62 sniper” – and about the source of the weapons.
“We ram raid the place across the water,” McCourt replied, adding: “Yeah mate, don’t know, but I can get a price.
In another exchange stored on the seized phone, another prospective customer under the alias ‘Duff’ asked: “Sweet bro, and if I need another AR [assault rifle] how soon can I get it?”
“That’ll be next month… but they’re definitely there to be got,” came the reply by voice note, which was played to the court.
In July, McCourt’s barrister, Brendan Grehan SC, sought “the maximum mitigation allowable” for his client and said he was instructed to “tender an apology on his behalf to the court and the State for getting involved in these matters, and also to his family and the shame he’s brought to them for this”.
He said his client was the father of two children, and that his fiancée and her mother were “standing by him”, and provided the court with letters of reference from local businesses which had used his client as a plumbing subcontractor.
The court the defendant has some 42 previous convictions including assault causing harm, theft, and dangerous driving “on the high end”.
Det Insp McCartan said McCourt and was jailed for three years, with 18 months suspended, on foot of a conviction for a criminal damage incident in which he had gone to the home address of an off-duty garda at 2.55am and “rammed” her car.
Under cross-examination, he agreed with Mr Grehan that this period of offending was when the McCourt was aged between 19 and 22.
McCourt’s jail term has been backdated to the date of his arrest on July 19 2024.
Northern Ireland will always decline unless parties change fiscal policies
“ Stormont needs to take control of our tax system to keep pace with the demands of our local economy and the delivery of our public services
LOCAL politicians might pretend that the current fiscal shortfall of £800m for the Executive is because of ‘Tory and Labour austerity’, but it is the failure of our local politicians to take control of the local tax system and understand economic policy that is responsible for our fiscal woes.
It is a simple equation: more revenue spent through expenditure needs more revenue generated through taxation or stimulated economic growth generated by tax policy. Our local politicians are either in denial from the fact or are simply too stupid to understand that the political choices made at Stormont are fundamentally out of step with the desire to build a strong, prosperous economy.
Stormont needs to take control of our tax system – personal allowance, income tax, value added tax and corporation tax – to keep pace with the demands of our local economy and the delivery of our public services. Currently, we increase our annual spend on public pay and don’t generate more revenue in our tax system to meet the increase in demand for pay awards and day-to-day expenditure. That is one of the primary reasons why we now face such a fiscal black hole.
Neglected merits of Civic Forum
Earlier this year, the Executive argued internally over the value of the return of the Civic Forum. The Civic Forum represents the best vehicle for the Executive to find consensus between government, trade unions, voluntary sector and business leaders on a new economic policy for Northern Ireland – a policy which seeks to find a new way forward on public pay awards, our local tax system and economic development.
Why can we, instead of unaffordable public pay parity, not have agreement between government, workers and business to invest in our collective standard of living? This is not new in other places around the world. Indeed, the Hawke-Keating Labor government in Australia developed consensus on economic policy through the National Taxation Summit in 1985, which supplemented the government’s Prices and Incomes Accord and Superannuation savings scheme.
Even in Ireland in the late 1980s, the Haughey Fianna Fáil government, with the support of the Fine Gael opposition, did something similar. ‘Social Partnership’ has long become synonymous with Irish government policy in the field of industrial relations and the tax system. In both examples, government decided that instead of fuelling further fiscal deficit through unaffordable annual public pay increases, money would instead be invested to improve public services and the overall standard of living.
The local economy must be given the space to grow and generate prosperity before we consider the mere idea of pay parity with the rest of the UK and Ireland. Only this week, one trade union official said that pay parity ‘is the absolute minimum that we are looking to have achieved here’ in the ongoing health workers pay negotiations. If that is what trade unions want, then they must also accept that government should find new revenue from our tax base in Northern Ireland to pay for it.
For those who wish to see pay parity in our local public sector, we must either reduce our public sector workforce or make huge improvements in public sector efficiency. The Executive hasn’t the courage to do the first option nor the intelligence to succeed at the other. The truth is simple: Northern Ireland will forever be a place of economic decline, unless Stormont changes its economic and fiscal policies. If it doesn’t, is devolution and power-sharing worth the cost to the taxpayer?
