The dying voice of a six-year-old girl should shame every nation that arms Israel while children are slain in Gaza

ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 8th, 2025

For 23 minutes, an audience at the screening of The Voice of Hind Rajab took to their feet applauding, some with tears in their eyes. It is being billed as the longest standing ovation in the history of the prestigious Venice Film Festival.

Stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Brad Pitt, Alfonso Cuarón and Jonathan Glazer are executive producers of the docudrama, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania.

It tells the true story of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed along with her cousins, aunt, uncle and two paramedics after they had come to her aid when their car was fired on by the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza City in January 2024.

Hind survived for hours in the car surrounded by her dead family, while on the phone to Palestinian Red Crescent.

Hind's 15-year-old cousin, Layan, had been on the phone first before she was heard being riddled with bullets.

Layan can be heard telling Red Crescent staff that her parents and siblings have all been killed, and that there is a tank next to the car.

“They are firing at us,” she says, before the conversation ends with the sound of gunfire and screaming.

When the Red Crescent team called back, it was Hind who answered, her little voice trembling with fear. At times she can be heard sobbing, and at other times she begs to be saved.

The family had set off from Gaza City earlier that day with her uncle, aunt and five cousins.

Thought they would be safer in car

Her mother and siblings were making their way on foot, but accepted the offer of a lift for Hind because she thought the little girl would be safer out of the poor weather and in the safety of her uncle's vehicle.

They were on the move because the Israeli army had told people to evacuate areas in the west of the city and move south along the coast road. The family decided to head for the Al-Ahli Hospital to the east of the city, hoping it would be a safer place to shelter, but they never made it.

Hind's terrified voice was recorded by the emergency operator who kept her on the phone, reassuring her she would try to send help.

Three hours after the call began, an ambulance was finally despatched to rescue Hind.

In the meantime, the Red Crescent team had reached Hind's mother, Wissam, and patched her phone line into the call.

Her mother had to listen helplessly as her little girl, by now in the dark surrounded by dead bodies and in a car with over 300 bullet holes, begged to be saved.

But 12 days later, when rescue teams could finally reach the area, her body was found along with her relatives.

The remains of the two ambulance workers who tried to rescue her were also recovered from their vehicle, which had been attacked.

The film uses the real-life recordings of Hind's frightened voice as she prays to be saved, but dramatises the events surrounding that day.

I've listened to the recordings from that terrified girl, or at least as much of them as I could bear.

Hind was not much younger than my beautiful and much-loved granddaughter.

I cannot imagine being so helpless if that child who I adore was scared and I could do nothing to save her.

That this film has been made at all is a testament to those involved.

Many in Hollywood have stayed quiet in fear that speaking out might damage their careers.

But what is a career when being silent against a totally preventable genocide, a slaughter that could end tomorrow if the west were to stand up to Israel and the war crimes they commit using arms that they have supplied. Silence is complicity.

History will judge them harshly; not that I expect they care. They are too invested in this horror to ever back down.

Those who still try to justify this slaughter of the innocent as a proportionate reaction to October 7 would do well to watch Hind's story.

They murdered a little girl who was a threat to no one. She just wanted to live, she wanted her mummy. Shame on every one of them.

Not so long ago, I interviewed Oscar-winning writer and director Terry George, who was born in Belfast.

I asked him of all the celebrities he had met and worked with over the years, who really impressed him and who did he admire? Without skipping a beat, he replied “Joaquin Phoenix”.

Watching the actor and producer choke back tears at the response to the film he helped make, as the audience took to its feet in a theatre at the Venice Film Festival, I now understand why.

'Humans can't deal with death... it's nothingness': Tom Hartley

Belfast Telegraph, September 8th, 2025

TOM HARTLEY SPEAKS TO JAMES MCNANEY, REFLECTING ON HIS DECADES OF RESEARCH, TOURS OF BELFAST'S CEMETERIES AND HOW THE SECRETS THAT THEY HOLD HELP IN TELLING ITS AMAZING STORY

Tom Hartley has held many roles in his life: republican activist, political advisor, city councillor, Lord Mayor and, in recent decades, local historian and tour guide to Belfast's cemeteries.

Entering his ninth decade, Tom decided to finish up with the last of these positions, giving his last tour of the Belfast City Cemetery to a packed crowd during Féile an Phobail last month.

Speaking a few days after that tour, on a warm afternoon in Cultúrann on the Falls Road, he explains that he's relieved to finish a “long journey.”

“It had to come to an end”, he says, “it's over now for me, that part of my life. Old age, bad feet: there's some things you can't avoid, but that's okay.”

Guiding groups around the cemetery was certainly physical work. His final tour took over two and a half hours, during which time he walked around the whole of the large cemetery, up and down a hill, on a very hot summer's day.

He says crowds on the final week were “a bit overwhelming. I really had to strive to bring the crowd along with me, and get them around me, and then try to make myself heard.

“I just felt exhausted at the weekend. Back in the old days, I did one tour of the City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery that lasted five hours, and I could charge through the two cemeteries.

“It hasn't defeated me, but you have to slow down.”

He is getting off his feet, but not off researching. He plans to look into the history of a prison ship that held Republicans in the 1940s.

Féile will continue to have cemetery tours conducted by a new guide, and there was a small ceremony held at the end of Tom's final walk, with him ceremonially hanging up his boots and being handed a pair of slippers.

