Unfinished Legacy Business
By Brian Walker
We have three categories of legacy case in the news concurrently, apparently unable to advance. Just as there are hundreds of other cases not even contemplated for attention.
There are the 26 outstanding cases in Kenova, not linked to Stakeknife; the Disappeared, which are said to be outside the formal Disappeared process and the Springhill inquests. Although subject to different legal treatment, they have in common a welter of detail even in the absence of conclusive evidence, that demand answers and the common failure of existing processes, even quite searching ones, to provide them.
Ironically the gold standard of legacy investigation is about to get under way at last: the public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane. It is surely clear that the Finucane inquiry serves as no precedent. It was granted to fulfil a broken promise and as a token of the Labour government's good faith.
If we needed a reminder of massive complexity of the Legacy burden, the Omagh bomb public inquiry is proceeding according to the same gold standard, being just outside the GFA legacy time limitation.
There are, it seems to me, two main reasons for holding full blown public inquiries into the Troubles. One is the inquiry as a test case, like a class action for alleged gross violation of legal norms authorised by the state; the other that it will produce a definitive result, including the terms for accepting responsibility. If on the way, the state refuses to disclose by way of a public interest certificate or by other means, that action by itself will speak volumes. The inquiry the state itself has set up will have demonstrably failed.
I'd be happy to be proven wrong but I doubt if the Finucane inquiry will satisfy that legally accomplished and politically influential family, even though their counsel will at last be able to interrogate witnesses. The government of the day will at least be compelled to pass judgment on its predecessors and state the clear terms required for future disclosure. This will require disclosing "who called the shots as well as who pulled the trigger", from the bottom to the top, if it is to convincingly demonstrate that that the ‘higher ups’ deniability will not be protected, as happened in the de Silva report.
Intense
Attention to progress in both inquiries via live stream coverage will be intense. The path to an adequate conclusion is strewn with obstacles, predictable and unexpected. Without the constraints of a trial, critics will pounce on anything they suspect is less than complete transparency. But no one seriously argues that a Public Iuquiry is the viable regular legacy procedure. The argument lies elsewhere, over the powers and range of the Legacy Commission recast in Labour’s NI Troubles Bill which replaced the Conservatives’ generally loathed Legacy Act. It takes on the residual role of the Investigations Unit with sweeping powers under the original Stormont House Agreement cancelled by the Conservatives along with most prosecutions.
Conditional amnesty has been removed to satisfy the conceded right to a fair trial under the ECHR, despite the belief that very little evidence survives. Meanwhile the debate has swung the other way after the painful failures to secure convictions against elderly infirm and ultimately dead veterans, with Opposition MPs demanding further protection to be written into the Bill for old soldiers.
So with due respect for legal process, is not the best recourse to submit cases in deadlock to the recast Legacy Commission under the NI Troubles Bill? Their investigative powers are claimed to be wide and their conclusions can be challenged to their faces in real time, unlike any eventual decisions of the DPP on prosecutions. If satisfaction is not the result, at least we should have a much better idea of where we are in each case, including the quality of the arguments for and against taking responsibility, and whether or not to go further. This does not necessarily happen in a trial and is more appropriate when best evidence is thin to non-existent. Then the state or the paramilitaries, or both will have to make some sort of reply and risk enduring a public savaging.
Brian Walker: Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
Robinson urges SNP leader to apologise over Troubles storm
CILLIAN SHERLOCK, Sunday Life, May 24th, 2026
The first minister of Scotland has been urged to issue a “clear and unambiguous apology” after urging people to “move on” from the Troubles.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said John Swinney had caused “genuine hurt among victims and survivors”.
Mr Swinney made the comments after being asked about potential dealings with Sinn Fein following elections that left Scotland and Wales's devolved administrations with pro-independence parties in leading roles.
The leader of the SNP recognised he had caused some “media consternation” but added: “I really do think people have got to move on.
“The issues that are involved in the peace process have involved people moving on... (and) that's exactly what they've done. I'm simply reflecting what's happened.”
However, the leader of the DUP questioned whether he would consider the same “deeply hurtful” language appropriate for the Lockerbie bombing, the attack at Glasgow Airport or the Dunblane shootings.
Hurt
In reference to Scottish soldiers killed by the IRA, Mr Robinson said no political arrangement with people “who have never honestly confronted the IRA's brutal campaign can erase the truth about what has been done”.
He urged Mr Swinney to “reflect seriously on the offence” his comments caused and “apologise publicly to those victims and survivors who feel insulted”.
In a letter to the Scottish first minister, Mr Robinson said: “While I appreciate your efforts to clarify those remarks, the language used has caused genuine hurt among victims and survivors, many of whom continue to live daily with the consequences of terrorism and violence.”
He added: “The passage of time does not diminish the need for sensitivity, nor does it erase the legitimate pursuit of truth, justice and accountability.”
Mr Robinson said victims of terrorism were “not an inconvenience to be brushed aside because their pain sits awkwardly alongside today's political arrangements”. He added: “They deserve honesty, respect and the assurance that those who lead will never minimise what they endured.”
He told the Scottish first minister that leadership requires “the courage to say difficult things plainly” rather than to “manage relationships at the expense of those who suffered most”.
Mr Robinson continued: “No victim should ever be told — directly or indirectly — to simply get over the murder of their loved ones.