EDWARD FERRIN Belfast BT14
LETTERS, Irish News
Lough Neagh is a crisis for whole of island, says McDonald
REBECCA BLACK, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, November 4th, 2025
Lough Neagh is a “very significant crisis” for the whole island of Ireland, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald has said.
The lough was blighted by noxious blooms of blue-green algae for the third summer period in a row.
It saw the eel-fishing season cut short, as well as advice against bathing at several north coast beaches because of the algae having been detected moving along Lower Bann River.
An excess of nutrients has been blamed, which come from a number of sources, including waste water, septic tanks and agriculture, made worse by climate change and an invasive species, zebra mussels.
Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir is currently implementing a Lough Neagh Recovery Plan.
Ms McDonald met with Mr Muir at Stormont yesterday.
“We had a lengthy discussion around Lough Neagh and the need for urgent action to address what is a very, very significant crisis, not just for the North, but I believe, for the whole island,” she said.
“We have agreed that there will need to be a national focus on this, that the Shared Island Unit in Dublin, the Department of An Taoiseach and the wider Dublin government will take an interest in actions to resolve in the short term and the longer term, the issues of the lough as a critical natural resource.”
She added: “I am very conscious of the community, of the stakeholders in and around the lough, the fishermen, the wider community, the fact that it has been very, very hard on them, and we have pressed with the minister the need for a financial support package for them.”
Muir welcomes constructive discussions
Mr Muir said he welcomed constructive discussions around the Lough Neagh crisis.
“The public will rightly judge us on this Programme for Government commitment, and I will be asking for backing for legislation on fines and penalties for water pollution; ending the by-ball for NI Water pollution, finalising a Climate Action Plan and agreeing an updated Nutrients Action Programme.
“As the largest freshwater lake on these islands, its protection and restoration are of interest across jurisdictions.
“I have already engaged with my ministerial counterparts in the South to explore opportunities for collective action on water quality, which is particularly relevant at Lough Neagh, given the catchment extends beyond the border.”
'Success fee' for Nama deal was first discussed after meeting with Robinson
SAM MCBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, November 4th, 2025
JURY HAS BEEN TOLD THERE ISN'T 'SHRED OF EVIDENCE' ANY POLITICIAN WAS IN LINE FOR ANY OF THE MONEY
A top financier at a $2 trillion US investment fund first discussed multi-million pound payments now alleged to be corrupt while standing in the Stormont car park just after meeting First Minister Peter Robinson, he has told a Belfast court.
James Gilbert was a senior figure at Pimco when the investment fund was privately working with Frank Cushnahan and Ian Coulter to quietly buy all of Nama's Northern Ireland loans for more than £1bn in 2013.
At the time, Coulter was managing partner of major Belfast law firm Tughans while Cushnahan sat on the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee to the National Assets Management Agency (Nama), the Republic's bad bank for distressed property loans made by Irish banks.
Mr Gilbert would go on to describe Coulter as “a greedy fker” in a blunt email to a colleague.
Frank Hugh Cushnahan (83), of Alexandra Gate in Holywood, is charged with fraud by failing to disclose information and fraud by false representation.
His co-accused, former solicitor Ian George Coulter (54), of Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, faces two charges of fraud by false representation, and charges of making or supplying articles for use in fraud, removing criminal property, and transferring criminal property.
Both men deny all the charges.
On day 11 of the trial, Mr Gilbert told Belfast Crown Court that he first met the then DUP leader and First Minister on May 23, 2013, along with Mr Robinson's special adviser, Richard Bullick, and Finance Minister Sammy Wilson.
The financier met Cushnahan and Coulter to discuss how to approach the meeting before travelling to Stormont with both men.
Also present was Tuvi Keinan, a senior lawyer at US law firm Brown Rudnick, who was working with Coulter and Cushnahan to try to set up the deal.
Mr Gilbert said that at the meeting “we pitched… why we would be a good buyer” for Nama's loans.
First mention of ‘success fee’
He said the first mention of the €16m success fee — allegedly to be split between Coulter, Cushnahan and Brown Rudnick — “was immediately after this meeting in the car park at Stormont”.