Alongside doing the tours, Tom has written books on the history of the City Cemetery, Milltown Cemetery and Balmoral Cemetery under the title Written in Stone.

His work seeks to use the artefacts and memorials found in graveyards as a starting point to explore the complexity, variety and difficulty of the city's past.

In print and in person, Tom would use individual graves as a launching point for discussing an individual's life, and the wider historical forces and movements those people interacted with.

Margaret Byers

Early on the City Cemetery Tour, Tom would stop at the grave of Margaret Byers, and track her life from the death of her husband while on a sea journey to Asia, to her life back in Belfast as an educator who founded Victoria College, a philanthropist who helped poor women and a political figure who advocated for women's suffrage.

Like any good historian, Tom interrogates the silences and biases present in the sources he uses: at Margaret Byers' grave he would reflect how her extraordinary life was reduced on her headstone to merely being described someone's wife, a sign of the influence of women's history and feminist thought on his own approach to the past.

Tom brought his own personality into the tours in other ways, joking about how an underground wall which was installed to divide the cemetery's different religious areas served to stop “the Protestant worms and the Catholic worms from getting to know each other.”

Undertaking research into the City Cemetery has broadened Tom's knowledge of Belfast's identity and history.

A lifelong republican, he says he has come to understand the Protestant and unionist tradition in Northern Ireland and in a deeper way by studying the people who helped to build Belfast in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This work brought him to places that, in his own words, might be “odd for a Shinner”, such as his efforts to have British war dead brought back to the Falls Road Cemetery.

A number of British soldiers' graves were desecrated during the 1970s, and the City Council reacted by moving these remains to Lady Dixon Park.

Tom felt that the vast majority of the local community on the Falls had been upset by the desecration of the graves given the respect people hold for the dead in Irish culture.

He met with a member of the war graves commission in the City Council Chief Executive's office: “I argued that the desecration of any grave is wrong, and they should be back.

“They were all put back. It's something deep, it's respect for the dead.”

United in Death

The overlap and interactions between unionist and nationalist traditions is another big theme of Tom's research, and he enjoys reminding people that these identities were not hermetically sealed away from one another. “The classic grave in the City Cemetery is of the Reverend Robert Lynn, he spoke at the great unionist convention of 1892, and his son was a republican and a socialist,” he explained.

“They're buried in the same grave. The father is a Presbyterian unionist, the son is a Presbyterian republican.”

Before history took up most of his time, Tom worked in community activism and politics for many years.

He is understated when talking about his own role in the city, but he was close to the upper levels of republicanism during his time, serving as an advisor to Gerry Adams.

Adams, in his capacity as Féile's founder and as Hartley's friend, attended the latter half of the final cemetery tour, and gave a tribute at the end of it.

Politics in Northern Ireland is very different from when people like Tom and Adams moved Sinn Féin towards electoralism in the 80s and 90s.

The City Council has gone from being unionist dominated to now having Sinn Féin be the largest party for close to a decade and a half.

Tom is keen to ward off any suggestion that the party becomes complacent, saying he “wouldn't accept” the idea that it will win a plurality every election.

“I think that's the last thing you do in politics is accept that. You have to work to be [the largest party].”

Reflecting on his own career in the council, he hopes to have altered its material character: “I hope I changed the city hall in a good way.

“I always recognised the city hall had a big unionist history, half the people in this city are unionist.

“Our role as a party is not to say that didn't happen, it was not to strip out unionist artefacts. Rather to say, what we want to do is add the nationalist and republican history. To show other historical trends that exist in the city.

“One of the first things I did was propose a famine window, for all the people of Belfast. And, as a celebration of the 1907 doctors and labourers strike, I proposed a window to commemorate that period.”

First Woman

He's proud of changing the space outside the city hall too, of altering the formerly “male-dominated” space by adding statues to women including Mary Ann McCracken.

Despite formally retiring from the council, after a career that saw him serve as Lord Mayor, Tom remains animated by political and cultural issues.

He is passionate about the Irish language, and takes care to illustrate the long history of Protestants who promoted it.

He shares a story of visiting Holywood's Sullivan Upper School, where he was confronted by a student who asked “why do you Shinners always go on about the Irish language?”

“I said, 'well we're not the only ones, look at the Irish motto on your coat of arms.' And the whole class erupted.”

Tom is not fond of some of the language used to skirt around the divisions in Northern Ireland, for example he doesn't like the term “shared”. “You may have a different political point of view than I have, but I'm not so sure we're that different.” he said.

“We're shaped by many forces. I think 'shared' implies separation, that somehow or other I'm different than you.

“All there is there, like in any society, is complexity.”

Death, and the rituals surrounding it, are one thing that connects us to cultures much more different from one another than the dominant identities in Northern Ireland.

Part of Tom's research traces the influences of the art found in cemeteries, from the Egyptian obelisks used by 19th century business magnates to mark graves, the neoclassical columns that adorn others or the different symbols that are marked into headstones: masonic, Celtic, Christian.

Despite his respect for religion, and its role in graveyards, Tom is a materialist, believing that there is no existence after death, or as he puts it “kaput.”

“I ask, why do we need symbolism? I have a view that, at our core, human beings can't deal with death. It's nothingness, it's kaput, it's over.

“We use our imagination to come to terms with it. We talk about going over to the other side or crossing the river.

