Judge considers application to throw out Soldier F trial
REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
A JUDGE has risen to consider an application to dismiss the case against a former paratrooper accused of the murder of two men during the events of Bloody Sunday in 1972.
Judge Patrick Lynch heard arguments that the key evidence against the veteran, referred to as Soldier F for legal reasons, was unreliable and could potentially lead to an unsafe conviction.
However, the prosecution have said accounts by fellow former paratroopers Soldier G and Soldier H provide direct evidence from two separate sources that Soldier F fired at civilians.
Soldier F is charged with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney during disorder after a civil rights parade in Derry on January 30 1972, when 13 people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment.
Soldier F is also accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.
He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.
Soldier F sits in the courtroom at Belfast Crown Court behind a curtain during each day of the non-jury trial, which began last month.
Key evidence in the case described as “decisive” by the prosecution includes statements by two other former paratroopers known as Soldier G and Soldier H.
Their accounts place Soldier F in Glenfada Park North, and allege that he had opened fire.
The two veterans have not been able to be cross-examined on their previous statements during this trial. Soldier G has died and Soldier H has indicated he will exercise his right against self-incrimination if summoned.
The prosecution concluded their case on Friday, when the court also heard that Soldier F had been interviewed voluntarily under caution across two days from March 8-9 2016 by officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
He declined to respond to questions on the basis that he “no longer” has “any reliable recollection of those events” and made no comment to all questions put to him.
Defence barrister Mark Mulholland KC said the evidence does not “stack up” and has argued for the case to be dismissed.
Soldiers hearsay evidence fundamentally contradictory
On Monday he queried changes in the statements given by Soldier H to the Royal Military Police on the night of the shootings, to the Widgery Inquiry later that year, and the Saville Inquiry in the 2000s, and described him as an “unreliable witness”.
Yesterday, Mr Mulholland turned to the evidence of Soldier G, and put to the court that the statements of G and H fundamentally contradict each other in terms of who has fired, where and when.
“We go from three youths with nail bombs in H, to two youths with M1 carbines in G and, quite tellingly on their own accounts, G doesn’t seem to see H fire, and H, moving aside from the waste ground statement, then has G fire but can’t say what he was firing at,” he said.
“At every turn the contradictions are absolutely fundamental when one considers their bearing on reliability of the accounts that they provide.”
Mr Mulholland said they are “swimming in this stagnant pool of contaminated fabricated evidence”, adding: “When one steps back for a moment, how does one start to distinguish fact from fiction in these accounts?”
“Looking now at the state of this evidence in light of the unequivocal civilian evidence, it just simply does not stack up,” he added.
Earlier in the trial, Judge Patrick Lynch ruled that the hearsay evidence could be admitted.
Almost three weeks later, yesterday, Mr Mulholland said in light of some evidence not having been called by the prosecution, the defence assesses it is essential for the court to revisit the admitted hearsay evidence.
“The critical issue that was flagged at the outset in our submission remains as part of that, which is, ‘did Soldier F fire his weapon at the material time in Glenfada Park North’, and that is the prosecution case,” he said.
“The import the statements of G and H are that F, acting together with G, opened fire in Glenfada Park North. That case is the case we have to meet, that’s the case on the evidence we respectfully submit now, that one sees the full evidential landscape is simply lacking when one considers the other evidence that can be called.”
He added: “According to the prosecution opening, G and H’s demonstrably false accounts was an attempt to justify and confuse. That may be the most logical explanation of all.”
Louis Mably KC, for the prosecution, said: “That hearsay evidence provides direct evidence that Soldier F opened fire at civilians.
“That evidence comes from two separate sources, Soldier G and Soldier H. The evidence was repeated by each witness on different occasions including on oath.
Judge Lynch said he would deliver his ruling on the defence application tomorrow.
Judge to decide on Soldier F 'no case to answer' application
ASHLEIGH MCDONALD, Belfast Telegraph, October 15th, 2025
A judge will rule this week on a defence application that a former paratrooper accused of murdering two men on Bloody Sunday has no case to answer.
Following two days of legal arguments, Judge Patrick Lynch KC reserved judgment in the application linked to the Soldier F case and said he would give his ruling tomorrow morning.
The veteran, referred to as Soldier F for legal reasons, is charged with the murders of James Wray and William McKinney during disorder following a civil rights parade in Londonderry on January 30, 1972.
Some 13 people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment on the day.
Soldier F is also accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O'Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.
He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.
Defence barrister Mark Mulholland KC spent the last two days presenting the 'no case to answer' application to Judge Lynch.
Mr Mulholland argued that the hearsay evidence of Soldiers G and H — who were with Soldier F in the Bogside and who claimed they saw F firing in Glenfada Park North — is fundamentally flawed.
Citing several “contradictions” and “inconsistencies” in statements made, Mr Mulholland spoke of “swimming in a stagnant pool of fabricated evidence”.
‘A lot of food for thought’
In response to the defence application, Crown barrister Louis Mably KC said whilst the prosecution accepted that parts of the statements of Soldiers G and H were incorrect, he said the “core of consistency” in their statements was that “Soldier F opened fire.”