“I urge you to reflect seriously on the offence your comments have caused and to apologise publicly to those victims and survivors who feel insulted and abandoned by your remarks.”
The Scottish Government highlighted that there was “nothing” in Mr Swinney's comments that “in any way denigrates the suffering that individual families have suffered as a loss of loved ones as a consequence of the Troubles in Northern Ireland”.
A spokesperson pointed out that Mr Swinney had said: “I would want to reassure them of my sympathy and my empathy with them on that particular issue”.
The life and death of Yves Sakila sparks renewed debate on immigration
Sunday Independent, May 24th, 2026
As friends and family of Yves Sakila mourn his loss, the circumstances around his death outside Arnotts in Dublin have sparked fresh debate about integration and immigration, write Wayne O'Connor and Ali Bracken
John Kabongo struggled to watch the video showing the final moments of the life of his friend, Yves Sakila.
Mr Sakila (35) was pinned to the ground by security guards outside Arnotts department store on Henry Street, Dublin, on May 15 after an alleged shoplifting incident, and died soon after.
At one point, his face was pushed to the ground. A man also appeared to kneel on his neck or head.
The incident was recorded and widely shared on messaging apps. Mr Sakila's groans are clearly audible in the footage.
Mr Kabongo (40) said he finds it hard to discuss what happened. "I could not believe what I saw. It made me so mad,” he said.
"It makes me so emotional. Yves was a clever guy, very smart — we will miss him.” He added that he wants to see justice for his friend.
Their backgrounds are similar. Both were born in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They moved to Ireland, separately, in the early 2000s.
Mr Sakila was 12 and had an aunt based here who acted as a sponsor for the move.
His mother has been in Ireland since 1999, a solicitor for the family said, and he also has half-brothers and half-sisters living here. He grew up in Galway and west Dublin, and later worked in IT.
Mr Sakila and Mr Kabongo first met in Tallaght, Dublin, around 2010. They played football together as part of a team of Congolese nationals who competed against immigrants from other communities here.
Yves was not the most talented footballer, Mr Kabongo joked, but he was determined and worked hard.
"He was such a wonderful young man. He was always trying to work on ways for the football team to integrate,” he said.
Sport Against Racism
"He put me in touch with Sport Against Racism Ireland, who were able to help us get footballs and jerseys."Yves was a motivator. He was great at getting people to come and play football. He was a good guy.
"He would not walk past somebody without greeting them. He was a person who would like people to be happy.”
Mr Sakila and Mr Kabongo both went on to study at Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU Dublin) in 2011 and 2012.
Mr Kabongo studied engineering, while Mr Sakila took his first steps into a career in IT. They fell out of touch about four years ago.
"He was a guy with vision. Then somewhere along the way, Yves lost his way. I don't know what happened,” Mr Kabongo said.
"The last time I saw him was 2022. He was not the same person. Something had changed, something went wrong along the way. Things happen.”
For the last two years, Mr Sakila lived at the Salvation Army hostel on Granby Row, Dublin 1, which provides housing support for about 100 people.
Court records show a history of theft and robbery charges over the last 15 years. He had been fined on occasions and was imprisoned for short periods.
Arnotts and Synergy
On January 13 this year, he appeared before Dublin District Court, charged with stealing perfume worth €106 from Arnotts on June 10, 2025. He was fined €110.
Mr Sakila was apprehended again on May 15, after another alleged shoplifting incident at Arnotts.
Gardaí arrived at the scene and he was handcuffed, but they quickly realised he was unwell and the restraints were removed.
CPR was started and he was rushed to the Mater Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Facts around what happened before his death are still being established by gardaí and Fiosrú, the garda ombudsman.
UK executives from the private security company whose employees restrained him flew into Dublin last week for crisis meetings over his death.
Synergy Security Solutions employ the security personnel involved in restraining Mr Sakila.
In a statement, the firm offered its "thoughts and sympathies” to his family. It also said its own impacted employees were being "supported following this traumatic event”.
The company also confirmed it was co-operating with the garda investigation.
The statement read: "We are aware of the serious incident which occurred at Arnotts involving members of our security team responding to an incident at the store.
"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family, friends and all those affected at this difficult time.
Gardai
"We are fully cooperating with An Garda Síochána and all relevant authorities as investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident continue.
"The wellbeing of our employees involved is also being supported following this traumatic event.
"As there is an active investigation under way, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.
"We would ask that consideration and respect be shown to all those affected while the investigative process is ongoing.”
The firm did not answer questions about whether it has launched it has own internal probe and if any of the company's security personnel have been suspended.
Gardai have called for people who witnessed the incident outside Arnotts to come forward.
Charities, community and civil rights groups and politicians have demanded an investigation into all of the circumstances surrounding his death.
Congolese Community in Ireland president Bissa Kembetia said some of the reaction to Mr Sakila's death, particularly online, has concerned him.
"As Congolese people living in Ireland, we are worried. We are targeted,” Mr Kambetia said.
"Irish people are not racist. There are some people with racist behaviours, but this happens everywhere and it is not unique to Ireland.
"There are people who are anti-migrant, aligned to the far right or who have their own agenda. The Government must work better with communities to promote integration.
"People need to know what immigrants do for society. Immigrants work, they pay tax. They contribute in the same way as other people.”