“The symbolism is very old. Down the years I got the sense of the timelessness of a burial ground.

“I always claim graveyards are about the living. It's us coming to terms with death.

“The connection that we have with the dead is really about the connection to the future. Humans live in the past, the present and the future all at once, and a graveyard is a reminder.”

Brian Barton: The Ulster Special Constabulary did not carry out a pogrom against Catholics

The Ulster History Foundation recently published ‘Ulster, 1912-22: Change, Controversy and Conflict’, edited by Alan Parkinson and Brian Walker.

Brian Barton, Belfast News Letter, September 7th, 2025

It is dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Bardon, George Boyce and Éamon Phoenix.

I wrote chapter 8, titled: ‘The USC and the Formation of Northern Ireland, 1920-22’. It traces the origins of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) force, and asks whether it was really the pre war ‘UVF in all but name.’ It reviews the debate over whether the term ‘pogrom’ (orchestrated anti Catholic ethnic cleansing) is applicable to the 1920-22 ‘troubles’, evaluates the role and record of the USC then, and sets this in the context of the creation of, and challenges to, the six county state.

It also considers how events in southern Ireland, and the policies adopted by its leaders, impacted on Northern Ireland, and discusses the British government’s response to developments in Ireland during the revolutionary period.

To unionists, USC members were courageous volunteers, who triumphantly defeated those intent on ‘arson and murder’

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), formed in 1912, was an antecedent of the USC, formed eight years later in 1920. In May 1918, before the end of the Great War, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) warned that it was ready to resume its role in defending the Union if required. In mid 1920 it revived, and various paramilitary groups mushroomed up; in east Belfast, Rev John Redmond raised a force to protect ‘life and property… regardless of creed, class or political affiliation.’

Their emergence was due to fears that the IRA campaign would spread to Ulster, doubts that Dublin Castle could preserve order and concern that British troops in the region would be transferred south as the Anglo-Irish War intensified.

In June ’20, the unionist leadership decided to revive the UVF and, in September, pleaded that British ministers form a special constabulary with the UVF as its nucleus. Lloyd George, the UK prime minister, was responsive; he was anxious to release more troops for service elsewhere in Ireland and concerned to avoid the collapse of order in the north.

Existing UVF structures were not utilised; instead, on November 1, an appeal was made for ‘all law-abiding citizens’ to join the new force (USC). Its stated purpose was to supplement the security forces in responding to the IRA campaign and, ultimately, to preserve the Union. Selection committees were instructed to recruit ‘men … of unquestionable fidelity’, and enlistees swore an oath to ‘serve… the King.’ Its largest element was the ‘B’ Specials who were part-time police, and performed one evening patrol weekly within their neighbourhood.

The USC has been described inaccurately as the UVF ‘rebranded’. There were not enough ex UVF members to fill its ranks. Also, in Co Down, for example, 42% of USC applicants would have been aged under 16 in 1914, too young to have served in the pre-war UVF, and just 17% had served in the armed forces. Likewise, an analysis of USC fatalities (1920-22) indicated that 43% were under 16 in 1914, and that 24% had previous military experience. Under the terms of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, responsibility for policing was to be transferred to the Belfast administration.

Partition

The emerging partition was anathema to all nationalists. In 1921-22, they expressed this hostility by abstaining from the Northern parliament (elected in May ’21), and public bodies they controlled pledged allegiance to Dail Eireann. Southern leaders encouraged these responses, and largely determined the northern minority’s level of engagement with the new state. The Truce (1921 July 11), which ended the Anglo-Irish War, was applied to the six counties. Under its terms, the Special Constabulary (USC) was suspended and the operations of the army and RIC curtailed. In addition, the IRA was officially recognised, and thus at liberty to organise and recruit. Its Northern OC [Officer Commanding] claimed that, subsequently, ‘practically all [Catholics] flocked to our standard’.

Unionists regarded the Treaty as a surrender to Sinn Fein and, subsequently, anticipated an all-out IRA campaign. They also distrusted the British government in its on-going negotiations with Irish leaders; so as not to prejudice their outcome, it delayed transferring any powers to the Belfast government. Disillusioned ‘B’ Specials resigned from the force (10% in Fermanagh during August/September ‘21), and membership of northern Protestant paramilitaries soared (to 21,000 by November). Meanwhile, in effect, the ‘Northern IRA… was born’, as a consequence of its Dublin headquarters reorganising its units. Its subsequent actions precipitated loyalist reprisals and sectarian confrontation. Between July ’20 and November ’21, 165 persons died in Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles.’

Once policing powers were transferred to the Belfast government (1921 November 22), unionists demanded that it suppress the republican threat. But the Treaty (1921 December 6) prolonged the political uncertainty; it provided for a Boundary Commission which would revise the existing North/South border if the unionist leader James Craig refused to accept all-Ireland institutions. Nationalists harboured hopes that this would so reduce Northern Ireland’s territory as to make the state unviable.

In early 1922 the intensity of the violence reached unprecedented levels. The IRA launched an increasingly determined campaign, which Michael Collins covertly orchestrated. Initially, it was a ‘largely Belfast and border affair’: for example, 40 unionists were kidnapped in Fermanagh and Tyrone in mid-January ’22 (over half were USC members) and, in early February, the IRA attacked ‘A’ Specials at Clones, killing four. Between January 1-March 14, sectarian riots and reprisals in Belfast caused 83 deaths; ‘no one [was] brought to justice.’ Craig’s government responded by re-engaging and enlarging the USC and passing the Special Powers Act (April 7). Though far-reaching, unlike in southern Ireland, its terms did not include capital punishment for persons bearing arms.

