Weeks after court denial, declassified intelligence papers say Adams was re-elected to Army Council in 1996

SAM MCBRIDE, NORTHERN IRELAND EDITOR, Belfast Telegraph and Irish Independent

Gerry Adams was on the IRA Army Council in 1996 — and then was re-elected to that post, a high-level government file claims.

Weeks after Mr Adams denied on oath that he was a member of the IRA, a declassified document discovered by the Belfast Telegraph alleges he was one of its leading figures.

The document includes some of the clearest intelligence on the Provisionals' leadership to emerge publicly to date, revealing in detail what British officials believed was said at a General Army Convention (GAC) of the IRA in 1996 — only the third such gathering in the history of the Provisional IRA.

The date of the memo is significant because it places Adams as an IRA leader at the time when the Docklands Bomb devastated Canary Wharf in February 1996.

A recent civil action in London, taken by a victim of that bomb and other IRA victims, ultimately collapsed after the claimants' lawyers said a surprise decision by the trial judge meant they might be liable for enormous costs if they were to lose.

At the time, Adams said the case involved “smears and false accusations” and “should never have been brought”.

Prior to the trial collapsing Adams said under cross-examination in court that he was “stunned” when the bomb went off in 1996. The former Sinn Fein president said he had no knowledge of the IRA's plan to break its ceasefire and that he was never in the IRA, let alone one of its leaders.

He told the court: “I cannot talk about my 'long alleged involvement in the IRA because I wasn't involved”, saying he was never a member of the IRA or its Army Council and was never a “senior, let alone most senior figure”, in the organisation, a claim he said was “untrue”.

However, among thousands of declassified files in The National Archives in Kew, this newspaper has discovered a document which over several pages sets out high level British intelligence on the IRA, including what it says was Adams' role as a key IRA leader and his re-election to the Provisional Army Council (PAC).

The confidential November 1996 memo said: “On the night of 1 November, PIRA held its first GAC for 10 years and only the third during the current troubles.

“Early intelligence suggests that around 170 PIRA delegates attended the meeting in Co Mayo (although this figure does seem rather high), and that over 100 resolutions were discussed. The bulk of the discussion was on constitutional matters. A new PAC and Army Executive were elected.

“The overall strategy of the republican movement was discussed. The current strategy, of working towards a negotiated settlement was endorsed.

“According to one internal PIRA briefing the vote was close, but the convention rejected a determined bid by hardline brigades, each vying with the other, to force a return to a full military campaign.

“Instead, the constitution was amended to set out how PIRA would manage a future ceasefire: any ceasefire called by the PAC must now be endorsed by the Army Executive after four months and ratified by a General Army Convention after eight.

“The leadership of Adams and McGuinness was endorsed: both were re-elected to the PAC. The constitution was amended to allow joint membership of the Army Council and the Army Executive: the latter, with its new role of monitoring a ceasefire is now entirely composed of active influential PRIA figures rather than the 'elder statesmen' previously on the Executive.”

The memo went on to assess the implication of the IRA meeting, which it said reflected the continuing debate about future strategy.

Hardliners defeated

It said: “Intelligence indicated that hardliners were seeking to mount a determined challenge to the current leadership and strategy: that has been defeated.

“At the same time, the unity of the movement remains intact: several critics of the existing leadership have either been retained in their posts, or taken 'into the fold'. The leadership are likely to believe this would ensure that the movement remains unified in the future.

“The changes to the constitution about the management of a future ceasefire reflect anxieties throughout the movement at the leadership's management of the last ceasefire.

“There was widespread criticism that ordinary members were not kept informed and the leadership had failed to look after Army interests.”

The analysis concluded that it appeared the convention had achieved two purposes - “to allow some venting of internal criticism while endorsing the current leadership and strategy; and to prepare the way, by putting in place new management arrangements with the endorsement of hardliners, for a future ceasefire”.

The same memo — which was unsigned — said that in relation to the Hume-Adams talks, “intelligence has revealed detailed consideration by Adams, McGuinness and others in the Provisional leadership of the latest HMG text and the terms of a PIRA ceasefire announcement.”

Effectively negotiating through John Hume

In evidence that the Government was effectively negotiating with the IRA through Hume, it said that “Adams has also responded to the latest HMG [Her Majesty's Government] text, criticising it for not going far enough to meet his familiar negotiating objectives on no preconditions, timeframe of negotiations and accompanying confidence-building measures. Adams said that this made it more difficult for him to deliver a more decisive IRA ceasefire statement.”

