For reconciliation to work it requires two eyes
Letters: IRISH NEWS, April 24th, 2026
WHY do the Irish still have to explain England’s history to the English, Stephanie Chase asks in her article (Irish News, April 23).
I lived in Howth, Co Dublin for many years and one of my favourite walks, as it has been for countless thousands, was to Dun Griffin, the Iron Age fortification built at the shortest crossing point between Ireland and north-west Wales. It protected a small harbour which the local warlord used for cross-channel raids in which the main commodity was slaves. A few hundred years later, the Vikings took over the business and Dublin became the largest slave emporium in western Europe, again with enthusiastic local involvement. Contrary to what many people believed, including 1916 leader James Connolly, slavery was a regular feature of Irish society until the Normans (themselves former Vikings with a modernising agenda) arrived. They abolished slavery and replaced it with serfdom, which was more conducive to the feudal system.
Our social and economic ills are a combination of home-grown and imported business practices.
At a time of continued anger and frustration fuelled by legacy wars and yet another bungled legislative initiative from London, Ms Chase’s article is a reminder that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed God can be a king or a queen.
For reconciliation to work it requires two eyes.
PADRAIG YEATES, Secretary. Truth Recovery Process (CLG),
Portmarnock, Co Dublin,
Loyalist killer back in prison after long legal battles over early release
JOHN BRESLIN, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
A LOYALIST killer was returned to Maghaberry Prison yesterday after handing himself in to police following years of legal battles over his early release under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Robert Clarke, convicted of the 1973 murder of a Belfast chip shop owner, had hoped to strike a deal that would allow him to be taken into custody and then be immediately released on compassionate grounds.
But no deal was done ahead of the 74-year-old presenting himself to Musgrave Police Station before his transfer to Maghaberry, Clarke’s solicitor Danny McNamee said.
Clarke lost a legal bid to avoid being sent back to prison after the Court of Appeal last month dismissed a judicial review and found he was wrongly granted early release after two years following a 2011 conviction for the murder of Alfredo Fusco.
The same court last Thursday gave him a week to report for imprisonment. A Judicial Review court declined to intervene.
The 1998 agreement allowing paramilitary prisoners to be released after two years only covered offences committed after the enactment of emergency provisions legislation in 1973. Clarke served two years following his conviction.
Under the Legacy Act, this was extended to offences committed after 1966.
Sentence Review Committee
Clarke will now apply to the Sentence Review Commission for early release under the legacy act provisions, but also seek temporary release via the prison governor while his application is processed, Mr McNamee said. However, he could spend the next two years in prison.
“The real unfairness here is that the authorities insisted he go through the review process and then released him,” Mr McNamee said, referring to the killer being told to apply under the GFA provisions after his 2011 conviction.
“The Secretary of State could have granted the royal prerogative of mercy and he would not have done any time, which happened to many others.”
Clarke previously served 15 years of a life sentence for the shooting dead of 58-yearold Margaret O’Neill as she walked along the New Lodge Road in Belfast in 1975. He was released in 1990.
Mr McNamee noted that Clarke, whom he described as an elderly man in poor health, stayed away from politics and did not align himself with any loyalist grouping following his release.
However, he was accused of involvement in a fuel smuggling conspiracy involving dozens of other people, including south Armagh republicans, former footballers and a prominent bar owner.
Clarke was convicted in 2019 of converting close to £4m he knew or suspected came from criminal conduct. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. He previously served a 12-month prison term for fraudulently evading customs duty connected to the same conspiracy.
It was during a 2019 bail hearing for a former IRA man accused of double murder that Clarke was first identified as being wrongly released early under the peace agreement.
After he was identified there was a flurry of communications between top level officials at the Northern Ireland Office, the Public Prosecution Service, the Sentence Review Commission (SRC) and senior police officers, according to court documents.
Police declined to pursue Clarke as being unlawfully at large, said Mr McNamee. This led to seven years of legal action with the Secretary of State pitted initially against the SRC, but culminating in Clarke taking, and losing, the judicial review.
Robert Clarke was yesterday returned to prison and will now apply to the Sentence Review Commission for early release under the legacy act provisions
Alfredo Fusco was killed in 1973 after a gun attack on his cafe on Belfast’s York Road.
PSNI blames invisible border for outstripping spending of English forces
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
IT COSTS OVER 150% MORE PER HEAD TO FUND PUBLIC SERVICES IN NORTHERN IRELAND THAN REST OF UK
THE PSNI has blamed having a largely invisible land border with the EU and being a “regional” force for outstripping the spending of police costs in England by 166%.
Details emerged this week when “UK Treasury’s Open Book Review of the Northern Ireland Executive Budget” was made public.
The review revealed that spending on education, health and policing in the north far outstrips what’s spent in England on the same core public services.
Overall, the report found funding per head of population for a number of Stormont departments “is significantly in excess of 124% of comparable spend by the UK government”.
The figure of 124% is agreed with the Treasury as the extra needed for the north to account for its special circumstances
The report set out that health spending per head in the north is 152% of that in England, education at 140% and policing is at 166%.
Senior PSNI figures have repeatedly said the force is facing a funding crisis.
Chief constable Jon Boutcher has told members of the Policing Board he wants to boost officer numbers to 7,000 by 2028.
It is understood the PSNI has a budget of just short of £1 billion annually.
The PSNI has said part of the reason for spending more than its counterparts in England is that it has “a land border with the European Union”.
‘Unique challenges’
Police funds don’t reflect ‘unique challenges’
During Brexit negotiations, strenuous efforts were made to ensure there would be no return of a hard border amid concerns about the potential impact on the peace process.
The 300-mile border allows unhindered movement between north and south, with police rarely visible on either side.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI said “there are well understood and accepted reasons which drive the costs of policing per capita in Northern Ireland.
“These include geographic layout, operating as a ‘regional service’ with a requirement to deliver a full range of functions, a land border with the European Union, limited access to mutual aid, the level of threat and security environment, still carrying the costs of operating in a post conflict cost society and legacy costs.”
The spokeswoman added that “unfortunately the level of funding for the Police Service of Northern Ireland does not reflect the unique challenges we experience and we will continue to make the case for our structural funding deficit to be addressed and the costs of legacy to be separately funded”.
SF's ard fheis numbers are envy of rivals, but party 'needs recharge' to sharpen its message
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, April 24th, 2026
Sinn Féin's opponents will watch with envy as its ard fheis opens this evening in Belfast's Waterfront Hall.
No other party here could even come close to matching its delegate numbers. Yet its delivery at Stormont hasn't lived up to the expectations raised when Michelle O'Neill made history by becoming the first nationalist First Minister in 2024.
While still retaining a six-point lead over the DUP, Sinn Féin on 24pc fell to a five-year low in last week's LucidTalk poll for the Belfast Telegraph, and SDLP leader Claire Hanna was — for the first time — more popular than O'Neill with nationalist voters.
