Presbyterian Moderator quits amid safeguarding ‘failures’

Series of scandals rocked the Presbyterian Church in run-up to resignation

ANGELA DAVISON, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

The shock resignation of the head of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) due to “serious and significant failings” in its safeguarding duties comes after a series of exposés by the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life.

It's believed to be the first time a serving Moderator has resigned in the role's 185-year-history.

For months now, we have revealed a litany of claims of bullying and harassment by the Church and its hierarchy. Ministers have described how their treatment at the hands of PCI church leaders led to them having breakdowns, having to take extended time off work and feeling driven to suicide because they felt unseen, unheard, gaslit and dismissed by those in authority. In July, Sunday Life told the story of how one former Presbyterian minister's simple request to live in his own house, rather than the church manse, led to him being systematically spied on for months by members of his own congregation.

Shockingly, surveillance charts which monitored the minister's movements inside his own home, recording times of lights going on and off, whether blinds were open or closed and if a car was at the property, were sent to the South Belfast Presbytery. The documents were only released after the minister requested information under the SAR (Subject Access Request) process. Police said the documents which the minister obtained warranted a criminal investigation, but because the alleged offences had taken place more than six months beforehand, they were statute barred.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the minister was being “covertly monitored” for “insurance purposes” and ordered a church secretary to stop after the log was discovered. The former minister still takes medication for PTSD.

Another minister said his life was ruined after PCI leaders falsely accused him of having an affair.

In 2017, the late Rev Barry Reid was accused of having an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman in his congregation on the basis of one anonymous phone call.

Subsequently, he left his post under advice and was also subjected to what he described as a “kangaroo court”.

The PCI denied the claims by Mr Reid, who passed away last February.

Confidential settlements

Other issues include the Church's use of settlements and NDAs. This newspaper disclosed how two settlements and confidentiality agreements were reached earlier this year.

Prof Laurence Kirkpatrick settled a long-running case alleging unlawful discrimination and unfair dismissal.

An agreed statement read: “Laurence Kirkpatrick, who was employed as Professor of Church History by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland between September 2, 1996, and March 20, 2019, issued a number of proceedings against the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, including allegations of unlawful discrimination and unfair dismissal which were disputed and denied by the church.

“Since that time both parties have been unable to reach a consensus in relation to these allegations.

“In the interests of all concerned, the parties have now resolved the litigation and reached a confidential resolution, without admission of liability by the church, actual or implied.”

In a separate case, former trainee Presbyterian minister Tom Finnegan reached a confidential settlement for a victimisation claim after his ministry training with the Presbyterian Church was terminated. In a statement to this newspaper, he said: “The tribunal proceedings were settled, following mediation between the parties.”

‘Troubled Presbyterians’

Internally, there have been rumblings too. In recent months, a group calling themselves “Troubled Presbyterians” sent three emails to all Presbyterian ministers, highlighting concerns about the use of settlements within the denomination and calling for ministers to “take action”.

The emails also accused church leaders of “hiding behind silence”.

Furthermore, a 150-page dossier alleging misconduct within the church, compiled by former Alliance leader Lord Alderdice, was submitted to the NI Charity Commission three years ago.

Earlier this month, Freedom of Information requests submitted to the commission revealed that the body is “inadequately resourced” to deal with over 550 cases lying on its desk, with only three people looking into them.

It's uncertain what exactly has been the tipping point in Dr Gribben's increasingly untenable position, but it's understood pressure has been mounting in recent months.

Dr Gribben's sudden departure leaves Presbyterian Church with major headaches

ALF MCCREARY, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

COMMENT:

The sudden announcement by the Right Reverend Dr Trevor Gribben that he is resigning as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) after only five months in office will send shockwaves throughout congregations here and further afield.

Any resignation by a church leader is rare but the resignation of a Presbyterian Moderator is unheard of.

Former Moderators have had to take over from their successors due to illness or death, but there is nothing to match Dr Gribben's sudden departure.

He has resigned because of “the serious and significant failings of the PCI in the central safeguarding functions of the PCI from 2009 until 2022”.

He added that “as a result of this, people have been placed at risk”.

This failure is significant, but with respect to Dr Gribben, many church observers will ask if this is a resigning issue?

Others will claim that a cleric of the undoubted ability of Trevor Gribben should stay in office and use his many skills to help guide the PCI through this difficult period.

Though every Moderator is regarded as the “leader” of the Church, in real terms he (never a she up to now) serves as a figurehead.

The real power rests with the General Assembly and with its Clerk. Dr Gribben has been Deputy Clerk and Clerk for some time, and he has gained the reputation of being a clever administrator who takes a firm line with people in all the major issues involved.

He has had to deal with a serious division between so-called hardliners and liberals within the PCI, which has become alarmingly conservative.

‘Cold house’ for LGBTQ community

This is witnessed in its attitude to same-sex relationships which has led to accusations that the PCI is regarded as a “cold house” for the LGBT community.

Recently also, Lord Alderdice, the son of a Presbyterian minister, and others have compiled a dossier of alleged and serious abuses to some clergy and laity within the Church.

This was forwarded several years ago to the Northern Ireland Charities Commission, but so far no action has been taken.

As Lord Alderdice rightly said: “At the very least the commission should investigate, and those who are named as abusers be given the opportunity to deny or explain.”

Another serious issue is the failure of the PCI to elect the first woman Moderator in its long history, which is an insult to the many women who serve it so faithfully and are the backbone of the Church.

All of this prompted me to claim recently that the PCI has been shaping a Church for the 17th century and not the 21st.

Given all of this, Dr Gribben had a crucial task in helping the Church to face many urgent challenges, which are just as important as the failure on safeguarding issues which have led to his shock resignation.

His sudden departure from the top role in the Church he has served so faithfully for most of his adult life has left the Presbyterian Church in Ireland with major headaches and challenges.

It is undoubtedly a serious blow to the Church.

Moderator quits after 'serious and significant' failings over safeguarding

Brett Campbell, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Rev Dr Trevor Gribben has resigned over “serious and significant” safeguarding failings spanning a period of 13 years.

The senior clergyman announced that he will step aside at the end of this month after an internal investigation exposed shortcomings between 2009 and 2022 which mean “people have been placed at risk”.

“We are aware of a number of people who have been harmed, and we believe there may well be others as yet unknown to us,” Rev Gribben told a press conference in Assembly Buildings.

“We apologise unreservedly for this.”

The church leader, understood to be the first Moderator in history to resign and who only took up the role five months ago, confirmed he has been given permission to retire from his other roles as Clerk of the Assembly and General Secretary.

