How Michael Stone saved Belfast Good Friday Agreement by accident
Former Sinn Fein leader tells Feile event how he escorted DUP founder and his son to safety
John Toner, Belfast Telegraph, July 27th, 2025
Gerry Adams has claimed he and Martin McGuinness rescued Rev Ian Paisley and his son during the armed attack on Stormont by Michael Stone.
The former Sinn Fein leader made the claim during a talk at the Balmoral Hotel in west Belfast on Saturday to mark 20 years since the IRA announced a “formal end to the armed campaign” from 4pm that day. All Provisional IRA units were ordered to “dump arms”, and the organisation pledged to decommission its weapons.
The panel discussion, a Feile an Phobail event, was compered by Galway West TD Mairead Farrell. It also featured former republican prisoner and Belfast City councillor Seanna Walsh.
Recalling how he and McGuinness came to the aid of the Paisleys during the incident involving Stone at Stormont in 2006, Adams told the crowd: “We opened a back-channel to the DUP at the time and didn’t tell the government.
“It was secret. We were looking at what we could both do.
“Ian Paisley was to go into the Assembly and read out a statement which he had agreed privately with us setting out what we had agreed and which would’ve seen Sinn Fein, the DUP and other parties enter a new Executive.
“So, we were all set, and about 20 minutes before he was due to make the statement, he sends word that he couldn’t do it.
“He had to scrap it because an element within his party had rebelled and were withdrawing support from him.
“We walked into the Assembly, ready for him to give a totally different statement which would have holed our relationship completely, and Michael Stone appeared.
“It was at that exact moment Stone burst into the front of the building.
“We heard sirens and shouting, and Martin and I escorted Ian Paisley out.
“Nobody knew what was happening but we knew it was serious. We also assisted, although he might deny it, Ian Og.
“It struck me as an irony that what would have been a deadly blow to the next phase of relations between the parties was prevented in that way.
I think we should pay tribute to the events of that day.”
Regret
Adams: It’s a regret that end to armed campaign took decades to bring about
In a wide-ranging panel discussion, Adams insisted that any united Ireland would be better for the unionist community than current arrangements.
He added: “I can say as surely as I am sitting here now there will be a referendum, it is going to come in our time.
“It needs to happen as a part of a process of engagement, education and dialogue and we must win. That’s our goal.
“What’s the DUP’s main goal? To dunk Michelle O’Neill out of her position as first minister at the next election.
“That is the sum total of the DUP strategy.”
Potential president is slicker but spikier than McAleese
Sam McBride, Sunday Independent and Sunday Life, July 27th, 2025
Deirdre Heenan is not afraid to speak her mind, and this bluntness will provide rich pickings for opponents if she runs
Four weeks ago, I was on a panel at a political event in a Belfast bar. Beside me was Professor Deirdre Heenan, who skilfully laughed off the suggestion she might be a candidate for the Irish presidency.
It was a flawless non-denial. Last week, the Belfast Telegraph reported that she is being considered for the Fianna Fáil presidential nomination.
Micheál Martin responded by saying he hadn't discussed the issue with her, and a senior Fianna Fáil figure expressed bewilderment at the idea. Until Fianna Fáil announces its candidate, their identity remains opaque; if it is Heenan, many of those who could be voting for or against her probably know almost nothing about her.
She is a recognisable face to many north of the Border, but even those who follow politics closely probably won't know much about her beyond a handful of details such as that she is an Ulster University academic, is no fan of Brexit and has a fairly low opinion of Stormont ministers' competence.
If she is being considered for this role, the reason is probably in large part because she is so unknown south of the Border. Sitting outside the party's factionalism, she is a largely blank canvas on to which all manner of thoughts and slogans could be projected.
It brings to mind how Mary McAleese, another female northern academic, went from being largely unknown to become a hugely popular president.
Looking at TV interviews from the 1980s and 1990s before her candidacy, she was less polished than Heenan, who is supremely confident and articulate.
