Roberta Guiney - An unsettling encounter with a Troubles victim

… And family's search for truth about deaths of father and son 44 years later

Gail Walker, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

It's odd how a couple of names can come hurtling at you from nowhere and take you straight back to an encounter still troubling even years later.

That happened to me this week with the news that the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is to investigate the deaths of Eric and Desmond Guiney, the milkman and his son who died after being attacked by rioters during the IRA hunger strikes in 1981.

Instantly, I had a vivid memory of interviewing Roberta Guiney, widow of Eric (45) and mother of 14-year-old Desmond on a sunny morning in May, 2001.

The whole meeting is indelibly imprinted in my mind for a raft of reasons.

It had been difficult to track down Roberta because she did not want to be found. When I finally made contact, she politely declined to be interviewed then rang back to say she had changed her mind. Journalists don't tend to forget landing genuine exclusives so that was definitely one factor.

Then, on the day we were to meet at her Whiteabbey apartment, I had trouble locating her address. I walked up a long road, spotted a workman and asked if he knew where the apartment block was.

Another victim ‘just up there’

He gave me directions. He then added that he'd thought I was going to ask him to show me where judge's daughter Patricia Curran had been murdered one November night in 1952. “It's just up there,” he said, pointing to the lonely spot where she had been stabbed 37 times.

That unsettled me. We were under a canopy of trees and maybe it was the dappled sunlight through the swaying branches and leaves overhead, dark then light then dark again, but I was struck by how dreadful acts seem to linger, casting shadows down the decades.

Roberta answered the door in a white towelling dressing gown. She pulled it around herself nervously and told me I was the first reporter she had spoken to in two decades.

I felt the chance of the interview going ahead was still very much in the balance, so hastily made small-talk about the good weather to put her at ease. “I hate the month of May,” she replied flatly.

‘She did not flinch’

As it turned out, she did not flinch from telling her terrible story. Nearby, Desmond smiled mischievously from a black-and-white photograph taken two weeks before his 14th birthday. He had less than a month to live.

Had he survived, he would have been a few years older than me. Pictured here, with his big collar and pageboy hair, he was suspended in the last century.

Roberta set out a ghastly timeline: “The crash happened on the 5th. Desmond died on the 8th and he was buried on the 12th. My husband died on the 13th and he was buried on the 15th. And my birthday is on the 16th.”

What finally prompted her to speak out had been the widespread publicity around commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of the hunger strike. It rankled her that Eric and Desmond were ignored.

The Protestant father and son had left their home in Rathcoole, north Belfast, too early to hear the news on the radio that Bobby Sands, MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, had died in the Maze Prison after refusing food and medical intervention for 66 days.

Desmond was only helping his father on the milk round because it was a Bank Holiday and he was off school.

‘Rampaging crowd’

Eric's daily run included the Lower Shankill and Duncairn Gardens, a route that took him onto the Antrim Road and across the top of the New Lodge Road. Oblivious to danger, he approached the junction at about 6am, but almost immediately the milk float was caught up in a rampaging crowd and hit with bricks.

One brick came through the window and struck Eric on the face. The cab careered into a concrete lamp post and Desmond was thrown from the vehicle.

At 7am, RUC officers arrived at Roberta's door to break the news and take her to the Mater Hospital.

She worried that Eric had had time to absorb the horror engulfing him and his young son. “When I saw him in hospital he had a terribly shocked look on his face.”

Roberta (59) made the first of several surprising disclosures: “One hunger striker wrote to me after Eric and Desmond died. I can't recall his name now but he said he had come off the strike because of their deaths, that it was too much.”

US reporters

She revealed that if she blamed anyone, it was US TV reporters who, allegedly keen to get dramatic footage, had doled out cash to young lads to attack the first vehicle that came into sight. The then Northern Ireland Secretary Humphrey Atkins told the House of Commons there would be a full investigation into the claims.

This was a strange place to be a reporter in 2001. It was a few years after the Good Friday Agreement and, as this newspaper's chief feature writer, I flitted between interviewing stars arriving for concerts to celebrate 'the new Northern Ireland' and relatives of Troubles victims, grappling for some form of justice or even acknowledgement.

I recall many long interviews with forlorn middle-aged widows marooned in lonely homes. Dorothy Arbuckle, widow of Victor Arbuckle, the first RUC officer to be killed, also gave her first interview to me to support this newspaper's Forgotten Families campaign for better pensions for widows of police officers killed before 1982.

The idea for that came from a Catholic widow, from Dungannon — another memorable encounter in a melancholy front room — and it was supported by, among others, the late Monsignor Denis Faul.

Getting on with it

What struck me profoundly then — and now — was how Roberta and all the others had just been left to get on with it after suffering sudden and momentous tragedy.

Here she was, alone in her apartment, with trauma and grief in her head, and she was right — Eric and Desmond Guiney had none of the 'glamour' of the hunger strikers. No-one was organising events to mark their deaths or writing books or making films about the tragedy.

When victims' group SEFF shared a memorial on Facebook to mark the Guineys' deaths, comments noted how there were no million pound inquiries for them. Just as there isn't for the vast majority of victims, Catholic and Protestant.

We argue so much about remembrance here but we really ought to give ourselves a pat on the back for pulling off the most astonishing act of mass forgetting. All our anonymous dead are remembered only by family now — if any family are still alive.

Fall out for family

Roberta and Eric Guiney had three other children — Julie, Alan and Alison, aged 20, 18 and 15 in 1981.

According to Roberta, Alison withdrew from the tragedy, never talking about it or visiting the graves. Julie emigrated to New Zealand, only returning in 2000. She died in 2014. Roberta died in 2021.

Roberta was a lovely woman who endured unimaginable suffering. She said her faith in God and good friends, Protestant and Catholic, had pulled her through. She talked about the lives Eric and Desmond would have led. Eric had “wanted to live to 100”, looked forward to their retirement together.

Desmond had dreamt of being a jockey. His funeral cortege was led by two ponies.

Forty-four years later, what's left of the Guiney family are making one final push for information about what happened to Eric and Desmond that day.

Let's wish the ICRIR well with their investigations.

Because from Patricia Curran to all the dead of the Troubles, this is the land of unsolved murder and unassuaged heartache, where the past finds us when we least expect it.

After the riots….Attempted rape case against Romanian teenagers in Ballymena withdrawn

By Alan Erwin, Belfast News Letter, November 28th, 2025

Racial violence erupted in Ballymena following the alleged incident before spreading to other parts of Northern Ireland.

​​Two Romanian teenagers accused of attempting to rape a schoolgirl in Ballymena are to have the charges withdrawn, a judge ordered today.

The boys, aged 14 and 15, have been held in custody since the alleged sexual assault which led to sustained racially-motivated rioting in the Co Antrim town during the summer.