Commentator Chris Donnelly says Sinn Féin “needs a recharge” and “a change in personnel” to sharpen its message at Stormont.
He notes that it has had issues with attracting and retaining “backroom figures” with the necessary skills and experience.
“Sinn Féin is in a comfortable position as the largest party in the north. But something isn't right and it's a feeling causing unease both within the party and amongst its voter base,” he says.
“The party is in need of a recharge. Its performance in the Executive and Assembly has not inspired confidence.
“It seems to have gotten comfortable with a subpar media profile, sitting out media interviews: being notably absent from mainstream media programmes on a regular basis.
“Parties carrying a fraction of Sinn Féin's mandate are able to set the political agenda — leaving republicans on the defensive, having to respond.”
Donnelly says the party has “moved significantly over recent decades” to skilfully position itself to “reap political and electoral dividends” across the island.
Irish unity is “a live political project precisely because of Sinn Féin's success in growing the first substantive all-Ireland party”. But he believes Sinn Féin must significantly up its game at Stormont.
Change in personnel
“It has become very apparent that what's needed is a change in personnel to provide renewed energy and vigour to sharpen its performance within the institutions and to more effectively challenge unionism's agenda and articulate the case for republicanism,” Donnelly says.
“The party has not had great success with seeking — never mind attracting and retaining — representatives and backroom figures with the skillsets and experience to deliver a step change in performance, yet that is precisely what is now needed.
“Next year's election provides an opportunity to do that, but it will only happen if the need for change is recognised and acted on by those with the stature and capacity to make it happen.”
Professor Jon Tonge of the University of Liverpool says Sinn Féin will be “only mildly concerned” by the drop in support in the LucidTalk poll.
“It will be confident that the three-way split in unionism between the DUP, UUP and TUV means it will again emerge as the largest Assembly party and secure the First Minister position.
“It could be stopped if unionists united to form a single Assembly party, but that seems improbable.”
Professor Tonge doesn't foresee the SDLP denting Sinn Féin support. “Claire Hanna is impressive but, ultimately, party loyalty will exceed leader loyalty,” he adds.
On Sinn Féin's Executive record, he says: “There have been errors like the A5 saga, and Sinn Féin needs a win like Casement Park.
“But it's hard for any party — even the largest — to shine at Stormont. It's really just about begging the Brits for more money while refusing to take tough decisions on revenue raising with an election so close.” Professor Tonge says Sinn Féin will be “buoyed by the closing gap between support for the Union versus support for Irish unity”, but he adds that “much work remains to be done”.
He is critical of Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill for predicting a border poll by 2030. “It just won't happen,” he says.
Unrealistic timetables
“I don't understand why Sinn Féin repeatedly puts unrealistic dates into the mix which won't be met. A border poll can take place only when there is a lead for the pro-unity side in the polls.
“What is needed is documents, not dates. Sinn Féin should publish its proposals on what a united Ireland would look like.
“With the Taoiseach totally uninterested in Irish unity, it has to take the lead in creating the green print. Unionists won't be convinced to engage, but that's not what it's about. It's about winning over the undecideds, and there are plenty of them.” Commentator and historian Dr Brian Feeney disagrees with Tonge on the issue. “The SNP's advice is not to publish such a document as it would be picked apart,” he says.
“Everybody would pile on. It's enough for Sinn Féin to go on the principle and not the detail. Irish unity doesn't belong to any political party.
“The Dublin government must produce a green paper for discussion, and a group of parties will then come together around that.” Feeney describes Sinn Féin as being in “a bit of a limbo” in the Republic. “It can't break through the government majority in the Dail,” he explains.
“Even with the protests and Michael Healy-Rae's resignation, the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition still has a working majority.
“The government has so much money it can buy its way out of anything. The budget forecast is now for a €9bn surplus and not the previously predicted €5bn.”
Feeney sees disunity on the left as a significant issue for Sinn Féin. “There was a successful coming together last year to elect Catherine Connolly as President,” he says. “That seems to have disintegrated. There are no agreed left candidates for the Dublin Central or Galway by-elections. In fact, they're tearing lumps out of each other.
“Sinn Féin needs to be leading a coalition that looks like a credible alternative government if it's to make progress. Otherwise, the current government will carry on until 2029.
“Sinn Féin and Labour must pull together, along with the Social Democrats and Aontú. The problem is they all hate each other.”
Feeney says Sinn Féin is also waiting for Micheal Martin to depart as Fianna Fáil leader “in order to get the chance to make overtures to the party as a potential coalition partner”.
He believes that despite its current poll drop, Sinn Féin will easily remain as the biggest party in next year's Assembly election.
“People are fed up now, but it will be a very different story when it comes to the election in May 2027,” Feeney says.
“There is deadlock at Stormont. Daggers are drawn all the time. There is no cohesive activity or co-operation at any level. Sinn Féin and the DUP are too busy tripping each other up.
“Sinn Féin doesn't have much interest in Stormont, but it has to hang in there and play along with it. The party's big project is in the South, and it would face so much stick down there if it collapsed the institutions here.
“In the Dail it would get, 'If you can't run Stormont, how can you run this place?'”
Demographics
Feeney believes that demographic trends will lead to election results in the early 2030s which will shock unionists.
“There are already signs of it,” he says. “In the last council elections, 22 out of 23 Sinn Féin candidates were elected in Fermanagh and Omagh.
“In the 2019 Westminster election, Sinn Féin won Fermanagh and South Tyrone by 57 votes. It took the seat with a 5,000-vote margin last time. That shows the direction of demographic travel.”
Author and former Labour special adviser Kevin Meagher is calling for co-operation between pro-Irish unity parties next year.
“The 2027 Assembly and council elections are the truest test of support for constitutional change since the Good Friday Agreement,” he says.
“It's vital Sinn Féin and the other parties and candidates committed to Irish unity use this as an opportunity to send an unequivocal message about the demand for something better.
“There needs to be genuine cooperation and a cross-party focus on how to approach the elections — that's been absent in the past. Sinn Féin, as the biggest party, needs to lead it. But it must be a genuine effort alongside the SDLP, People Before Profit and Aontú.”
Republicans quiet over cooperating to end Union
BRETT CAMPBELL, Belfast Telegraph, April 24th, 2026
SINN FÉIN REFUSES TO SAY IF IT WILL WORK WITH THE SNP AFTER LEADER'S SUGGESTION
Sinn Féin has refused to clarify if it will work with Scotland's First Minister to break up the United Kingdom — but insists momentum for Irish unity is building.
It comes after SNP leader John Swinney said he would “enjoy” cooperating with the republican party and Plaid Cymru in Wales to secure Scottish independence in a collaboration that would “change the dynamics of the UK irreversibly”.
Last night, Sinn Féin declined to confirm if it would work with Scotland's biggest party, which is seeking to retain power in Holyrood elections on May 7.