Heenan is a regular broadcast political commentator, not just on the BBC, UTV and RTÉ, but on Sky News, Al Jazeera and even George Galloway's Russia Today show. She has researched Northern Ireland's health system extensively, co-led a 2014 commission set up by Labour to analyse the North's economy and was appointed to the Council of State by President Michael D Higgins in 2012.
More than a decade ago, the Belfast writer Alex Kane speculated that the married mother of three may have a future in politics, describing her as "ferociously intelligent and ferociously ambitious”.
‘Causing scandal’
Heenan grew up on a farm in rural Co Down between Banbridge and Newry. Although Catholic, she was sent to the local state (largely Protestant) school and then to a state grammar because her mother believed they were academically superior.
Heenan recalled that a priest told her mother "Mrs Heenan, you're causing scandal”, but her mother retorted: "Their education is my business: their religion is yours.”
After many years in Derry, she now lives in Holywood, Rory McIlroy's home town and one of Northern Ireland's most desirable areas along the prosperous "gold coast” that stretches along the north Down shore of Belfast Lough.
Her outspokenness is her strength and her weakness. Her blunt tweets often attract thousands of likes. But they, along with her newspaper columns and TV appearances, would provide rich pickings for opponents. They also speak to the question of what the presidency is and what it should be.
The president only has three real powers, all of which are limited and two of which have never been used. He or she cannot even leave the State without government permission. This is a gilded cage with far less gold than in a monarchical system.
Speaking at the MacGill Summer School a week ago, Professor David Kenny, head of law at Trinity College Dublin, described the presidency as "a republican equivalent to a constitutional monarch”. In effect, this is an elected temporary king or queen.
In the absence of substantial political power, there is no real policy platform — yet there still needs to be a robust exploration of candidates' suitability because this person will be the face of Ireland for seven years.
The Victorian journalist and constitutional theorist Walter Bagehot, whose works British royals have been taught for more than a century, divided the UK's constitution into two parts — the crown and the government, "one dignified and intended to impress the many; the other efficient and intended to govern the many”.
King Charles
There were fears in Britain that King Charles had given away too many of his views before he became monarch to perform this dignified role, although so far he has been more restrained. Heenan's views are far more extensively known and forthright than his. Voters would have to decide if she could keep private, trenchant views once in office.
When Sinn Féin broke Covid guidance with a huge IRA funeral in Belfast in 2020, Heenan said it "demonstrates that for Sinn Féin, loyalty to the republican movement supersedes other considerations including leadership, collective governance, upholding institutions and public health messaging”.
That was relatively restrained. Of Nigel Farage, she said his "ego and delusion knows no bounds”. Senior BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg's interview with Farage in January was "pathetic”, according to Heenan.
Boris Johnson (or "Jellyfish Johnson” as she called him) was an "immoral, lying, lawbreaker”. Michael Gove was guilty of "jaw-dropping arrogance and hypocrisy”. During the pandemic, the Stormont Executive engaged in "unforgiveable” conduct that cost lives.
Former Tory minister Jacob Rees-Mogg was a "dangerous, deceitful, narcissistic bully” who should have "his faux aristocratic persona sent packing back to the 18th century”.
Contrary to Bagehot's view of the silent symbolism of the dignified aspect of the democratic constitution, Heenan would be no ornamental president. She has firm beliefs that she expresses forcefully.
Many of these viewpoints would resonate with Irish voters and could be a help rather than a hindrance.
If choosing a constitutional monarch, their views become less important because they can't do much about them. But their character, integrity and even clothing become significant. That can mean a ferociously personal campaign because this is ultimately about choosing a personality as a national figurehead.
Yet forthright condemnation of those who one may be required to meet isn't ideal. Heenan has described Donald Trump as "delusional”, "dangerous”, "ignorant” and "prejudiced”. She would, however, hardly be alone in having to bite her lip while fawning over him, if the national interest dictated it.
Issues closer to home may be trickier. After criticism from Heenan three years ago, Arlene Foster said she was "so glad I don't have to engage with her any more”.
