A new model for dealing with the Troubles

Following the success of Tuesday's event at Oakgrove Integrated College in Derry, when visiting US students from Seattle were invited to a seminar to hear the testimony of cross community victims of the British Army, Loyalist paramilitaries and Republican paramilitaries during the Troubles it is planned to hold a similar event in Dublin.

'This is a new way, a new model for dealing with the Troubles for a new generation not even born until many years after the Good Friday Agreement', says Victims campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Junior was killed by the UVF in 1997. 

'Religion and politics didn't exist in the large room where Tuesday's event was held. The students got a lot out of it, listening to and learning from victims. It was a huge success, an educational experience for everyone who participated.

‘The next stop is already being planned for Dublin.

‘Anyone who wants to be involved, or help in this initiative, or even has contacts in schools or universities in Dublin which may wish to participate (and in other parts of the Republic) please contact me or Padraig Yeates.

‘Let's do it not just the victims but for the future of everyone who lives on this island, particularly the young people.

raymondmccord@btinternet.com, padraigyeates@gmail.com.

Shooting abandoned as man was holding tot

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME and SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

Murder bid called off on doorstep

AN attempt to kill a man in Belfast last week was abandoned after the intended victim answered the door with a small child in his arms, it is understood.

A man escaped with his life when he was confronted at his home in Turf Lodge in the west of the city on Sunday night by members of Óglaigh na hÉireann (ÓNH).

It comes as footage emerged of ÓNH using a 3D-printed gun as the republican group paid tribute to a former member who died last year.

It is believed to be the first time images of the potentially deadly homemade weapons firing shots have been circulated.

It is believed the intended Turf Lodge target was holding a small child when he was challenged by a gunman as he opened the front door of his home.

Sources say the man, believed to be aged in his 20s, attempted to escape by fleeing along the hallway with the child still in his arms.

It is suggested the gunman then fired shots in the air before leaving.

In a statement, using a recognised codeword, ÓNH said it attempted to “execute” a named individual who remains under threat and who has since been ordered to leave the area.

It is understood a separate attempt to kill a man in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast, also on Sunday, was abandoned.

ÓNH also warned that anyone using their name for financial gain would be dealt with severely.

The latest incidents come just weeks after ÓNH said it shot a man in the legs in the Strathroy Park area of Ardoyne in north Belfast.

The group, which is in the grip of a bitter feud, also tried to kill Belfast man Sean O’Reilly, a prominent member of Republican Network for Unity, as he sat in a taxi in the Poleglass area last February.

It is not believed the attempted Tuft Lodge shooting on Sunday was connected to the feud.

No justification

It has been claimed ÓNH has control of an arsenal that includes homemade 3D printed guns.

Last year 3D weapons, including FGC-9 models, were put on show as part of a tribute to Belfast-based ÓNH member Joe Graham, who died after an illness.

Footage recently circulated on social media marking Mr Graham’s first anniversary shows a masked colour party at his graveside.

It also includes images of three masked people, two of whom are armed, while another holds a picture of Mr Graham.

The short video clip shows one of the weapons being fired three times, which is thought to be the first time a 3D printed weapon produced by a republican paramilitary group has been filmed firing shots.

It is understood the gun fired was a FGC-22 model.

A spokeswoman for the PSNI said it received no reports of shots being fired in the Turf Lodge area on Sunday.

SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath MLA said: “There can be no justification for violence of this nature on our streets and reports of an armed group attempting to kill a man at his home with family present will send a chill through the local community.

“I am also seriously concerned that viable 3D printed weapons appear to be in use and this raises questions about how and where these weapons are obtained from, how easy they are to manufacture and whether we should be concerned about more of them entering circulation for use in criminal and violent enterprises.”

Mr McGrath added that weapons of any kind “must be seized and removed from our streets before anyone else is harmed”.

“These violent groups have no support and those behind this latest attack should be apprehended and brought to justice,” he said.

“It’s long past time these groups left the stage and let people live in peace.”

Paramilitary-style attacks now part of 'business' for thugs extorting money

ALISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, February 19th, 2026

FORMER GUNMAN SAYS SHOOTINGS WHICH WERE ONCE SO COMMONPLACE IN NI BECOMING RELIC OF THE PAST

Paramilitary-style attacks, once common on the streets of Northern Ireland, are now a “business” according to one former gunman, with groups now only shooting victims who don't “pay up”.

The number of paramilitary-style shootings in Northern Ireland has fallen from a high of four a week to just two in the past 12 months.

In the year from April 2024, there were nine — eight carried out by loyalist paramilitaries, with just one by republicans.

Fr Martin Magill of the End The Harm group said while he welcomed the reduction, even one attack was one too many. “We are better than this as a society”, he added.

In the latest attack, Kevin 'Ozzy' Osbourne was shot once in each leg last month in an alleyway at Strathroy Park in Ardoyne.

The 35-year-old was recently cleared of charges of being involved in the supply of cocaine and possessing criminal property.

However, he remains locked in a legal battle with the PSNI over £37,500 of his cash that was seized.

The shooting by appointment resulted in the businessmen being shot once in each leg.

It was the first such shooting of 2026, with a huge reduction in the number of paramilitary-style shootings in recent years.

There had been no paramilitary-style shootings of anyone accused of anti-social activity for nine months before the shooting of Mr Osbourne, while the last one in Belfast was in September 2023.

Such shootings were once commonplace in Northern Ireland, and the 1994 republican and loyalist ceasefires did not bring an end to the practice.

In 2001, there were 186 paramilitary-style shootings, 121 by republican groups and 65 by loyalists, this was the highest number since 1975 when there were 189 shootings in a single year.

Between 1973 and 2005, 3,046 people were shot in paramilitary-style attacks.

Since April 2025, there have been 158 shootings with a gradual reduction.

The overwhelming majority of attacks are on men.

Female victims

However, there have been female victims. In 2013, Jemma McGrath from east Belfast was shot in a gun attack carried out by the UVF.

Bernadette O'Rawe has firsthand experience of the practice, as her nephew was among those targeted.

She took former victims to meet police, academics and trauma services to speak about the lasting impact of the attacks.

“We live in communities where poverty, mental illness, addiction, lack of opportunity and generational trauma, all have an impact on young people,” she said.

“That some of them turn to criminality is hardly surprising; that there are people acting as judge, jury and executioner, brutalising young people is barbaric.