The video of Mr Sakila was recorded yards from O'Connell Street, where large protests against the Government's immigration policies have taken place in recent times.
It is also in the constituency in which former taoiseach Bertie Ahern made controversial comments about migrants during a recent Dublin Central by-election canvass.
Bertie and Gerry
Mr Ahern singled out Muslims and people coming from Congo. He later said: "I've no problem with people from the Congo or Africa or anywhere else. I've good friends around Drumcondra, there's a lot of the clergy in from Africa.”
Recent polling suggests housing and the cost of living are the biggest issues in Dublin Central, above immigration.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, who has been canvassing for the last five months to get councillor Daniel Ennis elected, said this has been borne out on the doorsteps.
He cited the cost of living, housing and high visibility policing as the most pressing issues.
"Immigration wasn't one of the most significant issues. I was running for election in 2019 and then it came up all the time. By that benchmark, it is nowhere near it now,” he said.
However, others have put immigration at the centre of their campaigns.
Veteran criminal Gerry Hutch was criticised for a social media video during the by-election campaign where he said of migrants: "I think they should be all interned, they should be put in the Curragh camp until they're sorted, and fed, not given any money, not given any houses.”
Independent councillor Malachy Steenson, who also contested the by-election, is from North Strand. He was elected to Dublin City Council in 2024 after calling for curbs on immigration.
Living in fear
Many speakers at last Thursday's protest spoke about how the recent framing of immigration has created tension in communities.
Dr Salome Mbugua of Akidwa, the national network of migrant women living in Ireland, said there is a sense of fear in African communities here.
"We do not feel secure. Trust in justice has been lost,” Dr Mbugua said. "This is a moment for collective reflection, as Irish communities and as a society.
"Nobody should live in fear because of who they are, where they come from or the colour of their skin.”
Mr Kembetia said some of the commentary around Mr Sakila's death is worrying.
"Some people are saying he Yves Sakila deserved it. They called him a shoplifter and said he should go back to Congo. We cannot separate this reaction from Bertie Ahern's comments, the atmosphere in the community and how people feel,” Mr Kembetia said.
Democratic Republic of Congo's department of foreign affairs said it is monitoring the case and coordinating with counterparts in Ireland.
It called for a transparent and prompt investigation, and urged people living here to remain calm while this process is ongoing.
Arnotts said it is deeply saddened by Mr Sakila's death and sent sympathies to his family, friends and the Congolese community in Ireland.
The company said it is co-operating with the garda investigation and is conducting a review with an independent security firm it employs at the store.
"No loss of life should ever be the outcome of a retail security incident,” an Arnotts spokesman said.
Victims appeal over probe into Relatives for Justice
ANGELA DAVISON, Sunday Life, May 24th, 2026
DISAFFECTED GROUP FEEL WATCHDOG'S WAY OF DISPOSING OF THE COMPLAINTS IS INADEQUATE
A group that lodged a dossier of complaints against Relatives for Justice (RFJ) has welcomed findings by the Charity Commission against the victims' body but is disappointed these will not be officially recorded.
The complainants have lodged an appeal with the Charity Tribunal, asking that the findings be placed on the commission website.
A spokesperson for the group said a recommendation to “self-regulate” did not go far enough.
The dossier, containing complaints from former employees and victims and survivors of the Troubles who were beneficiaries of RFJ, is believed to contain allegations of misogynistic behaviour, bullying, nepotism and issues around the management of grievances.
Last month, the Charity Commission wrote to the group to say it had issued “self-regulatory advice” to RFJ, meaning trustees should deal with issues.
The commission raised four points, including the need to regularly review policies and procedures; report serious incidents to the commission in a timely manner; conduct thorough investigations when grievances arise; and be mindful of the sensitivities of service users.
However, the complainants were left confused after an additional nine points were highlighted by the commission earlier this month, following the lodging of the appeal with the Charity Tribunal.
Some appeared to be amplifications of the initial points, joined by others, including that trustees consider the potential risk of harm emanating from charity activities, engagement and communication.
The commission also advised that some of the concerns did not fall within its remit, and referred these to other regulators.
Self-regulating Victims Groups
A spokesperson for the group said: “Altogether, 13 points have been raised against RFJ, and they simply get to regulate themselves. Nothing from this investigation will be recorded on the Charity Commission's systems. Basically, it disappears.
“We've spent the majority of our lives in pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for our loved ones, challenging the institutions of the state. We never envisaged having to challenge those who were supposed to support us.
“We agree with Lord Alderdice's comments that the commission is 'not capable of fulfilling its role'.
“There were outcries from the victims' sector, including RFJ, regarding the findings of the report into the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. Where is the scrutiny from the body meant to govern victims' groups?
“While, in the main, we welcome the valid points apportioned to RFJ, the fact that there will be no public record is deeply disappointing.”
The group also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, with an RFJ board member sitting on the commission's investigatory panel.
Letter
In an email to Sunday Life in March, the commission said it had robust processes to ensure any staff member who had a real, potential or perceived conflict of interest in relation to a particular charity would be removed from decision‑making on that case.
Issues around RFJ were raised at Stormont during a meeting of the Executive Office committee last week.
DUP MLA Phillip Brett asked Victims and Survivors Service (VSS) CEO Andrew Walker if he was aware one of the charities he worked with had a number of complaints against it with the Charity Commission.
