Omagh bomb father and Syrian refugee united by pain of loss and quest for truth
BY JENNIFER O'LEARY, Belfast Telegraph, October 21st, 2025
A MAN WHO LOST HIS SON IN THE DISSIDENT ATROCITY HAS FORGED A SPECIAL BOND WITH A DAD WHO CAME TO LIVE IN HIS TOWN.
In Damascus, the heat hit me first. A dry, scorching heat strengthened by hot desert air trapped against the mountain wall that surrounds the city.
High on the upper slopes of Mount Qasioun, which towers over Damascus, is the Magharat al-Dam or 'Cave of Blood' where, according to tradition, Cain is believed to have killed Abel. Many believe the impression of a large hand on a rock inside the cave was supposedly made by Abel as his brother murdered him.
A fragile peace still holds in the city almost a year on from the fall of the Assad regime, but the scale of destruction and loss is evident in bombed out neighbourhoods and noticeboards for the missing, located across the city.
More than 100,000 people have disappeared in Syria since 2011. And only now, in the relative calm that's followed the ending of Syria's 14-year civil war, do some of the families of the missing feel safe to come forward in an effort to seek answers.
The Al Rawashdeh family, who now live in Northern Ireland, are among the tens of thousands of families who are looking for loved ones.
Emad Al Rawashdeh along with his wife and all of their children, first sought refuge in neighbouring Lebanon after fleeing their home in Daraa, the “birthplace” of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
“It's very difficult to leave your home, to leave your country, childhood, neighbours, family, everything, but it's no other choice,” said Emad's eldest daughter, Waad. “I didn't take anything with me.”
Emad and some of his family were later resettled via the United Nations to Omagh. However, at this point, the Al Rawashdeh family was fractured. Emad's eldest son Hassn, and one of his daughters, Haneen, were not airlifted from Lebanon.
When war came to Lebanon last year, Hassn and Haneen, along with their families, travelled to Libya. The group planned to get from Libya to Italy by boat, after making contact with a trafficker. In a hurried voice message on August 24th, Hassn said that they were being moved that evening. That message remains the last time the rest of the family in Omagh heard from them.
Five young children — Imad, Zeen, Hani, Mohammad and Joud — are among the missing. The route their parents planned to take them on is a journey many take out of desperation.
The journey back
“The problem, specifically with Libya, is that there are a lot of smugglers making profit out of despair,” Eleonora Servino, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Syria told me.
“For a Syrian, this means that maybe you go there and say 'I can just find a job, stay here,' or you just feel that you are so close to Europe that you're just one step away to join your family. But, the journey is very dangerous.”
Emad, who travelled to Libya last year in search of information, has said he will “never stop” looking for his missing family. “He went from prison to prison, from police officer to solicitor trying to find out. No result. Nothing at all,” said his daughter Waad. Emad, who grew up as a 'proud son of Syria', is now a father and grandfather desperate for answers. It's why he returned to his homeland in recent weeks; a journey back in search of official help to find his missing loved ones. For the Spotlight programme 'Syria to Omagh: Lost & Missing', I followed Emad on his journey back to Syria. In his former home town of Daraa, bomb damaged buildings remain a grim legacy of destruction but I also witnessed the emotional aftermath of a civil war that came uninvited to his door.
The Spotlight programme is also about a friendship forged in trauma.
Michael Gallagher's only son Aiden was among the 29 victims of the 1998 Real IRA attack in Omagh. That tragedy followed the shooting dead of one of his brothers by the IRA in 1984. “Hugh was 26, he was married with two children, five and three-years-old,” said Michael. “He left the UDR and shortly after he started taxiing and he was lured to a spot where he was assassinated.”
Living with pain is a bond between one-time strangers, Michael Gallagher and Emad Al Rawashdeh. “People say move on,” Michael told me. You don't move on, you just learn to manage that pain a lot better than what you did. I just feel for Emad's family, for the pain and the suffering that we can't see.”
Two fathers looking for answers
Ultimately, Michael and Emad are two fathers looking for answers as to what happened their children.
“I had to get answers,” explained Michael. Many believe that the Omagh bomb inquiry, which was set up to examine whether the worst atrocity of the Troubles could have been prevented, would not have happened without the perseverance of Michael Gallagher and others.
