UK-Ireland Joint Framework is an important step towards addressing the human rights legacy of the Troubles – Türk
24 September 2025, the Legacy of the Troubles
© REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
GENEVA – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Wednesday that the new Joint Framework between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of Ireland is an important and positive step towards addressing key human rights impacts of the Troubles.
The three-decade conflict known as “The Troubles” ended in April 1998 with the adoption of the Good Friday Agreement. The UK, Ireland, and political parties in Northern Ireland subsequently established an initial framework for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles through the conclusion of the Stormont House Agreement in December 2014.
With several aspects of the Stormont House Agreement remaining unimplemented, the UK Parliament passed the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act in September 2023, which raised serious concerns about its compatibility with the UK’s international human rights obligations. The UK and Ireland subsequently agreed to the current Joint Framework.
“The new Framework provides a new and genuine opportunity to collectively work towards realizing justice and reconciliation for all victims of the Troubles," said Türk.
Abolishes conditional immunity and restores access to civil procedings
In particular, the implementation of the Joint Framework would abolish the conditional immunity scheme provided for under the Troubles Act 2023, which would have applied to perpetrators of serious human rights violations. It would also lift the existing prohibitions imposed by the Troubles Act 2023 against all civil proceedings and mandate a Legacy Commission to conduct investigations capable of leading to criminal prosecutions, guaranteeing the rights of victims, survivors, and their families to effective judicial remedy and reparations.
Other positive aspects of the Joint Framework include measures to strengthen the independence, impartiality, and transparency of the Legacy Commission, such as establishing a new Oversight Board, as well as the establishment of a statutory Victims and Survivors Advisory Group to promote meaningful participation for victims and their families.
“This Joint Framework offers a real opportunity to respect and honour the rights of victims and survivors, rebuild trust, advance reconciliation, and promote accountability,” said the UN Human Rights Chief. “To do so, it remains imperative that both Governments place the rights of all victims and survivors to truth, justice, effective remedy, and reparations at the heart of its implementation,” he added.
The High Commissioner emphasized the need for meaningful and inclusive participation by victims in all decision-making processes, including the development of primary legislation and appointment processes.
“Almost three decades after peace was achieved, it is now time for swift and decisive action to deliver to victims and survivors truth and justice, and for all communities to achieve lasting reconciliation,” Türk concluded.
‘Decisive’ statement evidence can be heard in Soldier F trial
Judge admits hearsay evidence of dead Paras at Soldier F trial
REBECCA BLACK AND DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
A JUDGE has ruled that key hearsay evidence in the trial of a former paratrooper accused of two murders on Bloody Sunday can be admitted as evidence in his trial.
Judge Patrick Lynch, who is presiding over the non-jury trial at Belfast Crown Court, granted an application by the prosecution to admit a number of statements made by other soldiers on the ground during the shootings in Derry on January 30 1972.
These statements include claims that the accused veteran, known as Soldier F, fired shots in the courtyard where the two men he is accused of killing were shot.
In making the application at Belfast Crown Court last week, the prosecution had characterised the evidence as “decisive” to the case.
Members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday after a civil rights march.
Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney.
He is also charged with five attempted murders during the incident in the city’s Bogside area, namely of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon, Patrick O’Donnell and a person unknown.
He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.
Last week, prosecution barrister Louis Mably KC argued that statements given by soldiers G and H to the Royal Military Police (RMP) on the night of the shootings, and to the Widgery Tribunal in 1972, are the only evidence “capable of proving” Soldier F fired his rifle at civilians in Glenfada Park North.
Emotional Scenes
Family members of those killed on Bloody Centre arive at Belfast Crown Court yesterday. There were emotional scenes outside as families reacted to the judge’s ruling that he would hear evidence that was the subject of an ‘inadmissibility’ application by the defence in the Soldier F trial.
“This is decisive evidence,” he told the court.
Defence barrister Mark Mulholland KC, acting for Soldier F, argued against the application to admit the hearsay evidence, describing the contents of the statements as “contradictory, unreliable and inadmissible”.
Delivering his ruling at Belfast Crown Court yesterday morning, Judge Patrick Lynch said the prosecution has acknowledged it is “totally dependant” upon the hearsay statements by soldiers G and H.
But that the defence challenged the admissibility of those statements, arguing they do not meet the requirements of admissibility.
The judge said it would be “inappropriate at this stage to give reasons for my decision”.
‘Beyond reasonable doubt’
“I am not only Judge in relation to legal issues but also the tribunal of fact, with the ultimate responsibility of determining guilt or innocence based upon such facts as I decide have been proven to the criminal standard, that is beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.
“I shall therefore not give reasons at this stage for the admission of the statements but shall do so in due course, if necessary.”
The trial is set to sit again tomorrow when a timetable will be agreed to hearing the remaining evidence.
This evidence will include statements by men who were shot but survived the incident, as well as eye witnesses.
Speaking outside court, solicitor Ciaran Shiels, who supports the Bloody Sunday families, welcomed the ruling.
“The admission of this evidence has been described as decisive evidence,” he said.
“The families are very pleased that the judge saw merit in the prosecution’s submissions. They welcome very much the judgment and they look forward to the evidence starting to be called.”
Meanwhile, Paul Young of the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement expressed disappointment following the ruling in a brief statement.
“The decision today will be met with great disappointment by the veterans who served in Northern Ireland,” he said.
Soldier facing attempted murder charge from 1972 dies
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
A FORMER British soldier being prosecuted over shootings in Belfast more than 50 years ago has died, a court has heard.
Attempted murder charges against the veteran were formally withdrawn yesterday following confirmation of his death.
Granted anonymity, he was among four ex-members of an undercover army unit facing criminal proceedings in connection with incidents at the height of the Troubles.
Another of the accused, Soldier F, is charged with the murder of Patrick McVeigh and the attempted murder of four others in May 1972.
He is not the same veteran as the former paratrooper also referred to as Soldier F who is currently on trial accused of two murders on Bloody Sunday.
Three other ex-servicemen, identified only as Soldiers B, C and D, were jointly charged with attempting to murder another two men on the day before Mr McVeigh died.
MRF members
All four defendants were part of a unit known as the Military Reaction Force (MRF) which operated in Belfast at the time.
Members of the MRF used unmarked cars to patrol parts of the city before the outfit was disbanded the following year.
Mr McVeigh, a father of six, was shot at the junction of Finaghy Road North and Riverdale Park South.
He had reportedly stopped to speak to those manning a civilian checkpoint when the gunfire began.
Four other men were shot and wounded during the same incident.
The previous day’s shooting occurred at Slievegallion Drive in west Belfast.
Decisions were taken to charge the former soldiers after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) assessed evidence gathered in a police investigation.
Proceedings currently remain at magistrates level amid uncertainty about whether the defendants are medically fit to stand trial.
But at Belfast Magistrates’ Court yesterday, prosecutors disclosed that Soldier C is now deceased.
Soldier C died in the summer
He is understood to have died at some point over the summer period.
District Judge Steven Keown granted an application to have the two murder charges against Soldier C withdrawn.
Proceedings against the three surviving defendants were adjourned until November.
Speaking outside court, a solicitor representing the family of Mr McVeigh called on the authorities to ensure no further delays in the legal process.
Gary Duffy of KRW Law said: “Confirmation of the death of Soldier C is deeply troubling.
