‘Toxic’ and ‘divided’ culture at Troubles investigations body

Independent review uncovers issues at ICRIR

CLAUDIA SAVAGE, Irish News and Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

AN independent review has described a “toxic” and “divided” working culture inside the body tasked to investigate unresolved Troubles cases.

The appraisal of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was commissioned following concerns about its effectiveness and culture.

It found “a clear risk that things will run out of control in the absence of clear unified leadership”.

Secretary of State Hilary Benn said he is “deeply concerned” by the findings which are “unacceptable and falls below the standards expected”.

All UK police investigations into Troubles-related killings were shut down in May 2024 under the previous Conservative government’s Legacy Act and the ICRIR was established.

Labour’s Bill, agreed as part of a joint framework with the Irish government, will put in place a reformed Legacy Commission with enhanced powers.

The review of the ICRIR carried out by former Northern Ireland Civil Service permanent secretary Peter May identified that the organisation has been “facing significant problems” linked to internal governance and culture at senior levels.

These issues are said to be stemming from “a combination of the governing legislation which creates structural weaknesses, problems with the financial management and governance of the organisation, and conflict among its senior leaders which is damaging the operation of the organisation and overall morale”.

The report said the issue of culture within the organisation was “the most remarked-on element of this review during the meetings held with staff members”.

It describes a senior leadership team which has “become quite divided in their approach” and a staff base “who have become increasingly aware of the problems”.

“For staff, that has led to a loss of confidence in the senior team as well as for some to say they are considering seeking other roles or not seeking to extend secondments,” the review says.

“In addition, many are disillusioned that what they had hoped to be part of was not meeting those hopes.”

Silo working

The report adds: “Descriptions of the culture in ICRIR (and particularly relating to the senior team and their interactions) have included language like ‘toxic’, ‘silo working’, ‘divided’ and ‘disrespectful’.

“The scale and nature of the issues reported are such that there is a clear risk that things will run out of control in the absence of clear unified leadership to set out what is and is not acceptable.

“As a result, urgent action is needed to grip the issues and address problem behaviours.”

Some of the behaviours outlined include “senior leaders talking openly to staff about their concerns about members of the senior team and being negative about other senior leaders” and “surprisingly highly emotional responses to due process with people questioning motivations of those responsible for processes”.

Concerns are also raised in relation to the number of mostly senior women who reported being treated in ways that were ‘”rude” and “disrespectful”.

“In addition, some indicated they believed this behaviour to be gendered in nature – ‘I would not be treated in this way if I was a middle-aged man…’ was one quote,” the review reads.

The May review also raised questions in relation to the ICRIR’s finances, claiming its current funding and staffing levels are “not sufficient to support the commission’s view of what is required under the legislation”.

This is said to be causing staff “real concern that they will not have the means to deliver case outcomes within any reasonable timeframe and that in interaction with requesting individuals this is not sufficiently being explained”.

Lack of resources

The report adds: “That is particularly the case now that some cases are being paused due to lack of resource to take them forward.

“That problem is going to worsen as more cases are brought forward.”

Speaking following the publication of the independent review, the ICRIR’s chief commissioner Sir Declan Morgan said the body’s job is to “ensure that accountability and justice are secured” for Troubles victims and survivors.

“We acknowledge and regret the shortcomings identified in the May report. As chief commissioner I am deeply sorry that this has happened on my watch,” he said.

“We are committed to addressing this as we move forward.

“I want to assure those that have come to us for help, that none of the recommendations in the review relate to our pursuit of individual investigations.”

He added: “Our investigations teams are working tirelessly for families that have come to us for help. We will soon reach the milestone of producing our first report and once we have reached that milestone, I expect a steady flow of reports over the months and years to come.

“We are a young and developing organisation, and the independent review was jointly commissioned to provide a clear, objective assessment of the ICRIR’s corporate effectiveness and cultural health.

“Where the review identifies actions and recommendations, these are opportunities for growth. Where it calls for improvement, we recognise the need for change and some of this is already under way.”

Mr Benn said the ICRIR senior leadership team have “a duty to uphold the organisation’s values and those of the wider public sector to ensure victims, survivors and their families can have confidence in the organisation’s ability to deliver”.

Advice event for farmers is cancelled after ‘sinister threat’ from unionists

CONOR COYLE, Irish News, May 12th, 2026

AN advice event for farmers in Co Down has had to be rescheduled to a different venue after the hotel which was due to host it received a threat from a unionist group.

The community event was due to take place tonight at the Kilmorey Arms Hotel in Kilkeel to provide advice on farm payments.

The main speaker at the event was to be a representative from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.

However, a loyalist group contacted the business highlighting the involvement of a local Sinn Féin councillor in its organisation.

The email to the hotel, which was sent from a group describing itself as the ‘Kilkeel Unionists Club’, said they wanted to “maintain peace and harmony” in the area and that it did not want the hotel informed organisers

“It has come to our attention that a meeting is due to be held at your premises,” it said.

“We are aware that this meeting is to be held by Sinn Féin, the political wing of the IRA, who murdered and butchered residents in our community.

“We aim to maintain peace and harmony in our communities, not wanting any harm to come to your business financially because of the actions of republicans in the past.

“We are giving you an opportunity to cancel this event at your premises.

“If not we will be going public with this information.”

‘Opposition to this event can only be described as blind sectarianism’

Rescheduled

Following the email correspondence, the hotel informed organisers they would be unable to host the event. It has now been rescheduled to a nearby venue.

Sinn Féin councillor and local farmer Michael Rice said he had been asked to help organise the event alongside the local heritage trust and that it was not a political event. He said similar meetings have been held regularly at the same hotel without any trouble for years.

Cllr Rice described the email as a “sinister threat” and “blind sectarianism”.

“It is extremely disappointing that this event was cancelled in the original venue we had booked where farmers could come to listen to important information from a respected expert,” he said.

“I am disappointed that we have been refused use of this facility at the last minute due to a sinister threat.

“I believe it is time we all stood up against these bad actors in this town who only reflect a tiny and narrow-minded minority, who want to drag this community back to the dark days of the past.

“The event planned was an information night for farmers in south Down. It was an opportunity to hear about the different schemes and subsidies available, and for farmers to ask questions about how to avail of this. Something we should have more often.