“I had to know what you know, what went wrong and I think Emad needs to know is his family dead or alive, and if they are dead, where are they?”
Spotlight 'Syria to Omagh: Lost & Missing' is on BBC iPlayer now and on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.40pm tonight
Decades of failure leave families still in the dark
Pro Fide et Patria, Irish News, October 21st, 2025
IT has been 36 years since the Enniskillen bombing, yet the questions that should have been answered that November day remain unanswered.
Eleven people were murdered, one left in a coma for 13 years, and still, the truth about the investigation is shrouded in frustration and bureaucratic failings.
As we reported yesterday, a new podcast from The Times exposes a grim reality: crucial police documents detailing the arrests of ten individuals were destroyed in a “clean-up operation” after asbestos was found at Gough Barracks. Vital evidence, lines of questioning, and the identities of those detained have effectively vanished.
“Authorities past and present must ensure that history does not continue to protect incompetence. Transparency, access to records, and a commitment to uncovering the truth are overdue
For the families of Wesley and Bertha Armstrong, Kit and Jessie Johnston, William and Agnes Mullan, John Megaw, Alberta Quinton, Marie Wilson, Samuel Gault, Edward Armstrong, and Ronnie Hill, this is a bitter reminder that justice can be cruelly incomplete.
Equally as alarming are the revelations about the immediate police response. The very building where the bomb was planted – the Reading Rooms, facing the cenotaph – was reportedly not searched because it was not deemed a “credible threat”.
Within weeks, the RUC downgraded the investigation and diverted resources elsewhere. Former officers have described the inquiry as “dreadful”.
Incompetence cannot excuse the loss of trust, nor can time erase the consequences of institutional failings.
This is not just history; it is a present injustice. The destruction of records, the mismanagement of the investigation, and lingering questions over intelligence involvement show a pattern of negligence and secrecy that the victims’ families continue to pay for. Thirty-six years on, there is still no full accounting, no public reckoning, and no closure.
The Enniskillen bombing was a tragedy for which no one should have to live with unanswered questions about. Authorities past and present must ensure that history does not continue to protect incompetence. Transparency, access to records, and a commitment to uncovering the truth are overdue.
The destruction of records is not an isolated lapse; it reflects a broader pattern of institutional failings that marred investigations during the Troubles.
Families of the victims have spent decades seeking clarity, yet every bureaucratic hurdle and lost document reinforces the sense that justice was never a priority.
For the people of Enniskillen, for the families who lost loved ones, and for the integrity of justice itself, it is time that the decades of failures end, and the pursuit of accountability finally begins.
Search for disappeared Columba McVeigh moves to new area of bog
REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, October 21st, 2025
THE search for the remains of a teenager murdered by the Provisional IRA is moving to a different section of a bog in Co Monaghan.
It comes just before the 50th anniversary of the murder and secret burial of Columba McVeigh (19) on November 1 1975.
He is one of the “Disappeared” victims of the Troubles whose bodies have still to be found.
The latest search for Mr McVeigh’s remains has been ongoing at Bragan Bog since August.
Eamon Henry, lead investigator for the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR), said the search team is moving on to a section of the bog that is roughly eight acres in size.
He vowed that if Mr McVeigh is there, the team will find him.
“Active searching was paused briefly because of deteriorating ground conditions in spells of bad weather and we took that opportunity to undertake the necessary restoration work on the disturbed areas of the bog to preserve its ecological integrity,” he said.
“We are grateful to the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Blackwater Trust for their cooperation.
“Everyone involved in the search for Columba is acutely aware that the 50th anniversary of his murder and secret burial is approaching at the end of October.
“The pain and anguish this causes his family is almost impossible to imagine.
“We are doing everything in our power to recover Columba’s remains and while it is frustrating for us and deeply disappointing for the McVeigh family that we have not yet found him, our determination to do so is undiminished.
“If he is here we will find him.” Anyone with information on Mr McVeigh, or any of the other three Disappeared who remain missing -–former monk Joe Lynskey, soldier Robert Nairac or Seamus Maguire – should contact the ICLVR by phone on +353 1 602 8655, email Secretaryiclvr.ie or by post to ICLVR PO Box 10827.
The ICLVR said all information is treated in the strictest confidence.
