PSNI chief constable voices hope of agreement on dealing with legacy of NI’s Troubles
Jon Boutcher was speaking after attending a commemoration on the 50th anniversary of the killing of three members of the Miami Showband
By Rebecca Black, PA, Irish News, July 31st, 2025
PSNI chief constable has expressed hope for a new agreement on how to deal with the legacy of the region’s troubled past.
Jon Boutcher was speaking following a commemoration to remember three musicians from the Miami Showband who were killed in a loyalist ambush close to Newry 50 years ago.
Mr Boutcher was among a crowd who visited a memorial on the Buskhill Road on Thursday afternoon to remember Fran O’Toole, Tony Geraghty and Brian McCoy.
Those gathered included Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the 1998 Omagh bomb, and Eugene Reavey, whose brothers Anthony, John Martin and Brian were shot dead in an attack at their family home in Co Armagh in January 1976.
Mr Boutcher told media: “There are still so many uncertainties for so many people, and that’s not right.
“Everybody knows my position on legacy, I think transparency and openness are critical. The report that I did on Operation Kenova reflects that, and I am very alive to and aware of national security issues. I have been involved with those all of my professional career, I know them better than anybody in policing, so you can do both.
“I think we may be close to coming to a position, and certainly I hope we are, where there will be a new agreement around what the future of legacy looks like, and I’m keen to hear the fruits of the recent talks between the two governments.”
He added: “We have now got to get legacy right.
“At the time that a lot of these cases occurred, half the community didn’t trust police or security forces, which I understand.
“The volume of things that were happening, the murders, the attacks, meant that the security forces couldn’t deal with them. There was then without doubt failures within a number of those investigations. We have now got to put that right.”
Mr Boutcher said he had been invited to attend the commemoration by Miami Showband survivors Des Lee and Stephen Travers.
“I’d consider them to be people who have inspired me, helped me understand legacy here,” he said.
“I’ve spent a significant amount of time with both men and they have taught me a lot, and asked me if I would be here, and they are the example of what humility, courage and actually what this word reconciliation is all about.
“I’m here because it is the very least I could do, to be here.”
Mr Lee paid tribute to Mr Boutcher as he spoke during the event as a special person he would like to thank.
“He is a gentleman who has helped me quite a lot in the past, he’s now the leader of the PSNI and he is here with us today to commemorate the 50th anniversary,” he said.
Stakeknife victims: “When do we as victims, in a victim led inquiry, come first?“
Connla Young, Crime and Security Correspondent, Irish News, August 1st, 2025
THE son of a man shot dead by an IRA unit led by Freddie Scappaticci has questioned why victims’ relatives were not told the notorious double agent had changed his name before his death.
Paul Wilson spoke out after it emerged that Scappaticci changed his name to Frank Cowley by deed poll in January 2020.
Earlier this week Mr Wilson called for a public inquiry into the murder of his father, Thomas Emmanuel Wilson (37), known as Manuel, in June 1987.
His family has recently been passed a private report by Operation Kenova, which was established in 2016 to investigate the activities of Stakeknife.
In the days after Mr Wilson’s death a “sensitive RUC source” provided police with information about the role of a man identified as Suspect I – believed to be Scappaticci.
A former commander of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), Scappaticci was identified as Stakeknife in 2003.
Also known as the “Nutting Squad”, the ISU was responsible for hunting down and killing informers.
Earlier this week it emerged that during a closed High Court hearing earlier this month a judge ordered that Scappaticci’s will should be sealed for 70 years.
Judge Sir Julian Flaux also confirmed that the agent died on March 20, 2023.
It has been reported that Scappaticci is believed to have left £500,000 in his will.
A certificate issued in the name of Frank Cowley gives the cause of death as pneumonia and stroke, with the date of registration listed as March 27, 2023.
Cowley’s occupation is listed as a retired property developer with an address in Surrey.
The address listed is linked to a property valued online at more than £800,000.
The document also states the agent’s son, who also appears to have changed his name, was present at the time of his father’s death at St Peter’s Hospital, Guildford Road, Chertsey.
In 2018 Scappaticci was sentenced to three months in custody, suspended for 12 months, at Westminster Magistrates Court after he admitted two counts of possessing extreme pornography.