The document went on to say that “in contacts with both Irish officials and Hume, both Adams and McGuinness [someone has underlined the latter's name by hand and written a question mark in the margin] continue to insist that there will be an IRA ceasefire in response to a satisfactory HMG text and, although it cannot say so in terms, this ceasefire in their judgement will be for good”.

This detailed intelligence on what was going on at the top of the IRA appears to have contrasted starkly with the situation just two years earlier.

The memo said there had been “little or no intelligence as to the timing of any ceasefire over the summer of 1994”.

Based on what was known to the spy agencies in late 1996, the memo said: “we judge that there is now a serious prospect of a ceasefire. We judge it to be inconceivable that Adams and McGuinness would talk of a ceasefire with Hume and with the Irish Government in the definitive terms they have used, unless they were confident they had the authority of the collective leadership to do so…we judge that Adams very probably wants the 'initiative' to work”.

Six weeks prior to the GAC meeting, a secret 18 September 1996 memo to the Secretary of State set out background to the key gathering.

Donald Lamont in the Foreign Office's Republic of Ireland Department said the Government knew there were plans for a GAC but did not know the likely outcome.

Profiting from the march season

He said there was “pressure for a renewal of IRA violence in Northern Ireland and the risk of a 'spectacular' in Great Britan”. The IRA, he said, would continue to resist pressure to hand over its arms before a “final settlement” but in political terms “Sinn Fein has profited from the events of the marching season” while “the SDLP is weak and decaying”, which meant that republicans could renew the ceasefire, rejoin the talks, and thus “come near to establishing leadership of the nationalist community”.

The senior diplomat explained: “Under PIRA's constitution, it is the GAC which elects a new Army Executive, which in turn will elect a new Provisional Army Council (PAC).

“We believe that the leadership's decision to hold a GAC has been at least partly driven by the need to manage pressure from the hardline rank and file of the movement. It is a calculated risk (both previous conventions resulted in splits) and the leadership will be keen to control its outcome.”

He said that “the leadership will, however, effectively be putting itself and its strategy to the vote… surprises cannot, however, be ruled out”.

Referring to Hume's private negotiations with Adams, he said of the SDLP leader: “His health seems to be weakening, with rumours of his departure from Parliament at the next election.

“Both health and temperament, as well as his personal commitment to drawing PIRA into the political process, may make him unreliable as an intermediary. And the Americans, who have been in regular contact with both Hume and Adams, hesitate to express confidence about Adams' ability to deliver.”

When asked about the file, Adams told the Belfast Telegraph: “As evident in the recent civil case in London, claims from anonymous British intelligence sources are frequently inaccurate, propaganda or straight lies.”

Murdered MP's family hit out at Troubles Bill

ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, April 6th, 2026

DAUGHTER OF AIREY NEAVE ANGERED AT POTENTIAL FOR ARMY VETS FACING COURT

The family of Conservative MP Airey Neave, who was murdered by republican paramilitaries almost 50 years ago, have hit out at the Government's legacy plans for leaving former soldiers open to prosecution.

Neave, a close confidant of Margaret Thatcher, was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) on March 30, 1979, when a bomb exploded under his car as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park.

No one has ever been prosecuted over the murder.

Legislation is currently making its way through the Commons that will repeal and replace the Tories' controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which granted immunity to British soldiers who served during the conflict.

The Government's Northern Ireland Troubles Bill will remove the immunity provisions and establish a Legacy Commission to investigate Troubles-related killings.

This has led to fears over potential vexatious legal claims being filed against former soldiers. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and veterans are among those have hit out at the plans.

In a letter to the Telegraph, Marigold Webb, Neave's daughter, and Kate Holland, his granddaughter, have joined the criticism.

“In 1998, Tony Blair's Good Friday Agreement brought an end to hostilities, with members of the IRA released early from prison. We understood that the agreement was for the greater good of society, and accepted that Airey's murderers would not be prosecuted,” they said.

“However, we believed that the ceasefire, and the amnesty and reconciliation that would follow, applied to all parties in the conflict.

“It has become clear that this was not correct. Members of the IRA go free, while British soldiers who served in Northern Ireland face trial and imprisonment.”

What happened to Reconciliation?

They added: “The Prime Minister is replacing the NI Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which would have halted prosecutions of veterans, with a new bill, which will permit it. What happened to reconciliation?”