Alternatively the charity Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111 and the untraceable anonymous online form is at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
Brinkmanship in NICVA funding ‘intolerable’
ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, October 21st, 2025
A BODY representing Northern Ireland’s community and voluntary sector has warned that support for thousands of vulnerable people and hundreds of jobs are at risk.
The NI Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA) is calling on the British government to confirm what will happen when a major funding stream ends next year.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) ends in March and is supposed to be replaced by the Local Growth Fund.
But NICVA say members are facing a “cliff-edge in service delivery” as there has been no confirmation for its delivery or funding in the north.
They state this risks cutting nearly 24,000 people off from “life-changing support” including those with disabilities, women, lone parents, carers and young people.
Without “immediate clarity,” NICVA add that around 64 organisations will be forced to start winding down services and start redundancy proceedings for around 650 skilled workers.
“This level of brinkmanship is intolerable,” Celine McStravick, Chief Executive of NICVA said.
“Behind every statistic is a real person. These programmes change lives. If they disappear, people will be left behind, families will suffer, and communities will lose out.
“Northern Ireland simply cannot afford to wait any longer and it is critical that the UK government as well as Secretary of State Hillary Benn listens to us and the NI Executive, as this lack of clarity impacts all of the Stormont departments.”
An Assembly motion sponsored by Sinn Féin MLAs will also take place today to highlight the issue.
NICVA Chief Executive Celine McStravick says vital community services are on the verge of collapse
Ms McStravick added: “There can be no misunderstanding about the severity of the situation. Vital services in our communities are on the brink of collapse. Local representatives quite rightly agree that our communities deserve better and a Local Growth Fund that meets our needs.
“We urgently need answers, clarity and autonomy on a regional project that is specifically shaped and framed to meet NI needs. Why do we have to wait?”
Sinn Féin’s O’Dowd challenged by opposition leader to ‘open the books’
REBECCA BLACK, October 21st, 2025
THE leader of the Stormont Opposition has challenged Sinn Féin’s Finance Minister to “open the books” to allow the costing of alternative proposals.
Matthew O’Toole made the point that costings are provided in the Dáil where John O’Dowd’s party make up the Opposition.
Mr O’Toole said the Stormont Opposition has formally written to Mr O’Dowd to ask him to facilitate his civil servants providing costings for their alternative Budget ideas.
He said with the Executive’s first multi-year budget in more than a decade coming before the end of the year, it is critical to ensure the most rigorous possible scrutiny of Executive plans and Opposition alternatives.
He said the current lack of openness limits the Opposition’s ability to provide detailed policy costings.
“This proposal should be a no-brainer for the Finance Minister and First Minister,” he said.
“Their party enjoys access to official costings from civil servants in Dublin to provide detailed alternative budget documents and other proposals,” Mr O’Toole added.
“It’s time for them to open the books in the north and let the Opposition here have the same rights as the Opposition in Dublin.”
Mr O’Toole added that Sinn Féin ministers have “regularly challenged the SDLP Opposition to provide more detail on our alternatives”.
Responding, a Department of Finance spokesperson said “a letter outlining this request was received today”.
The spokesperson added that a response to the leader of the Opposition will be issued “once this has been considered”.
Holy Cross priest pays tribute to former senior PSNI officer Alan McQuillan
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, October 21st, 2025
SPECIAL SERVICE HELD FOR ALAN MCQUILLAN WHO DIED FROM CANCER TWO WEEKS AGO
The priest who received death threats during the Holy Cross dispute has taken part in a service of thanksgiving for a senior PSNI officer he met during the loyalist protest.
Fr Aidan Troy was among those at the service for former Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan who died from prostate cancer a fortnight ago.
Several hundred people — including serving and former senior police officers — attended the service at St Columba's Church in Knock in east Belfast.
Holy Cross was thrust into the international spotlight in 2001 when hundreds of loyalist protesters tried to block the route taken to school by the pupils and their parents.
Fr Troy walked every day for three months with the 225 girls as the protesters jeered and spat at them.
The priest did the readings at Monday's thanksgiving service for Mr McQuillan. He told the Belfast Telegraph: “I first met Alan on the Ardoyne Road in 2001 at the Holy Cross dispute.
“It was a very difficult time. Relationships between the police, the army and the nationalist community were fraught.
“I always thought there was something very decent about Alan. We didn't agree on everything but he was positive, respectful and listened carefully.”