“The opposition to this event can only be described as blind sectarianism.”

The Kilmorey Arms Hotel has been contacted for comment.

ICRIR report will do nothing to allay concerns of victims

Pro Fide et Patria, Irish News, May 12th, 2026

“For a body that relies on the confidence of victims to come forward with cases, and the wider public that it can investigate a contested past, it is clear there is an enormous job to be done both internally and externally to win trust

DEBATE around the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) has until now largely focused on its credibility as a body to investigate Troubles killings.

Created under the widely-condemned Legacy Act by the last Conservative government, it has been rejected by some victims groups and is due to be reformed and renamed under a new framework announced by the British and Irish governments.

Questions around its independence, including disclosure of material to bereaved families, have been the subject of several court rulings, culminating in a Supreme Court judgment in favour of the British government last week.

However, there will now huge concern at the findings of a review of the organisation which identified problems with financial management and governance, as well as “conflict among its senior leaders”.

Descriptions of the culture within the ICRIR will likely cause the most shock, with language used including ‘toxic’, ‘divided’ and ‘disrespectful’.

A number of mostly senior women considered they were treated in ways that were ‘rude’, with some indicating they “believed this behaviour to be gendered in nature”.

The report also said it was clear the “senior leadership team have become quite divided in their approach”, leading to disillusionment among many in the organisation.

The ‘corporate effectiveness and cultural health review’ was carried out by former civil service permanent secretary Peter May and merits close reading.

Secretary of State Hilary Benn said he was “deeply concerned” by the findings, while IC-RIR Chief Commissioner Sir Declan Morgan said he was “deeply sorry that this has happened on my watch”.

He pointed out that none of the recommendations relate to the ICRIR’s pursuit of individual investigations, although it can hardly be reassuring that some basic standards of professional behaviour have not apparently been observed elsewhere within the organisation.

For a body that relies on the confidence of victims in the first instance to come forward with cases, and that of the wider public that it can carry out the hugely sensitive and important job of investigating a contested past, it is clear there is an enormous job to be done both internally and externally to win trust.

This report’s findings will do nothing to allay concerns of those already opposed to the body and sceptical about planned changes, with the onus now firmly on the ICRIR and British government to demonstrate that it can still play a constructive role in legacy arrangements.

Outrage after sectarian sticker appears in town

NIALL MCGREEVY, Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

MESSAGE STUCK TO LAMPPOST BRANDED 'THREATENING' WHILE POLICE HAVE BEEN TOLD OF 'HATE CRIME'

A sectarian sticker that has appeared in Co Antrim reading “shoot your local Orange b******” has been branded “threatening”.

The sticker, which has since been removed, depicted an image of a man shooting a bulldog wearing a red, white and blue collar.

It appeared to be placed on a lamppost on the Glenwell Road in Glengormley.

Alliance Alderman Julian McGrath said the message would be rejected by the overwhelming majority of people who live there.

He told the Belfast Telegraph: “This sectarian sticker is both threatening and completely unacceptable.

“There is no place in our communities for material that seeks to intimidate, inflame tensions or dehumanise others on the basis of their background or perceived identity.

“I understand the sticker has now been removed, which is welcomed, and I have raised the matter with the PSNI.

“Regardless of who is responsible, this kind of behaviour represents a race to the bottom and does nothing except poison community relations and damage the reputation of the area.

“The overwhelming majority of people in Glengormley want safe, shared and respectful communities. We should be challenging sectarianism, racism and hatred wherever they appear — not normalising or excusing them.”

DUP councillor Alison Bennington called for those responsible to be punished. “Having been alerted to these disgraceful images, the DUP removed them and reported them to the police as a hate crime,” she said.

“Sectarianism has no place in Glengormley and we will not be intimidated by mindless idiots.”

She said local republican youths had been putting graffiti on public places and council buildings in recent times.

“This needs to stop. We will deal with any perpetrators as we catch them on CCTV,” she added.

“Parents need to be aware of what their children are doing and who they are mixing with. Graffiti only brings the area down and has no place.

“The people of Glengormley are sick of youths running around causing havoc.”

Lorna Smyth, who recently left the TUV to become the Northern Ireland director of Advance UK, also condemned the sticker.

“We are constantly lectured that unionists and Protestants have nothing to fear in a future united Ireland,” she said.

“We are told British identity will be respected. We are told Orange culture will be welcomed.

“So what exactly are people supposed to think when this kind of sectarian filth is appearing openly on the streets?”

The PSNI confirmed that the sticker has since been removed.

Nigel Farage’s success gives Ireland an urgent deadline

Matthew O'Toole, Irish Times, May 12th, 2026

At what point are citizens in the North entitled to say they do not want to live in a country run by Farage?

There was a British government-sponsored TV ad in the 1990s which people my age often remember, with amusement but also nostalgia. Two boys get to know each other, playing football and generally messing about. It emerges – as if it wasn’t obvious already – that they are from different sides of the North’s divide when, respectively, a GAA medal and an Orange Order badge fall out of their pockets. A Van Morrison song plays amiably in the background and the whole thing concludes with him saying, in his unmistakable drawl: “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time?”

It speaks to a yearning for the sense – widespread in the 1990s – of hope for an emerging peace and potential reconciliation to follow. Both hopes were fulfilled; sadly the latter much less so than the former. Nostalgia is a fact of life, but it has become too much a fact of politics. And not just in Trump’s America or Brexit Britain. In parts of establishment Ireland, there is a marked tendency to hark back to the 1990s when the question of this island’s constitutional future is raised.

Put more directly, there is a tendency by Irish ministers to deflect any and all questions about planning for constitutional change with a general, sometimes impatient entreaty to get more out of the Belfast Agreement institutions as created in 1998. This desire is noble and right: every day as leader of the official opposition in the Northern Ireland Assembly, my party and I are trying to force improvements in the North’s challenged political institutions.

The fact that it is hard to predict how Farage would act in office is its own argument for proper planning for all scenarios

But after last week’s election results in Britain, continuing to avoid serious engagement with how change in England, Scotland and Wales could precipitate change on the island of Ireland starts to look like negligence rather than just nostalgia. Political reporting runs on hyperbole, but it is no exaggeration to say the results have fundamentally altered the political shape of Britain.