“The church's first and greatest concern about this is for those people who have suffered harm, and those who have been put at risk,” Rev Gribben added.

“The Presbyterian Church in Ireland profoundly regrets this, is deeply grieved, and will offer all possible support to those affected.”

‘Impossible to determine true numbers affected’

The church admitted failings were “magnified” by “major gaps” in record-keeping. It confirmed the amount of people affected that it is aware of is in low single digits, but admitted it is impossible to determine the true number which could be much bigger.

A dedicated response line has been set up to allow other potential victims to come forward and all statutory agencies have been informed, including the PSNI and Probation Service.

Criminal justice proceedings are already under way in relation to some of the issues which relate to the church's failure to make referrals to statutory authorities when appropriate, and failure to respond adequately to concerns about individuals or congregations.

Some of the failings relate to vulnerable people who sought help after suffering harm and situations where offenders were not adequately monitored upon returning to worship.

The internal probe was launched in May after police alerted the church to the actions of a member in another area of his life. People have come forward from three congregations on both sides of the border.

Basic failure to follow guidelines

Convener of the General Council, Rev Dr David Bruce, said most of the incidents involved a “basic failure” to follow the church's own Taking Care guidance introduced a number of years ago.

However he conceded that “it's inevitable that we have not identified all situations where practice was unacceptable”. Rev Gribben told the media he was “not directly responsible for the professional delivery of safeguarding within the church” before refusing to take questions.

“Nonetheless serious and significant failings in our central safeguarding functions occurred partly during my tenure as General Secretary.” he added.

“In light of this, I have decided it would be best at this time for me to step aside… I have made these decisions and taken these steps with the deepest personal regret that our central failings have caused such harm to those who deserve our protection the most.”

The church's General Council and Charity Trustees are making arrangements for others to carry out key duties associated with his roles.

The member of staff who was responsible for ensuring safeguarding guidance was followed when the failings occurred is no longer in post.

A range of measures are being put in place to follow up with individuals who have been let down by “poorly handled” situations and to improve governance and practice.

New protocols now in place

Rev Bruce insisted protocols are now in place to supervise offenders and additional staff have been appointed to dedicated safeguarding roles as he said the primary concern is with those who have been harmed.

“We have let you down and for this I am truly sorry,” he told them.

“It should not have happened… we will do everything we can to both put in place better arrangements to prevent this occurring again and to put the appropriate help and support in place for you now.”

Rev Bruce said the outgoing Moderator's decision to step aside was “the right thing to do” but insisted “there's a recognition that all of us have failed”.

Asked why only one resignation was forthcoming, he said Rev Gribben himself took the view that it was “the right and honourable thing to do on behalf of us all”.

A group representing victims of childhood sexual abuse has called for “urgent regulation and independent oversight” of churches in the wake of the revelation.

NI Survivor Council said it is needed to “ensure transparency, accountability, and protection for congregants and staff alike”.

“The council stresses that abuse within religious structures continues to expose systemic failures in safeguarding and reporting, highlighting the need for statutory frameworks rather than internal handling of abuse allegations,” it added.

Acting Clerk of General Assembly, David Allen, admitted “we do not know the scale of the issues” but refused to comment on the nature of the harm caused.

He urged anyone impacted by the failings to call 02890 417308 or email SAT@presbyterianireland.org.

Church silent on what 'harm' happened amid call for people to come forward

By Iain Gray, Belfast News Letter, November 12th, 2025

Presbyterian officials have stayed tight-lipped on exactly what harm was at the core of the safeguarding crisis that sparked the resignation of the church’s top figure.

Moderator Rev Dr Trevor Gibben sensationally quit today after just five months in the role, after an internal review and report exposed what he described as “serious and significant failings” in safeguarding dating from 2009 to 2022.

As a result of the safeguarding failings, Rev Gribben said “people have been placed at risk”.

“We are aware of a number of people who have been harmed, and we believe there may well be others as yet unknown to us,” he said. “We apologise unreservedly for this."

During this evening’s press conference that saw his resignation, however, senior church officials wouldn’t go into detail about what specific harms and risks were at the heart of the safeguarding failures.

The church is appealing more people to come forward so they can find out the true scale of the problem; according to the Acting Clerk of the General Assembly, Rev Dr David Allen, they can’t give an exact number of people affected nor precisely define what harms may or not have been caused due to that appeal.

“[The appeal includes] people that we don’t know about, people that we want to help, people we want to say sorry to,” he said.

“The number of people we are aware of at present who have been directly affected by this is in the low single figures.”

He confirmed that statistic is people “affected by our failures”.

Rev Allen said officials are currently “reluctant to define” what counts as “harm” in the safeguarding crisis, as they’re worried doing so could stop more speaking up.

He said: “We want people who believe they have been harmed to come forward and tell us, and we will speak to them and address their needs individually.”

During the press conference, issues found were said to include:

·         failing to refer cases to legal authorities when required

·         failing to properly monitor offenders who join a congregation, despite being told about them by the authorities

·         failing to address concerns reported by one member of a congregation about another

·         failing to respond to people who asked for the church’s help after suffering harm.

According to the Convener of the General Council of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev Dr David Bruce, the person in charge of safeguarding from 2009 to 2022 is no longer in the job, and a new team is working both to follow up with people affected and improve arrangements and practice.

An official has confirmed to the News Letter that the church has no evidence any cases involve allegations against clergymen.

Anyone who thinks they may be affected is asked to contact the church via SAT@presbyterianireland.org or on 028 9041 7308.

Trevor Gribben was appointed to the position of Moderator in June, having previously served as General Secretary since 2014. He’s now to leave the post, the highest position in the church on the entire island of Ireland, at the end of this month and is also resigning as Clerk of the General Assembly.

Explaining his decision to quit, Rev Gribben said that although he wasn’t directly in charge of safeguarding during the problem years, “serious and significant failings” occurred partly during his tenure as General Secretary.

Soccer club removes staff after game sparks claims of sectarian abuse

ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, November 13th, 2025

A COACH at a Co Down football team has lost their role following a game which saw complaints of sectarian abuse.

It follows a game on Saturday between amateur sides East Belfast FC and Drumaness Mills FC.

Despite a 5-1 victory away from home, the east Belfast club said they were “deeply disappointed with the hate-filled sectarian abuse hurled at players and coaches”.

They claimed this included “repeated slurs of ‘Orange b***ards’ and ‘Orange f***ers’ which were clearly captured on camera”.

Drumaness Mills FC apologised in a statement. “The club has conducted a full investigation over the past 24 hours. Decisions made prior to the game, as well as actions that occurred during and after the match, are not acceptable,” a spokesperson said.