North Belfast MP John Finucane said: “It is clear the British Government does not care about the interests of workers, families and communities here in Ireland, or in Scotland or Wales.
“Momentum is building for constitutional change to create a new and better future. We believe in taking control of our own affairs and the right to national self-determination. That means putting the future of this island firmly in the hands of the people who live here, north and south, as set out in the Good Friday Agreement.”
It comes as nationalist parties seek to dominate the political institutions in all three devolved regions.
Mr Swinney insists the SNP will secure a majority of seats in Scotland, giving it a mandate to pursue a new referendum on independence.
Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru is moving closer to an historic win in the Senedd, with the latest polling placing it on par with Reform UK amid a collapse in support for Labour in Wales.
Allied nationalist governments in Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff have been possible since devolution was introduced in 1997. But it has only now become a realistic scenario, with a Stormont election also due in 2027.
Mr Swinney was asked about a SNP majority government working with Ms O'Neill and Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth to win independence for Scotland and Wales, and reunification for Ireland.
Disunited Kingdom?
“I certainly would enjoy the cooperation with counterparts in Plaid and Sinn Féin in Wales and Northern Ireland,” he said. “I don't speak for them. But certainly, from my part, I would appreciate that collaboration to change the dynamics of the United Kingdom so that we can… I can secure my objective of winning Scottish independence.
“I think the United Kingdom would be changed irreversibly if that outcome was to be the case.
“Michelle O'Neill does not face an election in Northern Ireland at this stage, but she will be in office. And obviously the opportunities for Plaid Cymru are very visible in Wales.”
North Antrim DUP MLA Paul Frew dismissed the SNP leader's hopes.
He said: “The SNP have led the Scottish Government since 2007, notably the same length of time which Sinn Féin have jointly led the Executive in Northern Ireland.
“Neither has succeeded in breaking up the UK, despite their previous repeated promises.
“Their rhetoric today is no different to that of previous decades, that victory is just around the corner.”
Scottish Conservative Party deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “Pro-UK voters will be appalled and terrified at the prospect of John Swinney working in cahoots with Sinn Féin.”
A Plaid Cymru spokesman said the potential election outcome would result in “a powerful bloc” and be “a wake-up call for the UK Labour Government that they would ignore at their peril”.
Polling expert Mark Diffley said Mr Swinney was “glossing over complexities, such as Sinn Féin sharing power with the unionist DUP and Plaid Cymru being unlikely to win a majority”.
But he added devolved administrations with nationalist majorities could have a psychological impact on Westminster and be a blow for the Prime Minister, as they try to get constant concessions “from a weak Government that's trying to focus on the economy or war”.
Benn backs defence investment and slams SF’s 'militarisation agenda'
By David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, April 24th, 2026
The Secretary of State has said it is the government’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the nation, amid Sinn Fein criticism of £50m funding for defence sector businesses.
Hilary Benn said it is “a matter for the First Minister to decide” whether or not she attends defence-related events – after Michelle O’Neill and economy minister Caoimhe Archibald snubbed the launch of a government fund.
It comes as a former Stormont economy minister accused Sinn Fein of a “cavalier attitude” to actual or potential inward investment – claiming the party’s approach to running the Northern Ireland economy is “dangerous”.
Caoimhe Archibald didn’t attend the launch on Wednesday but sent officials, leading to the DUP accusing the party of riding two horses on the issue.
The First Minister said she was absent as she does not support the “militarisation agenda” – and told Cool FM that she would never choose “weapons of war over people”.
Lord Empey hit out at the first minister’s comments, accusing Sinn Féin of “rank hypocrisy on the issue of arms and economic development”.
He said: “As a former economy minister, I have become increasingly shocked at the cavalier attitude of Sinn Féin to actual or potential inward investment. The Cantor Fitzgerald fiasco was totally avoidable, and good quality jobs were sacrificed on the altar of some irrelevant political ideology.
“The response of the First Minister to the announcement from London of £50m towards strengthening and developing the defence sector in Northern Ireland was typical of the hypocrisy Sinn Féin is displaying.
“Michelle O’Neill says she would rather the money was spent on something else. What had she in mind? I would remind her that her party had no difficulty in supporting and justifying the actions of the IRA, who trawled the world looking for arms and explosives that they used to kill and maim their fellow Irishmen and Irish women”.
The former UUP leader said nobody wants to see weapons deployed and people killed as a result, but said the only way peace and stability can be maintained “is to deter the many tyrants who control some of the most powerful militaries that can threaten democracies”.
Dangerous approach
He said it was time to “call out Sinn Féin’s dangerous approach to the running of our economy. Their record with regard to weapons and their use leaves them in no position to point the finger at others and adopt a holier than thou attitude.”
Asked by the BBC about the First Minister’s comments on the defence investment, Secretary of State Hilary Benn said: “This is £50 million for Northern Ireland, going to go into skills and apprenticeships and help for SMEs to be able to access defence work.
“Why is this so important? Because the Government is currently in the process of investing £270 billion over this Parliament and delivering the biggest sustained increase in defence expenditure since the Cold War, because we are living in a changed world.
“That is the first responsibility of governance, to ensure the safety of nation.”
He added: “An example of one of things we are supporting is building three new support ships for the navy at Harland and Wolff. That was a hugely important step that was taken, been there, met the apprentices. This is about jobs and opportunities and re-establishing that ship building capacity in Northern Ireland.”
On Wednesday, the government launched a scheme to boost defence supply chains in Northern Ireland – but the DUP deputy First Minister was the only Executive member in attendance.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett said the investment will help sustain around 9,000 jobs, branding the minister’s absence “disgraceful”.
“On one hand, SF is playing to a left-wing gallery with rhetoric around restricting defence-related investment and advancing an ‘ethical investment framework’. On the other, her Department, including Invest NI, is represented at the very same announcement.
“This looks like a SF attempt to ride two horses at once”, the economy committee chair told the News Letter.
A spokesperson for Caoimhe Archibald’s economy department (DfE) said the minister “wants to see investment which supports her four priorities of good jobs, improving productivity, decarbonisation, and promoting regional balance”.
They said the economy minister had spent the morning speaking at a NI Chamber conference, followed by a meeting with Wrightbus – but senior officials from DfE and from Invest NI attended the launch of the Defence Growth Deal.”
‘Sectarian clashes’ in Derry leading to fears of further violence
MLA voices concern about escalating incidents as youths carrying sticks and bats congregate at playing fields
NIALL DEENEY, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
SERIOUS “sectarian clashes” involving young people carrying sticks and bats at sports pitches in Derry have been condemned, amid fears of escalation ahead of the summer months.
SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan was speaking to The Irish News following clashes at Lisnagelvin pitches in the Waterside area of the city on Wednesday evening.
Police say “approximately 15-20 youths” had congregated in the area with some reportedly masked and carrying sticks and bats.
