‘No evidence’ PIRA victim with learning difficulties was RUC informer
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
OPERATION Kenova has concluded there is no evidence a man killed by the Provisional IRA provided information that resulted in three republicans being shot dead by the British army.
Damian McCrory, from Strabane, was abducted, interrogated and killed by the IRA on October 7, 1985.
The 20-year-old was last seen alive at his Innisfree Gardens home at around midday on October 6.
His body was found in the nearby Drumrallagh Estate just after 10pm the next day – a period of around 34 hours from abduction to death.
A ‘confession letter’ was later posted to his family, although it is said he could not read or write.
The 20-year-old, who had learning difficulties, was accused by the IRA of passing information to the RUC that resulted in Charles Breslin (20) and brothers Michael (22) and David Devine (16) being ambushed and killed by the British army.
The three IRA members were shot dead close to an arms dump on the outskirts of Strabane in February 1985.
It has previously been claimed the SAS was involved.
Mr McCrory was a close friend of Mr Breslin.
Days after Mr McCrory was shot dead the IRA released a statement claiming he had been working for the RUC for 13 months and accused him of using a walkie talkie to update police on the movements of his friend and the Devine brothers when they were gunned down.
The republican group also claimed he was given various “direction tracking devices” and “movement detectors” that he was “told to plant in any weapons or dumps that he came across”.
The murder of Mr McCrory has been examined by Operation Kenova. It was established in 2016 to investigate the activities of the British agent known as Stakeknife – identified as Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci in 2003.
Forced into false confession
‘Damian forced into false confession’
Investigations team believe Strabane man was ‘placed under immense pressure by members of the IRA internal security unit’
A former commander of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), Scappaticci has been linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions.
Also known as the ‘Nutting Squad’, the ISU was responsible for hunting down and killing informers.
An interim report into Scappaticci’s activities was published last year, with a final version yet to be made public.
As part of the Operation Kenova investigation, relatives of some victims have been provided with bespoke family reports.
In recent weeks Operation Kenova officials met with the McCrory family and presented them with a family report.
Investigators have been given unprecedented access to RUC, British army and MI5 records over recent years.
As part of a ‘neither confirm nor deny’ (NCND) policy used by British state agencies, Operation Kenova cannot confirm if any person, including Scappaticci, has or has not worked for the state.
Despite the policy, the Operation Kenova report concludes “there is no evidence that Damian passed intelligence to RUC Special Branch about the arms dump where the three members of PIRA were shot dead by the British army in February 1985”.
Operation Kenova also confirms that “intelligence suggests that Damian was told that if he admitted being an informant he would be released”.
Operation Kenova confirmed that Freddie Scappaticci, known as British agent ‘Stakeknife’, later reported the killing of Damian McCrory to his handlers but there is no evidence that he took part in the murder
“Kenova believes that it is highly likely Damian would have made false admissions in order to be released,” the report states.
The investigation team believes that Mr McCrory was “placed under such immense pressure by members of the ISU that resulted in him admitting to matters for which he was not responsible”.
Investigators say this belief is supported “by the fact that his alleged confession, published by PIRA, contains information he could not have been responsible for”.
The reports says that Operation Kenova has obtained evidence “in respect of a number of PIRA ISU interrogations”.
Physical and mental torture
“These interrogations were conducted using both physical and mental torture,” the report says.
“Therefore, any confessions obtained in such a manner should be disregarded.”
The report also confirms that agent Stakeknife later reported on the killing of Mr McCrory to his handlers, “but there is no evidence or intelligence to show that he personally took part in Damian’s interrogation and murder”.
Operation Kenova’s assessment is that Mr McCrory was a “vulnerable young man forced by PIRA to admit to passing information to the authorities which he was not responsible for.
“This led to his callous murder by PIRA,” the report states.
After Mr McCrory was killed PIRA faced a backlash in some quarters.
Operation Kenova now claims that there “was, and is, a consensus amongst the Strabane community in which Damian lived, that he was incapable of doing the acts he was accused of by PIRA”.
Investigators say the information they have examined supports that view.
“Intelligence reflect(s) the community feeling that Damian was a ‘scapegoat’ for PIRA operational failures due to actions of others, of which Damian had no knowledge or control over,” the report states.
An assessment of information linked to the case suggests there was “significant intelligence in the aftermath of Damien’s murder naming individuals potentially involved in his interrogation and murder”.
More than one informer
The report also suggests more than one informer later provided information about Mr McCrory.
The document reveals there was 15 separate pieces of intelligence received by RUC Special Branch “much of which was received shortly after Damian’s murder and which came from a number of different informants”.
The report confirms the IRA has a “very real suspicion” that there was an informer in its Strabane unit and “actively investigated” this after the Breslin and Devine brothers’ ambush.
“According to intelligence named individuals were questioned by the IRA but released,” the report states.
The report adds that “PIRA also suspected incompetence within leadership of local units.”
This suspicion was “heightened” after Charles Breslin and the Devine brothers’ were killed.
Mr McCrory’s family say he was not a member of the IRA and in its 1985 statement the republican group described him as a “civilian”.
However, it is believed he had helped the IRA in the past.
In September 1984 he was arrested and questioned by the RUC before being released without charge.
In its 1985 statement the IRA said after its security personnel carried out a “long and painstaking investigation” into the killing of its three members “a number of facts came to their attention which led them to arrest this man (Mr McCrory)”.
According to Operation Kenova, intelligence suggests Mr McCrory “was not under suspicion by PIRA until he was abducted and debriefed by the PIRA security unit post his arrest by the RUC in September 1984”.
The report adds that Kenova “found no evidence that there was any intelligence reporting prior to Damien’s abduction that could have prevented his death”.
Intelligence also identified “three separate suspects who were reported to have shot” Mr McCrory, identified in the Kenova report as F, G and K.
They are among 11 suspects in total highlighted by the investigation.
These include Suspect J, who repeatedly called at Mr McCrory’s home on the day he was abducted.
Suspect A has been named as “responsible for suspicion being pointed at Damian as being an informer” while Kenova says intelligence indicates another suspect ordered the shooting and posted the confession letter to Mr McCrory’s family.
