Troubles informers are facing prospect of new legal action
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME and SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, March 30th, 2023
A FORMER driver for Gerry Adams and a British agent accused of trying to “buy a baby” from a vulnerable woman are among a number of Troubles informers facing new legal action, it has emerged.
Roy McShane, who is believed to have spied on Mr Adams, was exposed as a double agent in 2008 and taken into protective custody by MI5, is now facing allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour.
Known as ‘Roy the Rat’, former republican McShane was a driver for Sinn Féin during the early years of the peace process and is believed to have worked with Mr Adams and other senior party members. Sinn Féin later said McShane was stood down from his driving role “due to suspicions” he was an agent.
It has now emerged a woman is taking legal action against McShane over allegations “she was forced into a coercive and controlling relationship with him over many years”.
Allegations of sexual violence, abuse and controlling behaviour
He is one of several former high-profile former agents facing court action over allegations of sexual violence, abuse and controlling behaviour.
A series of disturbing allegations have also been made by three woman against double agent Peter Keeley, who is also known by the name Kevin Fulton.
The former RUC, MI5 and military asset has been linked to the deaths of several people, including British soldiers, police officers and civilians.
It has been claimed that Keeley attempted to “purchase” a baby from a woman he had “set up for arrest and prosecution”.
An alleged victim has claimed “sexual activities were arranged in return for rental accommodation” and that Keeley “arranged sexual encounters for other security force personnel”.
He also stands accused of “compromising women and others by surreptitiously recording sexual acts”.
Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, said the allegations against Keeley “reflect highly organised patterns of sexual exploitation that intersect paramilitary, intelligence and state-linked structures during the conflict”.
Child abuse allegation against Scappaticci
Other claims centre on notorious British Agent Stakeknife, revealed in 2003 to be Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci.
An ex-commander in the IRA’s Internal Security Unit, he has been linked to multiple murders.
In 2019, The Irish News revealed that a Belfast woman was suing Scappaticci, who died in 2023, for sexually assaulting her when she was a child.
The former agent was accused of assaulting the woman between 1976 and 1978.
The activities of Scappaticci, who has not been officially named, have been investigated by Operation Kenova.
Allegations have also been made by the daughter of a former loyalist commander who says she was involved in a 15-year relationship with a security force intelligence officer.
The victim believes the intelligence officer was gathering information on her father’s paramilitary associates.
Details of the legal cases emerged after British minister for safeguarding and violence Jess Phillips said people who suffered sexual violence during the Troubles “absolutely deserve to have that story told and writ large”.
The Labour MP made the comments when she recently appeared before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC).
During the session, she was asked by South Antrim MP Robin Swann if the use of coercive control, sexual control and rape “as a weapon” during the Troubles should be included in the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill, which aims to repeal and replace the controversial Legacy Act.
The MP compared sexual violence used against women in the north during the Troubles to ‘honour crime’ carried out in England.
Mr Winters has now written to the NIAC to highlight the plight of his clients and make them aware of the ongoing legal action.
In a detailed submission the solicitor requested that the committee “formally include conflict related sexual violence, sexual coercion, grooming, and exploitation within the scope of its Troubles research and recommend the same for any legislative amendment”.
He also asks that the “experiences of women abused by paramilitary, state agents, or security force personnel are explicitly recognised within truth recovery, memorialisation, and accountability processes”.
Mr Winters suggested there needs to be an “acknowledgement of the gender specific nature of many Trouble related harms, including coercive control and sexual exploitation involving intelligence structures”.
The solicitor said the cases highlighted in his submission “demonstrate that sexual violence, coercive control, and gender based abuses were not isolated or peripheral to the conflict but, for many women, formed a structurally embedded part of Trouble related harm”.
He added: “Our clients’ experiences directly reflect the concerns raised in NIAC’s recent evidence session and should be incorporated into both research and statutory recognition.”
In Northern Ireland, the ‘armed patriarchy’ is alive, well and terrorising women
ELAINE CRORY, Irish Times, March 30th, 2026
For our small population, we are outstripping other jurisdictions in one area only – the murder of women
Nearly every newspaper had a version of the same front cover. Two young women, blonde hair, bright smiles and even brighter futures; at a glance you could almost mistake them for sisters. The real connection between them is much darker; Natalie McNally, victim of a brutal murder in December 2022, whose murderer was finally brought to justice on Monday, and Amy Doherty, who was murdered the day before.
Between Natalie McNally and Amy Doherty sit the names of 13 other women, and more if you count girls. One woman, Ellie Flanagan, was added to this terrible litany earlier in the month.
Outside the courtroom, McNally’s brother Declan spoke to the media and called violence against women and girls the “shame of our society”, and he is correct. Northern Ireland has a mammoth problem. For our small population, we are outstripping other jurisdictions in one area over all others – the murder of women. Looking at the map which Women’s Aid maintains, which uses a dot to represent every woman murdered on the island, the eye is immediately drawn to the northeast. What on earth is going on up there? It’s difficult to know where to start.