Mr Durkan said: “These clashes are sectarian in nature. Tensions have been simmering for some time and there have been a few, highly publicised flashpoints.
“There is a fear now, coming in to the summer, that there could be an increase in the frequency and intensity of these clashes. We don’t want this to happen anywhere and there is a piece of work to be done there around reducing tension.
“I see a role for organisations with positive influence on young people in the area to be involved in that.”
In a social media post, the Foyle MLA said there have been a number of incidents in the area over recent months.
‘Months of heartache and headache’
“Residents have been dealing with months of heartache and headache with ongoing anti-social behaviour,” he added. “This is having a serious impact on those living nearby, especially older residents and those with young children.”
A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police received reports in relation to anti-social behaviour in the Waterside on Wednesday evening, 22 April.
“Just after 6pm, it was reported there were two large groups of young people – described as teenage boys – some of whom were masked and were throwing stones at each other. Some were carrying what was described as sticks and bats. One of the reports stated these youths were seen running towards Lisnagelvin Playing Fields.
“Police responded, and upon arrival in the area, there were approximately 15-20 youths who had congregated, and were standing opposite the Lisnagelvin pitches. Those who had gathered subsequently made off when police arrived.”
The statement continued: “Police continued to extensively patrol the area, but did not locate any of those who they had seen earlier, or any further large groups.
“There were further reports made to police from between 9.30pm and 9.45pm. These reported youths congregating in the same area, some carrying wooden planks. There was a report about a possible organised fight.
“Police responded, and upon arrival, there were approximately 15-20 males, however they dispersed and left the area.
“Police remained in the area to provide reassurance and there were no further reports following this.”
The spokesperson added: “Waterside Neighbourhood officers will be in the area, conducting high visibility reassurance patrols and, in the meantime, police encourage anyone with information or relevant footage in relation to what was reported on Wednesday evening to report it via 101, quoting reference 1301 22/04/26.
“Alternatively, a report to police can be made via http://www.psni.po-lice.uk/makeareport/ or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk. org.”
‘Popebusters’ loyalist memorabilia site is banned by TikTok
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
SOCIAL media giant TikTok has banned an account linked to a loyalist website selling items including a Union flag featuring a sectarian slur.
The Everything Ulster website sells ‘Popebusters’ stickers, alongside others featuring sectarian slurs, and CDs with song titles including ‘Simply the Best (UVF)’ and ‘Up the UDA’.
Until Wednesday, the website, which also sells flags and grave markers, promoted itself through a TikTok account that had gathered over 15,400 followers and more than 180,000 likes.
One of the flags advertised on the account before it was banned includes a version of the Union flag featuring what appears to be a silhouette of a person kicking another, with the wording ‘lie down and grunt’ followed by a sectarian slur using the word ‘fenian’.
The same image and wording is available on a sticker sold by the website for £5, along with the ‘Popebusters’ sticker, based on the famous Ghostbusters movie logo.
The CDs sold on the site, which include the tributes to loyalist paramilitary groups alongside versions of traditional flute band melodies, feature titles including ‘Loyalist Rave Choons’.
Other tracks include ‘We’re not Palestine, We’re Northern Ireland’ and ‘Gerry Kelly got run Over by a Peeler’, in reference to the North Belfast Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board member.
Items for sale on the site also refer to Celtic FC supporters with sectarian slurs.
A spokesperson for TikTok confirmed the account had been banned on Wednesday.
The social media firm’s community guidelines says it does not allow “people or groups that promote violence or hate, including violent extremists, criminal organizations, or those responsible for mass violence”.
“Supporting, recruiting for, or promoting these entities is also prohibited,” the guidelines state.
The company says it regularly trains safety professionals to better detect hateful behaviour, symbols, terms, and “offensive stereotypes”, while also helping them identify and protect counter speech.
A recent report on the company’s enforcement of its guidelines found that between October and December of last year, over 99% of videos removed over hate speech and hateful behaviour were taken down proactively before being reported.
Residents on Tyrone road to be surveyed over historic bid for Ulster-Scots signage
FRANCOIS VINCENT, Irish News, September 24th, 2026
RESIDENTS on a Co Tyrone street are to be surveyed on whether or not they want an Ulster-Scots street sign.
Northland Village, in Dungannon, is making history in Mid Ulster as the first-ever residential area in the local authority to have submitted a request for street signs in Ulster-Scots and English, as opposed to Irish and English which has been the norm to date.
Residents of Northland Village will now be surveyed, and a 51% majority will be required, in keeping with council policy, for the street signs to be approved at that location.
Meanwhile, a survey is to be carried out at Lurgyroe Drive, Ardboe, this time to ascertain views on the provision of English-Irish street signs.
A recent Building Control survey of residents in Knocknagin Road, Desertmartin, and Kingarve Road, Dungannon, has elicited significant opposition to English-Irish street sign provision in these two residential areas of Mid Ulster.
A total of 46 survey letters were issued to Knocknagin Road householders last February.
While eight residents replied to express support for such provision, 18 replied to convey their opposition to it, translating into a 31% of residents in favour (out of those who did express an opinion), which is well below the required 51% in favour.
It is worth noting that 19 householders declined to respond one way or the other, while one invalid survey letter was dismissed.
On the Kingarve Road, Dungannon, 66 survey letters were issued, with a total of 47 returned. There were 20 letters in favour of bilingual street signs, and 27 against, translating into 43 per cent of householders in favour of such provision – again below the required 51%.
In Chestnut Grove, Aughnacloy, the situation was very different. This time round, all 10 householders surveyed had a say on the matter, with eight in favour of English-Irish street signage, and two against.
With a majority of 80% in favour, bilingual street signage will be installed at Chestnut Grove.
Surveys are currently being carried out for bilingual signage at Ballymaguire Road, Stewartstown; Ballyvaddy Road, Dungannon; and The Oaks, Ballinderry.
The results of these will be presented at the next Environment Committee meeting, scheduled for May 12.
Sinn Féin councillors shocked when Irish street sign gets just 11% approval
TANYA FOWLES, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
SINN Féin councillors have been knocked back after they tried to get an Irish street sign on a road after just 11% of residents approved of the move.
An official at Fermanagh and Omagh District Council said using council ‘discretion’ to have the sign installed would be against official policy.
Director of Community and Wellbeing John Boyle presented this month’s dual language street sign survey results to the Environmental Services Committee meeting, in which nine out of 10 met the required threshold for Irish language signage.
The Street Naming and Numbering Policy was approved by Council in May 2022 and allows for an applicant (an occupier of the street or an Elected Member representing the relevant area) to submit an application for the erection of a street/road sign in a language other than English.
Officers canvas all occupiers (as per the live Electoral Register) of the street/road to seek their views on the request.
“ We can use the discretion where the 15% is met, but not under it
John Boyle of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Where 15% or more occupiers indicate they are in favour of a second language street sign, then such a sign may be erected, subject to the council retaining residual discretion.