Operation Kenova has also carried out detailed forensic analysis of the gun used to kill Mr McCrory.
It has viewed original investigation files for the killing of Daniel Mallon in Strabane on August 22, 1985 “where it is suggested that the same weapon was used to also murder Damian”.
The 65-year-old father-of-four was shot dead by the IRA as he sat in the Railway Bar in the town in a case of mistaken identity.
“Intelligence and investigative strategy suggests that persons of interest appear in this and Damian’s murder,” the Kenova report states.
The weapon used has never been recovered.
‘I WANT THEM TO SAY THEY WERE WRONG’
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
THE republican movement has been urged to say it was wrong after Operation Kenova found there is no evidence a Co Tyrone man killed by the IRA informed on three members shot dead by the British army.
Damian McCrory (20), from Strabane, was abducted, interrogated and killed by the IRA on October 7, 1985.
The 20-year-old, who had learning difficulties, was accused of providing information which resulted in the British army killing of Charles Breslin (20) and brothers Michael (22) and David Devine (16).
The three IRA men were shot dead close to an arms dump on the outskirts of Strabane in February 1985.
In a statement, the IRA directly accused Mr McCrory of being an RUC informer.
Mr McCrory, who was a close friend of Mr Breslin, was interrogated by the IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), which hunted down and killed informers and agents.
However, a recent report provided to the McCrory family by Operation Kenova reaches a significant conclusion.
“There is no evidence that Damian passed intelligence to RUC Special Branch about the arms dump where the three members of PIRA were shot dead by the British army in February 1985,” the report states.
Mr McCrory’s family has now urged the republican movement it to correct the public record.
Mickey McCrory has lived with the trauma of losing his younger brother for almost 40 years and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
He was among the first to attend the scene after his brother’s body was found and travelled to the hospital with him in the ambulance.
‘An apology doesn’t cover it’
“I don’t want an apology from the republican movement,” he said. “An apology doesn’t cover it. “I want them to admit they were wrong, I just want them to say they were wrong.
“I was going to put a thing in the paper this year on his (Damian’s) anniversary, ‘born innocent, died innocent’.”
Although rare, in the past the IRA has admitted when people were wrongly accused of being informers and subsequently killed.
In 2003 the organisation released a statement about Anthony Braniff (22), was shot dead in west Belfast in September 1983 after being branded an informer.
Damien McCrory (pictured with niece Mary Ellen) was shot dead in 1985 in Strabane, In a statement issued to the media, the IRA claimed responsibility and said McCrory had been a police informer; below, inset, statement about the death of Mr McCrory, which was published in An Phoblacht/Republican News in October 1985
The claim was disputed by relatives and the RUC denied he was working for them.
In 2003 the IRA said it found no evidence to support the claims made against him.
Mr McCrory’s sister-in-law Michelle McCrory believes his case highlights a wider issue for the republican movement.
“That their policy on informers was all wrong because the people who were interrogating them were all British agents,” she said.
“They were saying innocent people were informers to keep themselves from being outed.
Informers ‘all high up in the IRA’
“ And they were all high up in the IRA, every single one of them.”
The McCrory family believe informers within the IRA in Strabane, who may also have been involved in Damian’s murder, have been protected by the state.
Michelle said that in the years after her brother-in-law was shot the wider family felt a heavy burden of stigma due to the nature of the allegations.
“You didn’t even know if people that you were friendly with believed it,” she said.
“You didn’t know whether they felt sorry for you.”
Mickey adds that after his brother was killed “people drifted away” from his circle of friends.
He told how after his mother Mary Ellen died in 1982 there were regular visitors to the family home, including many young people.
“After Damian was shot, it all stopped,” he said.
Mr McCrory said he faced hostility from what he calls a ‘clique’ within the local community, which included being sniggered and spat at.
He said that on his brother’s first anniversary a memorial notice placed in a local paper described him as being “murdered” by the IRA.
Days later graffiti was scrawled on a local wall stating he had ‘executed’ and not ‘murdered’, as the family had described it.
“We would put Damian’s anniversary in the paper, and we would always make a comment about him being innocent,” Mickey explained.
Singled out by British Army as well as Republicans for victimisation
Mickey said his family was also singled out for attention by the British army in the immediate aftermath of the killing.
On the morning Mr McCrory was due to be buried, British soldiers arrived at the wake claiming there was “suspicious activity” and demanded entry.
Mickey reveals that after they were refused there was “fighting fist to fist” in the hallway of the wake house as mourners tried to push the troops from the property.He also tells how the RUC mocked his brother’s death and in one incident, less than a week after the killing, a police officer put a gun to another brother’s head as he walked through Strabane.
“If Damian was an informer, why were we getting that much harassment?
“We were getting it from both sides.”
Mickey said that despite the hostility shown towards his family, there were those who did not believe Mr McCrory worked for the state, including some local republicans.
“Some of the local community didn’t believe it was true,” he said.
“Some republicans didn’t believe it. “There was a split in the IRA just after that.
“As far as I know all the old IRA members left.”
He also says that a former senior IRA member from Strabane, who was in jail in 1985, later said that had he not been behind bars Mr McCrory would not have been killed.
“There is no evidence that Damian passed intelligence to RUC Special Branch about the arms dump where the three members of PIRA were shot dead by the British army in February 1985”
Operation Kenova report
Mickey believes the IRA in Strabane was under pressure to identify an informer operating in its ranks in the months before his brother was killed.
“We reckon the pressure was put on because three fellas were shot,” he said.
“We reckon there was that much pressure put on the local base -‘you’ve an informer in your ranks, find them’.
“The handlers have said (to the informer) ‘you are going to be discovered unless you get somebody to take the rap’,” he said.
“Between the handlers and the agent, they look for a viable scapegoat.
“Damian is slow of learning, his mother died just two years before that, his father died five years before that, he had no parents, nobody really to look after him.
“He was close to Charlie (Breslin) and I believe that set him up as a prime target.”
After Mr McCrory was shot dead, the IRA released a statement claiming he had been working for the RUC for 13 months and accused him of using a walkie talkie to update police on the movements of his friend and the Devine brothers on the morning they were killed.