‘Property developer’ linked to 14 murders
The court had heard the charges related to at least 329 images, many involving animals.
While the notorious agent, who has been linked to 14 murders and 15 abductions, worked for the British army’s Force Research Unit, it later emerged he was instructed by MI5 via his military handlers.
Mr Wilson learned about the latest developments through the media.
“It’s always like we find out second hand, we are never in the forefront of trying to keep us ahead of it,” he said.
He revealed that he also learned about Scappaticci’s death two years ago through the media.
“When do we as victims, in a victim led inquiry, come first? “We are not getting what we should be getting first.
“No, we are finding out second and third party and through rumours.”
He suggested that Scappaticci continues to enjoy official protection.
“Even when they are telling us, ‘yes, he has died’, they are not even telling us when he died,” he said.
Thomas Emmanuel Wilson was shot dead by the Provisional IRA in June 1987
“It’s like everything has to be a secret.
“Why does this guy keep getting protection when he committed the crimes, when do the victims get any protection?”
Mr Wilson does not lay the blame at the door of Operation Kenova.
‘Not Kenova’s fault’
“I don’t believe this is Kenova’s fault,” he said.
“But at the same time, they are the public facing people, so they are the ones that are going to have to bear the brunt of it.
“But ultimately it impacts us and Kenova are our go-to people.”
Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, has previously written to the Cabinet Office in London requesting information about Scappaticci’s death.
“They ought to have been afforded the respect of being told this formally as part of the ongoing engagement with Kenova,” he said.
“The Cabinet Office have let them down really badly.
“It’s just not a good look for the government authorities to have kept Stakeknife’s identity switch a secret.”
Mr Winters said the recent revelations have reminded families “of their status as second-class conflict victims”.
Operation Kenova was contacted.
COMMENT
Murder is a crime, we are not the second class citizens the state and security agencies treat and think we are. The courts and the judges decide in open courts. Let's not make the word Legacy meaning coverup and injustice as the British government continues to do. Truth and Justice for all victims.
Raymond McCord
'I have no hate in my heart, but we need to wise up and move on for our grandkids'
MIAMI SHOWBAND MASSACRE SURVIVOR SPEAKS AT MEMORIAL ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY
Niamh Campbell, Belfast Telegraph, August 1st, 2025
A survivor of the Miami Showband Massacre has said he has “no hate in his heart” for those who killed his friends, and would prefer that everyone “just wises up”.
Des Lee was speaking 50 years on from the attack, when the UVF set up a bogus checkpoint using men in Army uniforms, some of whom were also serving UDR soldiers.
They stopped the Miami Showband's minibus on the rural Buskhill Road in Co Down, just off the A1. The musicians had been heading back to Dublin from a gig in Banbridge that night.
The band members were lined up outside the bus, while UVF members Wesley Somerville and Harris Boyle tried to hide a bomb in their vehicle.
The intention was for it to explode a short time later and for the Miami Showband to be falsely accused of transporting a bomb for the IRA.
However, it went off prematurely, killing Somerville and Boyle.
The remaining members of their loyalist gang then shot and killed singer Fran O'Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty, and trumpeter Brian McCoy.
Mr Lee, also known as Des McAlea, was blown into a nearby ditch as a result of the blast, and he hid. Incredibly, he survived, as did bass player Stephen Travers, who was also shot and seriously injured.
More than 400 people and 15 bands are expected to take part in the Harris Boyle 50th Anniversary Memorial parade in Portadown this weekend, to commemorate the UVF killer.
Politicians and commentators have said the event “risks the glorification of terrorism”, but Belfast-born Mr Lee said he doesn't “want to be pointing fingers at anybody”.
Speaking at the Miami Showband 50th Anniversary memorial — at the site of the bomb — the 79-year-old said: “All I want to say is — they're entitled to their celebrations as much as we're entitled to our celebrations.
“The only other thing I would say, is that it's 50 years on. For the sake of our kids, our grandkids and their grandkids, it's time to wise up and grow up. It's 50 years on.”