Mr Gilbert said he believed Keinan raised the issue with him privately in the car park.
He said: “The message was that if this deal comes to fruition there will be a success fee to be paid… and Baupost [a rival fund] has already agreed to that success fee so if you don't, the deal will go their way”.
He said he recalled “a lot of discussion about how much the success fee would be” but he wasn't sure if that was discussed at Stormont.
When asked how often the success fee was discussed, he said: “It was a lot.”
The jury has already been told by the Crown that there isn't a shred of evidence that Mr Robinson or any other politician was ever in line for a penny.
Mr Gilbert said there was nothing unusual or intrinsically wrong in paying a success fee during a transaction.
Mr Gilbert said his understanding was that Coulter and Cushnahan were to recommend them to the Stormont Executive, which would then recommend them to the Irish Government, which would then recommend them to Nama.
In September 2013, Mr Keinan told Mr Gilbert by email that Coulter was “giving me an earful”, demanding £16m, rather than €16m.
Mr Gilbert replied: “Tell him he's a greedy fker from me [sic]”.
A misunderstanding or re-trade?
When asked by Crown Counsel Jonathan Kinnear KC why he'd said that, Mr Gilbert said: “We had been told the fee was €16m. We had discussed it extensively internally… it seems to represent one of two things — either a misunderstanding between Mr Coulter and Mr Keinan… or a re-trade on the fees to a number 20% higher than the number we'd agreed.”
Mr Gilbert said they'd always believed that Cushnahan's fee had to be disclosed transparently because he had a Nama position, something he said meant “there could be either a potential conflict or the impression of a conflict of interest”.
In an September 18, 2013 email to senior colleagues, Mr Gilbert told them of Coulter and Cushnahan: “The NI Government is already aware that they [Coulter and Cushnahan] are economically interested in the deal and that they are to be entitled to receive a significant success fee.”
When asked where that understanding came from, Mr Gilbert said: “Mr Keinan.”
In a meeting with Pimco, Nama's Ronnie Hanna asked about advertising the loans for public sale. A Pimco note of the meeting said that “our approval is predicted [sic] on an off market one on one process”, highlighting that such a deal would involve “very significant costs” for Pimco.
When asked when they planned to set out Mr Cushnahan's fee, Mr Gilbert said that Mr Keinan had told him that “Nama was a leaky institution” and “the timing of the disclosure around our involvement and our process needed to be managed such that the narrative wasn't taken out of our hands by an unauthorised press leak”.
He said there was discussion of an “asset management arrangement” involving Cushnahan and Coulter advising Pimco on how to manage its loans in Northern Ireland, including which borrowers they should “work with” and which ones they should treat differently. He said that would have meant payments to the two men.
The trial continues.
Paul Givan: Bid for a no-confidence motion in Stormont education minister secures 30 signatures
By Rebecca Black, PA, Belfast News Letter, November 4th, 2025
A bid for a no-confidence motion in the Stormont Education Minister has progressed after 30 signatures were secured.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll is pressing for the motion in protest at Paul Givan’s trip to Israel in which he instructed officials to publicise a visit he made to a school in Jerusalem on the department’s social media channels.
Sinn Fein , the SDLP and Alliance have indicated they are backing the no-confidence motion, while Mr Givan's DUP party, and the UUP are opposing it.
Last week the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council claimed the Department of Education's promotion of the school visit was an "overtly political and divisive act", and called for the post to be deleted.
Rival politicians have also questioned whether it was appropriate to visit Israel at a time when the country is facing international criticism over its military offensive in Gaza .
Demonstrations took place at Belfast City Hall on Saturday and outside Parliament Buildings on Monday calling for Mr Givan to resign, while an online petition has been signed by more than 13,000 people.
Defiant
Defiant Paul Givan says he 'won't be dictated to' by Sinn Fein - and all rules were followed on Israel trip
On Tuesday morning, Mr Carroll confirmed his motion has reached the 30 signatures needed to proceed.
It is expected to be brought to the Assembly chamber next Monday, however it requires cross-community support from both those designated as unionists and nationalists.
