I can hear him crying out for his mum

DYMPNA MCVEIGH, Belfast Telegraph, November 1st, 2025

‘Seared into my brain is the image of Columba at that desolate place... I can hear him crying out for his mum’

THIS WEEKEND MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE COLUMBA MCVEIGH WAS ABDUCTED, MURDERED AND SECRETLY BURIED BY THE IRA. IN A DEEPLY MOVING AND PERSONAL PIECE, HIS SISTER WRITES ABOUT THE DESPERATE QUEST TO FIND HIS BODY

For the past 20 years, each November 2 I have met up with a wonderful group of people who have become a second family to me.

I'll be with them again tomorrow.

We are the Families of the Disappeared.

This will be particularly hard for me and I'll need all the warmth and support I know they'll give me.

Because it will be 50 years almost to the day since my brother Columba McVeigh was murdered and secretly buried by the IRA.

Columba was 19 years old when he went off to Dublin from our home in Donaghmore, Co Tyrone, to start a new job in 1975.

Like every Irish mother, Mum wanted to make sure he had all he needed, and as much as she loved him, she knew he wouldn't do it himself. And so, as his big sister, it was my job to get him clothes and everything else.

I saw him onto the bus.

He would write home to Mum now and again, and in a letter he wrote about seeing Eamon DeValera's funeral in Dublin.

He signed it 'From your big son, Columba'. It was his last letter home.

And then nothing.

People go missing all the time, we were told. Perhaps he'd gone to England for another job. Maybe he's gone to America with a girlfriend to start a new life.

I don't know if my Mum and Dad got hope from the 'perhaps' and 'maybes'. I doubt it.

I remember once I thought I saw him at Mass and my mum made me go back every week to the same Mass and wait at the back in case I saw him again.

Devastated by the Silence

Mum and Dad were devastated by the silence as year followed year.

And then we were told in 1999, 24 long years later, that Columba was never coming home. And that opened another whole new chapter of pain and despair.

Columba was born on September 27, 1955. He was murdered 20 years later.

But that wasn't the end.

Until we are able to bring him home to give him a Christian burial and to know that he rests beside our Mum and Dad, this torment is not ended.

I was at the search site recently on Bragan Bog, Co Monaghan, where the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) is looking for Columba, and I met with the forensic team and I looked out on to the vastness of Bragan Bog,

I still have hope.

If I didn't have hope, what would I have?

Hope is what motivates me to still campaign and lobby for Columba and the other Disappeared every chance I get.

But the pain never goes away.

There are tears every day of my life, behind a mask of normality.

Getting out of bed to start a new day, every day, and Columba is the first thought in my head. And then the mask is the second thought in my head: parenting my kids as best I could, smiling at the neighbours, going to work and making a living.

Always with a mask on my face and tears in my eyes and a heaviness in my heart.

My Mum, when she prayed for Columba, put him in with the Prayers for the Living. I put him in with the Prayers for the Dead.

Limbo

That is exactly how we were — in limbo, stuck in the middle not knowing where he lay.

It's a horrible place to be.

The not knowing is horrible. It's just heavy and sore and always there.

It's part of my life I have had to carry and for years I could not talk about it.

For years I could not go near Bragan Bog.

Seared into my brain is the image of Columba being taken across that desolate place in the cold and the dark.

I can hear him crying out for his mum.

It's still so hard to go there, but I do. I have to.

For most of my adult life all I could do was think about Columba and pray privately.

Like the others whose loved ones were murdered and disappeared, we lived in silence and fear.

Not any more.

I want to say “my brother Columba McVeigh” as loudly as I can. My purpose is so clear.

I'm going to keep his name alive and fresh and at the forefront of people's thoughts until he is found.

We want Columba home

We want Columba home. We want him buried with my Mum and Dad.

His name is already on the gravestone.

My purpose is to get the information we need to find him.

My purpose is to not let those who know where he is rest easy or forget.

We must find him.

And on Sunday I'll be with my second family.

I will be with representatives of the ICLVR, whose work to recover the remains of the Disappeared is just amazing.

I'll be with Sandra Peake from WAVE, without whose support I don't know where I would be.

She sees opportunities, she opens doors, she works tirelessly for the families and for me. And most of all she cares.

She cares deeply. It is that kind of care that motivates me to do more.

And I'll be with Columba.

Anyone with information on any of the four outstanding ICLVR Disappeared cases — Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Robert Nairac and Seamus Maguire — should contact the ICLVR.

All information is treated in the strictest confidence.

The ICLVR can be contacted by telephone: +353 1 602 8655.

E-mail information to: Secretary@iclvr.ie

By post to: ICLVR PO Box 10827

Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111 and the untraceable anonymous online form is at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.

Anyone with information about Lisa Dorrian should call the detectives working on the case on 101, or they can provide information without leaving their name or giving their details through the Crimestoppers number.

Poppy stall relocated after online attack by republican group

PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, November 1st, 2025

CONDEMNATION of poppy selling at Newry’s Tesco by hardline republicans that led to a stall in the store being moved has been slammed as “extremely sinister”.

A Poppy Appeal stall, selling poppies for the Royal British Legion, has been moved away from the entrance to the store at Newry’s Downshire Road, and is now located at the top of an elevator directly on the shop floor.