Fr Troy explained that he had spoken to Mr McQuillan about two months ago when he knew he didn't have long left to live.
“Alan asked me to do the readings”.
“Alan asked me to do the readings at his funeral service, and I agreed,” he said.
“I'm here today to put peace and reconciliation into practice after what was a very difficult dispute. This is the Good Friday Agreement in action.”
Mr McQuillan is survived by wife Heather, son Andrew and daughter Jane. The Reverend Chancellor John Auchmuty told mourners of his “selfless dedication” in his policing role.
“Alan was unfailingly thoughtful, a great listener, sensitive, intuitive, proactive and reassuring. He placed great value in being kind and courteous to people in all walks of life and was generous with his time for those who sought it.
“Trustworthy and reliable, he forged close friendships with many in work and in his private life,” the minister said. “A very polite and quite reserved person, he always tried to see the good in people.”
Former Chief Constable Hugh Orde told the Belfast Telegraph: “When I took over in 2002, Alan was my deputy. He was a great guy. He was very committed to the Patten Report. He was great fun too.”
Sir Hugh recalled often seeing Mr McQuillan with a sausage soda, waving a can of diet Coke at his boss to show the “healthy” part of his meal.
Former Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said: “Alan and I grew up together in Oldpark in north Belfast. I was born and raised in Ballymoney Street and Alan lived in Ballycarry Street so I've known him all my life.
“We went to Finiston Primary School together. We joined the RUC within a few years of each other. Alan was an outstanding friend, police officer and person.”
Patten reforms
Former Assistant Chief Constable Peter Sheridan said: “Alan was incredibly bright, decent and down to earth. He was so intelligent that his nickname was 'two brains'. He wanted to make policing better here.
“He was one of those who drove through the Patten reforms, and he was able to do so because people in the organisation trusted him.”
Former Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton recalled Mr McQuillan as a colleague who made a significant contribution to policing and had a marvellous sense of humour.
The former head of Special Branch in Belfast, Jim Gamble, said: “Alan was one of those people who left an impression when you worked with him.
“He was the most intelligent police officer I ever worked with. His intelligence, integrity and human decency defined him.”
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said he had joined the police not long before Mr McQuillan had left.
“Alan was a modern titan of policing. He was a man of integrity who commanded the respect of the rank-and-file.
“Indeed, he was someone who commanded universal respect, and that's not easy to achieve in policing,” he added.
UUP MLA and former senior PSNI officer Jon Burrows was also among the mourners as were former assistant chief constables Duncan McCausland and Sam Kinkaid.
Former SDLP MP Mark Durkan said he wanted to pay tribute to Mr McQuillan. “Alan had grace, humour, integrity, and a great sense of service. In my dealings with him, I always found him very straight,” he stated.
Pat McCartan, who had sat with Mr McQuillan on the Independent Financial Review Panel setting MLAs' salaries and expenses, said: “Alan had a forensic mind. He did incredible work on the panel, and was great company.”
Mr McQuillan left the PSNI in 2003 after an almost three decades long policing career. He is also a former head of the Assets Recovery Agency which investigated organised crime and paramilitaries.
Ed Moloney was persistent and fearless, qualities needed to report on the Troubles
KURTIS REID, Belfast Telegraph, October 21st, 2025
JOURNALIST WHO WORKED HERE FOR DECADES DIES IN NEW YORK AGED 77
Across four decades in journalism, Edmund 'Ed' Moloney — who died in New York at the weekend aged 77 — became known for his uncompromising reporting and determination to expose the hidden and uncomfortable sides of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Born in England in 1948, he was educated in Germany, Gibraltar and Malaysia before moving to Belfast to study at Queen's University.
Arriving in the city as the Troubles were beginning to unfold, he was drawn to politics and, for a short period, became involved with the Official IRA before turning to journalism — a decision that would define his life.
A childhood survivor of polio, Moloney often spoke of how the illness shaped his worldview and his respect for the NHS, to which he credited his recovery.
After a spell teaching English in Libya, he returned to Belfast and joined Hibernia magazine and later Magill, quickly establishing a reputation for forensic reporting and fearless scrutiny of all sides of the conflict.
In 1981 he became Northern Editor of The Irish Times, and later of the Sunday Tribune, positions that placed him at the centre of some of the most turbulent years of the Troubles. His journalism combined political analysis with a close focus on the paramilitary networks that operated in the shadows.