Writing in this newspaper five years ago, Eilis O'Hanlon criticised a "gratuitously confrontational” tweet Heenan directed at British home secretary Priti Patel. Lampooning Patel's claim that changing the colour of British passports after Brexit meant they would "once again be entwined with our national identity”, Heenan specifically drew attention to Patel's "Ugandan and Indian heritage”.
O'Hanlon said she would never have drawn attention like this to Varadkar's Indian background, adding: "What possibly possessed Professor Heenan… to send Priti Patel such a message?”
Last year, Heenan said she didn't expect a united Ireland in the next decade, but "in the next 25 years, possibly”. Instead, she said people in Northern Ireland are "yearning for stability”. That fits with Micheál Martin's views.
Votes for diaspora?
A Heenan candidacy would, however, be unavoidably awkward for the Taoiseach in at least one regard. As a cautious incrementalist, he has shown scant enthusiasm for extending the franchise in presidential elections to northerners.
For now, this is a largely esoteric issue. But if Heenan was Fianna Fáil's candidate, it would be forced on to the agenda to an extent that could be tricky. If she ran, Heenan could not vote for herself in the election. Even McAleese had lived and worked in Dublin.
When asked at the MacGill Summer School if Irish passport holders in Northern Ireland should get a vote in Irish presidential elections, former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin — who wants to be Fianna Fáil's candidate — said bluntly: "Not yet, and not in isolation.”
That drew a pained response from some northern nationalists in the room in Glenties. A Heenan candidacy would demonstrate the contradiction of allowing Irish passport holders outside the State to stand for the presidency, but not vote for the president.
Yet extending the franchise to everyone outside the Republic — as many other states do — could mean that millions beyond Ireland's borders decide the identity of its president. Is that what most Irish people want? Something intended to bring the diaspora closer could, in fact, drive a wedge between Irish men and women at home and abroad.
In some ways, the presidency is almost entirely symbolic. And yet, as with a constitutional monarchy, it ultimately is far more than that. It has reflected, and sometimes accelerated, the dramatic changes that have characterised the last half-century.
The election will speak to what modern Ireland is and will influence what it might yet be.
Hundreds expected at memorial parade for UVF man in Miami Showband massacre
Ciaran Barnes, Sunday Life, July 27th, 2025
A huge parade to commemorate the life of a UVF Miami Showband killer will take place in Portadown next Saturday.
Billed as the Harris Boyle 50th Anniversary Memorial parade, more than 400 people and 15 bands are expected to take part in the event, which will tour the Killicomaine estate.
Among those scheduled to march at the memorial is the Moygashel Sons of Ulster Flute Band, which regularly commemorates the life of fellow Miami Showband murderer Wesley Somerville.
Thirty bands marched through Moygashel in April in honour of the notorious paramilitary, who blew himself up along with accomplice Harris Boyle in July 1975.
Boyle and Somerville died in 1975 while attempting to plant a bomb on the Miami Showband tour bus.
Injured
The rest of their UVF gang then opened fire, murdering singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy.
Bass player Stephen Travers and singer Des Lee were badly injured but remarkably survived.
The chart-topping band were targeted as they travelled from a gig in Banbridge to Newry.
Their minibus was stopped late at night on a rural road by UVF men posing as British Army soldiers.
The musicians were ordered to line up at the side of a verge while attempts were made to hide a bomb on their bus.
The intention was for it to explode a short time later and for the Miami Showband to be falsely accused of transporting a bomb for the IRA.
However, the device blew up prematurely as Somerville and Boyle were hiding it in the vehicle, killing both men instantly.
A right to commemorate
Miami Showband survivor Des Lee told Sunday Life last April that loyalists, even those who tried to kill him and had murdered his bandmates, have a right to commemorate their dead.
“I'm very careful about what I say. Even though I'm 79, I don't like to get in arguments. People have a right to respect their dead, as far as I'm concerned. That's how I look at it,” said the musician.