The group also claimed he was given various “direction tracking devices” and “movement detectors” that he was “told to plant in any weapons or dumps that he came across”.
Mickey said his brother was not capable of what he was accused of.
“Belfast knew what they were doing when they came down because they came and interrogated him and walked away and left him to be shot,” he said.
SAS ambush
Brothers David and Michael Devine, and Charles Breslin who were shot dead in an ambush in Strabane by the SAS in 1985
“They knew when they came out of that room – that was a totally vulnerable young fella.”
Mickey said his brother’s vulnerabilities were obvious. “I could come into this room, and he could be sitting in that chair, and I would have went ‘boo’ to him and he would have cried,” he said.
Mickey also raised questions about the alleged confession.
“He was supposed to have tracers to put into the weapons,” he said.
“Any story you read about any informer, agents discover the weapons, they contact their handlers, the handlers bring in the army or special tech boys, they plant the bug into the weapon.
“Would you know how to strip a weapon down? Damian could hardly strip himself down to give himself a shower never mind (anything else).”
He has no doubt any admissions made by his brother were under duress and suggests he was physically assaulted during interrogation.
“He had a star marked on his head, where he was hit,” he said.
“He was hit on the head in the interrogation room, then outside before he was shot, he was hit on the forehead with the butt of the gun.”
Michelle strongly doubts that Mr McCrory wrote the confession letter and says her family was unable to provide a sample of his handwriting to investigators for analysis.
“We couldn’t even find a copy of Damian’s writing, because Damian couldn’t read or write,” she said.
“We couldn’t even find evidence of his writing to give to Kenova to compare because there was never anything written by him to begin with.”
Mickey said his brother was never a member of the IRA and believes he should not have faced the same sanction as those who were.
“Damian was not a member of the IRA, so why was he shot if he was never through the Green Book?”
Notorious informer denied involvement in Strabane man’s death
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
THE family of a Co Tyrone man killed by the IRA believe a notorious informer exposed in the 1990s may have been involved.
Strabane man Damian McCrory (20) was abducted, interrogated and shot dead by the IRA on October 7, 1985.
The 20-year-old, who had learning difficulties, was accused of providing information that resulted in the British army killing of IRA members Charles Breslin (20) and brothers Michael (22) and David Devine (16) in February 1985.
Mr McCrory’s family believe an informer has been protected by the state and suspect self-confessed RUC Special Branch informer Declan ‘Beano’ Casey may have been involved in setting up the three IRA members.
It is understood Operation Kenova officials have told the family that Casey was not active as an informer until 1987 – two years after the deadly Strabane ambush.
Reported to have been a quartermaster for the IRA’s West Tyrone Brigade, Casey would have been considered a prized asset by the state.
In his role as quartermaster, he was responsible for the storage and movement of weapons across west Tyrone and the border region and was a key figure in the IRA’s local leadership.
He later claimed that dozens of republican operations were allowed to go ahead by the security forces in order to protect him.
14 deaths
Casey claimed to have been involved in the deaths of 14 people, including six while working for the police.
In a 1993 interview he is reported as saying “during the time I was working for Special Branch I was still helping to kill people while saving others”.
He claimed to have agreed to work for Special Branch after his wife was arrested following a police raid on the couple’s home.
Using the codename ‘Maurice Harkin’, the newly recruited informer claimed to have been given a panic alarm, in the shape of a pen that was sewn into a bomber jacker provided by the police, in the event his cover was blown.
As well as providing information about planned republican attacks, Casey also bugged guns that were to be used by the IRA.
Casey claimed police provided him details of an MI5 agent who was operating in the Strabane area at the same time as him.
This MI5 agent had also provided information to the British army and police about operations planned by Casey, the informer confirmed.
Agent denied involvement in McRory’s death
With fears growing that the IRA was closing in, Casey was taken out of Strabane and set up with a new life in Nottingham in 1992.
He later returned to his hometown and was arrested by the RUC.
Casey has denied any involvement with the death of Mr McCrory.
“I did not send him to his death,” he claimed.
“I didn’t start talking to the RUC until two years after that.
“He was not an informer, he was a simple lad.”
Despite the Casey’s denials, Mr McCrory’s brother Mickey is not convinced.
“We really don’t want to blame this man for everything, Beano Casey,” he said. “Beano was known as the quartermaster… he said he wasn’t (turned) until two years afterwards, we believe he was turned before that,” he said.
Damian McCrory’s sister-in-law Michelle McCrory believes there was more than one informer in Strabane at the time of his death.
“We believe that (Casey) wasn’t working alone, there was more than one agent,” she said.
New Troubles legacy deal criticised by victims’ group
British-Irish framework should have dealt with ‘lingering issues of concern’, SEFF says
Mark Hennessy, Irish Times, Sunday, September 21st, 2025
Changes to legacy legislation agreed by Dublin and London fail to guarantee that the Irish State will investigate its own failings during the Troubles, an influential victims’ group has said.
The South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), which represents families of those killed by paramilitaries during the Troubles on both sides of the Border, said a path “to pursue justice, truth and accountability” has always been its core demand.
“Anything short of the Irish State contributing on an equal footing to the UK state with comparable oversight and independence structures would not be tolerable,” said SEFF’s director, Kenny Donaldson.
Saying the group was “underwhelmed” by the pledges made by the Irish Government on Friday, he added: “There is just insufficient detail on the table for us to put our hands up in support of this joint framework.
“We will be pressing the Irish Government for further detail and absolute clarity on their position and how this will reflect in actual actions,” Mr Donaldson told The Irish Times on Sunday.
The British/Irish deal could and should have dealt with “lingering issues of concern”, including the letters of comfort given by the British authorities to fugitive IRA members telling them they were no longer “wanted” so could return without fear of arrest.
Irish state’s de facto amnesty for IRA
In addition, Mr Donaldson focused on a declaration from the former attorney general, Michael McDowell, that the Irish State gave an amnesty in all but name to IRA suspects after 1998, deciding to pursue no more prosecutions.
Regarding prosecutions of members of the British army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, he said: “If someone wearing the uniform is deemed to have acted criminally, then due process should follow, just as we expect would happen with terrorists.”