Admired for his depth and independence, but criticised by some for his tone, Moloney rarely left readers indifferent.
Pat Finucane case
Colleagues said he valued facts over reputation and avoided allegiance to any camp. In 1999, he was named Irish Journalist of the Year — the same year he faced possible imprisonment for refusing to hand over notes relating to the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane.
The High Court ruled in his favour, a landmark for press freedom and a defining moment of his career.
Moloney also turned to books and film. His A Secret History of the IRA, published in 2002 and later updated, remains one of the most detailed studies of the republican movement and its leadership.
Years earlier, he had co-authored an unauthorised biography of Ian Paisley with Andy Pollak, reflecting his interest in political figures across the divide.
He went on to direct the Boston College Belfast Project, an oral-history archive collecting testimonies from former republican and loyalist paramilitaries.
When police later sought access to the interviews, Moloney and his collaborators resisted, arguing it would breach promises of confidentiality.
The legal battle drew international attention and reignited debate about truth-telling and memory in post-conflict societies.
Voices from the Grave
Material from the project formed the basis of Voices from the Grave, the 2010 book and award-winning RTE documentary that told the stories of republican Brendan Hughes and loyalist David Ervine.
In 2018, Moloney co-wrote and co-produced I, Dolours, a film exploring the life of IRA volunteer and hunger striker Dolours Price, continuing his focus on the personal cost of militancy.
Moloney moved to New York in 2000, where he lived with his wife of nearly 50 years, Joan McKiernan.
Their son, Ciarán, now lives in Montreal. Though he left Belfast, he continued to write prolifically through his blog The Broken Elbow.
Tributes following his death reflected the scale of his influence. Séamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists called him “one of the most consequential journalists of his generation”, praising his “courage, dogged determination and unyielding commitment to shining a light into the darkest corners of Northern Ireland's troubled history”.
Dooley added: “During a crowded career he risked prison in defence of his sources and faced death threats for his investigative journalism. He was fearless, courageous and outspoken and was never afraid of upsetting those who yielded power, influence and authority.”
Filmmaker Des Henderson, who directed the documentary Lost Boys, said Moloney had been “an enormous help”, particularly “in his pushback against those who sought to rubbish our journalism to suit their own agendas”.
Journalist Eamonn Mallie, a long-time contemporary, described him as “an outstanding journalist, ever a contrarian”.
Moloney's work often divided opinion, but few questioned his commitment to detail or his readiness to confront difficult truths.
His reporting, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, shaped how the Troubles were seen and understood.
His death closes the chapter on a career defined by persistence, precision and independence — the same qualities that continue to challenge and inspire those who report on Northern Ireland today.
New legacy plan welcome but proof is in delivery
MARTIN GALVIN, Irish News, October 21st, 2025
THE Joint Framework on legacy agreed by the British and Irish governments marks a victory for victims’ relatives, who defeated the Tory Legacy Act in the Court of Appeal and discredited the ICRIR by refusing to participate.
The Irish government, too, deserves credit for taking Britain to court in Europe and getting it to agree terms that have the potential to give justice.
However, those who understand the past will welcome the agreement with caution, as we await actual British legislation, and, crucially, whether new laws are applied in a spirit which finally gives truth to families, after decades of bad faith and injustice.
The inspiration behind this 50-year legacy battle has always been heroic victims’ relatives, who would not accept being denied the truth about murdered loved ones.
All families are equally entitled to justice, but the injustice cuts deeper when those with a duty to uphold justice collaborate in cover-ups because the victims were murdered by British state forces or state agents. They overcame decades of denials and delays to get vindication at the Ballymurphy inquest and the Saville Inquiry.
When Britain shifted tactics, using state agents to aid, abet and sometimes even direct loyalist murders, they left behind families, like those of Pat Finucane or Sean Brown, who believe public inquiries are needed to uncover the extent of collusion in the killing of their loved ones.
Stormont House Agreement never delivered
The Stormont House Agreement on legacy mechanisms was reached in December 2014, but never legislated. It was reaffirmed, with legislation promised within 100 days, under New Decade, New Approach in January 2020. Nothing followed.
Meanwhile families had taken their fight to the European and local courts, inquests, civil actions and the Police Ombudsman. Truth was slowly emerging.