The move follows criticism of the stall by hardline republican party Saoradh.

The party posted to social media on Thursday about the stall, describing it as “an insult to the victims of British militarism and a provocation to the Irish people”.

They called the poppy a “bloodstained symbol” that shows support for “serving members of the British war machine, including those stationed on Irish soil and those who colluded with loyalist death squads to murder Irish citizens”.

The spokesperson said outlets hosting poppy stalls “should immediately remove such offensive displays, otherwise local Republicans may have no choice but to seek to take action to ensure they are removed”.

In a follow-up post yesterday, a Saoradh spokesperson said the stall was relocated within the store as a result of their previous post.

“The forced removal of this stall shows the strength and determination of local people,” they said, adding: “Whether it stands at the entrance or in a corner, it remains a blood-soaked symbol of British imperialism and it will be opposed wherever it appears.”

Newry Ulster Unionist councillor David Taylor told The Irish News the Poppy Appeal stall at the store “always receives strong support from people across the community”, and the Saoradh statement was “extremely sinister in nature and something I have spoken to police directly about”.

“The Poppy stall is manned by volunteers each year who give up their own free time to support the Royal British Legion’s appeal to raise funds for veterans, service personnel and their families,” he said.

“I welcome the fact that Tesco have not bowed to any threats or pressure from republicans and that the stall remains in a very prominent position within the store.

“I would encourage the local community in the Newry area to continue their ongoing strong support for the Poppy Appeal and the vital work undertaken by the Royal British Legion.”

A PSNI spokesperson said police were “aware of online comments” regarding the stall, adding: “Neighbourhood officers are conducting enquiries into the matter.”

In a short statement, a Tesco spokesperson said the Newry Extra supermarket “is one of many Tesco stores across the UK currently hosting poppy sellers, and its poppy stall is visible and accessible to all shoppers wishing to donate”.

A Royal British Legion spokesperson said: “We are aware of comments made on social media and that PSNI has been informed, therefore it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

An incident in November 2023 at a Tesco in Antrim saw a woman selling poppies alongside British Army and RUC memorabilia confronted by a member of the public, who recorded a video of the interaction that was circulated on social media.

Prince Andrew proves an unlikely unifying factor in North’s signage wars

HANNAH PATTERSON and DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, November 1st, 2025

A NUMBER of councils across Northern Ireland look set to face demands to scrap local street signs bearing Prince Andrew’s name.

Sinn Féin is to “liaise with council officials” in a bid to remove street names linked to the disgraced Royal, while Alliance councillors have already submitted a proposal at Mid and East Antrim Council to Carrickfergus. The calls come after King Charles stripped Andrew of his royal status.

He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, and must leave his Windsor home Royal Lodge and move to the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.

Yesterday Buckingham Palace also confirmed his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has resulted in him being removed from the official roll of the peerage, meaning he has lost his Duke of York title.

There are several roads named after him in the north. These include Prince Andrew Way in Carrickfergus, Prince Andrew Park and Gardens in south Belfast, Prince Andrew Terrace in Enniskillen, and Dungannon is home to Prince Andrew Crescent.

Sinn Féin told The Irish News they will ensure action is taken so that councils in the north are not seen to be acknowledging or celebrating Andrew.

A Sinn Féin spokesperson confirmed: “We will liaise with council officials to explore what action can be taken to ensure there is no civic recognition or celebration of Prince Andrew.”

Andrew tributes ‘not appropriate’

The SDLP also supports any decision to remove his name from road signs, adding: “The SDLP believes that it is right to remove street names that were issued in tribute to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

“Given the very serious allegations against him, commemorations and tributes are not appropriate. He has repeatedly shown that his values are unworthy of celebration.”

Mid and East Antrim councillor Aaron Skinner said he would like to see the road named after the late Queen Elizabeth II instead.

The Alliance Party representative, whose party has submitted the request to council, said residents in the area had been expressing concerns over the street name for some time due to Andrew’s association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – Andrew has always denied wrongdoing.

Mr Skinner said he has been “inundated” with calls about the issue since news broke of King Charles’ decision to strip his brother of his titles.

“It’s very important to us to protect the royal heritage of Carrickfergus and keep that in place and we’re very honoured to have that, but we really don’t feel, especially in light of the actions by the palace, that it’s appropriate to have Prince Andrew (as a name),” he said.

“The title doesn’t exist any more, so we’ve submitted a motion for council officers to look at options to rename it in such a way as to maintain that Royal heritage, and we would love to see it named after, for instance, the late monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, but obviously that’s a matter for the royal household.

“So, what we’re asking for is the council officers to look at options and come back to council then with how we could rename this and what we could rename it to.”

Mr Skinner said he hoped there would be unanimous political backing within the council, for a change.

“We’ve had correspondence around this for years now (from residents), certainly before I was in council, but over the last number of weeks it’s really ramped up as the palace have begun taking actions. And certainly the last 24 hours we’ve been inundated.”

But how to pick a name?

DUP Leader Gavin Robinson MP said: “The monarchy commands deep respect and affection across our nation, but with that comes responsibility and accountability.