However, SEFF opposes “the persecution” of people previously exonerated by investigations.
“There must be no further state complicity with the retrospective targeting and vilification of those who acted to thwart terrorism, and ultimately to save lives,” he added.
The organisation had outlined its views repeatedly to Dublin and London, emphasising the need for an end “to the days of superficial and symbolic justice” and replacement by change that delivers “maximum accountability of and from perpetrators”.
“In fully judging what’s on the table we require to consider, does this new agreement offer a better prospect for victims/survivors to obtain better outcomes? Whether they be through criminal, civil or information recovery pathways,”
If Dublin and London “refuse to deal” with their concerns, then they will prove that the motivation behind Friday’s agreement “is not about victims and survivors”, or reconciliation, but a further example of the “politics of appeasement”.
PSNI apologises over surveillance on journalist
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
THE PSNI has apologised after it failed to disclose important information about a surveillance operation targeting a well-known journalist to a powerful spy tribunal.
The London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) last year found the PSNI and Metropolitan Police unlawfully spied on Belfast journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney in order to identify their sources.
Targeted surveillance was also carried out on a Police Ombudsman official.
The IPT examines complaints from people who believe they have been the victim of unlawful covert interference by state agencies.
A former Irish News journalist, Mr McCaffrey was placed under surveillance by police multiple times over several years.
During a protracted IPT process, it was confirmed that police had applied for “subscriber information and outgoing call data relating to Mr McCaffrey’s phone number” in 2013.
It has now emerged that a second authorisation for “incoming call data” had not been disclosed by the PSNI to the tribunal during the proceedings.
Failed to disclose extent of surveillance
The failure to fully disclose the extent of surveillance placed on Mr McCaffrey was discovered as part of a review into PSNI snooping carried out by Angus McCullough KC.
The review, which was ordered by PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and is due to report this week, is focused on journalists, members of the legal profession and non-governmental organisations.
PSNI apology after failing to disclose information about surveillance of journalist to powerful spy tribunal
The Policing Board and Police Ombudsman are also included in its terms of reference. In a letter to the IPT on behalf of the PSNI, a Crown Solicitors’ Office official this week apologised for withholding the key information.
“The PSNI sincerely apologises to the tribunal and to the applicants for this error in disclosure,” the official wrote.
“It clearly should not have occurred.
“It appears that the authorisation was mistakenly considered to have been disclosed within the materials, when this was not the case.
“However, the PSNI would stress that there was no deliberate attempt to conceal the authorisation from the tribunal or the applicants.”
Mr McCullough has also found that the PSNI has retained data taken from digital devices seized during the arrest of Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney and searches of their homes and business addresses in 2018.
Following a subsequent judicial review the PSNI agreed to permanently delete the data.
In a letter to Mr Birney last month, Mr Boutcher said the data had not been “accessed or viewed in the intervening time” or “backed up to any other system”.
Information to be deleted from PSNI records
Offering an apology, Mr Boutcher said he has now “directed that all data is immediately and permanently deleted”.
Mr Boutcher added that he has notified the Information Commissioner’s Office and will contact the relevant judicial review court.
During the tribunal, it emerged that former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney was also placed under surveillance by the PSNI.
In a separate IPT case involving Mr Kearney and the BBC it emerged last week that MI5 has also spied on the high-profile journalist, in 2006 and 2009.
Mr Kearney, the current Northern Editor with RTÉ, described the development as “unprecedented”, adding it is “deeply concerning” for himself and other journalists.
The IPT had been examining allegations that journalists Mr McCaffrey and Mr Birney were subjected to unlawful surveillance over a 2017 film about the 1994 Loughinisland atrocity.
Six Catholic men were shot dead in the UVF attack, which involved collusion.
In 2018, both journalists were arrested as part of a probe, led by Durham Constabulary, into a leaked document. When the men were released, surveillance was placed on them, and a Police Ombudsman official, now retired, was suspected of providing the document after a Direct Surveillance Authority was approved.
Stripped, DNA tested and photographed
An award-winning journalist, Mr McCaffrey later told how after his arrest he was stripped naked, DNA tested and photographed.
As a result of the IPT process police were ordered to pay both journalists £4,000.
Last year, the PSNI admitted making 823 applications for communications data for journalists and lawyers over a 13-year period from 2011-2024.
Journalists were targeted on 323 occasions, while there were 500 applications for data relating to lawyers.
It also emerged that more than 4,000 phone communications between 12 journalists were monitored by police over a three-month period.
In a recently published Human Rights Annual Report the Policing Board’s human rights advisor, John Wadham, revealed the PSNI failed to notify the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO), about surveillance carried out on Mr McCaffrey in 2018 and another journalist in 2023.
The IPCO oversees the use of covert powers.
Contempt of Courts
Mr Birney alleged the PSNI’s failure to delete data taken from devices amounts to contempt of court.
“There will now be contempt of court proceedings,” he added.
“They failed to abide by the legal commitment they gave to the High Court.” Mr Birney claims the PSNI also “failed to honour their disclosure obligations” to the IPT.
“Where they sat for six years, this wasn’t six weeks or six days, for six years, they told the IPT ‘we’ve given you everything’,” he said.
“Lo and behold, Angus McCullough goes in, rifles through a few drawers, and finds documents relating to Barry that they didn’t disclose to the IPT, that they failed to disclose.”
Mr Birney believes the PSNI actions were intentional. “What we are seeing here is a systematic, industrial-type operation at the PSNI in order to ensure that their version of the truth is what’s provided to the court,” he alleged.
“Not what they are legally obliged to provide to the court, not the legal obligations that they give to courts.
“They run absolute roughshod over the courts, over the judiciary, over legal processes and do it with complete impunity.”
How can PSNI be trusted?
Ahead of the McCullough report publication, Mr Birney is cautious about the PSNI approach.
“How can the PSNI be believed?
“In the week we are going into, when they are going to try to give the public confidence that they are still not spying on journalists.”
Mr Birney suggests malignant forces are at work within the PSNI.
“Jon Boutcher is obviously not in control of the PSNI,” he claimed.