Miami Showband legacy ‘is more than music, it’s bringing people together’
Rebecca Black, Irish News, August 1st, 2025
THE legacy of the Miami Showband is about more than just music, it is bringing people together, a survivor of the loyalist ambush which targeted its members has said.
Singer Fran O’Toole, guitarist Tony Geraghty and trumpeter Brian McCoy were shot dead on a roadside close to Newry on July 31 1975 after having been pulled over at a bogus security forces checkpoint.
Two of the loyalist terrorists from the UVF were also killed in the incident, when a bomb they placed on the bus exploded prematurely.
Survivors Des Lee and Stephen Travers were among those who gathered at the roadside where the atrocity happened yesterday to remember their bandmates.
It was the first of a series of events, including in Newry and Dublin, being held yesterday to mark the 50th anniversary.
Mr Travers said 50 years of tears have dried up and they want to tell the whole world of the legacy of the Miami Showband.
“It’s far more than a band at this stage because bands come and go, and music comes and goes, and styles change, and if you were to ask anybody under 50 years of age to name all of the members of the Rolling Stones, I’m sure they’d have a problem,” he said.
“These things come and go, but the legacy of the Miami Showband is one that I am enormously proud of, and it is simply this: when people came to see us, whether they were Catholic, Protestant, Unionist, Nationalist, they left sectarianism outside the door of the dance hall and they saw each other as human beings, and they danced with each other, and sometimes they even fell in love.”
Fr Brian D’Arcy opened the commemoration at the site on the Buskhill Road, hailing the survivors as “proving that music and goodness survives”.
“That’s what we’re celebrating today, the survival of good, music and peace, and joy and bravery,” he said, adding a prayer for peaceful rest to all who died at the spot.
All those gathered said the Lord’s Prayer, before the hymn Abide With Me was played.
First Minister
First Minister Michelle O’Neill did not attend the event, but in a message said she could not be there but described a “deeply traumatic event for everyone, and remains a painful reminder of our troubled past”.
“I commend you all for your commitment to remembering your friends by celebrating their lives and the joy of music they brought to so many in their tragically short lives, I truly hope that while never forgetting the pain of the past we continue to move forward as a society towards a peaceful, inclusive and better future for all of our people,” she said.
In a post on the social media platform X, Secretary of State Hilary Benn wrote: “Today, our thoughts are with the families of the victims, and the survivors, of the abhorrent Miami Showband Massacre 50 years ago.
“Let us remain determined to help build a better and more peaceful shared future for all the people of Northern Ireland.”
‘We’re still grieving’
William Frank Godfrey, a DJ who used to present the Miami Showband on stage, was among those gathered for the roadside commemoration.
“I used to play before them, and I’ll never forget Fran O’Toole, his main song was ‘clap your hands, stamp your feet’, and he had the fans eating out of his hands,” he said.
“We’re still grieving and we still miss the band, they were very, very popular, not only in Ireland but in many other countries as well.
“I lift my hat to them today in memory of the three lads and the survivors. We miss the music and thank them for the music. We will always have great memories of happy times.”
Earlier, Mr Lee said he remembers “every single thing in the finest detail” from the atrocity in 1975.
“It was the most horrendous scene I have ever seen in my life, when I got up off the grass and I had to make a run up that embankment to get help.
“When I got onto the main road, it was the worst sight anyone could ever imagine,” he told the BBC Radio Ulster.
“They were my brothers, you know, three of my brothers.”
While there has been criticism of a loyalist band parade planned to take place in Portadown on Saturday to remember one of the attackers, Mr Lee said he has “no problem with that whatsoever”.
'It's like it was yesterday': day of blast remains frozen in time for those affected
Niamh Campbell, Belfast Telegraph, August 8th, 2025
Every July 31, news stories and internet posts featuring tributes and recollections of the Miami Showband Massacre appear so that the atrocity is never forgotten, nor are its victims.
Every 10 years, the commemorations to the three musicians who lost their lives to the UVF that night become bigger — and continue to make headlines right across the island.
But for surviving Miami Showband members Des Lee, Stephen Travers, Ray Miller and their road manager, Brian Maguire, time stands still.