The North is haunted by its ever-present past – the long shadow of the conflict means that a form of violence which was characterised until recently as merely “domestic” did not get the attention it deserved. This has created a situation where some are primed to dismiss the range of behaviours that we call violence against women and girls as simply not that big a deal by comparison. The conflict also remains a drain on the financial resources of the state; legacy costs millions to police and administer. Meanwhile, Westminster is steadfast in its refusal to recognise the differences here, or to contribute to our work on what they recognise as a “national emergency”. And, of course, there’s the shadow of the gunman that lurks close by; paramilitaries continue to operate, an incubus in the most deprived communities anywhere on these islands. The “armed patriarchy” is alive and well, decommissioning or not.
Another underappreciated factor is the state’s financial position. There are nowhere near enough social homes to cope with need, so often when someone is considering leaving an abusive home, the best we can offer them is inappropriate and temporary accommodation hours away from their support network or their children’s school – so they stay. Suffering with mental or physical impacts from abuse? Join a long waiting list. Willing to face your abuser down in court? We have a waiting list for that, too.
The lack of political consistency also cannot be overstated. Almost half of the time since the Belfast Agreement, the Assembly has simply not been operational. The stop-start nature of government causes endless delays; coercive control legislation had to be restarted from the beginning after the 2017-2020 collapse, for example. The provision to allow 10 days of paid leave for domestic abuse survivors – a piece of legislation so innovative and influential that other jurisdictions have since implemented their own version – remains in limbo a full four years after it passed in the Assembly.
Speaking from the bitter personal experience of working in the women’s movement, we have had to drag our politicians, kicking and screaming the whole way, to a place where they acknowledge that violence against women and girls is something which even merits a strategic approach. People who should know better, and who now share responsibility for making the strategy work, argued with their full chests that it was not needed, that it would somehow harm or diminish men. When they finally agreed, it still took years to implement, beginning work only in January 2025, a full 15 years after the first strategy in England and Wales.
Lack of strategic process
Almost immediately, however, the politicians who could not see the need for the work a few short years ago are bemused and bewildered. We invested in this work, they cry; why has it not eradicated the problem?
Why, indeed? I have a few ideas. Among them is the reality that, despite legislation from Westminster mandating comprehensive relationships and sexuality education in schools, it remains a postcode lottery. Meanwhile, as prevention work began, a different department cut funding to Women’s Aid for its shelter provision. The attitudinal change needed is not led from the top; after an MLA was reprimanded for the dismissive and misogynistic attitude he displayed to a committee chair, the discussion focused on free speech and the importance of “robust challenge”. Then, his party – the TUV – printed the words that he said on pens to distribute at their conference. That was last weekend.
They keep letting the focus wander. When the far right sought to co-opt the issue of violence against women in their racist pogroms just last year, some of our politicians wanted to examine their “reasonable concerns”. And underlying it all is persistent underinvestment; after naming violence against women and girls as a priority issue in the first Programme for Government they managed to cobble together since 2011, the financial allocation to it in the current draft budget is at the bottom of the pile, trailing the others by a wide margin.
If I was less angry about all of this, I might simply repeat the truth I’ve said all week; this needs careful, preventive work and it will take time to come to fruition. But sometimes, and this is one of those times, it feels like bailing out a sinking ocean liner with a paper cup, while onlookers shout unhelpful advice from a safe distance.
The depth of the problem is unfathomable, and until we grasp it fully and address the contributing factors and various barriers, we will never succeed. If our politicians demand sweeping societal change, they need to show up with generational funding and their sleeves rolled up, not just honeyed words and expressions of concern.
Elaine Crory is the women’s sector lobbyist at the Women’s Resource & Development Agency
Can Hilary Benn finally cut through legacy’s Gordian knot?
TOM KELLY, Irish News, March 30th, 2026
MOST people know the legend of the Gordian knot, tied by King Gordius of Phrygia, which it was prophesied only a future conqueror of Asia could untie.
Along came Alexander the Great, with little time or patience to unravel the intricacies of the knot, so he simply slashed through it with his blade.
The Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, must wish he too could simply cut through the issues surrounding legacy, because it’s increasingly clear that it is becoming a Gordian knot.
Finding a resolution which brings justice, truth and reconciliation whilst satisfying all sides is an almost impossible task. But Benn is trying hard.
Many of the issues faced by the current incumbent of Hillsborough Castle are not his making.
Benn inherited an omnishambles from the previous Tory government and, in particular, the hasty and reckless attempts by vested interests in protecting errant former British security personnel and their shady bosses.
The Conservative government rushed through legacy legislation, which only succeeded in alienating all the local political parties – a feat in itself. It also went ahead and appointed commissioners and set up a framework and infrastructure around a legacy body which no-one agreed to.
The body embarked on a public relations exercise to win over hearts and minds, but the overwhelming majority of survivors and families of victims have ignored its overtures.
Some, worn down by time and battered and bruised by bureaucratic obstruction, have gone to the so-called (and impossibly named) Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) more in hope than expectation.
Others have simply given up or sadly passed away, their voices silenced by exhaustion or buried in their graves.
There is little doubt the previous UK government hoped victims’ voices would fade with the passage of time.
The revelations by this paper, which show many ex-RUC officers and security personnel were recruited amongst the staff of the ICRIR, have fuelled real and imagined fears amongst victims’ groups.
In a world where perception often matters more than reality, there should be some deep reflection amongst those leading the body.
They could fix this perception problem and prevent further negative contagion to the reforms of the current Secretary of State and the UK/Irish governments. Inaction will simply add another layer of suspicion to the conspiracy theorists’ long list.
