Soldier F trial hears 'decisive evidence' from paratroopers present on Bloody Sunday
ASHLEIGH MCDONALD, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
CIVILIANS SHOT AT IN COURTYARD POSED NO THREAT, CROWN LAWYER TELLS COURT
Two soldiers who were with a former paratrooper accused of murdering two men on Bloody Sunday saw him fire shots that day, a court has heard.
Statements made by soldiers G and H were read during the non-jury trial of Soldier F at Belfast Crown Court.
The Army veteran is accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney in Londonderry on January 30, 1972. He is further charged with five counts of attempted murder on the same day.
Soldier F, who cannot be identified, has pleaded not guilty to all seven counts.
The statements from soldiers G and H have been deemed as “decisive evidence” by the Crown, whereas the defence view them as “completely unreliable” due to inconsistencies.
Soldier G, who is now deceased, gave a statement to the Royal Military Police (RMP) in the early hours of January 31, 1972.
In it, he said that after arriving in the area just after 4pm he and Soldier F came under fire from a gunman positioned in the Rossville flats.
He said that after moving further up the street, he saw a gunman positioned behind a wall at the end of an alleyway.
‘I saw him fall to the ground’
Soldier G said he then ran up the alleyway with F into Glenfada Park and upon entering the courtyard he saw two men standing about 25 metres away and that “both of them were holding what appeared to be small rifles in their hands.
“There was a small group of people standing near to them. I fired three aimed shots at one of the men and I saw him fall to the ground.
“F fired at the same time and I saw the other gunman fall.
“The group of people standing near to the gunmen picked up two weapons and ran off down an alleyway.”
Soldier G said he “gave chase” and ran down an alleyway past “two bodies lying on the ground” and a short time later he was “recalled to Rossville Street.”
Soldier H also gave a statement to the RMP in the early hours of January 31, 1972.
He said that after arriving in the area, he was with F and G and that he saw three youths “in possession of nail bombs.
“I cocked my rifle, took aim at the youth in the middle of the group and fired two rounds at the centre of the stomach.”
He said he saw “the other soldiers” fire rounds “at the other persons” and said “I could recognise nail bombs in their hands.”
He also said all three youths “fell to the ground” then another youth ran from the crowd, picked up an object from one of those who had been shot then ran in the direction of the north block of flats.
Soldier H said he fired at this male who was struck him on the shoulder and who then “disappeared into a crowd of people.”
The Crown has already made the case that the shooting of civilians in the courtyard was “unjustified”.
When he opened the prosecution case, Crown barrister Louis Mably KC said: “The civilians in the courtyard did not pose a threat to the soldiers and nor could the soldiers have believed that they did.
“The civilians were unarmed and they were simply shot as they ran away, or in one case as he was simply taking shelter and trying to evade the soldiers.”
Earlier, the court heard a man wounded on Bloody Sunday describe how he heard a “loud crack” then thought his coat was on fire before realising he had been shot.
Statements of dead witneeses at Saville Inquiry read
Mr Mably KC spent the morning reading several statements, including two made by the now deceased Patrick O'Donnell — one for the Widgery Inquiry in 1972 and another, made in 1999, for the Saville Inquiry.
Mr O'Donnell, who was a 41-year-old father-of six on Bloody Sunday, described how he attended the march with friends. He said that after being in William Street, where gas and rubber bullets were being dispensed by the Army, he made his way to Free Derry Corner.
As he was walked past Rossville Flats, Mr O'Donnell said he heard someone say a man and boy had been shot and taken to a house.
Mr O'Donnell said that as he was crossing Glenfada Park North he heard the sound of shooting and that people around “started shouting and running.”
He said that following this he crouched down beside a wall then pressed down to the ground as close as he could get. With people shouting to take cover, Mr O'Donnell said that while huddled he heard a “loud crack”.
“The first sensation that I can recall was a burning feeling in my right shoulder.
“I was wearing a heavy overcoat and I thought that my coat was on fire,” he said. “I put my left hand up to my shoulder and there was blood on it. I was not really in pain at the time but I realised I had been shot. Some smoke came from my shoulder.”
Mr O'Donnell said that following this, a woman gave him a handkerchief to put on his shoulder, then “minutes later” soldiers appeared who told him and others to get up.
He said they were told to march through Glenfada Park North in single file with their hands on their heads by soldiers who were “shouting abuse”.
Recalling his left hand was on his head, Mr O'Donnell said he had “great difficulty” raising his right hand. After he was marched to a taxi stand, Mr O'Donnell said he was “let go” and was taken by taxi first to Creggan then to Altnagelvin Hospital.
