Heaney and Morrison are a better way to showcase our culture than beating drums and reviving old languages
MALACH O’DOHERTY, Belfast Telegraph, Match 24th, 2026
When Gordon Lyons, our Communities Minister, went to Washington, DC, to sell the glory of our little region, he told the Americans about the number of people from here who were big there in the past.
One of them was John Dunlap, from Strabane, who printed the first copies of the United States Declaration of Independence. He has been celebrated in the Republic too by having his portrait on a postage stamp. There was even some umbrage expressed by Gregory Campbell about this — Dunlap being ours and not theirs — though Ireland was all one colony when Dunlap was about.
But is looking to past achievers really the best way to celebrate Northern Ireland, or the Protestant/unionist culture here?
There is a faint suggestion, in doing things that way, that there is something in the air or the gene pool here that produces great men. And that, of course, is nonsense.
It implies we gave the best of our stock to enrich their stock.
But what would I have done, if I was a northern unionist, an Ulster-Scot, and wanted the world to give my culture some credit for its native genius?
Within the Irish Catholic tradition, they point to their artists, primarily their writers.
Practically every time a US president wants to praise the peace process, he quotes Seamus Heaney — those lines about hope and history rhyming.
Heaney was from south Derry and was raised and educated a Catholic.
He is regarded in his homeland as a credit to his people and the landscape and the language of that place. There is that wonderful exhibition of his life and work in the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy. You'd often bump into his brothers and wife there. But the poet is also internationally renowned.
It would be impossible to box Heaney in as a typical exponent of the culture in which he was raised, because, rather than let it define him, he became the one who defined it. His roots are in rural northern Catholicism, but he is bigger than that and drew attention to that place and culture across the world.
Universal appeal
There are schoolchildren in China and India who read his work in Mandarin or Hindi and imagine themselves in a classroom in Anahorish.
Northern Protestant culture has also produced a modern artist whose work does the same for the working-class streets of Belfast.
Van Morrison's album Astral Weeks is a masterpiece.
There is no point arguing whether his songs are as deep and meaningful as Heaney's poems. For some they are and for some not. For me, they are.
Morrison wrote those songs out of a Protestant evangelical culture, referencing being “born again” and having “a home on high”. He sings of acceptance and amiability among working-class people: “Hey, love, you forgot your gloves.”
And, like Heaney, he locates much of his work in the places he knew as a child and the religious culture that surrounded him. But he elevates it and makes it internationally important.
I can barely describe the depth of nostalgia which was evoked in me by listening to Astral Weeks when I lived abroad.
And James Joyce did that for Dublin, producing what many regard as the greatest novel of the 20th century, Ulysses, about a single day in the life of that city.
Heaney, Morrison and Joyce showed that you can be locally focused and globally relevant.
What they did is the opposite of the determined celebration of a local culture for its own sake.
Beating drums and reviving old languages to assert identity is retractive and backward-looking.
Taking credit for a linkage to ancestors who made it big is demeaning.
If I had been Gordon Lyons in Washington, DC, I would have played them Astral Weeks — which is not just “the clicking, clacking of the high-heeled shoe” up a Belfast street, it is the fruit of an artistic dialogue between that street and the jazz tradition of the southern states of the US. It is a vital contemporary connection.
There is a point to saying that Heaney was a Catholic and Morrison a Protestant, because these are the cultures they started from. But there is a danger that they are simplified and reduced if they are made representative of those traditions as they are today.
And that's because so much in those cultures did not flower the way they did.
When people, for official documents, try to construct a written language out of the way our country folk spoke and make that a symbol of an identity in the city, they are moving in the opposite direction to that in which Seamus Heaney and Van Morrison moved.
And they should perhaps trust that, without boxing their tradition and claiming it to still be what it was, its growth will continue and it will express itself again in equally marvellous ways.