Successive British governments (and, on occasion, Irish) have failed victims, survivors and their families every bit as much as the RUC and the justice process which oversaw the greater part of the Troubles.
Secretary of State Hilary Benn and Tánaiste Simon Harris unveiled a new framework for dealing with the legacy of the past in September
The RUC’s mishandling of evidence, poor investigations, and the long history of collusion and running of agents did little to get a grip on Troubles-related murders and crimes.
To date, the current Secretary of State is amongst the most earnest members of any British Government.
His task is not made easier by gungho Tories and reactionary members of Reform who are making out that every veteran who served in NI will be put on trial because of Benn’s replacement and reform of the odious Legacy Act.
Chris Heaton-Harris was all hale and hearty, while Benn’s more crafted approach is much less flamboyant but requires faith. Faith which needs the goodwill of all players including the ICRIR.
The Tory/Reform catcalls are not only untrue but they’re jingoistic nonsense and self-serving.Neither the defence services (serving or retired personnel) nor the British Legion should allow themselves to be fooled, misled, or lured into a far-right narrative which is nothing more than a false flag being raised by political opportunists.
The overwhelming majority of veterans who served did so without dishonouring their uniform or themselves.
Statistics and Lies
However, during the 38 years of Operation Banner, when some 300,000 army personnel served in Northern Ireland, only six ever faced charges, and only one was convicted of manslaughter, and he was given a suspended sentence. Those figures are as stark as they are startling.
It sends the completely wrong message to those unfit to serve in uniform that you can do almost anything and get away with it.
In Iraq, there were over 3,400 allegations of ill or inhumane treatment by British armed forces on Iraqi civilians, and a government-appointed inquiry team did not find in favour of any – which statistically must be impossible.
During the Iraq War, out of 140,000 UK military personnel who served between 2003-2010, only 25 were ever charged, with only four convicted.
The political hyperbole about the repeal and reform of the Legacy Act does not stand up to scrutiny. If anything, soldiers are practically given immunity for war crimes.
The current investigative and judicial system, such as it is, serves to unfairly and unjustly protect soldiers, not prosecute or persecute them.
The Irish Government and its predecessors have also been found wanting in opening up their own books on possible collusion between security personnel and paramilitaries.
Under new agreements, the Irish Government is going to set up a long-overdue specialist legacy unit within the Garda.
Victims, survivors, and their families cry out for and deserve justice. Any formula which gives this a chance deserves support.
How Women's Coalition muscled their way into the peace process told in a brave new play
SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, March 30th, 2026
CUCKOO LAND IS COMING TO THE MAC IN BELFAST AND TELLS STORY OF HOW THE ALL-FEMALE POLITICAL PARTY CAME TO BE AND THE ROLE ITS MEMBERS PLAYED IN HELPING NORTHERN IRELAND MOVE BEYOND THE TROUBLES.
The story of how the peace was won in Northern Ireland is usually told like a pacy political drama. Powerful men conducting high-stakes negotiations that changed history.
The cast consists of establishment politicians, paramilitary representatives, a president and a prime minister who remain household names decades later. But a Belfast theatre company believes that one set of actors has been wrongly written out of the narrative.
Cuckoo Land, which premieres at The MAC next month, “smashes open” the story of the Women's Coalition for a younger generation who might not even be aware of their existence.
“It's 30 years since the formation of the Women's Coalition, and there couldn't be a better time to celebrate that,” says Kabosh Theatre Company's artistic director Paula McFetridge.
“With misogyny on the rise at home and across the world, the voices of women are more important than ever.
“The Rev Ian Paisley dismissed the Women's Coalition as living in 'cuckoo land' over their aspirations. That's where the name of this production comes from.”
The cross-community political party was formed in 1996 ahead of the political talks that, two years later, led to the Good Friday Agreement.
Its founders were worried that women would be largely excluded from the negotiations. It had just six weeks to organise, register, and campaign in an election that would determine who got a seat at the table.
Its literature featured cartoon dinosaurs against the suffragette colours of purple, white, and green with the slogan 'Wave goodbye to Dinosaurs'.
‘Goodbye to Dinosaurs’
It didn't take any position on the constitutional question. To reflect a non-sectarian approach, the Women's Coalition was jointly led by Catholic academic Monica McWilliams and Protestant social worker Pearl Sagar.
As well as McWilliams and Sagar, the drama centres on leading members May Blood, Avila Kilmurray, Bronagh Hinds and Anne McCann.
McWilliams and another prominent figure Jane Morrice were subsequently elected to the first Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998 in South Belfast and North Down respectively. However, both lost their seats in the next election in 2003.
Cuckoo Land is a piece of “gig theatre”, a genre which blends live music with dramatic storytelling.
“It takes the audience into the birth of a movement built from kitchen tables, community halls and sheer determination,” McFetridge says.
“Facing heckling, misogyny and threats, these activists — not career politicians — built a party in a handful of weeks, recruited dozens of candidates, and walked into peace talks with a manifesto grounded in equality, human rights and cooperation.
“They demanded fairer representation for women in public life. They challenged the male-dominated political landscape here.”
The production is based on real political transcripts and lived experience. Kabosh worked with some original members of the Women's Coalition who will take part in post-performance Q&A sessions.