A request for Dual Language Signage is only allowed once within a council term.
A budget of £150,000 was allocated in February for the 2026/’27 financial year which cover the costs of installations and repairs to damaged signs.
Since the policy commenced 355 streets/roads have been processed for dual language signage. There are 30 currently being processed and a further 46 waiting assessment.
In terms of the latest figures, Sinn Féin’s Councillor Debbie Coyle noting while the road which did not meet threshold, having come in at 11%, did not have any opposition so: “We can use our (residual) discretion and I propose that road also goes forward and gets out into Irish as well.”
However, Mr Boyle responded: “That would be against the policy. We can use the discretion where the 15% is met, but not under it.”
Seeking further clarity Councillor Ruaídhrí Lyttle Sinn Fein enquired: “So if a survey has reached the threshold above 15%, it can be excluded, but one that hasn’t reached 15% cannot be included?”
Mr Boyle confirmed this was correct.
The remaining nine streets were approved for dual language signage by majority vote, with both unionist parties objecting.
NI 'probably' has western Europe's worst waiting times for cancer diagnosis
JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE, Belfast Telegraph, April 24th, 2026
Northern Ireland probably has the worst waiting times for cancer diagnosis in western Europe, the chairman of Stormont's health committee has said.
Philip McGuigan made the remarks as a new report said cancer cases have hit a record high in the region with about 10,700 people being diagnosed every year.
A surgeon told MLAs that the issue is an “access problem, not a treatment problem”.
The report from Cancer Research UK said more people in Northern Ireland are being diagnosed with cancer than ever before — around 29 new cases every day.
It found that breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancers account for more than half (54pc) of new cancer cases in Northern Ireland.
The report also said cancer incidence rates in Northern Ireland have increased by 14pc since the early 1990s.
Cancer Research UK said mortality rates have decreased over the past 50 years, but the number of deaths per year has risen
Their report said cancer mortality rates in Northern Ireland are currently at their lowest recorded level, having fallen by 18pc since the mid-1970s.
However, because of a growing and ageing population, more people in the region are dying from cancer, with around 4,600 deaths every year.
It said cancer is the leading cause of death in Northern Ireland, causing 26pc of all deaths.
Professor Mark Taylor, who was appointed last year as the region's first regional clinical director for elective care with a focus on tackling the region's high waiting lists, appeared before the health committee yesterday.
Mr McGuigan raised the new report, stating it was “not great reading”.
He said: “We are still the weakest part of these islands, the weakest part probably of western Europe in terms of the longest waits for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Red Flag warning
“Only 31pc of patients are being treated within 62 days of a red-flag referral.
“That's not really great. What is the focus in terms of dealing with red-flag referrals.”
Mr Taylor said: “Cancer is on the rise and that same report talked about a 14pc increase, but it also mentioned outlook and outcomes have improved.
“It is very important to say this is an access problem, not a treatment problem.
“When you get to the clinicians that are there to administer the care, I stand very proud of the care we give to cancer patients as a cancer surgeon.”
McGuigan pointed out that screening for bowel cancer takes place at the age of 60 in Northern Ireland, while it is at 50 in the rest of the UK and 57 in the Republic.
He said: “We are an outlier in relation to that.
“If you can diagnose people earlier, treatment is less complex.
“It would be much more efficient if people with bowel cancer and all kinds of cancer were being screened earlier.
“How can the department rationalise screening at 60 and not being reduced?”
Mr Taylor said: “In bowel cancer, there is absolutely no doubt we are behind our colleagues in the United Kingdom.
“We have a finite budget, we have a massive backlog, we have got to think of those earlier diagnostics that might save us money down the line, but more importantly save patients down the line.”
MP's outrage at PSNI pursuit of Gaza war protesters compared to supporters of paramilitaries
GARRETT HATGAN, Belfast Telegraph, April 24th, 2026
EASTWOOD CRITICISES 'TWO-TIER POLICING' OVER TERROR DISPLAYS AND PALESTINE ACTION
The PSNI has submitted almost as many files for prosecution against Palestine Action supporters in just six months as it did for those linked to paramilitary displays over the last five years.
Figures obtained via Freedom of Information show 18 such files were handed over to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in 2025 under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which makes it an offence to wear clothing or display items that indicate support for a proscribed group.
Palestine Action was proscribed on July 5, 2025.
Meanwhile, between 2021 and 2025, 13 files were handed to the PPS in relation to support for republican paramilitaries and six files linked to support for loyalist paramilitaries — a total of 19.
Every year there are parades linked to republican and loyalist paramilitary groups, where flags and emblems are on display.
Thousands of people across the UK have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for supporting Palestine Action after the group was banned.
However, in February the High Court in London ruled the proscription was unlawful.
The group remains illegal pending an appeal by the Labour government.
Human Rights Watch has said: “By equating direct action protest with terrorism, the government is treating dissent as a security threat.”
Light touch policing of paramils
Foyle SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said: “This is exactly what I warned about when the government recklessly decided to criminalise legitimate protest against the genocide in Gaza.
“You have pensioners, students and other peaceful protesters being hauled through the justice system, which is bad enough, but when it's compared with the light touch way that illegal paramilitary flags and displays are policed, it's just outrageous.
“That's why I voted against proscribing Palestine Action. It is an absolute mess, it doesn't work in the context of policing in the North, and it's clear that no one in government gave that a second thought.”
Derry City and Strabane People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin has been charged over taking part in an unnotified procession in support of the Palestinian people.
He said: “Efforts by the PSNI to criminalise Palestine solidarity campaigners for demanding an end to the slaughter of tens of thousands of Gazan children must surely be an embarrassment for the Justice Minister and the Stormont Executive?
“We know who is guilty of genocide and we know a global movement pushed to end the slaughter.
“The PSNI constantly complains about its lack of funding but has spent unknown amounts of time and resource harassing Palestine solidarity.”
Last year the International Association of Genocide Scholars declared that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
So too have Amnesty International, Oxfam and Israeli group B'Tselem.
Mr Harkin said: “It is war criminals and genocide supporters who should be on trial, not those who oppose the slaughter of children.”
The PSNI and Department of Justice were contacted for comment.
Accused in assassination plots linked to dissident feud fails in bail bid
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, April 24th, 2026
A BELFAST man accused of involvement in two separate assassination plots linked to a dissident republican feud yesterday failed in a new High Court bid to be released from custody.
Hugh Black (51) is charged with murdering Danny McClean and the attempted murder of taxi driver Sean O’Reilly four years later.
Both victims were shot at locations in the city as part of a suspected conflict within the Oglaigh na hEireann (ONH) faction.
Refusing Black’s latest application for bail, Judge Patrick Lynch KC highlighted the level of planning involved in the two attacks.