In his statements, Mr O'Donnell said he was not searched but if he had been, all he had in his possession was some money and a handkerchief.
He said: “I had no guns or weapons and neither did I see any other civilians with guns, weapons or bombs that day.”
He also confirmed: “I did not actually see a soldier in the act of shooting me.”
At hearing.
Soldier F trial hears claims he opened fire from fellow paras
REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, October 8th, 2025
THE trial of a former paratrooper accused of the murder of two men during Bloody Sunday in Derry has heard evidence he opened fire in the area where they died.
A number of statements from two of Soldier F’s colleagues, Soldier G and Soldier H, include claims F had opened fire at Glenfada Park North.
Neither of the two are available to be questioned around the statements, as Soldier G has since died, and Soldier H has indicated that if summoned he will exercise his legal privilege against self-incrimination.
The defence in the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court has argued that the hearsay evidence is “contradictory, unreliable and inadmissible”.
However, Judge Patrick Lynch earlier in the trial rejected an application to have the statements omitted as evidence.
Soldier F, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of the murders of James Wray and William McKinney.
They were among 13 people shot dead by the Parachute Regiment at a civil rights demonstration in the Bogside area of Londonderry on January 30 1972.
The ex-soldier is also accused of attempting to murder Michael Quinn, Patrick O’Donnell, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon and an unknown person.
He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.
Soldier F sits in the courtroom behind a curtain during each day of the trial which began last month.
The statements of Soldiers G and H were read in court yesterday afternoon.
Statements given to Military Police
They include statements given by both to Royal Military Police on the night of the shootings as well as statements given to the Widgery Inquiry into the shootings later that year, and oral evidence given to hearings in that inquiry.
Soldier G’s statement, which was read to court by a prosecution lawyer, stated that Soldier F had been his partner within their Parachute Regiment platoon.
He claims they came under fire by a gunman in Rossville Flats, then saw a gunman behind a wall, and also saw two men in Glenfada Park holding small rifles.
“I fired three aimed shots at one of the men and I saw him fall to the ground, F fired at the same time and I saw the other gunman fall,” he said.
In later accounts of the same incident, Soldier G goes on to speculate that he may shot both men, and Soldier F shot a third that he had not been observing.
During his oral evidence to the Widgery Inquiry, Soldier G states: “I knew F had fired, he was at the side of me, I could tell he had fired. I was aware he had fired.”
Meanwhile, Soldier H’s account includes a claim of seeing a youth throw a nail bomb, and that he had seen a muzzle of a gun at a window which he fired 19 shots at.
He described being close to Soldiers F and G in Glenfada Park, and stated that he had seen F fire. Earlier the court heard statements from witnesses read out.
Chaotic scenes
These included the account of retired engineer John McCourt, who recalled chaotic scenes in the Glenfada Park area, and previously gave evidence to the Saville Inquiry.
Thirteen people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in January 1972
He said he had been attending a family funeral on the morning of the shootings at Derry City Cemetery, and upon leaving joined the civil rights march as it proceeded along Westland Street.
However, after they heard of a potential confrontation he said he told his wife and in-law relations to go to another relative’s house at Glenfada Park North.
He said he went on himself and saw rioters throw stones at soldiers, and also saw mist and smoke in the air from CS gas, as well as hearing bangs.
Intending to join his family, he described getting caught up with those fleeing shootings at Glenfada Park, and got shot with a rubber bullet by a soldier.
“He aimed in my direction with a rubber bullet gun, which he held at shoulder height. He was alone. The soldier was wearing a black beret.
“He fired and I was hit in the left thigh by a rubber bullet, I believe the bullet may have ricocheted before it hit me because I did not feel too much pain when I was hit – if it had been a direct hit I do not think I’d have been able to walk, much less run,” he said.
“I was not holding or throwing a stone, I was not threatening him in any way and I did nothing to justify being shot at.”
'Brit Card' label hasn't helped us sell ID plan in NI, says minister
MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
MP STRESSES THAT SCHEME WON'T SEEK INFO GOVERNMENT DOESN'T ALREADY HOLD
The minister tasked with overseeing the introduction of the Government's new ID system has visited Northern Ireland in an attempt to dispel some of the myths around the new scheme.
Ian Murray MP, recently appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Minister for Digital Government and Data, was briefing officials at Stormont and in the Republic on the Labour Party plan to introduce the digital ID.
He said a “leak” labelling the plans as a 'Brit Card' has not helped to sell the idea in Northern Ireland.