But at Belfast Youth Court today the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) was granted permission to end criminal proceedings against the defendants based on “significant evidential developments”.

Both teenagers will now be released from the juvenile detention centre where they have been held for more than five months.

The pair were jointly charged with the attempted rape of the girl on June 7 this year.

A third youth suspected of involvement in the alleged attack is believed to have fled to Romania the following day.

None of the accused can be identified because of their ages.

Previous courts heard claims that the girl had been dragged down an alleyway into a garage in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena.

She managed to escape when the three teenagers were disturbed by a noise outside and ran off, it was contended at the time.

Racial violence erupted

Racial violence erupted in the town following the alleged incident before spreading to other parts of Northern Ireland.

However, in an unexpected development, a formal application was made to halt the case against the two defendants.

A lawyer for the PPS told the court it has a duty to keep prosecution decisions under consideration and take into account any change in circumstances.

“Where new information or evidence becomes available, it will be considered along with all existing information and evidence in the case and the test for prosecution applied,” she said.

“We have recently been made aware of significant evidential developments in this case, and in light of this new evidence it has been determined that the test for prosecution is no longer met on evidential grounds.

“Therefore the case should not proceed.”

‘The less said, the better’

Representatives from the prosecution and police investigation teams have met with the complainant and her family to explain the reasons for the decision, the court was told.

The two teenage accused, represented by barristers Conn O’Neill and Victoria Loane under the instructions of O’Neill Solicitors, did not appear during the brief hearing.

However, Mr O’Neill raised no objection to the application.

“The sooner this can be relayed to Woodlands (Juvenile Justice Centre) the sooner these two youths can be released,” counsel said.

“They have been detained since the outset.”

Granting the order sought by the PPS, District Judge George Conner said: “I’m aware this is a very sensitive case, but the matters are now marked withdrawn.

“The less I say about it the better.”

Answers needed in appalling case exploited by racist hatemongers

ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

The withdrawal of the prosecution of two Romanian teenagers charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl in Ballymena on June 7 is far from the end of this appalling case.

More than 100 people were arrested over race hate riots that followed the first appearance in court of the two defendants, aged 14 and 15.

A third youth who was suspected of involvement in the alleged attack is believed to have fled to Romania the following day.

The pursuit of him through joint action between the PSNI and Romanian police is also expected to end.

Of those 100 arrests, 91 people have been charged with various offences, some of whom could face a significant period behind bars.

Dozens of migrant families, some integrated into the community for many years, were violently forced from their homes.

Missing migrant children and over hundred PSNI injured

A small number of migrant children from Harryville Primary in Ballymena remain untraced since the disorder.

Over more than a week of disorder, 107 police officers were injured. The violence spread from Ballymena to Larne, Newtownabbey and Belfast.

And now the entire case has been withdrawn, leaving more questions than answers.

On Friday the court was told there was “significant” new evidence that meant there was no longer any reasonable prospect of prosecution.

The most obvious question is: how long ago was the prosecution aware of this new information?

The two teenagers — despite multiple failed bail hearings — have been on remand since June.

If there was evidence that cast into question the prosecution's case, it should have been presented at the first opportunity.

Children should only be held in custody in the most extreme of circumstances, and serious cases involving young people should be expedited by the courts.

The young people involved have been placed at the centre of a race hate agenda by those who sought to exploit a situation long before the facts were fully established.

That is not unusual, as facts rarely matter to those who use the issue of violence against women and girls to advance their own racist agenda.

They play fast and loose with facts, using social media to spread misinformation and deliberate disinformation.

Within an hour of the PPS withdrawing the charges there were WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts spreading completely false information about why the case collapsed.

The young complainant is still entitled to anonymity, regardless of outcome. That protection applies to all those who report an alleged sex attack.

Victim’s anonymity breached

That child — and she is a child — has had her anonymity breached by adults who should have been protecting her rather than allowing her alleged ordeal to be used by racists.

Ballymena still bears the scars of what happened earlier this year.

Who can forget the Union flags and 'Locals Live Here' posters on windows, events reported around the globe — a marking of territory in order to survive the wrath of a mob, many of whom travelled to the area hellbent on causing as much disruption as possible; creating terribly ugly scenes, which they claimed was all about the protection of women, while migrant women and children, one of whom was heavily pregnant, cowered in attics and wardrobes waiting to be rescued by emergency services.

About 50 households required assistance following the disorder, according to the Housing Executive.

Some 14 families were provided with emergency accommodation during the disorder, while others stayed with relatives. Some have since left Northern Ireland permanently.

There are those who would argue there are no winners in this situation.

Real beneficiaries

But I disagree. The real benefactors are those peddling a false narrative, who have already turned events in court on Friday into part of their conspiracy theories.

And their followers will play along with it, adding as it goes, a snowball of disinformation, catching more as it rolls along.

The role of some politicians in failing to condemn — and even at times excuse the racial hatred that was directed at the Romanian community in June — is also something that should be noted.

The phrase “legitimate concerns” is thrown around.

But context is everything, and in this case the context was based on speculation before the case could be properly investigated.

Finally, we must keep in mind the young people involved.

Two boys who now live under threat and have been held in custody for five months.

And the young schoolgirl, who was placed at the centre of a terrible chain of events.

Regardless of outcome, they all deserve the opportunity to rebuild their lives after the most traumatic of summers.

Damaged mayor’s portrait and 'say nothing' attitude is at expense of real politics

MICHAEL CAIRNS, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

There is a whiff of 2005 around the case of the damaged portrait of Wallace Browne in Belfast City Hall and the emerging theme of no-one at the venue wanting to talk about it.

Twenty years ago, literally down the street from the back entrance of City Hall, Robert McCartney was attacked in a bar and then murdered by a mob outside it.

The bar, then called Magennis's, and subsequently renamed as Ronnie Drews, was packed with people who had returned from a Bloody Sunday commemoration in Derry, most from the nearby Markets area.

Several of those there were members of the IRA and the cause of the murder was a row over a perceived insult.

Police efforts to investigate the killing were immediately thwarted by an orchestrated riot and by the coincidence that 70 people they spoke to who had been in the bar, said they saw nothing as they were in the toilets.

SF climb down on policing

This “say nothing” attitude hurt and infuriated Mr McCartney's sisters, a fury which ultimately led them to the George W Bush's Oval Office as guests for the St Patrick's Day events which Gerry Adams had been dropped from. It has been said that the embarrassment caused to Sinn Fein by the McCartney affair is what forced them to accept full public support for the PSNI.

Damaging a portrait is not in the same league as a murder, nor is the scale of the political fall out likely to match that successfully driven by Paula and Catherine McCartney.

But the PPS has found itself with no case as no one is admitting to the damage and no one is providing eye witness evidence.

