'No fresh start for PCI until they take full ownership of safeguarding scandal'
ANGELA DAVISON, Sunday Life, February 8th, 2026
Meaningful change in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) can only be achieved if full disclosure of its failings is given, according to a safeguarding expert and a religious lecturer.
International safety consultant Ian Elliott and former Union Theological College lecturer Professor Laurence Kirkpatrick spoke out after the announcement of a new church moderator.
Rev Richard Kerr now has the unenviable task of trying to rebuild trust in the PCI after it was rocked by a safeguarding scandal last year.
Mr Elliott, himself a former Presbyterian elder, said the church's problems required deeper scrutiny and wouldn't be solved by electing a new head.
He believes a public inquiry is needed to get a clear understanding of what failed in safeguarding procedures.
“It is not enough to say sorry and how much they regret what happened,” he added. “We need full disclosure and, I suspect, leadership who have the expertise and commitment to drive change.”
He also criticised the PCI over its closure of a dedicated safeguarding helpline set up last November.
“The PCI should not seek to offer services that they do not have the skills or expertise to provide and to which they are not committed,” said Mr Elliott.
“I do not think the PCI appreciated what they were taking on and I suspect that contributed to its early closing.”
A spokesperson for the PCI said every call to the temporary phone line, which ceased on December 15, was triaged and “forwarded to the appropriate agencies for response and ongoing support”.
Prof Kirkpatrick believes that, so far, the PCI has shown very little sign of having learned anything and says questions remain.
The former church history lecturer said that there still hasn't been a full disclosure of all that has gone wrong in PCI procedures, with ordinary Presbyterians still in the dark.
BULLYING
He explained: “The PCI has acknowledged only a small number of safeguarding failures. There has been no acknowledgement about the regime of bullying, harassment, undermining and isolation by PCI leadership of ministers and other church members.
“Church processes have been deliberately manipulated to target individuals. The voices of those who have suffered injustice have not been heard.
“The PCI cannot go forwards until these injustices have been acknowledged and put right.”
Prof Kirkpatrick also challenged the church's use of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements), himself subject to a “confidential agreement” after his settlement with the church last year.
He said: “Clinging to NDAs to ensure silence only adds to the suspicion the PCI has something to hide. I know the PCI has been asked by several individuals to be released from NDAs. So far all requests have been firmly refused. Hopefully the law will change soon and they will be declared null and void and people can tell of the injustices suffered.”
Last week, an article in the Impartial Reporter said that former moderator Rev Trevor Gribben provided a letter in the 2021 court case of disgraced Presbyterian minister Matthew Simpson, who was caught with indecent images of children.
As part of an attempt to have the Tyrone minister's identity withheld from publication, the letter from Rev Gribben, who was then the clerk of the General Assembly, said Simpson's congregations had not been informed of the pending charges.
The letter was issued in November 2021 during an application for anonymity when the media argued the church congregations would, or should, have been made aware of court proceedings.
A criminal investigation by the PSNI into the PCI is ongoing.
Family distraught over RUC failings investigating IRA murder of dad
JESSICA RICE, Sunday Life, February 8th, 2026
The family of an IRA victim said their worst fears have been confirmed after a report found a series of failures in the original RUC probe.
Bertie Frazer was shot dead in 1975 as he was leaving a farm near Whitecross, Co Armagh, where he often worked for a neighbour.
The 47-year-old, a council worker and part-time UDR member, was married with nine children.
One of his sons was the prominent victims' campaigner Willie Frazer, who died in 2019.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph on behalf of the Frazer family, Joe Frazer said: “The Police Ombudsman report has confirmed our worst fears, that the police investigation into our father's murder failed at every level.”
The Frazer family made a complaint to the Police Ombudsman in 2013, and further statements of complaint in 2014 and 2016.
Vindicated
Mr Frazer said getting the report had been a long process for the family but they now know it was the right decision.
“We have been vindicated in raising a complaint with the Ombudsman's Office,” he added.
On Thursday, the Police Ombudsman found that the original probe into the IRA killing of Bertie Frazer had not pursued key lines of inquiry.