At the time of his death, Neave, a Second World War hero, was Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. It is believed he was targeted for assassination by the INLA due to his tough stance on combating republican paramilitaries.

He was against the then government's strategy of containment of republican paramilitaries.

At the time, then Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan, said: “No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism.”

Despite this pledge, no one has been held accountable for Neave's murder.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Ms Holland said: “Mum and I are contemporaries of those who fought in Ireland and have many friends who served there.

“They are rightly incensed that their comrades are being prosecuted. The fact that the new bill may try to make the actual prosecution appear like a visit from the district nurse is immaterial.

She added: “We have tried to forgive but cannot forget. It's just so bloody unfair and as a family we felt we'd been very good in not kicking up a fuss and seeking a prosecution.

“No good can be served by arraigning the few living survivors and a lot of unnecessary time and expense would be averted.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The heinous assassination of Airey Neave by the INLA is one of many unsolved Troubles murders to have taken place on English soil. “The Government has the deepest sympathy for the Neave family, and for the many more families who are still seeking answers about the deaths of their loved ones.

“The 2023 Legacy Act shut down police investigations and proposed immunity for terrorists.

“This Government's Troubles Bill will enable maximum disclosure of information by a reformed Legacy Commission, with no path to immunity for terrorist perpetrators. It also puts in place protections for those who served, and will be capable of commanding confidence across communities.”

Tributes to English mother-of-two who became UDR soldier killed by IRA

By Philip Bradfield, Belfast News Letter, April 6th, 2026

Tributes have been paid to an English mother-of-two who became a UDR soldier shot dead in an IRA ambush near Armagh 50 years ago tomorrow.

Gillian JB Liggett was the second of four UDR CGC (Conspicuous Gallantry Cross) Greenfinch soldiers to be murdered during the Troubles.

She was 33, from a Protestant community background and was married with two children.

Gillian was in a two-vehicle patrol and travelling in the second Land Rover when she was shot in a Provisional IRA ambush on the Armagh to Middletown road on 6 April 1976.

Kenny Donaldson, director of Troubles victims group SEFF, said they remember Gillian via their annual tribute but also reference her life in many situations within the work they do.

"Gillian was one of four UDR CGC Greenfinch soldiers to be murdered as a result of the terrorist campaign, Eva Martin, Ann Hearst and Heather Kerrigan were the others," he said.

“193 of their male colleagues were also murdered with 67 further male colleagues murdered who had either resigned or retired from the Regiment.”

“Bullets rained in on the Land Rover to which Gillian was travelling, the driver was hit in the ankle causing the vehicle to crash and overturn.”

“Women who served in the Army, Police or Prison service were susceptible to attack from terrorists, just like their male counterparts.

"The Greenfinches fulfilled extremely important functions and they were responsible for intercepting and foiling many terror attacks, particularly those where females were the conduit.”

Another Greenfinch who was injured in the same attack was later able to attend a memorial service at Gough Barracks in Armagh.

Gillian was originally from Lienthall Earls, near Leominster in Herefordshire, England, where her funeral was also held.

She had also been a member of the Women's Royal Army Corps and was someone devoted to service, she had significant potential to advance within the military family.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Gillian’s surviving family and her former colleagues, today and everyday,” Mr Donaldson added.

Lurgan PSNI gate left open for weeks ahead of bomb bid

CONOR SHEILS, Irish News, April 6th, 2026

THE outer security gate at Lurgan police station was left wide open due to a broken motor for weeks before a proxy bomb was driven through it, The Irish News can reveal.

The electronically operated blast-proof gate at the Co Armagh station had been left open due to a faulty gearbox in the fortnight leading up to last Monday night’s attempted bombing.

The incident saw a terrified fast-food delivery driver forced at gunpoint to drive an explosive device into the station compound past an empty security post and the open gate.

However, police have insisted there was “categorically no breach of security” during the incident, saying the car entered a sterile area between the outer and inner gates where the driver was prevented from accessing the main station complex as “the security protocols were designed to do”.

Replacement parts had been ordered but the gate was left open in the meantime, as closing it manually was not considered practical.

Delivery driver forced to drive his car through gates

As of Thursday evening, a replacement part had still not arrived, with police saying it would be a matter of days before repairs could be completed on the gate.

The attack occurred at approximately 10.30pm last Monday when a fast-food delivery driver was hijacked by two masked men, one armed with a pistol, in the Kilwilkie estate in the town.