“With this in mind, the Drumaness Mills Committee has decided to remove a member of the first-team staff from their position with immediate effect.

“Drumaness Mills FC does not condone, and will not be associated with, any behaviour of this nature.

“The club is, and will always be, welcoming to members from all communities.

“Moving forward, the club would like to reiterate that it operates a zero-tolerance policy towards such behaviour.”

East Belfast FC thanked Drumaness Mills for their “prompt response” and said they “now considered the matter closed”.

During the match, Drumaness assistant coach CJ McGourty – a former Antrim player who recently stepped down as manager of Fermanagh ladies’ Gaelic football team – received a red card.

Agreement reached on Omagh Bombing Inquiry sensitive material

JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE, Irish News and Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

AGREEMENT has been reached on how a public inquiry should deal with operationally sensitive material relating to the Omagh bombing, a hearing has been told.

The Omagh Bombing Inquiry heard that UK government concerns on a proposed mechanism around sensitive documents had been “alleviated”.

The inquiry, chaired by Lord Turnbull, is holding hearings in Belfast.

The Real IRA bomb in the Co Tyrone town in August 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman who was pregnant with twins, in the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.

The public inquiry was set up by the previous government to examine whether the explosion could have been prevented by the UK authorities.

Earlier this year, the inquiry heard personal statements from those affected by the massacre.

Lead counsel to the inquiry Paul Greaney KC said the public hearings in Belfast this week would deal with a number of issues, including providing an update on hearings next year relating to the events immediately surrounding the bombing and disclosure issues.

Chairman of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry Lord Turnbull may make bespoke rulings.

Addressing the inquiry chairman, he said: “The primary purpose of the hearing was to enable you to hear arguments about the process the inquiry proposes to adopt to the handling of operationally sensitive material. Although that argument has dropped away, at least in very substantial part.”

Some information held could facilitate further attacks

Mr Greaney said the inquiry held material which “contains information which, if published, would be capable of assisting those who would wish to carry out future terrorist attacks”.

He said the inquiry proposed a staged approach to deal with the documents which has “widespread support from the bereaved families and survivors”.

He added: “It is no longer, as of last night and this morning, the subject of any objection or any substantial objection.”

Counsel to the inquiry Edward Pleeth said operationally sensitive material would be divided into the categories of that which contains information about tactics and capabilities used by state authorities and that which describes methods and strategies used by individuals in suspected terrorist acts.

A Real IRA bomb in Omagh in 1998 killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins

He said the inquiry legal team would assess whether documents it received contained operationally sensitive material which required redaction.

The material provider would then be asked if they agree with that assessment or whether they believe any further material is sensitive and requires redaction.

If there is not agreement between the inquiry legal team and the document provider, the inquiry chairman would be asked to make a bespoke ruling, Mr Pleeth said.

Government barrister Fiona Fee KC said a recent note from the inquiry clarifying and refining the proposed procedure had “alleviated” key concerns.

She added: “HMG’s concern about the principle of seeking to draw a bright-line distinction between operationally sensitive and closed material is considerably alleviated by the potential to apply to the chairman for a bespoke approach should it be necessary.”

The inquiry chairman is hearing further legal submissions from interested parties before he will be asked to endorse the approach over operationally sensitive material.

A Play of Hope, Forgiveness and Reconciliation

KATHY DONAGHY, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

MAN BLINDED BY RUBBER BULLET AT AGE OF 10 ON NEW PLAY ABOUT HIS LIFE

Richard Moore was just 10 when he was blinded by a soldier's rubber bullet as he ran home from school in Londonderry. This week, he will go back to the same school, where a play about his life is being staged.

The first showing of the one-man play, Witness, written by poet and playwright Damian Gorman, at Rosemount Primary School, will be an emotional one as it is the last place Mr Moore saw before he was blinded on May 4, 1972.

“I remember I got out of school as normal and there were a couple of ways I could go home to Creggan where we lived. I was following my mates and we started to run. I remember coming up to the Army look-out post - it was just part of the landscape,” Mr Moore said.

“As I ran towards it, the soldier fired a rubber bullet.”

As he lay wounded on the ground, he remembers a teacher, Giles Doherty, standing over him telling him his name. Mr Doherty did not recognise the child on the ground such were his injuries.

Mr Moore spent a month in hospital. A self-confessed football fanatic, he said he remembers clearly the night his older brother Noel took him out to the back garden to tell him that he would never see again or play his beloved football again.

“He told me I'd lost my right eye and I'd never see out of my left eye. I reacted like a 10-year-old boy would. I cried because I'd never see my mammy and daddy's faces again,” he said.

“You don't know at 10 years old the challenges you will face or what it means for the rest of your life.”

Despite the devastating injury, Mr Moore said he does not feel like he had a traumatic childhood.

Family support

“I was really just trying to be normal - I didn't want people to treat me differently,” he said.

“I refused to carry a white stick, as I didn't want people to see me with a white stick. I used the end of a fishing rod instead.”

Mr Moore credits his family and friends for rallying around so he could experience a “happy childhood”.

The second youngest of 12 children, his parents worked tirelessly to ensure that he had access to education and he became the first in his family to get a degree.

He learnt to play guitar, formed bands and ran his own business. He used compensation to buy a house and a pub, which he ran until he founded Children in Crossfire in 1996.

Married to Rita, with two daughters and two granddaughters, Mr Moore has never allowed blindness to hinder his development.

“I have learnt to see life in a different way,” he said.

“People started asking me about blindness and I started asking myself 'why am I so happy?' I decided I was going to use my story to help children who couldn't speak for themselves.”

He said that if children around the world have benefited from the work of Children in Crossfire, it's all down to those people who showed him what real love and compassion were at the most devastating time of his life.

“My mammy and daddy, my friends, my community - I've been at the receiving end of so much love and support. All I ever wanted to do was give some of that back. If every child had what I'd had, they could grow and blossom,” he said.

‘I forgave him before we met’

In 2007, Mr Moore met the soldier who shot him, Charles Inness, and the men have maintained a friendship.

“I forgave him before I met him. What I said to him when I met him was that I wasn't there to make him accountable to me or to make him feel guilty or to be confrontational. I told him: 'I am here to let you know I forgive you and I have no hatred towards you and I never had',” he said.

Six years after they first met, Mr Inness said he was sorry.

It was when Mr Moore listened to the Dalai Lama speak on the subject of forgiveness that he realised he could have been describing his life.