It was “a stark example of limited police record management”, the report said.
No one has ever been prosecuted for Mr Frazer's murder, which happened while he was reversing his car out of the farm's driveway.
Two men approached the car, opened fire and pulled him from the driver's seat, leaving him at the side of the road before driving off in his car.
Mr Frazer was found a short time later and taken to Daisy Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The South Armagh Republican Action Force, a South Armagh IRA unit, admitted responsibility for Mr Frazer's murder, claiming it was in retaliation for the murders of Sean Farmer and Colm McCartney, both of whom had been shot dead at an illegal vehicle checkpoint near Newtownhamilton a week earlier.
The report was filed by Marie Anderson before her retirement in December. The former Police Ombudsman stated that Mr Frazer was a victim of sectarian violence, and that the Provisional IRA alone was responsible for his murder.
The report found witness statements were limited and, although three people were arrested following the murder, there were no messages, conference notes or any other documentation that indicated why individuals were considered suspects.
There were no notebooks or journals for police officers and no record of investigative actions taken or allocated.
Despite the absence of significant records, the report details concerns about aspects of the investigation.
The report flagged concerns around the junior rank of the officer leading the murder probe.
It concluded that a more senior and experienced officer should have been appointed to lead the investigation, adding that this may have brought additional investigative expertise to bear on the case.
“Such experience could potentially have influenced the direction and outcome of the investigation,” a summary said.
The report concluded that, from the failings identified in the investigation, Mr Frazer's family were failed by the RUC probe into his murder.
'There's no feud...this isn't to do with Gavin [Coyle]'
... BUT REPUBLICAN SOURCES ADAMANT JAILED COYLE TARGET OF BOMB HOAX FAMILY DENY THEY ARE COLLATERAL IN DRUGS TURF WAR
EXCLUSIVE CIARAN BARNES and ANGELA DAVISON, Sunday Life, February 8th, 2026
The brother of a convicted New IRA bomber has denied his family are the targets of a series of pipe-bomb hoaxes.
Innocent relatives and neighbours of Gavin Coyle — who is serving an eight-year jail sentence for trying to kill a PSNI officer in a booby-trap attack — were evacuated from their homes in the Culmore Road area of Omagh while Army bomb experts examined a suspect device.
Last Wednesday was the second time a hoax pipe-bomb has been left there recently — the previous September a similar package was also placed on the street.
But Gavin Coyle's brother John Coyle has denied claims that his family are the targets, telling Sunday Life: “There's been no attacks on this house. There were two hoax bombs but they were down at the bottom of the park. There was nothing found, they (police) just closed the place off twice.
“We're living here 50-odd years. It's nothing to do with the Coyle family at all. If it had I would tell you. There's no feud in Culmore whatsoever.”
However, John Coyle's denials are at odds with claims from republicans who insist that his brother Gavin Coyle, who is also charged with the New IRA attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell, is being targeted by a Derry-based drugs gang connected to the INLA.
They say the fallout is not political, but over control of crime territory in west Tyrone, and that local hoods were responsible for leaving the hoax pipe-bomb.
SHOOTING
Coyle is linked to a rival crime group notorious for drug dealing and ATM robberies, and whose members are also suspected of involvement in the February 2023 shooting of DCI Caldwell.
He served a previous five-year sentence for possessing a New IRA weapons haul hidden in a Coalisland lock-up.
“Members of the INLA-linked gang are responsible for leaving the hoax pipe-bombs next to Gavin Coyle's family home in Omagh,” explained the source. “They are led by two brothers who are trying to muscle in on drugs turf in west Tyrone.”
Two years ago the New IRA's prisoner support group revealed Coyle had been the subject of 12 police confirmed death threats over a 12-month period while being held on the dissident wing of Maghaberry jail. Some of these threats are believed to have come from the rival INLA-linked crime gang.
The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association said at the time: “These fictional threats are designed purely to intimidate Gavin, who like every other republican prisoner in Roe House (dissident wing) is well aware of the source of these fabricated threats.”
PSNI concerns about the INLA-linked drugs gang were made public in November 2024 when Conor Patrick O'Donnell appeared at Dungannon Magistrates Court charged with possessing £1.8m of cocaine with intent to supply.