A device was placed in the boot of a white Audi A4 and the driver was ordered to take the car to the nearby police station or he would be killed.

After driving into the station compound, the driver escaped from the vehicle and ran to security staff to warn them there was a bomb in the car.

‘Categorically no breach of security’ insist police

A major security operation was launched, with around 100 homes evacuated.

Army technical officers later carried out a controlled explosion, confirming the device was crude but viable.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, speaking at the station on Tuesday, said: “This was a reckless and cowardly attack.

“Our investigation is in its early stages but, at this stage, we believe it’s highly likely that dissident republican groups are responsible.

“As unsophisticated as it was, it posed a significant risk to the life of the terrified delivery driver, our security staff and the local community.”

‘Timely reminder’

Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, appearing before the Policing Board on Thursday, said the attack was “a timely reminder” of the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland.

“This is likely to have been a sad attempt to appear relevant ahead of planned dissident republican parades over Easter,” he said.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “There was categorically no ‘breach’ of security at Lurgan Station. As outlined by Assistant Chief Constable Henderson at Tuesday’s media facility, the car entered the sterile area between the outer gate and the inner gate where the driver was prevented from entering the station complex as the security protocols were designed to do.

“The outer gate has experienced sporadic problems over the past two weeks due to a faulty gearbox. This had absolutely no bearing on Monday evening’s incident. A replacement part is due to be installed in the next few days.”

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson speaks to the media after the Lurgan bomb alert

Former hunger striker: Republicans must commit to objectives of 1916 Proclamation

CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, April 6th, 2026

REPUBLICANS must recommit to the objectives of the 1916 Proclamation, a former H-Block hunger striker has said.

Tyrone republican Tommy McKearney was speaking at a 1916 Societies organised parade and commemoration in Bellaghy, Co Derry, yesterday.

Three bands led those attending through the village to St Mary’s Church Cemetery, where two 1981 hunger strikers, Francis Hughes and Thomas McElwee, are buried sideby-side.

The grave of ex-INLA chief Dominic McGlinchey is also nearby.

Mr McKearney, who spent 53 days on hunger strike in 1980, told the assembled crowd all three will continue to be remembered.

Later he said the “modern 26-county state….can never claim to be the heir to those who proclaimed the Irish Republic” and referred to re-cent visits by senior Irish politicians to the US, which included meetings with US president Donald Trump.

“A state that has not only refused to condemn the appalling, bloodsoaked genocidal wars, first facilitated by and thereafter launched by the autocrat in the Whitehouse,” he said.

He also referred to “a state that has dispatched its leader to join with the reactionary DUP’s Stormont deputy First Minister in cosying up” to Trump, although he did not name the US leader, whose actions he said “endangers the security and safety of the entire world”.

“It is at critical junctures such as we are experiencing today that we draw inspiration from those whose lives we celebrate here and their sacrifice we acknowledge and commemorate,” he said.

“The message we must draw from their heroic contribution is clear.

“A message that challenged us to stand firmly and uncompromisingly by our cause and hold dear to the principles that are embedded within it.

“To firmly grasp the realisation that while there may be, and indeed surely must be, times when we have to patiently bide our time until the opportunity to progress arrives.”

Mr McKearney said it is “imperative that we understand that we shall never, can never settle for less than what we set out as our goal”.

“An independent, sovereign, socialist all-Ireland republic, free from the centre to the sea,” he added.

The veteran republican said there is a “possibility of having what was once viewed as a stop-gap arrangement on the journey towards reunification become embedded in the political firmament of the north”.

“The shambolic mess that is Stormont sits presiding over a would-be devolved local government assembly that fails to function by even the lowest of standards,” he said.

“In spite of its obvious failure to deliver for the local population, the institution on the hill has, nevertheless, its devoted adherents determined to see it continue.”

Quoting from the Proclamation, he added: “On this Easter day, 110 years after the volunteers set out to break the empire’s domination and establish an all-Ireland republic committed to ensuring, ‘the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible’, we must recommit ourselves to that same objective.”

Irish and British governments ‘must set terms’ for border poll

CONOR COYLE, Irish News, April 6th, 2026

THE Irish and British governments must “set the terms” for a referendum on Irish unity, senior Sinn Féin figures told Easter commemorations on both sides of the border on Sunday

South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey was the main speaker at the Easter commemoration at Milltown Cemetery following a National Graves Association parade remembering deceased republicans in west Belfast.