He said: “They are very grave offences, the assassination and attempted assassination of two individuals, on the face of it as result of an internal feud between elements of an illegal organisation.”
Black, a painter and decorator from Rosehead in Belfast, faces a further charge of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life in connection with the shootings.
Mr McClean (54) was gunned down as he sat in a car parked on the Cliftonville Road, north Belfast in February 2021.
CCTV footage from the area showed a figure with a distinctive walking style emerge from a Vauxhall Vectra, jog across to the victim’s Audi Q2 and open fire, previous courts heard.
Expert gait analysis provides some support for claims that Black was the gunman, according to the prosecution.
A partial vehicle registration plate match with a Vectra car registered to the defendant also forms part of the case against him.
Black was initially arrested in the aftermath of the shooting but then released unconditionally at that stage.
Police have also linked him to the attempt on the life of Mr O’Reilly.
Targeted last year
Two gunmen targeted the 49-yearold at a cab firm on Bell Steel Manor, west Belfast in February 2025.
One of the pair opened fire while he was in his Skoda Octavia taxi, leaving him seriously injured from bullet wounds to his shoulder blade and collar bone.
An accomplice is believed to have brandished a faulty second weapon which jammed without firing. The two pistols were discovered stashed in nearby hedges.
Ballistic examinations confirmed one of the guns had been used to murder Mr McClean four years earlier.
Based on disputed CCTV evidence, police claim the defendant was collected and acted as a look-out in the bid to kill Mr O’Reilly.
With Black denying any involvement in either shooting, he mounted a renewed application for bail based on alleged delays in the probe.
Defence counsel John Mackell argued: “He has now spent 11 months on remand and the timescale is still unknown.”
The barrister stressed that his client faced a circumstantial case, adding that police did not come looking for him in the four-year period between the two shootings.
Black’s brother also offered to put up £10,000 in life savings as surety to secure his release.
But denying bail, Judge Lynch held: “(There is) the prospect of potential further offences being committed, given the depth of planning in relation to these two assassination attempts.”
Danny McClean was killed as he sat in a car on the Cliftonville Road in north Belfast in February 2021
'Department wasted millions on Ulster University healthcare course for jobs that didn't exist'
GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph, April 24th, 2026
STUDENTS TRAINED INTO ROLES WHICH 'NORTHERN IRELAND COULD NOT ABSORB'
The Department of Health and Ulster University have been accused of squandering millions of pounds on a healthcare course for “jobs that didn't exist”.
The Stormont department spent more than £3.5m funding the Physician Associate (PA) Studies course at UU.
A doctor has said students were trained into roles which Northern Ireland “could not absorb”.
The two-year course was first established at Ulster University in 2018/19 when annual funding amounted to £223,000. That annual cost rose to a high of £574,000 in 2021/22.
No new places were commissioned in 2025/26, with the department saying decisions on future years have yet to be taken. A search of Ulster University's website indicates that the course is no longer on offer.
Co-chair of the Doctors' Association UK, Dr Matt Kneale, posted on social media: “£3.59m. That's what the Department of Health in Northern Ireland spent training Physician Associates at Ulster University for jobs that didn't exist. The course has now closed. Someone signed off every one of those annual cheques. Who?
“The funding didn't taper gradually in response to warning signs. It sat at £470k-£575k a year for four consecutive years (2019/20 to 2022/23), and was still £495,460 in 2023/24 — after Emily Chesterton's death and the national reckoning on the PA role had begun.”
The role of Physician Associates came under the spotlight following the death of English woman Ms Chesterton in 2022.
She died after being seen twice by a Physician Associate, a role which the NHS said supports doctors in diagnosis.
The 30-year-old was told her calf pain was a sprain, when she actually had a blood clot.
Her mother argued that more regulation was needed around Physician Associates.
Better spent on GP training
Dr Kneale said the £3.59m could have been better spent on GP training places or core medical training “Instead it trained people into a role that Northern Ireland couldn't absorb,” he added.
Dr Alan Stout, chair of BMA's Northern Ireland Council, said: “The increase of these roles within the National Health Service has become a national issue and has been the subject of the UK-wide Leng Review.
“It is very important that roles and responsibilities are well defined for anyone working in the NHS, and that this is made very clear to the patients they are treating.
“We have a medical workforce crisis in Northern Ireland and we have a difficulty recruiting and retaining doctors.
“Funding spent on this course would have been much better spent on addressing that crisis.”
The Department of Health said it “understands the concerns” of recent Physician Assistant graduates at the lack of jobs across health and social care here.
“Departmental officials have been working proactively with the employing HSC trusts to try to address this situation,” a spokesperson added.
“The key issue is the identification of the recurrent funding to create jobs for all the PAs graduating from the Ulster University programme each year.
“Unfortunately, the well-documented shortfall in the department's budget allocation over recent years has presented a very significant impediment to this happening.
“Officials will continue to work with stakeholders on this issue to try to ensure that the department is in a position to provide posts for the very capable PAs looking to work and make a positive impact across the HSC.”
Ulster University has been contacted for comment
Travel warnings as PSNI mounts operation ahead of feared airport protests
CONOR SHEILS, IRISH NEWS, April 24th, 2026
TRAVELLERS jetting off for the weekend have been warned to allow extra time after an AI-generated flyer urged fuel protesters to target Belfast’s airports and other locations this afternoon.
A flyer circulating on social media calls for HGV drivers, farmers and members of the public to gather at eight locations across Northern Ireland at 4pm.
Among the targets listed is Belfast International Airport, with protesters also called to gather at oil terminals on Airport Road and Airport Road West near Belfast City Airport.
A junction on Westbank Road in Belfast is also listed.
A spokesperson for Belfast City Airport said: “Protests planned across Northern Ireland on April 24 may affect travel to and from Belfast City Airport. Passengers are advised to allow extra time for their journey and follow any diversions in place.”
Other locations listed on the flyer include the Tesco regional distribution centre on Boucher Road in Belfast, the Asda RDC in Larne, the Lidl RDC at Nutts Corner, P&O at Larne Harbour, and Seatruck in Warrenpoint.
Police confirmed they are aware of online calls for further protests this weekend and next week.
In a statement, Chief Superintendent Norman Haslett said: “We are aware of posters online calling for further protests at various locations across Northern Ireland this weekend and next week.
“Preparations for a policing response are underway to ensure public safety and to help minimise any potential disruption to the wider community.
“The right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are fundamental human rights. They are protected in law and allow individuals to engage in peaceful protest. However, these rights are limited by the need to uphold the rights of others, protect public health and safety, minimise disruption to normal life and by the need to prevent and detect crime.
“Those considering protests involving vehicles should be aware that all motorists have to consider other road users, particularly critical blue light or transport services. The Police Service of Northern Ireland is required to balance the rights of all members of the public. This is particularly acute where processions, or protests, may have an impact on critical road users such as blue light services or on significant transport hubs such as airports and railway and bus stations.