There is no suggestion the 40-year-old, who denies any wrongdoing, was involved in the hoax pipe-bomb incidents next to the Coyle family home, and he has no previous terror convictions.
Objecting to bail, a PSNI detective told the court that police suspect O'Donnell to be “a member of an organised criminal gang operating in the Derry/Londonderry area with links to the INLA”.
She added that 15 packages weighing more than 18kg, which were recovered from the defendant's van when it was stopped in Omagh, contained cocaine with a street value of £1.8m.
The drugs gang which detectives accuse O'Donnell of being a member of is in direct competition with the rival west Tyrone crime gang connected to Gavin Coyle.
Para-crime
Coyle's mob is known to be involved in cocaine importation and cash machine robberies, and the PSNI also believes it played a key role in the attempted murder of DCI John Caldwell.
One prominent member of the gang — who was in jail when the senior officer was shot and not involved in the attack — was ex-prison officer and former Army soldier Ashley McLean.
The 40-year-old served a two-year jail sentence for possessing £500,000 of cocaine with intent to supply. The haul was uncovered by police during searches of a disused building in Fintona, Co Tyrone.
DCI John Caldwell's organised crime PSNI unit was behind the drugs bust and he was targeted by the gang in revenge.
Police believe the drugs gang used Gavin Coyle as a middle-man to go into partnership with the New IRA to kill the senior detective.
Coyle denies involvement in the attempted murder, which has led to various charges being brought against more than a dozen suspects.
Among them is Ivor McLean — a convicted loyalist gunman and the 74-year-old father of cocaine dealer Ashley McLean. He denies accusations of attempted murder.
Appealing for information on last Wednesday's hoax bomb attack close to the family home of Gavin Coyle, the PSNI's Detective Sergeant Malone said: “Shortly after 10.20pm police received a report that a suspicious looking object had been located in the Culmore Road area.
“Cordons were put in place, with a number of nearby properties evacuated. Ammunition technical officers attended the scene, and the device was deemed not viable. Those responsible for this incident showed a complete disregard for the local community and wider area who were inconvenienced by it.
“I would this morning strongly condemn the significant impact on the community that hoax calls of this nature have for local residents.”
Ball is in President's court when it comes to listening to unionists
MÁIRÍA CAHILL, Sunday Independent, February 8th, 2026
Another presidential speech, another controversy. On Wednesday, at the University of Ulster, President Catherine Connolly praised Northerners' progress toward peace, notably citing the "decommissioning of parliamentary weapons”.
Someone should tell Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) politician Timothy Gaston, whose voice the Alliance Party, Sinn Féin and SDLP voted to decommission last week by suspending him from Assembly business for two days.
His crime? Telling fellow MLA Paula Bradshaw to breathe (over a year ago) — and asking awkward questions of First Minister Michelle O'Neill, such as how many days per week former press officer Michael McMonagle (now convicted for sexual offences) worked in her office and how much he was paid. Full disclosure: he also quoted from my book Rough Beast and asked questions about whether the First Minister believed me.
Gaston, the sole TUV parliamentary weapon in the Assembly, is a bit like a mosquito, getting under the skin of members of the NI Assembly's executive office, asking questions that disrupt the consensus. Last week, he grated on O'Neill so much that when he asked if she was the first minister of "No Alternative”, she snapped: "I'm your First Minister, whether you like it or not.”
Meanwhile, Connolly was talking about reconciliation. The presidential visit was standard: a meeting with O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, photo opportunities with pensioners and children, then a reception for women "leaders”. She also shot an impressive backwards basketball shot in Belfast and promoted "guaranteed rights for both people of British and Irish identity”.
Connolly then visited the Guildhall in Derry, where the DUP's Gregory Campbell approached her after her speech and said pointedly: "You're in our country, tonight I'm going to your country.” It caused outrage on social media.
A camera recorded Connolly smiling at his remark, before telling him she had shortened her speech because people were standing, but she was looking forward to visiting the Siege Museum, dedicated to the 1689 siege and the Apprentice Boys.