The party’s leader Mary Lou Mc-Donald also issued what she referred to as a “direct” message to Taoiseach Micheál Martin to begin planning for a border poll.

The party has described the Dublin government led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as the “biggest barrier” to Irish unity and said both governments must plan for a referendum “this decade”.

The commemorations in Belfast and Dublin marked the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

“We are at a significant point in our nation’s history, we are closer than ever to achieving our objectives but we must seize this moment,” Ms Hargey told those in attendance at Milltown.

“This decade allows us the opportunity to create a new social, economic and political order, an exciting to write Ireland’s new chapter.

Miserable failure

“The Irish government led by Micheál Martin has failed miserably to show the clear leadership that this moment demands.

“The Irish and British governments can no longer be allowed to delay or obstruct, they must set out the terms and begin planning for a unity referendum.”

The MLA also hit out at “the DUP’s efforts to frustrate and obstruct progress within the Executive and Assembly”, saying it was “part of intra-unionist rivalry within political unionism ahead of next year’s elections”.

Ms McDonald earmarked the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement as a key date for republicans to work towards during her speech at the Easter Commemoration at Arbour Hill in Dublin.

The Sinn Féin president said: “This is the decade when Irish unity can be won – decided by people north and south in referendums. The conversation is underway, but conversation alone is not enough. We need vision, determination, and leadership. We need action.

“Instead, Fianna Fail Leader Micheál Martin pushes back. He chooses to stifle, hinder and avoid the most important national conversation of our time. It is telling that today the biggest barrier to preparing and planning for Irish Unity is the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government.

“My message to the Taoiseach is direct: You have a responsibility to lead on Irish reunification. To persist with inaction and drift is a dereliction of your duty. It’s not good enough to be a bystander as history unfolds.”

Also parading in west Belfast on Sunday were groups remembering one of the Provisional IRA’s most infamous units.

D Company, also known as ‘The Dogs’, was the IRA unit which covered the Falls Road area in the west of the city.

A crowd of a few hundred attended the parade organised by the Falls Cultural Society, concluding at the Garden of Remembrance, a place of commemoration for local republicans.

Recently-established party holds 1916 commemoration

Glór na hÓglaigh Easter Rising event took place at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME and SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, April 6th, 2026

SEVERAL hundred people took part in an Easter Rising commemoration in west Belfast.

Organised by recently established party Glór na hÓglaigh (Voice of the Volunteers), the commemoration at Milltown Cemetery was one of dozens across Ireland at the weekend to mark the 110th anniversary of the 1916 rising.

PSNI cars, both marked and unmarked, were parked close to the main entrance to the historic cemetery before the parade took place on Saturday afternoon.

A police Land Rover with a telescopic mast fitted with a surveillance camera also monitored the commemoration from a nearby business.

During the event, a colour party led a band and several dozen men and women dressed in similar black and white attire through the cemetery to a republican monument linked to the party.

Glór na hÓglaigh describes itself as a “revolutionary republican party that’s for a 32-county socialist republic”.

The party has emerged amid a bitter dispute linked to republican paramilitary group Óglaigh na hÉireann.

Co Louth republican Gareth Mulley, who delivered the main address, said the “men and women of the Easter Rising were not powerful or privileged people”.

“They were workers, teachers, labourers, and students,” he said.

“But what they possessed was something far greater – the courage to stand up and declare that Ireland belonged to the people of Ireland.”

He spoke of the challenges faced by those who took part in the rising.

Mr Mulley said a united Ireland must include equality.

“The men and women we honour today did not give their lives so that their ideals would be remembered only in speeches,” he said.

“They gave their lives because they believed that the struggle for freedom, justice, and equality must continue until those ideals are realised.”

He said those who took part in the rising “longed for an Ireland that would belong to all of its people, an Ireland that would be just, fair, and equal.

“An Ireland where working people would have dignity, where communities would be strong, and where no child would be condemned to poverty or neglect,” he said.

“Their struggle did not end in 1916.

“It did not end with any one generation.

“It was passed on, carried forward by those who refused to accept injustice and who believed that the Irish people had the right to shape their own destiny.”

Mr Mulley also spoke about republican prisoners, describing them as “the backbone of the struggle”.