“Some get to walk free due to connections, others get shot.

“They are often before the courts as well and jailed for their crimes — and rightly so — but then they are shot and so punished twice.

“Would it now be better to use restorative practices and help young people out of the circumstances that have led to the criminality?

“When I brought victims to meet with academics and police, it was the first time many of them had been asked about what happened to them. Some still weren't able to verbalise it, they were so traumatised.”

Shooting by appointment was the most common form of vigilante attack.

This served a number of purposes.

It sent a message to the community about the penalty for alleged criminality, and the psychological impact on the victim was prolonged.

The gunmen could also arrange the attack at a time and place of their choosing, with a planned escape route, reducing the risk of prosecution.

One former member of a paramilitary squad said that by the 1990s almost all the attacks were pre-arranged.

“The person would be pulled in and told what was coming and why. They were then told to show up a set time,” they said.

“Some chose to flee, to leave the country, but most showed up.

“One boy showed up to be shot four nights in a row.

“We had to keep sending him away because the helicopter was up, on the fourth night we let him off for having the balls to keep showing up.

‘It just didn't f***ing work’

“I'd no issue doing it. I've still no issue with it. Most of them deserved it, but the reality of the situation is, it just didn't f***ing work.

“You'd shoot a housebreaker or car thief, and a year later you'd be shooting the same person again.

“The first time it would be a flesh wound as a warning. The second time it would be the full mixed grill (hands, knees and ankles) and even after that they'd still keep going.

“I think the record was (name redacted) from Divis who was shot 16 times, he's now a major drug dealer.

“So it definitely didn't work. In the end you have to say what's the point, we are shooting our own young people and to what aim?

“Now it's a business, it is all about taxing dealers and if they don't pay up they get shot, there's people making money out of it.”

Conor (not his real name) was shot in both legs in 2001, when he was just 17 years old.

He had been accused of involvement in a spate of burglaries. He admits to having been involved in criminality, but says he was not guilty of robbing the home of an elderly man, an accusation that resulted in him being shot in an alleyway in north Belfast.

The shooting was by appointment. He had been previously approached by two men who warned him to attend at a certain time.

“I was told to go to the League entry (an alleyway in Ardoyne) at 10pm, or else I'd be shot dead on sight.

“There were two people standing there when I arrived, a man and a woman, they told me to walk down the entry, a masked man stepped out and told me to lie on the ground.

“My right leg was a flesh wound but the bullet on the left side hit a bone and shattered it, I had to have surgery and metal pins and one leg is still shorter than the other.

“It made me stay out of trouble for a while, but I couldn't get work with my injury, took drugs for the pain and ended up in jail.

“I tried to kill myself twice, I've PTSD.

“My kids don't know what happened, I told them I was hit by a car when I was younger.

“It's scundering, I'm embarrassed, the cold weather sends the damaged nerves mental and I be in agony, but I can't go back and change what happened, so I just have to live with it.”

Fr Magill, a parish priest in west Belfast, said: “I welcome the decline in the recorded number of shootings and beatings carried out by armed gangs over the past number of years.

“The shooting and physical maiming of fellow human beings has been and continues to be barbaric; we are better than this as a society,” he added.

“For right-minded citizens our attitude should be one of these attacks is one too many.

“I commend the efforts made by the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, the Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime (EPPOC) as well as politicians and lobby groups from the voluntary sector who seek a complete end to these human rights abuses.

“Whilst there has been this decline in attacks, I am, however, concerned by the significantly low clearance rates for these abuses.”

“I welcome how we as a society have changed our language in relation to these as well as a greater willingness to speak out to condemn them.”

Armed gangs have nothing to offer and are not wanted

Pro Fide et Patria, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

THERE will be shock at the details in our report today about an attempt by republican paramilitaries to kill a man in west Belfast.

The murder bid was said to have been abandoned when the target of the attack answered the door of his home with a small child in his arms.

The news emerged along with disturbing footage of the group Óglaigh na hÉireann firing shots with what was believed to be a 3D-printed gun.

Last year was the first since records began in the 1960s that there were no ‘security-related’ deaths recorded in the north.

“ Those still involved in violence and intimidation should listen the unanimous message from a community sick of conflict that they are not welcome and have nothing positive to contribute

During the bloodiest year of the Troubles in 1972, almost 500 people lost their lives and thousands more were injured.

The Policing Board also heard before Christmas that paramilitary-style assaults were at a 40-year low, and shootings had dropped to their lowest level in almost two decades.

All of this is hugely welcome and what should be expected more than a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement.

However, police were also clear about the continuing threat posed by those who still hide behind the cloak of paramilitarism while visiting violence and criminality in our communities.

Attempts to kill, maim and intimidate are still regularly taking place, as well as paramilitary involvement in protection rackets and organised crime, as highlighted in media reports this week.

The attempted attack in west Belfast on Sunday night thankfully did not result in injury but did see shots being fired into the air.

The same group claimed it shot a man in the legs in a different part of the city in recent weeks, and was responsible for pipe bomb attacks in Counties Armagh, Antrim and Derry last year.

Whatever twisted logic might by used by armed gangs to justify their actions, it is clear that no-one has the right to endanger life and limb with illegal weapons and their actions have no support in the communities they seek to control.

Of particular concern is the fact that 3D-printed guns appear to be the possession of dangerous groups as they attempt to assemble home-made supplies of weaponry.

Those still involved in violence and intimidation should listen the unanimous message from a community sick of conflict that they are not wanted and have nothing positive to contribute.

Police also should be given every assistance, including political support at all levels, to shut down armed groups once and for all and end their malign influence in society for good.

Presbyterian Church is in trouble after 'ecclesiastical earthquake': moderator

ALF McCREARY, Belfast Telegraph, February 19th, 2026

The Presbyterian Church is “in trouble, make no mistake about it” as it deals with “an ecclesiastical earthquake” over safeguarding failings, its leader has told a congregation-wide meeting.

A Special Assembly was held yesterday in Church House, Belfast, to update some 400 members from congregations all over Ireland on developments which have taken place since the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) found itself involved in a self-made crisis over safeguarding.

The church has now agreed to create a senior leadership team which will include a new post of operations director, as well as a new Clerk of the General Assembly, and the current Deputy Clerk of the Assembly.

Each member of the leadership team will require to be an ordained minister or elder. The church has also agreed new details for the role of Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the Assembly. The traditional role of General Secretary therefore becomes obsolete.