Those who castigated Heather Humphreys for visits to similar institutions are notably silent about Connolly's visit. Campbell referenced the treatment of Humphreys as "sustained public vilification” during a debate in Dublin on Thursday about a united Ireland.
Many people south of the Border do not understand unionism — but Campbell's remarks merit attention.
He mentioned Connolly's visit to "the west bank of the Foyle, where only 5pc of the population are from our [Protestant] community”. Later in Dublin, he insisted: "Unionists will not be browbeaten into accepting claims that a border poll is inevitable or desirable.”
He warned politicians advocating a united Ireland against letting their supporters get ahead of themselves, as disappointment could follow if expectations are not managed.
Unity supporters don't see the North as a separate entity the way Campbell does, so he attracted derision. But isn't it a logical thing for a unionist, sick of hearing talk of border polls, to remind a visiting dignitary that they are on their turf?
Just Listen
Connolly appeared unfazed by Campbell's approach and told him she was "here to listen”.
The very best thing she could do for this island would be to have fortnightly visits from unionists — and from victims — to the Áras and simply hear their concerns. No agenda, no waving Ireland's Future documents about, no shoehorning unionism into a constitutional cul-de-sac. Just listen.
Too often, southerners have an image of the North based on a republican narrative. Few actively connect to broaden their outlook. If she can manage that, rather than a token visit here and there, she might learn something.
On Thursday evening, Connolly had an engagement that didn't appear in her official diary, when she had dinner with former MP Bernadette Devlin. Interesting conversation, no doubt, but a missed opportunity. How much more would the President have learned by breaking bread with those in Campbell's camp, away from the cameras?
If she genuinely wants to grasp the North, she will need to spend less time with the usual republican voices and more time in relaxed settings hearing from those who feel least understood. Perhaps, on her next visit, she could sit down with Gaston or Campbell, or indeed any unionist who believes Ireland is a different country, and does not wish people who have little awareness of their circumstances to poke their noses into unsettling constitutional issues.
For now, Connolly is hopeful that we Northerners can teach others, speaking of how: "Northern Ireland now represents a beacon of light to the world in how decades-long conflict can be resolved, and reconciliation fostered.”
Those of us who live here raised our eyebrows. Stormont, as journalist Sam McBride pointed out last week, has spent just nine minutes this year debating legislation. We can't even sort out our pothole problem.
When she next comes, President Connolly could dribble her basketball into a few of them and politicians might sort them out.
Mandelson's infamy is deserved, but it will hide a crucial legacy
SAM MCBRIDE, Sunday Independent, February 8th, 2026
In Yes, Prime Minister, the timeless TV satire of British politics, prime minister Jim Hacker defined his job as "the only member of the Government who can't be sent to Northern Ireland next week”.
The line got laughs because it reflected perfectly then, as now, how the post of Northern Ireland Secretary is seen in British politics: the lowest of the low. In one sense, the reasons are obvious: Northern Ireland represents less than 3pc of the UK population and the Northern Ireland Office has scant political power and few officials; it now has about 150 staff, compared with 50,000 for the home secretary.
Yet in another sense it has always been nonsensical to treat the position as a dumping ground for those who must be offered something despite being incompetent, or MPs who need to be in the cabinet for reasons of party balance, despite their knowing as much about Belfast as Baghdad.
It is one of the most complicated cabinet positions, with power over foreign policy, relations with the UK's nearest neighbour and, ultimately, life and death. For that reason, despite the caricatures, some talented figures have been sent to Belfast, one of whom is now mired in a scandal so putrid that it could critically destabilise Keir Starmer.
Peter Mandelson's deserved disgrace should not be mistaken for simple incompetence. He is not a stupid man. That makes his moral crimes all the more heinous. He was no simpleton struck with wide-eyed wonder, but a man equipped with the intellect to fully understand the enormity of his nefarious behaviour.
In not just associating with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after the wealthy financier's depravity was known, but joking with him about it and leaking to him highly confidential government material, Mandelson behaved with the supreme arrogance that increasingly came to characterise him.
Love of controversy
His love of controversy once involved strategically provocative statements such as "New Labour is intensely relaxed about people becoming filthy rich”, but came to involve a glut of financial scandals.