“The decision to remove titles from Andrew Mountbatten Windsor reflects the seriousness of the issues involved and the need to maintain the integrity of the Royal Family.

“Our thoughts are with all who have suffered abuse – particularly victims of sexual abuse. Their courage in speaking out must be met with compassion and support, and as a society we must stand firmly with those who have been hurt.

“In light of these developments, we understand there will be some who wish to remove references from street and road names. In these decisions it is important that the views of local residents who live there are given pre-eminence in taking final decisions. Public recognition should always reflect integrity, respect and service.

“Our thoughts remain with His Majesty the King as he continues to lead the monarchy through challenging times.”

Councils in Northern Ireland have weighed in on how the street re-naming process would work.

A spokesperson for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said any proposals would “be brought before the Council for consideration”.

Mid Ulster District Council said it is a matter for “Council elected members and any proposed change of street name would be brought through the Council for its consideration”.

Belfast City Council added any application would need a petition from residents on the street.

They added: “Any application for the renaming of a street needs to be accompanied by a petition of at least one third of the residents of the street, showing an interest/support in changing the street name. This petition must indicate what name is being proposed with a second choice of street name included on the petition.

“The application with the supporting petition is then presented to committee and council to seek approval to progress the application.”

Meanwhile…Street sign policy blasted after Mandarin, Hebrew and Greek applications

ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, November 1st, 2025

UNIONISTS BRAND CONTROVERSIAL RULE CHANGE 'FLAWED' AND 'OPEN TO MANIPULATION'

A controversial dual-language policy has led to applications for Mandarin, German, Greek and Hebrew street signs across Belfast.

A total of eight applications have been made to Belfast City Council for signage in languages other than Irish and Ulster Scots since 2022.

A DUP councillor said it highlights the “flawed” decision to change the rules, which the party branded “undemocratic”.

Sarah Bunting said “it has created a situation where council officers must spend time and resources processing requests that are, in many cases, being made to expose the inconsistencies and impracticalities” of the rules.

Meanwhile, TUV representative Ron McDowell warned “it was obvious from the start that this policy would be abused” and described the policy as an “open invitation for these sort of applications”.

“You create a system that can be manipulated to make a point,” he added.

UUP councillor quits over ‘grave errors’ on Irish language and lack of female voices

Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, November 12st, 2025

The Ulster Unionist Party is searching for a new councillor to sit in Ards and North Down after a former policewoman who joined the party under Doug Beattie’s ‘progressive’ leadership quit.

Linzi McLaren, who had been a serving officer for 18 years before moving into politics, made a reputation as a liberal within the party ranks on the council, but said concerns over Irish language policy and the absence of female voices in the UUP motivated her decision.

“I believe political unionism has made grave errors in terms of the Irish language and inclusiveness,” she said announcing her immediate resignation.

“Unionism is much more than Protestantism and loyalism, and yet pro-Union voters who do not subscribe to those identities, find themselves politically homeless.

“I no longer feel I fit comfortably within political unionism, or that my progressive aspirations are supported or welcomed.”

Ms McLaren also criticised the lack of female representation saying she is “very concerned about the representation of women and the voice afforded to them within the party” claiming that an opportunity has now been missed for the party to promote a female MLA in North Down.

Ms McLaren had been the only woman in the party’s council team on Ards and North Down Council.

“I have always been determined to retain my integrity and moral courage, very often in the face of abuse and condemnation. My decision is one of principle,” she said.

“It would be disingenuous for me to continue as an independent councillor and be disrespectful to voters, given I was elected as an Ulster Unionist”.

Linzi McLaren has quit the UUP in Ards and North Down.

The Ulster Unionist Party – which will now have the opportunity to co-opt another councillor to the seat – confirmed Ms McLaren’s departure to the Belfast Telegraph.

“Cllr Linzi McLaren informed us in recent days that she is resigning from the party and her seat on Ards and North Down Borough Council,” a spokesperson said on Friday night.

“We thank Linzi for her service and support throughout her time as a Councillor for Holywood and Clandeboye. She proved herself a very capable individual, winning her seat with an increased vote, a clear reflection of the trust placed in her by the local community.

“It’s never easy putting yourself forward for elected office, and Linzi did so with dedication and integrity. We wish her all the very best for the future”.

Family ‘badly shaken’ following ‘racially-motivated’ burglary

Woman kicked tourist in head ‘eight times’ in brawl, court hears

ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, November 1st, 2025

A WOMAN allegedly kicked her friend repeatedly to his head after becoming upset at being called names in Belfast city centre, a court heard yesterday.

Police claimed Chloe Gordon (26) also attacked a second man while he lay on the ground during mass brawling on Royal Avenue.

Her lawyer said she had become caught up in an episode of “mob mentality” earlier this month.

Gordon, of Kilberry Park in Dunmurry, faces a charge of affray by using or threatening unlawful violence.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard she was identified on CCTV footage taking part in the fighting outside a coffee shop shortly before midday on October 3.

Gordon ran down the street to join in the clashes which lasted for around 15 minutes, it was alleged.

A PSNI officer said: “She was seen kicking the victim to the head approximately eight times whilst he was on the ground.”