“It highlights the very real risk that justice may be lost to time if these prosecutions are not progressed with urgency and efficiency.”
“ It highlights the very real risk that justice may be lost to time if these prosecutions are not progressed with urgency and efficiency
Stormont Pensions Pot for MLAs
Sam McBride, Northern Ireland Editor, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
Last week I got a letter from the Assembly which amounted to two words: Get stuffed. It didn’t, of course, use such inelegant or concise phrasing. Instead, it was impeccably polite and filled with legalese. But the message was the same – we’re not giving you a scrap of what you’re after.
I’d written to the Assembly asking for details of MLAs’ pensions. This is an area which involves tens of millions of pounds yet gets almost no scrutiny because it’s seen as terribly complicated. It is complicated, and that rather suits certain people.
I’d been prompted to ask about this after reading through the annual report and accounts of The Executive Office. The story which came out of that document was about the huge salary and pension increase for Jayne Brady, the head of the civil service. But something didn’t quite make sense to me as I read on.
Ms Brady’s pension pot had soared to £227,000 after just three and a half years in the job. Yet when I read further in the accounts, I saw that the first and deputy first ministers’ pensions were paltry by comparison. In Emma Little-Pengelly’s case, her pension pot sits at just £19,000. That at least made some sense because she first became a minister last year.
But Michelle O’Neill’s pension pot is only £146,000, despite having been a minister since 2007. The junior ministers fared even worse: One had £2,000 after a year in post; the other had £1,000. Even your correspondent’s humble pension surpasses that. It made no sense.
Then it dawned on me: These are their ministerial pensions but on top of that they will have pensions as MLAs. I knew from informal conversations with MLAs over the years that this is an extremely generous pension and so I went looking for the equivalent figures for MLAs’ pension pots – and found they don’t exist. Or rather, they do exist, but we aren’t allowed to see them.
I wrote to the Assembly under the Freedom of Information Act, asking for details of how much each MLA has contributed to their Assembly pension, how much the Assembly has contributed to each MLA’s Assembly pension, the total pension pot for every MLA, and the annual amount being paid to former MLAs who are drawing their pension.
I thought that because government departments publish much of this information routinely – even if buried in their accounts – that the Assembly would accept it had to do likewise. Not so.
Hiding behind DATA Protection Act
The Assembly authorities told me that I wouldn’t be getting any of this information. But rather than say they were choosing not to give it to me, they claimed it would be unlawful to do so.
Citing the Data Protection Act, they said a breakdown of pensions by MLA involved "personal data" which I've no lawful right to see. But who made this assessment of the law? The Assembly Commission - which is a body made up wholly of MLAs.
In other words: MLAs decided it would be unlawful for their own pensions to be made public. How thoroughly convenient.
I think this is preposterous. These are the people who set pension rules for much of the public sector and who decide how public funding is allocated – and a major determinant in how much public money remains to be distributed is how much is being paid for pensions.
The fact that these figures are routinely made public for ministers and for senior civil servants shows that publication can be done lawfully. If an unelected civil servant has their personal pension made public, why should that not be so for a legislator who decides the law on pensions?
I have appealed this decision to the Assembly authorities. For obvious reasons, I don’t expect them to change their position and so will be appealing it to the Information Commissioner, the FoI watchdog, in due course. That is a slow process which might mean I don’t get a response for another year.
However, the letter from the Assembly pointed me towards the annual accounts for the MLA pension scheme. While it doesn’t contain the information that I’d requested, it does contain some highly revealing details.
Taxpayers paid full pension contribition to MLAs pension funds when it was suspended
It shows that last year taxpayers paid into MLAs' pension fund £927,494; MLAs paid in just over a third of that figure. But it also showed something more revealing.
After Stormont’s collapse, the then Secretary of State eventually moved to cut MLAs’ salaries. Normally, pension payments are based on salary and so this would also have saved taxpayers’ money on pension payments. Instead, taxpayers continued to pay into MLAs’ pensions as if they were on full salary – even though MLAs’ own contributions to their pension were cut to reflect that they were on a drastically reduced salary.
MLAs deserve a decent pension – but since we’re funding it, we deserve transparency
Taxpayers have given every MLA what the annual accounts describe as a “top up” contribution to bring every MLA’s pension contributions up to the full rate. This goes back to the hapless Karen Bradley and how as Secretary of State she went about cutting MLA pay.
In the bill she rushed through the Commons in 2018, clause seven deftly ensured that "so far as relating to pensions, members are to be treated as having whatever salary they would have apart from any determination [to cut pay]".
Few people paid much attention to this at the time, and even people like me who’d written about it then had mostly forgotten this. But for years after that point, it had a real impact on public spending.
Inability to pay over a couple of bollards
When the Infrastructure Minister claims a couple of bollards can’t be put in Hill Street to pedestrianise a key tourist area because “austerity by the British government” meaning they couldn’t find the necessary £5,000, this proves otherwise – the money quietly shovelled into MLA pensions when Stormont was down could have paid for scores of such projects.
MLAs are entitled to a decent pension. They have a crucial role which should involve a good salary and pension; if we don’t offer that, then we can hardly be shocked that lots of the people who end up on Stormont’s benches simply aren’t up to the job.
But MLAs should have nothing to hide in this regard. If they’re embarrassed at how generous their pension pots are, maybe that’s an indication of a pretty fundamental problem for people who overwhelmingly moan that the Treasury won’t send them even more money.
Fighting to keep secret what ultimately they’ll likely be forced to release is the sort of behaviour which undermines public trust in those who govern us.
Cost of the A5 soars to £150million
CONOR COYLE, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
THE cost incurred to date by the Department for Infrastructure for the flailing A5 road project has surged to more than £150million, The Irish News can reveal.
The department has defended the spend as “proportionate”.
The latest figures on how much the Stormont department has spent up to March 2025 come after minister Liz Kimmins said she will appeal a High Court decision to quash the project in its current form.
First approved by the Stormont Executive in 2007, the plan to build 60 miles of dual carriageway between Newbuildings and Aughnacloy has been beset by legal challenges while more than 50 people have died on the current A5 during that time.
A Freedom of Information response from DfI has shown that over £40million has been spent on the project by the department in less than a year.
Costs of project up £40m in nine months
Figures released in June 2024 showed that £110million had been spent by the department on the project.
Half of expenditure has been on consultants
Now according to the new figures released through FOI, that figure has risen to £153million in just nine months.
Ms Kimmins’ department has confirmed more than half of that total spend has been provided to consultants for the project – a figure of £80.6million.
The FOI response from the department was due on July 24, but was not delivered until two months later as a spokesperson said it had been “inundated” with requests regarding the A5.
The total estimated cost for the project, should it go ahead, stands at more than £2billion.
A successful legal challenge was brought by the Alternative A5 Alliance, a group of farmers, landowners and environmentalists last year, while the department had also begun the process of vesting land from local farmers before having to return ownership following the court decision earlier this year.
The infrastructure minister has appealed the decision, a case which is expected to be heard before the end of the year, but Ms Kimmins has told landowners the process could take up to a year.
The Sinn Féin minister this week reiterated her and her party’s commitment to progressing the A5.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the department said “given the scale” of the road project it believed the costs incurred to date were proportionate.
“All major works projects incur significant costs before works commence on the ground,” a statement said.
“This typically includes scheme planning, design and development. In the case of the A5, there have been considerable additional costs associated with this phase of the project due to the need to hold further public inquiries and defend a number of legal challenges.