Mr Murray added that the initial opposition from all of Northern Ireland's political parties was “understandable”.
“First of all this is not a card,” he said.
“I'm banning the word 'card'. It's a digital ID.
"A think tank put out that leak, from wherever it came from. It's not a Brit Card.”
The ID scheme will be the authoritative proof of identity and residency status in the UK and include name, date of birth, and a photo.
“It will be on your device, your smartphone, and used to confirm your identity, your nationality, your right to work in the UK,” said Mr Murray.
Voluntary but needed to get a job
“It is not going to be compulsory. It will be a voluntary scheme, though mandated for the right to work,” he explained.
“So in terms of older people, who are not going to be in the workplace, it will not be compulsory to have it.
“But I think it will be a good thing for people to have it.
"For people who are digitally excluded, there will have to be a second system that runs parallel to it and there will be a consultation on what that needs to look like.”
He stressed the scheme will not be seeking any information the Government doesn't already hold on individuals living in the UK.
“In the UK, 75% of people have active passports, 10% in addition have inactive passports. They have all already provided this data in terms of the passport system.
“It's the 15% that don't that we're going to have to find a way of giving them access to this new system. That will all form part of the system that will be designed.
“That's why we're here, talking to the NI Executive and politicians,” he continued.
Talking to Dublin Govt
“That's why we're going to Dublin to talk to the Irish Government about how we deal with the common travel area, how we deal with people who work across the border, how we deal with people who identify their nationality in Northern Ireland as Irish. All of that will have to be taken into account as to how this system works.
“If you are in the south and you work in the north, you already have to prove your right to work. This would become the digital ID, which means the system will be easier to manage for employers, employees and increase the ability to cut fraud.”
The ID scheme has already come under attack from all of NI's political parties, with Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O'Neill calling the plan “ludicrous, ill-thought-out and an attack on the Good Friday Agreement”.
That agreement allows people born in Northern Ireland to identify as British, Irish or both. But Mr Murray said that rather than undermining the agreement, the scheme will treat the agreement as “sacrosanct”.
“It is against the law to employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK,” he added. “A check is already mandatory and this is just digitising it. It should make the system more secure and those issues easier to resolve.
“We are engaging early ahead of the consultation later this year to understand where the unique issues lie. We could have come up with a sketched-out fait accompli. We haven't. We do have to understand where these issues are. The Good Friday Agreement and the common travel area are sacrosanct. The system has to accommodate that.
“The reaction of all the parties here is understandable,” he added.
“They have legitimate concerns and we're here to engage, and the consultation is designed to address those concerns.
“People may be principally against it, but I think a lot of the fears and opposition is because of the label 'Brit Card' and not the actual system.”
Announcing the ID scheme plan last week, the Prime Minister said it was his intention to have the scheme in place “by the end of this parliament”.
“You will not be able to work in the UK if you do not have a digital ID, it's as simple as that,” he added.
Alan McQuillan made calls without fear or favour
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
EX-SENIOR OFFICER CRITICISED PSNI WHEN I WAS FACING POTENTIAL JAIL TERM
Alan McQuillan made calls without fear or favour - and backed me at one of the hardest points of my career
He was known as 'Big Mac', and it was an apt nickname, not just because of his size. Alan McQuillan was big in every sense of the word. He had a big personality, a broad outlook on policing and politics, and he was an incredibly generous man to those of us who were privileged to know him.
During one of the most challenging times of my career, I was incredibly grateful for his support.
In 2009, I'd taken the Real IRA claim of responsibility for the murder of two British soldiers at Massareene Army barracks.
The PSNI asked for my computer, phone and notes relating to stories I'd written on the dissidents.
They went to court seeking the material, and I faced up to five years for refusing to hand it over.
I'd known McQuillan from his days as Assistant Chief Constable and director of the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA). I asked him for his support with little hope that I'd get it.
He had served with Hugh Orde — the Chief Constable who was pursuing me — and the two remained close friends. Not only did McQuillan sign a petition against the PSNI's action, but he issued a statement in support of my case.
“Journalists can't hold the state to account nor expose issues without sources and whistle-blowers,” he said. “This must be protected by the law.”
Landmark Judgement
In a landmark legal judgment, we won. McQuillan was on the phone with his congratulations shortly after I left court.
His support meant the world to me, and it was the hallmark of a man who always made his decisions without fear or favour. To have such a senior former PSNI figure in our corner was a huge bonus in our public campaign against the force.
He was born in the Oldpark in north Belfast, the son of a shipyard worker.
