Terror victims meet Irish President Michael D Higgins and call for Irish state to open up on Troubles role

By Philip Bradfield, Belfast News Letter, March 9th, 2025

A group of 30 victims of terrorism have met the Irish President Michael D Higgins at his Dublin residence - where they called for the Irish state to be accountable for its role in the Troubles.

The delegation from the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) met with President Michael D Higgins at Aras An Uachtarain in Phoenix Park Dublin on Thursday.

SEFF Director Kenny Donaldson said: "Our delegation were addressed by President Michael D Higgins where he recognised the traumatic experiences they had been subjected to, as well as the ongoing legacy of those injustices. His speech was both thoughtful and empathic.”

He responded by setting out the ongoing needs of victims in NI and the south.

Irish President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina with SEFF Director Kenny Donaldson inspect a memorial quilt for victims of terrorism.

"Reference was also made to the responsibility of the Irish State to finally step up and do right by these issues. I referenced the requirement for both States along with all terror organisations to belatedly do right by innocent victims/survivors of terrorism, that word no longer cut it (if they ever did) [and] that in order to build trust that there was a need for verifiable delivery.”

A number of SEFF members had the opportunity to raise their own cases and the accountability they seek from a range of stakeholders, “including the Irish State” he added.

"Our focus was about connecting the President to our cause and to the constituency of people we support - he was willing to do so and this is Irish State acknowledgement of the legitimacy of our group and the accountability we seek for those impacted by grievous wrongs inflicted.

Warm Presidential Welcome

"SEFF will continue to evangelize our message of consistency and fairness," he added.

Mr Higgins gave a warm welcome to the delegation.

"It is a great privilege to welcome today to Áras an Uachtaráin members of the South-East Fermanagh Foundation, representing, working and accompanied today by victims and family members of some of the most horrific acts of violence," he said. "I have in a number of speeches over the last 13 years spoken of the inappropriate, insufficient language in describing what was inflicted upon you."

SEFF is hosting a book launch by Austin Stack about his father Brian, a senior Irish prison officer who shot by the IRA in 1983, in the Stormont Hotel today, Monday 10 March at 1.30pm.

The double standard angers me says Conor Murphy of critics of republican death tributes

Kutis Reid, Belfast Telegraph, March 10th, 2025

Former Economy Minister Conor Murphy has hit out at the “double standard” he says he faces when paying tribute to veteran republicans when they die.

The Sinn Fein politician, who left Stormont in February to take on a role in the Republic’s Seanad, said that while questions about his own actions “do not anger” him, he often feels there is hypocrisy in the criticism of Sinn Fein's tributes.

It follows the death of IRA killer Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane last month.

McFarlane was sentenced to life for the IRA gun and bomb attack on the Bayardo Bar in Belfast in August 1975 in which five Protestants died, and he is believed to have been involved in a kidnapping in which an Irish policeman and soldier were killed.

“It doesn't anger me to be questioned about these things,” Mr Murphy said on The Currency news podcast when asked about McFarlane.

“I was a republican involved in struggle. But the double standard angers me — that people get indignant and worked up about these issues but can look away from whole other issues involving other established politicians.”

Mr Murphy said he does not understand why US presidents and UK prime ministers do not receive the same criticism following the funerals of veterans.

No glory in conflict

“There is no glory in conflict. There are horrible things done; people get drawn into a conflict because they see no alternative,” he explained.

“That's not to say everyone gets involved — it's a small minority.

“I get that when I say something, people will say: 'Oh, but you were involved in this and you were involved in that.'

“I knew Brendan McFarlane — he was a friend of mine — so I know the history of how it's viewed from the other side, and I get that.

“But there are people who died and have been buried by American presidents, and British prime ministers who created conflict, and they do not get questioned on that.”

Elsewhere in a wide-ranging interview conducted just weeks after Mr Murphy took on the role of leader of Sinn Fein in the Seanad, the Armagh-born politician reflected on his controversial comments in 2005 at a Conservative Party Conference, in which he said the 1984 bombing of the Tory conference, which left five people dead, was “part of a war”.

“I regret the loss of life, I do. There were innocent lives lost, [but] the decision to go and attack the British state, the heart of the state, the Prime Minister — no,” he said when asked again if he regretted the Brighton bombing, which was intended to kill Margaret Thatcher.

“As part of a campaign of resistance, I will not deny I supported it at that time. And, no, I would not have regretted that decision against Britain.

“You can make judgments at the end of things. I suppose it's interesting from an academic view. You think 'Was there an opportunity to sue for peace earlier?' — but you can't predict.

“People went to England before and conducted IRA and republican campaigns there, with particularly disastrous consequences, so this wasn't the first and wasn't the last instance of going over to England.”

He was also questioned on Sinn Fein's role in “reaching out to Protestants” as it campaigns for a united Ireland. He said he had engaged in repeated dialogue with unionists while in politics in NI.

“We've been doing that. People interpret the response from unionism, but I have been in constructive dialogue with unionism since the early '90s...

Friends in Orange Order

“I have friends who are members of the Orange Order, people involved in the British Army and RUC, and we've had a dialogue at the local level.