The Irish Government has been rightly keen to emphasise the repointing of an Anglo-Irish relationship weakened by the Brexit years. There have been cordial summits and joint press conferences that really have seemed like a 1990s revival. But the election results indicate that the Brexit years haven’t really passed at all. Britain, particularly England, is still defined by profound divisions and anger to which no government appears able to adequately respond. Certainly not Keir Starmer’s.

Starmer may be replaced as leader by despairing Labour MPs, but if he is not, the next most likely prime minister is certain to have a radically different approach to Northern Ireland and British-Irish relations. That is of course Nigel Farage, a man who cares so deeply about sensitive questions in Northern Ireland that he performed an “Up the Ra” salutation in a Cameo video for a small fee. His party’s Brexit spokesperson, Danny Kruger, told the hardline Traditional Unionist Voice conference that the party would complete the so-called “unfinished business” of Brexit by reopening EU-UK agreement on the Irish Border. They take a predictably trenchant line on protecting British veterans from accountability over unlawful Troubles killings.

Govt by Spivs

All this is merely to list the various profound policy challenges a Reform-led government would present for the North and British-Irish relations. But there is a deeper question: at what point are citizens in the North entitled to say they do not want to live in a country run by Farage? That question goes far beyond the constituency traditionally defined as nationalist, and includes many people – and many in my constituency from unionist backgrounds – who are horrified at the prospect of a UK run by and for the coterie of charlatans and spivs that surround Farage.

These are the kinds of people whose Irish passport forms I sign regularly. Whatever view they have on our constitutional future – and there is a fascinating spectrum of views far beyond the traditional binary – many have been encouraged to think of the Irish State in new ways in recent years. They haven’t just applied for passports to avoid queues on their summer holidays, they have seen the investments of the Shared Island Fund as an alternative to the sclerosis at Stormont. And seen the relative sanity of politics in Dublin, notwithstanding all its challenges, as an alternative to the sometimes literal insanity of the last decade in British politics.

Rather than seeing it as an aggressive destabilisation of the North, people like this – many of them now Irish citizens – might want and expect a responsible Irish Government to be planning for change on this island that may be forced by events on the one next door.

Sam McBride and Fintan O’Toole’s landmark book, For and Against a United Ireland, posits potential scenarios in which a Farage-led government chooses for reasons of its own to force the question of a Border poll. The fact that it is hard to predict how Farage would act in office is its own argument for proper planning for all scenarios. And even if Reform is not put in government, the elections have underlined that the UK is a fundamentally more unstable and unpredictable entity than it was in 1998, even if we would wish it otherwise. And it is much poorer, with Brexit costing at least £100 billion a year in lost economic activity – a gap which is exacerbating pressure on public services, including north of the Border.

While it is misguided and even irresponsible to arbitrarily name dates for a referendum – something Sinn Féin has made a habit of – it is its own form of irresponsibility to act as if we can forever delay practical preparation.

My sister in law, a highly effective campaigning lawyer, enjoys keeping old episodes of Friends on in the background at home. Some nice, harmless ’90s nostalgia does no harm – but nostalgia cannot be a substitute for facing the world as it is, or taking responsibility for the future we want.

Matthew O’Toole MLA is leader of the Opposition in the NI Assembly

We need First Minister who will stand up for NI, says Little-Pengelly

REBECCA BLACK, Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

Northern Ireland needs a First Minister to stand up for it, not its abolition, the deputy First Minister has said.

Emma Little-Pengelly was speaking after Michelle O'Neill hailed the triumph of nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales as a “seismic political shift”, and the prospect of “three nationalist first ministers”.

Ms O'Neill also said she had already spoken to Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, who will become first minister of Wales, about how they can work together towards independence for their respective people.

In the Assembly, Ms Little-Pengelly told MLAs there were “different views on this issue in the Executive Office, between the First Minister and myself”.

“I believe what Northern Ireland really needs is a First and deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland, not a First Minister for the abolition of Northern Ireland,” she said.

“I do believe that we should be unashamedly proud of this place. I am. I will always turn up and stand up and speak up for Northern Ireland. I count it a huge honour and responsibility to get the opportunity to do so.

“I want to see economic growth in Northern Ireland for absolutely everyone, unionist, nationalist and neither, and I think that is the best way that we stabilise this place.

“That is the way that we provide a better future for everyone and that is what I am focused on.”

She added: “I am a unionist, and Michelle is a republican. We are not led by a nationalist. Northern Ireland is led by a co-equal First Minister and deputy First Minister.

“Secondly, Scotland has been led by a nationalist SNP first minister for 20 years, and that vote has gone down.

“Of Wales, what is absolutely clear is that there was a pro-Union majority out and voting in Wales, but split unionism cost the first minister position, and that is a lesson for everyone in Northern Ireland. Split unionism cost seats. Split unionism cost the First Minister position.

“I believe the Union is strong. I believe in working together across this UK, but most of all I believe in being deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland and supporting everyone in Northern Ireland.”

Loyalist AI film mocks deaths of PIRA men at Loughgall

CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, May 12th, 2026

AN AI-generated film appearing to mock the deaths of eight PIRA men at Loughgall has been criticised by their relatives

The video of several republicans being shot dead appeared online after a loyalist parade in Loughgall, Co Armagh, last Friday.

The parade, organised by Hillhaven Flute Band, coincided with the date of an SAS ambush on May 8, 1987, which resulted in the deaths of nine men, including eight IRA members, as they attempted to launch a gun and bomb attack on the village RUC station.

A passing civilian, Anthony Hughes, was also shot dead.

It is rare for parades and other events to be organised at the location where opponents have been killed, particularly on anniversaries.

The clip, believed to be AI created, shows an explosion going off outside the police station before several armed and masked men are pictured standing beside a blue van, similar to the one used by the PIRA, before they are shot dead and the vehicle riddled with bullets.

The eight-man IRA unit killed in a shootout with SAS soldiers following the bombing of the Loughgall RUC station, Co Armagh, in May 1987

Relatives of the dead are said to have been left upset by the graphic nature of the short film, which has been reported to police.