At the side of the road, in the exact spot the bomb and shootings took place 50 years ago, Mr Lee looked down at the ditch into which he had been blasted by the loyalist bomb that prematurely exploded on the musicians' bus that night.
Currently resigned to sitting in a chair following back surgery, Mr Lee, who is almost 80, said he wondered how he ever got out of that deep trench all those years ago.
He was born on July 30— so on every birthday he is reminded that another long, poignant day is to follow: the day that half of his band was murdered; the day he realised life would never be the same.
No matter what day of the year it is, though, memories of that day remain etched in his mind — and also in the mind of fellow survivor and friend Stephen Travers. And they are as vivid as ever, down to the minute details.
Mr Travers, who had been shot and injured, even remembers that the sky had a half moon that night.
He added: “When I consider the awful, awful things that I saw down there [on the ground during the massacre] — I was crawling around for almost an hour, between the bodies of our lads, and the body parts of the unfortunate men that blew themselves up — those memories will stay with me forever. Not just memories — they're ever-present.”
Mr Lee said: “I can't forget it. It's like yesterday. It's all blown back in my face again. Excuse the pun.
“I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. The bombs, the bullets, the gunfire, the screaming, the crying and everything. I just couldn't understand what was going on.”
Father Brian D'Arcy, who was living in Dublin at the time of the massacre, still remembers going to the family homes of the murdered men — Fran O'Toole, Tony Geraghty, and Brian McCoy — whose funerals he also officiated.
Away from the cameras and reporters, and when the news cycle has moved on, there are still children, parents, siblings and friends who were never the same again.
“The reason it doesn't sound like 50 years for me is because I was dealing with the families for 20 years after that,” said Fr D'Arcy.
“It never was any better. It had a devastating effect on people's health, and the O'Toole family died out a very short time after as a result of the trauma.”
Their stories are the kind that often go unnoticed in the background. Yet, despite the ever-evolving media cycle and the long passage of time, 'July 31, 1975' remains a day frozen in time for everyone affected by the Miami Showband Massacre, its haunting memories untouched by the decades that have passed.
Resistance to change is not exclusive to unionism, as Bogside bonfire shows
Denis Bradley, Irish News, August 1st, 2025
I NEARLY lost an eye when digging a cave.
The result was that I wasn’t allowed to gather wood for the bonfire on June 23, the eve of the feast of St John, but I was recovered well enough to walk in the eucharistic procession that went around our town every year on the feast of Cor-pus Christi.
I was a young altar boy at the time.
The cave was in a field behind our house and us wains dug a hole in the ground every Easter, lit a fire and boiled eggs.
My co-digger hit me with the point of a shovel just above the eye.
The caves were always a bit damp and cold and there is a limit to the number of eggs you can eat.
The procession was all right, if a bit overly religious. The most enjoyable bit was gathering the wood and the bonfire itself.
All of that happened in Donegal when I was a child, but you would be hard-pressed to find any of it nowadays.
A few towns have tried to resurrect the eucharistic procession but that feels a bit like some people hankering back to the good old days of a dominant Catholic Church.
On its last legs
If that tradition is not dead, it is on its last legs.
I think there is still an odd bonfire to be seen on the side of Donegal hills, but that is likely to be a farmer using it as an excuse for getting rid of rubbish and I am under the impression it is forbidden by the local authorities and frowned upon by the neighbours.
I would have thought Easter eggs are reserved nowadays to the supermarkets and health and safety would have a few things to say about children digging caves.
With all this talk and writing lately about bonfires and marches and culture up here in the north, I was reminded of a question I asked years ago at a seminar.
The question startled a good few people in the room and it startled me because of the way it came out.
I asked “Does unionism have a culture”, heavily putting the emphasis on “have”.
It wasn’t meant to be the rude and ignorant question that it initially suggests because culture, at the end of the day, is only the norms and customs of life that tries to bring coherency and solidarity to any group of people.
Unionist people have those norms and customs in equal abundance to their neighbours and probably more so than many cultures throughout the world.
The rude question was really meant to ask if the politics of unionism, dominated by anxiety and fear of political change, was ossifying its culture, making it fixed and rigid and preventing it from change.