Amnesty for British soldiers would be based on a myth
Kieran McEvoy, Irish Times, March 24th, 2026
Where is the evidence that investigating or prosecuting past army misdeeds is a legal witch-hunt?
In recent months, there has been a renewed push by British army veterans and their supporters for a return to some variant of the Boris Johnson-era amnesty and for drawing a line under the past in Northern Ireland.
The clamour for an amnesty was, and is, based on the fake news that there was a post-conflict “witch-hunt against veterans” – apparently driven by the human rights-obsessed “lawfare” of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Director of Public Prosecutions and lawyers representing bereaved families.
For the record, between 2012 and 2024, there were 25 decisions to prosecute conflict-related offences in Northern Ireland, six of which were against soldiers. Only one ex-soldier was convicted of manslaughter after he shot a civilian in the back, receiving a suspended sentence.
Actual data often appears beside the point.
As Arron Banks, the major funder of the Brexit leave campaign, said of his Remain opponents, a focus on “facts, facts, facts” does not connect with people emotionally. Right-leaning Britain is told that investigating or prosecuting past army misdeeds feels like a legal witch-hunt, therefore it is.
Like the broader Brexit campaign, the amnesty was rationalised by nativist bluster and macho posturing (best army in the world, etc), a disdain for “foreign” European law and the deliberate erosion of factual authority.
For those of us who worked to counter the amnesty, post-truth populism at times seemed impervious to pesky legal or empirical facts.
Thankfully, in line with their election pledge, Labour abandoned the Johnson amnesty. That decision followed a determination in the UK courts that it was unlawful.
Last autumn, the UK and Irish governments signed the “Framework Agreement”. It included a commitment to establish new human rights-compliant mechanisms to address the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. The relevant enabling legislation is before the House of Commons and is due soon before the Dáil.
At first blush, these developments embody grown-up Anglo-Irish politics – complex negotiations, a treaty between two sovereign states and a re-emphasis of the primacy of the rule of law – a comforting return to status quo ante after the aberration of the Johnson era.
Transitional justice
Except, of course, efforts to address the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict are taking place in the context of supercharged, Trump 2.0, post-truth politics. This challenge is not unique to Northern Ireland.
In the field of transitional justice – broadly understood as the means through which societies address past wrongs – established truths about past violence or authoritarianism are being relentlessly undermined. All populists need a usable past to make and sustain their pitch – therefore credible versions of history must be rubbished.
For example, in Argentina, president Javier Milei (he of the sideburns and chainsaw) has persistently disputed the long-established reality of state terror during the military dictatorship, including the reality that up to 30,000 people were murdered or disappeared by the regime. These facts were established by a truth commission and numerous trials since Argentina’s amnesty laws were overturned.
Similarly, the brutal abuses of institutional racism in apartheid-era South Africa – painstakingly documented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – are now frequently disputed by white nationalist groups and countered by Elon Musk and others who claim that white South Africans are now the victims of a “white genocide”. Despite any credible evidence to substantiate this claim, Afrikaners are now uniquely recognised as refugees by the Trump administration.
Of course, states and powerful non-state actors have always engaged in lying and denial about past abuses. As sociologist and criminologist Stan Cohen detailed in States of Denial, such strategies included literal denial (it never happened), interpretative denial (something happened but it’s not what it looks like) or implicatory denial (it happened but the consequences are disputed).
The post-truth era arguably presents a new challenge in addressing past harms.
The Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt has distinguished between lies and bullshit. He argues that a liar knows the truth, therefore seeks to distract you from it – but a relationship between the truth and the lie sustains for the lie to be plausible, restricting the latter in different ways. Bullshit on the other hand is “panoramic”, largely “unconstrained by truth”, less “austere” and essentially indifferent to the point that at least some of the audience know that they are being bullshitted.
This is where law comes in. Law is the place where bullshit stops, where what Hannah Arendt termed the “thoughtlessness” towards law is halted. For example, a Trump-appointed federal judge who dismissed the administration’s rationale for deploying the national guard in Portland as being “simply untethered from the facts” was a perfect illustration.