Mr Walker replied: “I know where there was one organisation where there was an engagement, which I understand has concluded with a letter back to the organisation.”
Under further questioning, Mr Walker said he did not have the letter in front of him but believed it made “self-review” points and recommendations.
RFJ's trustees said: “It is not uncommon for complaints to be submitted to regulators by members of the public. Where such complaints are received, the commission conducts reviews to determine whether any regulatory issues arise. We were happy to cooperate fully with this routine process and with all requests from the commission.”
The Charity Commission said: “We recognise that individuals may feel disappointed when they do not receive the outcome they had hoped for. It is important to understand the regulator's role and the limits of its legal remit.
“In the case of RFJ, the commission concluded that the appropriate response was to issue self-regulatory guidance. This identified nine areas for improvement.
“The commission does not routinely publish findings arising from concerns.”
Presbyterian Church's NDA report 'sickening blasphemy'
ANGELA DAVISON, Sunday Life, May 24th, 2026
TRAINEE CLERIC CALLS FOR NEW LEGISLATION TO OUTLAW CLAUSES
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) has revealed it has used nine non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in the past five years.
The church made the admission in a report that recommended the continued use of the deals.
It cited theological arguments as justification for its position, including that on “numerous occasions Jesus specifically imposed confidentiality requirements on individuals and groups, including his own disciples”.
The report also said NDAs should not be used to cover up wrongdoing.
Over the past year, this newspaper has revealed the identities of four of those who signed agreements. The others are unknown.
Trainee Presbyterian minister Tom Finnegan and his wife Renée, a former PCI communications assistant, signed NDAs as part of their settlements.
They previously said they were not made fully aware of the consequences and did not truly offer informed consent.
Requests from the couple and Rev Professor Laurence Kirkpatrick, who was also subject to an NDA, to be released from the agreements were rejected last November.
Mr Finnegan told Sunday Life: “The use of scripture to support NDAs, and implying that Jesus would use them, is a twisted view.
“The report is blasphemous. It's sickening to read. It shows they have learned nothing and are out of step with legislation changes.
“It's now unlawful to use NDAs in England in cases of harassment and discrimination, and it's the same in the Republic of Ireland. New legislation needs to be implemented here too.”
Threats
Mr Finnegan also hit out at a church argument that Christians shouldn't take other Christians to court, saying that NDAs were “permanent legal threats to silence people”.
The report was written by a taskforce set up to investigate the use of NDAs. Among its members are acting clerk Rev Dr David Allen and head of HR Sarah Leung, both named respondents in Mrs Finnegan's case of alleged unfair dismissal due to race and sex discrimination.
Ken Swarbrick also sits on the panel. He represented the church at a tribunal last December where a judge accepted arguments made on behalf of this newspaper to allow publication of some of the details of Mrs Finnegan's case, which was settled without an admission of liability.
In its 11-page analysis, the taskforce recommended “a balanced approach” in using confidential agreements, saying that in the past five years, nine NDAs had been used but 650 people had left the PCI's employment.
It claimed the agreements protected the church and employed individuals from malicious comments.
However, Professor Kirkpatrick said that neither he nor the others were consulted about the effect of NDAs, and called on the church to ban them.
He added: “They (people who signed NDAs) have found the experience traumatising, unfairly levied by this large employer organisation, and foisted upon them in the face of personally prohibitive financial costs to maintain wider public ignorance of alleged workplace misconduct and improper employment practices.
“These four individuals would like to speak about their experiences, but the PCI insists on enforcing NDAs and are therefore feeding the suspicion that they are hiding something. Surely the church has nothing to fear if they are innocent in these matters.”
Former PCI head of safeguarding Dr Jacqui Montgomery-Devlin also said she felt under pressure to sign an agreement after a dispute with the church.
The church said the General Assembly would take resolutions outlined in the report prayerfully, adding that it would be “inappropriate to comment on any aspect of the business” before next month's meeting.
NAZI WOMAN BEATER RECRUITING VIGILANTES TO PATROL COLERAINE
SUNDAY LIFE REPORTER, May 24th, 2026
ANTI-IMMIGRATION THUGS WANT 24 'BRAVE' MEN TO 'PROTECT' LOCALS BY ROAMING THE STREETS
A far-right group whose members include a convicted woman beater wants to set up a vigilante-style movement in Coleraine.
Our Northern Ireland Voice (ONIV), which recently met Causeway Coast and Glens officials to discuss immigration concerns, is behind the plan.
Led by convicted loyalist rioter Dan Grundle and self-confessed Nazi and woman-beater Mark Brown, the group is calling for supporters to take to the streets to “protect the community”.
ONIV's proposals involve dividing parts of Coleraine that sit east of the River Bann into patrol areas.
The districts with planned patrols include Harpurs Hill, Newmills, Ballycastle Road, Ballysally, Loguestown, Millburn, Bushmills Road, the Crescent, Windsor Avenue and James Street.
Revealing their plans on social media, Brown and his followers said they were looking for 24 “brave” men to fill the vigilante roles.
Operating under the banner of the East Coleraine Night Watch Community, they claim the group will “stand up for their communities and bring reassurance, viability and support”.
High-visibility vests and basic equipment will be provided to those who volunteer.
Using language similar to that of far-right vigilante groups which have been operating in Belfast and harassing immigrants, ONIV said: “We are looking for dependable, level-headed men who genuinely care about their local community and want to make a positive difference on the ground.”