Gordon then allegedly inflicted a similar blow to another unidentified man as he also lay on the pavement.

The defendant was said to have made admissions during interviews, telling police that she had been under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

“She also stated that the victim called her a ‘slut’ and this upset her,” the police officer disclosed.

“She stated that she had not intentionally kicked him in the head, (but) just wanted to kick him anywhere for calling her names.”

Defence counsel Michael Boyd described Gordon as a vulnerable individual who has not shown any propensity for serious violence in the past.

“She appeared to be completely carried away by the mob mentality that descended,” the barrister submitted.

District Judge Peter Magill granted bail but prohibited the accused from being in the city centre or contacting the named victim.

Asked if she knew him, Gordon replied: “He’s a friend.”

Judge Magill also ordered her not to leave the house if she is intoxicated.

Adjourning the case until November 28, he said: “Whatever you do, make sure you’re sober before you set foot over the door.”

Family ‘badly shaken’ following ‘racially-motivated’ burglary

MARK ROBINSON, Irish News, November 1st, 2025

A FAMILY in west Belfast has been left “badly shaken” after a group of men reportedly forced their way in and “ransacked” their home in a racially-motivated hate incident.

Police received a report of a burglary at the family’s home in the Glen Road area at around 8.30pm on Thursday.

A PSNI spokesperson said that three men “forced their way into the house and searched the rooms before making off”.

The family, who were inside at the time, were left “badly shaken by their ordeal”.

They added that the burglary is being treated as a racially-motivated hate incident.

SDLP councillor and deputy mayor Paul Doherty condemned the “disgraceful incident” where a family was “subjected to their home being invaded and ransacked”.

“People have a right to feel safe in their home, this must have been a terrifying ordeal for the family and I’d like to express my support and solidarity to them,” he said.

“I’m deeply concerned that police believe this incident was racially motivated.

“West Belfast is a welcoming place where people have shown warmth and solidarity to those from all over the world who now call this place home.

“There is absolutely no place for hate in our community and that must be made abundantly clear.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101.

Comment :

The silence of many politicians on both sides of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland regarding the sectarian abuse during the Irish Presidential election directed at  Heather Humphreys is unsurprising to many in the unionist community. Sectarianism on both sides of the border has increased. In north Belfast.

I recently helped young Catholic families who were being intimidated by loyalist paramilitaries because they lived in a unionist district. They were forced to move with little support from the political parties at Stormont. I received a bullet in the post  from the same loyalist paramilitaries for helping the families.

Now its roles reversal in the ROI with a candidate for the President of Ireland. Where is the condemnation in America as well as in Ireland for such Sectarianism? The shame of silence will have ordinary  unionists in Northern Ireland clearly stating and believing that Protestants will never vote for a "New Ireland" or a United Ireland.

Why is Irish America not raising the Sectarianism suffered by Heather Humphreys? There is no justification or reason for such action. It's way past the time those in America and on the island of Ireland end their policy of denial and silence and acknowledge that sectarianism of Protestants is practiced also.

The sectarianism in the Irish election tells me that the question I’ve asked many times, "Tell me how my grandchildren are going to be better off in a United Ireland?" and why hasn't it been answered?

Those that point the finger of blame at every opportunity at the whole Protestant unionist community need to look in the mirror to see who's also responsible for selective sectarianism. It takes two to tango. United Ireland? I want to live in a land without bigotry and sectarianism.

Unfortunately  there are those in both communities including politicians, voters, journalists and Irish Americans who approach equality with a sectarian mindset. We victims are equal irrespective of religion or politics. Its a fact that those who suffered the most are the ones who stand with other victims from different communities.

For others, silence when it suits them is par for the course.

Raymond McCord Victims campaigner North Belfast

Assembly 'loo-dunnit': but can it flush out the guilty party and mop up the crime?

COMMENT MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, November 1st, 2025

No, Stormont isn't really sinking. There's no re-enactment of the Titanic going on behind closed bathroom doors.

But the water levels have been rising in the hallowed halls, and more directly in the bathrooms used by those with special Assembly passes.

Maybe someone in the building is sending a cryptic message... this is what happens when you continually block progress.

Or could it be a sign that someone needs to finally pull the plug on an institution that doesn't seem to have a penny to spend anyway?

Suspects are lining up. It has all the hallmarks of an old school prank, something cheeky teenagers with a penchant for petulance might find amusing.

Could someone from the Education ministry be taking their dedication to the portfolio too far?

Or perhaps it's an environmental issue, and we need to look at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

And Infrastructure won't be off the hook either. The pipe work, sewerage and water works are all under that remit.

It could also be a Communities problem, given it's the Assembly community that is directly affected.

It's not very economic either, so that department could come under suspicion.

And blocking the plugholes and leaving the taps running could easily lead to an accident.

Health may point out the last thing it needs is another casualty added to the waiting lists.

Perhaps only Finance is off the hook as, according to the Assembly Commission responsible for the upkeep of Parliament Buildings, no cost (except the time spent mopping up) has been incurred.

But, hmmmm. Maybe Finance might be involved, the one least suspected...

There is, as yet, no watertight answer to a great loo-dunnit.