Closer to home, when the High Court in Belfast found that the Boris Johnson 2023 amnesty was unlawful, Judge Adrian Colton dismissed the then government’s claim that it would “facilitate reconciliation” by finding “there is no evidence that granting of immunity under the 2023 [Legacy] Act will in any way contribute to reconciliation in Northern Ireland, indeed the evidence is to the contrary”.
Given the rigour of its working methods – effective investigations, the testing of evidence, equality of arms, intellectually reasoned argument, the privileging of legality and so forth – law can serve as a buttress against moral relativism, lies and bullshit.
Of course, there will be bad legal decisions, and the UK Supreme Court in particular is now a very conservative body with little apparent feel for the realities of the Northern Ireland conflict. In a recent conflict-related case, it in effect gave MI5 huge influence in deciding what truth families should be allowed to know about the death of their loved ones including in cases involving state agents.
Nonetheless, a critically informed commitment to human rights and the rule of law, with all its flaws, remain the sine qua non, the indispensable requirement, of efforts to combat denialism and acknowledge past harms in the post-truth era.
Professor Kieran McEvoy is the Queens University Chair of Peace Security and Justice. He has worked extensively on addressing the past in more than a dozen post-conflict or post-authoritarian societies including Northern Ireland
Robinson: UK government is ‘dishonouring’ legacy pledges
CLAUDIA SAVAGE, Irish News, March 24th, 2026
THE UK government is “dishonouring commitments” made on Legacy legislation and there are “difficulties and discord” in Labour around the protection of veterans, the DUP leader has said.
Gavin Robinson said he believes the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will not pass this year as Labour MPs do not want it to come through ahead of local elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
All UK police investigations into Troubles-related killings were shut down in May 2024 under the previous
Conservative government’s Legacy Act, and a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery was established.
Labour’s Bill, agreed as part of a joint framework with the Irish government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.
Mr Robinson told reporters at Stormont it had been anticipated that the reformed Legacy Bill would be at committee stage today, but it now would not be before MPs for “at least another month”.
“The Labour Government’s promise to repeal and replace is threadbare,” he said.
“There has been no focus on prioritising the legacy of Northern Ireland or delivering for victims or for veterans, we are seeing a lack of direction and delay, and it is shameful.
“This session will end in about a month or six weeks’ time and after two years of an extended parliamentary session, this Labour Government will not have delivered on its key promise to Northern Ireland to deal with the legacy of our past, there will have to be a carryover motion.
“I don’t believe this legislation will pass in 2026, I believe the Legacy Commission will have spent two of their five-year budget before the legislation is even passed, so time is over for delay on legacy.”
Mr Robinson stated his belief that the legislation “could have been done and dusted by Christmas of last year” but “there are clearly difficulties and discord within the Labour Government around protection of veterans”.
Northern Ireland veterans commissioner David Johnstone previously said that the government’s proposed legislation treats veterans “worse than terrorists”.
In January, Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said any significant changes to legislation linked to a joint UK/Irish framework on the Troubles must have the full agreement of both governments, after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer indicated there may be new protections for military veterans.
The DUP leader said: “I do not believe there are people within Labour who want to see this legislation progress in advance of the local elections in England, Scotland or Wales.”
Mary Lou accuses Taoiseach of putting reconciliation before unification
By Philip Bradfield, Belfast News Letter, March 24th, 2026
Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald has hit back at Taoiseach Micheál Martin, after he said the “real hard work” of reconciliation is required before Irish unification.
Mr Martin had been speaking on the first episode of the new ‘How To Unite Ireland?’ podcast last week.
The Fianna Fáil leader said the “the worst thing would be to have a poll and lose”.
The hardest work to be done for a united Ireland, he said, “is in the reconciliation” between the nationalist and unionist communities.