The vigilante patrol plan has spooked police chiefs in Coleraine, who fear Brown and Grundle's rabble-rousing could lead to attacks on migrants.
They already hold regular protests outside the former Magherabouy Hotel in Portrush, which has been used to house asylum seekers.
One community worker told Sunday Life: “You don't have to be a genius to guess how this will end — with some poor foreigner getting his head kicked in.
“The last thing we need is vigilantes patrolling the streets. That's the job of the police and is not for anyone else.”
Our source also cautioned young people in Coleraine to have nothing to do with ONIV, warning that they would only be “used”.
“Dan Grundle was in jail for rioting and Mark Brown has been inside for assaulting a woman and attacking a foreign taxi driver. They are not good role models,” added the community worker.
Trouble
“Any young person who gets involved with them is on a one-way street to trouble. These people are only out for themselves.”
Jailing Brown for his racist attack on an Iranian taxi driver, a magistrate described his behaviour as “vile”.
The Nazi called his victim a “Muslim c**t”, a “low-rent Jihadi b*****d”, a “Jihadi bombing b*****d”, and a “dirty P**i b*****d” following a row over an £18.40 cab fare. He then punched him on the head and ran off, refusing to pay.
Brown was previously questioned about the UDA murder of Brian McIlhagga but was released without charge.
He has been arrested at anti-immigration rallies in Portrush and was banned by a court from contacting some politicians over harassment claims.
Last year, Brown was convicted of assaulting a woman, causing criminal damage to the car of another female and making a threatening call to her, during which he warned that she and her partner were “both dead”.
His ONIV pal Dan Grundle, who also uses the name Dan Douglas, was jailed for three years in 2023 for taking part in loyalist riots against the Northern Ireland Protocol in Coleraine.
The former drug addict and glue sniffer cut himself throwing a toilet at the PSNI, with DNA recovered from the scene used to identify him.
He also has convictions for disorderly behaviour and assaulting police.
Deeds Irish translation row damages office he was appointed to protect
Sam McBride, Sunday Life, May 24th, 2026
For years, the DUP wallowed in gratuitous attacks on the Irish language.
Sammy Wilson called it a “leprechaun language”. Gregory Campbell said Sinn Féin's entire wish list, which included an Irish language act, would be treated as “toilet paper”.
But the party was humbled when as the price of restoring Stormont, Sinn Féin insisted on an Irish language commissioner.
That commissioner, Pól Deeds, was appointed last year. But he has bungled, allowing loyalists to wind him up and overreacting to criticism.
Three months ago, Deeds objected to a report in the Belfast Telegraph (I had no role in the article) of an interview he'd given to Bill Breathnach, a freelance journalist who interviewed him in Irish.
FLUENT
In a letter to Belfast Telegraph editor Martin Breen, Deeds complained about being quoted saying of the loyalist activist Jamie Bryson — who has repeatedly attacked Deeds — “I don't even want his name in my mouth” and that Bryson has “poison and enmity”.
Deeds claimed the article caused him “distress” and complained that the way it was written “made me look unprofessional and it is hard for me to believe that this was not to some extent done intentionally”.
Implying some deliberate attempt to undermine the Irish language commissioner or the language itself was not just a slur on the journalist, but preposterous.
The paper was simply reporting, accurately, what he'd said in an on-the-record interview.
As it happens, the Belfast Telegraph newsroom is a place where the Irish language can be heard in conversation among several fluent staff. Eoin Brannigan, who was editor until a few weeks before the article was published, is a fluent Irish speaker.
Several of my colleagues help produce and present the Irish Independent's Irish language podcast Seachtain.
The letter was marked “not for publication”. The paper did not publish it, but Stormont did after demanding its release when Deeds referred to the complaint in evidence to the Executive Office committee which scrutinises his work.
Unwisely, he initially refused to hand over the letter, seemingly unaware that he'd no choice. The committee has sweeping powers of compulsion, and eventually he agreed to produce the correspondence. This just served to widen the controversy into multiple critical stories rather than one.
When published, the letter showed that Deeds had claimed the article “was a sometimes less-than-faithful translation of my original Irish language interview”.
Pressure
When in front of the committee, he claimed it had been a “bad translation”. In fact, the translation was accurate. The journalist translated “nimh agus naimhdeas” as “poison and enmity”, which the Irish-English dictionary offers as a translation of those words.
Any translation involves the possibility of subtle distinctions. Google Translate prefers “poison and hostility”. When pressed at the committee, Deeds said he'd translate it as “bitterness and hostility”.
Whatever the translation, this was pedantry; he'd been accurately quoted.
Deeds went on in his complaint to claim that following the article's publication, he'd been taunted that he was claiming “using the law was unlawful”.
That is a preposterous concept, but one which Deeds himself introduced by saying during the interview in relation to Bryson's legal challenges: “I do not myself believe that this is entirely lawful and I will be questioning that.”
In the letter of complaint, he said: “My actual objection — or, to be precise, my suspicion — was that constantly speaking out against the protection of the Irish language as provided for in the Identity and Language (NI) Act 2022 may not be entirely lawful.”
Deeds has been put under intense pressure — he would say unfairly — by unionists. But these blunders are of his own making.