“I was wondering why I wasn't angry at the British Army. I heard the Dalai Lama describe forgiveness and how it gives you contentment. All I can say is that I'm the happiest person on the planet because of forgiveness,” he said.

When Mr Gorman asked Mr Moore where they would put on the play starring Derry actor Andy Doherty, Mr Moore said it would be fitting to put it on in his old school.

“That's the last place I was able to see. When you look out the window, you can see exactly where I was shot.

“That was the bedrock I built my life on. That school, my family, my community - those people put me back on my feet,” he said.

​Witness, by Damian Gorman, will be performed at Rosemount Primary School in Derry today and in the Seamus Heaney Homeplace in Bellaghy tomorrow

'I have come back strongly': Butcher targeted in race riots returns to work

GABRIELLE SWAN, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

NEW SUPERMARKET IN ANDERSONSTOWN HAS GIVEN JAMAL A FRESH LEASE OF LIFE

A butcher from Syria says he has “come back strongly” after his business was targeted during racist rioting in Belfast.

Zain Supermarket in Andersonstown opened three weeks ago, with Jamal Ghabes greeting customers from his halal meat counter.

Locals have been supporting his new shop, which is stocked with fresh meats, spices, produce and snacks from around the globe.

Flowers and messages have been given to the co-owner, Dr Raied Al-Wazzan, who runs the business with Jamal .

Originally from Syria, Jamal (29) previously working for Sham Supermarket as their resident butcher.

However, during racist rioting in August 2024, it was targeted by far-right thugs.

The violence was triggered by false speculation following the killing of three young girls in Southport.

In July 2024, Axel Rudakubana murdered the three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. The victims were Bebe King (6), Elsie Dot Stancombe (7) and Alice da Silva Aguiar (9).

Burnt out

There followed widespread anti-immigration protests across the UK, including Belfast where rioters took to foreign-owned shops, such as Sahara Shisha and Bash Café, which were entirely burnt out.

Sham Supermarket, which remains closed, was another target, leaving Jamal, who was granted asylum in 2021 after fleeing Syria, out of work.

However, he is now back to work after partnering with Dr Al-Wazzan.

Jamal praised Andersonstown as “a good area”, with Dr Al-Wazzan hailing him as a hard worker.

“I am a partner [in the business] with Jamal. We have now been open for about three weeks,” said Dr Al-Wazzan

“So far so good. We are welcomed by the local community, lots of local customers come in here and wish us the best and are using our shop. I wasn't myself connected to Sham Supermarket, but Jamal was working there, he had a butcher counter there.

“But after the shop was subjected to an arson attack by the racists, Jamal asked me if we can open a new business somewhere else.

“We looked for a better premises, a better location, and we found this location, we opened a new business.

“Jamal is a very hard worker, like all asylum seekers and refugees. They want to provide for themselves. He wants to work for himself, they don't want to depend on the state to provide, so always looking for a new business, a new venture and to provide for himself and his family.

“He is a very hard worker, and I have now partnered with him to run this business.

“They [immigrants] feel safer in the area,” Dr Al-Wazzan added.

“Definitely there are hate crimes all over Belfast, but this area has very, very low hate crime statistics compared to other parts of Belfast. The vast majority of local people came here and welcomed, [they] gave us cards and flowers. So, we feel much, much safer here in this part of the city.

“Thank you to everybody who sent us messages in email, cards to wish us the best. Thank you.”

Over a year since the riots, Jamal said he is feeling positive about what the future holds.

“After the racist incident last year I came back strongly. With my business partner we opened this supermarket.

“This area is a good area, Andytown.”

Court hears of terror experienced by couriers targeted in racist attacks in East Belfast

ALAN ERWIN, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, November 13th, 2025

A crowd surrounded a “terrified” food delivery driver and threw hot coffee at him in one of two separate racist attacks in east Belfast, the High Court was told yesterday.

Prosecutors said both ethnic minority victims were blocked in while parts of their cars were ripped off near a fast-food restaurant in the Connswater area.

Details emerged as a 27-year-old man accused of being part of the group who targeted the couriers on the same night sought release on bail.

Cameron Carson, from Glenluce Walk in the city, faces charges of common assault, using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, and two counts of criminal damage.

The court heard a Romanian national was singled out after he got into his Volkswagen Golf at the Connswater retail park on September 8 this year.

Multiple people surrounded the car, ripped the rear window wiper and kicked the panels.

As the man tried to reverse away, members of the group pushed back against the vehicle and attempted to remove the key in a bid to stop him leaving.

Prosecution counsel Iryna Kennedy said: “The group also personally attacked him by throwing hot coffee at him, causing an injury to his arm.”

Although the victim fled before police arrived, he later recalled being in fear and believing the crowd targeted him because of his nationality.

Mrs Kennedy claimed CCTV footage from the scene showed Carson running over to kick the vehicle three times before shouting at the man to get out while clenching his fists.

In a separate racially aggravated incident at Connswater that night, the group stopped and blocked another delivery driver in his vehicle.

Too frightened to leave McDonald’s

That man, a Sudanese national, described being so scared that he remained inside a nearby McDonald's restaurant for up to two hours.

“Considerable damage was inflicted to the car, including flat tyres, dents, large scratches to the paintwork, registration plates broken off and a mirror was ripped off,” Mrs Kennedy told the court.

Based on the footage, she contended Carson acted as a look-out while another member of the crowd damaged the licence plate. Once the registration was removed he allegedly threw it away from the car.

Carson faces separate charges of obstructing traffic and blocking a road in connection with an anti-immigration demonstration in the Shankill Road area of Belfast on September 2.

Up to 30 people gathered while a large banner declared concerned residents' opposition to “forced mass uncontrolled, unvetted illegal immigration into our community”.

A number of people claiming to be “civilian journalists” were also present at the scene.

Carson was allegedly among a smaller number who ignored PSNI warnings by remaining on the road to block traffic.

Police identified and arrested him for both incidents on October 29.

During interviews, he accepted being in footage at Connswater but claimed to believe one of the drivers did not have an MoT certificate for his car.

A defence barrister acknowledged the attacks on the victims' vehicles were “very nasty”.

Stressing that Carson currently denied the charges, she also argued his alleged role was less than other members of the crowd.

Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan indicated that accounts provided by both delivery drivers show they were “terrified” by what happened.

Adjourning Carson's application for bail, she asked for his views on education courses aimed at building relationships with ethnic minorities.

“I have problems with people going back into the community where they take it upon themselves to terrify other members of the community,” the judge said.

“It's up to him. People can't come to this court thinking this type of behaviour is all right, or that we are going to tolerate it.”