We're expecting Inspector C-loo-seau to be on the case with immediate effect to flush out the culprit and mop up the mystery.

Now that what was private has been made public, whoever's been up to tricks without the treats might simply float away around the u-bend and escape through the sewers before they get a tap on the door for question time. Surveillance has, we're told, been stepped up. That has its drawbacks, though. The flood of complaints mostly concern the men's bathroom, and it's never easy to go when you know you're being watched.

The Water-gate files are now being waded through as the investigation plumbs the depths.

However, it could be that they are left with nothing to go on, and they may never get to the bottom of things...

Stormont's never had it so good... despite 'British austerity', it's getting more money than ever

Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, November 1st, 2025

MINISTERS' ATTEMPTS TO BLAME THEIR OWN FAILURES ON LONDON NOT SHIPPING EVEN MORE MONEY ACROSS THE IRISH SEA ARE SIMPLY UNTRUE — AND HIGHLY DAMAGING TO NORTHERN IRELAND

Did you know that Stormont is spending more money than has ever been spent in the history of Northern Ireland?

You might not have, and that's not your fault — ministers and civil servants love to pretend that they're under unprecedented financial pressure and there's almost nothing they can do about it.

The truth is precisely the opposite: They're bathing in money and they could raise far more if they wanted to — but they don't.

Instead, we get preposterous complaints that 'British austerity' stops Stormont carrying out the sort of tasks which even most private individuals would be able to afford.

Last year, Sinn Fein minister John O'Dowd said work to pedestrianise Hill Street — a tiny cobbled street in the heart of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter — had been “put on hold”. The reason? “Underfunding and austerity by the British Government,” he said.

The actual cost of putting in a few bollards to stop cars was judged to be £5,000; his departmental budget was more than £550m.

After this preposterous attempt to blame the big bad Brits for stopping a Sinn Fein minister from doing something simple within their own departmental powers, I thought that excuse would be retired. Yet, on Monday, my colleague Liam Tunney reported that this same Sinn Fein department is now blaming underfunding for the closure of a beautiful historic bridge, which has cut off Kilrea from much of its hinterland on the east side of the River Bann.

Liam's analysis of hundreds of departmental emails showed that it has known for years that the bridge was seriously cracked and there were fears for its future; despite this, a feasibility study ordered for the retaining wall three years ago was never conducted.

Yet, the department told him that “austerity by the British Government… forced us to rationalise the delivery of planned maintenance”.

The political attractiveness of this is obvious: A republican party can blame the British for failures which in truth are due to decisions taken in Stormont.

Blame the Brits is a cross-party pursuit

But it's not just republicans who are doing this. Such populism is a cross-community pursuit. The Ulster Unionists say there isn't enough money for the NHS. The DUP say there isn't enough money for education. Alliance say there isn't enough money for justice.

Yet these same parties are part of a government which has chosen not to raise lots more money to pay for what they claim are urgent priorities. This doesn't add up.

They know there are multi-millionaires in Northern Ireland who live in mansions and literally drive Ferraris. They know there is a massive middle class, which could afford to pay more if there really was a funding crisis so dire that our government couldn't afford £5,000 for a few bollards.

The reason they haven't pushed for new taxes — which could be raised through the rates system or water charges or through new laws to tax almost anything other than income — is probably not only because that would be unpopular but because they know it would invite scrutiny of how much money Stormont is getting, and how little is being delivered for that huge investment.

New figures from the independent Fiscal Council demonstrate the enormity of the Executive's largesse.

They show that last year the Executive spent an extraordinary £32 billion — equivalent to £16,600 for every man, woman and child in Northern Ireland.

And that's only part of public spending in Northern Ireland. It doesn't include spending by local councils or public corporations.

This soaring Executive spending might seem obvious because of the huge spending during the pandemic. But what isn't so widely known is that rather than public sector spending dropping after Covid, it has kept climbing.

Expenditure rising almost twice as fast as inflation

Stormont's spending has risen 61% since 2017. Some of this involves inflation, but that doesn't come close to fully explaining what's been going on.

Inflation has only risen by about 35% in that time, meaning that almost half of the increase is quite simply Stormont getting and spending more money.

The Department for Infrastructure — which Sinn Fein says is a victim of “British austerity” — has seen its budget soar over this period, shooting up from £791m to £1.4 billion.

The vast majority of this money comes from the Treasury in London.

That Treasury is now under intense pressure and Stormont's special pleading is increasingly falling on ears which have become deaf to the repetitive demands they know to be ludicrous, and hearts which have grown hard to an institution they know was willing to squander public money on the RHI scheme because of a culture that viewed it as “free money” with which some in Stormont believed they could “fill their boots”.

On Wednesday, Sky News's deputy political editor Sam Coates reported that the looming budget is likely to involve drastic tax rises.

He said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves is starting to engage in “pitch-rolling” to prepare the public for something like £30bn of tax rises.

Coates said that he believes “normal people have no idea what's going to hit them in under a month; I don't think the general public think that this is coming”.

If that is so, the idea that Stormont can expect ever-greater funding increases is dangerously misplaced.

Bloated and unsustainable

Instead, ministers are presiding over an unsustainable edifice, which is bloated with processes and processors, but whose outcomes are in many areas hopeless.