Reflecting on the history of partition, he said unity has evolved beyond a question of territory.
“My philosophy is that it has to be a unity of people insofar as you can go. It’s not just about territory.
"In the olden [days] it was about the fourth green field, and it was about bringing back territory, and that was fair enough in its day, that’s how people saw it,” The Irish Independent reported.
He said there is an “evolutionary process” involved in making sure everybody would be comfortable in a united Ireland.
“The phrase ‘united Ireland’, it’s all easy, but the hard work is in the reconciliation, real, hard work.”
Mr Martin pointed to efforts made under the Shared Island initiative, a cross-border project established in 2020 aimed at fostering cooperation across the island.
“It is a passion of mine, I’ve been involved in Northern Ireland all my political life, and the Shared Island initiative is the first serious, substantive initiative since the Good Friday Agreement,” he added.
But responding to his comments, Mary Lou McDonald said the Taoiseach is “consistently finding reasons to delay rather than showing the leadership this moment demands”.
She said: “The Good Friday Agreement is clear. Irish unity is to be decided by the people, North and South, through referendums. That is a binding democratic commitment - not something for any Taoiseach to sidestep or stall.
“What we are seeing from Micheál Martin is not leadership - it is drift. At a time when the conversation on unity is growing across this island, his government has no plan, no preparation and no roadmap.”
She added: “Reconciliation matters. Building understanding matters. But they cannot be used as cover for inaction. Preparation for unity and reconciliation must go hand in hand.
“The reality is that this government is unprepared for the most important constitutional question facing our country. The Shared Island initiative, while welcome, is no substitute for serious planning. It does not deal with the real issues people care about - healthcare, taxation, rights, identity and governance in a united Ireland.
“People deserve better than delay and deflection. They deserve honesty, clarity and leadership.”
Stormont taken to court over Lough Neagh pollution
JOHN MANLEY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, March 24th, 2026
AN eel fisherman is challenging a Stormont department in the High Court over its failure to protect Lough Neagh from the agricultural pollution he claims has “destroyed” his way of life.
Declan Conlon, whose family has fished Ireland’s largest freshwater lough for generations, has brought a judicial review against the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera), citing eight separate grounds on which the authorities have not fulfilled their legal responsibilities.
The case argues that Daera continues to rely on inadequate plans and unenforced pollution regimes, despite clear evidence of ecological collapse over several years.
Last July, The Irish News revealed that commercial eel fishing on the lough had been suspended for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Over the past three summers, swathes of Lough Neagh have been covered by blooms of toxic algae caused by pollution from farm slurry run-off and wastewater. The situation has been exacerbated by the presence of invasive zebra mussels and rising water temperatures.
Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir launched an action plan in 2024 aimed at rehabilitating the lough. However, it has only been partially implemented, while critics argue that it falls far short of what’s required.
The Alliance minister is understood to have faced resistance to his proposals from DUP colleagues in the Stormont Executive.
In January, he accused unnamed politicians of a “deliberate attempt to undermine the science and evidence” around the ecological crisis at Lough Neagh.
Mr Conlon, whose sworn affidavit claims a family connection to eel fishing on the lough “beyond memory”, wants Daera “to do whatever is necessary to stop the algae and safeguard and protect Lough Neagh, the fish, the flies and the wildlife for the benefit of future generations”.
“I’ve fished Lough Neagh all my life, just like my father and his father before him – now I’m watching it die in front of my eyes,” he said.
“This isn’t just about my livelihood – it’s about justice for the lough before there’s nothing left for the next generation.”
Solicitor Enda McGarrity of PA Duffy & Co, said the case “is about securing justice for Lough Neagh and the communities who rely on it”.
“Where there was once abundance, there are now no flies for the eels to feed on, barely any birds, and stretches of water that smell so foul you cannot stand near them,” he said.
“He has seen the impact with his own eyes, from wildlife disappearing to reports of animals becoming sick after contact with the water. The blue-green algae is not just unsightly; it poses a real risk to health.”