Givan may be heading back to Israel in the New Year

JOHN MANLEY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Irish News, November 13th, 2025

PAUL Givan has received a fresh invite to go to Israel in his capacity as education minister.

The request from the Israeli authorities for the visit early next year was revealed by Department of Education permanent secretary Ronnie Armour as he was quizzed by MLAs about the DUP minister’s recent “fact-finding mission” to the Middle East.

Mr Armour told members of the education committee that Mr Givan did not make the six-day trip “in an official capacity”, however, the senior civil servant defended his decision to approve a press release issued by the department relating to a school visit in the occupied territories.

There have been calls for Mr Givan’s resignation in the aftermath of the Israeli government-sponsored trip, during which he instructed his department to issue the press release about his visit to the Ofek School, which lies in illegally-occupied East Jerusalem.

‘Breach of foreign policy’

Answers to parliamentary questions tabled last week by SDLP MP Colum Eastwood have also revealed that under British government policy, serving cabinet ministers “do not visit Israeli-run institutions in the West Bank” and that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not provide any support for Mr Givan when he crossed the ‘green line’ into the occupied West Bank. Mr Eastwood has described the education minister’s school visit as a “breach of British foreign policy”.

‘To consider another trip to Israel is indefensible’

Education committee deputy chair Pat Sheehan urges education minister to decline fresh invite.

He said Mr Givan had also violated “United Nations’ guidance, of an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice”.

The minister, with the support of his party leader Gavin Robinson, has insisted he will not be resigning. On Monday a majority of MLAs backed a motion of no-confidence in Mr Givan, but because the unionist bloc backed the minister, the motion fell due to its failure to receive cross-community support.

During an evidence session from Mr Armour yesterday, which saw a number of fractious exchanges between members of the education committee, the permanent secretary said that although department officials did not plan the trip, they took 10 actions in relation to it, including emails forwarded on from the Israeli embassy to Mr Givan.

He said no departmental officials were on the trip or present at any of the engagements, either in person or remotely.

The permanent secretary said the department did not fund “any aspect” of the visit, no briefing materials were sought or supplied prior to the visit and it was “not framed as an educational visit”.

“The minister indicated that while he had expressed an interest in an educational element to the trip to learn about the education system in Israel, his visit to the school was only finalised when he was in Israel and included the wider delegation,” he said.

Department of Education permanent secretary Ronnie Armour

Visit to school

Mr Armour later told the committee that he believed the meetings at the school did not meet the threshold stipulated under the 2021 Functioning of Government Act, whereby the minister should have been accompanied by a civil servant.

The permanent secretary insisted he had acted impartially and had been open with MLAs under scrutiny.

Mr Armour said a review of the trip and associated press release that had given what the minister himself described as a “clean bill of health” had been provided to the head of the civil service in a private and confidential context and would therefore not be made public.

Committee deputy chair Pat Sheehan urged the minister to decline the fresh invite to Israel.

He said the use of departmental resources to promote the recent visit was “a disgrace”.

“For him now to even consider another official visit to Israel solely as education minister, a state committing heinous acts of genocide against the Palestinian people, is indefensible,” the Sinn Féin MLA said.

“The minister should show moral leadership, decline this invitation and focus on addressing the crisis in our schools, not on attempting to legitimise a genocidal regime.”

Mr Eastwood said using department resources to promote his trip was “unethical” and that if he were a British or Irish government minister, he would no longer be in office.

“There is long-established protocol between the British government and the devolved administrations that because international relations remains a reserved matter, that the Foreign Office provides support on the coordination of ministers overseas visits,” the former SDLP leader said.

“The Foreign Office has confirmed to me that it did not provide support for this visit and that Ministers do not visit Israeli-run institutions in the West Bank.

“In those circumstances, and with an Assembly vote earlier this week which indicated he has lost the support of a majority of MLAs, it is difficult to understand, beyond personal pride or political obstinacy, what goal Paul Givan remaining in office serves, given that his authority has been irreparably shredded on all fronts.” n S

Nesbitt facing no-confidence vote from GPs

A conference this weekend will also have high on its agenda whether Northern Ireland should consider leaving the NHS

ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, November 13th, 2025

“ The cupboard is bare, and there is no point in pretending that I can serve up a sumptuous three course meal. There is nothing to be gained from further contract negotiations, which would only offer false hope that a better offer might be forthcoming; it will not be

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt (above), speaking at Stormont in May of this year

GPs in Northern Ireland are to consider leaving the NHS and whether they still have confidence in the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt.

The issues will be discussed at the Northern Ireland Local Medical Committees (NILMC) conference in Belfast this weekend.

It reflects a fractured relationship between GPs and Mr Nesbitt this year after he imposed a GP funding contract over the summer despite it being overwhelmingly rejected by doctors.

Many GP surgeries have since been engaged in collective action, aimed at reducing the unfunded work they carry out and limiting daily patient appointments.

The motion stating the conference has “no confidence” in the health minister said members condemn Mr Nesbitt’s language during a Stormont debate “alluding to General Practice looking for a sumptuous three-course meal while providing scraps and leftovers.”

During the debate in May, Mr Nesbitt had said: “The cupboard is bare, and there is no point in pretending that I can serve up a sumptuous three-course meal.

“There is nothing to be gained from further contract negotiations, which would only offer false hope that a better offer might be forthcoming; it will not be. We are at the end point for this year.”

Two tier GP system

Another motion suggests the Department of Health is “endorsing a two tier health system by default,” with “a normalisation of private general practice.”

Although the Stormont Executive recently confirmed health workers would receive a backdated pay award, the conference has suggested the payments should include interest or financial compensation for the delays.

A further motions suggests that the NI GP Committee should hold a referendum on local GPs leaving the NHS.

“That conference recognises that the current GP contract, through political inaction and progressive disinvestment, is no longer fit for purpose and is failing patients and practices.

“It directs that NIGPC ballots the profession on a plan B option an negotiates an exit from the NHS in Northern Ireland.”

Speaking ahead of the event, conference chair Conor Moore said: “The NILMC conference is our opportunity to enable the collective voice of LMCs and GPs to be heard.

“It is a chance to ensure that the NIGPC negotiators understand your priorities and concerns and a chance to provide your thoughts and ideas to improve the future of general practice in Northern Ireland.”

Generals at last defending their soldiers against lawfare in North

By Ruth Dudley Edwards, Belfast News Letter, November 13th, 2025

The 10,000 or so British Legion veterans in the March Past, which included centenarians, were as moving as ever.

Later in the day I was sent photographs of my godson and his trombone in his school cadet band.