If the norms, the traditions, values and practices of any group of people are inhibited by fear of change, then there is every likelihood that the inherent healthy culture will be suffocated.
I go back to Donegal quite a lot and it is certainly not the place I grew up in. So much has changed and while I might fondly reminisce, the truth is that most things have changed for the better.
And resistance to change is not exclusive to unionism.
Not far from where I live, in the Bogside, a substantial bonfire will burn on August 15. It will attract a crowd. It is promoted by some republican dissidents.
It also will be presented as traditional, as an ancient marking of the Feast of the Assumption or, alternatively, a remembering of the introduction of internment by the British Government.
But it is really the dying vestige of militant republicanism. It is an effort to disguise the fear that the legacy of violent republicanism has come to an end.
It is an effort to deny that the dominant culture is now politics – not violence.
Deep concern over British government’s withdrawal of cross-border peace funding
Pro Fide, Pro Patria, Irish News, August 1st, 2025
THE circumstances surrounding the British government’s decision to withdraw financial support from the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) are in many ways not surprising but can only cause deep concern.
Since its establishment almost 40 years ago by the administrations in London and Dublin, the IFI has contributed towards significant progress across a range of fronts on both sides of the Irish border.
There can be no doubt that it has fully addressed its primary aim of “promoting economic and social advance and of encouraging contact, dialogue and reconciliation between unionists and nationalists throughout Ireland”, and it still has much more work to do.
“Saving what is in context a tiny amount will plainly have no impact on London’s wider budget, but is likely to have a hugely negative impact on the entire future of the IFI, and is yet another clear indication that Keir Starmer and his colleagues have little serious interest in the search for peace and reconciliation in all parts of Ireland
During its height in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was in the White House, the fund received more than $100 million from the US government over a four-year period, with further backing from the EU, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Much more modest sums are involved these days, but the IFI suffered a serious blow earlier this year when Donald Trump intervened to reduce his country’s foreign aid programme, and another major setback came this week through an announcement from Westminster.
It said that the British government had “…inherited a very challenging fiscal position, and needed to take difficult but necessary decisions to place the public finances on a sustainable footing”, so would therefore not be continuing with the scheduled £1m allocation to the IFI for 2024/25.
Saving what is in context a tiny amount will plainly have no impact on London’s wider budget, but is likely to have a hugely negative impact on the entire future of the IFI, and is yet another clear indication that Keir Starmer and his colleagues have little serious interest in the search for peace and reconciliation in all parts of Ireland.
What can only cause even more alarm is that the British government last month authorised exactly the same sum of £1m to be given to an unusual new initiative known as the Connect Fund, which is intended to strengthen links between the north and Britain, and has the endorsement of the DUP.
An official spokesman in London denied that resources had been diverted from the IFI to the Connect Fund, and insisted that they were two completely separate entities, but it all looks like much more than a coincidence.
Both Sinn Féin and the SDLP are seeking urgent clarification of the move, which sends out all the wrong signals, and there is an overwhelming case for the secretary of state Hilary Benn to intervene.
On the basis of his track record since arriving in office just over a year ago, there can however be little confidence that he will be prepared to revisit the issue.
Criminal investigation launched into asbestos at site of bonfire
Alison Morris, Belfast Telegraph, August 1st, 2025
BELFAST PYRE LED TO ROW OVER PRESENCE OF TOXIC MATERIAL AND RISK TO HEALTH OF PEOPLE IN AREA
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency has launched a criminal investigation into asbestos at a controversial bonfire in Belfast.
The land at Meridi Street, off the Donegall Road, belongs to a property development company based in Armagh.
The former factory site hit the headlines after Belfast City Council tried to have the pyre removed before the Eleventh Night.
At the time it was reported the landowner intended to remove the asbestos as soon as possible.
NIEA had said it understood they were due to arrange this in the week commencing July 16.
It said it would be “a highly specialised, complex and delicate operation that will require the site to be fully vacated”.
“Indeed, the work is of such complexity that the full removal will take a number of weeks,” NIEA added.
However, little progress appears to have been made since.
It was later reported work couldn't begin until the site was secured, as the gates had been removed illegally.