“They were heckled, they were mooed at and called cows,” McFetridge recalls. “The misogyny from men in the political arena was extensive. They were told to go back to the kitchen sink. They were labelled 'Sinn Fein in skirts'. None of this is exaggerated. All these things were actually said: they're on record as being said.”
Written by Vittoria Cafolla, the production features songs by composer and songwriter Katie Richardson, who won a Broadway Theatre award for her work as musical director on the stage version of Good Vibrations.
“The music is very contemporary punk,” McFetridge explains. “It's an angry and highly emotional element of the production. We think it connects the Women's Coalition today with a generation who don't know their story. It brings it up to date.
“We use music to animate the frustration experienced by those women sitting at the talks table, trying to contribute effectively to the evolution of the Good Friday Agreement.
“Vittoria has peppered the play with monologues for Pearl Sagar, Bronagh Hinds and Monica McWilliams.”
Monty Python inspired
Set designer Tracey Lindsay and costume designer Enda Kenny saturate the show in a riot of Pop Art colour and attitude, with surreal animation from Fergus Wachala-Kelly inspired by early Monty Python's Flying Circus.
“In terms of scale, this is the largest show Kabosh has ever done. It has a powerful message that courage doesn't always shout — sometimes it negotiates, collaborates and changes history,” McFetridge says.
The director was 30-years-old when the Women's Coalition was launched. “I remember it really clearly,” she says. “It may have been 1996, but it somehow has the feel of a much earlier period.
“When you look at the election posters and the branding, it's incredibly basic. Even the photos seem pixelated. They aren't at all flattering like they'd be for candidates nowadays.
“It seems so dated: the suits with shoulder pads and all. It feels like it was much longer than three decades ago.”
McFetridge says the Women's Coalition represented “a moment in time” that had remained almost unmarked. “I was genuinely stunned by the number of young people who had never even heard of them,” she says.
“You're explaining that there was an all-female cross-cultural, cross-sectoral party in Northern Ireland — and they weren't young students either.
“There were some students involved, but the majority of the Women's Coalition were aged from their mid-30s on, and most of them were mothers.”
McFetridge sees their story as inspiring. “Watching footage of them canvassing or participating in the talks is fascinating,” she says.
“Despite all coming from different walks of life, they managed to find common ground.
Victims Rights
“The issues they were fighting for — like victims' rights, proper childcare, decent housing, and an end to violence against women and girls — are the very issues that unfortunately we're still having to fight for now.”
McFetridge recalls that in order to get on the ballot paper, the Women's Coalition needed to convince up to 100 women across Northern Ireland to state that they were willing to stand for the party.
“In the production, we read out the 70 names that made that first ballot paper and ensured there was a seat for women at the table. It's a powerful moment,” she adds.
McFetridge is a big fan of Owen McCafferty's play Agreement, which focused on the roles of John Hume, David Trimble, Gerry Adams, Senator George Mitchell, Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam, and Bill Clinton in the final days of the peace talks.
“Whenever you hear a story of a period of our history like that, it enables you to look at potential gaps in the narrative,” she says.
“The Women's Coalition weren't at the table in Agreement. They didn't feature, so that left us the space to tell their story.”
McFetridge says the themes of Cuckoo Land are as relevant today as they were 30 years ago. “Just look at the language used about women by Donald Trump. Look at the high level of domestic violence here,” she says.
“Look at the death of Amy Doherty in Derry last weekend. Look at the Natalie McNally murder trial. We talk about all this in the rehearsal rooms. It's like going back to the mid-1990s because we're still having the same conversations — that's why this production is so relevant.”
Creative programmes manager at The MAC, Julie Stewart, said: “Cuckoo Land is an exciting and dynamic new production that captures a remarkable chapter in our history, and we're thrilled that audiences will experience its energy, music and storytelling.
“We're delighted to work with Kabosh to bring this important story to the stage and to celebrate the legacy of the Women's Coalition with a new generation of audiences.”
Cuckoo Land runs from April 11-26 at The Mac
More flags appear in area where Council contractors removed them
JOHN BRESLIN, Irish News, March 30TH, 2026
MORE flags have appeared in the area around an east Belfast playground where City Council contractors had removed previous banners.
Belfast City Council used the contractors to remove the Union and other flags from the park in the Ballymacarrett area of the city recently. However they were quickly replaced and threatening graffiti appeared.
It now appears yet more flags have appeared, with two or three on some lampposts.
The graffiti on a wall close to the Severn Street park had warned ‘Anyone who touches these flags does so at their own risk’.
The flags now on the poles include ones that are religious-themed but also with a ‘stop the boats’ message.
Following the previous removal of the flags, the council confirmed outside contractors were used.
Their removal followed a meeting in December when it was decided to carry out an “audit” of flags and banners in line with a “commitment to creating a good and harmonious environment”.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in east Belfast, a UVF mural at the corner of Dee Street and Newtownards Road has been removed with the reported approval of loyalists in the area.
The mural, on the gable wall since 2011, featured two hooded gunmen. It was be replaced by one of Edward Carson, the early 20th century unionist leader.
Voters un born when West Belfast last had unionist representation could dictate election outcome
DAVID GRAHAM, Belfast Telegraph, March 30th, 2026
Frank McCoubrey's unveiling as the DUP candidate was no surprise given his history and high standing as the candidate in that area for the best part of three decades.