“Given the overall scale of the project and the challenges it has faced, the costs incurred to date are considered proportionate.
“The Minister has continually acknowledged that delays have and will continue to significantly increase the costs in delivering the A5. Sadly, all delays to this scheme affect the delivery of the many benefits which will result from the scheme – the most crucial benefit is saving lives on the A5. The Minister has been clear that you can’t put a price on a life.”
UUP’s Diana Armstrong says ‘rethink’ may be needed over A5
UUP MLA claims scheme demonstrates ‘dysfunctional nature of the Department for Infrastructure’
CONOR COYLE, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
AN Ulster Unionist MLA has said a “rethink” may be needed on the A5 road project after The Irish News revealed the total cost of the scheme to date has surpassed £150million.
The Department for Infrastructure has confirmed the total spend to date on the beleaguered road project is now £153million, with more than £80million being paid to consultants.
The figures include more than £40million spent in less than a year until March 2025
The current estimated cost for when the scheme is completed is expected to top £2billion.
Diana Armstrong, UUP MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, has called into question “whether the project should proceed at all” in light of the latest costs accrued to date by the department.
The position appears to differ from comments by party colleague Robbie Butler on Monday in the Assembly in which he said: “We must be clear: The A5 will be built”.
“The A5 project continues to demonstrate the dysfunctional nature of the Department for Infrastructure,” Ms Armstrong said.
“Over £150 million has been spent, yet not a single metre of new road has been built. Not a single penny of compensation has been paid to farmers. No new road safety measures have been introduced for the existing road, leaving lives at risk.
“The only definite outcome of this £150 million appears to be the environmental destruction of land across Tyrone and the lining of pockets of faceless consultants.
“These costs alone give me pause to reconsider whether the project should proceed at all. Nearly £2 billion has been earmarked for this road, but what about our NHS, which urgently needs transformation funding, What about our special educational needs provision, which has been crippled by underinvestment and what about revitalising our town centres?
“We continue to throw money at a project that has been repeatedly delayed and challenged. Perhaps it’s time for a rethink.”
Belfast Council paid almost £300k to remove asbestos from Bonfire 14 years ago
ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
More than a decade ago, Belfast City Council spent almost £300,000 on removing asbestos and carrying out remedial work at a site where a bonfire was burned earlier this year — but contractors didn't remove all of the hazardous material.
The bonfire in the Village area in the south of the city was torched on the Eleventh Night, despite concerns about the presence of asbestos at the location.
In 2011, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) became aware of the dangerous material on the land and carried out an investigation, which led to two directors of separate companies receiving suspended sentences for illegally dumping tonnes of the potentially deadly material.
Information obtained by the Belfast Telegraph via a Freedom of Information (FoI) request shows that the landowners at the time were asked by the council to “carry out all necessary works to make safe the risks of asbestos contamination from the property and land at the site”.
It didn’t happen.
According to the FoI response from the council: “The council has powers to undertake works in default where a landowner fails to comply and, in this case, the council therefore engaged the services of specialist contractors to carry the necessary remedial works which included works to secure the site, the removal of dangerous structures and asbestos containing material.”
The work commenced on May 9, 2011, and was completed on September 30, 2011.
The bill — paid by the council, and therefore the ratepayer — totalled £287,500.
The council was asked if it was satisfied all the asbestos had been removed.
In June 2025, a spokesperson said: “The council cannot confirm that all the asbestos was removed from the site. However, the council's appointed contractors undertook all necessary works to ensure that the high-risk asbestos was removed from the site.”
This means the council was aware that asbestos may still be present at the site.
Days prior to the Eleventh Night bonfire being lit, the council agreed to have the pyre dismantled, but this did not happen as the PSNI refused to assist in the task.
Satellite imagery shows that asbestos has remained at the site since 2010 until as recently as May 13 of this year.
Belfast City Council was asked whether it has been able to recoup any of the money it paid to the contractor for remedial work at the site in 2011, and why all the asbestos was not removed at the time.
“Council took enforcement action at the Meridi Street site in 2011 due to the presence of high-risk asbestos containing materials which were being disturbed due to demolition works,” a spokesperson said.
“When the then owners failed to take action to deal with those materials, the council undertook significant works and the site was secured.
“When this work was completed, officers were satisfied that the site did not pose a risk to people living or working in the area, but were clear that we could not state there was no contamination left at the site.
Owners ‘not aware’ of continuing risk
“After council became aware of a further issue at this site earlier this year, we engaged with the landowner, who has responsibility for this site, to ensure that suspected asbestos containing materials were adequately secured.
“Council also served an abatement notice on the landowner requiring them to secure and contain the materials.
“We also engaged extensively with the NIEA as the lead enforcement authority in relation to this issue, following the confirmation of asbestos-containing material at the site.”
The spokesperson added that the council has recouped part of the £287,000 it paid and is “continuing work to recoup the remainder of this debt”.
After the Village bonfire was lit in July, it emerged that the NIEA had opened a criminal investigation regarding the asbestos.
However, Boron Developments told the BBC in August it was “not aware” of this.
Boron Developments, which purchased the land in 2017, said at the time that it was in “weekly contact” with the relevant authorities, adding that the removal of gates at an entrance to the site had been reported to police, and this meant the area could not be secured.
It said contractors tasked with removing the asbestos would take “full control” of the site, with the process of asbestos material due to be completed by September.
Correspondence from Stormont Environment Minister Andrew Muir, seen by the Belfast Telegraph, states that the NIEA issued a notice to the landowner outlining the need for the site to be fully remediated.
Mr Muir said in the correspondence: “Whilst the landowner has begun remediation, and a significant amount of work has taken place on site, they have not been able to meet the deadline of September 1, 2025.”
“NIEA is in communication with the landowners to obtain an updated timeframe.”
The NIEA told this newspaper last week: “We will continue to liaise with the landowner in relation to final remediation.”
Boron Developments has been contacted for comment.
'It's the right outcome' ... gunrunner Irvine's jail term doubled
ALAN ERWIN AND LIAM TUNNEY, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
BEATTIE REACTS AFTER JUDGES RULE ON LOYALIST'S 'UNDULY LENIENT' SENTENCE
The doubling of high-profile loyalist Winston 'Winkie' Irvine's prison sentence for having guns and ammunition in the boot of his car is “the right outcome”, a unionist MLA has said.
Senior judges at the Court of Appeal held that the original two-and-a-half year term imposed on the Belfast man was unduly lenient.
Ordering him to serve five years instead, they backed prosecution submissions that his reputed community and peacebuilding work were wrongly treated as exceptional circumstances.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stated: “It would offend public confidence and frustrate the intention of Parliament if the minimum sentence was not imposed in this case.”
Irvine (49) and co-defendant Robin Workman (54) were arrested following the weapons seizure in June 2022.
Workman transported a quantity of guns and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, with the haul then transferred to Irvine's Volkswagen Tiguan vehicle.
A short time later police stopped Irvine's vehicle on Disraeli Street.
Two suspected pistols, several magazines and more than 200 rounds of ammunition were discovered inside a holdall in the boot.
During follow-up searches of Irvine's home in the Ballysillan Road area, officers found UVF-related badges, plaques and a framed photograph.
Earlier this year, both defendants admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances and other related weapons charges.
Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, received the statutory sentence of five years' imprisonment for the offences.