“After internment, an IRA gunman came to our door. 'You've two hours to get out',” McQuillan told me.
“We packed our belongings onto a coal lorry and left. My family moved to the Protestant part of Ardoyne, but we were forced from there after I joined the RUC.”
It wasn't a career he had any interest in as a teenager. “I studied astrophysics at Queen's University,” he said. “The sun and the stars, they were my passions.
“But after graduation, a friend mentioned an RUC graduate recruitment scheme in Eastbourne. He said it would be a free week away in England. Off we went. The other recruits were in bed at 10.30pm, but we had a great time. Yet somehow, I was successful.”
His first posting was to Co Derry, during which when he arrested IRA man Francis Hughes, who would later die on hunger strike, after a gun battle between the republican and the Army.
‘Some heavy times’
There were “some very heavy times”. McQuillan recalled: “I saw a lot of people murdered, including a nine-year-old child. I remember lifting her from the car to a body bag. It was heartbreaking. I froze and couldn't continue.”
Yet there were good times too, and McQuillan had loved the quirkiness of small-town policing. “There was Willie, a local man who liked a wee drink. He set his trousers on fire and called 999. I put out the blaze with a fire extinguisher,” he recalled.
“Willie later lodged a complaint that I had frozen one of his testicles with the extinguisher and reduced his chances of having a family.”
Outside of policing, McQuillan loved to cook. “Food is my biggest weakness but what's important in life is to be happy.
Curries, Chinese food, roasts — I love to cook. I make a mean risotto, and you can't beat a slow-cooked leg of Irish mutton.
“When I was in the PSNI, I knew that my weight gave the paramilitaries hope — they'd be praying for that heart attack.”
In the end, it was prostrate cancer that got him. No matter how awful he was feeling throughout his illness, he picked up the phone. Whether in hospital or at home, he never complained or expressed a single word of self-pity.
‘An endemic culture of cronyism’
McQuillan continued to follow policing and politics closely, and had strong opinions on both. He was scathing of the “culture of cronyism” here in which “corruption” thrived.
“Northern Ireland is a very small place. Too many jobs are filled by people who simply have the right political connections. I have major concerns about how public appointments work here,” he said.
“When an inquiry is set up, the classic response is to appoint 'one of ours and one of yours'. Not the best people for the job; the most acceptable people. We need to break away from that.”
In the ARA, he plagued paramilitary fat-cats, seizing tens of millions of pounds of assets.
He never envied the lifestyle of those he investigated. “I've a nice house, not a mansion, in a nice area. I drive a bog-standard car. I've never wanted anything flash. I get my kicks from people and achievements, not money and possessions,” he told me.
McQuillan's contribution to public debate here will be hugely missed. My deepest condolences to his wife, Heather, son Andrew, and daughter Jane.
Alliance ‘disingenuous tweet’ over officer numbers
PAUL AINSWORTH, Irish News, October 8th, 2025
A CLAIM over an Alliance Party “recovery plan” to boost PSNI officer recruitment has been slammed as “disingenuous” by the Police Federation as the force’s numbers remain at an all-time low.
The organisation, which represents rank and file officers, hit back at an Alliance social media post that projected a growth in PSNI numbers to 7,000 by 2027 under Justice Minister and Alliance leader Naomi Long .
This would be under “our recovery plan”, the post on the X social media platform stated. It blamed the DUP’s collapse of the Stormont Executive in 2022 for a tumble in officer numbers by around 800.
“Alliance is restoring our police service and building a safer, stronger community for everyone,” the post stated above a graph showing the projected growth.
“It’s time for all parties to back Naomi Long’s Recovery Plan and support our officers.”
However, the detail of the post and graph has been criticised by the Police Federation.
In a responding post, a spokesperson said it was providing “background context required from our perspective when interpreting this frankly disingenuous tweet”.
The graph claims a growth in officer numbers—from 6,700 to 7,000— between 2019 and 2022 “under Alliance”, before the drop begins in 2022 “under DUP’s collapse”.
UK Govt increased numbers
In their post, the Police Federation spokesperson said that during the period of direct rule between 2017 and the reformation of the Executive in 2020, “it was the UK government that decided upon and funded the uplift of police numbers in that period as part of the Brexit process”.
They said: “2020 saw the reformation of the Executive, the appointment of Minister Long, and the unfulfilled New Decade New Approach promise to bring the PSNI’s officer numbers up to 7,500.
“Officer numbers then tumbled when the Executive dissolved again from October 2022 until February 2024.