British officials, who claimed they could not enact Stormont House legislation without the unanimous consent of the political parties, found they could pass a new Legacy Act despite unanimous opposition.
They took away inquests and ombudsman reports, attempted an amnesty with British troopers in mind, and sidelined solicitors and human rights groups by funnelling everything into a commission.
The new agreement, itself, begs the question: Why has Britain refused to allow the courts or legacy mechanisms to give these families truth, unless it had much to hide?
As we await new British laws, obvious questions must be posed.
Keir Starmer has referenced “special protections” for former British troopers. Will “special protections” become a thinly disguised amnesty for those who committed murder, or an excuse to block genuine investigations because of prior participation in sham investigations, which did not comply with European law?
Security blanket
British officials have employed a “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” (NCND) policy, which amounts to a blanket national security veto suppressing disclosure of crucial information about the role of paid British agents in Troubles killings.
Hilary Benn has even taken cases involving the murders of Paul Thompson and Sean Brown to the London Supreme Court.
The coroner in the Brown case issued a gist simply acknowledging that intelligence reports linked multiple British agents in the murder, while the coroner in the Thompson case was blocked from issuing even a gist approved by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher.
Will the new disclosure regime mean that families are no longer denied such crucial information about collusion?
One of the fundamental reasons for a lack of trust in the ICRIR was objections about staffing by former senior RUC members.
Will new statutory conflict of interest standards, and the requirement that Hilary Benn confer with an advisory panel before making appointments, ensure that families can trust the impartiality of investigators and staff?
As noted above, my reaction to the Joint Framework is one of cautious welcome. It does have the potential to at last give the truth to grief-stricken families, who have endured all efforts to deny them justice. These families must be commended for having overcome every obstacle to reach this point.
However, understanding the past and what victims’ relatives have gone through, it would be foolish to take British good faith for granted.
As always, we should stand behind these victims’ families as they wait to see actual British legislation, and, crucially, to test whether new laws are applied in a spirit which finally gives them truth, after so much bad faith and injustice.
Protests at hotel housing asylum seekers stopped
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, October 21st, 2025
RIGHT-WING AGITATOR ANNOUNCES DECISION ON FACEBOOK AFTER DROP IN PROTESTERS
A weekly anti-immigration protest outside a Co Antrim hotel is being called off due to falling numbers.
Demonstrations organised by right-wing agitator Steven Baker have been taking place at Chimney Corner Hotel every Saturday for more than a year.
Footage from the gatherings outside the accommodation used to house asylum seekers has frequently appeared on social media.
Dozens of people have attended the protests in the past, however numbers have been dwindling with one councillor saying it's because the public is now aware of the background of many of the organisers of anti-immigration events.
Baker, who runs a group calling itself 'The Great Province-Wide Protest NI' announced on his Facebook page yesterday that he was ending the weekly rally.
He also made unfounded allegations about the asylum seekers housed at the former hotel which is not open to the public.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing the withdrawal of protest at the Chimney Corner,” he posted online.
“The people of Newtownabbey have made it abundantly clear they do not care about the 100-plus dangerous foreign males living at this hotel.”
Keyboard warriors ‘nowhere to be seen’
Despite over 360 comments from supporters urging him to continue, fewer than 10 people are said to have shown up at the latest protest. “It amazes me that all the keyboard warriors giving off about them [immigrants] are nowhere to be seen,” Baker continued.
“To the people of the surrounding areas, I tried to do what I could to make sure these people didn't linger around your areas.”
Green Party councillor Brian Smyth said the lack of support is an indication that people “do not want to be associated” with those organising such protests.
“A few people at the heart of these protests are clearly intent on stoking up racial tensions for social media clicks and being able to make money from this.
“They are chronically online and live in a bubble that isn't the real world, thinking they have widespread support, when most of the public are disgusted and view them as racist weirdos.
“I work with young people in the care system and I've never seen such concerns from them over young people previously. This is simply racism and hate.”
Baker, from the Cregagh Road in east Belfast, appeared before the city's magistrates court earlier this month charged with a single count of causing criminal damage to a Translink bus shelter on August 29 this year.
Representing himself, the 45-year-old was accompanied by far-right protesters Mark Sinclair, Glen Kane, Neil Pinkerton and another unknown man who were all in the public gallery with the defendant before his case was called.