A spokesman for the PSNI said it “received a report regarding an online video” and “this has been recorded as a hate incident”.

The clips are believed to have been lifted from a longer AI-generated video glorifying the SAS, which was circulated earlier this year.

The images are included in a film that includes loyalist music and several bands parading through Loughgall, which was posted on a website linked to a bonfire in Moygashel, Co Tyrone.

A link to the film was later reposted by Hillhaven Flute Band.

2,000 attend

Mairead Kelly, whose brother Patrick Kelly was one of the PIRA men killed at Loughgall, said relatives of the dead are upset by the images.

A still image from a loyalist video appearing to ‘celebrate’ the SAS killing of eight IRA men in May 1987

“It’s disgusting, the lowest of the low thing to do, to make fun of people who have died,” she said. “I wonder if anyone who does this has actually lost anybody.”

And she added: “It’s wrong and it’s wrong for everybody.

“What would be the reaction if that was done by republicans at a site (where someone was killed).

“I would condemn it, but would anybody else condemn it, absolutely.”

Last week Ms Kelly said the putting up of an SAS flag at the site was a hate crime.

She believes unionists have given this year’s anniversary particular attention.

“It’s the 39th anniversary, why has there been such a concerted effort to offend people this year?” she asked.

Up to 37 bands, including 2,000 participants and supporters, were expected to attend the event last Friday.

The parade began and ended at the former police station, where most of the victims were killed.

The ex-RUC facility has since been converted into a museum for the Ulster Special Constabulary.

The businessman, the PIRA bomber and the property deal

Robin Schiller and Ken Foy, Irish Independent, May 12th, 2026

New searches carried out into unsolved 2009 murder of Liam Murray

In the months and years before being shot dead in the bedroom of his south Dublin home, Liam ‘Blackie’ Murray, who had survived a previous attempt on his life, was subjected to repeated threats.

A dispute over a property purchase has long been seen as a possible motive for the murder with a well-known businessman and a former PIRA bomber identified as the main suspects in both the threats and the murder itself.

Gardaí are now carrying out new searches as part of the cold‑case murder investigation in the hope of bringing it to a conclusion.

Senior sources said that the search site on Monday was targeted amid suspicions it could contain significant evidence.

“This operation happened as part of an ongoing peer review in the case – the search location is an area that had not been identified before.

“The suspicion is that significant evidence may be found at this location,” the source added.

Mr Murray (42), spent much of St Patrick’s Day, 2009 with friends in the Headline Bar on Clanbrassil Street, in the south city centre, leaving the premises at 6.17pm.

He drove his black Mitsubishi 4x4 to his home at Rockbrook Cottages on Edmonstown Road, Rathfarnham. His last known contact, with a friend, was at about 7.50pm.

Over the following days, Mr Murray’s family became concerned after failing to hear from him. His sister, Fiona, asked a friend to call to the house to check on him.

The friend, Patrick Hollingsworth, later told an inquest he arrived at the house on the morning of March 20 and found the back door open.

Inside the bedroom, he saw blood on the bed before pulling back the duvet and finding Mr Murray dead with a gunshot wound above his right eye. There were no signs of a struggle.

Gardaí in Terenure launched a murder investigation and spoke to witnesses who reported hearing possible gunshots on the evening of March 17.

Long series of threats

In 2006, a dog he owned went missing and was later found with its throat slit

A post-mortem examination later confirmed Mr Murray had been shot four times while lying defenceless in bed.

He was already known to gardaí, not for involvement in crime, but because he had been the victim of a long-standing campaign of threats, as well as a previous attempt to shoot him.

By early 2006, he began receiving threats from several individuals. Some were documented and recorded and complaints were made to gardaí.

The threats culminated in an attempt on his life on November 11, 2006, when shots were fired into his bedroom while he slept.

One friend later told the inquest he believed the shooting was linked to the purchase of a property in Dundrum in 2004.

While he worked as a mechanic and ran a small garage in Templeogue, Mr Murray had also dabbled in the property market. He was said to have experienced intimidation after buying the property.

In 2006, a dog he owned went missing and was later found with its throat slit.

His sister recalled at the inquest how the threats continued until at least May, 2007, though she said the family had “naively” believed the garda investigation was progressing.

In the weeks before his murder, Mr Murray was also involved in an incident in the Headline Bar.

He punched a man in the nose, with the aggrieved punter warning him that his brothers or friends would kill him.

The man is also alleged to have told Mr Murray he had saved him from being murdered weeks earlier.

Mr Murray’s family also said he received further threatening text mess­ages around that time.

The investigation, led by detectives in Terenure, generated around 1,900 lines of inquiry and involved taking about 700 statements.

In 2011, two brothers, then aged in their late 40s, were arrested as part of the investigation.

One was a well-known businessman, while the other was a former PIRA member who had previously served a sentence for a bombing offence.

The brothers are also understood to have been involved in the threats against Mr Murray before his death, as well as having been questioned as suspects for the murder itself. Both men were later released without charge.

In 2013, gardaí submitted a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who later ruled there was insufficient evidence to bring charges.

Gardaí are seeking to gather all available information and evidence to bring matter to a positive conclusion.

Inquest

In 2015, the Murray family secured a High Court order preventing the inquest from proceeding while they challenged a decision by the Dublin coroner not to release the garda investigation file to them. That challenge was rejected in 2018.

The inquest eventually proceeded in 2020, hearing evidence about the threats Mr Murray faced before his death and his interactions with friends and family in the days leading up to his murder.

Gardaí announced yesterday they were carrying out searches of land in Rathfarnham as part of the investigation into the killing.

They said their primary focus “is the victim, Liam Murray, and his family”.

“The investigation team are seeking to gather all available information and evidence to bring this matter to a positive conclusion,” a garda spokesperson said.

“Gardaí are continuing to appeal to any person who met, spoke or had any interaction with Liam Murray leading up to the discovery of his body on March 20, 2009.”

More than 17 years on from his death, nobody has yet been brought to justice for the murder.

Rathfarnham search in murder inquiry

CONOR LALLY,  Security and Crime Editor, Irish Times, May 12th, 2026

Gardaí investigating the unsolved murder of a mechanic and property investor in his south Dublin home 17 years ago have started searching land in Rathfarnham.