“They understand — and this is not to say they embrace it — our need to have due regard for our dead and people involved with us, just as we understand their need for remembrance of the British Army and the RUC as heroes. We have a different view of that, but we understand they stand at cenotaphs because they believe it's people who deserve that tribute.

“There is a better understanding between us in the North that doesn't often find public expression.”

Mr Murphy also reiterated his apology for controversial comments about the murder of Paul Quinn (21), from Co Armagh, who was beaten to death in a barn near Oram, Co Monaghan, in 2007: “I apologised. I made comments I regret making [Mr Murphy had said in a BBC documentary that Mr Quinn was 'involved with smuggling and criminality']. I wasn't alone in making observations, but that was not the essence of the story. Instead, it was that a young man was brutally killed and his family are still searching for answers. I fully support their request and have repeatedly called for people who may have information to come forward to the Gardaí.”

NUJ seeks meeting with Executive Office over its’ ‘reluctance’ to deal with media queries

John Manley, Political Correspondent, Irish News, March 10th, 2025

THE Executive Office has declined to release information that will cast light on its press office’s poor record in responding to media queries.

The refusal has prompted the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) top official in Ireland to request a meeting with officials from Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly’s joint office.

NUJ assistant general secretary Séamus Dooley said journalists were “entitled to expect that legitimate requests for information will be dealt with in a timely manner”.

His comments come after a freedom of information request submitted by The Irish News sought to establish the number of queries to which the TEO press office had issued responses. This newspaper has submitted dozens of queries to the first and deputy first ministers’ office over the past year but received substantive responses to a mere handful.

The recent freedom of information request, dealt with by the same department responsible for dealing with media queries, was declined.

TEO’s response said it held the data requested but that “the scope of information requested is so broad that to locate, retrieve and extract the information would place such a burden on the department”.

It said processing the information, which would ordinarily be held to enable an assessment of the department’s performance, would exceed the appropriate limit under FOI legislation, which is set at £600 – or 24 hours @£25.

Mr Dooley said it was “an extreme irony” that the FOI request arose “from a high level of dissatisfaction at the manner in which the Executive Office engages with journalists”.

He said the NUJ would be consulting with its members and in particular with those who rely on the cooperation of TEO.

“We will also be seeking a meeting with the Executive Office to convey the concerns of our members,” he said.

“Press and information officers perform a vital role within democracy and are essential to the functioning of government departments.

Many press officers but few answers

“There is a high number of advisers and press officers within the system in Northern Ireland – yet journalists are becoming increasingly frustrated at the difficult in securing information in a timely fashion” Mr Dooley said.

The NUJ general secretary said it was important that TEO “respond to media queries in a constructive manner”.

“There is currently perception among many media organisations that there is a reluctance to deal in any meaningful way with media queries,” he said.

“This is based on the direct experience of senior, experienced journalists and news editors. Selective leaks and informed speculation will always form part of media coverage but media organisations and journalists are entitled to expect that legitimate requests for information will be dealt with in a timely manner.”

TEO was contacted for comment on Mr Dooley’s remarks but did not respond.

Audit Office shines a light on executive failure – once again

Irish News, Match 11th, 2025

Pro Fide Pro Patria

IF we were to update Hamlet’s remark that there was something rotten in the state of Denmark, we might find no better modern equivalent than the Audit Office’s opinion of the Department for the Economy.

The public spending watchdog has said that it could not find sufficient evidence to approve the department’s annual accounts as reliable.

The financial figures were so seriously flawed that the Comptroller and Auditor General, Dorinnia Carville, has issued a rarely used ‘disclaimed opinion’. This, she says, “underlines the significance and severity of the issues”.

So the Stormont department responsible for running the north’s economy cannot manage its own finances. Every time it appears that things cannot get any worse for the executive, they generally do.

“The Stormont department responsible for running the north’s economy cannot manage its own finances. Every time it appears that things cannot get worse, they generally do

It is unusual to find such a significant failure within a government department, though the auditor also had to qualify parts of her report last year.

For some time there have been questions over the executive’s ability to decide what to do in terms of policy-making. There is now evidence to suggest that even if it knew what to do, it does not appear to have a robust administrative system to do it.

The Department for the Economy is responsible for 18 bodies ranging from tourism and Invest NI to the universities and further education colleges. All of these organisations are overseen by boards with an audit committee.

The department itself is overseen by a board and it too has an audit committee. So how did the department get its figures so wrong with 19 audit committees charged with ensuring financial and administrative accuracy?

Appointments to these boards are made by the minister. For the past four years there has been no commissioner to oversee public body appointments.

Either by coincidence or design, the Executive Office yesterday launched a competition to find a new commissioner.

Stormont’s opposition, the SDLP, says the situation is “very concerning” and “embarrassing”.

While this is true, unfortunately it will do little to resolve the culture of complacency and, some might suggest, arrogance which permeates the executive.

There was a time when an Audit Office report carried weight and led to significant remedial action when problems were identified in the public sector. The executive has undermined that culture and the Audit Office now has a status similar to the media.

That status is one of being often disregarded in seeking information. The Audit Office will do well to avoid the same treatment.

It can expect the executive’s response to employ the same sentiment as Hamlet uttered in his last breath: “The rest is silence.”