As I share the politics of his parents (one of whom, as a child, was on a refugee boat from Vietnam), they gleefully sent me a shots of Jeremy Corbyn and his chum Emily Thornberry.

Both local MPs, they were doing their duty by attending the ceremony at the Islington Green War Memorial, where the Nigerian-born Mayor spoke of being deeply moved “to stand alongside residents of all backgrounds and generations as we honoured those who gave their lives for the freedoms we cherish”.

Corbyn, that well-known sympathiser with the IRA, and Dame Emily, a human rights lawyer, are not known as enthusiastic supporters of British military traditions, so their presence made us snigger.

But the following day, Tuesday, there wasn't much to laugh about.

In an unprecedented and ferociously critical letter to The Times, nine generals and one air chief marshal accused the government of risking “weakening the moral foundations and operational effectiveness of the forces on which this nation depends”, with “the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill and the legal activism surrounding it”.

It equated the forces of law and order “with those who bombed and murdered in pursuit of political ends”.

That, they said coldly, “is not reconciliation; it is abdication of responsibility”.

The bill had torn up the compact that if the armed forces “Acted within the law, under proper orders and in good faith, the nation would stand by them.”

Having lost faith in the system, highly trained members of the armed forces including special forces were leaving.

“Lawfare: the use of legal processes to fight political or ideological battles” was no longer just confined to Northern Ireland.

“Every soldier deployed today must consider not only the enemy in front but the lawyer behind.”

This is a grievous charge to level at a prime minister and an attorney general (Lord Hermer)) who have already shown themselves inherently hostile to the nation state and in thrall to the army of human rights lawyers — many naïve and some malignant — who are undermining western civil society.

The top brass — who have been largely silent — are at last publicly articulating what the majority of responsible opinion knew instinctively.

As General Sir Peter Wall, who was one of the signatories to the letter in The Times, wrote elsewhere in the press, “this cynical bill purports to treat all victims equitably but only does so at the expense of former soldiers who, to paraphrase George Orwell, stood ready to do the nation's violence so that others might sleep peacefully in their beds at night”.

It is a trend that will leave us defenceless.

I hope the furore disturbs the sleep of Starmer, Hermer, and Secretary of State Hilary Benn.

South African firm claims to hold low-cost Lough Neagh 'solution'

ABDULLAH SABRI, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

CAPE TOWN-BASED COMPANY CONFIDENT IT CAN SOLVE CRISIS

A South African water treatment company claims it can help tackle the Lough Neagh algae crisis — and for millions cheaper than Stormont's projected cost.

Bio-Aire, a Cape Town-based firm formed in 2020, comprises a team of scientists and engineers who produce treatment units aimed at removing nutrients that propagate blue-green algae.

Engineer Andrew Cooper, the company's NI representative, said each unit combines already existing technologies — aeration and biological treatment — to nullify the excess nutrients.

The Co Down man explained the units were first used in South Africa, where it was designed to accommodate an industry that falls short of “technical skill”, meaning they are easy to set up: “That's the beauty of these units.”

He added: “Some people have said you'd need hundreds of units to aerate Lough Neagh. We've never talked about aerating the lough; what we're talking about is removing the nutrients that are going into it from the rivers [and] tributaries.”

The technology could be deployed across the Lough Neagh catchment, he claimed, for significantly less than the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs' (Daera) current expenditure on the crisis, which Minister Andrew Muir said amounted to £17m this year.

While he did not provide a timescale for mending the lough, Mr Cooper said the company's plan would involve installing up to five Bio-Aire units per tributary feeding into the lough.

He cited previous examples used by the City of Cape Town local government, as well as in the US, which cleared smaller lagoons and waterways within several months.

Devices cost ‘around £30K’ each

Each Bio-Aire device is said to be priced at around £30k and possesses a static box which sits underwater.

Mr Cooper said the polluted water is sucked into the device while oxygenised water is pumped back out.

In between, excess nutrients are fed into a “biofilm reactor” which creates a “bacteria colony”.

“Your phosphates are broken down and become neutralised because of the bacteria,” he explained.

“That's exactly what a biofilm reactor does. It allows a bacterial culture to exist and to grow and to start feeding on the nutrients that are in the watercourse.

“We're basically recreating a natural river. The whole things is [both] environmentally sustainable and friendly.”

Mr Cooper said that Bio-Aire's system is unique because it combines two established methods — aeration and a biological treatment — in a single unit.

“Within the industry that exists worldwide at the minute, it's either done that way or the other way,” he continued.

“And what this does is combine both of those in one unit. If you look at how we do it, how we deliver the aeration element of it, we generate five times more oxygen in the water — and that's down to the clever way this thing is designed.

“[Algae] is like a triangle of fire. It needs three elements to bloom. It needs nutrients, it needs temperature, and then the presence of algal bloom itself. So we starve the algae of anything to feed on. And if you take that away, that kills your algal bloom.”

Bio-Aire had originally put a bid in for Daera's Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), a competition that offered funding for businesses aiming to tackle the Lough Neagh crisis. However, the company wasn't successful and, upon receiving feedback, SBRI said that “innovative solutions” were being sought.

SBRI also stated that it needed more detailed “proof of concept and testing”, as well as access for the units' power supply being “only superficially considered”.

Mr Cooper said the rejection was “ludicrous”, adding: “We were told they weren't looking for existing technology, [and] that our system needed electrical power to operate. [There are] things called generators.”

Competitive process

SBRI directed all correspondence to Daera, a spokesperson for which said the SBRI initiative had “attracted significant interest” and that all applications were assessed through a competitive process.

“The department was delighted with the level of interest shown,” they said.

“Inevitably, those whose proposals were unsuccessful on this occasion will be disappointed with the outcome, but the minister has made clear that he wants to consider whether there might be value in a further round, and this consideration is under way.”

Mr Cooper said he discussed the proposal with Strangford MP Jim Shannon, while DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley expressed support for the device in a documentary, saying he “cannot understand why [Daera] would not fund a low-cost alternative solution like this”.

Mr Cooper said the firm could initially create 20 jobs if the tech was adopted here. He also claimed the units could support the agricultural sector's battle against emission quotas by managing ammonia levels coming from slurry tanks.

He said: “You don't need to get rid of a hundred head of cattle by putting this into your treatment plan. It's a win-win for agriculture and the environment.”

The technology has also been touted to treat waterways near airports polluted by de-icing liquids in the winter.