Liam Murray (42), a single man with no children, was found in the bedroom of his home at Rockbrook Cottages, Edmondstown Road, three days after being fatally wounded in his bed on St Patrick’s Day in 2009.

Murray was described as short-tempered and confrontational and had become embroiled in fights and tit-for-tat threats with a number of people. Some of his property dealings had also turned sour. Garda headquarters yesterday confirmed that a search of lands had started close to the deceased’s home as part of the murder inquiry.

Murray had spent St Patrick’s Day socialising in the Headline Bar on Clanbrassil Street in Dublin. He left the pub in the early evening and arrived home at about 6.20pm.

Gardaí have appealed for anyone who saw Murray on the day, including driving his black Mitsubishi Pajero, to contact the investigation team. He is described as being 5ft 10in tall and of stocky build, with short, dark-brown curly hair.

Murray’s murder was investigated against the backdrop of several fights he had been involved in, including one at a pub two weeks before his death. His property dealings were also examined as part of the inquiry.

In 2011, two men were arrested for questioning about the fatal shooting and a file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). However, it did not advance criminal charges due to there being insufficient evidence to ground a prosecution. One of the men arrested was a former IRA member. The second was a Dublin businessman and close associate of the former PIRA man.

Murray’s family have long campaigned for justice, including applying to the courts to secure information in the Garda file compiled for the DPP. They have been appraised of the latest developments in the case, which involves a search for evidence that may aid the murder investigation.

In 2020, Murray’s sister told an inquest into his death that both she and her brother faced threats and intimidation in the years before his death. She said that when the threats were reported to the Garda, her brother was advised to take security precautions.

Stop turning blind eye to the Republic's discrimination against A-level students

MICHAEL CAIRNS, Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

POLITICIANS MUST DO MORE TO STOP OUR PUPILS BEING DISADVANTAGED

In recent days, A-level students have had to finalise their university choices with the UK's admissions body UCAS, making a decision that will shape their possible careers and their lives.

Northern Ireland applicants are in a position where they can apply for places in our two home universities or others across Great Britain, or they can seek places in the Republic.

In reality, however, the latter option of going across the border is for the exceptional elite academic performers only, as the southern admissions system is discriminatory against Northern Ireland students.

The reason for this is based on the points system in the Republic, where entry is gained to courses on the number of points allocated to the Leaving Certificate or to A-level grades.

Students in the Republic take six to eight subjects in their final secondary school years, with top marks in a subject bringing 100 points, or an H1 grade, and those obtaining an H2 grade receiving 88 points. One A* grade from the north is worth 192 points and a grade A is equivalent to just over one and a half H1s.

Leaving Cert students have a full transition year break prior to their final studies and do not have to go through the huge pressures that come with the AS level exams imposed on lower sixth students in Northern Ireland.

Comparing the requirements of entry for degrees in law and medicine shows just how wide the entry requirement gap is and how northerners are clearly not on a level playing field.

While Queen's and Ulster University don't express their entry requirements in points, but in A-level grades, using the equivalence table from the Republics admissions body, the CAO, it is simple to convert the grades to points. An A* is 192, and A is 165 and a B is 142 points.

For acceptance at Queen's to do medicine, a student needs the equivalent of 522 CAO points. The same course at Trinity in Dublin requires 739 points and at UCD 625 points. The Queen's entry-level can be reached with three A-levels at grade A, while it is impossible to do without a fourth A-level for the Dublin institutions.

For a law degree, Trinity asks for 577 points, which can only be achieved with four A-levels at high grade or three A* and an A grade in an AS subject. The equivalent at Queen's is 495 points — 3 A-grade A-levels. Entry to law at UCD requires 564 points, whilst Ulster's equivalent points would be 472 points.

On a recent open day for law at the Dublin universities, I was struck by how few potential students and parents were there from the north.

I was also struck by the disappointment on many parents' faces when they did the maths during the coffee break and realised they were in a cold house as far as their children's admission chances went.

The Republic's Economic and Social Research Institute report on this disparity in 2023 recognised that few NI students take four A-levels and said this disadvantaged northern applicants. It highlighted law, medicine and business degree courses in particular. Little has been done to act on these recommendations and despite some acknowledgement of the issue by leading Irish politicians like Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris, there has been no meaningful change.

Perhaps their Shared Island Initiative should look at what it can do to pressure southern universities into adapting in full to the ESRI report.

Likewise, those organising united Ireland discussions may want to think of putting it on their agenda, as too should political parties, which outwardly champion more integration on “this island”.

Silence of the MLAS

On the republican side, why has Sinn Féin not made this inequality an issue to tackle, given it is one which actually undermines those who perhaps don't want to go to university in Britain, but go to an Irish university? Is Sinn Féin happy with the level of northern students getting flights to GB universities? Is it too middle-class an issue for them?

And on the unionist side, why is there no active lobbying by the DUP or UUP to get the Irish Government to address the barriers put before those who emerge from Northern Ireland's grammar school system?

Perhaps there are other forces involved in this that the cynic in me might question. Is it in the interests of the powerful private schools in the Republic to ensure there isn't a level playing field for northern students?

Do the small number of places in the legal and medicine courses make opposition to change more likely if boys from the influential institutions of Blackrock or Clongowes Wood find themselves up against girls and boys from schools such as Methody, Our Lady and St Patrick's, or Lumen Christi in Derry?

The inequality plays into the annual exodus to other parts of the UK by hundreds of those with A-levels in the bag who don't see Belfast as a place to experience student life.

Dublin is one alternative but GB has many more such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool and London where there is in fact a welcome on the mat.

Michael Cairns is a former Head of Communications at the Northern Ireland Assembly

Parts of gun used in gangland killing linked to ONH murder bid on taxi driver, court told

ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, May 12th, 2026

MURDER victim Kevin Conway was gunned down in west Belfast as part of a cycle of reprisals over gangland killings, the High Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutors also revealed that parts of one gun used in the shooting were used in a subsequent dissident republican attempt to assassinate taxi driver Sean O’Reilly.

Details emerged as a man charged with the murder of Mr Conway mounted a bid to lift the ban on him driving any vehicles.