Sinclair, who calls himself Freedom Dad, is a former UVF member and convicted bank robber while Kane was convicted of manslaughter for his role in a sectarian attack on a Catholic man who was beaten to death.
They were also previously pictured with Mark Payne who was convicted along with two other men of stabbing a 14-year-old schoolboy who almost died from his injuries.
Payne, who was further convicted of threatening two teenage girls with a knife after they witnessed the unprovoked attack, is now part of a group of vigilantes calling themselves East Belfast First Division.
Members have been 'patrolling' the streets claiming to be protecting women and children from migrants.
Earlier this month, Baker posted a video online urging his followers to attend the weekly protest telling them: “We have to keep the pressure on… there's other places it needs to happen too, like politicians' offices — maybe that's where it should go next.”
Hours later a mob gathered outside the home of Stormont's Justice Minister Naomi Long and her husband, Belfast city councillor Michael Long.
One of the most prominent protesters Charles Johnston, with an address in Kylemore Gardens in Larne, was convicted on Friday of driving offences — the court was told he has 110 previous convictions.
The housing of asylum seekers at the Chimney Corner is currently subject to an enforcement investigation by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council.
Unionist politicians raised questions following a court ruling in England which granted a district council a temporary injunction to block asylum seekers from lodging at a hotel in Essex.
DUP MLA Trevor Clarke questioned if any change of use had been sought for the Chimney Corner Hotel.
A council spokesperson said: “An enforcement investigation has commenced, and the council has no further comment to make at this time.”
TUV leader Jim Allister also said he had written to councils regarding the use of hotels accommodating asylum seekers.
‘Freedom Dad’ could face jail - Ban on immigration chat 'breached during podcast'
ALAN ERWIN, Belfast Telegraph, October 21st, 2025
A Belfast man accused of involvement in an illegal protest allegedly defied a ban on publicly discussing immigration during an interview with self-styled podcaster 'Freedom Dad', the High Court heard yesterday.
Prosecutors claimed Ryan Tyrie breached the prohibition when he featured on the YouTube broadcast.
The 41-year-old dog trainer, of Willowfield Street, faces charges of disorderly behaviour, jaywalking and taking part in an unnotified procession in Ballymena, Co Antrim on September 4 this year.
He had been released on bail under a condition not to engage in, post or stream about immigration-related issues on any social media site.
Tyrie was detained again for allegedly breaching those terms weeks later.
The court heard he had been interviewed on a YouTube channel about current affairs run by a podcaster known as 'Freedom Dad'.
During discussions he allegedly stated: “Fifty people were at the protest and I was the only person arrested.”
The interviewer then responded: “We are being targeted as we are right wing people who are against mass immigration.”
Crown counsel argued that the exchange represented a clear breach of the conditions imposed on Tyrie.
Denying the alleged violation, Tyrie has insisted he had only agreed to talk about prison life.
His lawyer insisted that when the interviewer raised immigration, the defendant made clear he was not permitted to discuss the issue and walked off out of shot.
Part of the online exchange was played in court to Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan.
“Mr Tyrie's instructions are that he was avoiding discussing immigration period,” defence counsel submitted.
“His view and mindset was that it was a generalised conversation to do with prison life.”
Adjourning Tyrie's application to be re-released on bail, the Lady Chief Justice indicated she wanted more time to analyse the footage.
Dame Siobhan also commented: “He would have been wise not to be involved in anything of this type.”
UK Government says it's responsible for trade after Sinn Fein minister instructs officials to boycott Israel talks
By David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, October 21st, 2025
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn had been urged to intervene over Stormont's economy minister issuing an instruction not to fund defence companies supplying Israel -and saying her department would not take part in UK-Israeli trade talks.
The government has made clear that it is responsible for trade negotiations, amid a row over Stormont’s economy minister instructing officials not to engage in UK talks with Israel.
The comments come in response to a call from Jim Allister MP for the government to intervene over Caoimhe Archibald’s policy. The TUV leader had written to the Secretary of State arguing that the minister is acting outside the powers available to her.
Ms Archibald also told the state-backed trade body Invest NI to draw up plans to “eliminate any risk of public funds being used to support the manufacture of arms or components that are used for genocide”.
In the Assembly on Monday she said her policy sends a message “that we will have no part in supporting Israel’s genocide” in Gaza.