Anyone at commissioner level should immediately realise that it would be perfectly lawful (even if intolerant) to argue that Irish or Ulster Scots or English or any other language should be banned altogether. That's the nature of living in a free society. The way to counter those views is to argue against them, not to suggest they might be unlawful.
I asked Deeds if he could specify the alleged mistranslation; no other examples were offered.
In a statement, he accepted that his “issue with the translated version of the interview was more one of semantics”. He said it was “clearly untrue” that he was against freedom of speech but said he had been “taken aback by the intensity of the campaigning of a few individuals against my office and against the legal protections (for Irish)”.
He added: “I fully acknowledge that those who wish to lobby against protections for minorities are legally entitled to do so.”
His argument about being mistranslated has the potential to be the most damaging it if it recurs. One of the central arguments against allowing Irish in the court system in Northern Ireland was that it could lead to confusion.
There has been no evidence of this problem since an old law banning Irish in the courts was repealed several years ago — and scant demand to hear cases in Irish.
But if the Irish language commissioner suggests even a fluent Irish speaker's translation of his words is wrong — when in fact it is right — he risks introducing into the minds of those unsure about the language that it is a practical problem.
A 'white menace spreading pestilence'?
We need to change our Israel-Gaza rhetoric
MÁIRÍA CAHILL, Sunday Independent, May 24th, 2026
There is little doubt where RTÉ presenter Cormac Ó hEadhra stands on the most recent flotilla captured and then deported by Israel last week.
Speaking on Wednesday's Late Debate, to Conal McMenamin, the father of one of the activists, he referred to those who found themselves staring down the barrel of Israeli guns as "very courageous activists”.
In my early days on community radio, those of us presenting news discussions knew the golden rule: never give your own opinion — no matter how just you think the cause. The danger, of course, is that the organisation may be accused of bias, which then colours the listening experience on other topics, too.
At a time when journalism is under attack from fake-news peddlers, AI and politicians who would love public service broadcasting to serve their own interests, it feels more important than ever to give listeners the facts and let them decide for themselves.
God knows, the interview was compelling enough. McMenamin said his son Luke joined the Sumud Flotilla out of "love for his fellow human beings”.
The images of security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir striding around, grinning like a power-crazed Cheshire cat as he surveyed a room packed with bound detainees, rightly caused worldwide outrage. Even Benjamin Netanyahu condemned it as "not in line with Israel's values and norms”.
"The values of Israel?” McMenamin responded when Ó hEadhra put it to him. "Come on.”
He echoed many people's thoughts: that Ben-Gvir had opened a window to the world on how the Israeli regime behaves towards political opponents. If the point of the flotilla was to raise awareness of this, then it succeeded.
Netanyahu is unlikely to lose sleep over the treatment of those aboard the flotilla, and he notably didn't sack Ben-Gvir. But the swift condemnation from world leaders proved embarrassing.
Canada summoned the Israeli ambassador. Italy did the same. Micheál Martin, fresh from his meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron, called the scene "appalling and disgusting”.
After his deportation, Richard Anderson, part of the Norwegian delegation, said: "We've been beaten, tortured, systematically dehumanised, and we have had just a little taste of what the Palestinians go through every day.”
His words evoked the abominable images we have all seen of flattened cities in Gaza. There is certainly a duty to help the people displaced from them, whose safety and security are as flimsy as the tents they now call home.
The Israeli military has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, says the UN. All these lives matter.
So, too, do the 1,124 people killed by Hamas on that day. The images of blood seeping from the groin of a woman captured by gleeful terrorists leave little doubt as to the horrors faced by some of the hostages. Sometimes, it's important to say that.
Feverish debate
Ireland is feverishly absolute in its support for Gaza, and we often fail to examine those who are also brutal in their treatment of Israelis, and of Gazans, too. Hamas frequently gets a free pass because Israel's response has been so disproportionate.
Likewise, those who support the Israeli government — no matter what it flattens, maims or kills, and who see Palestinians as collateral damage in Israel's right to defend itself — need to ask themselves at what point does defence become genocide?
There is little room for nuance in any of this. But equally, we must be careful to separate Jewish people from the Israeli government, or humanity seeps away from us.
Jewish people cannot and should not be blamed for the actions of the Israeli state, yet sometimes our air is thick with prejudice clothed in concern for Gazans.
Take Robert, a flotilla member who rang Liveline on Monday. He referred to Israelis as "an aggressive race” and Kieran Cuddihy rightly challenged him. "What you've done there is classic antisemitism.” Robert disagreed.
In March, Justice Minister Helen McEntee responded to the publication of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland's Antisemitic Incident Report and stated that it provided a "clear and undeniable picture of the difficult situation currently experienced by Ireland's Jewish communities”.
A total of 143 antisemitic incidents were documented over a six-month period. Outrage about this is not fashionable, so we hear less about it, though we should.
And shouldn't we seek to have more representation from both the Jewish and Palestinian communities on our airwaves when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
In contrast, many flotilla activists have appeared on our airwaves.
Robert aside, if there has been any challenge to them over their aims or some of their questionable statements, I haven't heard it. That, to be clear, does not excuse their treatment in Israel, but it does warrant examination.
The Ireland for Peace account on TikTok has been documenting its flotilla journey. One video is captioned: "Preparing for dusk when the little IOF rats may come out to commit their piracy acts in EU waters.”
This has been online for weeks. Not one of the activists on air has been asked about it.