Violence Peaks

Levels of violence peaked in May 1922. After anti-Treaty forces had seized the Four Courts, Dublin (April 14), Collins sought to avert civil war by launching a ‘crusade’ aimed at ending partition. Pro and anti-Treaty IRA forces merged with its northern divisions to form an ‘Army of the North’, which launched an all-out offensive. In a ‘war of intimidation’, Protestant civilians in Belfast were expelled from ‘mixed areas’, non-Catholic workers were murdered and an arson campaign was conducted against the city’s industry and commerce. This provoked a ferocious loyalist backlash against the northern minority. Over 600 violent incidents were recorded in the six counties during May. These included: the burning down of ‘big houses’; targeting of police, especially ‘B’ Specials, and guerilla attacks along the border. On the May 27, 600 IRA members occupied the Belleek-Pettigo salient, a 60-strong USC contingent failed to dislodge them and the army was eventually deployed; it was its first confrontation with the IRA since the July ‘21 Truce.

During June 1922, violence levels fell sharply, and thereafter order was gradually restored. This was partly a consequence of Craig’s NI government invoking its emergency powers (late May): it interned IRA suspects (728 persons, 1922-24) and enlarged the USC (it numbered 19,500 in November ’21; 32,000 by mid 1922). In addition, after the outbreak of civil war in the south (June 28), the IRA was ordered to cease operations in the six counties. Meanwhile, partly due to war-weariness, northern Catholics ‘turned against’ the force; this ‘sealed its collapse.’

The minority regarded the ‘troubles’ as being an anti Catholic ‘pogrom’, orchestrated by Craig’s government which had allegedly encouraged USC brutality. To unionists, its members were courageous volunteers, who triumphantly defeated those intent on ‘arson and murder.’ Undoubtedly, the Northern minority were the ‘principal victims’ during the ‘troubles’: of the 498 deaths in Belfast (July ’20 – June ’22), 56 % were Catholics though they comprised 24% of the population; 23,000 were expelled from their homes and 8,500 from their workplaces. Their alienation from the state was reinforced by the ‘troubles’, and the perceived partisanship of the USC. Undoubtedly its members were under stress – easy targets, living at home and isolated; they lacked adequate training; their group solidarity underlay a strong impulse to avenge stricken comrades and they shared an assumption that the minority supported the IRA.

However, arguably, the ‘vast majority’ of USC members ‘displayed surprising restraint.’ Fifty-four Specials lost their lives during the ‘troubles’, some in horrific circumstances (IRA fatalities totalled 35). Craig’s government has been criticised for failing to strengthen the force’s disciplinary procedures and prioritising unionist solidarity over social justice. Nevertheless, it neither condoned nor encouraged USC reprisals. Its priority was to retain Westminster’s support. Craig regarded police reprisals and sectarian violence as being ‘very adverse to the loyalist cause.’ He feared that British ministers might ‘wash their hands of the whole affair’, and recognised that the state could not single-handedly survive ‘a campaign of atrocity’ with the South.

Also, imputations of weakness on Craig’s part should be set in context. The Dublin government disregarded excesses by its National Army – in the interests of ‘internal security.’ It executed anti-Treaty IRA members, 77 between 17 November ’22 and 30 May ’23 (there were no death sentences in the North). By February ’24, it had imprisoned 13,000 republicans. Furthermore, it adopted a policy of authorised reprisals; unauthorised reprisals were also carried out by its security forces. Meanwhile, Westminster granted an amnesty to republican prisoners (January 1922) not for reasons of justice, but to ease the ‘security situation.’

Clearly also the ‘suffering’ was not ‘restricted to one religious group’: 20% of those expelled from their homes were Protestants, 1920-22, as were one-third of all murder victims. Unionists considered that all violent deaths were perpetrated or provoked by the IRA, and indeed a recent study concluded that: ‘republican activism’ was the ‘driver for sectarian violence.’ Another stated that the disorder in Belfast was largely a ‘response to perceived provocations … Almost 75% of all people killed … died within a few days of a major IRA attack.’ Moreover, the ‘troubles’ ended once the republicans abandoned their campaign.

Statistics

Statistics of the ‘troubles’, 1920-22, do not justify its designation as a ‘pogrom.’ The minority lost ‘barely 0.1%’ of its population, and the percentage of Catholics who died then (57%) was lower than between 1969-1994 (60%). Furthermore, between 1911-26, the Catholic population in Belfast grew (from 93,243 to 95,682). Only in the South, where the Protestant population fell by one-third (1911-1926), was there a mass exodus of population, a defining characteristic of a ‘pogrom.’

Arguably, the USC played a ‘crucial part in suppressing violence’, 1920-22. It helped assuage the loyalist impulse to confront the republican threat and, in east Ulster, it was the key to the IRA’s inability to challenge British authority. Also, Craig had no option but to rely on it. The army battalions based in Northern Ireland were under British government control, and it was reluctant to deploy them. It felt constrained by the Truce, and feared reopening the Anglo-Irish war and undermining Collins’ efforts to implement the Treaty. Likewise, the RIC was a Westminster responsibility, and it was understrength, demoralised and distrusted by unionists. Its replacement, the RUC, was not operational until June 1922, and had then just 1,100 members. The USC therefore bore the brunt of all security work, even along the border, though Craig had originally envisioned that it would act merely as a ‘reserve force’, to be utilized ‘in case of emergency’ in support of troops and RIC.