Nevertheless, the timing may prove to be a very astute strategic move that reflects a clear understanding of both the opportunity and the risk in the constituency.
In a seat where the margins are tight and the demographics challenging, coming out of the blocks early was vital.
The principal risk was not difficult to identify. It lay in the possibility of multiple credible unionist candidates dividing an already limited vote.
In that context, the prospect of a candidacy from Ron McDowell of the TUV, a well-regarded figure with deep roots in his community, would have introduced a level of competition that the numbers simply do not support.
He has brought a further level of credibility to the wider TUV group and is someone who I fully expect to see on a ballot paper next May.
McDowell is widely respected and with good reason too.
He brings experience, conviction and a strong local profile. However, West Belfast is not a constituency where unionism can afford internal competition. It is one where discipline is essential. I do hope unionism can find an agreement elsewhere to allow McDowell an opportunity to be elected as he would be a huge asset to the Assembly.
If the early announcement of McCoubrey is a sign that the DUP are going to try to outmuscle their smaller rivals, then that approach will bring more problems than solutions.
McCoubrey himself is an established political figure, someone I have worked with and can safely say he would be a tremendous asset to the DUP Assembly group.
As a former Lord Mayor of Belfast and a consistent performer in council elections, particularly in the greater Shankill area, he has demonstrated an ability to build and retain a personal vote. That foundation is important but it is only part of the equation.
The electoral arithmetic still remains challenging and I expect the DUP to over-egg the boundary changes somewhat.
Greater Shankill
The boundary change has essentially tidied up the greater Shankill area into one constituency. The days of driving down the Shankill Road — which was the dividing line between North and West Belfast constituencies — are now over.
Nevertheless, the boundary change could well present an opportunity for republicanism with Sinn Fein, albeit taking all five seats is not possible.
At the 2022 Assembly election, McCoubrey secured 4,166 first-preference votes, representing 9.5% of the total. The final seat was won at just over 10% after transfers. The gap was relatively small, in the region of 1,000 votes, but sufficient to determine the outcome.
History suggests that gap is not insurmountable, albeit the days of a unionist MP in West Belfast ended in 1966 with Gerry Fitt overtaking James Kilfedder.
In 2003, Diane Dodds secured election in West Belfast with approximately 11-12% of the vote, benefiting from favourable transfer patterns and a more balanced electoral landscape.
However, the context today is markedly different. Even a handful of moderate unionist votes going to the Alliance Party could significantly damage the DUP's chances.
West Belfast will be one of the most polarised constituencies in next year's election. Expect McCoubrey's past to be dredged up on social media, ironically, by those who have praised the actions of Hamas and fail to condemn IRA atrocities.
At the 2024 Westminster election, Sinn Fein secured more than 50% of the vote, underlining the strength of their support base. It is estimated that around 70% of the electorate now resides in strongly nationalist areas, including Andersonstown, the Falls, Twinbrook and Poleglass.
That leaves unionism heavily dependent on maximising turnout in the greater Shankill. The frustration and irony for those knocking doors to speak to residents is the houses being adorned with flags, yet those inside aren't registered to vote and it is one I've felt personally on the campaign trail.
The Shankill has long been a cornerstone of unionist political strength in Belfast. Gable walls representing all the hallmarks of a loyalist heartland. Many locals describe it as “the heart of the Empire”.
Its electoral importance lies not only in numbers, but in turnout. The role of community groups including the Loyal Orders, the thriving band scene, sports clubs and many others will be vital in assisting registration and turnout on the day.
Can unionism consolidate its vote and increase turnout sufficiently to compete for the final seat? The maths suggests that it can but only under specific conditions.
Counting on a long count
The fifth seat in West Belfast could well be one of the most tightly fought across the entire country. The final seat will almost certainly involve competition with the SDLP and People Before Profit, both of which benefit from more favourable transfer dynamics within the broader nationalist and left-leaning electorate.
In short, whatever McCoubrey achieves in first preference votes, may well be all he has to work with in what will be a long wait for him at the election count.
In that context, the argument for a single unionist candidate is not merely political, it is mathematical. Fragmentation would significantly reduce the likelihood of success.
In fact, I would suggest that any more than one pro-union candidate would almost kill off the chance of a unionist being returned. The argument above driving up turnout and bringing in extra transfers will possibly be made, but I simply don't see this being an option.
There are clear historical lessons. My first clear political memory is the 1997 Westminster result in West Tyrone which demonstrated how a divided vote on one side can create an opportunity for the other.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP split down the middle allowing the only unionist candidate to scrape in. Equally, the consolidation of support behind Sinn Fein in subsequent years illustrates how quickly such opportunities can disappear.
In reality, it will be voters not even born when West Belfast last had unionist representation who could well dictate the final outcome.
For McCoubrey, the path to election is narrow but identifiable. It requires a modest increase in first-preference support, likely in the region of 1,000 to 1,500 additional votes and, crucially, higher turnout in unionist areas. That is more than achievable.
Turnout will be decisive.
Achieving that will require sustained effort over the coming year, particularly in engaging younger voters and improving registration levels. It is an area where the DUP has historically demonstrated strength. Expect voter registration clinics and a strong presence of heavy hitters as demonstrated already with DUP leadership on the Shankill Road last week.
Whether that will be sufficient in the current electoral environment remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that any prospect of success in West Belfast will depend on unity, discipline and turnout. Without those elements, the opportunity will remain out of reach.