At this moment of extreme suffering and polarisation, Ireland desperately needs a rejection of dehumanising rhetoric — from all sides. This will come into sharp focus as the Dáil prepares to debate the Occupied Territories Bill, from which a ban on services will likely be excluded.
On Thursday, Margaret Connolly, sister of President Catherine Connolly, spoke from the steps of her deportation plane to gathered media. "This barbaric, cruel regime must be disbanded,” she said.
"The United States and Germany are funding it 100pc, with the backing of England, France and all the Western governments — who are a white menace spreading pestilence and violence wherever they go.”
On Friday on RTÉ, she referred to her detention as "a horror of a concentration camp.
Such hyperbolic and inaccurate language elicits little sympathy from those in the moral middle, who know from our own history that absolutism rarely ends conflict.
It deserves to be challenged.
Comment on email ‘Awkward questions about Legacy, Race, Victims and the Arab-Israeli debate’
I don't see the link to the item about the Arab-israeli question.
You must know that Iran is not Arab and the Gulf states are, and they are now siding with Israel, as indeed is Egypt.
The conflict is with extreme Shia Islam. The most serious conflict now is the desire of the Shia Iranian regime to destroy Israel.
The Palestine question does involve Arab issues, but many Palestinians are Christian, while most Palestinian moslems are Sunni.
I'm astonished that the Irish, my own country, can't solve what is, effectively, a simple parochial issue, while the Irish want to teach the Middle East how to regulate itself.
Put yer own house in order, me boys.
Best wishes
Nicholas Dunne Lynch.
Editor: The headline sent out to highlight the contents of today’s bulletin should have referred to the Gaza-Irael conflict, not the Arab-Israeli question.
Inside the New IRA - A small group that still poses threat to peace
SUNDAY LIFE INVESTIGATIONS
The New IRA has fewer than 250 members throughout the island of Ireland, according to the latest government anti-terror briefings.
The dissident gang, which was behind two recent failed attempts to bomb PSNI stations in Dunmurry and Lurgan, is also desperately struggling to attract new recruits.
Despite this, the organisation is still deemed to pose a “substantial threat” to peace, meaning an attack is likely.
Security sources have identified Derry as the likely target of any fresh New IRA operations. The city is the group's stronghold, with an estimated 45 members.
The recent west Belfast and Lurgan proxy bombings, which saw takeaway delivery drivers forced to transport crude explosive devices to police stations, was an attempt by the New IRA to show it remains active outside Derry.
However, both failed to cause any casualties or inflict any damage to the PSNI stations.
Veteran republican Kieran 'Zack' Smyth is charged with plotting the Dunmurry bomb, while ex-election candidate Barry Toman is accused of involvement in the Lurgan attack.
Both men, who deny any wrongdoing, were remanded in custody after appearing in court earlier this month.
According to senior security sources, outside its estimated 45 members in Derry, the New IRA has 40 members in Tyrone, 25 in Belfast, 20 in Armagh — centred around the Lurgan area — and 15 in Fermanagh.
There is a further estimated 100 scattered throughout the 26 counties in the south.
The charging of 10 alleged senior New IRA figures arising from MI5's Operation Arbacia, which saw double agent Denis McFadden infiltrate the gang, has, in the view of senior police, “decimated” the top end of the organisation.
Several of these figures, including prominent Tyrone dissidents Davy Jordan and Kevin Barry Murphy — who are on bail accused of directing terrorism — have since been vocal in their support for a change of strategy and the ending of violence.
Shame
But DUP leader Gavin Robinson told the House of Commons last month this was an attempt by the New IRA to secure early releases for its prisoners — a claim denied by Secretary of State Hilary Benn.
“The Northern Ireland Office has appointed a lady called Fleur Ravensbergen, who is engaging with the New IRA, who attacked Dunmurry police station,” said Mr Robinson.
“Through their interlocutors and the International Red Cross, they are asking the secretary of state to offer early release. I say, shame.”
High-level sources told Sunday Life that before his arrest in connection with the Dunmurry PSNI station attack, Zack Smyth was the go-between for New IRA leaders and prisoners.
The 66-year-old has been involved in violent republicanism for 50 years and was jailed for nine years in the 1970s for riotous behaviour, intimidation, public nuisance, making use of prohibited articles, malicious damage and IRA membership.
Smyth recently served a seven-year prison sentence for the horrific home invasion robbery of an elderly couple in Co Down.
“Fergal Melaugh (New IRA leader in Derry) was acting as go-between with the (New IRA) prisoners and leadership, but the position was taken off him because he wouldn't do what the prisoners wanted,” said a source.
“The job was given to Zack Smyth, and within a couple of weeks, he was arrested and charged with the Dunmurry bomb.”
Despite New IRA claims to the contrary, the Dunmurry bomb was not made up of the plastic explosive Semtex, but comprised four gas camping stoves bought from a supermarket which were detonated by a timer.
The haphazard nature of the attack involved the gang ringing a local Chinese restaurant and ordering a takeaway. When the driver arrived at an address in the Twinbrook estate in west Belfast, he was ordered to transport the device to the PSNI station.
What can also be revealed is the New IRA members mistakenly set the timer on the bomb before the takeaway driver showed up.