The USC was a ‘symptom of the divisions’ in the North, ‘not the cause.’ When established, the Irish News predicted that ‘not a nationalist’ would apply. Its oath stressed loyalty to the Crown and, by implication, to the Northern Ireland state whose existence most Catholics abhorred. They were discouraged from joining by their church, and by the prospect of social ostracism and IRA retribution if they did.

• Brian Barton is a Belfast-based historian

Michelle O’Neill insists executive disagreements are not a sign of Stormont instability

By David Young, Belfast News Letter, September 8th, 2025

Stormont’s first minister has insisted that recent disagreements and tensions within the powersharing executive are not evidence of instability.

Michelle O’Neill said there would always be differences of opinion in a mandatory coalition arrangement involving four parties with often opposing positions, but stressed there were “lots of things” that unite the current administration.

In an upbeat assessment of the devolved executive’s potential ahead of the return of the Northern Ireland Assembly on Monday, Ms O’Neill also described her working relationship with DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly as “very good”.

Her comments in an interview with the PA news agency come after a summer that saw the coalition’s two lead partners – Sinn Fein and the DUP – at odds on some high-profile issues.

DUP and SF minsters have been at loggerheads over the decision to install Irish language signs at Belfast’s Grand Central Station

In June, Ms O’Neill called on DUP communities minister Gordon Lyons to resign for comments he made related to emergency accommodation for migrants fleeing racist attacks in Ballymena.

Mr Lyons refused to quit over a social media post that referred to a leisure centre in Larne housing migrants whose homes had been targeted in anti-immigration disorder in Ballymena. He was accused of poor judgment after the centre was attacked hours later and set alight.

Accusing rivals of trying to score political points, the minister denied he was responsible for identifying the location publicly, pointing out that that information had already been publicised by others.

In a separate development later in the summer, Mr Lyons joined an ongoing legal action against Sinn Fein Infrastructure minister Liz Kimmins over her decision to install Irish language signs at Belfast’s Grand Central Station.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill insists there are “lots of things” that unite the Stormont executive

Asked how she would characterise relations as the administration returned for a new Assembly term, Ms O’Neill sought to downplay the tensions.

‘It’s always going to be challenging’

“First thing I’d say is that we’re a four-party coalition, it’s always going to be challenging, because we all have different views on certain things,” she said.

“There’s a lot of things that actually unite us. There’s a lot of things where we actually can always find our common ground. But there’s always going to be areas where we’re going to have to navigate tricky ground. So, there’ll be times whenever we don’t agree, but I think that unfortunately here sometimes whenever parties disagree, it nearly is presented in a way as the whole thing’s going to collapse. That’s not the case.

“I genuinely believe everybody’s there because they want to try to deliver as best we can for all the people that we represent. But, yes, it’s going to be tricky to navigate and at times there’ll be differences of view.

DUP communities minister Gordon Lyons faced calls to resign for comments he made in June related to emergency accommodation for migrants fleeing racist attacks in Ballymena

“You’re diametrically opposed. You know ourselves and the DUP, for example, are diametrically opposed parties, but for myself and Emma, the work that we have to do is to deliver upon the Programme for Government commitments that we’ve made, find that common ground and navigate the difficulties, and when we disagree, try to disagree as well as we possibly can.

“Will our parties always agree on things? You know that’s not going to be the case. I think we all knew that probably would always be the case, but we just need to navigate those challenges and difficulties, and find ways to ensure the Executive functions, that we deliver upon our commitments that we’ve made to the public, and we can stand over that whenever we go out to talk to the public.”

Ms O’Neill spoke to PA shortly after returning from a joint visit with Ms Little-Pengelly to Craigavon Integrated College in Co Armagh to talk about the Executive’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.

The First Minister said that was an example of where the two leaders shared a common goal.

“We have a very good working relationship,” she said. “Our job is to be tasked to work together, to lead that executive, to try and bring people together around the areas we all identified as our priorities, whether that be Lough Neagh (pollution issues), whether that be waiting lists in the health service, whether that be transformation of public services, child care, all the other issues that we know that we need to deal with.

“So, the real question is how can we work together? As opposed to: do you get on? Are you buddies? Do you text each other? That question actually sometimes is constantly asked of us. Where really I think the real question is: are you delivering? Are you working together for the greater good? Are you delivering on your Programme for Government commitments?”

The summer has seen several females in Northern Ireland lose their lives in violent circumstances. It has also witnessed incidents of racist and sectarian intimidation in multiple areas.

Ms O’Neill insisted the strategy to end violence against women and girls was making progress to challenge misogynistic attitudes in society while Executive ministers last week issued a joint statement calling for a zero-tolerance approach to the racist and sectarian attacks.

The First Minister acknowledged ministers had more work to do to tackle those problems as she expressed concern that the wave of bad headlines of recent months was creating a negative impression of Northern Ireland internationally.

However, she added: “We are a great place to work, live and invest, despite all of the challenges that we have.