Campbell the moderate? NIO's shock message after DUP walkout on GFA talks

SAM MCBRIDE, Belfast Telegraph, April 6th, 2026

A DECLASSIFIED FILE SUGGESTS SOME IN PARTY SAW A PATH TO SINN FEIN DEAL

Just hours after the DUP walked out of the talks which led to the Good Friday Agreement, two senior DUP figures privately met NIO officials who believed they were told that the party might accept indirect negotiations with Sinn Fein.

A day after the DUP walkout, Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell privately met the Government, according to a declassified file found by the Belfast Telegraph in The National Archives in Kew.

While presenting himself as a DUP hardliner, Campbell — who then, as now, was prone to inflammatory rhetoric — was instead viewed by senior NIO officials as a key DUP moderate, a record of the private meeting reveals.

A note of the meeting says the two men advised the NIO on how to “bind Dr Paisley in” to a new talks process.

Many analysts point to the DUP's decision to accept its Executive seats after the Agreement — while not attending Executive meetings with Sinn Fein — as the key moment where the party's future willingness to compromise was displayed.

However, this document suggests that goes right back to the moment the party walked out, with private positive messages being conveyed to the NIO while publicly the NIO was being denounced by the party.

Other declassified files last year revealed how the DUP misled its voters over talking to Sinn Fein in the years prior to entering power-sharing in 2007. While vehemently denying any such talks — and threatening journalists who asked questions about it — senior party figures were secretly meeting with Martin McGuinness and other leading republicans.

In July 1997, DUP leader Ian Paisley had described the Government's behaviour in pushing unionists to be part of talks with Sinn Fein while the IRA had only just gone on ceasefire and hadn't disarmed as an “Iscariot act of betrayal”.

The then DUP councillor Sammy Wilson had rejected criticism of the DUP walkout by the PUP, claiming the party was “in the pocket” of the NIO.

On July 24, Paisley said: “We're out of this process for good”, although the party referred in vague terms to the possibility of a new process — something the Government rejected.

As the talks eventually got under way in earnest in September, Paisley vowed to “destroy” them, claiming they were plans for “Ulster's destruction”.

However, in a restricted July 23 1997 memo, David Hill in the NIO's constitutional and political division relayed to senior colleagues what he said he'd heard over dinner with Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell.

The dinner in the Castle Buildings' canteen had been a day after the DUP's walkout from the talks.

A ‘long, amicable and interesting conversation’

In a detailed five-page memo, Hill described it as a “long, amicable and interesting conversation which shed further light on the DUP's proposed alternative approach to talks”.

He said the DUP men's presentation to him was “clear, coherent and detailed” which “suggests to me that the usual group of constructive thinkers in the DUP (Peter Robinson, Gregory Campbell and — judging by his remarks on Radio Ulster yesterday morning — Sammy Wilson) have developed a firm set of proposals and begun the process of signing Dr Paisley up to them”.

He added: “Their essential position is that they are keen to get into a discussion of substantive issues but cannot sit down with Sinn Fein in present circumstances or participate in reaching an agreement on decommissioning.

“However, they would be prepared to engage constructively and intensively in a structured programme of bilateral and multilateral exchanges so long as they [word underlined] did not have to meet Sinn Fein face to face; and they seemed ready to move back into round table talks, including with Sinn Fein, as soon as there had been some actual IRA decommissioning.”

Hill said that he told them he assumed the DUP would be keen to get into a discussion on substantive issues, “a point both men enthusiastically confirmed. The problem for them, however, was that they could not sit down with Sinn Fein in current circumstances. (They did not think the UUP could either).”

He said that to deal with this problem they proposed “an intensive round of discussions on substantive issues” and “had clearly given thought to the practicalities”.

Hill said the DUP men proposed “flexibility” over the location of the meetings, with the civil servant noting that “the obvious purpose of this point was to allow the DUP to avoid entering the same building as Sinn Fein”.

He continued: “They also made the point that to help bind Dr Paisley in it would be helpful to associate his name with any suggestion of moving to a process of bilateral/multi-lateral discussions on these lines.”

He said the DUP men confirmed that if the current talks process was stopped and replaced with their alternative process they were happy to take part “fully and constructively” with the Government and the “constitutional political parties… knowing that they in turn would be in discussion with Sinn Fein even in the absence of any agreement on or progress towards actual decommissioning”.

Hill said that when he told the two men that during Paisley's absence over the previous week he'd observed a softening of the DUP's opposition to talking to Sinn Fein in the absence of full decommissioning, “Mr Dodds smiled.”