The situation whereby Sinn Fein swiftly removed a member of staff from his position in October 2024 because of what the First Minister said was “their involvement in an incident regarding a portrait in Belfast City Hall” and then according to the PPS this week, the party's chief whip informing them that the same person had made no admissions and knew nothing about the damage, could seem to onlookers as either party HR bungling or hindsight protection.

If the ex-party employee's position is that he admitted to nothing and knew nothing about the damage, then he may well want to seek advice from an employment lawyer on being wrongfully dismissed.

This has given the DUP and TUV benches the kind of ammunition they love to create a row to generate headlines.

The TUV's Timothy Gaston used an unnamed and unidentified by him social media account as sufficient justification for him to use Assembly legal privilege to link MLA Carál Ní Chuilín's son to the incident, using his first name in the context of his former employment as an aide to Junior Minister Aisling Reilly.

Nothing to see - except law suits

Later this led to a Belfast law firm putting Mr Naoise Ó Cuilín's name fully into the public domain in a statement denying both his involvement and also revealing he had not answered questions about what happened at City Hall.

This said his lawyer Niall Murphy, was on the basis that in relation to his client: “There was nothing requiring an account, and that he should therefore exercise his lawful right to silence.”

At the Executive Office Committee meeting in which Gaston raised the issue he asked if Carol Ní Chuilín wished to declare any personal interest before committee business began and she said she had none.

Such declarations are usually done if there is anything on the Committee Agenda which members might have a personal or other interest in.

Ms Ní Chuilín is a long time Assembly veteran and a rules expert, and pointed out the City Hall affair was not on the Agenda.

At the start of the meeting she did follow procedure and declare an interest in relation to the Public Records Office.

Women and children last

Fellow committee member, Phillip Brett (DUP) had written to all the committee members that morning giving notice that he would want to put a City Hall related question to Junior Minister Reilly who was due to be there to talk about the main item, namely the Mother and Baby Institutions and Workhouses and Redress Scheme Bill.

But Ms Reilly directed questions on her attendance and guest list away from her on the basis that she wasn't at the City Hall as a Minister, so couldn't be asked any questions about it.

So as the Assembly week comes to a close, this sore looks like it is going to fester both on the plenary floor, in the TEO and other committees where unionists get a chance to question Sinn Fein Ministers or anyone else who may have attended the Glór na Móna celebratory event at the City Hall.

One or more attendees at that event chose to damage a painting in what the police later regarded as a hate crime.

A prosecution of anyone is now dead in the water as no one believes it serious enough to either engage with the police on, or see the bigger picture on stability of the peace process. Much as was the attitude half a mile away in a bar in 2005.

The Mother and Baby Redress Bill is real politics and its' importance is huge for thousands of victims.

But no one reported it this week due to the rhetoric the portrait is generating. That is not good for either the victims or faith in the political focus of our representatives.

Michael Cairns is a former Editor of Political Programmes, Editor of Newsgathering and Deputy Editor of Current Affairs at BBC NI

New Troubles Bill will not give comfort to veterans, or help victims find out the truth

By Alex Burghart, Belfast News Letter, November 28th, 2025

​Last week, in the debate on the government’s Troubles Bill, I opened the debate for the Opposition. The Conservative Party strongly opposes this legislation which will once again enable cases to be brought against the veterans of Operation Banner and the members of the RUC who gave so much to try to keep Northern Ireland safe.

​The last Conservative government chose to draw a line under the litigation of the Troubles. That line is now being erased.

Our Legacy Act was a response to the emerging legal reality that the legal system was ceasing to provide meaningful answers for victims, whilst dragging veterans through the courts in clearly vexatious cases. The process itself had become a means of punishment. And time is reducing the chances of convictions.

We created a new means of providing victims and their families with information, one which offered the opportunity to claim conditional immunity in return for information recovery.

Thanks to the excellent work of Sir Declan Morgan, the ICRIR is currently considering about 250 cases and is taking more on each month. Confidence in it is growing. It is working.

New Bill removes immunity

But the new bill strips out the conditional immunity introduced by the Legacy Act and reopens the door to vexatious litigation against veterans whilst leaving it very unlikely that terrorists will be prosecuted.

There have been only five convictions of Troubles era terrorists since 2012 and, as time passes, the chance of successful prosecutions will reduce further and further.

In the past year alone we seen the manifest failings of the system as it is. The terrible decision in the Clonoe inquest. The 1991 incident, in court last month, of a special forces soldier acquitted by a judge who said the case against him was “ludicrous” and should never have come to court – but not before the man had been investigated for four years. And, of course, Soldier F – where no conviction was possible despite one of the longest public inquiries in British history.

The legislation before us today will perpetuate disappointment for victims and despair for veterans.

But the government is claiming that it has no choice but to legislate for three reasons.

Conditional Immunity

First, its objection to conditional immunity. Second, its belief that the Legacy Act is incompatible with the ECHR. And third, the fact that the Legacy Act lacked cross-party support.

The Legacy Act provided immunity to individuals in return for an account to the commission that was “true to the best of their knowledge and belief”.

This is the immunity to which the government is now opposed.

But the Blair government accepted that the price of ending the conflict was a departure from the norms of criminal justice in Northern Ireland.

They gave us: early release of 483 prisoners – 143 of whom were serving life sentences, including the man who, in 1984, attempted to murder the whole of the British Cabinet. The Sentencing Act 1998 which limits prison terms to two years. Decommissioning weapons legislation which allowed for the destruction of forensic evidence. As well as an effective amnesty for those who provided information to the Independent Commission for Location of Victims Remains. Immunity in return for information.

More significantly, it was very much the intention of the Labour government to create a scheme for immunity. In November 2005, Peter – now Lord – Hain brought legislation to Parliament in the form of the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill. This was intended, explicitly, to create immunity from prosecution for terrorists. Hain was adamant that the Bill was necessary to complete the peace process. The government eventually dropped the legislation because of the opposition of Sinn Fein who opposed its scope being extended to cover the security forces and the police.

Absurdity of Labour position

I say this to highlight the absurdity of Labour’s opposition to our legislation and as a reminder that the proposals now presented are the opposite of what Labour believed was necessary to complete the peace process 20 years ago.

The government now argues that our legislation is unacceptable because it is incompatible with the ECHR. But this itself is not entirely true. Whilst the High Court in Belfast found that conditional immunity was incompatible with ECHR, the High Court, for all its strengths, is not the summit of the UK legal system. The Labour government could have appealed the judgment as the last government was doing but instead in July 2024 they dropped the appeal. In legal circles that judgment is considered highly disputable. Indeed, the law strongly suggests that were the same logic applied to key legislation from the peace process it would all be considered incompatible. Moreover, given that the Northern Ireland Veterans Movement was granted permission to intervene in the case of Dillon before the Supreme Court – specifically on the issue of compatibility, the case is live.

The Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch has been clear, the ECHR should no longer be considered an obstacle to doing the right thing. It is not a holy text. And its jurisprudence is now frequently forcing governments to do unholy things. And since legal advice of the highest order has now twice shown that the UK can leave the Convention without breaking the 1998 Agreement, this is what the next Conservative government will do.

Legacy legislation and cross-community support

The government has previously said that it has to legislate because the Legacy Act did not have cross community consent. But their legislation has equally failed to achieve that cross-community support.

If there had been a cross-community solution on legacy, Stormont would have found it. But I suspect that no such solution is to be found.

And this means it is the responsibility of Westminster to protect those now abused by the system.

The new Bill will fail to do that. It will not help victims find out the truth.

It will not give comfort to our veterans. It will reopen old wounds. And allow infection in.

It must be opposed.

​ Alex Burghart MP is the Conservative shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland

Disruption expected as loyalist parades and pro-Palestine protests coincide with Christmas Fair

BRETT CAMPBELL, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

CONTINGENCY PLANS IN PLACE AT MARKET WITH CITY HALL FOCUS OF DEMONSTRATIONS

There are fears that Christmas shoppers and festive revellers could face disruption this weekend due to a number of loyalist parades and a pro-Palestinian rally taking place in the city.

The Parades Commission has been notified of three separate demonstrations in the vicinity of City Hall tomorrow.

Four loyalist flute bands will take part in a parade organised by the Ulster-Scots Agency.

Around 300 people are expected to take part in the march which is due to leave Gordon Street at 11.30am before circling City Hall and ending at Donegall Square South an hour later.

Meanwhile, two bands will take part in a separate parade organised by the 1642 Boyne Bridge Defenders Historical Group, which will leave from outside Sandy Row Orange Hall at around 12.30pm.

The procession will make its way through the city centre towards the front gates of City Hall, with arrival expected at 1.10pm, just five minutes before 2,000 pro-Palestinian activists set off from Donegall Street.

Activists taking part in the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally will make their way along Royal Avenue to Donegall Place before reaching City Hall.

A demonstration will also take place at Queen's Square between 2.15pm and 2.45pm.

Ulster Unionist councillor Jim Rodgers said he is a proud democrat and believes in the right to protest.

However, he urged demonstrators to be mindful of the potential detrimental impact on traders and visitors to the city.

“I would sincerely hope there is no trouble, but these things are very hard to predict,” Mr Rodgers said.

“It is unfortunate the way things have developed.

“It is always better to sit around the table and talk to resolve our differences, especially in the run-up to Christmas when retailers are heavily dependent on things going well.

“Some stores haven't had a great time of late. People need to speak to each other instead of creating problems for traders and people out trying to enjoy themselves.”

Traffic disruption and access to fair

It's understood Belfast Christmas Market organisers are aware of the parades and have contingency plans in place.

Access will be available via the side gates on Donegall Square West and East.

The PSNI confirmed it is aware of a number of planned protests at City Hall and advised the public to expect traffic disruption in the city centre between 11.30am and 3pm.

“An appropriate and proportionate policing response will be provided, with officers on the ground before and during the events to ensure public safety and assist with traffic diversions and temporary road closures,” a spokesperson added.

It comes as Belfast City Council confirmed a Palestinian flag will not be flown from the civic building on Saturday.

The local authority agreed earlier this month to fly the emblem. However, unionist members opposed the move, prompting council chiefs to seek legal advice.

Council records show the call-in was considered by counsel to have merit on procedural grounds.

A special council meeting will take place on Monday, when members will be required to reconsider the decision to fly the flag for the United Nations' International Day of Solidarity with the People of Palestine.

GAA has ‘moral obligation’ to end Allianz relationship

GAA’s Ethics and Integrity Committee to report to Croke Park today

CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News, November 29th, 2025

The GAA has a “legal and moral obligation” to end its relationship with insurance firm Allianz, association members have said.

The sporting body has come under pressure to cut its sponsorship ties with the global firm over its connections with Israel.

It has been reported the GAA’s Ethics and Integrity Committee, which was established earlier this year, is to report to Croke Park chiefs today.

Last month, The Irish News reported that two legal figures on the committee had removed themselves from a review of the GAA’s relationship with the firm.

Meath native and barrister Aoife Farrelly recused herself from the review after Belfast-based High Court judge Adrian Colton, a native of Co Tyrone, also stepped aside.

Allianz has been accused of investing in companies linked to the recent Israeli onslaught in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of around 70,000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children.

Hundreds more have starved to death as a result of Israeli blockades on food supplies.

Israel launched the operation after around 1,200 people were killed during a Hamas-led attack inside Israeli territory in October 2023, during which around 200 hostages were taken.

A UN commission of inquiry has said Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The insurance giant sponsors the association’s national football and hurling leagues and All-Ireland football competition.

In August, almost 800 current and former players from Gaelic football, hurling, camogie and ladies’ football signed a petition calling on the association to drop Allianz as a sponsor.

Mounting Boycott groundswell

In recent days, several counties have passed motions also calling for the GAA to end its commercial relationship with the company, including Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh and Offaly.

The GAA in counties Derry and Antrim are due to hold county conventions early next month.

An Act Now petition created by the Mid Ulster Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign calling on Derry to support a motion for the association to “drop Allianz” has already gathered more than 800 signatures.

Michael Doherty, writing to the ethics committee on behalf of campaign group Gaels Against Genocide, expressed “disappointment at the departure” of Mr Colton and Ms Farrelly “as it is our view that the matters at issue concern grave humanitarian concerns, legal compliance, international humanitarian law, international criminal law and peremptory norms of international law.”

Gaels Against Genocide has written to the GAA’s ethics committee

Mr Doherty said there is “a legal and moral obligation on the GAA to take decisive action and end the relationship with Allianz in line with UN Guiding Principles and OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) guidelines.”

The campaigner said Israel has continued to kill hundreds of Palestinians.

“Despite a ‘ceasefire’, Gaza remains a deadly place for Palestinians,” he said.

“Almost 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since the ceasefire came into force.

“In the West Bank, the Israeli army continues to forcibly displace remote Palestinian communities, while illegal settlers attacked Palestinians 260 times in October 2025, according to the UN – more than any other month since 2006.”

The Belfast-based Gael said the Allianz issue is a defining moment for the GAA

“The GAA’s response to this most serious issue will define what it stands for today and how the people of the GAA feel about it,” he said.