Regarding the defence's assertion that Soldier F has 'no case to answer', Mr Mably said it was the Crown's view that “taking the prosecution evidence at its highest, a reasonable tribunal of fact, properly directed, could convict the defendant on each count.”
Mr Mably added: “In Glenfada Park North, a number of unarmed civilians had been shot in the back whilst they were running away.
“The act of shooting an unarmed civilian in the back when he is running away cannot be justified. Not only can it not justified, it is murder or attempted murder today and is was murder or attempted murder in 1972.”
After listening to submissions on the legal application from both the defence and Crown, Judge Lynch thanked both barristers.
Saying “there is a lot of food for thought”, Judge Lynch said he would give his ruling tomorrow.
Bereaved will be judge of legacy legislation, Benn tells MPs
DAVID YOUNG, ABBIE LLEWELYN and CILLIAN SHERLOCK, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
FAMILIES bereaved in the Troubles will ultimately be the judge of new legislation aimed at dealing with the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict, Parliament has been told.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn stressed the need to secure the backing of victims as he presented the Bill to the House of Commons on yesterday.
The draft laws come after the Uk government last month unveiled a joint framework agreed with the Irish government designed to address a long impasse on legacy issues.
The framework, and associated legislation published yesterday, represent the government’s attempt to fundamentally reform the mechanisms established in the 2023 Legacy Act.
Labour came to power with a pledge to replace and repeal the Legacy Act introduced by the Conservatives, which halted scores of civil cases and inquests into Troubles deaths and also included a contentious conditional offer of immunity for the perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for cooperation with a truth recovery body.
The Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will axe aspects of the 2023 Act.
Making a statement to the Commons, Mr Benn told MPs: “Given the views held by so many people, often diametrically opposed, it was always going to be impossible to set out a plan that gives everybody everything that they want.
“There will be elements of our approach that some people will welcome and others will not.
“Time waits for no one, least of all for the many families who lost loved ones, and they ultimately will be the judge of whether these new arrangements can give them the answers that they have sought for so long.”
Irish-UK commitments
The joint UK-Irish framework included commitments to:
Significantly restructure the Legacy Act’s investigative and truth recovery body – the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR). It will be renamed the Legacy Commission. m Lift the Legacy Act’s prohibition on Troubles-related civil cases in UK courts and inquests on conflict linked deaths.
Nine inquests that were part heard before the legal guillotine halted them will resume.
Other inquests will be referred to the Solicitor General to independently consider whether they are most appropriately dealt with by the reformed Legacy Commission or via the coronial system.
Establish a separate truth recovery mechanism called the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval.
Reform disclosure processes to address concerns over a veto power held by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State on what sensitive information can be accessed by legacy bodies.
Pass legislation in the Irish parliament to ensure the state’s “fullest possible” cooperation with the new Legacy Commission. m Create a new dedicated Legacy Unit within the Irish police force, An Garda Siochana. m Ring-fence €25 million of Irish government funding to support victims and survivors in participating and engaging with legacy bodies.
The Bill presented yesterday covers the measures in the framework that require legislative action in the UK.
The draft legislation also contains measures designed in response to concerns raised by military veterans about previous legacy processes.
These protections, which are not part of the joint framework, include provisions for witnesses to give evidence remotely without travelling to Northern Ireland.
The government has also introduced a draft remedial order to remove from statute the Legacy Act’s immunity provisions.
Commenting on the measures, Mr Benn said: “The purpose of all this is to help families who have waited too long to find answers about what happened to their loved ones during the Troubles.
Finality?
“This is our opportunity to deliver on this final part of the Good Friday Agreement and help Northern Ireland politics and broader society to find those answers and move forward.”
The Legacy Act was opposed by victims’ groups and political parties in Northern Ireland, and it led the Irish government to launch an interstate legal case against the UK, claiming it breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
Speaking to reporters in Co Meath on yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the Irish government would “revisit” the interstate case after the framework is “faithfully translated into legislation” in the UK.
“I think that’s the sensible and prudent thing to do,” he said.
“We never wanted to be in a position where we to take our nearest neighbour to an international court.
“I’m pleased to say we’re now in a much better place, where the two governments together acting as go-guarantors on really tricky, painful, difficult issues from the past.”
Mr Harris also said the government should be in a position to move forward its own legislation on legacy in 2026, once the UK government passes its own laws on the matter.
Dublin must own up to its Troubles sins, says former Ulster Unionist leader
Mark Hennessy, Ireland and Britain Editor with The Irish Times, October 15th, 2025
The Irish State has “never stood up” and been accountable for its failure to stop IRA cross-Border attacks during the Troubles, a former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party has said.
Speaking as the British government published its legacy legislation, Lord Tom Elliott, now a member of the House of Lords, said: “The Omagh bomb victims are calling for a parallel inquiry in the Republic of Ireland.
“That’s where the bomb was manufactured, that’s where the bomb was transported from, and that’s where those who left it in Omagh went back to. So, there is a huge failure of the Irish on their responsibilities.”
He doubted that the legacy legislation – which has been agreed between Dublin and London – will get cross-community support in Northern Ireland “until there is some fairness and equality” in the law.