The PSNI told the Belfast Telegraph there were no reports of any stolen gates, and when the site was visited this week all entrances appeared secure.
Now the saga has taken a new twist with the criminal investigation.
NIEA said: “The agency was first alerted to the issues around the bonfire on May 16, 2025.
Responsibility of landlord
“Responsibility for removing the asbestos primarily lies with the landowner.
“Given the circumstances, an enforcement investigation was initiated, and a direction was issued requiring the landowner to remove the asbestos waste.
“When it became clear that the circumstances did not allow for the safe and controlled removal of the asbestos prior to July 11, 2025, NIEA worked with the landowner and Belfast City Council to agree mitigating measures to reduce the risk to public health.”
DAERA said: “While the immediate focus for NIEA is on the efforts by the landowner to remove the asbestos pile safely from the site, it should be noted that as NIEA has initiated a criminal investigation into this matter, the agency is unable to comment further on the specifics of this site”.
The landowner was contacted for comment.
Asbestos was found in five different locations at the site.
The bonfire was declared a major incident and a tactical coordination group was set up to discuss options to minimise its risk.
Despite appeals from politicians and health professionals about the dangers, the bonfire went ahead, albeit with a much smaller crowd than originally expected.
DAERA Minister Andrew Muir later said he was “very disappointed with the decision to light the bonfire”.
Signage was erected along with double fencing around the affected area warning of hazardous material. That signage remains in place.
Tonnes of asbestos-contaminated rubble had already been removed from the area after the demolition of the old factory building.
The remaining asbestos is thought to have been there for years.
Big bill to restore 2,000 acres of land vested along A5 road faces tax payer
Conor Coyle, Irish News, August 1st, 2025
CLOSE to 2,000 acres of land had been vested from landowners along the proposed route for the new A5 before its progress was quashed by a judge earlier this year.
The vast amount of land has now been returned by the Department for Infrastructure to owners after a High Court judge halted the scheme’s progress as it did not meet climate change targets set down by Stormont.
It was the latest in a series of setbacks for the road on which more than 50 people have died since 2006 when an upgrade was first scheduled to begin.
The failure of DFI officials not to adequately address climate change considerations on foot of the meetings with their DAERA counterparts has been described as “inconceivable”.
In response to a question from Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Deborah Erskine, Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins confirmed the total acreage of land that had been vested was 1,954 acres, but it was too early to calculate the cost of reinstating the land.
“The department are in discussions with landowner agents on the extent of restoration works required,” Ms Kimmins said.
“As a number of options are available to landowners it is too early in the process to establish an estimate for the potential costs associated with reinstating the lands.”
Meanwhile, several Stormont MLAs have questioned the timeframe for the minister to lodge an appeal to the High Court decision, with Ms Kimmins saying she will bring the decision to the executive.
“I wrote to executive colleagues on 11 July 2025 to provide an update on the judgment and to clarify that, as minister for infrastructure, the decision to appeal rests with me,” one response said.
“Given the project’s flagship status and the executive’s unanimous support in October 2024, I have invited their views before reaching a final decision.
“I remain committed to working constructively and collaboratively with colleagues to secure a solution that delivers the road and saves lives. Any appeal must be lodged within six weeks of the judgment taking effect.”
Harris hits out at how online porn normalises violence in young men
Belfast Telegraph, August 1st, 2025
Extreme online pornography is “radicalising” some young men into normalising violence against women, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.
The former PSNI deputy chief constable from Belfast said in some cases, gardai have had to explain to perpetrators of violent sexual assaults why what they did was wrong.
Mr Harris will step down as commissioner in September after seven years in the post.
Yesterday, he addressed his final meeting of the Republic's Policing Authority.
Speaking to the media afterwards, he explained his concerns about the prevalence of online pornography.
He said, “I think the use of the expression hardcore is no longer relevant.
“The pornography which is readily accessible on the internet is extreme in the violence that it perpetrates, against women.
“What happens then is that young men see this, and this is a major influence on them in terms of what they think a sexual relationship is.
Pornography manifested in serious sexual assaults
“We see this manifest in serious sexual assaults where, literally, it has to be explained to them that what they did was wrong.