Aidan O’Keefe (29) is currently on bail facing prosecution for his alleged role in the killing carried out during the underworld feud.

Mr Conway (26) was shot dead at his home in Rossnareen Park on January 9 2024.

He had been associated with notorious criminal organisation The Firm and was awaiting trial for the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan, Co Armagh 12 months previously.

The killers are believed to have entered his flat and opened fire with a shotgun and a pistol minutes after he messaged to friend to say he was relaxing by playing a games console.

O’Keefe and co-accused Fergal Kane (55) have been charged with the murder as part of a joint enterprise.

Both men’s addresses in Belfast cannot be reported due to the risk of any attack on them.

Prosecutors claimed the two defendants travelled in convoy by van and car to the scene of the killing.

They are connected by CCTV evidence, a vehicle tracking device and registration plate sightings on the night of the murder, it was alleged.

Previous courts also heard a shotgun cartridge was discovered inside O’Keefe’s work van, and he is suspected of making Google searches about one-way flights to America in the aftermath of the fatal attack.

He was initially granted High Court bail in October 2024, but detained in December 2025 for allegedly breaching the terms of his release.

Reprisals

Prosecution counsel said O’Keefe had more than one permitted mobile phone and was stopped in a car registered to another man facing terrorism charges.

In January this year he was released again but only al lowed to travel as a passenger in any private motor vehicle.

O’Keefe sought to vary those conditions so that he could take up employment as a repair worker.

But the prosecution suggested the job may involve going into customers’ homes across Northern Ireland while facing charges linked to a deadly dispute.

“This murder was part of a cycle of reprisals and gangland killings,” counsel submitted.

Madam Justice McBride was also told of a possible link to dissident republican organisations, and to a separate bid to kill Mr O’Reilly just over a year later.

The 49-year-old was seriously wounded when gunmen opened fire on him at a cab firm on Bell Steel Manor, west Belfast.

“Parts of the handgun which were used in (the Kevin Conway) murder were linked to the subsequent attempted murder of Mr Sean O’Reilly in February 2025, which itself was part of an Oglaigh na hEireann feud,” counsel disclosed.

O’Keefe is not accused of any involvement in the later attack on the taxi driver.

Opposing the bail variation, however, counsel asked: “Bearing in mind the reprisal nature of the alleged offence, will customers be advised of the risks before he works for them?”

Defence barrister Michael Forde argued O’Keefe has a legitimate offer of employment and only had to seek permission because of the driving requirements.

Adjourning the application, Madam Justice McBride indicated she wanted to know more about the employer’s views.

She added: “This man would be going into the homes of people (for) repair works.

“What checks did the employer do in terms of those they employ?”

Peace process saved in 1998 by the compromises nearly broke unionism

MALACHI O'DOHERTY, Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

What if David Trimble had not accepted the Good Friday Agreement, but had walked away? In essence, he didn't accept it. He was helped over the line by a secret additional clause penned by Tony Blair, for his eyes only. That was a promise that he would exclude Sinn Féin from the new Assembly if the IRA did not decommission its weapons.

But what if Trimble had walked? I ask myself this after reading Stephen Walker's illuminating biography: David Trimble: Peacemaker (Gill Books).

The IRA would have resumed bombing public buildings and killing police officers and soldiers. A faction calling itself the Real IRA had not stopped and its disdain for Adams and the peace process would have been, in their eyes, validated.

If Hume and Adams could not have revived the talks, then their political careers would have been over. Hume was burnt out by then anyway and it is hard to imagine who could have taken over the leadership of the SDLP since the whole top tier was fully committed to that strategy and was ageing too.

Sinn Féin's vote would likely have continued to grow on the argument that unionism had baulked at a deal, proven itself again to be fundamentally intransigent.

There might also have been another fracturing in the pro-agreement wing of the IRA. Those prisoners who had been anticipating agreement and their own early release, would have had to accept that they would now have to stay in jail, some for at least another decade.

The agreement should have contained a clear trade-off between arms decommissioning and prisoner releases. But Tony Blair told Stephen Walker that he did not believe that that would have been possible.

Do we really believe this? We'll never know. The IRA kept their weapons because they were able to and used them to block progress. They used intimations of a willingness to decommission, alternating with blanket refusals, to drag out political negotiations after the agreement and to break Trimble.

And why did they want to break Trimble?

Because that way they were to become the foremost nationalists confronting unionism and thereby enlarging their own vote. They probably weren't all that interested in going into the Assembly anyway until they had overtaken the SDLP.

Also, by holding out against decommissioning, which had to happen some time, they retained a sense of their own prestige and legitimacy. The IRA stayed armed during a British Army withdrawal, the dismantling of security force bases and reform of the police and that, in their view, must have established their prior legitimacy over all those forces.

Facilitated by Blair

The weapons represented the legitimacy of the IRA. Why should the IRA concede to the state a greater right to bear arms if it thought that it was itself the legitimate army of Ireland, Óglaigh na hÉireann?

Reading the concentrated account of the sequence of events in Stephen Walker's book, you see how the republicans played Trimble.

There were repeated efforts to get Adams to use forms of words that signalled intent to disarm when they must have seen that his determination to be ambiguous was a clear sign that he wanted latitude for the IRA to drag things out even further.

And in all this, they were facilitated by Tony Blair.

Trimble, in the end, believed in the agreement but said that he had been betrayed by Blair and the IRA and that is a fair analysis.

Eventually, the IRA did agree to decommission to facilitate an agreement, revised at St Andrews, with the DUP. But can they realistically have expected that they could have had both the guns and a functioning agreement? They were not that stupid. But they may have felt that there was no point in a deal that did not include the DUP, for without them on board they would always be carping from behind, the way the TUV does now.

They probably did not expect in 1998 that a deal with the DUP would ever be possible, so what did they want? They wanted politics, the growth of Sinn Féin and an end to the IRA campaign.

Politics would not mean, necessarily, an Assembly. There was a big game on even without the Assembly, painting unionism into a corner. Or it may indeed be that Adams was moving the IRA along as best he could against unmanageable resistance. Yeah, maybe. Had the tradeoff been made between weapons and prisoners, the split in the IRA might have been greater.

Everything worked to the advantage of Adams through the long decommissioning deadlock, because it enabled growth in the party in response to perceived unionist intransigence.