"I've brought this motion to build a strong, united challenge against a Minister who believes it's appropriate to align himself with a state that's responsible for the murder of 20,000 children," Mr Carroll said.
"Despite the minister's attempts to sectarianise this issue, pressure is clearly mounting on him from all quarters.
"Paul Givan's position is becoming more untenable by the hour."
Mr Givan was part of a delegation of unionist MLAs from Northern Ireland who took part in the fact-finding trip last week at the invitation of the Israeli government.
On Monday, Mr Givan defended his actions, insisting the social media post was "strictly non-political and focused solely on the educational aspects of the visit".
He said his visit during the trip to a school in Jerusalem was "directly relevant" to his ministerial portfolio and "provided valuable insights".
He said his permanent secretary and senior officials carried out a review of his engagements on the visit and said they concluded a "clean bill of health" to him as minister and all civil servants that their actions were appropriate.
He also insisted he is a minister for all, adding he will not be silenced, cancelled or distracted from his work as Education Minister.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said on Monday that Mr Givan has his full confidence.
But Mr Carroll added: "The minister played the victim and declared that he 'won't be cancelled', but the voices of thousands of educators, pupils, families, trade unionists and right-thinking people calling for his resignation can't and won't be ignored.
"It's time for Givan to go."
Data breach police officer feared a drive-by dissident shooting at her home
By Alan Erwin, Belfast News Letter, November 4th, 2025
A female officer feared dissident republican terrorists would carry out a drive-by shooting on her home following a major data breach within the Police Service of Northern Ireland, she told the High Court today.
The woman described suffering a panic attack after being informed about the leak while she was heavily pregnant and being scared by the perceived threat to the future safety of her family.
“It just felt like my whole world was crashing down,” she said.
Granted anonymity and referred to as RB89, she is among thousands of police officers and civilian employees suing over the release of their personal details in August 2023.
The unprecedented data breach involved the accidental publication on a website in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
Names, ranks and roles of nearly 9,500 PSNI officers and staff were all disclosed.
Within days of the leak it was confirmed that dissident republicans had accessed the information.
Up to 8,500 of those affected are seeking damages for negligence and breaches of data protection and privacy.
Although the PSNI has already accepted liability for what happened, the force currently does not have the funding to settle the actions.
Last week it emerged that the UK Treasury has rejected a request from the Stormont Executive for financial help in footing the overall estimated £120m bill.
RB89 is one of six test cases identified for determination as part of efforts to manage the scale of litigation.
The officer, who is not originally from Northern Ireland, told the court how she had taken careful security precautions since joining the PSNI in 2017.
She recalled how a colleague informed her about the breach while she was six months pregnant.
Panic attack
“I had a panic attack, I wasn’t able to get a breath and I was scared,” she said.
Based on her uncommon name, the officer feared she could be easily identified from the leaked details and went off on leave.
“I just felt physically sick and worried about my unborn baby,” she stated.
“I kept thinking if I couldn’t get a breath, is the baby ok? If my heartbeat is high, is the baby ok?”
Extra security measures were put in place around her family’s home following the data breach, with cameras, fencing and a video doorbell all installed following the data breach.
The court heard RB89 refused to sit in the living room or let her children go in there for a long time afterwards because it backed onto a nearby road.
“I was worried that someone was going to drive by and shoot,” she said.
“The doors (to the house) were always locked, and when the security lights went on I would jump up in bed five times a night.
“It could be just a cat, but there was a constant worry.”
Questioned by her barrister David Dunlop KC, instructed by Reid Black Solicitors, the officer likened it to living in a “fight or flight” situation every day.
Even though she suffered from other bouts of illness in later months, she insisted that the main impact on her health was due to the data breach.
“It will always have an effect on me. That information is out there, I’m not changing my name and I’m still a police officer,” she told the court.
“(The concern) is my children not having a mum, thinking that someone was going to shoot through our house.
“I had these unwanted images all the time that dissident republicans were holding this list, (I have) an unusual name and I look like an easy target.”
Nicolas Hanna KC, for the PSNI, suggested her concerns should have eased because the data breach has not resulted in any attacks on police officers.
But RB89 replied: “Dissident republicans have that information and they could in the process of collating it for an attack, because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it’s not going to.”