“In early 2024 on the reformation of the Executive the PSNI had around 6300 officers but the decline has continued as on 1st October 2025 there are now 6190 officers (the lowest in PSNI’s existence).”
The 1999 Patten Report that led to the creation of the PSNI recommended a force strength of 7,500 officers.
Stormont Justice Minister Naomi Long with PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher. The ‘recovery plan’ submitted to Stormont by the chief constable Jon Boutcher aims to lift officer numbers to 7,000
The PSNI recovery plan was developed by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher last year to address the historic low numbers, and asked for £201 million to fund a boost to 7,000 officers within three years.
It was approved by the justice minister and finance minister John O’Dowd in June, but has yet to be funded.
Ms Long said that month that affordability “remains a key concern given the current pressures on public finances”, but said the proposed funding “could be a game changer” to put the PSNI “on a sustainable footing”.
The ministerial approval came a month after Police Federation chair Liam Kelly warned the plan had been effectively “shredded” over a lack of Stormont funding.
Mr Kelly also warned the PSNI was at “breaking point”, with officers making mistakes due to burnout.
The Police Federation spokesperson continued in the X post: “The forward facing recovery plan being attributed to Minister Long was actually developed and submitted by (the Chief Constable),”
“Both NIPB (NI Policing Board) and DOJ (Department of Justice) were consulted and assisted with the compilation of the plan but it remains PSNI’s business case submission.
‘Dithering’ Stormont Executive
“With the ongoing dithering and delay by the Executive in funding this plan the suggested uplift trajectory on the graph is already behind schedule.”
They said the first phase of the plan was due to begin in April “but still hasn’t been funded so numbers have continued to go backwards”.
“Even if some of the required funding started tomorrow PSNI are now not going to be able to meet the first staging post of having 6500 officers in post by April 2026,” they added.
DUP MLA and Policing Board member Trevor Clarke said in the Assembly on Tuesday that the Police Federation “took a shot and didn’t miss” in the criticism of Ms Long.
“They have rebuked this minister because she is utterly wrong,” he said.
Mr Clarke added of Ms Long: “She references her business case. This minister has no business case—the business case squarely belongs to the Chief Constable.”
An Alliance Party spokesperson said: “When the DUP collapsed the Assembly, the previous Chief Constable made the decision not to go out and recruit because he did not feel empowered to spend that money without the political cover to do so. Officer numbers dropped dramatically as a result.
“For the DUP to now criticise Alliance for those officer numbers, when they were responsible for tearing the institutions down in the interest of nothing but their own electoral prospects, is disingenuous in the extreme.”
‘Say Nothing’ drama inspired Troubles family discussions, says actor Boyle
HANNAH ROBERTS, Belfast Telegraph, October 8, 2025
Northern Irish actor Anthony Boyle has said Troubles drama Say Nothing led to conversations between children and the parents “who went through it”.
The Disney+ series won four gongs at the Irish Film and Television Academy awards earlier in the year, with Boyle (31) who played Brendan Hughes, taking home the rising star prize.
Boyle had after-school acting lessons delivered by a former IRA man as a teenager, according to GQ Hype.
He said: “We weren't doing Shakespeare; we weren't doing Chekov. We were doing these long-form improvs: you're an IRA member and someone is a screw or a British soldier and you have to go through these things. What I didn't realise is this was probably drama therapy for this guy. He probably learned drama therapy in jail, and then was teaching us what he had learned.”
Speaking about the response to Say Nothing, he added: “A lot of people I spoke to in Ireland said they were having conversations with their kids about it, and the kids were having conversations with their parents who went through it.
“Belfast is really, really small, and the Troubles affected everyone, so everyone wants to chat to you about it. It's a real honour to hear those stories.”
Speaking on whether he feels culture ties to the Republic of Ireland, he said: “There are people who have fought and died for the right for me to have my own sense of Irishness, and I always felt really strongly I had to honour that — until I started working with people from Dublin and Cork and Galway.
“They would say to me, 'So many of them had such a… like they'd forgotten about us or something. It made me feel like I had a very uniquely Irish Catholic in the north, nationalist republican experience.”
Eight in 10 believe emphasis on religion in defining identities in NI is 'too much'
LIAM TUNNEY, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
SURVEY BY CHRISTIAN GROUP FINDS 36% SAY THEY HAVE NO FAITH
Almost eight in 10 people in Northern Ireland believe too much emphasis is put on religion as a source of identity rather than a source of meaning or purpose, a survey has revealed.
The poll, commissioned by conservative Christian advocacy group the Iona Institute and carried out by Amárach Research, also revealed that more than half of Gen Z respondents indicated they were likely to engage in prayer.