Environmental organisations River Action UK and Friends of the Earth will apply to intervene in the case on Mr Conlon’s behalf.
A Daera spokesperson said: “Proceedings have now been issued in the matter and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment on the issues before the court.”
ANALYSIS: Why are courts being asked to call out Stormont shame?
THERE’S a danger that after three consecutive years of toxic blue-green algae at Lough Neagh that ecological catastrophe is becoming normalised. However, it’s important to stress there is nothing whatsoever normal about this situation and that responsibility for the plight of Ireland’s largest fresh water lough lies squarely with Stormont.
You can blame aristocrats, zebra mussels and global warming but it was executive ministers who agreed – and largely continue to support – the policies that poisoned Lough Neagh.
The current First Minister Michelle O’Neill, then minister for agriculture, and her DUP predecessor Arlene Foster, a former economy minister, were together cheerleaders for ‘Going for Growth’, the executive-backed strategy that sought to boost the output of the north’s agrifood sector by increased farm intensification.
The then Environment Minister Mark H Durkan set-up a special unit to fast-track planning applications for chicken sheds, while the assembly gave its backing to a botched renewable heating scheme seemingly tailored for poultry farmers.
They failed to heed the warnings about Going for Growth’s environmental impact and were instead bedazzled by a promise of 15,000 jobs and economic prosperity, that both failed to materialise.
We are now living with the consequences of these actions, not only at Lough Neagh but in the state of hundreds of polluted waterways across the north.
It’s akin to living in a house where the bath is filled with excrement 24/7 – a bath that’s the source of 40% of the household’s drinking water.
Despite all the subsequent handwringing, the executive’s response to the Lough Neagh catastrophe has been lacklustre. The farming lobby, with help from their political allies, has sought to deflect blame from agriculture onto wastewater, which while partly responsible for the state of the lough, isn’t the major cause – though it does need addressed.
Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir, who has described Going for Growth as a “mistake”, is the first minister to concede there’s a serious problem with water quality and has sought to remedy the situation, partially at least. However, his efforts have been frustrated at executive level.
It’s perhaps unfortunate that the one department whose minister has attempted to tackle pollution is being targeted in Declan Conlon’s court challenge but this issue has gone on much longer than the two years Mr Muir has been in office.
Arguably, it would also strengthen the Alliance minister’s hand if the courts imposed binding requirements on his department to protect one of the north’s key assets.
That we’ve reached a situation where a private citizen is forced to use the courts to ensure a government adheres to its environmental responsibilities is at the very least embarrassing but it pales in comparison to the collective shame Stormont should feel over the plight of Lough Neagh.
Sinister graffiti appears next to Belfast playground after Union flags removed
ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, March 24th, 2026.
Threatening graffiti has appeared next to a playground in east Belfast after Union flags erected nearby were removed by the council.
The flags were recently put up next to the Ballymacarrett playground, seemingly as part of a wider initiative that began late last year.
It follows disputes at Belfast City Hall over Irish language street signs and the decision to fly the Palestinian flag over the building for 24 hours in early December to mark the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
In response, some loyalist groups and others began erecting Union flags in areas across the city where they were previously absent.
Far-right activist Mark 'Freedom Dad' Sinclair, an anti-immigration campaigner and convicted UVF bank robber, took to social media at the weekend to allege that council workers had “sneaked in the dead of night” and removed Union flags and “Jesus flags” from lampposts next to Ballymacarrett playground.
He said this was “just like when they put the Palestine flag up on our City Hall” and posted pictures of new flags that have since been erected in the area.
One picture also shows threatening graffiti on a nearby wall.
“Warning,” it reads. “Anyone who touches these flags does so at their own risk!”
Also spray-painted on the wall is a target.
There is no suggestion Sinclair was behind the erection of the flags or the graffiti.