‘Sleepwalking into Mediocrity as the price of peace’

Irish News, November 13th, 2025

LETTERS

We have sleepwalked into accepting mediocrity as the price of peace

LAST week, Health Minister and UUP leader Mike Nesbitt announced that the Northern Ireland Executive has finally agreed to deliver pay parity for healthcare workers – bringing their pay in line with colleagues in other parts of the UK.

After negotiations, it would seem that the Executive has signed off on the pay deal that unions have been demanding for many months.

However, let’s call this what it is – an absolute disgrace.

It’s being spun as a success. But it’s not a success. It’s a scandal. The public cannot really be falling for this nonsense.

Because the only way this so called ‘parity’ has been achieved is by overspending the health budget by £100 million – £100m that will not be there next year. We’re borrowing from the future to pay for the present – just to deliver something that should have been automatic, planned and fair from the start.

And I find that utterly shameful. How, in 2025, are we still governed by people who seem shocked that public sector workers expect to be paid properly?

How is it that half-way through every financial year we suddenly realise, as if for the first time, that nurses, doctors, porters and cleaners deserve pay rises that match inflation?

This isn’t an accident, it’s a culture. A culture of complacency, of pretending that this endless cycle of crisis and catch-up is somehow normal. It’s not, it’s failure – pure and simple.

We’ve heard endless talk about transformation. Bengoa, reviews, strategies, reports gathering dust. But what’s the point in talking about transformation when government can’t even manage the basics – like paying its own staff on time and at the right rate?

Does anyone think major transformation is going to be led by individuals who cannot even get the basics right? People who don’t know that every year, inflation affects the value of the money in your pocket?

We have sleepwalked into accepting mediocrity as the price of peace. People say: “Ah well, at least the bombs have stopped.” As if that excuses the fact that our Executive cannot run a health service without robbing next year’s budget. As if peace was supposed to mean paralysis.

It’s not good enough. It’s nowhere near good enough.

If this doesn’t make us angry – if this doesn’t make us ashamed – then we’ve lost something far more important than money, we’ve lost pride in our own society.

So yes, let’s be clear: this isn’t a triumph of leadership, it’s an indictment of it. A £100m overspend to do the bare minimum, that’s not governance – it’s Groundhog Day, it’s farce and it’s an insult to everyone who still believes Northern Ireland deserves better.

EUGENE REID Ballymena, Co Antrim

'Delight': Man tells Nama jury of reaction when Coulter gave him £36k cheque

SAM MCBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, November 13th, 2025

TRIAL HEARS HOW FINANCIER WAS TOLD TO BILL TUGHANS FOR 'CONSULTING SERVICES'

A corporate financier who worked for some of Northern Ireland's biggest property developers has recalled his “delight” when Ian Coulter handed him a cheque for £36,000 while in a coffee shop.

Robin Horner told Belfast Crown Court that he had been asked by Coulter to help give him commercial information which could be passed to major US fund Pimco, which was looking to buy all of Nama's Northern Ireland loans.

On the 17th day of the Nama trial, the jury heard more details about what is said to have gone on behind the scenes in setting up the £1.2bn sale of the Northern Ireland loans held by the Republic's 'bad bank', the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).

Frank Hugh Cushnahan (83), of Alexandra Gate in Holywood, is charged with fraud by failing to disclose information and fraud by false representation.

His co-accused, former solicitor and Tughans' managing partner Ian George Coulter (54), of Templepatrick Road in Ballyclare, faces two charges of fraud by false representation, and charges of making or supplying articles for use in fraud, removing criminal property, and transferring criminal property.

Both men deny all the charges.

Mr Horner told Crown barrister David McNeill that he had been chief executive of MAR Properties, a huge property development company owned by Noel Murphy, Adam Armstrong and Bill Rush.

He left that role in 2010 when most of its loans — totalling hundreds of millions of pounds — went into Nama “and my job became untenable”.

However, he remained as an adviser to the firm which by 2011 was being run solely by Mr Murphy.

He said he was aware of Cushnahan “over many years”. He said his idea was “to keep Mr Cushnahan advised about what we were doing... and secondly to ask his guidance as to how we should proceed with Nama”.

In February 2014, he met Coulter and Cushnahan in the offices of Tughans where “they advised me they were looking at a deal to extract the full Northern Ireland loan book out of Nama with a company called Pimco”.

A paid Nama advisor until 2023

Cushnahan had been a paid Nama adviser until November 2013.

Mr Horner said they asked him “if I could provide information in relation to MAR Properties which would go into whatever they were producing to go to Pimco”.

He said he had to get Mr Murphy's permission and, when he sought his approval, “he was only too happy to proceed”.

Ultimately, Pimco withdrew from the process and a deal was quickly done to sell to another huge US fund, Cerberus, in spring 2014.

In August 2014, Mr Horner said he met Coulter in a coffee shop and “he handed me an envelope... He advised me that was for my role, for the work I had done.”

When he later opened the envelope, he said he found a cheque for £36,000, made out to him by Tughans.

When asked for his reaction, he said: “Delight, and a degree of surprise. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that reflected the work that had been done.”

He said he rang Coulter to thank him, “as you would”, and was asked to send Tughans an invoice for the payment, being told to describe the work as “consulting services”.

Yesterday, the jury also heard from former Pimco executive vice-president Laurent Luccioni, who appeared via video link from his home in the US.

He confirmed that he met Coulter and Cushnahan before going to Stormont to meet then First Minister Peter Robinson and Finance Minister Sammy Wilson in 2013 in relation to the potential deal.

He said that Cushnahan had “a kind of broker role in terms of introducing us to Stormont, and he had also the relationship with Nama. So he was basically the person making the introduction and, in some respects, getting all the parties together.”

When asked about Coulter, he said of him that “the role was really [that] they worked together... From my recollection, I see them like two people working together.”

Questioned by Crown counsel Jonathan Kinnear KC, he said he understood there was a success fee to be paid to “the sponsors” but said that “from legal point of view... this will need to be disclosed to both parties”.

In a contemporaneous email shown to the jury, Mr Luccioni asked colleagues if Coulter and Cushnahan had disclosed to the Executive the £5m success fee they were said to each get if the deal went through.

He told the court: “My understanding of the transaction... was that the Northern Ireland government was aware of the fees and that's why I wanted to clarify by writing”, and that while Nama wasn't aware at that point, it was “always the plan” to tell Nama before the deal was signed off.

Pimco withdrew from the deal in March 2014, something the jury have previously been told was based on the fund's lawyers' fears about the legality of the payments to the two Belfast men.

Mr Luccioni said he wasn't directly involved in deciding to pull the bid, which was left to Pimco's lawyers.

Speaking of his team, he said they “could get comfortable” with the deal, “but from a disclosure point of view, we're still not comfortable.”