‘Exceptional circumstances’
But Irvine received a 30-month term, half of which was to be served on licence, after the trial judge identified “exceptional circumstances” based on his contribution to peacebuilding and charity work.
Character references provided by clergymen and other representatives highlighted his long-term commitment and positive impact on the local community.
UUP MLA Doug Beattie wrote to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to voice his dissatisfaction and, after the sentence was increased, he said: “It was the right decision to challenge this sentence, and it's the right outcome.
“When I saw the charges, and I saw the sentence, I thought it was unduly lenient and I engaged the Director of Public Prosecutions and said I thought it was unduly lenient.
“He agreed that he would look into that, and they have, and now they have doubled that sentence. I think it's the right thing to do.
“It still remains quite a light sentence in real terms, but it's certainly an improvement on what it was. I think it gives out a message that when our judges are unduly lenient, when their sentences do not marry up to what is really expected from the crime, that there is a system to be able to hold them to account.”
Lawyers representing the PPS challenged Irvine's sentence at the Court of Appeal. Ciaran Murphy KC insisted there were no exceptional circumstances in Irvine's case.
“This was a man of peace and good work. That was his public profile, but there was a private profile where he had [possession] of arms,” he said.
The barrister claimed Irvine's crimes were a “gross breach” of the confidence placed in him by those who provided the character references, which should have been treated as an aggravating factor.
Counsel for Irvine, Brenda Campbell KC, argued that the trial judge had correctly assessed a bundle of letters which praised her client's contribution to society.
“It was exceptional in every sense of the word,” she maintained.
However, the three appeal judges found that the references only amounted to points of mitigation about Irvine's good character.
Dame Siobhan confirmed: “We declare that the overall sentence was unduly lenient and replace it with the minimum sentence of five years.”
Once feted by the great and the good, loyalism's golden boy faces uncertain future
COMMENT: Allison Morris, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
His sentence may have been doubled, but Winston Irvine will still only serve the minimum term for the weapons offences he pleaded guilty to.
The once golden boy of loyalism was feted by the great and the good, often seen at the right hand of politicians and diplomats.
Since May, though, he has been languishing on the loyalist wing of Maghaberry. It was during that now controversial sentencing hearing that Irvine's defence produced a thick folder of glowing references from the elite of civic society, laying out his “exceptional” work in the field of peacebuilding.
Those not used to the unusual way Northern Ireland deals with paramilitary figures — even the still active ones — would be forgiven for their confusion in hearing that a man stopped by police with an arsenal of weapons in the boot of his car was actually considered an asset to the peace process.
Irvine (49) and his co-defendant, Larne loyalist Robin Workman (54), were arrested following the weapons seizure in June 2022.
Workman transported a quantity of guns and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, with the haul then transferred to Irvine's Volkswagen Tiguan vehicle. He was originally sentenced to serve 50% of a two-and-a-half-year jail term for the offences — well below the minimum five-year term split between jail and licence — due to “exceptional circumstances”, based on his contribution to peacebuilding and charity work.
Workman — despite also producing references, including one from a former RUC member — was deemed not exceptional enough and was told he would serve half a five-year jail term in prison.
Following public and political outrage, the case was referred back to the Court of Appeal, which has now brought Irvine's sentence into line with Workman's.
‘Gross Breach’ of confidence
Ciaran Murphy KC said Irvine's crimes were a “gross breach” of the confidence placed in him by those who provided the character references which should have been treated as an aggravating factor, rather than as an example of exceptionality.
“He has betrayed community trust by the commission of these offences,” he said.
Counsel for Irvine, Brenda Campbell KC, argued that the trial judge had correctly assessed a bundle of letters, which praised her client's contribution to society.
But that failed to convince the appeal court judges, headed by the Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan.
“The references point to positives in the defendant's life, including peace making and community activities, but they cannot rationally excuse this offending behaviour leading to a sentence below the minimum term,” she said.
Irvine will now serve two and a half years of a five-year jail term.
He is serving that time in Bush House, the separate loyalist landing of Maghaberry prison. It will have come as a blow for the former UVF commander, who sources say, is struggling with his time behind bars.
While some of those who provided references for Irvine later claimed privately they did so for his bail hearing, while he was still protesting innocence and not to be used after he had admitted guilt, none withdrew their references.
And while there are reports that Irvine is persona non grata among his fellow Shankill loyalists, there is no indication he is under any threat and sources say he is free to return home to Ballysillan after he is released.
What is less clear is what is next for Irvine after his release.
One dignitary was overheard at a recent event saying they hoped there would be “space” found for Irvine on the lucrative peacebuilding circuit after his release.
How realistic it is for a convicted gunrunner to wash the smell of prison from his hair and go straight back to preaching peace remains to be seen.
In a normal society, it would be unimaginable, but Northern Ireland is far from normal.
Winkie’ Irvine has ‘unduly lenient’ sentence doubled
Court of Appeal increases time behind bars for loyalist over guns and ammunition in the boot of his car
ALAN ERWIN, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
HIGH-PROFILE loyalist Winston Irvine’s prison sentence for having guns and ammunition in the boot of his car is to be doubled, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
Senior judges held that the original two-and-a-half year term imposed on the Belfast man was unduly lenient.
Ordering him to serve five years instead, they backed prosecution submissions that his reputed community and peace-building work were wrongly treated as exceptional circumstances.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stated: “It would offend public confidence and frustrate the intention of parliament if the minimum sentence was not imposed in this case.”
Irvine (49) and co-defendant Robin Workman (54) were arrested following the weapons seizure in June 2022. Workman transported a quantity of guns and ammunition to the Glencairn area of Belfast in his van, with the haul then transferred to Irvine’s Volkswagen Tiguan vehicle.
A short time later police stopped Irvine’s vehicle on Disraeli Street.
Two suspected pistols, several magazines and more than 200 rounds of ammunition were discovered inside a holdall in the boot.
During follow-up searches of Irvine’s home in the Ballysillan Road area, officers found UVF-related badges, plaques and a framed photograph.
Earlier this year, both defendants admitted possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances and other related weapons charges.
Workman, of Shore Road in Larne, received the statutory sentence of five years imprisonment for the offences at Belfast Crown Court.
But Irvine received a 30-month term, half of which was to be served on licence, after the trial judge identified “exceptional circumstances” based on his contribution to peacebuilding and charity work.
Irvine jail sentence increased
Character references provided by clergymen and other representatives highlighted his long-term commitment and positive impact on the local community.
Amid criticism at the outcome, lawyers representing the Public Prosecution Service challenged Irvine’s sentence at the Court of Appeal.
Ciaran Murphy KC insisted there were no exceptional circumstances in Irvine’s case.
“This was a man of peace and good work, that was his public profile, but there was a private profile where he had (possession) of arms,” he said.
The barrister claimed Irvine’s crimes were a “gross breach” of the confidence placed in him by those who provided the character references which should have been treated as an aggravating factor.
“It somewhat defies logic that his offences were dealt with in a lesser way,” Mr Murphy submitted.
“He has betrayed community trust by the commission of these offences.”
Counsel for Irvine, Brenda Campbell KC, argued that the trial judge had correctly assessed a bundle of letters which praised her client’s contribution to society.
“It was exceptional in every sense of the word,” she maintained.
However, the three appeal judges found that the references only amounted to points of mitigation about Irvine’s good character.