“I've very much for peace and reconciliation. It's been 50 years. How long are we going to carry on like schoolkids?”
The Harris Boyle Memorial Parade will start at Levaghery Orange Hall at 6pm on August 2. The outward route from the Gilford Road will begin two hours later.
According to the Parades Commission website, 15 bands have registered their attendance, although “other bands may turn up on the night”.As well as being a senior UVF figure Harris Boyle, who was from the Killicomaine estate in Portadown, was also in the UDR.
He was a suspect in the UVF 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombs that killed 26 civilians and was involved in the notorious loyalist Glenanne gang which was responsible for dozens of sectarian murders.
Dissidents 'have cops over a barrel' on Derry bonfire
Sunday Life Reporter, July 27th, 2025
REPUBLICANS TO CLAIM TWO-TIER POLICING IF PSNI OFFICERS MOVE IN TO DISMANTLE PYRE... AND MAJOR VICTORY IF THEY DON'T
The New IRA has claimed to have the PSNI at its mercy over a notorious Derry bonfire.
Republicans say that if cops attempt to remove the pyre, dissidents will claim “two-tier policing” and point to how officers refused to take down an Eleventh Night loyalist bonfire in Belfast which was next to an asbestos dump and electricity substation which powers two hospitals.
Should the PSNI adopt a hands-off approach, the New IRA will claim victory, declaring that police are too afraid to come into Meenan Square, the site of the Bogside bonfire.
“The New IRA reckons it has the cops over a barrel on this one, and in a way it does,” a Derry republican told Sunday Life.
“If the PSNI try and take the bonfire down, they will be accused of two-tier policing. If they don't, they'll be accused of being reluctant to stand up to dissidents.”
The New IRA is understood to have a cache of petrol bombs made and hidden in locations close to Meenan Square should any attempt be made to remove the pyre.
“This would be their dream scenario: For the cops to come in so they can send the kids out to riot,” the source added.
Apex Housing at bottom of problem
The Meenan Street site is owned by Apex Housing and earmarked for an £11m social housing scheme.
However it has been taken over by dissidents, some of whom also have links to the INLA and who have arranged for pallets to be delivered so they can be stacked into a bonfire.
The pyre, which is set to be burned at the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, does not have the support of the community and has drawn criticism from Sinn Fein and the SDLP.
Last week a man fell off the semi-built structure and had to be taken to hospital.
Sources in Derry said the bonfire had become a magnet for anti-social elements and accused the New IRA's Saoradh political wing of encouraging teenagers to get involved.
Prominent dissident Barry 'Big Mouth' Millar, the party's chairman in Derry, has been seen at the site.
The 40-year-old, who has convictions for dressing up in New IRA uniforms and taking part in paramilitary-style parades, is a close ally of Thomas Mellon, who still has considerable influence over the terror gang.
Mellon stood down as New IRA boss in Derry earlier this year after clashing with leaders in Tyrone, Lurgan and Belfast over ceasefire plans.
He was replaced by his close ally Fergal Melaugh and a well-known dissident loan shark, but republicans believe he still controls things behind the scenes.
Court appearance
Melaugh accompanied Mellon to Derry Magistrates Court last week, where his pal was convicted of breaching counter-terrorism legislation by opening three bank accounts without informing the police.
Mellon, who has several terrorism convictions and is on a MI5 watchlist, pleaded guilty and was given a conditional discharge.
Republicans said that Melaugh walking into court with him was the pair sending a message to other New IRA leaders that Mellon retains the support of its members in Derry.
They also believe the dissident gang is intent on using the bonfire to create a riot situation with the PSNI.
“Derry hasn't done anything in years. They want something to happen to show the New IRA is still relevant,” said our source.
Foyle Sinn Fein MLA Ciara Ferguson described the Bogside bonfire as being anti-community, saying: “There is no place for these bonfires, which attract anti-social behaviour and threaten the health and wellbeing of residents.”
SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan said: “We would prefer there to be no bonfires taking place in our city, but the Executive's failure to regulate bonfires means that, depressingly and predictably, communities continue to be challenged by these issues every summer.”
Apex Housing Association, which owns the site, refused to answer questions about what was being done to secure the land.
Derry City vs Bohs match draws blood as fans clash
Adrian Rutherford, Sunday Life, July 27th, 2025
THUGS CONDEMNED BY MLAS WHO ATTENDED GAME
Two people were injured after rival fans clashed with sticks, bats and iron bars at Friday night's Derry City match.
Violent scenes unfolded outside the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium before and after the League of Ireland fixture against Dublin side Bohemians.
Videos circulating online show people, some of them with their faces covered, fighting in the street.
The PSNI said two people, a teenager and a man aged in his 20s, needed hospital treatment.
Local SDLP MLA Mark H Durkan was at the game, and said he was left frightened by what he had witnessed.
Sinn Fein MLA Padraig Delargy, meanwhile, said “so-called football supporters from Dublin” attacked local people.
Police believe the violence was orchestrated and said disorder was focused in the Lecky Road and Lone Moor Road areas.
“Shortly after 7pm on Friday, police were made aware of two large groups of rival supporters in the area attacking each other near the Lecky Road flyover with sticks, bats and iron bars and causing damage to buildings and cars parked in the area.
“A teenage boy and a man aged in his 20s sustained injuries as a result of this incident and were taken to hospital for treatment.
“Further disorder then occurred in the vicinity of the Brandywell stadium during and after a match which was taking place.
“Officers were in attendance and worked along with stadium staff to bring the disorder under control. No arrests have been made.”
Supt William Calderwood said: “We believe the disorder we witnessed on Friday evening was pre-arranged and we will be reviewing all available footage to identify those involved.”
Mr Durkan condemned the trouble, saying “thugs came to Derry masked and armed with an array of weapons.”
He added: “In terms of scale and the level of violence and danger to those in the vicinity, we haven't seen anything like this and I hope we never do again.
Organised violence?
“I can't be certain it was an organised fight, but there certainly seemed to be elements of choreography to their attack.”
Mr Durkan described how he had to leave quickly after a group of visiting fans ran in his direction.
“At one point the Derry security team was trying to keep the Bohs fans in the ground, but 40 or 50 broke away and just came towards where I was standing,” he said.
“It was genuinely scary. I don't scare easily, but we did turn on our heels and go in the opposite direction.
“People were genuinely frightened and that shouldn't be the case, especially when they go to a football match.”
He said trouble continued as the game ended.
“There were people gathered with sticks, golf clubs and fireworks. They were roaming the perimeter prior to the match ending, and they were masked up as well,” he said.
“So while I have pointed the finger, accurately I believe, at the people who came on the bus for starting the bother, the stuff afterwards was retaliatory.”
The match was also briefly suspended after a flare was thrown from outside the ground onto the pitch.
Local Sinn Fein MLA Padraig Delargy also condemned the trouble, saying: “The sight of masked youths armed with an array of weapons, and fighting in the streets before turning on the PSNI, was terrifying for local residents.”
The match finished in a 1-1 draw.
Old Bailey bomber Marian Price tells Disney+ to cut Jean McConville murder scene from ‘Say Nothing’
Mark Tighe, Sunday Life, July 27th, 2025
FORMER IRA WOMAN WANTS DISNEY+ TO TAKE OUT 'FALSE PORTRAYAL' OF MCCONVILLE SHOOTING
Old Bailey bomber Marian Price wants Disney+ to remove a scene depicting her murdering Jean McConville from its Troubles TV show Say Nothing.
The ex-IRA member is suing the streaming giant over a section of the drama which she claims “falsely portrays her as having carried out the execution-style murder of Jean McConville by shooting her in the back of the head”.
The mother-of-10 was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972, becoming one of the Disappeared.
Her body was eventually found more than 30 years later at a beach in Co Louth.