Hill said that in further discussions “I felt I was being given a clear hint that round table negotiations could well become a possibility in those circumstances”.

‘Roared with laughter’

He added: “I concluded by asking them whether the DUP's walkout that day was a universal complete and permanent walkout or merely an unequivocal restoration of a failed, phoney and tactical walkout: They both roared with laughter, but didn't answer the question.”

He said it was “a valuable conversation which reaffirmed the view that behind the negative rhetoric many in the DUP remain pragmatic and keen to find a way into substantive negotiations.

“It certainly suggested that 'Plan B' could be carried forward in a way which would engage the DUP, even to the point of looping the back into round table negotiations in due course (but only if there had by then been some actual IRA decommissioning).”

Ultimately, the DUP's calculation that David Trimble would take the UUP out of the talks proved to be mistaken. He staying in the talks which led to the Agreement with the DUP on the outside becoming increasingly bellicose in its rhetoric about him.

Yet this document suggests the party might have adopted a very different stance had the Government restarted the talks in a slightly different format.

UUP leader's anger over masked republican parade in west Belfast

ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, April 6th, 2026

THIS WAS AN INSULT TO VICTIMS OF TERROR AND AFFRONT TO RULE OF LAW: BURROWS

UUP leader Jon Burrows has branded the presence of a masked colour party at an Easter parade in west Belfast yesterday an “insult to the victims of terrorism” and an “affront to the rule of law”.

The former senior PSNI officer (below) made the comments in relation to a parade that was organised by the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP), widely believed to be the political wing of the INLA.

Masked men dressed in black with berets and sunglasses marched from Dunville Park to Milltown Cemetery.

There was a police presence as the parade made its way to the republican plot at the cemetery.

The Parades Commission was notified in advance of the march, which featured four bands and had an expected 500 participants and 300 supporters.

Mr Burrows hit out at the display of paramilitary uniforms.

“Images of a masked colour party parading through the streets of Belfast are an affront to the rule of law and an insult to victims of terrorism,” he said.

“There are clear offences that require thorough investigation. Most notably, Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it an offence to wear uniform or items of clothing that indicates support for a proscribed organisation.

“The PSNI ought to conduct a swift and thorough investigation.”

The PSNI said officers were in attendance at the notified parade and a number of participants were observed wearing face coverings.

A spokesperson added that “evidence-gathering resources” were in the area and obtained footage, which will now be reviewed to determine if any offences have been committed.

The PSNI said: “We will continue to work closely with local communities to facilitate peaceful parades and protests. Where criminal offences are detected, we will take lawful and proportionate action.”

This is not the first time a masked colour party has taken part in the annual IRSP Easter parade in Belfast, with similar scenes in 2023.

Parades Commission

At the time, the PSNI said that, as is normal procedure, a report on the parade would be sent to the Parades Commission.

Meanwhile, there was a large police operation in Lurgan for an Easter commemoration organised by Republican Sinn Fein on Saturday.

Wreaths were laid at the republican plot at St Colman's Cemetery and at the garden of remembrance in the Kilwilkie estate.

It came after a proxy bomb attack in the town that has been claimed by the New IRA, which has no connections to Republican Sinn Fein.

On Monday night, a major security alert was sparked after two masked men forced a pizza delivery driver at gunpoint to transport a viable device from the Kilwilkie estate to Lurgan PSNI station.

It is understood the car was driven past an empty security post and open gate at the station, where it was parked behind a blast wall.

Nearby homes were evacuated and the Army bomb squad carried out a controlled explosion.

PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher hit out at those responsible, who he said are “irrelevant to today's communities in Northern Ireland”.

“There is no place in a democratic society for such criminals and I appeal to anyone with any information whatsoever to come forward and tell us what they know, tell us who was involved before these idiots cause some harm,” he said.

“They do not deserve anyone's protection or support.”

SF leader Mary Lou insists “this is the decade Irish unity can be won” in Easter rallying call 

Belfast Telegraph, April 6th, 2026

In response, a DUP MLA said Sinn Féin “knows there is no realistic prospect of a border poll”.

During a speech in Dublin, Ms McDonald described the Republic's Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government as “the biggest barrier today to planning and preparing for Irish unity”.

She accused Taoiseach Micheál Martin of avoiding “the most important national conversation of our time”.

Unionists have frequently hit out at Sinn Féin for setting out timelines for a border poll, which can only be called if the Secretary of State believes a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unification.