Sinn Féin proposal to detail gender inequality leads to City Hall tensions
MICHAEL KENWOOD, Irish News, March 30th, 2026
At the council’s March meeting of its Standards and Business Committee, a motion titled ‘Gender Budgeting’ by Councillor Áine McCabe was sent to the council’s important Strategic Policy and Resources Committee for further discussion.
The motion states: “This council acknowledges the potential benefits of gender budgeting in addressing systemic gender inequalities for all in our society, as well as improving equality for those whom we are providing services for, through thoughtful and deliberative financial planning.”
The motion proposes the officials perform a “gender data audit” to ensure “maximum impact of data” and to understand what gaps exist relating to the scale of gender inequality at City Hall, with the aim of “achieving better equality outcomes and more targeted resource allocation”.
It adds: “Annual review of progress will determine further steps in auditing and where progress allows for the phased adoption of gender budgeting tools.”
While the debate of motions is not permitted at the Standards and Business Committee, when the item was tabled, there were a series of unusual exchanges between elected representatives and officials.
When the item was raised, TUV Councillor Ron McDowell said: “Just for the purposes of clarity, what genders are they proposing?”
The City Solicitor, Nora Largey, said: “It would be my understanding that it could be confined to male and female. It depends on the gender audit what the outcomes of that would be in terms of any issues in the workforce.”
Councillor McDowell said: “If it is male and female, is that comprehensive, of everyone who works for the council?” The City Solicitor replied: “It would be an audit of all council staff.”
Councillor McDowell returned: “Where do we stand if people are asked what their gender is, and if they are uncomfortable with the question?”
Rights of smaller parties
The City Solicitor said: “The detail of the proposal is that we work with the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, and it would be for them to set the terms and references for it.”
Councillor McDowell said: “There is so much presumption in the proposal we don’t have the full detail, and you are adding to the detail based on what you think, rather than what you know is in the proposal.”
Sinn Féin Councillor Ronan McLaughlin raised a “point of order” and said: “This is not the forum to discuss motions.”
He added: “It has been referred to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, and I am sure Councillor Mc-Dowell can make himself free on a Friday if he chooses, but this is not the remit of this committee to get into the minutiae of the motion.”
Green Party Councillor Anthony Flynn, who chairs the Standards and Business Committee, said Councilor McLaughlin was correct, and said proceedings would “move on”.
“ Where do we stand if people are asked what their gender is, and if they are uncomfortable with the question?
TUV councillor Ron McDowell
At this point, DUP Alderman Dean McCullough said: “I don’t know where it says that in the standing order, but I want you to make it clear, you are denying me my democratic right.”
Councillor Flynn replied: “To be fair, your party started this committee, it is your baby, not mine.” Another official confirmed the motion could not be debated at that level, and the committee moved on.
The Standards and Business Committee was created at City Hall in April 2021, pushed through on Sinn Féin and DUP votes, and designed to fast-track, refer, or dismiss motions without ratification from the full council, and without debate. It was described by People Before Profit as an attempt “to shut the voices of smaller parties,” and was looked upon with suspicion by Alliance, the SDLP and the Green Party.
Belfast Council 'in danger of breaking discrimination law' with 'compatible' LGBTQIA+ Hub
By Adam Kula, Belfast News Letter, March 30th, 2026
Two organisations have warned that Belfast City Council is in danger of breaking the law over its new planned LGBTQIA+ Hub in Belfast – if it hasn't done so already.
The Free Speech Union and the Women’s Rights Network in Northern Ireland have both expressed concerns about a condition the council has placed on any groups seeking to use the same building as the hub.
The Women’s Rights Network NI said this condition “effectively excludes” groups with “sex realist views” (meaning views which conflict with those of transgender activists), while leader of the Free Speech Union Toby Young said it opens the council up to a “slam dunk” lawsuit on grounds of discrimination.
When these points were put to the council, it declined to comment.
The new LGBTQIA+ Hub is to be on the first floor of 2 Royal Avenue; whoever uses the ground floor must be 'compatible' with the hub.
It also confirmed that the creation of the hub is now about one year away.
The LGBTQIA+ Hub will provide a new home for three publicly-funded groups which are involved in trans activism, and will be located on the first floor of the listed council-owned 2 Royal Avenue building (which stands next to Primark in the heart of the city centre’s main shopping area).
The council last month put out a call for expressions of interest from groups wanting to use the ground floor.
One of the caveats is that “the long-term use should be complementary and compatible with the LGBTQIA+ Hub proposed for the first floor”.
Compatible tenants
Now questions have been raised about the legality of this “complementary and compatible” demand, with the Women’s Rights Network NI saying that it amounts to “attaching ideological conditions to the use of a public building”.
“By requiring any ground‑floor tenant to be ‘complementary and compatible’ with an LGBTQIA+ Hub, the council is effectively excluding feminist, safeguarding, and faith‑based groups whose sex realist views are fully lawful and protected under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998,” it said in a statement to the News Letter.
“Public authorities have a duty to remain neutral, and no community group should be barred from even applying for public space because they hold a different, but entirely legitimate, belief.”