“There’s one thing you’re always sure of when you’re dealing with the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland, and that is that you will never get agreement,” he said, adding “90 per cent of the killings during the Troubles were carried out by terrorists”, not by British security forces.
Families in Enniskillen have asked him where is the inquiry into the 1987 bomb that claimed their loved ones, he said. “There isn’t one, and this process will not bring it about either,” he told the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Weybridge, Surrey.
“Where is the fairness for people that were murdered in Teebane, or the Narrow Water killings? Where is the fairness and equality? There isn’t one. Until there is that, we are not going to see agreement,” said the Co Fermanagh-based politician.
Many of the Troubles’ killings in Co Fermanagh, he said, “were carried out by people from the Irish Republic. They went back to the Irish Republic when they had carried out their dastardly deeds.
Thirty years disconnect between the realpolitik of then and now
“I served on the security forces for 18 years, so I know that is what some of those people did. I know the names of some of them. I know where they live, but you can’t do anything about it.”
Former Sinn Féin Stormont economy minister, Conor Murphy said he had “two concerns” about the legacy legislation agreed between Dublin and London after more than a year of negotiations.
Three times before, the governments have tried to get agreement on legacy but they did so together with Northern Ireland’s political parties: “In this case, they collaborated together, and they didn’t work with all of the parties.
“They presented their own findings for their own reasons. I worry about that. I don’t think it’s the way that the Good Friday Agreement and all of the agreements and all of the developments from it were done,” he told the BIPA meeting.
Meanwhile, the British Labour government has tried “to satisfy some sense of pushback” from former British soldiers concerned that more of their number could face prosecution for actions carried out during the Troubles.
“I don’t think you can have two systems, one for people who are in the British army and one for everybody else, so I’m not sure how they’re going to square that circle. It worries me that they will dilute what needs to be done by attempting to do that,” he said.
Former Conservative Northern Ireland secretary of state Karen Bradley said there has been “an increased disconnect” between Westminster politicians and Northern Ireland since the Belfast Agreement.
Before then, MPs from all parties were taken regularly to Northern Ireland: “It was almost a compulsory thing that MPs [from Britain] would visit because their constituents were serving there. So, it became the norm.
“The MPs understood what was happening and they understood the sensitivities. And that simply stopped. After 1998, there’s been more and more of a disconnect between Westminster and Northern Ireland.”
Today’s crop of Westminster MPs do not share the same level of knowledge and they represent the views of veteran soldiers who served in Northern Ireland and who live in their constituencies before anything else, she said.
“That is what MPs prioritise. Rightly or wrongly, but that is the way that our democratic system works. The people that MPs are hearing from are their constituents who served, not the victims.”
Only winners in Stormont’s ‘battle a day’ will be mediocrity and public apathy
JOHN MANLEY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
ANALYSIS
It was 20 years ago that the then Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams first predicted that power-sharing would be “a battle a day”. His assessment was echoed a couple of years later by Peter Robinson, who at the time was deputy leader of the DUP and about to embark on the post-St Andrews power-sharing project with republicans.
“That is why we have argued that this cannot be a permanent structure,” Mr Robinson said.
“This cannot be a lasting and enduring form of government.”
A lot has changed in two decades yet a lot has stayed the same.
The structures referenced by Peter Robinson remain rigidly in place, with Stormont’s big two parties showing little appetite for reform, and the removal of what was once described as the “ugly scaffolding”.
For some, the area most in need of urgent attention is the capacity of either the largest designated nationalist party or the corresponding unionist party to bring down the institutions by walking out of the executive.
In the past decade, both Sinn Féin and the DUP have instigated a prolonged collapse.
We are little over 18 months since devolution was restored with promises of stability and co-operation, yet with every week that passes, as the once common photo-ops get rarer and rarer, the sense of despondency grows.
If the executive is functioning, it’s doing so on the quiet. It’s six weeks since First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly together fronted a press conference to talk about the administration’s work.
Our leaders are conspicuously absent, doing nothing to sell devolution to the public and already with an eye on elections more than a year away. There’s a growing sense that things are slowly falling apart.
Culture wars have superseded decaying environmental and health issues
Meanwhile, the culture war around Irish language has escalated against a backdrop of little progress on the things that matter. As Paul Givan’s School Uniform Bill has demonstrated, even when Stormont gets its act together to legislate, the end result is a disappointingly watered-down version of what was originally pitched.
It’s in the midst of the deteriorating, dysfunctional arranged marriage between Sinn Féin and the DUP that Alliance finds itself trying to make progress. Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir is the latest to describe power-sharing as “a battle a day”.
His diagnosis is informed by his experience around Lough Neagh, where efforts to rehabilitate Ireland’s largest freshwater body are consistently frustrated by the defence of vested interests and a lack of funding. Words reflecting good intentions aren’t met with corresponding actions, a consistent pattern in the executive’s approach.
The Alliance minister highlights a particular change from February last year in the attitude of the DUP, noting how major decisions must be now be signed-off by its party officers – a practice blamed for delays in publishing the programme for government, another example of executive under ambition.
Mr Muir warns that people shouldn’t be complacent and a crisis could easily precipitate another collapse.
This is no way to govern. It’s a hand-to-mouth existence given credence by an Assembly that prefers performative pantomime politics to tackling difficult issues.