The new developments follow the sudden resignation in November of the Rev Dr Trevor Gribben as Moderator and General Secretary and Clerk of the General Assembly, after a review found “serious and significant failings” in safeguarding functions from 2009 to 2022.

This led to the announcement of a criminal investigation by the PSNI into the Presbyterian Church in Ireland's (PCI) safeguarding and also an investigation by the Charities Commission.

The bulk of the discussion yesterday concentrated on the housekeeping details of the administrative work in progress, although at the outset there was a reference to the suffering of the victims as a result of the PCI failures on safeguarding.

The Moderator, the Rt Revd Dr Richard Murray, said: “We in PCI are living through such a time when there has been an ecclesiastical earthquake and when safeguarding has quite rightly been moved centre stage.

“We affirm those who have faithfully and dutifully carried out their safeguarding duties, but others have failed us, and in their wake are acutely aware of people who have suffered and been left desolate.

‘What does the future hold for PCI?’

“And then there are forces without, and forces within, that oppose us, and sometimes we wonder what is coming next. What does the future hold for PCI, and where is the Lord in the middle of it all?”

He added: “We in PCI are in trouble, make no mistake about it, especially, again, and most necessarily we think of those hurt, harmed, traumatised by our failings and as David Bruce said away at the beginning, even one case is one too many.” There was little direct reference to safeguarding because of the ongoing investigations by the police and the Charities Commission.

However, the Very Rev Dr David Bruce, a former Moderator and the Convenor of the General Council, revealed that Dermot Parsons — who was the director of the Council for Social Witness and was due to become the Head of Safeguarding — had resigned from his position.

No explanation was given, but Dr Bruce added: “Active steps are being taken to recruit a successor, and to strengthen the staffing team in the new Safeguarding Department as already agreed.” During the debate, several members expressed their difficulty in accepting the term special “leadership” team as it seemed contrary to the essence of “Presbyterianism”, and would be in effect a management “business model”.

After discussion, however, the term “leadership team” was retained.

There was criticism about the lack of communication by the church, and one former Moderator — the Very Rev Dr Norman Hamilton — said that many people are still perplexed by what has been happening in the PCI, and that there was a need for better communications, not only to the general public but also to church members.

He said: “Since the crisis broke in early November my main concern is that the main source of information and analysis to both the church and wider society has been through many journalists, and much good work has been done by them.

“The church has to start speaking to its members directly, because whatever is decided in and by the Assembly, it needs to be properly understood and actively supported by ordinary people in the pews.”

Meeting missing one crucial thing... a victim to tell of his or her suffering

Anyone expecting dramatic news from yesterday's Special Assembly of the Presbyterian Church will be disappointed. The meeting was called to update the 400 members from all over Ireland about developments since November, when the then Moderator Rev Dr Trevor Gribben suddenly resigned over safeguarding issues.

It was perhaps appropriate that the meeting was held on Ash Wednesday at the beginning of the period of self-denial and reflection embodied in Lent.

But there was very little mention of safeguarding in yesterday's debate due to the ongoing investigations by the police and the Charity Commission.

There was also scant mention of the victims of the PCI's safeguarding failings, apart from a reference by Moderator the Rt Rev Dr Richard Murray about an “ecclesiastical earthquake”, as well as an admission the PCI has failed and “we are acutely aware of people who have suffered and been left desolate”.

The very formal proceeding was missing one major ingredient — namely the presence of a victim who could tell the Assembly about his or her suffering, and to remind members this was all about human beings, and not just administration and structures.

The major part of the Assembly was a typical Presbyterian discussion about resolutions and amendments, but it ended in agreement on the business in hand relatively quickly.

However, the overall impression lingers that more difficult days for the church lie ahead, and the public and rank-and-file church members still remain largely in the dark.

McAleese to discuss peace legacy of Humes at Belfast event

PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

FORMER Irish president Mary McAleese is set to discuss the peace legacy of the late John Hume and his wife Pat at an event in west Belfast tomorrow evening.

Broadcaster and Irish News Consulting Editor, Jim Fitzpatrick, will speak with Ardoyne-born Ms McAleese at an event organised in partnership with the John and Pat Hume Foundation, Clonard Monastery and Clonard Peace Ministry.

Taking place at Clonard Monastery on the Falls Road at 7.30pm, the event titled Faith, Conflict and the Power of Nonviolence is a tribute to former SDLP leader and Nobel peace laureate John Hume, who died in 2020, and his wife Pat, who died the following year.

Ms McAleese served as president from 1997 to 2011.

Secretary of the John and Pat Hume Foundation, Tim Attwood, spoke of the significance of the venue hosting the event.

“The Redemptorist community at Clonard Monastery was instrumental in fostering reconciliation and peace building efforts,” he said, describing the pivotal moment in the peace process in which John Hume risked his political reputation by engaging with then-Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in the late 1980s to seek an end to IRA violence.

This dialogue would lead to the first joint Hume-Adams statement in 1993, which preceded the first Provisional IRA ceasefire a year later.

“Fr Alec Reid, assisted by Fr Gerry Reynolds, brought together in Clonard John Hume and Gerry Adams to begin a dialogue on a peaceful way forward out of the conflict,” Mr Attwood said.

“Mary McAleese played a key role in supporting Fr Alec and Clonard’s Peace Ministry over many years.”

Discrimination and denial of basic rights... NI's migrants are the new 1960s Catholics

JOHN LAVERTY, Belfast Telegraph, February 19th, 2026

Imagine a section of the Northern Ireland public being denied the right to vote. No, scrub that; it's happened before.

Why do you think the Troubles began? Answer: Gerrymandering, institutional and social discrimination, followed by civil rights marches then riots, tit-for-tat sectarian ethnic cleansing and decades of bigotry, bullets, bombs and bloodshed.

For younger readers wondering about 'gerrymandering', this was a then-dominant, authoritarian Ulster Unionist Party drawing up electoral boundaries to ensure control over majority nationalist/Catholic areas.

Meanwhile, local election rules decreed one vote per household — a distinct disadvantage to the poorer, larger-family Catholic population.

Consequently, the quality of public services, housing and employment opportunities depended on which side of the fence you were from.

I remember, as a primary school kid in the late 1960s, hearing “Gerry Fitt” talking about “gerrymandering” on TV news and thought it was two sworn enemies with the same Christian name, rather than the former being an MP campaigning against the latter.