Lord Young said that it is “probably” unlawful, adding: “If Belfast Council is granting LGBTQIA+ activists a veto over what groups are allowed to use the ground floor, that is a clear breach of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which imposes a duty on public authorities not to discriminate against service users on the basis of their protected religious and philosophical beliefs, which includes the view that transwomen aren't women and marriage should be between a man and a woman.
“If a Christian group applies to use the ground floor and is vetoed by the woke groups on the first floor, it would have a slam dunk legal case for unlawful discrimination.”
When this was put to the council, it said it has “nothing to add”.
On the question of how many expressions of interest there have been in using the ground floor, the council said this process is ongoing so “it would not be appropriate to release this information”.
Asked if the rent it will get from the LGBTQIA+ groups using the hub will be equivalent to what it would expect to receive from a commercial tenant for the city centre building, it said: “Rent levels have not yet been decided.”
It also said the hub should be complete by “early 2027”.
Asked if there was a particular, definitive point at which the council had decided it was creating the LGBTQIA+ Hub, the council pointed the News Letter to a meeting of its strategic policy and resources committee on August 18, 2023.
Its minutes show that the cross-party committee “agreed that council officers continue to develop the proposals”.
Work begins on £3.4m interface youth centre
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE, Irish News, March 30th, 2026
WORK has begun on a £3.4 million project to create a shared youth centre on the site of the former Ardoyne shops on Crumlin Road.
The scheme will be delivered by Belfast City Council, with funding from the Executive Office, the Department for Communities, the Clothworkers’ Foundation, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the council.
Operated by Ardoyne Youth Enterprise, the facility will include a creative learning centre with digital learning studios, office space and meeting rooms, as well as a space for young people from the Ardoyne, Marrowbone, Woodvale and Oldpark areas to meet and spend time together.
Work is due to be completed by March 2027.
Ms O’Neill said: “I’m really pleased to see work under way on this new youth hub. Ardoyne Youth Enterprise has shown incredible vision and determination.
“For years this site sat empty, but they saw the potential to create a space where young people can learn, connect and get the support they need.
“With over £2 million from the Executive Office, this will be a fantastic resource for young people and families across north Belfast.”
Ms Little-Pengelly said: “It is great to see work under way on this fantastic new youth hub.
“This facility will see the transformation of a derelict site into a place of learning and opportunity for so many young people.
“I am delighted that the Executive Office has been able to support such an important project through the Urban Villages Initiative, and I have no doubt it will have a positive impact in the north Belfast area.”
Lord Mayor of Belfast Tracy Kelly said the centre would “make a difference to the lives of young people in north Belfast, from all communities”.
Thomas Turley, director with Ardoyne Youth Enterprise, said: “Ardoyne Youth Enterprise is delighted to see this new phase in the development of its capital project – a youth and community hub that will support the needs of the north Belfast community and help build local capacity.
“Our accessible hub will support creative and digital learning, training, youth development and counselling services. It will also provide a welcoming space for groups across north Belfast.”
QUB invested £400k in Mitchell film before severing ties over Epstein links
JOHN MANLEY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, March 30th, 2026
QUEEN’S University invested £400,000 in a film about George Mitchell that was released just eight months before it removed a bust of the former US senator following further revelations about his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Negotiator was produced and directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Trevor Birney’s Fine Point Films, in association with Queen’s.
Mr Birney told The Irish News his company hoped to “return” to the documentary in the future to “look at it anew in light of the senator’s relationship with Epstein”.
Queen’s vice-president and registrar Ryan Feeney was an executive producer on the feature documentary, which received a special gala screening in Belfast last June as part of the Docs Ireland film festival.
The university took a 10% stake in the project in 2023, with any return on its investment going towards a new building for what was then the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice.
But Queen’s severed all ties with its one-time chancellor in February after the US Department of Justice released millions of files relating to Epstein’s activities, including further references to an earlier claim that the Good Friday Agreement negotiator had sex with Virginia Giuffre.
Ms Guiffre, who took her own life last year, was one of Epstein’s most high-profile victims and claimed she had been trafficked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on three separate occasions. Senator Mitchell insists “he never met, spoken to or had any contact with Giuffre or any underage women”.
Queen’s summarily removed a commemorative bust of the prominent diplomat from outside its Lanyon Building and said its Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice would no longer carry his name.
Goof Friday
The £35,000 bronze bust by artist Colin Davidson was unveiled in 2023 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Goof Friday Agreement.
Mr Birney told The Irish News that Queen’s invested in the documentary on the basis that it would be screened at international film festivals and be distributed globally.
He said the university’s support for the north’s film and television sector was “critical” and that he hoped it would continue.
The filmmaker said there had been consideration of the previous allegations against Senator Mitchell during the project’s development.
“Before we began any filming, Fine Point did its own due diligence on the accusations made in 2019 by Virginia Guiffre, including speaking with one of the journalists in the United States who had investigated the Epstein story,” Mr Birney said.
Mr Birney said the reputations of a number of the key players in Good Friday Agreement negotiations had since been called into question.
“It’s clear many of those who came in from the outside to lead the talks – Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Bill Clinton – have shadows hanging over them for events and decisions they made after 1998,” he said.
“It’s a reminder that it’s the people here and across the island of Ireland who supported the GFA in huge numbers who are the real heroes.”
A statement from Queen’s said the documentary “formed part of a strategic commitment to mark a defining period in the history of Northern Ireland’s peace process”.