“We will continue to police these protests with the ‘Four Es’ approach of engage, explain, encourage and, where we assess in the context of an individual incident that having had regard to all competing rights, enforcement if necessary.
“Where a Fixed Penalty Notice is issued to a motorist the recipient has the option to contest the matter in a court. Those organising public processions involving vehicles must also comply with the Public Processions (NI) Act 1998 and the Parades Commission code of conduct.”
Police issued a total of nine Fixed Penalty Notices when a small number of protesters took to the streets earlier this month and police say that footage from the event is still being reviewed.
It comes after previous fuel protests in Northern Ireland produced mixed results, with some demonstrations attracting only a handful of vehicles.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union and Road Haulage Association have both previously distanced themselves from the organisation of any such events.
Might we be facing a period of discontent as unions learn from fuel protest tactics?
EMMETT MALONE, Irish Times, May 24th, 2026
Fuel relief measures noted by some who believe militant response is needed for rising cost of living
With trade union conference season in full swing, calls for better pay and industrial action are commonplace. Senior officials believe the Government and employers will have to recognise the realities facing workers in advance of talks on a new public-sector pay deal and countless smaller ones in the private sector.
The mood of union members has not been helped, their representatives told senior Ministers and business groups, by the failure to index tax bands in Budget 2026, the provision of an expensive tax break for hospitality that lacked an evidence-based rationale, rising inflation and soaring fuel prices.
After a meeting of the Labour Employer Economic Forum last Friday, Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary Owen Reidy said it had been made clear that a package of measures was required to address workers’ concerns.
He said he expected to know within the next four to six weeks whether the Government was willing to adopt the sort of measures being sought.
Dissatisfaction
The fact that protests by farmers and hauliers over fuel prices so quickly prompted a package of reliefs is viewed as having added weight to the arguments made by those who believe the unions should be more militant in the face of growing cost-of-living pressures.
“If the situation now boils down to ‘he who screams loudest gets heard’ then that won’t be lost on our members,” says Brian Nolan, assistant general secretary at Connect, which represents many unionised workers such as electricians, carpenters and plumbers across the public and private sectors.
On the private side, the union is midway through a deal with the main employer representative group. Its focus, as with so many other unions these days, is the looming negotiation of a new pay deal for some 400,000 public-sector workers.
The deal agreed in 2024, which secured pay increases of 10.25 per cent over 2½ years, runs out at the end of June with just a 1 per cent increase outstanding from the core agreement.
There is dissatisfaction over widespread delays in paying a further 1 per cent set aside to resolve local issues in different sectors. Resolving that may, as the teaching unions suggested earlier this month, be a prerequisite for any talks on a new accord.
There are, however, broader issues to be addressed, says Kevin Callinan, general secretary of Fórsa, the country’s largest public-sector union and chair of the ICTU public sector committee, which will represent workers in any talks.
These include housing, public transport infrastructure and childcare provision – issues with which he says the union movement is in fundamental agreement with industry leaders.
“So this needs to be a different type of agreement, reflecting those sort of challenges,” he says. “The recent pattern of processes that just involved the Department of Public Expenditure and ourselves across the table at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) just isn’t going to cut it.”
Callinan says the cost of living is “obviously” going to be top of the agenda, but the talks will have to cover more than just that.
“If that’s not possible, by the end of June, I think there’ll be just a pure focus on a paid transaction to maintain living standards, but the benefits that accrue for Government from a multiannual deal – industrial peace, cost certainty – won’t be there.”
Two other figures in any public pay talks, Siptu general secretary John King and Phil Ní Sheaghdha of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, have said any deal will have to include higher-than-inflation pay increases.
After a meeting of its national executive committee last week, Siptu said it would support members across all sectors who felt the need to take industrial action where employers did not respond positively to claims that sought to address the erosion of pay.
Neil McGowan, Siptu manufacturing division organiser, says pay deals in his area have averaged 4 per cent recently with add-ons such as tax-free vouchers a common feature.
Higher costs
The basic 4 per cent figure is slightly below the ICTU-recommended target range of 4.6 to 7 per cent, though the vouchers, which Industrial Relations News recently suggested averaged €707, or changes to leave or other entitlements, would make up the difference in many instances.
Deals that involve lower and higher figures are being done, he acknowledges, with an employer’s ability to pay an important factor. Many smaller businesses, in particular, express concern about having to deal with higher costs across other areas including supplies, transport and pension auto-enrolment, making it unrealistic to match employee expectations.
The Government’s capacity to make a similar plea based on growing uncertainty around the State finances given events abroad took a hit this week.
The spring economic statement projected this year’s budget surplus was set to grow from €5 billion to more than €9 billion. The unions, at a time when they admittedly are setting out their stall, had given little indication of being open to that argument even before the positive revision.
“I don’t think industrial action in pursuit of higher increases can be ruled out in the private sector if inflation, especially around oil and food, where it has been stubbornly high, persists,” McGowan says.
Callinan suggests any public-sector deal would likely influence private-sector claims, a reversal of the former trend. Nolan argues the pay of public-sector craft workers has fallen behind that in other areas because of the one-size-fits-all nature of the deal, something he believes will have to be addressed if recruitment and retention is not to become a greater problem.
“We don’t want to get into a dispute with employers and we always confine ourselves to the rules of engagement, but where we have to, we do them well, we pull out all the stops. There would be carnage,” he says.
He says public-sector members “feel the door is being slammed in their face” and Connect would “rather work with employers”.
They all do, of course, as long as they can get what they want out of the process.
Some of the sectors in which industrial disharmony may be about to take hold.
PUBLIC SECTOR PAY TALKS
Pay increases for about 400,000 of the State’s workers are generally decided by the process and with the current deal running out at the end of June, new talks are expected to start in the coming months with unions saying they want this deal to go further than recent ones.
SCHOOL SECRETARIES
AND CARETAKERS You could be forgiven for thinking this one was sorted out late last year when a strike by both groups over pensions led to public talk of concessions and a return to talks. Since then, however, what has been on the table has effectively been auto-enrolment which the staff would have got anyway. A Labour Court process is ongoing with a recommendation due.
PARAMEDICS AND OTHERS IN THE NATIONAL AMBULANCE SERVICE
Members of Siptu and Unite in the NAS have voted for strike action with the first, 24-hour, stoppage due to take place on May 12th.
This is a tricky one for the unions as the Labour Court proposed a deal with the unions recommended to their members, only to find that the staff involved want more in a long running dispute over regrading, changed work practices and pay.
HYBRID WORKING
An issue in both the private and public sector, but the current focus is on the Department of Social Protection which has instructed some staff who benefit from it to come in more. A wider public sector review of the status quo is due in early summer and unions are also eyeing up the existing code of practice for private sector employers that few believe does much for workers.