The protection of party political interests seemingly trumps the greater good, and until that attitude changes the only winner of the daily battles will be mediocrity and public apathy.
Lough Neagh pollution crisis has cost Stormont £1.7m
CONOR SHEILS, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
STORMONT has spent £1.7 million on contractors working to prevent pollution at Lough Neagh in less than two years.
The spend by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs comes despite the Lough experiencing some of its worst ever algal blooms during this time.
Disclosed in response to a question from West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll, it shows £1.34 million was spent in the 2024-25 financial year, with a further £343,000 spent so far this year on contractor costs.
The Stormont government was reinstated in February 2024 after being suspended for two years because of the DUP’s objection to post-Brexit trading arrangements.
All of the money has gone towards the Sustainable Utilisation of Livestock Slurry (SULS) project.
The project aims to help farmers better manage livestock slurry to prevent excess nutrients entering waterways.
Despite the efforts, toxins linked to pollution of Lough Neagh were detected in the flesh of fish for the first time earlier this year.
Sampling of various species to determine the level and types of toxins that may be present in fish, including the world-renowned lough eels, have been taking place since large-scale algal blooms began appearing two years ago.
The Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-Op, which sells and distributes eels and other fish on behalf of its members, extended a ban on commercial eel fishing on the lough for the entire summer season for the first time this year.
Mr Carroll said that more must be done to crack down on those who are polluting the north’s largest fresh water lake.
“Pollution of the Lough is clearly caused by industrial-scale farming and the agri-food industry, both of which are being given the green light to destroy our local environment by the Stormont Executive,” he claimed.
“But rather than cracking down on profiteering polluters, the executive is throwing millions of public money towards untested private solutions that clearly aren’t working, while continuing to under-invest in our water and sewage system.
“The Department has serious questions to answer over this extortionate spend, which has been incurred while Lough Neagh witnessed its worst ever algal blooms.”
The department has been approached for comment.
NI post-Brexit rules labelled as 'impossible' to navigate
DAVID YOUNG, Belfast Telegraph, October 15th, 2025
HOUSE OF LORDS COMMITTEE CALLS FOR ACTION ON 'INSUFFICIENT' MEASURES
Democratic oversight arrangements designed to give Stormont politicians and other stakeholders a say in post-Brexit rules in Northern Ireland are “overwhelmingly complex” and “impossible” to navigate, peers have found.
A House of Lords committee said the measures were “insufficient” and called for “urgent action” from the Government to address the concerns.
The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee examined the arrangements included in the Windsor Framework — the joint EU/UK accord that sets out post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland.
To ensure no hardening of the Irish land border after the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules.
The framework requires checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into the region.
It also includes a series of measures designed to address concerns that politicians and businesses in Northern Ireland have a limited role in influencing the post-Brexit rules that apply in the region.
This included the establishment of a dedicated committee at the Assembly to scrutinise EU law changes proposed to come into effect in Northern Ireland.
A mechanism called the Stormont Brake was also created. That allows a minimum of 30 Stormont MLAs, from at least two parties, to refer a proposed EU law change to the UK Government.
The Government then makes an assessment of the proposed change on NI can veto its application in the region.
If the Government rules that the brake has been appropriately pulled, it must then directly engage with the EU to find a solution.
The committee of peers assessed the effectiveness of the committee and the brake, as well as a provision that allows stakeholders from Northern Ireland to attend certain joint UK-EU meetings.
The committee heard evidence from a range of witnesses, including the Federation of Small Businesses Northern Ireland, the Ulster Farmers' Union and Northern Ireland Retail Consortium.
Among their findings, the peers concluded that post-Brexit arrangements remain “insufficiently understood” in NI.
Greater transparency and local participation needed
They made several recommendations that, they contend, will strengthen the region's voice in the operation of the Windsor Framework and promote greater transparency.
The committee urged the Government to “urgently consider” how to simplify the framework arrangements, which it described as a “complex and opaque structure” that is difficult for business and civil society stakeholders to navigate.
It found a need to address difficulties faced by businesses due to the absence of a centralised register of applicable EU laws in Northern Ireland, which requires them to spend time and resources tracking developments on laws applicable to them.
The peers also found that the Government's Trader Support Service for businesses trying to navigate the rules is “not providing a good quality of service”.
The committee recommended a new unit in the Cabinet Office responsible for regulatory divergence and a “one stop shop” where businesses can access relevant information about EU laws that apply in Northern Ireland.
Peers also expressed concern that the democratic scrutiny committee at Stormont does not have sufficient resources to assess law changes proposed to the region. That was also a main finding in a recently published Government-commissioned review of the arrangements undertaken by Lord Murphy.
The committee said the Stormont Brake was a “highly-political topic” and peers noted the view expressed by some witnesses that the mechanism was “oversold”.
They urged the Government to be “more transparent” about the function of the brake, so that it can be used “productively as a mechanism for promoting dialogue” between it and the Assembly.
Commenting on the report, Lord Carlile, chairman of the committee, said: “Our report comes at a pivotal moment for NI and the UK. As the Government pursues a reset in UK-EU relations, it is vital that NI's voice is represented and heard.