Panicking that it would go off prematurely, they made a second phone call to the restaurant to urge the driver to hurry up. Minutes after he parked his car close to the Dunmurry PSNI station and raised the alarm, the vehicle burst into flames.
Embarrassed at the amateur nature of the attack, the New IRA is believed to be planning a further operation, which is likely to be in Derry city.
Its boss there, Fergal Melaugh, is under increasing pressure to be seen to take action against the security services.
Although the New IRA is strongest in Derry, it has not carried out any shootings or bombings in the city since it murdered journalist Lyra McKee there in 2019.
Sources said Melaugh paid himself a £500 weekly 'army' wage, which is the same amount his suspected second-in-command, Kieran 'Douse' Gallagher, takes home.
Extortion
The cash comes from the New IRA's extortion and loan shark rackets, which Gallagher has been publicly linked to by the UK Treasury.
It froze his assets last year on the basis that he has “been involved in terrorist activity by providing financial services, or making available funds or economic resources, for the purposes of terrorism” and by “facilitating terrorism”.
Recent Sunday Life reports on the Derry New IRA's criminal rackets and finances have led the terror gang to appoint a dissident from Tyrone to conduct an internal investigation into missing money.
This individual, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is heavily involved with diesel laundering, and the sale of counterfeit alcohol and cigarettes.
Included in his 'investigation' brief is examining how New IRA members have been stealing money made from charity events meant to financially support prisoners' families but which was instead spent on Mediterranean holidays.
Security sources also revealed how police were continuing to investigate Brian Sheridan, the owner of Monaghan-based construction company Brisher Ltd, as a major source of New IRA money laundering.
In 2024, Sheridan and Brisher Ltd was subject to a UK assets freeze. This was after the UK Treasury said “Brian Sheridan (born Armagh) is further suspected of providing or assisting others in providing financial services or making available funds or economic resources for the New IRA”.
Angela was like a sister to me ... there's no way she took her own life'
IVAN LITTLE, Sunday Life, May 24th, 2026
NEW WITNESS ADDS TO MYSTERY OVER APPARENT '92 SUICIDE OF YOUNG MUM FOUND IN A FUME-FILLED CAR
A woman who was “like a sister” to an apparent suicide victim has said she never believed her friend took her own life.
Eileen Glackin, from Coalisland, echoed calls from Angela Watson's daughter for the reopening of the investigation into the death.
Ms Watson died aged 29 in Bushmills 34 years ago, with police treating the matter as a suicide.
Mrs Glackin said her friend and her daughter Shirley Gunning lived in her family home for a time before Shirley was taken away for adoption as a baby.
She last saw Ms Watson a couple of months before her death in July 1992, close to where she worked in the old Beach Hotel in Portballintrae.
Mrs Glackin said: “Angela was like a sister to me in our early years.
“(The last time I saw her), she was in great form. She was driving a new car and was wearing a very expensive-looking engagement ring that would have cost thousands of pounds.”
The name of the man who proposed to Ms Watson remains a mystery.
Ms Gunning has heard speculation about his identity and that he may have already been married.
Her mother's body was found in a car on a laneway in Bushmills.
A post-mortem examination found she had died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Mrs Glackin said she always had reservations about the circumstances of her friend's death.
She added: “She was a clever girl, but I don't think she would have had enough knowledge to take her own life in the manner that was suggested.”
She also recalled how, when she saw her body, there was a “noticeable bruise on her neck and bumps on her forehead”.
Mrs Glackin went on: “Angela took great pride in her nails, and they were all broken.
“People also remarked that she was much heavier looking than she'd been, but that might have been the result of the carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Ms Gunning, from Swatragh, previously told Sunday Life the botched RUC investigation into the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan — who were killed by Colin Howell and Hazel Stewart — had heightened her concerns about her mother's death.
The Police Ombudsman criticised the probe as “deeply flawed”, saying officers too readily accepted that Mrs Howell and Mr Buchanan, whose bodies were found in a fume-filled car in Castlerock, had died in a suicide pact
Staged
Eighteen years after the killings, Howell confessed he and Stewart had murdered their spouses and staged their deaths to look like suicides.
Ms Gunning said she was “haunted” by her mother's death and believed she owed it to her to get answers.
A Freedom of Information request put her in touch with a detective who said he had been unable to find police files relating to the matter.
She has also asked the Coroner's Office to remove redactions from the records of the inquest into the death.
Mrs Glackin said no one in her family circle believed Ms Watson, who was originally from Cookstown, had killed herself.
She added she was puzzled by claims from the RUC at the time that she had called a police station in Ballymoney shortly after the death, seeking information.
She continued: “I told them repeatedly that I didn't do any such thing, and I have no idea how they got the impression that I did.”
Ms Gunning said Mrs Glackin contacted her after reading about her story in Sunday Life.
The first thing she said was: “Angela didn't take her own life.”
Ms Gunning, a former beauty therapist, said people who knew her birth mother said she had overcome so many difficulties in her past that she would not have contemplated suicide.
She appealed for anyone who worked with her mother in Portballintrae, including a former soldier, to get in touch.
Ms Gunning has also reached out to The Katie Trust, set up in the wake of the murder of showjumper Katie Simpson, whose death was initially treated as a suicide, for advice.
She said: “I just hope they will be able to help me.”
The charitable trust has been described as a “trauma-informed organisation working to support families bereaved under suspicious or unexplained circumstances”.