When Starmer took a risk by appointing him as British ambassador to Washington a year ago, Mandelson couldn't even feign contrition. Asked by the Financial Times about his links to Epstein, he said: "I'm not going to go into this. It's an FT obsession and frankly you can all f**k off. OK?”
He has now been denounced as a liar by Starmer in the House of Commons, has retired from the House of Lords in shame and now faces a police investigation.
Mandelson's fall has destabilised, perhaps critically, the most senior Irish figure in Starmer's administration, his Cork-born chief of staff Morgan McSweeney, who has long been close to Mandelson.
Yet, as with another architect of New Labour, Tony Blair, one of Mandelson's key achievements may be seen as his time in Northern Ireland. That period was divisive, with the collapse of devolution and strained relations with Dublin.
This week, SDLP MP Colum East wood recalled how Seamus Mallon, then the deputy first minister, told him that of all the characters he had dealt with, "he found Mandelson the least trustworthy — and that's saying something”.
The SDLP believed Mandelson watered down policing reforms to an extent that was destabilising.
From the outset, he had been David Trimble's choice to replace Mo Mowlam in October, 1999, even though neither had spoken before and Mandelson would later say he had "never encountered anyone as rude”.
When Mandelson replaced Mowlam, he took over from someone who had lost the confidence of unionists. When he left, he had lost the confidence of nationalists. It would be too crude to represent this as demonstrating perfect equilibrium, but without that shift it is difficult to see how Trimble would have survived.
Mandelson's most consequential act was suspending Stormont in February, 2000. What now sounds like a dry act of technocracy was an assertion of the continued ultimate sovereignty of Westminster over Northern Ireland, despite the Good Friday Agreement.
Ultimately, if local politicians couldn't agree to govern, the place would be run from London. That made the decision of immense significance for Trimble, for nationalism and for the Irish Government.
The decision to suspend was ultimately Blair's, but Mandelson was behind it and bore the brunt of nationalist anger. Yet neither at the time nor since was a coherent alternative visible. This has been most apparent in the last two collapses of Stormont, where the alternative — leaving civil servants to run public services for years — is demonstrably inferior.
Any sort of joint authority between London and Dublin would not just be constitutionally impossible, but practically unworkable while only one of those governments was paying the bills for the decisions being taken.
As Trimble sank within unionism and Sinn Féin continued in government while the IRA kept its guns and indulged in serious criminality, the entire edifice of the Good Friday Agreement was in danger of collapse.
A deal endorsed by only one side would not have been an agreement. Yet neither Trimble nor the Sinn Féin leadership were swept away during Mandelson's tenure. Despite his perceived imbalance, he cannily kept both these key constituencies in play.
The agreement survived, and by the time the DUP overtook Trimble in 2005, it was too firmly embedded to be removed.
History will have a straightforwardly condemnatory view of Mandelson's grasping nature, his shamelessness and his willingness to cosy up to a paedophile. History's view of his time in Northern Ireland is likely to be far more nuanced.
Rush to judge peacemaker over Epstein emails has echoes of Soviet show trial
Getting messages from the disgraced financier should not be grounds to destroy a reputation
EILIS O'HANLON, Sunday Independent, February 8th, 2026
It always felt like an outlandish conspiracy theory that the people who run the world abuse or sometimes even kill children.
These days, slightly less so.
The emails within the latest raft of documents, released as part of the so-called Epstein files contain numerous disturbing mentions of the great and the good allegedly engaging in practices more fitting to a horror film than an episode of The West Wing.
The names of the people who sent some of these emails, or to whom they were sent, are largely redacted to protect their identity — such as the correspondent inviting the disgraced financier to meet at a particular time and place with the promise of an "abundance of young pussy, fresh”.
One is left to speculate from the clues within who these people might be, but that these are real emails from wealthy, influential and well-connected individuals is not in dispute.
These are deeply strange people, and why they deserve to have their names hidden is a mystery. It is surely on them to explain what the messages mean, not us to dream up innocent explanations on their behalf.