“The investment was made on the basis of an anticipated 10% return and on the understanding that the film would form the centrepiece of the university’s United States philanthropy campaign in support of the development of a new building for the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice,” the statement said.
“The film was shown publicly on a number of occasions in Ireland and the USA as part of the University’s donor cultivation campaign.”
The university said the associated philanthropy campaign raised approximately £1.4m.
“ The investment was made on the basis of an anticipated 10% return and on the understanding that the film would form the centrepiece of the university’s United States philanthropy campaign in support of the development of a new building for the Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice” Queen’s University statement.
The wild plot for the Irish to collude with the Germans
Sarah Watling, The Telegraph, March 27th, 2026
Roger Casement, British consular agent and Irish rebel patriot
Arthur Conan Doyle once called Roger Casement “a man of the highest character… deeply respected by all who know him.” That he based one of his fictional characters on Casement is no surprise: the Irishman was good material for an Edwardian hero. In 1905, Casement had been knighted for his service in the British Foreign Office, having demonstrated the requisite hardiness for arduous missions in Africa and South America. He was a man of broad experience, stamina and compassion: his early fame derived from a meticulous exposé of Belgian abuses in the Congo, which caused a sensation in 1904. He was brave and cosmopolitan – an idealist. It helped that he was extremely good-looking.
He also died for a cause he believed in; though, as Rory Carroll details in A Rebel and a Traitor, at the time of his death, his reputation lay in tatters – not only among those who saw him as a Judas for his scheming with Britain’s enemy, Germany, but also among those appalled by scandalous revelations about his private life.
Casement’s downfall came with the First World War. In 1914, he was a known supporter of Home Rule for Ireland – a devolved Dublin parliament, long-sought by Irish nationalists – and a valuable one, given his fame and eloquence. But since Home Rule was official government policy, there was nothing especially seditious about his activities. Mindful of the old Fenian maxim that “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity”, however, Casement convinced himself that Irish liberation lay with Germany. Travelling in disguise, he made his way first to New York, and then, incredibly, to Berlin itself, in an attempt to persuade the Germans to land men and arms in Ireland.
Disillusionment
At this point, his grand ideas started to run out of steam. The Germans – he realised, surprisingly belatedly – were less interested in Irish liberty than in wasting Irish lives to distract the English. They had little intention of lending him German soldiers for his rebellion. Casement’s dreams of an Irish Brigade made up of prisoners of war fell victim to the disinterest of the soldiers themselves, many of whom had served in the UK Army proudly. Before long, only the outraged authorities in London believed in him as a leader of anything. And as they broke more and more German codes, Casement’s days dodging British intelligence became numbered.
Carroll is alive to Casement’s failings. He describes blind spots, lapses of judgment and delusions, portraying him as increasingly melancholic, ineffectual, indiscreet and generally exasperating to the experienced Irish revolutionaries who had funded his mission. He shows why even some of Casement’s staunchest supporters rejected parts of the man, in particular demonstrating how Casement’s homosexuality was not only weaponised against him by his enemies (with the help of Casement’s extremely detailed diaries), but was also unacceptable to many of his friends, and to the Catholic Irish Republic that nonetheless lionised him after his death. All this only makes him a more interesting character.
Casement’s remains were returned to Ireland for a state funeral in 1965, attended by the Irish president at the time, Éamon de Valera Credit.
Even this promising figure, however, frequently fades into the background in a book stuffed with arresting characters. Carroll is a dab hand at a quick pen portrait, and as Casement languishes in Germany among unappealing Prussian officials, the personalities of his Irish co-conspirators and English pursuers start to overtake him, just as they did in life. Hardened Irish nationalists form unlikely alliances with flamboyant poet revolutionaries of a younger generation. Reginald Hall, the pugnacious English spy master, plots to bring Casement down.
Carroll packs the book with narrative detail, evoking the smells and sounds of London, Berlin, New York and Dublin, before and during the First World War. Never does a new setting pass without a description of the weather (drawn, as the “Author Note” asserts, from contemporary weather reports – an apparently irresistible historical source). Though little of it will be new to readers interested in Irish history, Carroll, who is the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, elucidates the historical context of Casement’s scheme with balance and verve. His acclaimed previous book, Killing Thatcher, explored the 1984 Brighton bombing, one of the IRA’s most infamous attacks, and in A Rebel and a Traitor, he turns back to the IRA’s origin story. It is also, in Hall’s pursuit of Casement, the history of an incipient surveillance state, told like an old-school espionage tale.
‘A sense of duty’
The book picks up pace in the final third, culminating in the 1916 Easter Rising – a doomed rebellion against British rule, for which Casement spent time in English custody. He had just returned to Ireland despite knowing that the rebellion would fail. The end of all his efforts seems to have rekindled his sense of purpose. “I came with my eyes wide open,” he said during his interrogation. “I came from a sense of duty.”
The Rising, as we now know, proved to have a far more significant legacy than its initial defeat might have suggested. The rebels (or traitors) had turned to their enemy’s enemy for ammunition, but they had turned to history for inspiration and they knew to cast their hopes well beyond their own lifetimes. Casement achieved very little of what he hoped to do, yet he had an inkling of how much the attempts in themselves could come to mean.
A Rebel and A Traitor is published by Mudlark at £22. To order your copy, call 0330 173 0523 or visit Telegraph Books