“There were no exceptional circumstances regarding the offences which should not be viewed in a vacuum, given the lack of explanation by the defendant about why weapons were found in his car,” the Lady Chief Justice said.
“The references point to positives in the defendant’s life, including peace-making and community activities, but they cannot rationally excuse this offending behaviour leading to a sentence below the minimum term.
“The offending was a breach of trust placed in him by the many people with whom he has interacted.”
Dame Siobhan confirmed: “We declare that the overall sentence was unduly lenient and replace it with the minimum sentence of five years.”
'The harder the line, the warmer it was received'... toughening of opinion among grassroots unionists
ANALYSIS, Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
The mood in Ballymena's Braidwater Hall for the State of the Union debate reflected the hardening of grassroots unionist opinion in recent times.
Of the seven speakers it was the most uncompromising who received the warmest reception.
Orange Order chief Mervyn Gibson, DUP MLA Paul Frew, TUV leader Jim Allister, loyalist Jamie Bryson, UUP MLA Jon Burrows, PUP leader Russell Watton and former DUP adviser Lee Reynolds — who is about to become Northern Ireland's Ulster Scots Commissioner — were on the panel for the debate.
Tuesday night's event was part of a festival to mark the 113th anniversary of the Ulster Covenant to oppose Home Rule for Ireland in 1912. It was chaired by former Rangers' director of communications David Graham.
Allister gets standing ovation
The only standing ovation of the night was for Mr Allister and the speaker who received the warmest reception after the TUV leader was Mr Bryson.
The loyalist told the crowd: “The DUP should not be in the Executive. But whilst they are, then they must use every tool at their disposal to ratchet up the cultural war. Unionism and loyalism have been passive for too long.”
Mr Allister called for the spirit of the Ulster Covenant to be adopted to challenge the Irish Sea border.
Had unionists in 1912 not resisted but “packaged a climbdown in lies and deception, then we wouldn't be honouring their memory, but despising their weakness,” he said.
Mr Graham told the Belfast Telegraph: “I chaired the State of the Union debate in the same hall last year. There were twice as many speakers this time and the crowd was twice as big.
“It was a small hall but there was standing room only. There were about 150 people there. I'd describe the temperature in the room as fervent.
“It wasn't as hot as the Ulster Says No rallies led by Ian Paisley in 1985 and 86, but there was a feeling that there have been too many concessions from unionism, and there is no more to give.”
Mr Graham added: “There was a range of views expressed by the seven speakers. The harder the line in a speech, the better it was received.
“Nobody now denies that the Irish Sea border exists. There is also a recognition in the broad unionist family that co-operation is essential to maximise electoral performance.”
Mr Graham described North Antrim as a “conservative, centre-right constituency”. He said he would like similar meetings held across Northern Ireland. “Maybe it's something Gavin Robinson and Mike Nesbitt should think of initiating,” he added.
Sources said that Mr Gibson referenced the need for unionists to reach out beyond their traditional demographic, including to legal migrants and members of the LGBTQ community.
Mr Watton stressed the need for voters to transfer to every unionist candidate on the ballot. Mr Burrows said unionists must be smarter as republicans had been better at strategising in the past.
The UUP wasn't represented at last year's debate. The invitation to this week's event was sent to Burrows personally as North Antrim MLA and not to the party corporately.
Mr Frew said that while he robustly opposed the Protocol, a functioning Stormont was preferable to Starmer rule.
Some of my friends are Catholics, GAA pipe bomb accused tells court
ASHLEIGH MCDONALD, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
MAN CLAIMS THAT HE WAS FORCED TO PHONE IN THREAT BY A GROUP OF MEN
A 59-year-old accused of a pipe bomb attack against a GAA club denied the charge, saying he was threatened by a group of men to phone in the threat to the PSNI.
Giving evidence at his own trial, John Wilson told a jury at Belfast Crown Court that whilst he didn't plant the devices at the playing fields used by East Belfast GAA, he was threatened by a group of men who told him to phone the PSNI and tell them “there was a bomb in the bin, or something”.
Wilson, from Lower Braniel Road in east Belfast, is currently on trial for four offences.
He has denied one charge of possessing explosives in suspicious circumstances and three charges of attempting to intimidate members of the club “unlawfully by force, threats, or menaces” from attending or playing sports at Henry Jones playing fields.
All the charges related to August 5, 2020 when pipe bomb devices were left on cars parked at the playing fields.
After being called to the witness box, Wilson swore on the Bible to tell the truth. He was then questioned by his barrister Rosemary Walsh KC.
Wilson was asked about when he first became aware the GAA was using the playing fields and he said it was around July 2020. He said “there was an awful lot about it on Facebook” and that “I saw it for myself” when he was out walking his German Shephard dogs.
People ‘weren’t happy about it’
Wilson said people in the area “weren't happy about it”, that his friend's father has been told to get off the pitch and that he himself had been called an “orange B” whilst wearing a Northern Ireland top.
He also accepted he had contacted loyalist activist Jamie Bryson and DUP's Joanne Bunting to express concerns that cars parked on Church Road were causing issues and that the GAA hadn't booked the pitches correctly.
Ms Walsh also questioned her client about a message he sent to a male friend on July 29, 2020 when he said 'I've a plan lol.'
When asked about this by his barrister, Wilson said this plan was to get a group of men up to the pitches to play a game of football. He said he also planned to start a petition regarding the car parking issue.
Wilson was then asked about the evening in question and confirmed he was at the playing fields walking his dogs. He said that a group of three or four men were there and after walking past them, one of them called his name.
He said they “basically told me to go to the Ballygowan Road”, ordered him to call the police from a telephone box and that they “told me to say there was a bomb in the bin, or something. I remember them saying about a bomb in the bin.”
‘I just done what I was told’
He claimed he was threatened and that due to concerns for himself, his partner, his children, his home and his workplace: “I just done what I was told.”
When asked why he didn't tell police this when he was arrested, Wilson accepted he had lied but had done so to protect himself and his family following the threats made.
Denying he made, touched or placed the devices, Wilson said he didn't raise his children to be sectarian and that he didn't associate with paramilitaries.
Under cross-examination from Crown barrister David Russell, Wilson was asked about the statement he gave to police.
Accepting he initially denied calling the PSNI from the phone box, Wilson said his statement was “a lie, full stop.”
Mr Russell then asked Wilson what his views about the GAA playing in east Belfast were and he replied: “I have no problem with the GAA, in fact one of the guys I work with plays for East Belfast GAA and we are the best of friends.”
The prosecutor then asked Wilson about a series of messages he sent and received in the weeks before the incident.
In an exchange on July 23, 2020 with a male, Wilson is asked 'U took up funny football?' and he replies 'not happy m8, watch this space lol.'
‘Scum’
The male then messaged 'fenian lives matter' and Wilson's response was 'scum m8'.
After Mr Russell asked who he was referring to as 'scum', Wilson said “terrible, embarrassing, wrong.”
Pressed further, Wilson said “it must mean the fenians” then said “it's embarrassing, it's not nice” but added “I didn't call anybody in the GAA scum.”
Mr Russell then said this message “gave an insight” into Wilson's mind and when the barrister said “that's how you think of them, scum, isn't it Mr Wilson?”, the defendant replied “some of my best friends are Catholics.”
When asked if he wanted to “disrupt” the GAA playing in east Belfast, Wilson said he did and had planned to organise a football match and a petition — neither of which happened.