A PSNI spokesperson said they are aware of the graffiti and enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with any information has been urged to contact police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously.
Police received no reports regarding the flags.
Alliance condemns threats
Alliance MLA for East Belfast Peter McReynolds hit out at the graffiti.
“I utterly condemn this sinister graffiti, which is designed to harass and intimidate,” he said.
“Those behind it offer nothing but harm to the community they purport to help. The people of east Belfast do not want these threats of violence.
“I have reported this graffiti to the PSNI and I urge anyone with information on it to contact the police urgently.”
A Belfast City Council spokesperson said last night: “Following discussion at the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 19 December 2025 in relation to the council's approach to the display of all flags and banners at its assets, elected members highlighted the council's commitment to creating a good and harmonious environment for both staff and residents, and agreed to undertake an audit in relation to this issue.
“In line with this decision, any flags in place have now been removed, reflecting the council's existing policy.”
It comes after the PSNI issued a new 'service instruction' to officers regarding the flying of flags and other displays they may receive complaints about.
Essentially formal guidance for officers, the service instruction reminds them that the PSNI has “an obligation to act” where the “continued display of the material is or will cause harm”, although it reiterates that the ultimate responsibility for displays lies with the landowner.
Ostensibly, the instruction seems to focus on racist or paramilitary flags and other displays.
Legislation is currently making its way through Westminster that includes an amendment to the Terrorism Act which would give the PSNI power to seize paramilitary flags under any circumstance.
Former UDA leader’s stolen apple tree ‘will be replaced’
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, March 24th, 2026
The Phantom Planter vows to plant new sapling as part of bid to revive native Irish apple varieties
A SECRETIVE horticulturalist has vowed to replace a tree planted to commemorate a late former UDA boss after it was ripped out of the ground in Belfast.
The apple tree sapling dedicated to Andy Tyrie was being grown by The Phantom Planter, an anonymous arborist behind a project to create urban fruit orchards in Belfast and elsewhere, along with reviving now-rare native Irish apple varieties.
Based in the Belvoir area of the city, the Phantom Planter emphasises the cross-community appeal of his campaign, having described how he himself comes from a mixed background.
Among the native Irish apples he plants are long-forgotten varieties including the juicy red Blood of the Boyne, and the cooking apple No Surrender, both named to commemorate the founding of the Orange Order.
He had become friends with Andy Tyrie, the late UDA commander who died last May.
Following his death, the Planter wrote in a blog post of how Mr Tyrie had been an avid supporter of his work and “was always on the phone to me saying how much he loved what I was doing”.
In November, an apple sapling was planted in memory of Mr Tyrie in the Belvoir area, alongside with one dedicated to another UDA figure, Colin ‘Bap’ Lindsay, who was murdered along with his friend Stanley Wightman in a samurai sword attack at his Belvoir home in 2015.
However, in recent days the Andy Tyrie tree was pulled out and stolen.
“ He was also one of the first people who came out to help me phantom planting many years ago. He was always sharing and supporting my work on social media right up until his last days
Replanting the seed
“I planted this a few months ago in memory of a good friend Andy Tyrie who recently just passed away. There was 8 memorial apple trees planted at this spot in the estate and only Andy’s was pulled out,” the Planter told followers in a social media post.
“I had a look around to see if it was maybe lying up the street thinking kids pulled it out but didn’t see any sign of it. Sad who ever done this!”
Mr Tyrie, who was in his 80s when he died, was the UDA’s most senior figure between 1972 and 1988, helming the paramilitary outfit during its involvement in the Ulster Worker’s Council strike of 1974 that helped to bring down the Stormont power-sharing government established following the Sunningdale Agreement.
The loyalist, who had previously been a member of the UVF, stood down from the UDA after surviving a car bomb attack blamed on other loyalists.
He had steered the UDA towards greater political engagement during the Troubles, and backed the Good Friday Agreement.