“He may be chief constable, but there are dark forces within the PSNI.”
The journalist claimed that senior PSNI figures suggest privately that ‘we are dealing with an old RUC mindset inside the PSNI in 2025.
“And that is astounding to even consider that the PSNI is still being run by those who are determined to show contempt for courts in Belfast and in London,” he said.
“The question is who actually is in charge of the PSNI today, because it certainly doesn’t look like it’s Jon Boutcher.”
A spokesman for the PSNI said: “There is no commentary planned until the publication of the (McCullough) report on Wednesday.”
Political punches thrown at DUP conference and we will soon see how they landed
SUZANNE BREEN POLITICAL EDITOR COMMENT:
The DUP went back to basics at its annual conference with a return of Union flags for delegates to wave, and a series of blistering attacks on its enemies.
With the numbers up on last year's strikingly subdued gathering, this was a party repositioning itself after a period where it had found itself in political no man's land.
It is clearly chasing those supporters who have switched to the TUV with more displays of red, white and blue, and eager engagement in a Trump-style culture war.
While it also wants to win over those who left it for Alliance, it's attempting to do so not by gentle wooing but by denouncing Naomi Long's party as so “wildly woke” that it's now disconnected from voters.
Plenty of political punches were thrown on Saturday, and we'll soon see how well they landed.
Around 300 delegates gathered for the conference in the La Mon Hotel in Comber. It's many years since the DUP has been there but the move from Belfast's Crowne Plaza Hotel suited the party: members seemed more at ease on their old home turf.
It was a more democratic conference than in previous years with a greater number of speakers. East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson made a return, chairing a panel on promoting Northern Ireland's place in the UK.
The DUP is more united now than in previous times. Gavin Robinson has adopted a highly inclusive approach. He has listened and learned from the mood among the membership. Discontent aired by councillors earlier this year has eased.
Backbench MLA Paul Frew, who beat Communities Minister Gordon Lyons in an internal contest to become party secretary in June, was promoted in a Stormont reshuffle last week.
As delegates tucked into their roast chicken dinners post-conference, Robinson led the room in singing 'Happy Birthday' to the North Antrim MLA who turned 51 on Saturday.
False claims over Irish Sea Border lost voters trust
At 3,100-words, the DUP leader's speech was about a third shorter than last year's offering. He acknowledged that the party's false claims in 2024 that the Irish Sea Border was gone had led to voters losing their trust in it.
“I regret some of our commentary did not spell out plainly the difference between what had been resolved, what could be achieved through faithful government implementation, and the fundamental challenges that remained,” he said.
“Sadly, the Protocol arrangements are still there; the internal border in our own country will never be acceptable and it must go.”
However, no plan was outlined as to how that might happen. TUV critics will say that Gavin Robinson was deputy leader when Sir Jeffrey Donaldson made those untrue claims, and he never raised his voice in disagreement.
Robinson's conference speech strongly defended the DUP's decision to restore devolution. His message was that perfection is the enemy of progress. Unionists aren't “better off with Starmer than with Stormont”.
The DUP leader went big on his party's record in government compared to others.
“Sinn Fein is tasked with building and maintaining infrastructure, but their minister is on the road to nowhere with a £3bn black hole - or should that be pothole - for road maintenance, but enough money for a bus station sign that isn't needed. What utter failure,” he said.
The current Dublin government has zero interest in Irish unity, yet Robinson was still contemptuous of them.
“It should not surprise us that Simon Harris and others make moral pronouncements on Israel's just war in Gaza,” he said. “This is a state that was a proxy for Irish republican terrorism for decades. Is it any great shock that they want to be pen pals with Hamas?”
Michelle O’Neill’s ‘no alternative’ to violence speech still rankles
However, it was First Minister Michelle O'Neill who was most heavily criticised. DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen — “our Michelle” as Robinson described her — was withering about her namesake.
“She says there was no alternative to IRA terrorism. She thinks men should have access to girls' changing rooms. She tells unionists to 'butt out' of issues in Londonderry. She talks about vision but couldn't even see her former press officer standing feet in front of her,” McIlveen said.
DUP Education Minister Paul Givan was equally scathing about Sinn Fein. “It used to be the Armalite in one hand and the ballot box in the other. The balaclavas may be long gone but their masks can still slip,” he said.
Given the consistent stream of political assaults on the First Minister at the conference, all eyes will be on her and her party to see how they respond to the DUP.
O'Neill remains the second most popular politician in Northern Ireland after the SDLP's Claire Hanna. It seems unlikely that she will be provoked into retaliating, but pressure for a less passive approach will grow among those in the Sinn Fein base increasingly sceptical about Stormont.
Of the three DUP ministers, Givan's speech was the strongest on both soundbites and substance. He said he shared the TUV's dismay at “post-Brexit arrangements” but they offered no cure.
Doubts about Reform
Threatening to collapse Stormont didn't work when “unionism held influence in Westminster … it isn't going to work with a Labour Party that does not seek a single vote in Northern Ireland and faces challenges on every front”.
Some unionists believe a new government — possibly led by Reform UK — could be the answer. The Education Minister was unconvinced.
“I would caution anyone who thinks at the next election the cavalry will come over the hill to solve our problems. I've seen that movie before and it didn't end well,” he said.
“Unionism cannot afford to shrink into a smaller puritanical entity. The outworking of that strategy leads only to a contest to be the largest unionist party in a united Ireland.
“Anger — often justifiable — is no substitute for strategy. If your car isn't working, you bring it to a garage. You don't drive it off a cliff. That is effectively what the TUV would have us do.”
An unimpressed Jim Allister responded with a very different take. “The DUP car is broke because they filled it with Sinn Fein-placating fuel — their very own mix of green diesel,” he said. “Unionism deserves better than DUP spin and Sinn Fein fuel.”
The Assembly election may be 19 months away, but the race has already started. The DUP has got back its mojo but whether it has the skill and strategy to steer ahead of its rivals remains to be seen.