“I want to promote that good message, that positive message, particularly as we move now to the 30th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (in 2028) and our society has been so transformed with a lot to be thankful for.

“I want to promote a good message about who we are and I believe that actually would be more reflective of our society, not those pockets of hate that we see, or the sectarianism or the racism that we see – that’s not reflective of wider society.”

McDonald ‘a serious presidential contender’

TOMMY GREENE, Irish News, September 8th, 2025

SINN Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald would be a serious contender for Ireland’s presidency if she ran, a new poll has found.

While the poll does not place McDonald as a clear frontrunner, it has her just a few points behind the current marginal favourite.

It shows Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys in poll position – albeit narrowly on 21% – with Fianna Fáil’s prospective pick Jim Gavin just a percentage point behind.

Independent candidate Catherine Connolly also sits on 20%.

Ms McDonald has said she is keeping an open mind on a presidential run with the party hiearachy expected to meet today to discuss their options of running a candidate or supporting Ms Connolly.

If Ms McDonald entered the race she would have the support of 17% of voters, according to the survey for the Sunday Independent carried out by the Ireland Thinks polling firm.

Sinn Féin weighing up options ahead of vote

In a four-way race, Ms Humphreys would continue to lead at 19%, Mr Gavin would be on 18% and Ms Connolly would drop back to 14%

The Sinn Féin leader would be considerably more popular than any other potential candidate from her party, the poll indicates, winning 17% of the public’s vote. This is nearly double the support for Michelle O’Neill, Gerry Adams or Pearse Doherty, all sitting at around 9%.

Could split ‘Left’ vote

Her popularity among Sinn Féin supporters is even more pronounced, at a 35% – 20 points ahead of former party president and former Louth TD Mr Adams on 15%.

Although Sinn Féin has stated it will back a candidate – whether its own or not – the party is still weighing up its options ahead of the vote.

Ms McDonald has vowed a unified internal stance over the party’s ultimate presidential election choice, given the dilemmas it could pose.

There has been considerable speculation as to who Sinn Féin’s candidate may be, with apparent appetite among its voters after two strong showings in last year’s and 2020’s elections for the Dáil Éireann.

This is despite concerns a Sinn Féin candidate could split the left vote.

Ms Humphreys and Ms Connolly, who currently appear to be neck and neck, are the only two confirmed candidates so far.

The vote will be held on Friday October 24.

First minister congratulates McIlroy on Irish Open win

ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, September 8th, 2025

FIRST Minister Michelle O’Neill was among those congratulating Rory McIlroy on his “fantastic victory” at the Irish Open yesterday.

The world number two and Masters champion won his second Irish Open title when he edged out Joakim Lagergren in a thrilling play-off at the K Club in Co Kildare.

“Huge congratulations to Rory on a fantastic victory on home soil, adding another title to an incredible year,” Ms O’Neill posted.

“His success will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of golfers and athletes to dream big and achieve even bigger.”

The Alliance Party’s agriculture minister and North Down MLA Andrew Muir, added: “Another fantastic achievement by Rory McIlroy, doing Holywood proud yet again!”

It took an eagle on the 72nd hole to take it to a play-off after Lagergren’s own stunning eagle at the 16th.

When the first two extra holes were tied in birdie fours, Lagergren hit his approach into the water on the third time to allow McIlroy to win with two putts.

“I just feel so lucky that I get to do this in front of these people. The support has been amazing all week. So happy I could play the way I did this week and get the win,” said McIlroy, whose previous Irish Open win also came at the K Club nine years ago.

McIlroy became just the sixth golfer to complete the career grand slam of winning all four major championships in April, when he claimed victory in the Masters at Augusta.

“To do what I did earlier in the year and then to come home and win my national open, no matter what happens for the rest of the year, that’s a pretty cool year,” he said.

“2025’s going to be one of the best, if not the best, of my career.

“But we’re not finished yet, I’ve got a big week next week at Wentworth (at the BMW PGA Championship) and then obviously everybody’s looking forward to the Ryder Cup.”

MP Eastwood's partner ready to seek deputy leader position

Nina Lloyd and Jordan Reynolds, Belfast Telegraph, September 8th, 2025

The partner of a Northern Irish MP is expected to run for the deputy leadership of Labour after Angela Rayner's resignation.

It has been reported that Louise Haigh has told friends she will stand for the position after Ms Rayner's admission that she mistakenly underpaid stamp duty on a seaside flat she bought earlier this year led to her standing down.

Ms Rayner quit as housing secretary, deputy Labour leader and deputy prime minister after the Prime Minister's ethics watchdog found she had breached the ministerial code, triggering an early Government reshuffle.

Sir Keir Starmer appointed David Lammy as deputy prime minister on Friday, but speculation is mounting over who could replace Ms Rayner as deputy Labour leader, with Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Dame Emily Thornberry already confirming she is considering running for the job.

However Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham expressed concerns about the “balance” within Sir Keir's Government, and backed Ms Haigh, or former Commons leader Lucy Powell.

Asked what kind of person should take on the job and what their role should be, he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Obviously, I'm biased, but you know somebody from these parts I think would be great.

“Louise Haigh, possibly Lucy Powell, who I think did a brilliant job in government.

“I think that's what it needs, you know, we need to hear the voice of the party, the voice of the members, and then the voice of our communities behind that, particularly in the north of England, to counter that London centricity.