Price, who is suing under her married name of McGlinchey, is seeking damages, including aggravated and punitive damages, for defamation against Disney, according to the plenary summons lodged in the High Court in Dublin.
Punitive damages are awarded in defamation cases where a defendant has engaged in malicious, outrageous or vindictive conduct.
Price is seeking an injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing the same or similar allegations about her.
She also wants an order “for the immediate removal of the relevant scene of episode nine, depicting the alleged murder”.
The case was lodged by Price's solicitors at Phoenix Law on July 2.
Explicit
Since then, Dentons — the UK firm that recently represented the BBC in its unsuccessful defence of a defamation action by Gerry Adams in Dublin — has come on record to represent Disney and Minim UK Productions, a co-defendant in the case.
While the Disney+ series is based on the 2018 book by Patrick Radden Keefe of the same name, the book did not provoke legal action from Price. The convicted bomber's lawyers have said that this is because that while Keefe's book was suggestive in claiming Price may have shot Ms McConville, the dramatisation was explicit in portraying that this happened.
Price was jailed along with her sister Dolours for their part in an IRA bombing campaign in London in 1973, before being released in 1980.
She was later a vocal critic of the Good Friday Agreement.
The Say Nothing series depicts Dolours Price as one of three IRA members who have one gun available to kill McConville.
The kidnapped woman is shown on her knees while desperately reciting the names of her 10 children.
Dolours Price is shown deliberately shooting wide of Ms McConville — before her sister takes the gun and executes her with one shot.
In a statement issued at the time, Price's solicitors said: “My client Marian Price vehemently denies any involvement in the murder of Jean McConville. She outright refutes any assertion to the contrary.”
In 2014, Marian Price pleaded guilty to providing a mobile phone that was used by the Real IRA in 2009 to claim the attack in which British soldiers Patrick Azimkar and Mark Quinsey were killed outside Massereene Barracks in Co Antrim.
Bomber ‘snowman' dissident convicted over terror signs
John Toner, Sunday Life, July 27th, 2025
REPUBLICAN DISPLAYED IRA PLACARDS IN GARDEN
A dissident republican jailed over a Christmas painting of a bomber snowman has been found guilty of displaying IRA signs.
Liam 'Leaky' McDonnell was convicted of a single charge of aiding and abetting support for a proscribed organisation at Bishop's Street Courthouse in Derry on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old, who did not attend the hearing, displayed three placards bearing 'IRA' at Easter Rising commemorations in April 2023.
CCTV played to the court showed a van pulling up to his address and a man dropping off a large wooden sign in the front garden.
Further footage showed two men leaving the house on Circular Road in Derry and carrying the sign up the street with another male in tow carrying a step ladder.
The prosecution said signs were later erected at St Mary's roundabout in the Creggan area.
Cops subsequently found tins of green, white and orange paint in McDonnell's garden during a search.
The Public Prosecution Service presented a text message to the court, sent by an associate of McDonnell, which read: “Them letters are in bad nick. Leaky is (going to) paint them. Might have to wait until Sunday to put them up.”
McDonnell provided a preprepared statement via his solicitor which was read to the court.
It said: “I have been shown footage of signs being deposited and removed from my front garden.
“They were part of a youth programme in which young people are encouraged to make art commemorating historical events only. This keeps young people off the streets during times of tension, and the signs are used for these purposes only.”
District Judge Michael Conor Heaney convicted McDonnell and adjourned his sentencing until September.
Acquitted
Co-defendants Christopher Gillen and Kevin O'Kane, both from Derry, were charged alongside him with aiding and abetting support for a proscribed organisation.
Prosecutors said O'Kane had delivered the signs in his work van, while Gillen had helped to transport them onwards. Despite CCTV footage in support of these allegations, both were acquitted.
The judge said: “In spite of the court's severe misgivings and reservations about their involvement, I cannot be satisfied to the required standard as to their guilt.”
The PSNI was unable to identify the suspects from the footage until constables familiar with the area were asked to look at it.