The word gerrymander, incidentally, was coined after Elbridge Gerry, a 19th century Massachusetts governor, cynically redrew senate election districts in his favour.

The Boston Gazette came up with this term after noting that the border of one of Gerry's new districts resembled a salamander.

Gerry's plan, however, wasn't supported by his close friend (and ex-US president) John Adams, otherwise the Gazette might have christened it the Gerry-Adams Initiative.

But enough of the history lesson.

At present, there are 75,000 Northern Ireland residents denied a vote in general elections, and 12,000 who can't participate in local ones due to their immigration status.

Relative to our population, that's around 3.5%; not enough for our supposedly cosmopolitan Stormont to worry its little cotton socks over.

And anyway, there are far too many other Difficult Decisions to ignore before getting round to the basic democratic rights of people who may look a little different but are doing valuable, essential work.

Confusion over legal migrants, illegal immigrants and asylum seekers is easily overcome by anti-immigration protesters who, conveniently, just lump them together.

Loyalists and ‘patriots’

In August 2024, we had loyalists joining forces with self-proclaimed 'Irish patriots' from across the border — and the unique sight of the tricolour and Union flag flying together on our streets.

A few months later, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Nigerians and others fled burning homes in Ballymena as racist violence brought chilling echoes of the 1969 sectarian pogroms in Belfast and Derry.

Those people displaced by “locals only” thugs weren't British or Irish citizens, or from a Commonwealth country, but Stormont nevertheless has the power to grant them voting rights in local and devolved national polls.

It's already happening in Scotland and Wales, so why not here?

In the meantime, a way around this selective democracy would be a migrant attaining British citizenship, although we have some of the most expensive fees on the planet.

For instance, a skilled foreign worker with a family would have to shell out something like £40k in immigration charges to become eligible for UK citizenship.

And with successive Westminster governments pushing to reduce reliance on overseas staff, improving the rights of those who are apparently “stealing our jobs and raping our women” (©Ivana Trump, Loose Women, ITV, September 2020) is hardly a vote winner.

But be careful what you wish for, guys.

For example, reducing the number of non-UK/non-EU medical professionals would seriously damage Northern Ireland's already struggling health and social care system.

These full tax-paying workers — 11,000 of them — have helped offset the EU staff who've upped sticks since the disastrous Brexit vote, while their visa fees contribute around £50m annually to Stormont's budget.

But the recent banning of dependents for overseas staff, the raising of salary thresholds and the upping of required skill levels for employment here is starting to bite.

Today, a migrant worker must pay, among other things, an immigration health surcharge of £1,035 a year; a five-year work visa, meanwhile, will sting them over £13k.

As a result, applications have fallen sharply; great news for right-wing politicians but potentially devastating for the local economy.

It's ironic that immigration remains a principal concern at a time when it is falling under a Labour government — not that the right-wing media will tell you that.

Ironic, too, that Reform is most likely to benefit from their rivals' hardline stance.

But, should Nigel Farage's lot get in, they'll be custodians of a country where expected migration reduction will add something like £20bn annually to an already terrifying budget deficit, and where staff shortages, particularly in health and social care, are already beyond crisis point.

None of this will have been caused by refugees arriving illegally in small boats, but by skilled workers who were happy to do the dirty work and pay their dues before they got fed up with the intimidation, racism and violence.

If only they could have voted for someone who cared enough to do something about it...

Process to appoint new Police Ombudsman branded ‘farcical’

CONNLA YOUNG, CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News,February 19th, 2026  

THE ongoing process to recruit a new Police Ombudsman has been branded “farcical” after the powerful watchdog said former law officers should be disqualified from selection even though they were allowed to apply for the current vacancy.

Policing Board member Colin McGrath spoke out after the ombudsman’s office published Proposals for Legislative Change earlier this month highlighting a series of recommendations.

These include that “legislation should provide for disqualifications from holding the position of Police Ombudsman for persons who are, or have been, serving police officers”.

The recommendation was published as the recruitment process to appoint a new Police Ombudsman continues.

Former police officers are currently permitted to apply for the post, which was vacated on the retirement of former Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson last year.

The proposed changes were drawn up by Ms Anderson before her retirement.

It has now been confirmed that interviews for the high-profile post have been completed, and the successful candidate will be selected by Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill and DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

A spokesman for The Executive Office said the ombudsman recruitment process is “at an advanced stage”.

“Interviews have been completed and an appointment will be confirmed once the recruitment process has concluded,” he added.

Mr McGrath said his party has “serious concerns that the Police Ombudsman has published 23 key recommendations about the future direction of the office during an active recruitment process for a new ombudsman”.

“We strongly support the recommendation that current or former police officers should not be eligible for the role,” he said.

Importance of civilian oversight

“Civilian oversight must be exactly that.

“Allowing former serving officers to lead the body responsible for investigating police conduct risks undermining public confidence.”

Mr McGrath added that “no other jurisdiction on these islands permits this and the north should not be the exception”.

“However, we now find ourselves in the farcical position where former officers were eligible to apply in the latest recruitment round as the office recommends that this practice be ended,” he said.

The South Down MLA said the recent ombudsman review “contains a number of other important proposals including the power for the Police Ombudsman to compel officers to cooperate with investigations and to face consequences if they refuse to do so”.

“They also suggest adopting provisions from the UK Government’s Hillsborough Law to improve policing accountability,” he said.

“I have tabled urgent questions to the first minister, deputy first minister and the justice minister asking whether they support these recommendations.

“While the timing during an active recruitment process raises significant questions, the priority must be strengthening accountability and public confidence in policing.”

A spokeswoman for the Police Ombudsman said: “Many of the recommendations made in this review are not new and have been made previously.

“This is true of the recommendation that a serving police officer should not be able to hold the office of Police Ombudsman.

“It was first made in 2020 and reflects the position in other jurisdictions.”

Marie Anderson retired from her role as Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland last year

The spokeswoman added that in “terms of timing, the Police Ombudsman is required by legislation to complete a review every five years and this timescale was met at the end of 2025 when the former Police Ombudsman, Marie Anderson, submitted her recommendations to the justice minister”.

“The consultation exercise is intended to provide further information and evidence to support – or not – the recommendations which have been made,” she added.

Concern over lowest percentage of Catholic applicants to PSNI in a decade

REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

CONCERN has been voiced at the lowest percentage of Catholic applicants to the PSNI is more than a decade.