“And I just would say more broadly, I think it also needs to be a bit of a reset for the Government, you know, I wish the new Cabinet and the ministerial team well, and I'm here to support them and work with them, but I do think, you know, there needs to be a reset of the way we're doing things.”

Last month, former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood revealed that he is in a relationship with Ms Haigh, a previous shadow Northern Ireland Secretary .

The MP for Foyle had said that following the breakup of his marriage, both he and his ex-wife are happy with new partners.

Sheffield Heeley MP Ms Haigh was also the Secretary for Transport, though she stood down from her position in November 2024.

It came after it emerged she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation in 2014, after incorrectly reporting to police that her phone had been stolen the previous year.

Defence Secretary John Healey rejected suggestions made by Mr Burnham that the leadership needed to change its treatment of backbenchers by showing them more “respect” following a row over the Government's welfare reforms earlier this year.

“I dispute that. Our focus has been on the public that elected us, the delivery that we're charged to change their lives. It's a big part of the job we all do,” he told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“Our Government will miss Angela Rayner. She's not been a victim. She's been under a lot of pressure and Andy Burnham's right about that.

“But she's been an inspiration to many, particularly working-class women. Any government is stronger with Angela Rayner but we've got a good new team in place and that's our job.”

Paul Givan orders immediate removal of trans guidance for schools in Northern Ireland

By Paul Givan, Belfast News Letter, September 8th, 2025

‘Now the UK Supreme Court ruling has made the legal position clear. In line with that, my policy is that references to ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ are to be understood as biological males and females

‘​​On Friday, I wrote to the Education Authority (EA) requesting the immediate withdrawal of its current transgender guidance for schools.

‘I asked that the EA’s policy is reviewed in light of the UK Supreme Court’s judgement in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers that was handed down on 16 April.’

‘To support this work, reflecting the policy I set out in the assembly in May, my department has provided clear policy principles on this issue to ensure fairness, safety and respect for all children in schools.

‘It affirms that references to ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ are to be understood as biological males and females. Pupils should use changing rooms and toilet facilities designated for their biological sex and that boys and girls should not share these spaces when in use.’

Paul Givan is Stormont's Minister for Education and DUP MLA for Lagan Valley

In competitive sports, mixed-sex participation is only permitted where governing bodies have explicitly allowed it. Additionally, the policy confirms that neither pupils nor teachers should be compelled to use pronouns that do not reflect biological sex.

‘This action reflects my firm belief that education policy must be grounded in both legal clarity and the best interests of children.

‘Last year, I indicated my intention to review the existing guidance, though that process was paused pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision. Now that the ruling has been made, the legal position is clear: references to ‘sex’ in law are references to biological sex. This has implications for policy and practice across the education sector in Northern Ireland.

‘The Education Authority’s 2019 guidance, ‘Schools, EOTAS Centres and Youth Services on supporting Transgender Young People’ was always non-statutory – not legally binding. Individual schools have been able to manage these sensitive matters within their own ethos. However, it is now essential that we provide clear, lawful and compassionate leadership in what has become a complex space.

‘This guidance from the Education Authority said, "where requested, staff should give a transgender pupil access to toilets which match their gender identity, unless there is a good reason not to do so".

‘Insidious ideological campaign’

‘That approach, in my view, is inadvisable and legally incorrect. It was written at a time when policies across the western world were being driven by an insidious ideological campaign – one that is now being re-evaluated and reversed within the context of law of the United Kingdom.

‘After considering the advice I have received, I have concluded that the current Education Authority guidance neither reflects departmental policy nor is it consistent with the law in Northern Ireland.

‘While many of these issues are best managed at a school level, consistent with the ethos of the school, the department has a duty to set guiding principles.

‘Unfortunately, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which might have been expected to provide timely guidance, has instead indicated its intention to seek a High Court declaration to clarify how the Supreme Court’s ruling interacts with the Windsor Framework’s Article 2.

‘In particular, they want to examine whether a different interpretation of ‘sex’ should apply here in Northern Ireland.

‘I respect the legal process, but I am not willing to delegate this crucial issue of decision making to an organisation which has been far from neutral on many sensitive issues. The commission’s actions have only prolonged uncertainty for schools and families alike.

‘Last week, I wrote to them suggesting that their course of action was wrong in principle and a waste of court time and public resources generally.

‘Can no longer afford to wait’

‘Schools and the wider education system can no longer afford to wait, so I sought independent legal advice to understand the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision and ensure we could move forward with clarity and confidence on a secure legal basis

‘The issues are difficult, but decisions cannot be deferred indefinitely.

Of course, I am fully aware of the sensitivities involved. This is not about denying the experiences of any individual. We are dealing with real young people, their lives and their futures. Compassion and understanding must underpin our actions. But policy in this area must reflect what is in the best interest of all children and not be driven by what is politically fashionable.

‘Finally, I want to make a broader constitutional point: in a democracy, it is ministers who are elected to make decisions – not unelected bodies, not campaign groups, and not those who defer difficult issues indefinitely.

‘Opposition plays an important role, but accountability lies with those who step up to govern. Those who would voluntarily opt out of government leave the important decisions to others who may not always share their views.

‘On this and so many other issues I am not prepared to leave such decisions to a UK government that does not always share our views or our values.

‘Since becoming the Education Minister in February 2024 I have always sought to act in the best interest of children and young people. I do so again today.