Carry on teaching RE based on the Holy Scriptures, Givan tells school principals

EDUCATION MINISTER SAYS SUPREME COURT RULING DOESN'T STRIKE DOWN EXISTNG LAWS

MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

Education Minister Paul Givan has reminded all schools to “carry on teaching religious education based on the Holy Scriptures”, advising them a judgment from the UK Supreme Court in London last week has not struck down existing legislation.

In a letter to principals, he admitted his department will look to reform the RE syllabus in the wake of the judgment.

The Supreme Court ruled RE had not been taught in an “objective, critical and pluralist manner, that collective worship was similarly not conveyed in such a way”, and the Christian-focused RE taught here was unlawful.

He said while the ruling was complex, schools still “have a legal requirement to hold collective worship like assemblies each day”.

The ruling brought a long running case taken by an anonymous father and daughter from Belfast to a close.

In 2022 the High Court in Belfast ruled the Christian-based RE taught in primary schools was unlawful. However, the Department of Education won an appeal against this.

But the Supreme Court unanimously allowed the father and daughter's subsequent appeal, and dismissed the department's cross-appeal.

The department said: “We will carefully consider the complex judgment and its implications and will provide advice to schools in the near future.”

It has requested further legal advice to understand the full implications.

Mr Givan said: “While parents have the right to withdraw their child, the Supreme Court found that current arrangements did not meet legal requirements.”

The court ruled exercising the right to withdraw a child from RE lessons and worship could place an undue burden on an objecting parent.

Judges stressed the case was “not about secularism” in education and insisted that no one was suggesting RE should not be provided in schools.

Mr Givan added the judgment “recognised that Christianity is the main religion in Northern Ireland, and the greater part of RE would still focus on knowledge of Christianity”.

Rev Andrew Forster, Bishop of Derry and Raphoe and chair of the Transferor Representatives' Council, said: “The judgment brings a long court process to a conclusion, and once the ruling is considered, we hope it will provide clarity and direction in respect of both the teaching of religious education and collective worship in schools.”

Catholic Bishop and Humanists welcome Court decision

Leading humanist Boyd Sleator said the ruling provided “a great opportunity” to revisit the curriculum.

Bishop Donal McKeown of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools said: “Northern Ireland has changed a lot since the last core curriculum was put together. This is an opportunity for all of us to be involved in renewing the RE curriculum to enable us to create a healthy, forward-looking society.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said the ruling was “an affront not only to teachers and parents, but to the Christian foundations upon which our education system has long rested”.

He added: “It's another insidious elevation of rights of non-Christian parents over those of Christian parents.”

DUP deputy leader Michelle McIlveen, a former Education Minister, said the ruling was “deeply disappointing, and would concern many parents, governors, teachers and faith communities for whom the ethos is so important”.

David Smyth, head of the Evangelical Alliance, said: “This is not suggesting that religious education should not be provided in schools in Northern Ireland, nor is this the end of Christian collective worship in schools

“Schools will continue to teach about Christianity but may be required to do so in a more objective, critical and pluralistic manner. This is not a moment for fear.”

In the Assembly this week Mr Givan told MLAs: “We have parents contacting schools demanding that Nativity plays are cancelled; not just in light of this Supreme Court judgment, but years before this has happened.”

He added: “I can give an absolute, categorical answer: Nativity plays can continue to take place within our schools.”

Co Down hotel to stop providing asylum seeker accommodation from next year

LIAM TUNNEY, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

A Co Down hotel that has provided accommodation to asylum seekers in Northern Ireland will cease the provision from next year.

The Marine Court Hotel in Bangor had been used to house a number of individuals in contingency accommodation while the Home Office dealt with their applications for asylum.

Two local DUP representatives have now said the hotel is due to stop providing the accommodation by the end of February 2026.

North Down MLA Stephen Dunne welcomed the news, saying he and his party colleague Councillor James Cochrane had raised concerns with the council over the provision and cited planning concerns.

“It is important that this prominent hotel is reopened as a facility for the whole community to enjoy once again.”

Home Office figures published this week have revealed the number of asylum seekers being held in hotel accommodation in Northern Ireland has dropped from 246 in June to 242 in September 2025.

Figures also showed the number has fallen by more than 41% since the end of last year, when 413 people were being housed in hotels here.

Causeway Coast and Glens

The largest concentration is in the Causeway Coast and Glens area, where 133 individuals are being accommodated, an increase of nine since June, while 72 (-6) are in the Antrim and Newtownabbey area.

Some 41 individuals are currently being accommodated in the Ards and North Down area, a reduction of four from the summer figure.

Cllr Cochrane said the decision to house those seeking asylum in the hotel had been “controversial”.

“The ongoing use of the Marine Court Hotel to house asylum seekers has had a negative impact on community relations,” he said.

“Earlier this summer, we raised concerns with council regarding a potential planning breach related to this use. While this latest development is welcome, it remains vital that the open Planning Enforcement case is concluded to ensure the Home Office is held fully accountable.

“The UK Government must also ensure that those seeking asylum are not given preferential treatment in housing allocation. We will continue to press the UK Government to fix our broken immigration and asylum system and to ensure that public services and resources are allocated fairly.”

The Marine Court Hotel declined to comment when approached by the Belfast Telegraph. It comes after a number of NI councils confirmed last month that planning enforcement investigations into hotels accommodating asylum seekers remained ongoing.

The investigations came after some local representatives raised concerns over planning laws in the aftermath of a court ruling in relation to the Bell Hotel in Epping. A temporary injunction had been granted to block asylum seekers staying at the hotel in Essex, England.

The ruling was later overturned by a Court of Appeal judge, with Epping Forest District Council then losing a High Court battle to reinstate the injunction.

The council this week announced it would be continuing its legal action.

​An Ards and North Down Borough Council spokesperson last month said: “An enforcement investigation has commenced and is ongoing. The Council has no further comment to make at this time.”

Wilson referred to Parliamentary watchdog over claims English police bowed to Muslim 'pressure'

ABDULLAH SABRI, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

BIRMINGHAM MP SLAMS DUP MAN FOR 'PATENTLY FALSE' COMMENTS

A DUP MP has been referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after claiming English police bowed to pressure from “Muslim politicians and Muslim thugs” for banning Israeli football fans from a fixture.

East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson made the comments at Westminster on Monday during a debate on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being excluded from a Europa League fixture against Aston Villa earlier this month.

West Midlands Police (WMP) based its decision off of Maccabi's “significant levels of hooliganism”.

Days before the match, the Middle East Eye disclosed a leaked WMP intelligence report from Dutch law enforcement saying the club's fans were linked to the Israeli military, “experienced fighters” and “intent on causing serious violence”.

The findings reportedly came from an incident where the Israeli side's fans clashed with pro-Palestinian activists in Amsterdam last year. Both parties were accused of breaching the peace.

However, a spokesman for Amsterdam's policing division disputed the English force's findings after telling the Sunday Times the confidential report was exaggerated.