He added: “There is a trend in the violent behaviour of the offending which you can relate back to the imagery which is in pornography.
“As I look at the incidents and what is described, but also what the responses of the various assailants and perpetrators are, one can see that they have become normalised to the violence that they are seeing online.”
Mr Harris said some men's view of a normal sexual relationship had become “completely distorted”.
He added: “You can say almost that they have been radicalised.
“I do think there is an education piece for this. We have heard a lot over the last few weeks about limiting the access of children to all sorts of violent imagery. I think that's a good thing.
“It has to be faced up to as well that there is a multi-billion-dollar industry behind this that we are not going to defeat by attacking it, what we have to do is make sure people are educated and understand what a proper relationship is.”
The commissioner said, “What I am saying is one can see the trend, it is backed up by academic research.
“We can see the trend ourselves, and it is evident then when we consider some of the crimes that come through our courts in recent years.”
PSNI officer dismissed for sending ‘racist and sexualised’ messages
Jonathan McCambridge, Irish News August 1st, 2025
A PSNI officer has been sacked after sending “highly inappropriate and offensive” messages via WhatsApp.
The office of the Police Ombudsman said the messages, which were sent while the officer was on duty, contained material which was sectarian, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, misogynistic and sexualised.
The complainant contacted the Police Ombudsman when the officer continued to send the material, despite being asked to stop on two occasions.
Nikki Davis, director of investigations at the ombudsman’s office, said: “Digital analysis of the police officer’s phone showed that he had sent multiple images and videos, which were highly inappropriate and offensive, to the complainant, other members of the public and other police officers
“This was not a one-off, isolated incident, which could potentially be attributed to a lapse in judgment.
“It was sustained, consistent behaviour, exacerbated by the police officer’s view, when interviewed by our investigators, that he did not consider the material to be offensive or his actions to be in breach of the PSNI Code of Ethics.”
Mrs Davis added: “When this kind of messaging specifically targets women and combines sexual, racist and sectarian references, it moves into the realm of online gender-based hate speech
“For a police officer to display these attitudes and behaviours towards women is unacceptable, and specifically undermines the PSNI’s commitment to ending violence against women and girls.
“However, this case demonstrates that allegations of misconduct will be robustly investigated and that officers will be held to account, all of which contributes positively to public confidence in policing.”
Following the conclusion of the Police Ombudsman investigation, a file was submitted to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in relation to the potential offences of Misconduct in Public Office and sending grossly offensive messages contrary to the Communications Act (2003).
Breaches of PSNI Code of Ethics
The PPS directed no prosecution. A misconduct file was then submitted to the PSNI Professional Standards Department.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher held a special hearing, after which the police officer was dismissed.
He was found to have breached a number of articles of the PSNI Code of Ethics, including those relating to professional duty, equality and integrity.
Eight officers, who received the messages and failed to report or challenge them, were referred to the PSNI in relation to potential breaches of the code of ethics.
The Police Ombudsman received the complaint about the police officer in July 2023.
The office has previously called for fast-tracking powers in cases where it is clear from an early stage in an investigation that there is criminality or gross misconduct which could result in an officer being dismissed without undue delay.
Judge says 'unlawfulness' during Ballymena riots 'cannot be accepted in any democratic society'
By Court Reporter, Belfast News Letter, August 1st, 2025
A judge has said “unlawfulness” that occurred in Ballymena during three consecutive nights of rioting in June “cannot be accepted in any democratic society”.
Deputy District Judge Peter Prenter was speaking as 32-year-old Kyle Anderson, with an address listed as Dalriada Walk in Ballymena, was charged with riotous assembly on June 10.
The defendant is also charged with possessing offensive weapons - a knuckleduster, an extendable baton and a metal bar - on July 30.
He appeared in handcuffs in the dock at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (July 31).
Opposing bail, a police officer said the defendant was seen “masked and unmasked” at a riot.
He said the defendant could be seen “barricading” a gate to hinder police and he was observed throwing a brick and a recycling bin box at police.
The officer said he was arrested on July 30, and during a search of his vehicle offensive weapons were found.
The officer said since the three nights in June there had been no more rioting but there have been a “few peaceful protests since then”.