Mr Martin has previously said there would be no border poll by 2030.

In her speech at an Easter Rising commemoration yesterday, Ms McDonald accused the Taoiseach of a “dereliction of duty” for refusing to advance reunification.

“The 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement is approaching,” she said.

“We have secured the peace. Now is the time to write the next chapter of our national story — the reunification of Ireland.

“This is the decade when Irish unity can be won — decided by people north and south in referendums.

“The conversation is underway, but conversation alone is not enough. We need vision, determination and leadership. We need action.

“Instead, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin pushes back. He chooses to stifle, hinder and avoid the most important national conversation of our time.

“It is telling that, today, the biggest barrier to preparing and planning for Irish unity is the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael government.

“My message to the Taoiseach is direct: You have a responsibility to lead on Irish reunification.

“To persist with inaction and drift is a dereliction of your duty. It's not good enough to be a bystander as history unfolds.”

The DUP's Paul Frew said Sinn Féin has a track record of predicting a border poll is imminent, only for it not to come to fruition.

Clockwork Orange

“Like clockwork, every Easter, Sinn Féin dust off the same tired script and tell their supporters that a 32-county Ireland is imminent,” he said.

“Year after year, it is the same promise, the same rhetoric, and the same lack of delivery.

“We all remember Gerry Adams in 2011 predicting that Northern Ireland would have left the Union by 2016. Then, in August 2021, his crystal ball must have shown a different date, and 2016 became 2024.

“In May 2022, Mary Lou McDonald called for a border poll by 2027, but by July 2022, this had shifted to 2030. In February 2024, Michelle O'Neill again moved the goalposts, calling for a border poll by 2034.

“Sinn Féin knows there is no realistic prospect of a border poll. The Secretary of State was right to make it clear that a border poll was not a priority.

“At a time when all parties around the Executive table should be focused on improving public services, what people want is stability and purposeful change, not the same old conjuring trick about a border poll.”

Rally and counter protest over immigration in Coleraine

By Rebecca Black, Press Association, Belfast News Letter, April 5th, 2026

A rally in Coleraine has heard concerns around immigration, as well as challenges from a counter protest.

The event was billed as the launch of a movement called Our Northern Ireland Voice.

It calls for stopping HMOs (houses in multiple occupation), closing “migrant hotels”, deporting all illegal immigrants immediately and keeping “our children safe”.

Around 200 hundred people heard speakers outside Coleraine Town Hall, while trade union members staged a counter protest nearby.

The rally finished with a procession around the Co Londonderry town amid a police presence.

Speakers included Richard Inman who told those assembled of a “spiritual battle” against a “great evil that has come upon these islands in the last 50 years”.

The counter protest played music and chanted slogans during the speeches.

Mr Inman continued: “I call it the great army of darkness, the Islamists, the communists, and the globalists, and that’s who we’re fighting against.”

He told the counter protest that he was “louder than you’ll ever be” to cheers from his supporters.

‘Evil and Satanic’

He went on to say he genuinely believes that there are people in political parties “that are evil and satanic”, and criticised the legalisation of abortion.

“Northern Ireland used to be a heartland, it was the bible belt of Christianity in Europe, and we’re losing that,” he added.

Dan Grundle criticised Belfast as having become “unrecognisable”, as well as in Coleraine, referencing “hotels full of migrants” and condemning a “housing crisis”.

Demonstrators during an anti-immigration protest in Coleraine organised by Our Northern Ireland Voice in Co. Londonderry. Picture date: Saturday April 4, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Demonstrators during an anti-immigration protest in Coleraine organised by Our Northern Ireland Voice in Co. Londonderry. Picture date: Saturday April 4, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

“We need to start demanding accountability from the so-called people in charge,” he added.

Later, Nipsa deputy general secretary Patrick Mulholland responded by challenging Our Northern Ireland Voice, claiming it had “promised 2,500, and they turned out 200”.

A number from the rally heckled as Mr Mulholland said in 1984 the National Front tried to march in Coleraine, and were “seen off by the organised working class”.

He contended that the current leader of the National Front, Tony Martin, was in attendance, and said those ideas “belong in 1984”, to cheers from the counter protest.

“We have a message for any ordinary people who have been polluted by the snake oil salesmen of the far right, and our message to them is, we welcome a conversation and a discussion with you about what the future should look like with homes for all,” he said.