WMP continues to defend its response as “proportionate”.

Westminster's Policing and Crime Minister, Sarah Jones, subsequently submitted an urgent question around the issue, prompting a debate at Whitehall on Monday.

During the discussion, Mr Wilson said the Jewish community are justified in lacking confidence in the police, and he suggested WMP acted on “a tissue of lies”.

The DUP Chief Whip said: “Given that the reports in The Sunday Times seem to contradict totally what the police in the West Midlands said, is it not accurate to say that their recommendations on which Israeli fans were to be banned from the Aston Villa match were nothing but a tissue of lies?

“It appears that the West Midlands police have given in to pressure from Muslim politicians and Muslim thugs. As a result, the Jewish community are once again left feeling that they are the disadvantaged people.”

There is no evidence of UK police being compelled by Muslim influence.

The DUP was contacted for comment.

In response to Mr Wilson's statement, Birmingham Perry Barr MP Ayoub Khan has referred Mr Wilson to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner.

Mr Khan told the Belfast Telegraph that Mr Wilson's claims were baseless and “should be rightly called out”.

“Wilson's claim that 'the West Midlands police have given in to pressure from Muslim politicians and Muslim thugs' is not only patently false, but it is also inflammatory, divisive and deeply irresponsible,” the Independent Alliance party member said.

“At a time when two Asian women have been raped in the West Midlands because of the colour of their skin, Muslims are being attacked, spat on, harassed and abused at an unprecedented scale, and Islamophobia is being normalised by elected politicians, we must not allow this kind of rhetoric to go unchallenged. When MPs make baseless claims about Muslims that border on the conspiratorial, they should rightly be called out.”

If the Commissioner believes an MP's conduct violation is warranted, an investigation will be launched, with remedial actions including a written apology or an apology during a point of order.

Social media ‘join the IRA’ video played at dissident parade trial

JOHN CASSIDY, Irish News, November 29th, 2025

A SOCIAL media video which encouraged people to ‘join the IRA’ was played yesterday at the trial of four men accused of organising a dissident republican Easter commemoration parade in Derry.

Belfast Crown Court heard the TikTok video was found on the phone of defendant Stephen Murney following his arrest over his alleged involvement in managing the parade on Easter Monday, April 10, 2023.

Three of the defendants are from Derry – Thomas Ashe Mellon (49), of Glendermott Road, Jason Lee Ceulemans (53) of Creevagh Heights and Patrick Anthony Gallagher (33), of Raftery Close – along with Murney (41) of Derrybeg Terrace in Newry, Co Down.

All four deny that they arranged a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation, namely the IRA, on dates between February 28, 2023 and April 11, 2023.

They further deny a charge of addressing a meeting for the purpose of encouraging support for the IRA.

The non-jury Diplockstyle trial at Belfast Crown Court is being heard by Judge Gordon Kerr KC.

During the third day of the trial, a senior prosecution counsel KC referred the court to extracts of messages retrieved from the phones of the defendants showing they were in contact with each other.

An examination of Murney’s phone showed he was in contact with Mellon and they were discussing the ‘French guys’ and Murney told Mellon that the French were looking for somewhere to stay in Derry on Easter Sunday and Monday.

He said he was organising accommodation for the French party and that he had asked ‘Big Sean’ to sort somewhere in Belfast for them on Friday and Saturday.

Mellon replied that he would get that sorted.

In a further conversation, Mellon asked Murney what date the French are coming and could they lay a wreath in Dublin on Good Friday, April 7, 2023.

Murney replied that some were flying into Dublin on Good Friday, while others were flying into Belfast.

On Thursday, April 6, 2023, during a WhatsApp conversation, Mellon asked Murney about his speech.

‘French anti-fascist’ speakers

Mellon asked him to send him the ending of the speech and Murney sent the following: “Before the Marie Drumm quote…..I have a message for the British occupiers, their paramilitary police and their entire establishment….So long as you continue to oppress us, you will meet with the enecapble (sic) consequences.”

On Friday, April 7, 2023, there was a conversation between Murney and Paddy ‘Brexit’ Gallagher during which they discussed the editing and formatting of Murney’s speech. ‘Paddy Brexit’ stated that he would “reprint it when he gets home tonight”.

Two days later they agreed that Gallagher would refer to Murney as a “leading Newry Republican”.

Murney advised Gallagher to refer to the French speakers at the Easter Monday event as “French antifascists”.

During the commemoration in Derry’s City Cemetery, Murney was invited by Gallagher to give the oration at the republican plot.

His oration was recorded on a TikTok video and he used another quote from veteran republican Maire Drumm.

The one minute 30 second video clip was played to the court. At the end Murney stated: “It isn’t enough to shout up the IRA, the important thing is to join the IRA”. The video recorded loud applause and cheering from the assembled crowd.

It was the prosecution case that the unnotified parade of men dressed in military style clothing left Creggan’s Central Drive on Easter Monday to walk the half mile route to the City Cemetery.

Prosecutors stated Ceulemans, Murney and Gallagher played their own roles in the managing of the commemoration, while Mellon did not attend the parade.

On the second day of the trial, the court had heard that four pipe bombs were found in a waste bin in the cemetery on Tuesday, April 11, 2023 which were made safe by Ammunition Technical Officers.

A forensic scientist said the devices were “copper pipes painted black” which each contained a length of fuse and “mixed small arms propellant, firework composition and ball bearings”.

He described them as “improvised explosive devices” and stated pipe bombs are “usually small, hand thrown or placed devices intended primarily as anti-personnel weapons. The addition of ball bearings are used in improvised explosive devices within Northern Ireland as additional shrapnel”.

A senior prosecutor had told the opening day of the trial that it was accepted Mellon was not present on April 10.

“However, we say he played a fundamental role in the organisation and arrangements of the meetings from the phone material,’’ he said.

“It is clear Mellon was influential in the preparation and management of the speeches and he had a key role in drafting and approving the speeches of Murney and Ceulemans.’’

NI is heading for Lebanon-style decay if Stormont doesn't urgently reform, expert warns MLAs

Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, November 29th, 2025

MLAS TOLD THAT THE SUNNINGDALE EXECUTIVE MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY AGO WAS MORE SERIOUS ABOUT GOVERNING TOGETHER THAN TODAY'S STORMONT LEADERS — YET THE PROSPECT OF MEANINGFUL REFORM IS NOW RECEDING

A few weeks ago, a senior academic sat before MLAs and delivered two stark messages which went unnoticed.

Michael Kerr, Professor of Conflict Studies at the Department of War Studies in King's College London, told MLAs that their parties are worse at governing than Stormont's very first power-sharing administration more than half a century ago.