Mr Russell then questioned Wilson about the men who threatened him and ordered him to phone the police and said “it's not very plausible, this made-up story”, adding “you are trying to bluff it out.”
Wilson said he was now a Christian, that he swore on the Bible to tell the truth and that he was telling the truth to the court and jury.
Denying he made, possessed or planted the devices, Wilson said he had “never, ever, ever held a pipe bomb and I don't even know what they look like.”
Findings prompt calls for inquiry into surveillance by intelligence agencies
Politicians and human rights groups say MI5, MI6 and GCHQ must be probed
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
HUMAN rights groups have called for the establishment of a public inquiry into covert surveillance carried out by MI5.
The call from the Alliance Party and human rights groups came as The McCullough Review into PSNI surveillance of members of the media, lawyers and non-governmental organisations was published.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna has also said there needs to be a wider investigation of state surveillance of journalists by British intelligence agencies.
It emerged last week that MI5 illegally spied on former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney, who is now the northern editor with RTÉ.
Details emerged during a hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in London earlier this month.
While the McCullough Review focused only on the PSNI, the activities of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) were not within its scope.
Alliance Policing Board member Nuala McAllister believes the role of MI5 must be scrutinised.
“It has been clear since last week’s admissions that we now need a full public inquiry, driven by the Secretary of State, in order to properly investigate the role of MI5 and British state security forces in the unlawful surveillance of journalists,” she said.
“There is now a job of work to be done by the secretary of state and the UK government, the Policing Board, and by the PSNI itself to ensure that this sort of misconduct is never repeated in the future.”
Ms Hanna said the “limited scope” of the McCullough Review “leaves substantial unanswered questions”.
“There are persistent concerns about surveillance concentrated on PSNI officers and staff which the review did not address,” she said.
“We also need a wider examination of surveillance by other intelligence agencies, including MI5, against journalists and lawyers to allay fears of systemic abuse of powers.”
Amnesty International and CAJ
Amnesty International and CAJ have also written to Secretary of State Hilary Benn calling for a public inquiry.
Patrick Corrigan said “the scale of the wrongdoing is alarming, from repeated attempts to identify reporters’ sources to covert operations concealed from oversight bodies”.
“But questions remain. How far has MI5 gone in unlawfully monitoring journalists in Northern Ireland?”
Daniel Holder, of CAJ, said the Investigatory Powers Commissioners Office, which oversees the use of covert powers, “missed” the extent of surveillance.
“This was not the mechanism that was supposed to be in place on the back of the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
Mr Birney’s solicitor Niall Murphy, of KRW Law, said: “”Routine surveillance on lawyers and journalists can never be normalised or accepted.
“The structural inability of Angus McCullough’s review to even look at the covert operations of MI5, means there is a huge deficit in understanding the scale of the issue.”
Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly added: “The McCullough Review sets out a stark assessment of PSNI practices around surveillance of journalists, lawyers and others. Sinn Féin welcomes the depth of his work in uncovering the scale of activity and recognises the limitations of what he could access.”
Review finds PSNI tried to identify sources of journalists
JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE AND DAVID YOUNG, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
THE PSNI unlawfully used covert powers to attempt to uncover eight journalists’ sources, the author of a review has said.
The McCullough Review into PSNI surveillance practices found that attempts were made on 21 occasions to identify reporters’ sources prior to 2015.
It raised “significant concerns” about the PSNI conducting trawls of its own communications records in “an untargeted wholesale attempt to identify unauthorised contact between PSNI personnel and journalists”.
However, the covert surveillance of journalists and lawyers by police was not “widespread or systemic”, the review concluded.
Angus McCullough KC was commissioned by the PSNI to examine the issue.
This followed the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) quashing a decision by former PSNI chief constable Sir George Hamilton to approve a directed surveillance authorisation (DSA) in an investigation into the leaking of a confidential document that appeared in a documentary on the Loughinisland massacre by Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey.
The review investigated covert measures used by police between January 2011 and November 2024.
The barrister said he had been given full access to PSNI records, systems and personnel.
‘Likely to have been authorised unlawfully’
Mr McCullough said: “The report identifies some specific cases in which I consider the covert measures are likely to have been authorised unlawfully.”
He said the applications “appear to have been made with the purpose of identifying a journalist’s source”.
He said this included Mr McCaffrey and seven other journalists.
The report said in total 378 CD applications had been made relating to journalists in the time-frame.
The review also examined the practice of cross-checking journalists’ phone numbers against PSNI communication systems records.
It said this included the use of a list of more than 380 journalists’ contact numbers.
“I am relieved to find that the practice has been discontinued,” Mr McCullough says in the report.
He added he found “no basis” that PSNI powers are being routinely abused in relation to journalists.
It also said investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre, who is examining the circumstances surrounding the death and disappearance of Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe in 2020, had been the subject of a DSA relating to public posts on his X account, but said there was no indication private communication between the journalist and Noah’s mother had been accessed.
Mr McCullough said: “I have considerable concerns about the processes adopted in that case.”
The report said it had found direct surveillance had been used in relation to one other journalist and twice against a lawyer.
The review also dealt with reports that eight journalists in Northern Ireland had had their names run through a “standalone intelligence system” in 2017.
The review makes 16 recommendations, including commissioning a supplementary report and the PSNI bringing together all units responsible for the authorisation process for all forms of covert surveillance.
Responding to the re-port, Mr Boutcher said: “The review rightfully highlights that we have to improve our processes, and we will.”
Publication of review on PSNI spying an important day for freedom of press
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 24th, 2025
MCCULLOUGH PROBE INTO SURVEILLANCE WELCOME, BUT IT WILL NOT TELL THE FULL STORY
Respected barrister Angus McCullough KC will publish his review today into PSNI surveillance of journalists and legal professionals in the course of their work.
Chief Constable Jon Boutcher commissioned the report last year following an Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) ruling in the case of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey.
It promised to give an entirely independent oversight of any police use of surveillance against certain journalists, lawyers, NGOs and regulators.
And for those colleagues who will get the information confirming what they may have previously suspected, I am delighted this will now be brought out into the open.
But the public should be aware that not all potential police misconduct when it comes to spying on journalists will be included in the review.
I am one of four people who have been told they are outside the terms of reference.
This was despite having been initially told I met the criteria.
After meeting with Mr McCullough — someone I believe approached this review honourably and with true intention — I thought I might finally get some answers.
I remain disappointed that the surveillance, which I have been told by my own sources crossed acceptable lines on a number of occasions, continues to remain secretive.
I am one of a handful of security journalists who was working here during the period under review.
Excluded from review
In May I received an email stating I would no longer be part of the review and therefore will have to wait on the outcome of an IPT investigation, a body I have had little correspondence from.
The IPT is also not obliged to give a timeframe on how long an investigation might take, but in reality it could be up to five years.
Taking a case to the IPT is financially prohibitive.
Vincent Kearney's legal team headed by Jude Bunting KC have done remarkable work in forcing information into the public domain.
Just last week in documents submitted to the IPT, MI5 conceded it obtained data from the journalist's phone on two occasions in 2006 and 2009.
Mr Kearney, who now works for RTE, described the admission as “unprecedented”, and said it was “deeply concerning” for himself and other journalists.
Mr Kearney said that his legal enquiries, backed by the BBC, would seek to establish as much detail as possible about the nature of the two instances of unlawful intrusion, and whether MI5 was responsible for any more.