Nationalists frustrated by the nonsense of woke too, says Buckley
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, September 22nd, 2025
MLA INSISTS VOTERS ARE 'CRYING OUT' FOR COMMON SENSE POLICIES
DUP MLA Jonny Buckley has said that many nationalists feel let down by Sinn Fein and the SDLP on immigration and transgender issues.
The Upper Bann representative claimed that plenty of voters, who disagreed with his party on the constitutional question, shared its distaste for “woke nonsense”.
He told the Belfast Telegraph: “People are crying out for common sense policies. They do not want uncontrolled illegal immigration.
“Nationalists are as sick as unionists at what is going on around them. We have a Sinn Fein First Minister and an SDLP Leader of the Opposition who can't define what a woman is. Many of their voters feel abandoned. We will stand up for them.”
Mr Buckley added: “There are people not normally sympathetic to the DUP who agree with us on these matters. They know we care and we will fight for them.
“They share our perspective. They want politics to go back to basics and for politicians to address the real life issues that are facing them.
“There is a broadening coalition of those who want a return to common sense politics. The winds of change are blowing in our direction.”
Mr Buckley said Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance had betrayed the people of Northern Ireland on a range of issues. The DUP would “hold these parties' feet to the fire and call out their dangerous dereliction of duty”.
The DUP MLA claimed there was a “decadent establishment set against ordinary people”. It wanted “open borders with no controls” and aimed to “erase the protection of gender and sex”.
‘Creepy coalition’ of enemies
He said his party's origins were rooted in “the grassroots”. The DUP was “an activist movement” before becoming an electoral force. It had “stood firm on family-focused principles” in those early years.
“Once again, the battle lines are drawn. Once again, we are called to stand,” he added.
Mr Buckley denounced “the creepy coalition of Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance” which “sneers, bullies and ridicules” when his party takes a stand on education and the families.
Those three parties were “different colours” yet shared “the exact same policies” and were “all competing to see who can be the most woke”. The Upper Bann MLA praised Charlie Kirk, the right-wing activist shot dead in Utah on September 10.
Young people were finished with “fake news, fake politicians and plastic gestures”. They wanted “authenticity, conviction and courage”.
Like the murdered campaigner, the DUP would “give this generation common sense principles”, he said.
Mr Buckley claimed that “mainstream media, lawyers, civil servants and quangos” were trying to stop free speech. They were attempting to “police our words and censor our thoughts”.
He added: “We will not be muzzled. We will not be silenced.”
Mr Buckley attended the conference with his wife Jill who is expecting their first baby in November.
He described himself as “a traditional unionist in every sense of the word”. He wanted to build relationships between pro-Union parties. “Nobody's unionism is less valuable than anybody else's,” he said.
“There should be less shouting at each other and more working together for our shared goal of preserving the Union.”
The Upper Bann MLA explained that he worked well in the Assembly with the TUV's Timothy Gaston.
“I find him an honourable individual to deal with,” he said. “Timothy is a working-class unionist like myself. He has a positive demeanour.
“My bone of contention with TUV policy is that while Stormont's isn't the panacea to all our problems, we have to be real. A locally-elected government is needed.”
Starmer is struggling but is he least worst prime minister for Ireland?
NOEL DORAN, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
Sir Keir Starmer is under increasing pressure as prime minister, but who is the alternative?
VERY few people in Ireland, north or south, would be unduly distressed if Keir Starmer, as is being increasingly predicted, prematurely departs from Downing Street, but there is still a strong case for reserving our verdict on the matter.
While Starmer had a period in Belfast as a human rights adviser to the newly-formed Northern Ireland Policing Board, and also spent his honeymoon in Donegal, he has so far made no conspicuous effort to play a serious role in Irish affairs as prime minister.
His priorities are plainly elsewhere, and he is also fully entitled to be an instinctive unionist, but there is a blandness about his overall approach which does not suggest that he has a determination to leave a positive mark on any aspect of our history.
Some Labour supporters may be satisfied that he maintained a public rapport with Donald Trump in London last week, but at least as many will be appalled at the way in which Starmer endlessly massaged his guest’s ego and avoided openly challenging him on key points of principle.
The only justification for making Trump the first president to be twice given the honour of a British state visit would have been if he somehow managed to push through important international achievements during the course of his second term of office.
Instead, Starmer ignored all the deep concerns about Trump’s record and travelled to Washington last February to personally hand over the envelope containing the royal invitation barely a month after his inauguration.
It began a series of events which prompted growing doubts about Starmer’s judgment, culminating in the highly damaging circumstances earlier this month in which he initially stood by and then abruptly dismissed both his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and his ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson – the person Trump then remarkably claimed not to know.
Starmer deserves full credit for ending 14 years of largely disastrous Conservative administrations through his comfortable UK general election success last year, but there was always a suspicion that voters were infuriated with his opponents rather than being entirely convinced about his own merits.
He is one of numerous lawyers at Westminster but what was unusual about him was that he never served as a district councillor nor had the experience of previously contesting a parliamentary seat before he became an MP for the first time in 2015 at the age of 52, leaving him as a noticeably late entrant to political life.
Every country is different, and political careers do not necessarily follow a set pattern, but Leo Varadkar for example had already served a total of five years as taoiseach before he stood down last year aged 45.
While it is reasonable to conclude that Starmer has not exactly thrived as prime minister, and his immediate future is far from secure, looking at his possible successors illustrates the uncertainties of the whole process.
Who are the alternatives?
The most obvious candidate was Rayner, but she is now out of the picture. The two contenders to replace her as Labour deputy leader, Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell, have limited CVs, and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, whose name has been regularly mentioned, is only marginally more credible.
Although Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has the credentials and reportedly the ambition to run, he would need to survive an extremely risky by-election, involving a massive challenge from Reform UK, before making any early return to the House of Commons.
It is Nigel Farage’s party, with its commanding lead in the opinion polls, based on cynically and relentlessly exploiting the migration issue, which casts a huge shadow over all the discussions and represents the strongest argument for leaving Starmer in his post.
Farage is a blatant opportunist, including over Ireland where he previously indicated that unity was inevitable before announcing and then reneging on an electoral deal with Jim Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice last year, and his recent claims that he would renegotiate the Good Friday Agreement in an attempt to remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights were particularly disturbing.