Four years ago, the NI Audit Office found that the Executive wasn't demonstrating whether what it spends is being used effectively or efficiently, but little has changed.

Rather than starting from scratch each year to decide whether what it's spending needs to be spent, Stormont operates on the basis that if something was in the budget this year then it's automatically marked down to be spent next year.

This leads to perverse outcomes, where once certain spending is in the system, the culture is to assume that it is essential.

A responsible Executive would be agreeing on a drastic review of public spending. This could involve zero-based budgeting, where officials start with a blank sheet and every significant expenditure has to be justified. If it can't be justified, it isn't spent and the money goes somewhere where it can do more public good.

It would be inefficient to do this every year, but to do so periodically would help weed out wastefulness.

But our politicians have shown no appetite to do so.

This week, the Ulster University economist Esmond Birnie — who has an unusually deep knowledge of Stormont's finances, having worked there as a UUP MLA and then as a spad — warned that public sector pay parity between Northern Ireland and Great Britain “is becoming a mathematical impossibility. That is, the numbers will not stack up unless the Executive achieve certain other things which are either extremely difficult or very unpopular.”

His reasoning for this is partly due to the far greater size of Northern Ireland's public sector in comparison to that in GB.

When nurses or teachers or civil servants in England get a pay rise, Northern Ireland gets a percentage of that in line with our share of the UK population (in fact, this has recently been hiked to take account of what is assessed to be Northern Ireland's greater 'relative need').

If we had the same size of public sector as the rest of the UK, that would mean Stormont would get exactly the amount it needed to raise pay here in line with GB. But because Stormont has chosen to have a far bigger public sector, the money it gets cannot give the same salary increase in Ballymena as in Birmingham.

This is due to political choices made in Stormont, not some great injustice foisted upon us by miserly bureaucrats in London, as our politicians and civil servants often imply.

Birnie, who sits on the Fiscal Council and has been heavily involved in analysing Stormont expenditure over recent years, says that per head of the population, Northern Ireland's public sector employment is about one and a half times the rate in England, while in the NHS it is about 40% higher than England.

The fact that the NHS is performing far worse in Northern Ireland than in England exposes the simplistic idea that just hiring lots of people is going to produce better outcomes.

How those people work is more important. A hundred men could be hired to spend a day digging a field by hand, or a single farmer on a tractor could do the same job in a couple of hours. More employment and more expenditure don't necessarily mean benefit even for those being employed — being asked to work with out-of-date methods in a system which is plainly not delivering is most dispiriting for those in that system who actually care about serving the public.

Stormont has failed to reform public services, which are now collapsing in key areas. Successive governments — both Labour and Conservative — have exacerbated this while thinking they were helping.

Bailing Stormont out with hundreds of millions here, cancelled debt there, and access to substantial borrowing somewhere else has been expedient in the short term, but made even more painful the long-term surgery which will ultimately be unavoidable.

If Stormont fails to maintain pay parity, that will mean public sector strikes in the short term, but in the long term the more damaging haemorrhaging of health workers in particular to GB and the Republic.

Health is now a highly mobile sector where a large proportion of migrant workers are willing to move to where the pay and conditions are best.

Rather than either reform public services, trim public spending to allow for these salary increases, or raise more money from those who can pay, ministers are putting their fingers in their ears.

Making poorest households sunsidise the rich

They have consciously chosen to retain the indefensible system whereby the poorest homeowners subsidise the rates bills of the wealthiest.

A supposedly left-wing Sinn Fein finance minister has decided it is right that those struggling to heat their homes should help pay the rates bills which otherwise would be due on those literally living in castles.

That's a legitimate policy choice; but it's not forced on us by anyone in London.

In theory, resolving this ought to be in the interests of both unionism and nationalism.

Unionists need Northern Ireland to work if it is to survive, and intelligent unionists know that this system isn't even close to being financially sustainable.

Yet, counterintuitively, this isn't an area in which what's good for unionism is necessarily bad for nationalism.

One of the greatest barriers to Irish unity — on both sides of the border — is the enormous cost of running Northern Ireland.

As that subsidy from London grows and grows, Sinn Fein has increasingly spent its time trying to argue that the numbers aren't as bad as they seem, rather than trying to bring this situation under control.

If Sinn Fein truly believed Irish unity might happen in just five years' time — as it claims to believe — then it would be behaving very differently. It would know that these sums would transfer to a united Ireland and would be seeking to make them manageable.

Instead, the only major pro-Irish unity figure who has made this argument is the economist and former SDLP adviser Paul Gosling, who says that nationalist parties ought to be thinking strategically about cutting the size of the public sector.

Instead, those parties are presently increasing their size.

None of this is likely to change for the foreseeable future. After Stormont's restoration last year, there was an unusually long period without an election in which unpopular decisions might be taken.

Instead, the ingrained populism has seen things carry on in the manner to which we have become accustomed.

Now the parties are clearly in the early stages of the 2027 Assembly election.

Expect more denunciations of London for not shipping even more money across the Irish Sea — and no scrutiny of the true position, which is that in terms of the money it gets to spend, our Executive has never had it so good.