“The potential agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary and energy arrangements could have significant implications for Northern Ireland's place in the UK internal market, and for how the UK consults the EU on the application of EU law.
“We strongly support proposals to enhance Northern Ireland's voice early in the EU legislative process, including through better resourcing of the UK Mission in Brussels and closer collaboration with the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
“It was clear from the concerns raised by businesses, civil society and political representatives — both in formal evidence and during our visit to Newry and Belfast — that the democratic deficit in Northern Ireland remains unresolved.
“Despite differing views among members, we agree that meaningful engagement, transparency, and public understanding must be urgently improved for the benefit of all communities in NI.”
Alliance should enter opposition to save party’s electoral fortunes
LETTERS: IRISH NEWS
THE election of 17 Alliance MLAs to the Assembly was lauded as a new era in Northern Ireland politics after the 2022 election. Who would have thought there would be an Alliance MLA elected in North Antrim or South Down? Naomi Long has been a consequential leader for the party in her nine-year tenure – her leadership secured the ‘Alliance surge’ that elected Stephen Farry and Sorcha Eastwood to Westminster and an MLA team that has talented individuals among its ranks.
However, the party has now fallen backwards in its appeal to voters since the last Assembly election. Why has Alliance dipped somewhat in the opinion polls? The key reason is obvious: entering government with Sinn Féin and the DUP has hurt the party massively since Naomi Long and Andrew Muir became ministers at the Executive table. The other reason is also clear – the SDLP official opposition has proven a much tougher opponent for Alliance than it probably thought in the early weeks of the restored Assembly last year.
There are some who argue that Alliance entering government meant the conservative DUP and left-wing Sinn Féin ministers wouldn’t pull away from consensus, centre-ground politics, like the view that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats were a guard against right-wing Thatcherites in the Conservative Party during the ‘Cameron-Clegg coalition’.
“Alliance looks to be a party in mid-term crisis with little-to-no concrete policy wins at Stormont to show for its 17-strong MLA team
Yet, as we enter the final stages of this electoral cycle, Alliance looks to be a party in mid-term crisis with little-to-no concrete policy wins at Stormont to show for its 17-strong MLA team. The party has two difficult portfolios – justice and DAERA. Naomi Long faces huge problems with the criminal justice system and the PSNI, while Andrew Muir faces a monumental challenge with Lough Neagh. Both ministers are undoubtedly trying their best to put their foot down and tackle these issues head on, but is that going to be viewed in a positive light come the next election?
Many voters are extremely disappointed with Alliance’s decision to enter the Executive with Sinn Féin and the DUP alongside the Ulster Unionists. Many will lament the fact that for all the hard work and effort that may be put in by Alliance ministers, the larger parties who have an overall majority will vote it down or block it at the first hurdle. That was an expected outcome and it was Alliance’s job to foresee that situation occurring – they have only themselves to blame for failing to deliver what they promised.
Alliance had the chance to build up its coalition of supporters and like-minded voters further as the official opposition, with Naomi Long as leader of the opposition. Instead, the SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole is challenging the Executive parties on delivery including that of both Alliance ministers. Alliance has now lost a platform on which it could have built up the agenda for institutional reform, integrated education and economic development further. Instead, it is now collectively responsible for the failure of the entire Executive to deliver for Northern Ireland.
If Alliance has any hope of salvaging its electoral fortunes at the next election, how can it do so? Its ministers should resign from the Executive and the party should enter opposition before it is too late or risk losing the support of the electorate.
If the party decides to continue in government and fail to put its stamp on the Executive, the decision to trade real power to build the appetite for change in favour of ministerial office may prove to have been a heavy price to pay for some Alliance MLAs come the next election.
EDWARD FERRIN Belfast BT14
Casement ‘stuck in executive dysfunction’
DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
THE fate of the troubled Casement Park redevelopment project is now “stuck in the limbo of executive dysfunction”, the assembly has heard.
SDLP leader of the opposition Matthew O’Toole made the claim as he pressed Communities Minister Gordon Lyons for an update on the long-delayed rebuild of the derelict GAA ground in west Belfast.
Plans for a new 34,000-capacity stadium at Casement remain mired in uncertainty because of a significant funding gap. In the summer the UK government allocated £50 million to support the redevelopment.
While that added to around £120 million that has been pledged by the Stormont executive, Irish government and GAA, it was not enough to bridge the gap to cover the cost of the rebuild, which by some estimates could be in the region of £270 million.
Mr Lyons and Finance Minister John O’Dowd met last month to discuss the state of the project but that did not resolve the impasse on funding.
Mr O’Toole raised the issue during assembly question time yesterday. “It appears that stadium is stuck in the limbo of executive dysfunction,” he told the minister.
“Months ago, in June, the Treasury committed an extra £50 million to build that using FTC (Financial Transactions Capital). We understand only a couple of weeks ago you met with the finance minister. What is the status of Casement Park? When will construction begin? And do you actually support this project being delivered?”
FTC is a government funding stream that can be used to support capital investment projects.
A general view of the derelict grounds of the Casement Park stadium
Mr Lyons told Mr O’Toole that it was still unclear how the FTC funding would work.