Defence lawyers said it was impossible to positively identify their clients, and the police had done so erroneously because of their familiarity with them.
In August 2023, Liam McDonnell was jailed alongside Jordan Devine for painting a mural depicting a snowman, wearing a black beret and mask, pressing a detonator connected to a command wire.
The stunt at the offices of Saoradh was mounted a week after a New IRA mortar attack on police officers.
The mural also included the words: “We haven't gone away, ye know.”
Devine was imprisoned for three months and McDonnell four. At the time, Devine was on bail charged with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee. McDonnell was also in custody, charged with offences linked to the attempted murder of PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell. The Caldwell charge against McDonnell was later withdrawn.
Rising star Oisin Thompson pinching himself after landing role in prison breakout play
LYRIC SHOW PENNED BY MAN WHO SPENT THREE YEARS IN MAZE DURING 70S RISING STAR THOMPSON WORKED WITH ANDERSON AND MCCANN BEFORE LANDING ROLE ON PLAY ABOUT REPUBLICAN PRISONERS PLOTTING ESCAPE FROM JAIL
One of the stars of a new production by Oscar-winning playwright Terry George has told how Gillian Anderson and Ciaran Hinds helped him to shine.
Oisin Thompson (25), from west Belfast, is appearing alongside Blue Lights actor Martin McCann in the acclaimed The Tunnel, which begins a run at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast this Thursday.
George, who is best known for writing In the Name of the Father, based the play on his experiences in Long Kesh, which later became the Maze Prison, during the 1970s. The 72-year-old served three years for possession of a weapon — a charge he has always denied.
After dropping out of law school six years ago, Oisin can't believe how his acting career has taken off.
He told Sunday Life: “I'm buzzing. I'd always had it in my head that I would love to work with Brassneck Theatre, and then it happened by accident.
“I asked to borrow their rehearsal space for an audition, and Tony Devlin (artistic director of Brassneck Theatre) poked his head in and asked me to audition for The Tunnel. He must've been eavesdropping. I was so excited.
“Next thing I knew, I was meeting Terry, and he was asking if I wanted a part on the main stage at the Lyric. I couldn't believe it.”
His work on The Tunnel, which is about a group of republican prisoners plotting a jailbreak, is not the first time Oisin has found himself rubbing shoulders with the great and good of acting.
He previously worked with McCann, alongside The Fall star Anderson, on a Channel 4 adaptation of Trespasses, by the acclaimed Co Down novelist Louise Kennedy.
Starstruck
“Working with Gillian Anderson was sick. She is iconic,” he said.
“I had a handful of scenes with her, but I got time to chat to her and learn from her on set, which was great.
“It's amazing to joke with people that we're best mates, (but) I was a bit starstruck when we met.
“It was my first big-screen gig, and it was as intimidating as anything because I was rocking up to set with Gillian Anderson, Lola Petticrew and Martin McCann.
“I was reading Wuthering Heights at the time because I knew there was a movie in the works and I'd never read it.
“Gillian asked me about it in the green room. Then, a few minutes, later, she told me she had texted the director Emerald Fennel to ask if I could audition.
“It didn't come about for various reasons, but it was so sound of her to do that. She was so lovely. She was chatting about her career, and she is very modest. She referred to The X-Files as a 'small TV show' she'd been in.”
The Tunnel is the third project Oisin and McCann have worked on together, also appearing in the BBC comedy My Left Nut.
It was based on the real experiences of a 15-year-old who found a swelling on his testicle.
Oisin said: “Rehearsals for The Tunnel have been so much fun. I wasn't sure if we were putting on a comedy or a drama at times.
“I expected it to be this heavy, intense story about republican prisoners trying to escape the terrible conditions in Long Kesh, but it's more of a study of what happens when all these people are locked in one place.
“There's a lot of craic that comes from that and a lot of fun.
Humour
“Everyone from west Belfast knows someone or has some tie to someone who served time in Long Kesh.