Police announced more than 4,000 had applied for their latest student officer recruitment campaign.

According to police data, more than 65.6% who applied to the student officer campaign were Protestant, 26.7% were Catholic and 7.7% were undetermined.

Some 63.5% of applicants were male, 36.5% were female, 7.3% were from the LGBT community, and 4.2% were from ethnic minorities.

The percentage of Catholic applicants dropped from 28.8% in 2025.

This percentage is the lowest since 2013, according to police figures.

According to the 2021 census, 45.7% of the Northern Ireland population are Catholic.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher yesterday appealed to people from all backgrounds to consider a career in policing

The recruitment process closed last Wednesday with 4,104 applications received.

PSNI officer numbers dropped to 6,190 last summer, well below the target of 7,500 set in the Patten Report in 1999.

Alarm Bells

SDLP MLA and Policing Board member Colin McGrath said the lowest number of Catholic applicants in more than decade should ring alarm bells.

“There will be much commentary around this 13-year low in Catholic applicants to join the PSNI, but unfortunately this trajectory has been clear for some time and these figures are in no way surprising,” he said.

“Unless we see drastic changes things will only get worse, with Policing Board projections putting the number of officers from a Catholic background at just 23% in 10 years’ time.”

Mr McGrath described the reasons for the decline as “complex”, adding: “There are no easy answers.”

“The threat from dissidents still looms in the background, the handling of legacy cases and a number of high-profile mistakes, including the data breach, would give many pause when considering a career in policing. I welcome and appreciate the efforts of Chief Constable Jon Boutcher to address these issues,” he said.

“Last year SDLP leader Claire Hanna called for an independent review of policing and the rule of law institutions to stop this slide backwards. This must be taken seriously by the PSNI, the Executive and particularly the Justice Minister, alongside the UK and Irish governments.

“Without a major intervention this situation will only get worse in the years ahead, with serious consequences for confidence in policing and society as a whole.”

Earlier this month Mr Boutcher called for “buy-in” from all quarters to support police to become representative of all communities.

Speaking at a meeting of the Policing Board, Mr Boutcher referred to a “very small section of society” who try to disrupt events such as police visits to schools or community meetings.

He spoke of his frustration, describing “bigoted” and “out-of-date” attitudes of some people based on “views that go back decades” and before the PSNI.

Yesterday, Mr Boutcher appealed to people from all backgrounds to consider a career in policing.

“Policing is a unique career. It’s not simply a job, it’s a vocation,” he said.

“It’s a role that people can be quick to criticise, yet those very critics will always call us when they need help, and we will always be there for them whatever their background, culture or religion. We are a police service for everyone.

“I am very encouraged to see a vast number of people who have shown an interest in applying for a career in policing from across all sections of the community.

“It is the profession that all other public services turn to at a time of crisis, and the rewards of a career in policing are immeasurable.”

He added: “I wish all of the applicants the very best as they will now commence a rigorous multi-stage process.

“This will ensure that the very best candidates are offered a place on our intensive 22-week training programme at the Police College, Garnerville.

“Here student officers will develop practical and operational skills alongside our expert trainers, to ensure they are mentally and physically equipped to perform the important role of a police officer.

“I appeal to people from all backgrounds to consider policing as a career. If you become a police officer you will make a positive difference to so many people’s lives.”

Special police search team 'not available' for three days after Noah last seen alive

LIAM TUNNEY, Belfast Telegraph, February 19th, 2026

EX-OFFICER ALSO TELLS INQUEST CONDITIONS IN TUNNEL SYSTEM WERE 'HORRENDOUS'

A highly-specialised police team was not available to search for missing teenager Noah Donohoe until three days after he was last seen alive, the inquest into his death has heard.

The 14-year-old's body was discovered in north Belfast on June 27, 2020, six days after the St Malachy's College student went missing as he cycled to meet friends.

Yesterday, the jury continued to hear evidence from Mr Menary, who at the time was a PSNI inspector in charge of the hazardous environment search team.

Mr Menary had previously given evidence that two officers from his team attended Northwood Linear Park to carry out preliminary searches on Tuesday, June 23.

However, a full search operation did not take place until Wednesday morning.

Brenda Campbell KC, counsel for Fiona Donohoe, noted that Community Search and Rescue had made police aware of the culvert entrance at around 9.30pm on Monday, June 22.

Mr Menary said he had not been informed about the drain until the following morning at around 11am.

He was asked about the preliminary searches carried out later that day.

Initial search only 12 minutes

Ms Campbell noted that the Solo Pro camera search had lasted only 12 minutes and that the officers had not returned to base until around 4pm. She asked Mr Menary why a full search of the culvert was not ordered earlier.

“The team was not available. If we had, we would have been up earlier in the day,” he replied.

“The sergeant was only informed around 10.30-11am. By that time, the team was already on other operations.

“We had two members available and the sergeant sent them to look at the tasking.”

Ms Campbell asked if the search did not start with “any sense of urgency”, to which Mr Menary responded: “That's not the case. The team were not available at that time and the sergeant had started the safe system of work (document).

“I can only imagine the two officers who came back were cleaning and sorting equipment for full deployment.”

Ms Campbell also pressed Mr Menary on why the search team was not available 24/7 and noted police did have access to a diver team on that basis.

No call-out prcedure

Mr Menary said: “We don't have a call-out procedure. We are not there for rescue, we are there for search.

“If a particular operation required our skillset, we would be brought in to do those hours. If it was a rescue, other agencies would have been involved. We are there as a search team.”

Asked if he had been told Noah was a high-risk missing person when he first became aware of the case, Mr Menary said: “No, but in my experience, a juvenile of Noah's age missing for two days would be a high-risk missing person.

“The words 'high risk' were not mentioned to me. I was told it was a missing 14-year-old.

“We were carrying out one of dozens of searches at that time. From civilian search and rescue, police response and civilian searches, you could see all were emergencies.”

Earlier in the day, Mr Menary told the inquest the conditions inside the culvert were “horrendous” and that the search had “taken a toll” on the officers involved.

“I'm used to going into tunnels and moving on my front. Sometimes the only movement I can make is with my fingers and toes,” he said.

“It's about regulating your breathing and slowing yourself down. It doesn't matter how much experience you have, it still causes you stress.