“The member will be aware there’s still a shortfall in terms of the bridge that needs to be gapped,” said the DUP representative.
“That’s why I met with the finance minister. Those conversations are still ongoing. We also need some clarity as to exactly what Financial Transactions Capital means in the context of this particular project.
“Of course, it’s not the only element that hasn’t been funded. We’ve also seen how the Northern Ireland Football Fund (to redevelop regional stadia) hasn’t been funded to its need either. So I stand ready to meet with anyone in regards to this project. And I have said before, I want to make sure that strategic need for sport in Northern Ireland is met.”
Last month, Mr O’Dowd told the assembly that the conditions attached to the FTC funding had all been confirmed with the government.
He said the £50 million could only be used for Casement Park and said the money had also been provided on a “net basis”, meaning it does not need to be repaid to the Treasury.
“There are no further conditions attached to the funding,” added Mr O’Dowd.
Adams and other Troubles detainees won’t get compensation
DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, October 15th, 2025
NEW legislation to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles includes provisions to block Gerry Adams from receiving compensation over being interned in the 1970s.
The Troubles Bill will also give legislative effect to a range of new mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the conflict.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn had already signalled the UK government’s intent to ensure the draft legislation acted on the issue of potential compensation to internees whose detention without trial during the conflict has since been ruled to have been unlawful on a legal technicality.
A Supreme Court judgment in 2020 paved the way for former Sinn Féin president Mr Adams to secure compensation over his internment in the early 1970s.
Mr Adams won his appeal to overturn historical convictions for two attempted prison breaks, after he was interned in 1973 at Long Kesh internment camp, also known as Maze Prison, near Lisburn.
The Supreme Court ruled that his detention was unlawful because the interim custody order (ICO) used to initially detain him had not been “considered personally” by then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Willie Whitelaw.
At the time of the case, the previous government contended that the ICOs were lawful because of a long-standing convention, known as the Carltona principle, where officials and junior ministers routinely act in the name of the secretary of state.
Mr Adams subsequently successfully challenged a decision to deny an application for compensation for his detention.
Payment stopped
However, the 2023 Legacy Act introduced by the last Conservative government stopped such payouts to Mr Adams and other former internees.
The Act retrospectively validated the ICOs to make them lawful and halted civil claims related to the orders.
However, in February last year, the High Court in Belfast ruled that the provisions of the Act related to the ICOs were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Labour government did not appeal against that section of the High Court judgment but Mr Benn pledged to find a lawful means to block payouts.
The Troubles Bill will seek to reaffirm the so-called Carltona principle into law – a move the Government believes will prevent payouts.
While the Legacy Act’s provisions in relation to ICOs – sections 46 and 47 – were ruled incompatible with ECHR by the High Court, the government is retaining those sections on the statute book until such time as the Troubles Bill becomes law.
Addressing the Commons yesterday, Mr Benn said: “We must put beyond doubt Parliament’s intention by clarifying that the relevant legislation allows such orders (ICOs) to be made by junior ministers, as well as by the Secretary of State.”
Final betrayal of UK state forces on legacy gets nearer
Editorial: Belfast News Letter, October 15th, 2025
This newspaper has been chronicling the betrayal of legacy for a decade now.
It was 2015 that we, alone, began to examine the failings in the Stormont House legacy agreement the previous year, which only the Ulster Unionist Party opposed.
It became clear over time that the 2014 Stormont House deal would at best maintain the anti state imbalance in legacy probes, and perhaps make it worse.
The overall unionist and UK government response to that scandal has been poor. The Conservative administration did however begin to realise that legacy was out of control, something we highlighted with increasing emphasis from 2016, and tried in 2020 to shut the process down. While such an approach was far better than the status quo, or indeed than Stormont House (which, mercifully, was never implemented) it was also cowardly. It meant the Irish government and Irish republicans would both get away with years of chasing the UK on the past while being shielded from their own culpability.
The relatively mute response when Ireland then went on to sue London over its conditional amnesty plan (Dublin cited unionist opposition to that plan, to imply it was suing on behalf of everyone) was the next stage in the legacy scandal.
Now the Labour government has capitulated to a state that is suing it, and is trying to disguise its betrayal of its own country by, for example, stopping Gerry Adams from getting damages from Britain. But that move, which the Tories tried to do far too late and Labour for a while almost reversed, is minor compared to the outrage that Dublin has succeeded in citing the failed Stormont House deal to get back on track a process in which UK state forces, who prevented civil war, are hounded on legacy while the IRA enjoys its de facto amnesty, and Ireland makes useless pledges on legacy while continuing to be shielded from real scrutiny.
Perfect Climate Change storm turns Lough Neagh into an Open Sewer
Neil Read, Belfast News Letter, October 15th, 2025
Nutrient pollution, climate change and zebra mussels have combined to create a 'perfect storm' that has turned Lough Neagh into a sewer
Each summer since 2023, Lough Neagh has turned a stagnant, unnatural blue-green. Once a treasured source of drinking water, fisheries and recreation, it is now an open sewer and a symbol of environmental failure.
Blue-green algae at Battery Harbour on Lough Neagh near Cookstown in Co Tyrone. Lough Neagh provides drinking water to 40% of Northern Ireland but today it is choked with foul-smelling algae producing dangerous toxins.