RTÉ
Members of Siptu will ballot over the coming weeks on their willingness to take industrial action in the event that management presses ahead with rumoured outsourcing of high-profile programmes without “proper” consultation.
AER LINGUS
Management have offered cabin crew and other workers at the airline a 4 per cent increase for 2026 and paid the first 3 per cent from the first of January, but Fórsa believes its members should get some of the concessions given to pilots after their strike and its members rejected the offer overwhelmingly. The dispute is on its way to the WRC.
US troops at Shannon jumped 80% ahead of Iran attack
From January to March, 8,218 American troops transited through Shannon Airport
CONOR GALLAGHER and MARK WEISS, Irish Times, April 24th, 2026
The number of American troops travelling through Ireland has increased by almost 80 per cent before and during US attacks on Iran, figures obtained by The Irish Times show
In January, 2,012 troops passed through Shannon Airport. The following month, as the United States and Israel prepared for war, that figure rose to 2,602. In March, after the start of the conflict, it increased to 3,604.
In total, 8,218 US troops transited through Shannon, according to figures provided by Shannon Airport Group. The March figure represents a 79 per cent increase on the numbers arriving in January.
Earlier this week it was revealed that the number of overflights of Irish airspace by US military aircraft has also increased dramatically since the war began at the end of February.
The Government has denied facilitating the US attacks by allowing US forces to use Irish airspace. It has also rejected Opposition calls to close Irish airspace to US military involved in the war, similar to measures taken by Spain and Switzerland.
The US has been using Shannon as a refuelling stop for troop transports for decades. In the 10 years after its invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, about two million soldiers passed through the airport.
Its use by US forces has long been protested against by peace and neutrality campaigners.
Soldiers transiting through the airport in Co Clare are typically armed with personnel weapons.
Foreign governments are required to seek prior permission to transport weapons through Ireland.
However, Irish authorities do not carry out inspections of US aircraft to enforce this regulation. They also rarely deny permission for weapons to be transported through Ireland.
Iveagh House failure
On Monday, The Irish Times revealed how the Department of Foreign Affairs had failed to report almost 250 overflights by US military aircraft since last summer due to what it said was an “administrative error”.
The unreported figures included a 56 per cent increase in US military overflights of Ireland in March after the attacks on Iran began.
Responding to Opposition criticism after the report, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was concerned and surprised by the underreporting, which has since been corrected.
Asked if the State was facilitating the war’s continuance by failing to prohibit the military overflights, he said: “I think it’s a stretch by any yardstick to suggest that the Government is facilitating the war because of overflight. I don’t think that’s a sustainable proposition.”
International shipping
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has said he has ordered the US navy to “shoot and kill” boats placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz as the struggle between the US and Iran to control international shipping continued.
On social media, the US president said: “I have ordered the United States Navy to shoot and kill any boat, small boats though they may be . . . that is putting mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz. There is to be no hesitation.”
Washington said US forces boarded a tanker in the Indian Ocean yesterday. The Pentagon said the vessel, the Guinea-flagged Majestic X, was carrying Iranian oil.
Pakistan, which hosted peace talks this month and had been preparing for a second round before it was called off on Tuesday, was still in touch with both sides, a Pakistani government source said. – Additional reporting: Reuters
‘The Irish were an underclass, 50% poorer than the English’: Epic museum
‘The Irish were the raw material for the Industrial Revolution in England,’ says exhibition curator Christopher Kissane
MARK HENNESSY, Ireland and Britain Editor, Irish Times, April 24th, 2026
Irish emigrants who have travelled to Britain since the 2008 economic crash are better-off and better-educated than the average person in British society, but it was not always like this.
“They’re mostly in the high-earning professions,” said Christopher Kissane, the curator of No Irish Need Apply? – The Economic History of the Irish in England, an exhibition which opened on Tuesday at the Irish Emigration Museum (Epic) in Dublin (running to June 30th).
“There’s been a big shift away from construction and work more traditionally associated with the Irish in England, towards finance and tech, which is reflected in the earnings.”
The 200-year-long story of Irish emigration to Britain told by the exhibition shows that it “took the Irish a very long time to get there, much longer than it did in the United States”.
It has been created by the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and Political Science, on the back of research Professor Cormac Ó Gráda, professor emeritus of University College, Dublin and the LSE’s own Professor Neil Cummins.
They say that despite two centuries of migration, the fate of those of Irish heritage in Britain “is poorly understood”.
Data technology tools have helped to produce findings that “wouldn’t have been possible in the past”, searching millions of birth, marriage and death records among other files to tell the story of the Irish in Britain.
“We have never had a big-picture economic history of how Irish migrants, or people of an Irish background, had done in England,” said Kissane, adding that the findings were “stark”.
For decades, the Irish existed in England as “an underclass, being on average 50 per cent poorer than the English”, with infant mortality 25 per cent higher until the mid-1950s.
The disadvantages are explained by the fact that until the second World War most Irish emigrants went to the north of England.
“The Irish were the raw material for the Industrial Revolution in England,” said Kissane.
Stuck in Liverpool
Some got “stuck” in Liverpool or Manchester and there may have been a “kind of self-selection going on with better-off people with some skills getting to America and those who hadn’t didn’t”.
“But, equally, it’s also possible that people just got stuck in the industrial capitalism that marked the mass Irish migration in the 19th century after the Famine, when there was a boom in industrial jobs in the north of England,” he said.
The economic fortunes of the Irish improved after the second World War when new emigrants began to move to London, the English midlands and south.
“But it still took them a very long time to catch up,” Kissane said.
The exhibition should, he argued, be visited by people with family connections to England and those without to better understand the ties between the islands.
In 1971, there were almost a million Irish-born people in England, equal to a third of the population of the Republic.
Infant mortality was much higher for those with Irish surnames
“For a long period, England was the fifth province in much more than symbolic terms. It literally was bigger than many other provinces,” he said.
“The Irish in Britain need to be part of Ireland’s story, no matter what accent they speak with.”
Raised in Kerry, Kissane said his Luton-born father and one of his brothers came to Ireland in later years, but another brother did not.
“Obviously, they have very different attitudes to life, to culture, to everything. But they still come from an Irish background,” he said.
“When my uncle died last year, my English-living uncle sang The Rocks of Bawn over the grave with an English accent. That is a huge part of the Irish story.”
The three siblings came to Kerry each summer as children, speaking “with their English accents” and did not realise there was a “dividing line” until they visited.
“That’s one thing I hope people take away from this – the sheer numbers who went and how important those ties to Ireland are for so many and for those who have come after them,” he said.
“Just because people of an Irish background in England speak with an English accent doesn’t mean that their connection to Ireland is not still very important. Their story is an important part of Ireland’s story. It needs to be respected, understood.”
The English football team is, he noted, full of people with Irish names, with Irish grandparents and great-grandparents.
“People wouldn’t be giving out about Harry Kane if he was playing for Ireland, now would they?”