Although there is every prospect that his star will wane as he comes under detailed scrutiny closer to a general election which is not due until 2029, it would be very much to his advantage if weakened prime ministers come and go in the meantime.
There may not be much enthusiasm for Starmer, but he represents the least worst option for the time being as Irish citizens consider his performance, the threat from Farage and the influence it may all have on the debate on the scheduling of a border referendum.
Fresh appeal launched over schoolboys missing for more than 50 years
CLODAGH TRAYNOR, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
POLICE have launched a fresh appeal for information on the disappearance of two east Belfast schoolboys more than 50 years ago.
David Lecke (11), went missing from Memel Street, and Jonathan Aven (14) from Sydenham Drive in September 1969. They were never found.
The circumstances surrounding their disappearance remain unknown, and the case is still open.
The PSNI believe the boys may have taken a train to Bangor before disappearing and have urged anyone who may have seen them in any circumstances over the past 56 years to come forward.
David’s family said they had “no indication that he was unhappy or in trouble of any kind and didn’t think he would ever have left home” when he went missing.
Jonathan was described by his father as a “happy little boy” who attended Ashfield Boys, “which he seemed to like and appeared to be doing well at.”
A PSNI spokesperson said the families of the boys have endured “unimaginable pain” since their disappearance.
They added: “More than 50 years have now passed since both David and Jonathan went missing.
“Their families have suffered over these years not knowing what happened to them on the day they left their home addresses.
“The pain and suffering of not knowing throughout the years must be unimaginable. Our thoughts very much remain with the families of both David and Jonathan at this time.”
The boys were featured in Lost Boys, a 2023 documentary that looked at the disappearances of five Belfast children between 1969 and 1974.
It explores possible links to a network of paedophiles in the city, including individuals connected to the Kincora Boys’ Home and loyalist paramilitaries, and suggests British intelligence may have protected those involved.
Anyone with information about the boys’ disappearances is asked to contact the PSNI Legacy Investigation Branch on 101, by email at LIBEnquiries@psni.pnn.police.uk quoting reference RM14009442, or via the online non-emergency reporting form.
Information can also be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
Derry is being left behind and the DUP must do better
CHRIS DONNELLY, Irish News, September 22nd, 2025
‘THIS was not based on geography at all. There was a robust process and this was based on the scoring mechanism that we put in place around footballing need and benefits to the wider community.’
The words of DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons in a radio interview following the announcement outlining local football clubs who had been successful in bids to secure funds as part of the sub-regional stadia programme.
Sometimes we fail to grasp the significance of the little details at critical moments, and that was quite apparent as the furore played out over the exclusion of clubs based in Derry and the north west region from the programme.
The minister was at pains to stress that he “did not see” any of the applications and “did not influence or seek to influence any of the decision-makers at all”.
What he did confirm in the quote above, however, was a role in devising a scoring mechanism which allowed for applications to be assessed on a range of criteria which, crucially, excluded considerations regarding regional balance.
This is particularly troubling as, in the final part of his comment, he acknowledges the importance of and potential for projects to yield benefits across a geographical region.
The incident provides a demonstrable example of a pervasive mindset within government and civil service figures which instinctively dismisses or ignores the needs of Derry and the greater north-west region.
It was apparent again in the decision by one of the north west’s leading business figures, Kieran Kennedy, to resign from the board of Invest NI in the summer because of his belief that the north-west continues to be discriminated against.
Whilst the Sinn Féin Economy Minister, Caoimhe Archibald, rejected the claim, pointing to recent investments and job opportunities announced in Derry, nevertheless it is a sentiment which the party must be very sensitive to because it is widely believed across the city and region, and for good reason.
It is worthwhile examining the contrasting approach adopted by the Irish government regarding the very same issue of local soccer stadia funding less than 12 months ago.
When the Dublin government announced in November 2024 that a number of League of Ireland clubs were going to be expedited for stadia renovation through the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Funding (LSSIF) that could help propel them to the next level, there is no question but that geographical criteria was a central consideration, helping lead to the decision to give money to inner city north Dublin-based Bohemian FC and Sligo Rovers FC, a club based on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.
Stadia investment – like all government expenditure on infrastructure – must partially be guided by a strategic vision for economic growth. On that note, the only other club to receive Irish government funding in that announcement was Wexford FC, and that was because the planned extension of the M11 motorway from Oylegate to Rosslare will necessitate the road being built through their current stadium.
Hence a new stadium is planned for a site nearer Wexford town and beside the new third-level technological university campus.
Whilst the time being taken to complete that road project continues to frustrate, the strategic thinking regarding the road, stadium and new third-level institution are nevertheless clear examples of cohesive, forward-thinking planning at government level that will benefit the overall economy and a local region for many years into the future.
As has been pointed out many times during the Casement Park saga, strategic stadia investment can yield significant economic benefits for a city and region by acting as a magnet for large sporting, musical and other entertainment events.
Less than a week from now, Dublin will play host for the first time to an NFL game, with the arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings estimated to deliver a boost of at least €85m to the Irish economy, coming only a matter of weeks since tens of thousands of Americans flew into the country to attend a college football game in Dublin, bringing their dollars with them.
New Brandywell could revitalise North-West
As the pre-eminent football team in the north-west, a fully redeveloped Ryan McBride Brandywell stadium could not only propel Derry City to reach new heights in the vastly superior domestic league on the island of Ireland – bringing its own financial dividends – but also provide, for the first time, a potential arena venue in the north-west for concerts and other major sporting events, akin to the Lewis Crocker-Paddy Donovan fight that took place in Windsor Park earlier this month.
The DUP Communities Minister demonstrated his awareness of this very potential when he criticised the Sinn Féin economy minister for not giving money to the organisers of that recent boxing event, declaring his belief that we need to look at “a different approach to how we fund these larger-scale events because they raise the profile of the sports and importantly they bring people to Northern Ireland and that has benefits for the wider economy”.
Judged by his own words and deeds, it is hard to fathom how Gordon Lyons does not appreciate that devising criteria omitting geographical considerations not only hinders the economic development of regions but also fails to optimise the potential economic benefits for the north of Ireland as a whole.