‘This is not an easy issue, but we cannot shy away from it.

‘As Education Minister, I am committed to ensuring that our schools are places where every child is safe, respected, and supported – based not on ideology, but on evidence, law and compassion.

‘On this important issue I have set out a sensible and balanced approach that I hope will command the support of the vast majority of ordinary people in Northern Ireland.

‘I hope that others with similar responsibilities will follow.’

• Paul Givan is Stormont’s Minister for Education and DUP MLA for Lagan Valley

Mary Lou McDonald rules herself out of Irish presidential race

By The Newsroom, Belfast News Letter, September 8th, 2025

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has said her name “will not go forward” as the party’s nominee for president

Outlining her reasons for not running for president, Mary Lou McDonald said her efforts had to remain on holding the Irish government to account as the leader of the opposition in the Dail.

"I have a real sense of the importance of this time in Irish political and indeed in Irish historical life," she told RTE.

"I believe that whoever is the Uachtaran (president) following the election will likely be the Uachtaran in office as we move into referendums and Irish reunification and all of the politics and the interaction that needs to happen around that, and I think the Uachtaran will play a very, very important role at a time of huge opportunity and transition in Irish life and for that reason I've considered very carefully what we as a party do, but also what I do myself personally.

"I'm mindful also that there is a real need to get Fianna Fail and Fine Gael out of office, out of government, and also to keep them out of the Aras (the president's official residence at Aras an Uachtarain in Dublin ).

"But, for me, at this point in time, my effort has to be in respect of holding this government to account day and daily, building with my Sinn Fein colleagues, and with colleagues beyond Sinn Fein , a real alternative as to when the next general election occurs.

"So for those reasons, I've informed some of my colleagues over the weekend, and I'll be talking to others obviously here in Dun Laoghaire today (at a party think-in event), and my name will not go forward for that reason.

"I've been greatly encouraged by the number of people who have spoken to me and encouraged some to go forward for this office. Others very clearly saying 'stay the course, stay the course'. But my strong instinct is that obviously the office of Uachtaran na hEireann (President of Ireland) is an incredibly important one.

"It's important that we get the right person into that office, but it is so important that we have a government that can really respond to the day-to-day needs of our people."

Northern Ireland to benefit from defence deals to boost UK jobs and industry

By Staff reporter and PA, Belfast News Letter, September 7th, 2025

Defence Secretary John Healey has unveiled a new strategy to make defence an “engine for growth” across the UK, promising thousands of jobs and stronger regional economies.

The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), launched on a visit to Bristol firm Rowden, will create five new Defence Growth Deals across the UK, including one in Northern Ireland, backed by £250 million over the next five years.

The first Defence Growth Deals will be in Plymouth, South Yorkshire, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Plymouth, home to the largest naval base in Western Europe, will receive investment over the next decade, including in maritime autonomy.

South Yorkshire will see backing for its role in producing specialist materials and components for defence.

Wales will receive support to grow its UAV (unmanned/uncrewed aerial vehicle) sector, while Scotland will see investment across its space, maritime and technology industries.

Northern Ireland, already recognised as a cybersecurity hub, will build on its defence and maritime strengths.

The plan is underpinned by a historic increase in defence spending, which will rise to 2.6% of GDP by 2027, with an ambition to reach 3% in the next Parliament.

Mr Healey said the plan would make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a defence company while putting Britain “at the leading edge of innovation”.

He said: "The Defence Industrial Strategy will make defence an engine for growth in Northern Ireland, backing jobs, industry and innovators.

"Defence Growth Deals offer a new partnership with UK defence to build on industrial and innovation strengths that regions already hold. Together we aim to drive an increase in defence skills and jobs across Northern Ireland.

"We want to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a defence firm and will put the UK at the leading edge of innovation."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “This is a plan for good jobs paying decent wages in Northern Ireland and beyond.”

Latest statistics show that nearly 1,000 people in Northern Ireland are employed due to MOD industry spending.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn MP, said: “This Defence Growth Deal and £250 million fund will support further development of Northern Ireland’s impressive defence industry, bolstering the UK’s national resilience while encouraging growth.

“Working with the Northern Ireland Executive and local stakeholders, this bespoke deal will harness Northern Ireland’s existing strengths in areas such as cybersecurity and advanced manufacturing, as well as supporting the skills, funding and investment which will position the industry for continuing success.”

Northern Ireland is home to a diverse range of defence and dual-use small and medium enterprises, with the country recognised as a leading cybersecurity hub boosted by Queen's University Belfast's Centre for Secure Information Technologies and Momentum One Zero. The province also hosts major defence contractors including Thales and Harland & Wolff - companies that are critical to the UK’s support to Ukraine and maritime strength.

Meanwhile, a Lancaster bomber has flown over Stormont to mark the Battle of Britain, which took place 85 years ago.

Friday’s flypast of the WWII-era aircraft was organised by the RAF, and an event to mark the anniversary was co-hosted by the speaker of the Assembly, Edwin Poots MLA, and the RAF’s Air Officer Northern Ireland, Air Marshal Sean Reynolds.

It was also attended by Air Chief Marshal Harv Smyth, the overall commander of the RAF (who originally hails from Lurgan).

Air Chief Marshal Smyth said: “I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend the formal Battle of Britain reception at Stormont, celebrating and commemorating those that have gone before, many making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.”