Over 400 murders have been attributed to the UDA, many of innocent Catholics, and in later years, Mr Tyrie said – despite his former leadership role – that he was against sectarian murder, and that loyalists should have instead directly targeted Provisional IRA members.
After his death it emerged that in the early days of his role as the UDA’s ‘supreme commander’, Mr Tyrie had once asked the British army to return a pistol used in the murder of Catholic Ex-Service’s Association member Anthony Davidson.
At his funeral, the loyalist was described as a “family man” and “Christian”.
The Phantom Planter, said in his post that he had “known Andy all my life”.
“He was also one of the first people who came out to help me phantom planting many years ago. He was always sharing and supporting my work on social media right up until his last days,” he added.
“Andy also done so much good work for his local community too. This tree will be replaced ASAP.”
Robinson: UK government ‘dishonouring’ legacy pledges
CLAUDIA SAVAGE, Irish News, March 24th, 2026
THE UK government is “dishonouring commitments” made on Legacy legislation and there are “difficulties and discord” in Labour around the protection of veterans, the DUP leader has said.
Gavin Robinson said he believes the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will not pass this year as Labour MPs do not want it to come through ahead of local elections in England, Scotland and Wales.
All UK police investigations into Troubles-related killings were shut down in May 2024 under the previous Conservative government’s Legacy Act, and a new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery was established.
Labour’s Bill, agreed as part of a joint framework with the Irish government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.
Mr Robinson told reporters at Stormont it had been anticipated that the reformed Legacy Bill would be at committee stage today, but it now would not be before MPs for “at least another month”.
“The Labour Government’s promise to repeal and replace is threadbare,” he said.
“There has been no focus on prioritising the legacy of Northern Ireland or delivering for victims or for veterans, we are seeing a lack of direction and delay, and it is shameful.
“This session will end in about a month or six weeks’ time and after two years of an extended parliamentary session, this Labour Government will not have delivered on its key promise to Northern Ireland to deal with the legacy of our past, there will have to be a carryover motion.
“I don’t believe this legislation will pass in 2026, I believe the Legacy Commission will have spent two of their five-year budget before the legislation is even passed, so time is over for delay on legacy.”
Mr Robinson stated his belief that the legislation “could have been done and dusted by Christmas of last year” but “there are clearly difficulties and discord within the Labour Government around protection of veterans”.
Northern Ireland veterans commissioner David Johnstone previously said that the government’s proposed legislation treats veterans “worse than terrorists”.
In January, Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee said any significant changes to legislation linked to a joint UK/Irish framework on the Troubles must have the full agreement of both governments, after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer indicated there may be new protections for military veterans.
The DUP leader said: “I do not believe there are people within Labour who want to see this legislation progress in advance of the local elections in England, Scotland or Wales.”
Upgrade of A5 road linking Derry and Dublin blocked by ‘vexatious’ complaints
Mark Hennessy, Britain and Ireland Editor, Irish Times, March 24th, 2026
Twenty-year-old plans to upgrade the A5 road linking Derry and Tyrone into a dual-carriageway are being blocked by “vexatious environmental” objections, the Irish government’s Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has said.
The Irish Government has pledged €600 million to help construct the road, which would significantly reduce journey times from Dublin and the east of the Republic to Donegal, Tyrone and Derry.
Planning permission was given for the first stage of the A5 from Strabane to Ballygawley last year, but the High Court in Belfast subsequently blocked it again due to environmental concerns.
“The A5 is probably the most critical North-South road project, which would really enhance regional connectivity,” said Chambers, noting that economic growth in the region has been “undermined” for decades by poor roads.
“This is a good example of a project that is being undermined by the judicial process. And similarly, we have similar projects in [the Republic], which are also being undermined,” he told the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Tralee.
The Government’s National Development Plan sets out attempts to ensure that roads from the Republic leading to the A5, including the N2, are improved, said the Minister.