But what if your only crime is not to send, or even receive, such creepy messages, but to have befriended some of the people who did?
What is curious about the fallout from the Epstein files is that the people being singled out for ostracisation are not those who sent one another bizarre, purportedly coded messages, but their casual associates.
Among the most grievous examples is that of George Mitchell, the former US senator who chaired the talks that led to the Belfast Agreement. His name has now been excised by Queen's University Belfast from its Institute of Global Peace, Security and Justice and his painting and bust have been removed from the grounds.
There are now calls for him to have the Freedom of Belfast, which was bestowed on him for his work for peace in Northern Ireland taken away in response to… but there's the thing.
In response to what?
The official line is that Mitchell lied about the extent of his relationship with Epstein following the latter's conviction in 2008 for sexually soliciting a minor. There is talk of "ongoing links”, but what is meant by that phrase remains strikingly vague. Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern is not alone in wondering what exactly Mitchell is meant to have done.
Most people glancing idly at the headlines, and having neither the time or stomach to sift through the Epstein files, can be forgiven for thinking there is no smoke without fire.
Unfortunately, when the rumour mill cranks into action, no fire is needed to produce smoke.
Anyone who does make the effort of trawling through the US Department of Justice's searchable database for dirt on Mitchell should prepare for an extremely dull hour.
References are invariably about him rather than by him, including emails asking if Mitchell is free for lunch with Epstein and Bill Gates, and on other dates with Peter Mandelson, renowned academic Noam Chomsky and ex-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.
There is no evidence that Mitchell attended any of these lunches. He has previously insisted he did not. If anything, the emails suggest Epstein was desperate to establish contact with Mitchell, whose office was being consistently evasive on his behalf.
There is a message from his office in 2010 which states: "George Mitchell returned your phone call.” Whether he did or not, who knows? Even if he did, we have no record of what was said between the two men.
Allegations by the late Virginia Giuffre — who received an estimated £12m out-of-court settlement with the former Prince Andrew — that she was also forced to have sex with Mitchell, he firmly denied ever having met her, and there is evidence this was a case of mistaken identity.
None of this comes anywhere close to meeting the conditions necessary for trashing a man's entire life work.
‘No longer appropriate’
Shockingly, Queen's University acknowledges there are "no findings of wrongdoing by Senator Mitchell”, simply that it is "no longer appropriate” for its "institutional spaces and entities to continue to bear his name”. That is a genuinely outrageous and scurrilous statement.
What happened last week is like something from the era of extra-judicial shaming rituals in the Soviet Union, where those who had not broken a law but who had upset the comrades by their supposed deficiencies in character were publicly denounced.
Even if there was evidence that Mitchell continued to have lunch now and again with Epstein following his release from prison — and again, to be clear, there is not — would that be sufficient to damn him as a non-person?
Most of us would probably not continue to be friendly with people we discovered had an unhealthy sexual interest in children; but there are plenty of examples of wives and family members and friends who have. There were reportedly many people in Irish journalism who privately stood by sports writer Tom Humphries after he was jailed for two-and-a-half years for the defilement and sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl at a GAA club where he volunteered as a coach. Some are said to have helped him out financially when he fell on hard times.
Should they all be named and shamed and shunned as well?
Life is messy. People can be swayed by sympathy, even for those who deserve none. They may even fall for someone's excuses and lies. That does not make them bad, only foolish.
Tarnishing Mitchell's reputation on such a flimsy pretext is to indulge in guilt by association, which ought to be an anathema unworthy of any civilised, rules-based society.
In North Korea, the families of defectors across three generations (grandparents, parents and children) are sent to forced labour camps. It's known as "kin punishment”.
Here in the liberal, democratic West we have now extended that to include supposed friends of the guilty, too, and it has been amplified by social media, which encourages this sort of moral vigilantism against anyone who refuses to bow to the collective hive mind.
What it comes down to ultimately is the dangerous misconception that all allegations must be believed.
Every allegation should be treated sensitively and seriously, but they must still be tested by evidence and investigation. Not all stories are true. Some may be the case of mistaken identity. Some may result from false memory, or fantasy, or the after-effects of trauma.