More than a third (36%) of those surveyed indicated they were of no religion, while some 28% of respondents were Catholic, with Presbyterian (14%), Church of Ireland (11%), Other Christian (10%) and other non-Christian (1%) making up the rest.
Asked whether they agreed that there was too much emphasis on religion as a source of identity rather than a source of meaning or purpose, some 49% said they strongly agreed, with a further 30% slightly agreeing. Only 8% either strongly or slightly disagreed with the statement.
The survey also indicated that overall, people in NI were slightly more likely to pray than their counterparts in the Republic, with 51% indicating they did so.
Among Gen Z — those aged 18-24 — that figure was 53%, with some 41% of this age group also indicating they consumed religious content online and 38% of the demographic stating they followed influencers who shared religious content online. Attitudes towards Christianity were also measured in the poll, with 49% in NI indicating a positive attitude, compared with 31% who had a negative attitude. Some 19% said they were neutral on the issue.
Respondents were also asked to indicate how favourably they viewed individual denominations, with some 49% viewing the Catholic Church unfavourably, compared to 23% seeing it favourably. Asked to indicate reasons for looking at the Catholic Church unfavourably, some 47% said it was due to child sexual abuse and scandals, with 19% citing control over education and social influence and 18% referring to the treatment of women at mother and baby homes.
In comparison, 38% of those surveyed viewed Protestant churches unfavourably, while 30% viewed them favourably.
Of those who gave an unfavourable opinion, more than a quarter (26%) cited sectarianism and division, with a further 18% stating social conservativism and discrimination and 11% citing political control and influence.
Poll results were also compared to those from a similar survey carried out in the Republic of Ireland, with a slightly lower figure (56%) in NI indicating they were 'any religious or spiritual' than that of ROI (61%). David Quinn of the Iona Institute said the results of the poll should give churches encouragement.
“Maybe a growing subset of young people are concluding that secularism isn't really giving satisfactory answers to life's big questions,” he said.
“In the future, there will probably be fewer 'cultural Christians' around, that is, people who say they are Christian but don't practice.
“Instead, society could be divided between those who believe in religion and those who don't believe, with little in between, that is between the religious and the 'nones'.
“This seems to be what is happening in both the North and the South. The overall conclusion, however, is that religion is not disappearing, contrary to past predictions.”
Unions set to ballot health care workers on strike action over pay parity
KURTIS REID, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
Two major unions representing health and social care staff in Northern Ireland are preparing to ballot their members for strike action.
Unions say the move follows the Department of Health's failure to deliver pay parity with NHS workers in other parts of the UK.
Unite has announced plans to ballot over 4,500 members across the health and social care system, including paramedics, porters, and technical and professional staff, after what it described as continued inaction on fair pay and safe staffing levels.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said workers had been left with “no alternative” but to consider industrial action.
“Workers in Northern Ireland deserve the same pay as their NHS colleagues,” she said.
“The failure to deliver pay parity and safe staffing has left our members with no alternative but to ballot for strike action. Health and social care workers in Northern Ireland have the full support of Unite in their fight for fairness and respect.”
Health and social care workers in Northern Ireland have not received the 3.6% pay increase awarded to NHS workers in other parts of the UK.
Unite said this ongoing disparity is driving staff out of the service and deepening a recruitment and retention crisis.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also confirmed it will begin the process of balloting its members for strike action over the same issue. The union said nurses continue to be denied the pay award already given to their counterparts elsewhere in the UK, despite “repeated promises” from Stormont ministers.
Prof Rita Devlin, executive director of the RCN in Northern Ireland, described the situation as “nothing short of shameful”.
“Unfortunately, empty promises don't pay bills,” she said. “It is our own Northern Ireland politicians who are forcing nursing staff in Northern Ireland back onto the picket lines in order to get the pay award that has been recommended, and which they all agreed should be paid.”
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said this week he is now “less optimistic” about finding a resolution to the pay impasse.
“I am less optimistic now than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I still think it's going to be resolved,” he told the Assembly on Monday. “If we allow it to go to strike action it will have an impact on service delivery, waiting lists, staff morale and, in the end, it will cost more to fix than it costs today.”
Kimmins insists she had a right to take Irish language station signage decision
DAVID YOUNG, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
The infrastructure minister has said she is committed to resolving the row over Irish language signs at Grand Central Station through dialogue, but has made clear she stands by her original decision-making process.