Vast blooms of toxic blue-green algae again smothered the surface this year, driving away swimmers and anglers, forcing businesses to close, and raising fears for human and animal health.
On the balance of probabilities, the dominant driver is nutrient pollution - above all, phosphorus. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) estimates that 62% of phosphorus entering the lough comes from agriculture.
Overuse of fertiliser and slurry is the chief source, with run-off washing into rivers during rain. Many farmyards lack proper slurry storage, leading to overspreading, while spreading before rainfall, ploughing on slopes and poor wastewater management compound the problem.
The landscape itself no longer offers protection. Natural defences such as vegetated riverbanks, woodlands and wetlands have been stripped away, leaving little to filter pollution before it reaches the water.
The second-largest source is human effluent wastewater, accounting for 24% of phosphorus. Treatment plants discharge nutrient-rich water into rivers, especially during heavy rain when storage capacity is exceeded.
In rural areas, leaking septic tanks add a further 12%. Other sources, such as household detergents, are trivial by comparison.
Lough 1C warmer than in the past
Two other forces are making matters worse. Lough Neagh is now more than 1C warmer than a few decades ago, creating more favourable growing conditions for algae.
More frequent heavy downpours after dry spells flush nutrients into the system in concentrated bursts.
Meanwhile, a non-native invasive species from south-east Europe and Asia - the zebra mussel - has transformed the ecosystem. By filtering out harmless green algae, the lake’s water becomes crystal clear in spring, allowing more light to penetrate, giving toxic cyanobacteria, the cause of the blue-green algae, the upper
The combination of excess nutrients, climate change and zebra mussels have created a ‘perfect storm’.
Unlike nutrients, there is little that can be done locally to reverse climate change or remove invasive mussels. That leaves one course of action: cutting phosphorus pollution.
In 2012, the Northern Ireland Executive launched Going for Growth, a strategy to expand food exports by ramping up meat and dairy production.
Farmers expanded herds, imported more feed, and dramatically increased industrial chicken farming – all generating more animal waste.
Northern Ireland, with just 1.9 million people, now produces enough food to feed over 10 million. The cost is environmental: between 2012 and 2022, phosphorus levels in rivers rose by 55%. Going for Growth turbocharged pollution and reversed earlier gains made under the European Water Framework Directive.
Water laced with E Coli
The consequences are stark.
Lough Neagh provides drinking water to 40% of Northern Ireland. Today it is choked with foul-smelling algae producing dangerous toxins accompanied by unpleasant bacteria such as E coli - resulting in high costs of drinking water treatment.
Pets have died, tourism and recreation businesses have shut, the eel fishery has collapsed, and the lake’s internationally important bird and fish populations are in decline.
Fixing Lough Neagh will take decades. It will require cutting farm runoff, upgrading wastewater infrastructure and restoring river corridors, woodlands and wetlands.
But unless government policy balances farm productivity with environmental protection, the toxic blooms will keep returning each summer.
Dr Neil Reid is reader in conservation biology at Queen’s University Belfast
Gerry Adams accuses Irish Govt of colluding with Britain over compensation
By Iain Gray, Belfast News Letter, October 14th, 2025
Gerry Adams has accused the Irish government of colluding with Great Britain, as he lashed out on moves to block compensation he could receive for being interned in the 1970s.
The Troubles legacy bill introduced in Westminster today includes measures to block payouts to internees like the former Sinn Fein president, whose detention without trial during the conflict has since been ruled to have been unlawful.
It also means inquests and trials halted by previous legislation can go ahead, while the Irish parliament intends to bring legislation that will ensure the state’s “fullest possible” cooperation with a new truth and investigations body.
The bill’s measures were this evening attacked by Mr Adams, who accused Westminster of “hypocrisy and duplicity” by ending internment compensation – and said it was “disgraceful” for Dublin to “collude” in it.
“Today, at the stroke of a pen what was illegal five decades ago has been made legal as the British state changes the rules to suit its own agenda and protect its own military personnel,” he said, in a statement issued by Sinn Fein.
“That an Irish government would collude in this is disgraceful.”
Alleging that British security forces had colluded in Troubles bombings, he added: “The Irish government has now signed up to new laws that will protect those British soldiers involved in these and other attacks.
“The British want to close the door on their past actions. Like many others I will be speaking to my legal team in the next few days to examine what options here and within Europe are open to us.”
The joint UK-Irish framework unveiled today includes commitments to significantly restructure an investigative and truth recovery body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information. It will be renamed the Legacy Commission.
It will also lift a prohibition on Troubles-related civil cases in UK courts and inquests on conflict-linked deaths. Nine inquests that were part heard will resume.
The draft legislation also contains measures designed in response to concerns raised by military veterans about previous legacy processes. These protections, which are not part of the joint framework, include provisions for witnesses to give evidence remotely without travelling to Northern Ireland.
The bill has been criticised by unionists, however, who feel the Irish government has been given too much power over the UK’s actions.
'No evidence’ of demand for integrated education between two schools - judge
By Alan Erwin, Belfast News Letter, October 15th, 2025
'There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that such a demand (for integrated education) exists within the local Catholic community' says judge, as legal challenge over Paul Givan's decision to reject integrated status bids for Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary fails
Stormont Education Minister Paul Givan was legally entitled to reject attempts by two north Down schools to become integrated, the High Court ruled today.