The satanic abuse hoax in the UK in the 1990s is one of the most heinous examples. It tore apart families and communities, and it was all made up.
Some allegations may even be lies. That latter is harder to admit, but must be honestly acknowledged.
The Epstein files contain many such allegations, for example that George HW Bush took part in the ritual disembowelment of a child on a yacht, following which those on board ate the victim's entrails.
Even faced with such an allegation, one should always keep an open mind, but also a sceptical intellect. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, as the saying goes.
That is not being disrespectful to alleged victims, but being respectful to the truth. Without such safeguards, we are in dark and terrifying territory. Queen's University deserves nothing but contempt and condemnation for leading us into that cursed space.
The Last Word?
Prince of darkness and the PM's week from hell
IVAN LITTLE, Sunday Life, February 8th, 2026
That horror picture of Peter Mandelson in his Y-fronts should have been enough to stop Keir Starmer from getting caught with his trousers down over the falsehoods and faking nonsense of the dodgiest of dodgy dealers.
But no, the pathetic prime minister tried to play fast and loose with the truth in the House of Commons last week before finally admitting, at the third time of Kemi Badenoch's asking, that he had known about Mandelson's relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed the former cabinet minister ambassador to the US.
Not surprisingly, Starmer's prevarication and his stunning lack of judgment brought calls for him to go.
Former deputy PM Angela Rayner couldn't wait to put the boot in, but a more spellbinding piece of drama came on Newsnight when veteran Labour backbencher Barry Gardiner was asked if he was demanding the prime minister's resignation, and he said nothing, absolutely nothing.
The hush hung over the debate for what seemed like an eternity before presenter Paddy O'Connell noted Gardiner's silence and said he could see the answer in his eyes.
It was a week of mindboggling incompetence and mendacity by English politicians, particularly Mandelson, whose fall from grace is nothing short of a political earthquake.
Surely the not so good lord could have seen the end was nigh with the release of the Epstein files?
The former Northern Ireland secretary of state must have known this would expose not only his questionable taste in underwear but also lift the lid on the alleged sharing of sensitive government material.
charmed
I'm reminded that in their personal relationships with Mandelson, some political journalists who worked with him more than me were initially charmed.
They realised he was a pig with a different snout when, if they wrote or said something he didn't like, he would be on to their editors to complain in a flash.
Even before the latest revelations from the States, Mandelson showed himself up for what he was the other week when he at first refused to apologise to Epstein's victims, only to change his tune the next day.
Even after the US Department of Justice released three million files, he went down fighting, claiming that by allegedly sharing secrets across the pond, he wasn't guilty of a crime.
He also questioned the authenticity of some of the documents.
going to the dogs
The whole sorry saga of the former resident of Hillsborough — who once shared a Christmas card of a picture of himself at the castle with two dogs — has severely weakened the position of an already under pressure Starmer.
On Thursday, he fought for his political life with a speech in which he repeatedly said he was sorry for believing Mandelson's lies before he gave him the job.
Of course, Mandelson and Starmer aren't the only ones to have come out of the scandal badly.
Why a mother like Sarah Ferguson would take her two daughters to stay with the creep, even on a freebie, is beyond any sane examination.
Of course, there would have been no show without the former prince Andrew, who finally left Windsor's Royal Lodge last week.
Instead of riding off quietly into the sunset, he went for a jaunt on horseback past the spot where he knew the media would be assembled.
He obviously thought he was showing the world he didn't give a damn.
Mind you, it wasn't the first time he'd tried to take the public for a ride.
His cocksure attitude came back to bite him on the wotsit after more Epstein files showed up last week, containing references to the man formerly known as prince, strippers and threesomes.
Senator's foreword to ‘Troubles’
Staying with the Epstein scandal and George Mitchell, the senator is staying with me, or rather his foreword to the book Reporting the Troubles is going nowhere.
There are unlikely to be any more reprints of the book Deric Henderson and I co-edited.
The idea was to create a compilation of reflections on the conflict by nearly 70 journalists.
The senator was our first choice to write a foreword.
As well as praising journalists for their reporting on the Troubles and their contribution to the peace process, he wrote that part of his heart and emotions would forever be with the people of Northern Ireland.