“At some point he (Noah) probably tried to walk to make progress, and he'd probably have then gone on all fours to figure out and feel his way around.

“It's exhausting, constantly trying to fight to find out where you are. There is the constant sound of water, trying to feel out where you are going.

“It takes an awful lot of effort and stress. It would be completely disorientating. Other than the flow of water, it's hard to work out which way you are going. The water would have continued to cover you and you would have been frozen.”

Asked by Mr Declan Quinn, junior counsel for the coroner, whether the operation had been as professional and urgent as possible, Mr Menary said his team had done all they could have.

“We are all human. We all have children. The longer you work on this job, the more personal it becomes.

“There was a real sense of sadness that they had found Noah in the system. We knew what he had gone through. We had taken those steps Noah had taken.

‘I wish we had found him’

“I wish we had found him, but due to the circumstances, we weren't able to. It was a tragic outcome and it did take its toll.

“To think of someone going on that journey alone in the dark…I still think about it today. As a parent, I can't even begin to imagine the hurt, distress and the daily pain.

“I can only state that the team did their very best in the circumstances, within guidelines, to push the boundaries and go beyond.”

The inquest continues.

Belfast’s north-south Glider delayed again

JOHN MANLEY, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

PLANS to extend the Belfast Glider route to the north and south of the city have been put back by a further three years.

It means if the already scaled-back rapid transit route does go ahead, it won’t be completed for at least another seven years.

It was originally intended to be operational next year.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has revealed that the funding secured so far for extending the Glider service is at least £76m short of the £124.5 required. The cost of the project has previously been reported to be £148m.

Last year, the Sinn Féin minister announced that the original plans to extend the northern section to Glengormley and the southern section to Carryduff were being scaled back because it was “not economically viable”.

To date, £35m has been allocated for the Glider from the Belfast Region City Deal, while Ms Kimmins’ department has committed £13m, which the minister said “will enable the commencement of a phased delivery”.

She said that while a “detailed delivery programme will be developed”, completion of the project was conditional on “securing the additional funding required”.

MLA: Glider delay ‘deeply frustrating’

In her response to a written assembly question from South Belfast MLA Matthew O’Toole, the minister said that if the extra funding was found, the rapid transit route extension “could be completed by 2033”.

Translink’s Glider service began operating in 2018, using 105-passenger articulated buses to connect east Belfast, west Belfast, and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre.

Mr O’Toole said the north-south Glider route was supposed to be completed in 2027.

“Instead progress has barely started and the first buses won’t run until at least 2030 – more than half a decade behind schedule,” he said.

“The Ormeau Road is among the worst roads on these islands for congestion, air quality and the worst in Belfast for bus delays. It’s deeply frustrating that meaningful improvements won’t be in place until the middle of next decade.”

The SDLP representative said there was no allocation for the project in the finance minister’s draft multi-year budget.

Translink’s Glider service began operating in 2018 and connect east Belfast, west Belfast and the Titanic Quarter via the city centre

“If the minister is serious about delivering this crucial project then both she and the finance minister should put the money where their mouth is to fund this crucial upgrade to Belfast’s transport infrastructure,” he said.

Street to get bilingual sign three years after approval

Irish News, February 19th, 2026

A STREET in Portadown where residents had backed a bilingual sign featuring Irish before the local council rejected it is finally to have the signage installed.

Woodside Hill in the Garvaghy Road area of the Co Armagh town was the first street in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough to meet the council’s criteria for the provision of a bilingual sign.

The two-thirds of residents threshold was met for the signage, but in October 2023 a majority of councillors voted against it, which led to a legal challenge against the council.

Nearby Woodside Gardens became the first street to have a bilingual sign with Irish erected in April of last year.

Following the challenge, the canvassing of residents had to be carried out again, and this time 71 out of 93 residents backed the new signage

The request was finally approved at the council’s Planning and Regulatory Services Committee meeting this month.

While individual councillors may exercise discretion when examining requests for bilingual signage, they were reminded, in the agenda item, they have a duty to take into consideration the views expressed by residents.

DUP councillor Scott Armstrong asked for an opportunity to discuss some legal points confidentially, with the live video feed being switched off. That recess lasted 24 minutes.

Following that private debate, Sinn Féin councillor Paul Duffy proposed that the council uses its discretionary power to approve the application.

Seconding the proposal, Alliance councillor Peter Lavery said: “When you’re looking at the figures, 71 responses in favour is above the required two-thirds threshold for consideration.”

Councillor Armstrong asked for a recorded vote to be taken. Six Sinn Féin councillors voted in favour of the proposal, alongside Mr Lavery.

Four DUP councillors and the UUP’s Julie Flaherty abstained.

DUP Alderman Paul Rankin was accidentally left out of the vote as a result of a technical error, before the vote was retaken and he also abstained, before the signage request was approved as a result of the vote.

Man jailed over Loyalist 'show of strength' to sue after conviction quashed

ALAN ERWIN, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, February 19th, 2026

A man jailed for taking part in a so-called loyalist show of strength in east Belfast who had his conviction quashed says he plans to sue for damages.

Senior judges at the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday that Derek Lammey was wrongly found guilty of intimidation on the basis of voice recognition evidence from police officers.

The 60-year-old, of Spring Place in the city, will now be freed from prison after prosecutors were denied a retrial.

Releasing a statement on the social media page of loyalist activist Jamie Bryson following the hearing, Lammey welcomed the outcome and said he “will now be instructing my team to bring civil proceedings for damages”.

“This was a case which was always fundamentally flawed, should have never been brought and no person should ever have been arrested much less convicted,” he added.

“I now look forward to getting home to my friends and family to celebrate and enjoy my freedom.”

Lammey had been convicted in connection with a gathering of up to 40 masked men at Pitt Park in February 2021. The group gathered in the area and walked to a nearby community centre where a number of women and children were taking shelter.

Wife and daughter of murder victim in house

Those inside the building included the wife and daughter of murdered east Belfast man Ian Ogle.

Mr Ogle was beaten and stabbed to death near his home at Cluan Place back in January 2019.

Following a non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court last year, Lammey was acquitted on separate charges of unlawful assembly and affray over the Pitt Park incident.

But the judge found him guilty of intimidation through taking part in what was described as a show of strength by an unspecified loyalist organisation.

Co-accused Stephen Matthews (62), of Pansy Street in Belfast, was cleared on all charges of involvement with the masked group.