Liz Kimmins is facing a court challenge mounted by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson who contends that the decision should have been referred to the wider Executive because, under Stormont rules, matters deemed significant and controversial must be considered by all ministers.
Last month, the High Court judge dealing with the case ahead of its full hearing urged the Northern Ireland Executive to resolve the dispute, warning that is being seen as a “laughing stock”.
The planned £150,000 project to install the signs has been paused pending the outcome of the legal challenge.
Ms Kimmins gave the go-ahead for the signage in March, but her announcement sparked a row with other ministers.
The DUP insisted she had a “legal duty” to bring the decision to the wider Executive. DUP minister Gordon Lyons subsequently joined Mr Bryson's legal challenge.
Ms Kimmins was asked about the issue by DUP MLA Pam Cameron during Assembly question time yesterday.
The minister responded: “I am absolutely committed to dialogue and avoiding the unnecessary use of public funds in terms of litigation, which we are unfortunately currently seeing. I feel that this could have been resolved long ago.
“However, we are unfortunately at present going through legal proceedings.
“And, with that in mind, I think it would be remiss of me to make any further comment until those proceedings conclude.”
Pressed further on the matter by Ms Cameron, specifically on whether Ms Kimmins still believed her decision was not controversial, the minister replied: “Well, the member won't be surprised that I don't agree with either of those claims that my decision was cross cutting or controversial, because, if I felt that, I wouldn't have taken the decision, and that's the bottom line.
“And I stand over that. I stand over the fact that this was a decision that I could take as the minister for the relevant department.
“And I will continue to stand over that because, as I've said, we have a legal case.
“Unfortunately, we have another minister involved in that case as well.
“And I think it is important that we allow that to run its course to conclusion.”
Following Ms Kimmins' comments in the Assembly, Mr Bryson said the matter could only be resolved in the courtroom. He described the minister's stance as “delusional”.
“It's time to bring this matter to a head and get on with the legal case,” he said.
Former SDLP chief executive gives backing to Humphreys in Aras race
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, October 8th, 2025
CONOR HOUSTON SAYS FINE GAEL'S CANDIDATE CAN BE A BRIDGE BUILDER
The SDLP's former chief executive has voiced his support for Fine Gael Irish presidential candidate Heather Humphreys.
The race to the Aras in now between Ms Humphreys and independent Catherine Connolly after Fianna Fail's Jim Gavin withdrew from the contest.
Ms Connolly is supported by Sinn Fein, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and the Greens.
Conor Houston, who stepped down as SDLP chief executive to set up his own business last year, posted a photograph on Facebook of himself with Ms Humphreys in Belfast on Monday.
“It was wonderful to discuss her genuine commitment to reaching out, building understanding and promoting reconciliation across the island of Ireland. This is the president that Ireland needs,” he wrote.
Despite left-wing parties in the Republic all supporting Ms Connolly, the SDLP has so far declined to do so. It seems unlikely that the party will back any candidate.
Leader Claire Hanna wrote to all the runners a fortnight ago asking to meet them to discuss their “vision and ideas” for furthering the conversation on Irish unity.
Asked last week why the SDLP had not rallied behind Ms Connolly, the SDLP leader said she was “trying to lead a political party in a strategic direction and not just about getting through the next day, about getting through the next 10 years... and delivering us safely towards a reconciled new Ireland”.
A party spokesman said: “The SDLP's stance on the Irish presidential election is clear — we will seek to engage with all candidates to put preparing for a New Ireland front and centre, and to secure presidential voting rights for northern citizens.”
While some in the party have privately said they're supporting the independent candidate, others are keen on Ms Humphreys.
The Fine Gael candidate and former Irish government minister is a Presbyterian from Co Monaghan. Her grandfather signed the Ulster Covenant opposing Home Rule in 1912.
Her husband Eric was previously a member of the Orange Order, and Ms Humphreys has attended the institution's events in the past.
‘Symbol of reconcilitation and bridge builder’
Conor Houston told the Belfast Telegraph: “Heather as president would be a symbol of reconciliation and bridge-building.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Catherine Connolly, but I have to put reconciliation first. That's why I'm supporting her although in the north we can't currently vote in presidential elections.”
Mr Houston, a former criminal lawyer, joined the SDLP four years ago and unsuccessfully ran in the 2022 Assembly election in Strangford.
He left last year to set up his own business consultancy. He told the Belfast Telegraph at the time: “A very exciting opportunity arose, career-wise, that was ultimately impossible for me to turn down. It has all happened very quickly.
“I was approached after July's Westminster election and, following discussions, have decided to go back to the business world. It was an extremely difficult decision to make. I will remain an SDLP member. I've never worked with a more exceptional group of people.