Without the financial backing of the state broadcaster, this intrusion by the intelligence agency into the freedom of the press might never have come to light.
According to sources, the McCullough review will reveal surveillance on two high profile solicitors and a senior broadcast journalist.
The cases they were working on at the time were stories I was also involved in.
And yet, whatever information the McCullough team uncovered in relation to myself will not be included in the review.
‘Subject to lasting and intrusive surveillance’
I strongly believe I have been subject to lasting and intrusive surveillance, through phone interception and more intrusive covert surveillance, including the use of covert human intelligence sources.
That surveillance crossed the line from acceptable actions to keep the public safe, into police intrusion, meddling with the media and compromising source protection.
I had hoped the McCullough review could provide answers in relation to this.
Instead, the wait goes on — the wait for an IPT investigation and a potential legal case I have as yet to secure funding for.
The publication of this review is an important day in the fight for openness and transparency, but also in securing assurances such practices are no longer being used.
A free press is essential in any democracy, and the media should be allowed to do their jobs free from political and police pressure.
You have only to look at what is happening in the US, with the targeting of journalists daring to challenge Trump, to see what can and has happened when the press no longer are able to do their jobs free from intimidation and intrusion.
The McCullough review will provide some long awaited answers, but it must be noted it is not the full picture and there remains many unanswered questions in relation to the targeting of sections of the media — specifically those of us who were working in crime and security during the time period under scrutiny.
Police Ombudsman refused to meet McCullough team
CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, September 25th, 2025
POLICE Ombudsman Marie Anderson refused to meet the team investigating the extent of PSNI spy operations directed at journalists and lawyers.
The McCullough report released yesterday revealed that targeted surveillance was also carried out on a Police Ombudsman official, while it has also emerged that two more cases linked to the Police Ombudsman’s Office are currently being considered by the London-based Investigatory Powers Tribunal.
London-based barrister Angus McCullough, who led the review, confirmed that Ms Anderson did not meet with him.
In June, Ms Anderson took “temporary leave of absence” days after an investigation file linked to an alleged domestic incident was passed to prosecutors.
Ms Anderson had only returned to work in January after seven months of “extended absence” due to illness after stepping back on June 15 last year.
In a statement she indicated she has decided to retire in December this year.
Mr McCullough says he sought to meet Ms Anderson on her return to work in January, and then again from the end of May.
“I was told by her office that she had no availability for me to attend her offices to meet, in particular due to the demands of her work, including the successive deadlines for the conclusion of legacy cases, and other activities that had been prioritised,” he said.
“The ombudsman’s office confirmed that while not being able to meet me, the ombudsman was willing to assist in the preparation of my report and to support the work of the review in any other way, including in providing answers to my questions put to her in writing.”
Mr McCullough confirms he met current and former senior members of the ombudsman’s office, including two former ombudsmen.
“Despite my inability to meet with the current ombudsman I have had full co-operation from the ombudsman’s office,” he added.
Mr McCullough said that concerns were raised that Operation Yurta was conducted without keeping the ombudsman informed “that a particular member of staff had come under suspicion”.
As a result of the review, Mr McCullough has recommended that in future if a member of the ombudsman’s staff is under investigation in connection with their work there should be “formal notification and briefing to the ombudsman”, if necessary at the level of chief constable.
The Police Ombudsman was contacted for comment.
No need for inquiry, says Boutcher as report details bid to identify journalists' sources
... BUT RIGHTS WATCHDOG EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER FINDINGS
KURTIS REID, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
A human rights watchdog has written to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland calling for a public inquiry into the surveillance of journalists by the PSNI, despite the chief constable ruling one out.
It comes after the McCullough Review revealed the force secretly built lists of journalists' contact details and ran them through police communication records in a bid to identify sources.
The report identified 21 unlawful uses of covert powers which was more than double the figure previously disclosed.
The regional director of Amnesty International UK said the findings expose “a disturbing pattern” and “clear disregard for press freedom and the rule of law”.
Patrick Corrigan also described the scale of the wrongdoing as “alarming” as he warned that questions remain.
“A free press simply cannot function under the shadow of state surveillance,” he added.
“That is why we are asking the Secretary of State to set up a full public inquiry. Only full disclosure can restore trust and safeguard the rights of journalists in Northern Ireland.”
UTV journalist Sharon O'Neill has already commenced legal action against the PSNI after being notified of attempts by the PSNI to identify one of her sources in 2011.
Surveillance of journalists ‘should not be acceptable or normalised’
Ms O'Neill's solicitor Pádraig Ó Muirigh warned surveillance of journalists “should not be acceptable or normalised”.
The independent review by Angus McCullough KC raised “significant concerns” about the PSNI conducting trawls of its own communications systems in “an untargeted wholesale attempt to identify unauthorised contact” between personnel and journalists from early 2011 to late 2024.
It was commissioned by chief constable Jon Boutcher.
Following its publication yesterday he said a public inquiry is not required, despite Policing Board member Nuala McAllister also urging Hilary Benn to bring forward new oversight mechanisms and establish a full public inquiry.
“I am aware of commentary calling for a public inquiry into these matters but this report shows that no such inquiry is necessary,” Mr Boutcher said.
The review was ordered in the wake of concerns raised by journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney who were arrested in 2018 as part of Operation Yurta before the case was thrown out of court.
The report warns that the routine “washing through” of journalists' phone numbers against PSNI records was carried out for years without legal advice by the PSNI's Professional Standards Department.
It recommends that the practice be referred to the Information Commissioner after it concluded the approach “did not appear to have been necessary or proportionate” and was incompatible with the protections owed to journalists under data protection and human rights law.
Mr McCullough found “no basis for concerns that PSNI surveillance of journalists is widespread or systemic.”
Over 50 more surveillance applications revealed
Across the 14-year review period, investigators uncovered 378 applications relating to journalists — significantly more than the 323 the PSNI had previously acknowledged.
The discrepancy, the report said, was due to differences in search methods and the longer timespan examined.
Mr McCullough concluded that while the review did not find systemic misconduct, the repeated lapses in disclosure, record-keeping and safeguards represented a clear risk to press freedom and the confidentiality of sources.
The review also highlighted specific cases where journalists and lawyers had been subject to directed surveillance authorisations, including investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre, who was placed under online monitoring in 2023.
The report states Mr MacIntyre's posts on his X, formerly Twitter, account were reviewed in relation to his reporting of the death of schoolboy Noah Donohoe, who died in June 2020 after going missing.
However, it found “no indication” that Mr MacIntyre's private communications with the mother of Noah Donohoe had been accessed. Mr Boutcher said: “The report does not identify any issues of misconduct by individual officers. What it does identify is individual authorisations where we as a police service could have done better and I am committed to ensuring we do in the future.”
Revelation could impact on the killers of Stephen Carroll
ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 25th, 2025
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has personally apologised to two prominent human rights solicitors after it was revealed they were subjected to unlawful police surveillance.
Peter Corrigan and Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law welcomed the apology, but warned that the revelation has implications for their clients, including Brendan McConville, who was convicted of the murder of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon in 2009.
It comes after leading barrister Angus McCullough KC published his 200-page report on Wednesday that revealed there were 21 unlawful uses of covert powers to attempt to uncover reporters' sources — double the figure previously disclosed.
Mr Boutcher said the report “rightfully highlights that we have to improve our processes, and we will”.