So what exactly will we be voting on in a border poll?

PATRICK MURPHY, Irish News, November 1st, 2025

ACCORDING to the great and the good of modern Irish nationalism, we are going to have a border poll – not to decide if there should be a united Ireland, just to confirm it.

Bertie Ahern says it is inevitable and Leo Varadkar predicts it will come in his lifetime (although he did not say how long he expects to live).

Sinn Féin says it must happen this decade and Ireland’s Future wants it “in or around 2030”, presumably when Leo Varadkar is still alive and well.

However, despite all the talk about a border poll, no-one has said what exactly this much-heralded referendum will ask us.

Will it be a case of “Do you want a united Ireland – yes or no?”

Or will it go further and ask: “If yes, what sort of united Ireland would you like?”

This could be followed by a list of options, including: a unitary state; a federal state with Stormont; unity within the EU (if it still exists); unity within the UK (if it still exists), unity within the Commonwealth, a socialist state, a capitalist state, democracy, monarchy, dictatorship, communism or anarchy. (Anarchy is included because that is how Stormont currently operates.)

All a bit exaggerated, you say, and you are right. However, it is an attempt to point out that no-one has yet explained what we will vote on in a border poll, or even what a united Ireland means.

Traditionally, it has meant a single Irish state ruled from Dublin. More recently, however, it has been framed as “a programme for a new Ireland”.

That suggests that a united Ireland will result from negotiations – although it is not clear who will negotiate with whom.

So most nationalists appear to have settled for a negotiated Ireland.

That contradicts the IRA’s stance during its 30-year war that a united Ireland was non-negotiable, but that precondition was apparently dropped after nearly 4,000 deaths.

Thus, those demanding/predicting a border poll argue for a referendum of an unknown nature, which will presumably follow negotiations between unspecified parties, on an agenda which does not yet exist.

That is not a border poll, it is just a nationalist flag pole.

Future Ireland or New Ireland?

As part of the campaign for a united Ireland, Sinn Féin established a Commission on the Future of Ireland.

The SDLP, meanwhile, created a New Ireland Commission, presumably on the basis that their united Ireland would be better than Sinn Féin’s united Ireland.

In fairness, the SDLP had a snappier title, but its 26 members never actually met (perhaps it was an abstentionist commission).

Sinn Féin’s commission calls on the Dublin government to establish a reunification unit (the new Irish language commissioner might like to reprimand them for not providing an Irish translation) and the appointment of a Minister of State for reunification.

So what exactly would this minister do?

Perhaps he/she would set up a stall at the corner of the Shankill Road and Berlin Street and say “I am here to bring you unity”?

No, you say, the minister would plan for Irish unity.

However, if planning takes place only on one side of the border, does that not suggest preparations for a takeover, rather than a voluntary merger which would arise from negotiation?

You see, for all the talk about a border poll and a united Ireland, the two concepts reflect an intellectual laziness.

The result has been that both a border poll and a united Ireland are essentially just a vague form of faith.

They require belief in something which cannot be seen, but which will bring us eternal rewards in the next constitutional life for any suffering we might endure in this one.

It is nationalism’s new political religion.

Meanwhile, SDLP councillor Paul Doherty and former world boxing champion Carl Frampton opened a new educational empowerment centre for struggling families in Belfast this week.

Their aim is to relieve suffering in this life caused by Sinn Féin and the DUP at Stormont.

The two men are to be commended for their actions, because what they stand for is a genuine united Ireland – a unity of people in the face of adversity.

A united Ireland is a noble and legitimate aspiration, but it will not come from slogans or commissions, or specially appointed ministers.

It will come from a united people – those same people who could be found on Tuesday in the Foodstock Education and Empowerment Centre, in Belfast’s King Street.

A poll on that model of unity would receive overwhelming support. So let’s see who calls for it.

‘Is Orange a proxy for Prod?’ - what the presidential election says about a united Ireland

Abuse of Heather Humphreys will feed into unity debate in Northern Ireland

Mark Hennessy, Common Ground, Irish Times, November 1st, 2025

Even before Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys had been defeated in the presidential election, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, Gavin Robinson, said she had been “treated with contempt” because of the links made between her and the Orange Order.

Equally, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, Jim Allister, said Humphreys had been “targeted and abused because of her Protestant background”, something that exposed “the ugly undercurrent of intolerance that still runs through southern politics”.

However, the debate in Northern Ireland about the allegations of sectarian abuse directed at Humphreys during the election has little to do with the Áras, or, indeed, Humphreys, and everything to do with hopes, or fears, about a united Ireland.

Robinson and Allister’s main target was not so much concern for a Presbyterian living on the southern side of the Border. Instead, it was about how the issue plays into the united Ireland debate in Northern Ireland, and what impact it has on attitudes among unionists on how they would be treated, if it were ever to happen.

In a way, perhaps, that will surprise southern ears – the subject of a united Ireland and the referendum needed to bring it about has been far more prominent in Northern Ireland TV and radio debates in recent weeks than it has been for years in the Republic.

Heather Humphreys faced sectarian abuse, online and in person, during the presidential campaign

Some, but not all, of the discussions have followed the latest Lucid Talk poll, which reported that 41 per cent of respondents would vote Yes to unity if asked now, compared with 48 per cent who want to stay in the United Kingdom.