“We’re very committed to working with the administration in the North and the British government on the A5. It’s currently being undermined by the judicial review case. That has brought huge uncertainty to its timelines and its deliverability,” he said.
The difficult choices that could dramatically increase housing supply in Dublin
The difficulties facing the A5 highlight the problem of getting infrastructure projects completed that are being faced across the board by the Government and by the Northern Ireland Executive in Stormont.
“A critical infrastructure project like the A5, which would provide huge road safety benefits, regional connectivity and growth is being undermined by, I would say, vexatious environmental considerations.
“That is an issue we need to learn from each other on and how we can reform and rebalance the delivery of infrastructure and housing in the interests of the common good. This is a good example of a project being undermined by judicial process.”
The Government must make the case for planning reform: “We can have all the lists of projects in the world, but public administration has allowed the process to become excessive and slow, undermining delivery in too many areas.”
This is not just a problem for Ireland, but the rest of the European Union and the United Kingdom: “Until we streamline and simplify [the] process, these lists will continue to lengthen without being delivered.
“That’s why I always make the case. It’s not an expenditure discussion on who gets what, it’s actually about making the case for reform that will ultimately deliver more for everyone,” he declared.
Number taken to court over unpaid rates surges
14,000 households and businesses affected as MLA warns court action should be ‘last resort’
CONOR SHEILS, Irish News, March 24th, 2026
THE number of households and businesses in Northern Ireland taken to court for non-payment of rates surged by more than 70% in a single year, the latest figures show.
Data released by Finance Minister John O’Dowd in response to an Assembly Question reveals that 13,776 court process notices were issued by Land and Property Services (LPS) in 2024/25 – up from 8,043 the previous year.
The figures, broken down by constituency, show Newry and Armagh had the highest number of combined notices in 2024/25, with 1,271 issued to households and businesses.
Meanwhile, Fermanagh and South Tyrone (1,104), Mid Ulster (1,010) and Belfast West (961) also recorded among the highest totals.
Belfast West saw one of the sharpest increases of any constituency, rising from just 40 combined notices in 2022/23 to 961 in 2024/25.
Of the 2024/25 total, 9,879 notices were issued to domestic ratepayers, with a further 3,897 issued to businesses.
Belfast South recorded the highest number of non-domestic notices at 398, the highest of any constituency for commercial properties.
North Antrim, South Antrim and Upper Bann also recorded significant increases in domestic notices compared to previous years, each exceeding 500 in 2024/25.
In contrast, Foyle recorded the lowest domestic total of any constituency at 288.
Eight-fold increase
The surge is particularly stark when set against 2022/23, when just 1,225 domestic and 625 non-domestic notices were issued across the whole of Northern Ireland – a combined total of 1,850, compared to nearly 14,000 last year.
Across the north, almost 28,000 court process notices have been issued in the years since enforcement resumed following the Covid-19 pandemic, during which all recovery activity was paused.
SDLP West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan, who tabled the Assembly Question, said: “The finance minister should explain the reasons behind the significant increase in [court action] for unpaid rates. While it is important that people meet their obligations, we need clarity on whether this reflects a shift in policy or growing financial pressures on homeowners and businesses.
“We have seen a concerning number of businesses closing in recent months, with high rates bills often cited as a contributing factor.
“Court action should always be a last resort and the Department and Land and Property Services must do everything possible to work with those affected to prevent cases ending up in court. Taking large numbers of people to court also brings additional costs, raising questions about how much is ultimately recovered.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said: “The rise in Magistrates’ Court process notices between 2023/24 and 2024/25 reflects Land & Property Services’ (LPS) increased focus on increasing rate collection and pursuing legal action on cases where rates remained unpaid despite repeated reminders, prompts and offers of support.
“While LPS remains committed to supporting those who genuinely can’t pay, it is equally important to ensure fairness for the majority who do meet their responsibilities.
‘Where rates remain unpaid, LPS will progress to legal recovery action on those who won’t pay.”