Adjourning proceedings following her testimony, Mr Justice Rooney indicated he will hear evidence in other test cases next month
Newry Mourne and Down to form Ulster Scots Group after DUP councillors leave Good Relations Group
By Philip Bradfield, Belfast News Letter, November 4th, 2025
UUP councillor Glenn Barr at a Irish-language lead district boundary sign in Rathfriland. Newry Mourne and Down District Council has voted to impose similar signs at every town and village in the borough - even if they have voted against them in consultations.
Newry Mourne and Down District Council has agreed to create an Ulster Scots working group - after unionists walked out of a "Good Relations Group" which decided to impose Irish language signs in unionist areas against the wishes of ratepayers.
DUP councillors walked out of the council's Equality and Good Relations Group meeting in June after it voted to impose Irish language welcome signs on all council on 90 towns and villages - including predominantly unionist ones.
DUP councillors said they had spent six years trying to reason with non-unionists on the committee against the move.
UUP councillor David Taylor said unionists had approached the issue “constructively” during 12 committee meetings, but that republicans and nationalists “decided to ignore genuine unionist concerns”.
The council confirmed to the News Letter that an official consultation meeting with representatives of the Rowallane District Electoral Area (DEA) Forum on 27 September 2023 determined that the area wanted "English only signage".
However, nationalist councillors ignored the plea and are moving forward with plans to erect to Irish language welcome signs across Rowallane district, including settlements such as Ballynahinch, Crossgar and Killyleagh, Derryboy, Kilmore and Saintfield.
Now in a joint statement, the five DUP councillors on the local authority welcomed the vote by the full council on Monday night to create an Ulster Scots Working Group, in order to give unionist more say in such decisions.
It is understood the DUP has not yet decided whether to rejoin the Good Relations Group.
‘Persistent lack of respect’
The DUP councillors said: "It was of course the persistent lack of respect towards unionists on the council which led our party to leave the so-called Equality & Good Relations Reference Group five months ago."
The councillors said that other parties have now acknowledged in a joint letter that the Good Relations Group “does not operate as effectively without the DUP’s input”.
The DUP added: "Consensus politics must be applied on issues of equality. In June, we made clear that we would not be rejoining this non-statutory reference group until our concerns were addressed around the imposition of Irish signage in largely Protestant Unionist and Loyalist, the free rein of republican motions heard in the council chamber, and the procedures for community consultation on issues affecting unionists not being followed."
They said the unanimous vote in favour of the new Ulster Scots Group is "welcome progress" and argued that they now need to see "comprehensive strategies and policies put in place, just as Irish has enjoyed for many years".
"Time will tell whether this new working group can make a tangible difference to how the district’s rich Ulster-Scots/British heritage, culture and language is promoted through the council’s events programme, tourism strategy, community funding, and public displays. These are the types of changes that will foster genuine good relations within Newry, Mourne and Down."
Responding, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council confirmed that the Equality and Good Relations Forum unanimously agreed to the creation of an Ulster Scots British Working Group on 8 October. The recommendation was approved by the Strategy Policy and Resources Committee on 16 October and then by the full council on 3 November.
The full title of the group and its Terms of Reference will be agreed at its first meeting, the council added.
Letter: Election of Catherine Connolly should be seen simply as a fresh face across the border and she is no different on Irish unification to most in the Republic
Belfast News Letter, October 31st, 2025
The election of Catherine Connolly should not be seen as a slap in the face for Northern Ireland unionists but simply as a fresh face across the border.
She has been an independent TD and while backed by various political parties she received active support from socially and peace minded citizens from outside any party political bloc.
She is committed to social change and peace internationally and is no different on Irish unification to most in the Republic.
It is of course reprehensible that Heather Humphreys received sectarian abuse as a Presbyterian but many more people saw her background as positive than the few who may have attacked her for it.
Two out of the 10 presidents in Ireland have been Protestant and another (Mary Robinson) married to one.
However in this instance Catherine Connolly - who is very unassuming in person - walked it in terms of the policies she espouses and her personality and performance in the spotlight.
Rob Fairmichael, Ballynafeigh, Belfast