He then advised the Executive to take a trip to Lebanon to see what the ultimate consequences of their failures might be.

Kerr has unusual credibility to deliver home truths. He's from Northern Ireland, he has written the definitive history of the collapse of Sunningdale Agreement, and he has extensively researched the bloody consequences of Lebanon's tangled political failures.

Nor can Kerr be easily dismissed as some ivory tower outsider blind to the political realities of Northern Ireland's messy political compromises.

For several years after the Good Friday Agreement, he worked for the UUP under David Trimble - although he's no partisan propagandist, having written dispassionately about the myriad failures of unionism.

Kerr knows how problematic the Agreement's outworking was right from the outset because he was there.

Message for MLAs

His message to MLAs comes as the case for Stormont reform has become unassailable. The optimists who hoped against the evidence of history that the same parties working the same system might produce different results have been disproven.

In many ways, the gross populism, tribalism and petty party politicking of this Stormont are worse because these people now have overwhelming evidence of the harm this behaviour has wrought in public services and in wider society.

Yet the factors which might have increased the urgency for change are diminishing.

The great impetus for fundamental changes which might improve devolution lay in the growth of the constitutionally unaligned voting bloc, largely represented by the Alliance Party.

But the evidence of the last couple of years is that these people are starting to go cold on Alliance.

Last month's Lucid Talk poll for the Belfast Telegraph put Alliance's support at the lowest in more than five years.

Polls need to be treated with considerable caution, but the key thing here is the trend over a prolonged period of time.

From being Northern Ireland's third most popular party, now Alliance is joint fifth.

Alliance ‘struggling’

There is a sense that Alliance is struggling in the Executive. It's neither succeeding in making the Executive work harmoniously by bringing unionism and nationalism together, nor is it carving out a distinctive niche by robustly taking on the other parties to force through its own agenda. Increasingly, a party which once was radical appears just another part of a failing system.

Alliance could recover. Naomi Long is a formidable election campaigner. If the party can get a decent first preference vote, its ability to hoover up lower preference votes is unparalleled, and will result in far more MLAs than for other parties of the same first preference vote.

But it now seems highly unlikely that Alliance even holds all its seats in the 2027 Assembly election.

A major criticism of Alliance is that it failed to press the issue of reform when it had real leverage. The Stormont designation system, which means that in key Assembly decisions Alliance's votes effectively don't count, was always indefensible in theory but Alliance's growth made it a practical absurdity.

Yet the party secured no substantive reforms to this system and appeared desperate to get back into government. Its justification for this was that it was the responsible thing to do after a prolonged period without devolution.

That was always questionable. Simply restarting an inherently flawed system of government without fixing its flaws was a victory of short term expediency over long term reality.

Record subsidy of 32 billion euro a year

The second issue which might have forced Stormont to grow up was financial. Despite now spending a record £32 billion a year, the Executive pleads poverty while simultaneously deciding not to raise substantial new revenue from those who could pay.

Stormont ministers lambast the Treasury, but in truth it has been far too weak, and failed to force meaningful reforms. This week's budget saw Stormont handed almost all of what the Finance Minister requested.

Now they can keep spending more without raising more; the lesson they're likely to take is that they can do this indefinitely. Already we have embedded a perverse system of cash for crash — if there's a crisis, pull down Stormont and get offered billions to put it back again.

This is unsustainable. It's not even in the interests of the people politicians represent because it is delaying necessary reforms in areas like health which are leading to worse outcomes.

Three weeks ago, Kerr and several other academics gave evidence to the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, which is examining the possibility of reforming devolution but which often feels perfunctory.

In a written submission to the committee, Kerr told them: “The costs of inaction are clear: stagnation, elite preservation, loss of legitimacy, and gradual institutional decay — a Lebanon scenario in slow motion without the regional chaos.”

Long term consequences of failing to reform

He went on: “A fact-finding mission to Lebanon - and to Bosnia - would illuminate the long-term consequences of failing to reform power-sharing institutions. Lebanon is the supreme example of how unreformed power-sharing bargains can entrench elite cartels, corrode state capacity, lead to repeated outbreaks of war, and culminate in political, economic, and social breakdown.

“Northern Ireland faces a comparable risk if institutions fail to evolve with society; instability can persist beneath the surface even without overt conflict.”

Looking back to the early years of the Troubles, he said: “Since 1998, the present power-sharing arrangements have not delivered the unity and collective purpose displayed by the Sunningdale Executive or envisaged by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

“Despite stronger safeguards than the 1973 framework, the post-St Andrews era has consolidated institutionalised separateness rather than fostering joined-up governance in a spirit of reconciliation that might lead to genuine social integration.”

Kerr said that neither the first nor deputy first minister should be able to block items from reaching the Executive agenda, given that the big parties already have a veto in the Executive, but he suggested the use of that mechanism should then trigger either elections or a new governing coalition, making it a nuclear option.

That's what happened in the Sunningdale set-up, he said, describing it as “a model that embodied unity of purpose despite operating amid violence”.

Ten reform proposals

He set out 10 proposals for reform, some of which are technical and others which involve cultural change or strong political leadership.

They include replacing the 'unionist, nationalist or other' MLA designations with 'British, Irish or British-Irish', using the identities recognised in the Agreement. This would treat the 'others' as a distinctive community with equal rights to unionists and nationalists

The academic suggested a two-thirds Assembly majority be required to elect the first minister, deputy first minister, and speaker, as well as the need for a joint government programme to be agreed before taking office.

Telling MLAs that “titles matter less than collective character of leadership”, he proposed a more radical alternative - “a troika” where leadership was shared by the largest unionist, nationalist and non-aligned group. That would involve three first ministers, rotating over an Assembly term, similar to how the Taoiseach has recently rotated between two parties in a single mandate.

Responding pre-emptively to the obvious question of why a party on maybe 15% of the vote should have a first minister, he said: “Concerns about rotation's fairness — given current vote shares — should be set against the benefits: a visible cross-community investment in the institutions, a signal of commitment to a shared future, and cultural detoxification that enables collective focus on economic and social priorities, akin to norms in established coalition democracies.”

Kerr also suggested an external Minister for Reconciliation who would be a non-voting member of the Executive empowered “to manage divisive cultural issues, reduce toxicity in political discourse, and help the Executive face security challenges collectively”.

He concluded: “Parties will need to agree to disagree on constitutional questions while moving together on institutional evolution if the promise of the Agreement is to be realised — or if governance is to recover the unity of purpose Sunningdale briefly demonstrated. It is worth recalling: despite its short life, an unconstitutional coup was required to remove that Executive.”

MLAs also heard from Dr Robin Wilson, honorary senior research fellow at the Constitution Unit at University College London. He told the committee that reform is urgent because Northern Ireland “is falling behind on every social indicator”.