Lyons is not alone in facing criticism over Executive decisions which have detrimentally impacted upon Derry and the north west.
His DUP colleague and Education Minister, Paul Givan, has faced intense criticism regarding the controversial eligibility criteria for the RAISE programme and the Lisneal funding episode, the latter also leading to exposure of statistics and cases illustrating how Derry schools have been poorly served in terms of capital funding and minor works programmes.
It is quite apparent now that it is the DUP who must take a different approach if the historical and continuing discrimination against Derry and the north-west is to finally and decisively to be addressed.
If they don’t, then it must fall to their political opponents to ensure Derry and the region does not continue to be left behind.
Magilligan Prison dog 'put in temporary care'
NIAMH CAMPBELL, Belfast Telegraph, September 22nd, 2025
TRAUMATISED BAILEY IS BEING CARED FOR BY VET AS NEW HOME IS SOUGHT
A support dog controversially housed at Magilligan Prison has been removed from the facility and placed in temporary care, according to an MLA.
The animal in question, called Bailey, has been used to help rehabilitate inmates.
The now famous pooch was in block H2 of the jail where some of NI's most violent prisoners, including sex offenders, killers, and animal abusers are kept.
But Jon Burrows, a UUP representative for North Antrim, has confirmed that “Bailey is now out of prison”.
“The full circumstances of Bailey leaving prison will have to be examined, but Bailey is out of that environment, is now in a family home, with someone who's trained to look after him, and there's going to be an effort I hope to try and find Bailey a permanent home” he said.
“This has been a disgraceful episode from start to finish.
“We now need to ensure he stays out of prison and proper safeguards are introduced for animals brought into the prison estate.”
Major concerns about the welfare of the comfort dog were raised after the canine allegedly developed a limp.
Mr Burrows said that, according to prison officers, Bailey was “quivering at night” due to various alarms going off and fights going on.
The case has drawn public and media attention with Bailey now released following weeks of protests, public concern and political intervention. In a letter to Magilligan Governor David Milling, dated September 18, 2025, Mr Burrows expressed concern over the lack of a clear framework governing animals in prisons and requested a formal site visit.
Main issues
He highlighted three main issues:
* That Bailey appeared to have no dedicated, primary handler or master, something he described as “fundamental for the well-being and effective management of any working dog”.
* That prison officers with responsibility for Bailey had not received formal, specialist dog-handling training.
* That Bailey did not appear to leave the prison environment after his 'shift' to recuperate in a domestic home, raising “serious questions about his long-term welfare and socialisation.”
Mr Burrows also warned that animal charities feared Bailey's situation reflected deeper failings in policy and transparency within the justice system.
The Department of Justice has rejected allegations of neglect, insisting Bailey was properly housed and cared for.
In a statement, officials said: “Bailey is registered with a local veterinary practice and is in good health.”
The Sunday World first reported about the concerns for Bailey's welfare.
A protest organised by the Causeway Coast Dog Rescue charity outside Magilligan Prison is still set to go ahead today between 11am and 2pm.
Derry NOW, September 11th, 2025
Animal Welfare officers confirm Magilligan prison comfort dog shows “no signs of neglect”
Animal Welfare Officers from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council have conducted a full inspection in Magilligan prison after concerns were raised over the welfare of a comfort dog.
East Derry MLA Cara Hunter said findings confirmed that all previous concerns about support dog Bailey were unfounded.
Previous media reports told of how the comfort dog has been introduced by prison chiefs for violent sex offenders in the County Derry jail.
The inspection found that Bailey is in “excellent condition, alert, active, and comfortable, and shows no signs of neglect or stress. He freely interacts with staff and prisoners, has regular contact with another dog, and has 24/7 access to on-call veterinary care.”
It has also been confirmed that Bailey was not rehomed from a charity or rescue organisation. He is never left alone with any individual prisoner or prisoners and is continuously supervised by prison staff. Allegations that he is housed in a windowless room are false; his accommodation was inspected and found to be clean, safe, and suitable.”
In a Facebook post Cara Hunter said “The prison service has provided assurance that support animals are valued and would never be put at risk. A formal letter from the Minister confirming these findings is on file, providing full reassurance that Bailey’s welfare continues to be fully maintained.
“As an animal lover, I deeply appreciate the comfort, companionship and stability that dogs bring to our lives. My own dog is a much loved part of my family, and through that experience I have seen first hand the positive impact they have on our wellbeing. That is why I am particularly reassured to see the continued commitment to ensuring support dogs are not only well cared for, but also recognised as valued and important members of the team.”
Fate of damages claim by Gerry Adams over internment unclear
By Staff Reporter, Belfast News Letter, September 22nd, 2025
There is ongoing uncertainty over Gerry Adams’ bid for damages for having been interned in the 1970s.
The UK government confirmed on Friday that it will scrap the Legacy Act 2023, in which the previous Conservative government introduced a conditional amnesty for certain Troubles killings.
Hilary Benn, when announcing a new path forward on legacy alongside the Irish deputy prime minister Simon Harris, said that Westminster will pass a so-called remedial order to the legislation by the end of the year. The government uses remedial orders to amend laws that courts have concluded are in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as happened with the Legacy Act.
But the Act would have expressly barred compensation claims for unlawful detention by former Sinn Fein president Mr Adams and others interned without trial at the height of the Troubles.
Gerry Adams conviction a decade earlier was overturned in the Supreme Court in 2020 on the grounds that his internment had not been considered personally by the then Secretary of State. It is unclear whether or not he will get damages
Such damages became possible after the Supreme Court in 2020 ruled that his detention had been unlawful – a judgment that sparked criticism from some legal experts.
But the remedial order will not resolve that matter of compensation for Mr Adams.
It is understood that the UK government is still adamant that there was a legitimate and lawful basis for so-called Interim Custody Orders (ICO) that were used to detain people without trial from 1971.
Ministers are still thought to be planning legislation that will reaffirm this view for cases such as those of Mr Adams. As a consequence of such legislation no-one detained under an ICO will be eligible for compensation.
Sources say that the matter is complex and the government is looking at ways to address it legally.