I wonder how he feels now.
Martin: I'll lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election
Taoiseach also hits out at Trump migration policies ahead of US visit
MARY REGAN, POLITICAL EDITOR, Sunday Independent, February 8th, 2026
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has vowed that he will lead Fianna Fáil into the next general election, and insisted he won't be stepping down as leader when Simon Harris becomes taoiseach next year.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Independent, Mr Martin criticised US president Donald Trump's "over the top” migration policies, revealed his hope to "crack” the housing crisis and said farmers have "gone too far” in calling for the boss of Bord Bia to be sacked.
After a turbulent year for his party, Mr Martin appears to have warded off any threats of a heave against him, following a disastrous presidential election campaign in which his chosen candidate, Jim Gavin, withdrew from the race.
"I understand fully the anger of members of the party and the dismay at how things transpired,” he said.
Mr Martin said that at the time he had been "fixated” on government policies and accepted he "took his eye off the ball” when it came to the presidency, partly due to the trade war waged by Donald Trump.
"People underestimate the degree to which the Government was very consumed by navigating that,” he said, adding those matters "took up a lot of bandwidth” at the start of last year.
What poll says
A poll last weekend for the Sunday Independent by Ireland Thinks found that 45pc of the public believe now is the time for Mr Martin to go, while 39pc said he should wait until the taoiseach's office is rotated with Fine Gael in November 2027.
The poll also showed that support for Fianna Fáil is at 18pc, while the Taoiseach's approval rating went up five points to 36pc.
Despite some internal calls for him to step down after Ireland's presidency of the Council of the European Union later this year, or in November 2027 in the rotating arrangement agreed by the Coalition, Mr Martin said he is now determined to put a "very challenging” year behind him.
He said the presidential race also proved "very challenging” for Mr Harris.
"Sinn Féin wondered for a long while and then decided not to, and they must be thanking their lucky stars that they didn't put forward a candidate,” he said.
On housing, he said figures showing 36,000 units were completed last year "give me hope that we can crack this.” The number was the highest since 2011, and a 20pc increase on 2024 — but still short of the earlier target of 45,000 in the latest housing plan.
Mr Martin said the number of completions will be higher this year and he is confident of reaching the "critical mass” of 50,000 a year. But he would not give a timeline for when that would be reached.
He also defended his decision to visit Mr Trump in the White House on St Patrick's Day, saying there isn't a single European leader who would turn down the invitation. He said he would have no issue with the US leader addressing the Dáil and will reiterate an invitation for him to visit Ireland.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said yesterday that the Taoiseach must show Ireland does "not bow down to bullies” when he meets Mr Trump.
However, Mr Martin said his approach is to be "careful with the national interest” and "not to lose the head immediately when something that looks terrible is announced”.
"Politically engaging with people is not an endorsement of the stance that they have, or of their own politics. We all have different politics, it can't be our way or no way,” he said.
ICE
However, Mr Martin criticised the recent actions by ICE — the Immigration and Custom Enforcement Agency — whose agents were involved in the deaths of two Minneapolis residents, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
"The over-reach in communities is something that is in my view over-the-top completely, and I am glad to see it being pulled back somewhat now,” Mr Martin said.
"I don't believe that putting ICE into communities and rooting people out of houses is something I would support or be in favour of.”
He expressed concern for Irish people living in the US. On Thursday, the Dáil heard that 65 Irish people sought consular assistance in relation to deportation from the US last year, three times the figure of the previous year.
"We do have concerns. We had those concerns before Trump was elected, but in recent years they had abated somewhat,” he said. "When people are resident without status in a country, it is very difficult for them and their families, they are very anxious. I met some over the years. Some who couldn't come back and mourn a loss in their families.”
The Taoiseach said he would "love to get longer-term legal routes into America” because "a lot of US companies would like high quality Irish people” but that this would require agreement from both parties in the US Senate.
He said his approach is "not to respond to the noise all of the time”
"There is a different political debate in America, a different political context there, and you have to try and interpret that, understand it, and not lose the head when something terrible is announced.”