Now, a spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Office has told the News Letter: “Trade policy is reserved and as such trade negotiations are the responsibility of the UK Government. The Government is aware of the Economy Minister's position.
“The Secretary of State will respond to Mr Allister's correspondence in due course.”
Mr Allister had written to NI secretary Hilary Benn, urging him to exercise powers under the Northern Ireland Act – and “take necessary action to countermand the purported actions of the minister”.
‘Ultra Vires’
The TUV boss said that international relations is an excepted matter under the devolution settlement, and therefore trade talks with Israel – and measures taken in that regard – are a matter solely for His Majesty's Government.
In a letter to the Labour minister, seen by the News Letter, he says the Sinn Fein minister’s “purported actions are ultra vires”.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the economy minister said her department is drawing up an ‘Ethical Investment Framework’ based on “United Nations guiding principles” – and instructed officials not to “engage in the British government's trade talks with Israel while it continues to illegally occupy and impose apartheid on Palestine”.
Companies seeking grant support from Invest NI are to “confirm that they are not manufacturing arms or components for countries committing genocide”, Ms Archibald has said.
The stance has been slammed by unionist politicians – and the DUP has sought to bring the matter before the executive given its controversial nature.
The party has launched a petition in an attempt to get the issue in front of Stormont ministers, which has the backing of TUV MLA Timothy Gaston and some UUP MLAs. The DUP is confident it will reach 30 signatures required in the Assembly.
UUP MLA Steve Aiken says Minister Archibald’s actions have “personally damaged international confidence in the Northern Ireland economy and her position will act as a deterrent to future trade costing thousands of jobs”.
Her policy is a direct contradiction of the government’s approach on defence, with the Ministry of Defence saying NI workers “are benefiting from significant defence investment that is backing high-quality careers and driving innovation”.
Were my husband and I innocent victims?, Diane Dodds asks First Minister
By Rebecca Black, PA, Belfast News Letter, October 20th, 2025
Diane Dodds has asked the First Minister whether her and her husband were innocent victims after being targeted by the IRA as they visited their son in hospital in 1996.
The exchange between Diane Dodds and Michelle O’Neill, whose party, Sinn Fein, had a relationship with the Provisional IRA, came during questions for the Executive Office at the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday.
Ms Dodds has spoken previously about how she and her husband, Nigel, a former MP and deputy leader of the DUP, were targeted by PIRA as they visited their son, Andrew, at the Royal Victoria Hospital for sick children, in December 1996.
Lord Dodds has described how a “shot rang out in the corridor”, and screaming, panic and shouting, before being told to get down.
On Monday Ms Dodds asked Ms O’Neill: “Do you consider Nigel and I to have been innocent victims of IRA terrorism?”
Ms O’Neill offered to have a conversation with Ms Dodds.
“Let’s sit down and talk about the past,” she said.
“That’s the way in which we heal, that’s the way in which we try to move forward, so my door is open to you at all times to sit down and have a conversation.
Honest conversations
“I think it’s really, really important that if we’re going to move forward, we need to have an honest conversation about the fact that there were so many injustices, so much hurt across our society, across all sides.
“Let’s try and find a way to heal. I am more than happy to sit down with you and discuss that even further.”
Ms Dodds said: “Once again, the First Minister cannot condemn the actions of the criminals in the IRA.
“That is part of the problem here, because she talks about an inclusive society, she doesn’t want to include the innocent victims of terrorism.
“Do you understand the impact the eulogising of IRA terrorists is having on innocent victims?”
Ms O’Neill cautioned against “cherry picking” from the past, and made a claim about the DUP’s connection with Ulster Resistance.
“I think it’s important that we actually recognise that there are many people out there that caused hurt in our society, and you can’t just cherry pick, you don’t get to pick who you think is a victim and who isn’t,” she said.
“There are many injustices in the past. There are many people, in terms of British state loyalists, who donned the Ulster beret – your own party would know a lot about that in terms of those who ran weapons and state agents.
“So let’s not be selective, let’s honestly try and find a way to recognise that there are different experiences and different narratives of the past.
“That’s the first step in terms of reconciliation, and let’s use all of our efforts to try and build for a better future.
“That’s what I am focused on. I believe that’s what the vast majority of people here in the society are focused on also.”