But just think of those hundreds of prisoners waiting on Good Friday 1998 for the news that they were getting out early and ask yourself how they were likely to have reacted if their expectations had been flouted by their own movement refusing to decommission weapons it now had no intention of using. 

Malachi O'Doherty will be interviewing Stephen Walker about his biographies of John Hume and David Trimble at the Ballyscullion Festival on Sunday at noon

1,000 pallets piled up beside substation that supplies two hospitals

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME and SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, May 5th, 2026

The site, in the loyalist Village area of south Belfast, is beside a major substation that provides power to the City and Royal Victoria Hospitals.

Last week, councillors in Belfast voted on a Sinn Féin proposal to serve an abatement notice as concerns rise about the number of pallets being stored at the site. In recent weeks, gates securing the privately-owned site have been removed, allowing the delivery of hundreds of pallets.

Despite widespread concerns that the power supply to the hospitals could be put at risk, loyalists have again stacked more than 1,000 pallets beside the substation.

It is understood the abatement notice will result in ‘danger’ signs being put up around the site, warning of the health risks.

It is believed the signage will also warn that anyone going onto the site could be prosecuted.

There was controversy last year when asbestos was found in the area of the bonfire.

Located close to the Westlink, the site was the focus of a major incident declared by police.

‘Public health issue’ fears grow about controversial bonfire

Ahead of the Eleventh Night pyre being lit, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) removed around 20kg of material from the site, which is owned by Boron Developments Ltd.

The owners later carried out their own remedial work in the area, during which more hazardous material was removed.

The NIEA has confirmed the empty site still has “fragments of asbestos” and urged the public to avoid it.

Sinn Féin councillor Ciaran Beattie said: “The asbestos on this site poses a serious risk to anyone in close proximity, including local residents.

“This is a clear public health issue which could endanger lives and must be dealt with before serious harm is caused,” he said.

“In council, we have proposed a number of measures to address this, including the serving of an abatement notice.”

Northern Ireland Electricity has previously expressed concerns over the bonfire’s “proximity to the substation causing potential risk to critical infrastructure and power outages”.

A spokeswoman for NIE Networks said it “continually advises all members of the public to stay well clear of all electricity equipment”.

North has more drink-related deaths than Scotland

ALLAN PRESTON, Irish News, May 12th, 2025

NORTHERN Ireland now has a higher proportion of alcohol-specific deaths than Scotland for the first time.

New figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics showed a drastic change in outcomes in recent decades.

Two decades ago, Scotland had twice the number of alcohol deaths per capita than the north.

In 2001, there were 26.1 deaths per 100,000 people in Scotland compared to 12.4 in Northern Ireland, 10.1 in Wales and 8.9 in England.

By 2024, Northern Ireland climbed to a rate of 21.4 deaths with Scotland at 20.9, Wales at 16.8 and England at 13.8.

Across the four regions as a whole, the ONS said that alcohol deaths were at their lowest level since 2021 (14.8 deaths per 100,000) but that the “modest reduction” was “not cause for complacency.”

People in deprived areas were still disproportionately affected and were “between three and four times more likely” to die as a result of alcohol.

A total of 9,809 deaths from alcohol were registered in the UK in 2024, meaning deaths as a direct consequence of alcohol such as alcoholic liver disease.

In Northern Ireland, the total for 2024 was 397, the highest rate in two decades.

Dr Katherine Severi, chief executive at the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said: “The fall in alcohol deaths from 2023 to 2024 offers a small but welcome sign that the UK is moving in the right direction – but let’s be clear: alcohol deaths remain at a deeply unacceptable level and we cannot allow that to become normal.

“These deaths were unacceptably high before the pandemic. They rose sharply during it. A modest reduction is not cause for complacency – it is cause for redoubling efforts.”

Above pre-pandemic levels

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman at the Alcohol Health Alliance, said that the deaths still “remain far too high and are still significantly above pre-pandemic levels”.

“It is a stark reminder that alcohol harm continues to devastate thousands of families and communities across every year.”

In England, the north-west region had the highest death rate of 21.1, compared to London with the lowest at 10.9.

Dr Severi said that people “cannot ignore the scale of inequality behind these figures”.

“People in the most deprived communities are still between three and four times more likely to die from alcohol than those in the least deprived areas, despite drinking less,” she said.

“That gap is neither inevitable nor acceptable.”

Men were still around twice as likely to die from alcohol than women at a rate of 20.2.

Death rates in those aged 25-79 fell compared to 2023, while the rates for the over 80s increased.

Dr Richard Piper, chief executive of Alcohol Change UK, said: “Behind these figures are real families.

“A drop in alcohol-specific deaths is good news but must not lull any of us, including the government, into a false sense of security about alcohol harm in the UK.

“While the government has ambitious national plans to tackle issues like smoking and cancer, it’s falling short on meaningful policies to prevent alcohol harm. This needs to change.

“It’s time to rid our shelves of high-strength alcohol at pocket-money prices, create a modern licensing system to address round-the-clock availability of alcohol and better protect all of us – especially our children – from relentless alcohol marketing.”

Fall-out continues for NI Law Society after CEO’s character reference for paedophile

Brett Campbell, Belfast Telegraph, May 12th, 2026

Rosemary Connolly, who retired as an employment solicitor in March, said many members of the group which represents the legal profession are “disappointed” with the apology offered by David Lavery in an email they received.

She said the correspondence had “no focus on the impact on victims” and described Mr Lavery's decision to tell a Crown Court judge that the child sex offender was a person of “good character” as “inexplicable”.

Law Society members were told its CEO had expressed remorse to the body's executive committee for claiming the man convicted of abusing four schoolgirls in the 1970s was “a person of sound judgment”.

The email, signed off by the society's president Mark Borland, told members that “David Lavery has apologised sincerely and unreservedly to council and has acknowledged that providing the reference was a serious error of judgment”.

Ms Connolly criticised the decision to defer the matter to the next meeting of the executive committee, which will take place in June, and said serious questions need to be answered before then.

“If this was a lapse of judgment like he says — and it was an extraordinary one at that — then you have to ask, why did he do it?” she said. 