“We held our two Westminster seats. Colum [Eastwood] and Claire [Hanna] are crucial voices in the House of Commons.
“While there are clearly still challenges ahead for the SDLP, I most definitely believe the party has a future.”
Kneecap vow to ‘fight again’ as CPS announces appeal against dismissal of terrorism case
HANNAH PATTERSON, Irish News, October 8th, 2025
RAP trio Kneecap have described an appeal against the decision to throw out a terrorism charge against one of its members as “a massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time”.
The group claimed the Crown Prosecution Service decision in connection with Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was driven by “politicians backed by the British media”.
“It is unsurprising, because the whole process has not been driven by the police or courts,” they said in a statement on Instagram yesterday.
Kneecap described the decision as “political policing”.
In a social media post the band said: “Once again this is a massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time.
“Once again there are endless news reports about Mo Chara, about Kneecap but we are NOT the story.
“We will fight you in your court again. We will win again.
“News of a Crown Prosecution Service Appeal against the ruling of their own judge is unsurprising.
“He ruled the charge was ‘unlawful and null’ and it was.”
The 27-year-old, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was accused of displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in November last year.
Technical Error
On September 27, the chief magistrate ruled he could not try the case, after a technical error in the way he was charged was found.
Ó hAnnaidh was charged in May after previously being investigated by counter terrorism police.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said the charge brought against Ó hAnnaidh was “unlawful” at Woolwich Crown Court, and that he had no jurisdiction to try the case.
The Crown Prosecution Service has now said in a short statement that it would be appealing against this decision because “we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified”.
The band said: “There is no important point of law. The CPS have submitted nothing new in their appeal. What there is though is a state wide witch-hunt against Palestinian solidarity.
They added: “Yesterday 104 Palestinians were murdered in Gaza and hundreds more maimed as Israel commits genocide.”
The decision to appeal the judgment comes after Attorney General Lord Hermer warned the shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick not to prejudice future proceedings against Ó hAnnaidh, asking him to “carefully consider any further public comments”.
Prosecutors allege Ó hAnnaidh can be seen in a recording of a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, which shows him wearing and displaying the flag of Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
In an interview with Virgin Media News, the rapper had told the prime minister “better luck next time”, adding: “Even if it had went to court we would have won anyway.”
Letters: Irish News
New plans appear to reverse progress in dealing with the legacy of the ‘Troubles’
WITH their Hillsborough Castle ‘framework’ agreement, the two governments risk undermining attempts to restore balance to dealing with the legacy of the ‘Troubles’.
The ICRIR (Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery) was created to appraise honestly the chances of delivering justice and/or truth to families affected by unsolved crimes from that period. The new plans appear to reverse that progress.
Our legal system has unfortunately allowed narratives about the past to be established that lack any context.
It became focused on a small number of well-documented cases involving soldiers and the police, rather than the vast majority, perpetrated by paramilitaries, who kept no records.
Civil actions were also directed principally at the British state, providing a compensation fund that only those injured by the security forces could access.
The majority of victims, who suffered at the hands of the republican movement and loyalists, were edged to one side.
The Dublin government has played a biased role in legacy discussions, effectively operating a de facto amnesty since 1998 and assisting in the distortion of history, rather than examining its own role in providing safe haven to republican paramilitaries and undermining the often good work of the Garda and Irish Army, who wished they could have done more to counter the terrorism that risked a civil war on this island, with all its consequences.
The outcome of these trends is that 70 per cent of nationalists now believe the IRA had no option but to murder its neighbours, according to a survey.
We now also see some loyalists trying to make similar arguments, excusing their violence.
Northern Ireland, which belongs to all of us who live here, is undoubtedly socially and economically better off than it was in 1998.
Unfortunately, though, while many of us are committed to building a better future for ourselves and for our children, there are others who want to justify their past crimes and excuse the hatreds that inspired them.
The de facto amnesty that they benefited from, in league with an unfair, context-free system of dealing with the past, helps them in their aims.
To take one particularly dark and high-profile year from our past, in 1974 the RUC had to deal with 303 deaths.
Republican terrorists were responsible for 147, loyalists 131, the army 15 and the RUC two.
The governments’ proposal threatens to strip away any balance in dealing with that legacy and encourages those who want to use it to continue past battles.
They, and others, should know better, and they should remember the statistics that tell a truer story.
A balanced approach is surely the best way to ensure that what happened never happens again.
TREVOR RINGLAND Bangor, Co Down