Judge Prenter said there had been “very unruly and unlawful behaviour” but stated there had been no major incidents in Ballymena since mid-June.
He agreed to release the defendant on £500 bail with a 9pm to 7am curfew to an address at Ferrard Meadow in Antrim town. He is also barred from Ballymena, aside from attending court, getting legal advice, or going to a dentist or a doctor.
The case was adjourned to August 28.
FÉILE 25: Martin McGuinness book gives an intimate insight into the life of the senior republican
Conor McParland, Belfast Media, August 1st, 2025
A NEW book on Martin McGuinness gives a more intimate account of the life of late senior republican, its author says.
'Our Martin' is written by Jim 'Flash' McVeigh and features 150 black and white photos from Martin McGuinness' life, many not seen before.
Written with the co-operation of Martin's family and many of his closest friends and comrades, the book gives a deeper insight into the man himself, his early IRA activities, his family life and his role in the peace process.
Jim, who served two terms of imprisonment during the conflict, recalled his first meeting with Martin.
"I first met Martin in the H-Blocks during the early stages of the peace process," he said.
"Martin and a couple of the other Sinn Féin leadership were allowed into the prison in around 1997 and were allowed into the H-Blocks. They went to Maghaberry to brief the women prisoners, and then they came to the H-Blocks to brief us on the on the developing peace process at the time.
"Then, of course, when I got out, I became involved in Sinn Féin and got to know him better then.
"He was a very warm individual, very down to earth. He was a listener. He had that sort of natural charm about him. He liked people. He liked to talk to people. There are some people who worked with him who said he liked to talk to people too much and no matter where they went, if someone wanted to speak to him, he took the time, found the time to chat with them but that was the type of character he was."
The idea of a more intimate and personal account of Martin's life was the desire of his wife Bernie, and Jim said he was honoured to have been given the task.
"Martin's wife Bernie suggested that she would love to have seen a more intimate, personal book about Martin," he continued.
"Now obviously, as we all know, there's been lots of stuff written about Martin, most of it very negative and critical, most of it based upon gossip and briefings by people from the British security services or former Special Branch.
"On the back of that Gerry Adams asked me would I write the book and I was happy to be associated with Martin. I had the opportunity to speak to Bernie, speak to the family, speak to his two sons and two daughters, some of his closest friends and people like Gerry and others and for the first time have their memories and recollections and their insights into the type of character he was and how he was as a friend and a comrade.
"There are 150 photographs in the book, many of them have never been really seen by the public before. Even for that alone, I think people will be pleasantly surprised and see a side they have never seen before," he added.
2Gallery
"The family have opened their door to me and let me have access to their family albums and a lot of that stuff is in there.
"I interviewed many of his closest friends, many of his closest comrades as well and of course, like any book, I did a lot of research and background research just on the political context.
"For me, it was just interesting to be reminded of just how rotten the State was here in the late 1960s and and just how bad the social and economic conditions of the time were, not just in Derry but for Catholics across the State.
"There is a real human side of Martin reflected in the book. I would like people to see the human and personal story of his life. There is a love story between him and his wife Bernie, who were teenage sweethearts all through that period and right up to the end."
Jim is hoping the book will be an education for many people, including young and old republicans and those who are not republican.
"For young republicans and nationalists it does deal with the conflict and the history of the conflict, the background of the conflict, how and why the conflict endured for so long.
"I think there is probably two generations of republicans and nationalists who don't know a great deal about that period. In the 1960s, we effectively lived in a religious apartheid State. I think it will be an educational read for many people.
"Saturday will be a special occasion for the Belfast launch, taking place during Féile an Phobail. Martin's family will be up for it. The first launch in Derry last week drew a huge turnout and interest."
'Our Martin' by Jim McVeigh will be launched on Saturday, August 2 at 1pm in St Mary's University College.
The book launch will feature a panel discussion with Martina Anderson, Mitchel McLaughlin, Gerry Adams and others, chaired by Jim McVeigh.
The book is available to purchase in Waterstones and An Fhuiseog bookshop on the Falls Road (RRP: £24.99).
All proceeds to the Martin McGuinness Peace Foundation.