“It wrongly taints the entire profession, and what message does it send to victims? This was clearly an appalling situation and requires immediate action of the most significant nature.

“The CEO occupies a pivotal role and is a figurehead for the legal profession; this needs to be dealt with promptly and the executive committee should take appropriate action.”

Referring to Taoiseach Micheál Martin's comments last month when he warned that public representatives should “refrain” from providing character references to anyone convicted of abuse or violence, Ms Connolly said courts in Northern Ireland should not accept such endorsements.

Mr Martin was commenting on a row over Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon providing a reference for convicted child sex offender Daniel Ramamoorthy in the Republic.

“The only reason such a reference was sought was because Mr Lavery is a person of standing within the community,” Ms Connolly said.

“There's no room whatsoever for character references, and certainly not in cases of this nature. It doubles down on the sense of betrayal victims already feel.

“Given the nature of such offences, given the nature of Mr Lavery's standing in the community, and given that he represents solicitors, it is just dumbfounding to me that it could have been considered an appropriate thing to do.

“I do think it calls for appropriate action to be taken by the executive committee.

“Other individuals in similar situations have considered it a resigning issue.”

Private secretary to former First Minister David Trimble

Mr Glennon said he would be “resigning from any and all employment, consultancies, and directorships that I currently hold” after he apologised for the reference he wrote.

He did the right thing by quitting before he was pushed, Ms Connolly said.

Many practising solicitors have expressed “disgust” to the Belfast Telegraph, but said they are “scared” to speak out publicly.

According to one source, the CEO was pressed on three key questions before conceding his mistake, including his intention in providing the reference and whether he accepts the guilt of the defendant as found by the court.

It's understood Mr Lavery was also asked if he anticipated what the impact could be on his position as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and reputation as a former CEO of the NI Courts and Tribunals Service by his decision to write the reference.

The Queen's University and Harvard Law School graduate previously served as deputy permanent secretary at the Department of Justice and as principal private secretary to former First Minister David Trimble from 1998-2001.

The Law Society was contacted for comment, but provided a statement based on its email to members insisting the committee considered the matter “with deep concern and with the gravity it requires” in light of the society's “commitment to justice, equality, the rule of law and its advocacy on behalf of victims and survivors of sexual abuse”.

A spokesperson said Mr Lavery provided the reference “because of a family relationship but accepts that he should have considered the impact character references in sexual offence cases can have on victims and survivors”.

“The executive committee has asked the society's personnel committee to oversee the development of a new protocol on senior officers providing personal or professional references,” they added.

“This matter has also highlighted wider concerns around character references in cases involving sexual violence, abuse or serious harm.

“The Law Society believes it is appropriate to engage with justice sector partners to consider whether clearer guidance, policy change or legal reform is required in relation to the use of such references.

“The issues arising from this matter will be subject to further consideration, including by the Law Society's Council.”

Some Law Society members accused the executive committee of trying to focus attention on a future policy for office holders, rather than the past actions of Mr Lavery.

Two victims of Lloyd-Lavery have called for changes to the law to prevent sex offenders from using character references as mitigation.

Doug Beattie battling to save Stormont seat as local UUP set to oust him

By David Thompson, Belfast News Letter, May 12th, 2026

Former UUP leader Doug Beattie is facing deselection by his local constituency association, and will run as an independent in the next Assembly election if he is rejected by his party.

Local members look set to pick councillor Kyle Savage to be the party’s candidate at a key meeting next month.

Only one candidate will be put forward for the 2027 poll, and that looks set to be Mr Savage.

Doug Beattie has had a difficult relationship with his local association for some time – as well as with some party officers. His relationship with the latter resulted in the end of his leadership of the party.

There has also been a wider tension between the party’s longer serving MLAs in the Assembly and party members – many of whom view them as too liberal or indecisive.

Those same members are believed to have been behind Jon Burrows’s uncontested romp to victory when Mike Nesbitt vacated the leadership in January.

The only potential challenger was Lagan Valley MLA Robbie Butler, who decided against putting his name forward.

Since then, there has been some tension within the MLA group, with some of the Stormont old guard unhappy at the direct and combative approach of the new leader.

The BBC reported on Tuesday that there was “anger” about a recent video posted on the party's X site, which featured Mr Burrows standing in front of Stormont's Parliament Buildings.

In the clip he said “People deserve better. For too long the people in here have delivered for themselves and not for the people of Northern Ireland.”

One source told the broadcaster: “He could have at least said some parties differentiating between his own party and some of the others.”

The BBC reported that the leader was asked to delete the video but refused.

COMMENT: LETTERS, Irish News, May 15th, 2026

Pope’s approach may yet prove most radical form of leadership

THE old Vatican worry that an American pope would become a kind of spiritual branch office of Washington now looks rather quaint.

In Pope Leo XIV, we seem instead to have acquired something rarer – an American who is not especially impressed by America. With May 8 marking his first anniversary as pope, it is a time to reflect on the kind of leadership he has come to embody.

Leo’s biography – Chicago Roots, Peruvian Ministry, Global Outlook – has produced a style of leadership that contrasts rather sharply with the more familiar models on the world stage. Where Donald Trump favours volume, and Vladimir Putin prefers velocity (of tanks, if not always of ideas), Leo has opted for something almost unfashionable: quiet persistence. He does not so much seize the microphone as remove the need for one.

What is striking is that his American background seems to give him the freedom to question American power without sounding reflexively anti-American. It hints that legitimacy in the 21st century may come not from strength loudly asserted, but from restraint visibly practised. In that sense, Leo may be less a counterweight to Washington than a commentary upon it.

There is also a subtle irony at play. The papacy, once feared as a meddler in national sovereignty, now appears one of the few institutions attempting to speak above it. Leo’s willingness to challenge both war-making and political tribalism suggests a leadership model that is neither nationalist nor reflexively globalist, but something more difficult – consciously universal.

This approach will grow in relevance rather than diminish. As political leaders increasingly speak to their bases, figures like Leo – who seem to speak past bases altogether – may become unexpectedly influential. Not because they command armies or votes, but because they command attention without demanding it.

In a noisy age, that may yet prove the most radical form of leadership.

ENDA CULLEN, Tullysaran, Co Armagh