A judge dismissed claims Mr Givan breached a legislative obligation and “cherry-picked” plans to make a case against the proposed transformation of Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary.
Mr Justice McAlinden held that the Minister had clearly indicated a problem around obtaining reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Catholic children.
“There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that such a demand (for integrated education) exists within the local Catholic community,” he said.
Catholic enrolment levels at both Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary in recent years was said to be around three per cent
The verdict came in a legal challenge mounted on behalf of pupils at the two schools.
Bangor Academy, with nearly 1,900 pupils and Northern Ireland’s largest school, held a ballot on the proposal to move to integrated status which reportedly drew almost 80% support from parents and guardians.
Rathmore Primary School’s plans to make the switch received a similar level of backing.
According to documents published by the Department of Education, officials also recommended both Bangor-based schools being allowed to become integrated.
Earlier this year, however, Mr Givan decided not to approve the plans.
The DUP Minister said there was insufficient evidence that enough Catholic pupils would attend the schools for the provision of integrated education.
Citing legislation about having reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Catholic children in integrated schools, those targets were assessed as highly unlikely to be met.
Three per cent Catholic enrolment in schools
Catholic enrolment levels at both Bangor Academy and Rathmore Primary in recent years was said to be around three percent.
Applications for leave to seek a judicial review contend that Mr Givan has made an error of law and acted irrationally.
Lawyers representing the two pupils claimed he breached Article 64 of the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 which imposes a duty to encourage and facilitate the development of integrated education.
The Minister ignored the reality that much of the work to meet the ‘reasonable numbers’ requirement can only be done once a school is approved for the change in status, the court was told.
It was also alleged that Mr Givan failed to take into account a number of relevant factors, including: the opinion/advice of the Education Authority and officials; the demographic realities facing schools seeking to transform; and the data showing growth of transformed schools.
Counsel for the Department responded that the proposals had been assessed as being “under-cooked”.
He argued there was not enough scrutiny on the key issue of increasing Catholic students from three percent to something close to reasonable numbers.
Ruling on the two applications for judicial review, Mr Justice McAlinden rejected all grounds of challenge.
He described the case as a bid by some advocates of integrated education to reverse the Minister’s realistic stance by arguing a more lax attitude to the ‘reasonable numbers’ requirement should be adopted.
“Such an attempt is doomed to failure for all sorts of reasons,” the judge stated.
“The courts are not here as tools to be used by one party or another in disputes or arguments on socio-economic, cultural, educational, healthcare or other policies.
“All too often now, matters are brought before the courts in the guise of a legal challenge when in fact they are blatant policy challenges.
“Such litigation strategies are to be deprecated.”
Alliance Claim of ‘battle a day’ at Stormont Executive a ‘surprise to me’ says Mike Nesbitt
By Rebecca Black, PA, Belfast News Letter, October 15th, 2025
A claim of there being a "battle a day" at the Stormont Executive was a "surprise to me", Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has said.
Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir earlier this week complained of a slow pace to agree items, and claimed that while last year First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly were working in a collegiate manner, in recent times that "had ended".
He also said while he was not expecting the administration to collapse, he did not rule that out before the next Assembly election due to take place in 2027.
"In terms of my experience since June of last year of sitting on the Executive for the first time, it is pretty collaborative," he told the PA news agency.
"Clearly you have got four parties around the table, and their ideological positions aren't just different on the constitutional question, but I look at the Labour government - a single party government in London - and they're not exactly homogeneous, and you look at the Conservative opposition and they're not homogeneous up to the point where they're questioning whether they've got the right leaders at the top of the organisations.
"So having a four-party coalition presents additional challenges, and I actually think we're not doing a bad job. That would be my perspective."
Mr Muir also expressed disappointment in unionist parties, and claimed the DUP are "picking out wedge issues" while the UUP is a "lost cause", and "not the moderate voice for unionism".
Mr Nesbitt, who leads the UUP, responded by saying that the Alliance Party is "a little spooked" because their "surge is over".
Two arrested in Tyrone and Fermanagh over suspected explosive device in Irish Republic
By Rebecca Black, PA, Belfast News Letter, October 165th, 2025
Two men have been arrested in counties Tyrone and Fermanagh over a suspected explosive device found in the Irish Republic last year.
Police arrested the pair, aged 44 and 49, in the Fermanagh and Dungannon areas on Tuesday night.
They said the arrests are in connection with the discovery of a suspected improvised explosive device in the Ravensdale area of Co Louth on June 9 2024.
"They have been arrested under Section 41 Terrorism of the Terrorism Act 2000, and have been taken to the Serious Crime Suite at Musgrave Police Station for questioning," a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said, adding they are working alongside colleagues in An Garda Siochana.
Police arrested the pair, aged 44 and 49, in the Fermanagh and Dungannon areas on Tuesday night
"We are grateful for the support of local communities and encourage anyone with information, or concerns, to contact us on 101 or report online via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport."
Previously, detectives charged two men, both aged 44, in connection with this investigation.