Things are bad at Stormont, but devolution won’t necessarily collapse

Sam McBride, Northern Ireland Editor, Belfast Telegraph, November 12th, 2025

A couple of months ago, the newsdesk asked me to follow Stormont’s first sitting after its long summer holiday. It’s something I used to do every week when I was covering politics full-time, but in this role I dip in and out of many areas and so don’t watch Assembly sittings as closely.

I was surprised at how much had changed. There was obvious, and quite deliberate, hostility between the big two parties on a scale I hadn’t expected.

That day, Emma Little Pengelly was answering questions on behalf of The Executive Office. As a shared office, historically I recall this as often a fairly boring slot. It was certainly no Prime Minister’s Questions.

When Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness were in charge, they generally acted with restraint in this slot, answering questions on behalf of their joint office, rather than as individual politicians.

But when the deputy first minister spoke, she sounded closer to speaking as a DUP figure, even implicitly criticising Michelle O’Neill for not attending the state dinner for Donald Trump.

Open rancour

Some people will see this as pedantic – these parties are ferocious rivals and Stormont’s two top ministers are party political figures, not bland civil service mannequins. But the scale of the open rancour between the two parties who effectively control the Executive’s business has become an indication of deep problems.

We’re now in Stormont’s longest ever election campaign, which will run for another year and a half. That means we can forget about tough decisions being taken in that time.

One factor might push the big two towards deals. Sinn Féin needs to show something for its time at the helm of the Executive, and right now it has precious little to boast about. The A5 has been bungled because Sinn Féin didn’t understand its own legislation, it’s blaming “British austerity” for not being able to put a few bollards in a Belfast street for £5,000, and its push for Irish unity has plateaued.

The most achievable big win for Sinn Féin is Casement Park. If it can get the DUP to agree to the funding, that project could be under way by the time voters go to the polls. While not insignificant, the sums involved are easily achievable by an Executive which spends more than £32 billion and has the power to raise more money if it wants. A trade-off with the DUP would see more funding for football stadia, and perhaps other projects.

But over recent days we’ve seen glimpses of a far more antagonistic future. On Monday, the Assembly chamber was almost full for a heated debate on Paul Givan’s trip to Israel. It was striking to see how many MLAs prioritised this issue – where they knew the outcome – over their main role as legislators, where the Assembly is often almost empty.

MLAs prefer rows to legislating

Far more MLAs love a good ding dong than love giving legislation a good going over

But more significant was a decision taken outside the Assembly chamber last week. The Executive agreed to let Health Minister Mike Nesbitt overspend by £100m to give health staff a pay increase. The way this was done is hugely problematic.

As I’ve written repeatedly, the Executive has had the chance to either cut its spending or raise more money – and could target that at any of the many people who could easily afford to pay more, if it so wished. Instead, it has decided not to raise more money, but is now deliberately choosing to overspend.

This is the equivalent of someone refusing their boss’s offer to do extra hours for more money, while deciding to buy a new car they can’t afford. By its actions, this Executive is demonstrating that it’s simply not serious about governing.

After agreeing to allow Nesbitt to overspend so substantially, the Department of Finance made clear that this year’s overspend will come out of next year’s budget. That means that the health budget next year will be -£200m before the financial year even starts…and that’s less than four months away.

Does anyone really believe that the financial shortfalls in health will somehow have vanished in four months? And does anyone really believe that with an election by then just a year away that the DUP or Sinn Féin will refuse a second request from Nesbitt for even more money?

The politics of this are remarkably simple: This is a deeply unpopular Executive but the great hope of the DUP and Sinn Féin will be that the UUP and Alliance are also tied to this failing system.

That gives Nesbitt surprising power. He’s a sole UUP minister, but if he was to walk out of the Executive because the big parties refused him money to give nurses a pay rise, defending that would be exceptionally awkward for the DUP and Sinn Féin.

Alliance under pressure

Alliance is also under growing pressure over its failure to deliver in government. There are disparate reasons for its falls in a succession of polls but sharing the unpopularity of this Executive must be part of it.

Our latest poll showed Alliance now beneath the TUV and UUP

For that reason, the closer we get to the election, the greater the chance of an Executive walkout. It’s unlikely that the DUP or Sinn Féin would do so because they know that collapsing the entire government and getting it back is tricky. The smaller parties have no such concern. For them, departing is consequence-free.

On top of this is growing indecisiveness in the DUP. Last week the party prevaricated over whether the deputy first minister would attend Catherine Connolly’s inauguration as Irish President. Once, this would have been simple: the DUP has no more interest in the Irish presidency than Sinn Féin has in the monarchy.

But that’s complicated not only by the fact that O’Neill went to King Charles’s coronation, but that Peter Robinson attended an Irish presidential inauguration in 2011, sitting alongside defeated candidate Martin McGuinness in Dublin Castle’s historic St Patrick’s Hall.

Former DUP adviser Tim Cairns last week made clear he believed the party should obviously attend. Instead, the DUP waited until Friday afternoon – a classic time to try to bury bad news – before saying it would “not be possible” for Little Pengelly to attend.

Presenting this as a diary clash was limp. The excuse given was a Royal remembrance event in Windsor. Royal events don’t tend to be organised at the last minute, yet the DUP had waited all week before clarifying this.

If it was purely a diary clash, then the party would have sent another senior figure. It didn’t because the party clearly didn’t want to be there but was too weak to say so. Thus it managed to annoy those who wanted it to attend while also annoying those who wanted a loud articulation of why it wasn’t going.

DUP also under pressure

As the DUP increasingly fears the TUV, we’re likely to see more of this incoherence: A party jointly governing with Sinn Féin and claiming to be determined to make Stormont work with that party will simultaneously seek to position itself as a sort of TUV-lite. Regardless of whether that works to shore up DUP support, it’s certainly not going to produce good government.

When Stormont returned almost two years ago, I sat in the press high above the Assembly chamber listening to O’Neill and Little Pengelly promising the public that this time things would be different; this time, they said, we should judge them not on merely existing as an Executive, but on delivery.

Demonstrably, they haven’t delivered and have now entered what will be more than a year of backbiting while crises abound.

I find that genuinely depressing. I’m not cynical; in fact (despite being a journalist), I’m fundamentally optimistic. I believe things can change for the better. But when I look at what’s happening, I see no evidence whatsoever, either from the top of the civil service or from the top of politics, that these people even accept the problem.

They think they can just keep spending while someone else should be taxed more. They’ve a right to do that. And we’ve a right to react with the derision such profoundly unserious behaviour deserves.