However, the difference in attitudes between different age groups is striking. Fifty per cent of under-35s in NI now want Irish unity, compared with 44 per cent against, the poll says, though support for the status quo rises as older people’s opinions are canvassed.

Few people in Northern Ireland have studied the sectarian fissures that have plagued it for generations more closely than Ulster University academic Duncan Morrow, the author of a major 2019 report on the subject.

“The issue of unity in debate here has tended to wax and wane over the years, but right now, it’s almost like a perfect storm because there’s a weariness in the peace process,” Morrow told The Irish Times.

“There’s very little apparent dynamism in the Northern Ireland Executive, so that anything will be seized upon. The referendum has successfully established itself as a very live topic in politics and in the media.”

Abuse of Humpreys mainly on social media

Morrow’s principal concern is whether the abuse that was generated about Humphreys – largely but far from entirely on social media – is reflective of what a united Ireland referendum debate could end up looking like.

“The notion that we could have some kind of platonic type of debate about a united Ireland was always a bit of a stretch, but the post-colonial narratives that were shown down south have definitely got more traction,” he said.

The question for Morrow is whether campaign abuse about the Orange Order – notwithstanding the legitimate complaints that could be made about the organisation – is “a proxy for Prod”, a derogatory shorthand for Northern Ireland Protestants.

“And there’s a category somewhere in the middle, which is ‘West Brits’,” he goes on. “Does everyone who uses the Orange Order name mean Prod? Probably not. But when you put it like that, that becomes the front line of your propaganda – in both directions.”

For Manchester-based academic Jon Tonge, who closely studied Northern Ireland for 30 years, the social media undercurrent directed towards Humphreys reflected the general impression held of the Orange Order.

“The perception of the Orange Order down south would be overwhelmingly negative. The coverage would be overwhelmingly negative, with the exception of the Rossnowlagh march in Donegal which always gets a good press,” he said.

Bar Rossnowlagh, the coverage always concentrates on the sectarian aspects of the Order, rather than on the positive community role it plays in many rural Protestant communities across Northern Ireland, he said.

“The Orange Order, I think, is still seen as sort of being beyond the pale by a lot of people in the south, in so far as they ever think about it. However, I don’t think it was the decisive factor in the campaign.”

Often, the Orange Order does little to help its own reputation, he said, pointing to the calls for disciplinary action against former Ulster unionist Party leader David Trimble after he went to Donegal to attend the Catholic funeral service for three boys killed in the Omagh bombing in 1998.

Under Orange Order rules, members are barred from marrying Catholics, or attending Catholic religious services, akin to the rules enforced in reverse by the Catholic church until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

One leading Protestant clergyman, speaking anonymously, agreed: “If there is an organisation which symbolises everything that people in the south find not even strange, but creepy and sort of sinister about Northern Ireland, it’s the Orange [Order].”

However, Tonge said he was “broadly sympathetic” to the argument that the abuse faced by Humphreys, if not reflective of majority opinion in the Republic, highlights the need for debate about the changes that will be required to make a united Ireland work.

“There’s an awful lot of work to be done on how Northerners with a British identity can be accommodated in a united Ireland. We haven’t had any clear answers on how that will happen,” he cautioned.

For both sides in Northern Ireland, the election of Catherine Connolly as president has been taken as support for their argument – with the pro-unity camp pointing to her declaration that Northern Ireland is “a lost limb”, as well as her strong support for the Irish language.

Indeed, Connolly made a point of visiting Belfast after her election to attend the opening of Oireachtas na Samhna, a five-day celebration of the arts and traditions of the Irish language.

For the TUV’s Jim Allister, however, her election is “no great leap forward” for Irish unity. “She will be a toxic and divisive figure,” he said. “Connolly represents the most militant and ideological strand of southern nationalism.

“She will be deeply unpopular among unionists – even more so than her predecessor (Michael D. Higgins), which is quite an achievement in itself. Far from advancing their cause, the election has set back the so-called agreed Ireland project.”

For Protestant-born, Irish passport-holding academic Robbie McVeigh, the key conversation the president-elect should have, however, is not one with unionists.

Connecting with nationalists and republicans

“Insofar as she represents the whole of Ireland, not just the 26 counties, then the dialogue that she has with nationalists and republicans is more important from my point of view than the dialogue she has with unionists and loyalists,” he said.

“It would be good if dialogue with unionists and loyalists does happen. But the first priority should be to find a way of engaging with what is now the Northern nationalist majority and representing them in the wider sense of Irishness.”

For now, everyone waits to see what the Connolly presidency will look like.

“I have no doubt that the new president will find ways of reaching out to Protestants and others in Northern Ireland,” said one leading Church of Ireland figure.

“I hope she does it inconspicuously, so that she doesn’t put people in difficult positions. I have no doubt but that she will,” he told The Irish Times, before offering a wry reminder that the president of Ireland is prayed for every Sunday in every Church of Ireland service.

The weekly prayers are a legacy from earlier times when prayers were said for the British monarch: “The prayers continued after partition, they just changed the title,” said the churchman, with a smile.