Lammey, who received an 18-month sentence, centred his challenge to the conviction on identification evidence from two police officers who recorded the incident on body-worn cameras.

They both claimed to have recognised his voice as being one of the crowd at the scene. Defence lawyers told the Court of Appeal it was mere assertions from non-experts without any further context for their attributions.

Barrister Joseph O'Keeffe KC argued that the officers' evidence wrongly became the determining factor in Lammey being found guilty of intimidation.

“In a case of someone passing by, speaking at maximum four words behind a mask and outside, it is hard to imagine worse circumstances to recognise a voice,” he submitted.

“We don't know the last time these two officers heard Mr Lammey's voice, if ever.”

Mr O'Keefe added: “It is difficult to think of a weaker identification case that could come before the court.”

Prosecutors accepted a proper warning was not given about the potential dangers of relying on voice recognition from non-experts in criminal cases.

Backing the defence's case, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan held that it would have highlighted frailties in the evidence. “Identification by voice is even less reliable than eye-witness identification or recognition,” she said.

“Even a confident recognition of a familiar voice by a lay listener may nevertheless be wrong.”

Dame Siobhan, sitting with Lord Justice Colton and Mr Justice O'Hara, stressed this was the evidence which had “tipped the balance” into Lammey being found guilty.

“This conviction cannot be said to be safe and must be quashed,” she held.

“(The trial judge) should not have relied on the voice recognition evidence for a conviction in the absence of the warning, and having found the other identification evidence unconvincing to the criminal standard which led to the acquittal of the co-accused Mr Matthews.”

Following the ruling, prosecution counsel sought to have Lammey stand trial again on the intimidation charge.

But citing the passage of time and six-month period Lammey has spent behind bars, the Lady Chief Justice confirmed: “We do not consider this is a case where we should order a retrial.”

Outside court Lammey's solicitor, Megan Burns of Phoenix Law, welcomed the verdict. She said: “This is a classic example of the dangers of police officers seeking to rely on familiarity to ground identifications, as opposed to independent evidence.”

Stormont backs down on ‘excessive and inappropriate’ BBC reporter ban

JOHN MANLEY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, February 17th, 2026

A STORMONT assembly ban imposed on a BBC journalist was removed just hours after The Irish News asked questions about the “excessive and inappropriate” sanction.

Brendan Hughes, a former Irish News reporter, was banned from the assembly for four weeks for breaking an embargo on a report which led to an MLA being banned for two days.

It’s understood the assembly communications office imposed the ban on Mr Hughes after the broadcaster reported background details to a sanction against TUV MLA Timothy Gaston ahead of an assembly debate on the matter earlier this month.

From Monday, Mr Hughes was barred from using the subsidised restaurant and from entering other non-public areas at Stormont to which the media are normally permitted.

But the ban imposed on the journalist was lifted yesterday afternoon, soon after queries about its reasoning and severity were submitted to the assembly press office.

Both Mr Hughes and the BBC have declined to comment.

The ban related to BBC reporting ahead of MLAs voting to impose a two-day suspension on Mr Gaston over remarks he made to Executive Office committee chair Paula Bradshaw in October 2024.

The assembly press office had issued an embargoed press release five days before the February 2nd debate, outlining the findings of the committee on a standards and privileges’ report into the upheld complaint against the TUV MLA.

However, around the same time as issuing the press release, the assembly released details of the proposed suspension into the public domain by posting the order paper for the following week on its website.

It is understood senior BBC staff were involved in discussions about publishing details of the case.

Ahead of the February 2 debate, Speaker Edwin Poots singled out both the BBC and its reporter for criticism.

The speaker said reports were embargoed to ensure assembly scrutiny took precedence over public commentary and “to protect the procedural integrity of debates”.

He said breaking an embargo was unacceptable and described the journalist and media outlet in question as “irresponsible”.

“It is a significant discourtesy to the assembly and a breach of the trust and good faith demonstrated by the assembly towards the media to receive an embargoed report and then disclose its contents before it has been published,” Mr Poots said.

“Further to that, it demonstrates blatant disrespect for other media outlets and media colleagues who followed the long-established good practice.”

BBC political reporter Brendan Hughes was banned from the assembly in a dispute over reporting restrictions

Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole welcomed the lifting of the ban on Mr Hughes, which yesterday afternoon was yet to be officially confirmed.

“While it is important that embargoes are respected, barring a working journalist from entering and covering our devolved legislature was excessive and inappropriate,” he said.

“As someone who has championed press freedom and as an official opposition which values accountability, I am glad sense has prevailed.”

A statement from the Assembly Commission said: “An issue arose on Monday 2nd February on the matter of the breaking of an embargo on an Assembly report.

“We are pleased that through a process of further engagement with the media outlet the matter has now been brought to a successful resolution.”

An NUJ spokesperson welcomed the reversal of the ban: “A four-week suspension over allegations of an embargo breach was excessive and should never have been imposed. We’re pleased this issue has been resolved so the journalist can continue doing their job and hold elected representatives to account.”

‘Painful’ lack of answers from senior civil servants

PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, February 19th, 2026

THE performance of senior civil servants at a Stormont committee has been described as “painful” by a DUP chair, who hit out at an “inability to provide meaningful detailed answers”.

North Belfast MLA Phillip Brett spoke after what he described as a “deeply unsatisfactory” evidence session with Department for the Economy leads on Wednesday in areas including advanced manufacturing, life and health sciences and agri-tech.

Mr Brett clashed with the senior departmental staff at the Economy Committee meeting, including when he asked for details on manufacturing projects set to be funded through £150m of advanced economic investment.

Head of Net Zero Business Opportunities and Advanced Manufacturing Damien Ryan suggested projects would fall under photonics and bio-tech, but said there was little information available on a “range of potential projects”.

Mr Brett asked for details on what projects had been approved by the executive, but was told no details were available.

“It was frankly a painful meeting with senior witnesses from the Department. This is not about personalities. It is about the public’s right to expect fulsome answers from senior civil servants,” Mr Brett said.

“Officials are entrusted with significant responsibilities and resources, and committees are entitled to clear, factual responses. Committee members sought basic clarity on departmental matters, yet there was an inability to provide meaningful detailed answers. That is not acceptable given the importance of the issues under discussion.

“Assembly committees exist to examine policy and ensure departments can clearly explain their actions. That process only works when officials arrive properly briefed and able to answer straightforward questions.”