The two lawyers, who represent a number of high-profile clients, including rap trio Kneecap, said the surveillance crossed over from their professional to private lives and impacted their families.
“For years, we have advocated for our clients without fear or favour,” they said.
“Each of our clients are entitled to the very basic protections under the rule of law, which includes the principle of legal professional privilege.
“In doing so, they have had zero regard for our clients' rights, driven by the sole motivation of a 'win at whatever cost' approach”.
Mr Mackin added: “For us, however, it is an uncomfortable reality that our families and their respective privacy was an expendable chip in the Orwellian dystopia. Privacy is not the price we should pay for simply doing our job.”
First murder of a PSNI officer
The surveillance on the journalists was believed to be in relation to two specific clients, Brendan McConville and John Paul Wootton, who were convicted of the first murder of a PSNI officer.
Wootton is serving 18 years in prison and McConville is serving at least a 25-year sentence for the murder.
Both men lost appeals against their convictions in May 2014.
However, the case has since been referred to the Criminal Case Review Commission over the involvement of MI5 agent Denis McFadden. McFadden sat in on confidential meetings while also reporting back to MI5.
He infiltrated the 'Justice for the Craigavon 2' campaign, attending legal hearings and briefings linked to the case.
Originally from Glasgow, he left his north Belfast home in August 2020, just weeks before the arrests of the alleged leadership of the New IRA as part of Operation Arbacia, the joint MI5 and PSNI operation against the dissident organisation.
Phoenix Law said the additional information contained in the McCullough Review will now also be passed on to the CCRC.
Mr Corrigan said: “At the epicentre of this scandal are two men whose fair trial
Michael McDowell forgot lectures on democracy in refusing to sign Maria Steen’s presidential papers
Fionnán Sheahan, Irish Independent, September 25th, 2025
Maria Steen lives around the corner from the former home of the celebrated author Brian O’Nolan, otherwise known as Flann O’Brien, author of At Swim-Two-Birds.
What would O’Nolan’s nom de guerre, Myles na gCopaleen, who wrote a famous satirical column for The Irish Times, make of the comical state of our democracy?
A would-be presidential candidate fell just two signatures short of getting on the election ticket. Steen had the names of 18 TDs and senators on her nomination papers, but found others would not assist her across the line.
And among those who denied the electorate the opportunity to have a wider choice were figures who have lectured us in the past about democracy.
From Repeal to divorce – here is where Maria Steen stood on Ireland’s political and social issues
The fingers of blame are being pointed at the main political parties for blocking Independent candidates.
“Rarely has the political consensus seemed more oppressive or detached from the wishes and desires of the public,” Steen said as her campaign ended.
But less attention has been paid to the role of Independent senators who had no loyalties to candidates already in the race.
It was this time a dozen years ago that Michael McDowell led the charge against the abolition of the Seanad. McDowell argued the electorate needed to have checks and balances – and to allow for dissenting voices in public life.
“Conscientious dissent in our parliament will be ruthlessly hunted down and punished in a single chamber parliament, as recent events have shown,” he dramatically proclaimed.
The Seanad was apparently the last bastion of freedom of thought in our nation.
“There is an appetite for reform of our democracy,” he told us.
The voters were sold a pup about the Seanad being reformed if it was retained. Twelve years later and change is still just another report away. Any decade now.
These guardians of our Republic were called upon this week to use their albeit flimsy mandate in the elitist Seanad elections to ensure the public had a wider choice in this presidential election.
McDowell was once in favour himself of abolishing the Seanad, but saw the error of his ways when he became a minister. Abolishing the Seanad would mutilate the Constitution, he concluded.
“Apart entirely from constitutional considerations and legislative matters, the Seanad offers us the means to enrich the quality of representative democratic politics in a number of ways,” he said.
“Was it is wrong that WB Yeats could speak out in this building for the civil liberties of the Protestant people of the Irish Free State in his famous speech in which, referring to that minority, he stated: ‘we are no petty people’.”
The argument now is that the “no petty people” of modern Ireland are conservative voters, who feel disconnected from a country that has taken a liberal path. As a conservative values campaigner, Steen has lobbied against same-sex marriage and abortion legislation and represents that cohort of the electorate.
McDowell was a liberal since Garret FitzGerald’s constitutional crusade back in the 1980s. He certainly wouldn’t share Steen’s views on social change, but he did find himself on the same side as her last year in the misguided referendums on family and care. The pair even shared a platform at the Lawyers for No launch during the campaigns. Steen’s links to the conservative Catholic family values think-tank, the Iona Institute, were well established at that stage.
Democracy in action
Surely, this was democracy in action, where activists with different perspectives came together to defeat an ill-conceived proposal from the government. Now McDowell won’t even answer her call.
Steen proved herself to be an effective debater during that campaign, taking on no less a figure than Taoiseach Micheál Martin and coming out well. She may have been on the losing side in the abortion referendum, but she did identify significant legal holes in the argument. During a TV debate, Repeal the Eighth campaigner Prof Peter Boylan needed to be rescued by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald from Steen’s precise questioning. A lawyer who would scrutinise legislation certainly has qualifications for the role of president.
Facilitating her nomination would not have endorsed her candidacy, but would have upheld the democratic principles and broad representation McDowell is so fond of lecturing about.
What’s got into McDowell that he wouldn’t even sign her papers? He even has a political connection back to the family. McDowell ran Steen’s uncle for the Progressive Democrats a generation ago. Frank McNamara, best known at the time as the Late Late Show pianist and musical director, had an ill-fated time as a celebrity candidate for the PDs. McNamara is married to Theresa Lowe, the one-time host of TV game show Where in the World?, who is Steen’s aunt.
In McDowell’s only general election as party leader, McNamara crashed and burned, getting fewer than 500 votes in Dublin South Central. The working-class suburbs of that constituency were hardly ripe pickings for the PDs, but running no-hoper candidates is a part of democracy too. Under McDowell’s leadership, the 2007 general election brought an end to the modernising party, so maybe it’s the PTSD of the PDs’ demise that’s to blame.
Steen’s parents have also been supporters of Independent senator Rónán Mullen, also a conservative, who is a rival of McDowell’s on the National University of Ireland panel in the archaic Seanad electoral process.
McDowell’s failure to answer Steen’s call also gave cover to his former PD colleague, Senator Victor Boyhan, who once counted Steen as a constituent on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. But the retired PD officers’ association weren’t the only senators to not step up.
Last time around, Senator Gerard Craughwell started a campaign to have an entirely unnecessary presidential election, poking at Sinn Féin to run a candidate against Michael D Higgins. He claimed he became concerned that the main political parties in Leinster House were “working together to deny the citizens of this Republic the opportunity to select their next president by means of an election”.
He repeatedly agitated for a contest over the past year, even putting himself up as a candidate. He bowed out before the race had begun, as he was struggling to gain the 20 signatures from Oireachtas members needed to get on the ticket. This time around, he wouldn’t even lend his signature to a candidate short of a few names on her paper.
The lions of the Seanad, standing by our democracy, have been reduced to pussy cats.
A few Independent TDs could have come to the rescue, but Michael Lowry, Seán Canney and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran ultimately hail from the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil gene pools. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have candidates in the race in Jim Gavin and Heather Humphreys, so it was a big ask to expect a few of their TDs to break ranks, sign her papers and lose the party whip.
The left-wing parties all backing Catherine Connolly weren’t going to sign her papers anyway.