“You hear those stories growing up, and it's always the funny ones that get retold.
“I used to work in the coffee shop in the (James) Connolly Centre (on the Fall Road), and you'd swear some of the people coming in and out wanted to go back to it the way they talk about it so fondly.
“That's what people do when they live through tough times — it's humour that gets us through.
“It's like when someone dies and all the funny stories come out at a wake. There's something quite Irish about having a laugh and getting on with things.”
Oisin said a leap of faith, My Left Nut and a word of encouragement from Hinds set him on the path to acting.
He explained: “I was 19 and had just dropped out of university. I decided one day I wanted to be an actor.
“I just knew sitting in class for a law degree... it wasn't going to do it for me.
“I went home, told my parents and was lucky enough to get an audition for My Left Nut shortly afterwards.
“I ended up doing three days on set. I felt like it was a sign. I knew I could do this then.
“The guys behind it, Michael Patrick and Oisin Kearney, are great. We have stayed in touch. It was unreal to work with them.
“Not long after that, I went to see the Chekhov play Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End.
“Ciaran Hinds was in it, and I decided to stand at the stage door and wait for him to come out afterwards.
“He brushed past me — he was in a hurry to get home and didn't seem to be hanging around — but I said to him 'Ciaran, I'm from Belfast too. Any advice?'
“He looked me dead in the eye and said 'Don't do this unless it's the only thing you can do'.
“I stood in the middle of the street and said 'It is', and he replied 'Alright, break a leg, mate'.
“It wasn't the sunshine and roses kind of inspiration I think I was looking for, but it was the perfect advice.”
The Tunnel is at Belfast's Lyric Theatre from Thursday until Saturday, August 16. Tickets available at www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
Dublin county hurlers visit GAA Palestine at summer camp in Jordan
Hot Press, July 23rd, 2025
"As Dublin players, we are proud to stand in solidarity with GAA Palestine," said Dublin forward Fergal Whitely.
After the cancellation of their Ireland Tour, GAA Palestine have been visited by members of the Dublin hurling team.
GAA Palestine originally planned to arrive in Dublin last Friday for their summer tour of Ireland, but announced last week that the tour could no longer proceed after ongoing challenges with the visa process. Instead, GAA Palestine held a summer camp in Jordan for the team of 33 children and 14 mentors.
According to a statement released today from the Dr. Harry Edwards International Foundation Sport for Social Good, the Ireland tour had included tickets to the All-Ireland Hurling Final at Croke Park. After the tour was cancelled, the statement said, the young Palestinian hurlers had some special visitors.
"Once their visa applications were rejected the organising committee switched their summer camp to Jordan where they were made very welcome and where players from the Dublin Hurling team joined them for coaching sessions," wrote Ken McCue, director of the Foundation's European department.
McCue said the team was supplied with playing kits from the Fórsa trade union, decorated with a dove of peace and the words "human rights."
"It is clear that the youngsters who are under constant siege at home have occupied the high moral ground and are in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Gaza," McCue wrote.
In posts on GAA Palestine's Instagram, Dublin hurlers expressed their solidarity with the young Palestinian athletes.
"As Dublin players, we are proud to stand in solidarity with GAA Palestine, embracing the power of sport to unite, inspire, and foster hope beyond borders," said forward Fergal Whitely.
"Together, we celebrate resilience, community, and the universal language of Gaelic games."
"Travelling from Dublin to Jordan for the GAA Palestine summer camp has been an incredible experience," said midfielder Conor Donohue.
"It’s inspiring to see how sport can unite people across different backgrounds and foster understanding. We’re proud to be part of this initiative, demonstrating that the spirit of hurling can help build bridges and bring hope for the future."
Dublin GAA director of coaching Shane Casey joined Whitely and Donohue in coaching GAA Palestine and gifting them official Dublin training kits, according to an Instagram post yesterday. The three arrived in Jordan on Monday to what GAA Palestine said was "a very warm failte" from the young players.