He added: “I trust the Minister and Department’s Permanent Secretary will be alert to this matter. My view was echoed by colleagues from other parties on the Committee.”

A Department for the Economy spokesperson said: “Department officials attend the Economy Committee regularly and make every effort to update members as comprehensively as possible.”

Gloom hangs over Stormont Estate… and it’s not expected to lift

 Sam McBride, Northern Ireland Editor, Belfast Telegraph, February 18th, 2026

To the blowing of many trumpets, just over two years ago devolution was restored. As well as the novelty of having any government at all (even a bad one), it was the first time that any nationalist had led a Stormont administration since Northern Ireland’s founding more than a century ago.

Understandably, much interest that day focused on the symbolic importance of Michelle O’Neill’s elevation to First Minister, even though in a system with two co-equal leaders this was never about anything other than allowing O’Neill to drop the ‘deputy’ in her longstanding title.

Two years is insufficiently long to judge the totality of a government’s accomplishments, but it is long enough to have a firm sense of whether it is progressing or regressing. In Stormont, things are clearly now getting worse.

DUP-SF relations are toxic. What purports to be a legislative Assembly is choosing not to legislate but to instead discuss everything from TV shows to the latest social media row.

In December, MLAs spent just two hours debating Stormont legislation in the chamber. Last month, they spent a meagre nine minutes on Stormont legislation – and that was a routine piece of secondary legislation to increase waste management fees; this month they’ve managed 41 minutes.

Gloom hangs over the Stormont Estate. With an election not due until next May, privately no one I’ve spoken to across a range of parties, civil servants and those who regularly interact with the Executive expects things to improve before then.

Yet believing they’ll improve after that point involves the same groundless optimism which has gushed over this hapless setup every time it stumbles back on to its feet after the last collapse.

It’s obvious that there are some thoroughly inept people in this system. But the bigger problem is that the system itself is broken.

The scale of the problem is reinforced by new proposals from the SDLP Opposition. More than any other party, it wrote the Good Friday Agreement but now it wants to reform how it is operating. Two of the three changes which the SDLP has proposed are exceptionally modest, yet almost certainly won’t happen. If even tiny changes are impossible, there’s scant hope of more radical reform.

The SDLP’s modest proposals

In an article for Slugger O’Toole last month, SDLP leader Claire Hanna set out three proposals, which have been deliberately selected by the party so as to be more achievable – unlike more drastic proposals put forward by parties such as Alliance and the TUV.

Two of Claire Hanna’s three proposals are exceptionally modest, yet won’t happen

The first would change the titles of Stormont’s leaders to ‘joint first ministers’, something Hanna says would curb the divisive one-upmanship of the two main parties. This is eminently sensible. Sinn Féin itself called Michelle O’Neill ‘joint first minister’ until it became top dog – at which point the word ‘first’ became terribly important.

Given Northern Ireland’s history, arguably it was important for a nationalist – and in this case a republican – who was democratically elected to that role to get the title. It would have seemed churlish to many nationalists to alter the title the moment they got the post.

But aside from the absurdity of framing elections around who gets to use a word in their title, it is arguably now not in Sinn Féin’s interest to have the first minister title. Heading a floundering Executive makes the party appear even more responsible for its debacles than is the case. Sharing the title would also mean sharing the blame.

Yet neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin are likely to support this. The current squabble over who gets top dog status suits both parties for tribal reasons, adding several percentage points to the votes they would otherwise receive.

The second SDLP proposal is to elect the Stormont Speaker by a two-thirds majority. In simple terms, this would make it harder for the DUP and Sinn Féin to carve up the job between them. This is also eminently sensible; while most Assembly Speakers have been good at setting aside their party political backgrounds, the perception of impartiality is also important and allowing MLAs to choose someone with overwhelming Assembly support would be beneficial.

This is also unlikely to happen because parties which have power don’t tend to give it up easily. Yet the Government has made clear it has no intention of altering Stormont’s structures without the big parties’ agreement, effectively giving them a veto on any changes.

Ending the tribal vetoes

The third proposed change is more substantive and illustrates how exceptionally difficult it is to radically rewrite the Stormont rules without unravelling powersharing’s delicate balances. The SDLP is proposing an end to the post-St Andrews Agreement veto in the Executive.

In fact, the party seems to be conflating two separate vetoes. The first allows the first or deputy first minister to block something even appearing on the agenda for Executive meetings to be discussed. This predates St Andrews and is inherent to the Agreement itself. If this is a joint office, then something can only happen if both ministers agree. If that power is undermined, then it’s not really a joint office.

The second element allows either big party to block whatever it likes once it does get raised at an Executive meeting, something the DUP used to veto Covid restrictions it disliked. That move was indefensible (albeit entirely lawful), yet curbing such a power in law is almost impossible if powersharing is to still be meaningful.

The leaders of a hapless government

Powersharing and a system of mutual vetoes are essentially two pejorative descriptions of the same thing: If you truly share out power, then that means the power can be deployed to stop whatever one side or the other doesn’t want.

Unravelling vetoes necessarily means weaking powersharing – and that involves a fundamental alteration to the Agreement which the public endorsed in the 1998 referendum.

Creating a viable opposition

There is an argument in favour of doing this, of course. It would simplify and speed up government. But if departments were ultimately to turn into the personal fiefdoms of ministers by weakening the veto at the centre – taking the logic of the SDLP’s proposal much further than it is currently proposing – then that would have drastic implications.

A fairly small party could have almost complete control of a policy area. Outside of the budget and new legislation – which would require a cross-community majority in the Assembly – the minister could decide most issues unilaterally.

But after an election, then a completely different party with radically divergent ideas could take policy off in the opposite direction, leading to a see-saw effect which made for incoherent government, lurching from policy to policy reversal to policy reinstatement and so on.

If the current system isn’t going to be reformed, then the most realistic prospect of a dramatic improvement is if the DUP and Sinn Féin govern together and everyone else is in opposition.

Recently a former senior civil servant recalled how the brief period where the SDLP, UUP and Alliance were in opposition – just before the RHI scandal – was one of the most coherent periods of devolution since 1998.

Knowing there was an alternative government in waiting forced the big parties to stop messing around and act like a government. Until either that happens, or there are radical changes to Stormont’s structures, there’s no reason to believe our devolved government will get much better than the current incoherent shambles.

On that cheerful note, that’s all for this week. See you next week.