Decline in governance since 2007

He said that with both violence and health waiting lists the evidence was broadly that things improved under direct rule from 2002-2007 but got worse under devolution. Wilson said that when the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey last asked the public what they thought Stormont had achieved, almost 80% said “little or nothing”.

He also proposed some radical changes — moving the Assembly from Stormont to a new city-centre building shorn of history, the ability for the Assembly to cooperate with Dublin in any area — even those 'reserved' to Westminster under the Agreement, and replacing STV to elect MLAs with the additional member system, saying that the current rules encourage MLAs to “core sectarian appeals”.

Wilson said the legislative output of Stormont “has been very, very poor” in comparison to Scotland and Wales, something to which Sinn Féin's Pat Sheehan objected, pointing to integrated education legislation and ending of the fair employment exemption for teachers in Catholic schools as evidence of delivery.

Wilson said that involved very limited progress. Sheehan responded: “Certainly in the two years of the last mandate there was a huge raft of legislation that went through, a lot of it private members' bills…”

For such an argument even to be made at this stage shows how shallow some of Stormont's thinking is: Here an MLA was defending devolution based on the volume of legislation passed, rather than that legislation's quality.

In fact, one of the private members' bills he referred to was from a party colleague who disregarded warnings and persuaded MLAs to make hospital car parking charges illegal.

Without any money to build more car parks, this was always going to be disastrous and when Stormont returned an emergency bill had to be passed to push back its implementation by two years. That's the sort of 'delivery' now being used to defend Stormont.

Wilson highlighted that in terms of legislation “a lot of what's been done is what would have to have been done anyway just to copy what's being done in London”.

‘Stormont is stuck, and it's stuck in a very bad place’

You might have thought that the stark nature of what MLAs were told, especially about Lebanon, would have prompted introspection. You'd be wrong.

Not a single MLA on the committee asked about Lebanon. Just four MLAs asked any questions at all, and it was evident that several wanted to get out as quickly as possible.

It felt like a classically academic exercise — a cerebral examination of what might happen, with those in the room expressing almost no enthusiasm for actually making very much happen.

Many of the proposals put forward by the academics and by others contain potential problems, yet there was little evidence of MLAs even exploring those.

But without reform, there is no logical basis on which to believe devolution here will improve our lives, and for many people it will become irrelevant to their lives.

The veteran US-based Irish academic Padraig O'Malley described Northern Ireland as “beset with a paradox: at once normal and abnormal, robust and fragile, forward-looking and trapped in the past, stable and unstable, vibrant and stagnant, where the detritus of the conflict, mined by elites for partisan polarising purposes can cause the political axis to tilt in one direction or the other”.

There was something profoundly depressing about one of Kerr's unanswered questions to MLAs. He noted that Sunningdale involved “ a unity of purpose” despite the chaos of the time and asked: “If they were able to do it then, surely it might be possible to think about doing that now?”

If this Executive is less united than Brian Faulkner, Gerry Fitt, Oliver Napier, Austin Currie, Roy Bradford, and the rest of Northern Ireland's first power-sharing experiment more than half a century ago, have we really progressed as much as we think?

Citywest riots were led by criminals, not far right, senior detective says

KEN FOY, Irish Independent, November 29th, 2025

But 10 'disparate' groups are being monitored by specialist gardaí

The violent disorder that broke out last month at Citywest and the Dublin riots two years ago were not primarily driven by far-right elements, according to a senior garda.

Detective Chief Superintendent ­Brian Woods of the Special Detective Unit (SDU) has told the Irish Independent that simply attributing blame to the "far right” misses a much bigger picture.

However, he said gardaí are constantly monitoring around 10 "disparate” far-right groups in this country. In some instances, the groups have become an easy home for criminals.

The SDU, which celebrated 100 years in existence this month, is the garda force's operational anti-terrorism unit and is the main agency for investigating threats and monitoring the activities of the so-called far right in Ireland.

So far, 38 people have been arrested and 29 charged in relation to the ­Citywest riots that occurred after a juvenile female was allegedly sexually assaulted in Saggart, west Dublin.

When asked what role did the far right play in the violent scenes, Det Chief Supt Woods said: "I don't believe it was driven predominately by far-right activists.

Open to infiltration

"It was open to infiltration by the far right and there were individuals from the far right who were present and they raise tensions around these incidents, especially in the spreading of disinformation online which happened around both these incidents.”

However, he believes that the events in Citywest - just like the Dublin riots two years ago - "were reactive to a particular situation and not an organised protest”.

The riots in Dublin city centre started after multiple people, including children, were attacked by a suspect who, like the Citywest sexual assault suspect, is now before the courts.

Det Chief Supt Woods' comments challenge the political and media narrative that the far right led the violent disorder. At the time of the Dublin riots, two years ago this week, the incidents were reported internationally as a "far-right” event.

The SDU have also been involved in an "oversight” role in relation to a spate of arson attacks at accommodation housing asylum-seekers, including recently in Drogheda, Co Louth, where children were lucky to escape.

The senior detective said there is no evidence that these attacks are being centrally organised by the far right.

"There is nothing to suggest that any one of these has been linked to the other. Our information is that they are not interlinked and the potential motivation for these can depend on the issue of the day,” Det Chief Supt Woods said.

A number of gangland criminals have become involved in far-right agitation, including north Dublin criminals Wayne Bradley and Scott Delaney.

When asked is there an overlap between organised crime and the far right, Det Chief Supt Woods said it could be an "attraction” for gangsters to get involved.

"These far-right groups are open to all individuals and there is an attraction for people with criminal convictions or criminal background to get involved,” he said.

"It may be self-serving or they do actually identify with the ideologies.”

The SDU has identified, and is constantly monitoring, around 10 "disparate” far-right groups in this country "who are not large in number”.

It is currently involved in over half a dozen criminal prosecutions and multiple investigations into the extremists.

"We are very much aware of the main protagonists,” the senior detective pointed out.

Describing their investigations into the far right as "one of the main priorities” - especially given that Ireland will hold the presidency of the EU next year "when the eyes of the world will be on Ireland” - Det Chief Supt Woods stressed that there are "proactive investigations and actions taking place”.

Pointing to the important relationships that the SDU has with international police forces, Det Chief Supt Woods, who has led the unit for more than three years, said: "We are utilising all our capabilities to mitigate the threat. The threat from the far right is a major priority and it is an obvious threat against state security.”

He referenced an SDU operation from earlier this month, in which there were three arrests and two men charged.

A court heard that a violent right-wing extremist group allegedly threatened on video to attack a Galway mosque, Ipas centres and hotels housing migrants around Ireland.

"This was the first time that we saw it play out where individuals who were online went on to form a cohesive group that were planning attacks on buildings associated with minority communities,” Det Chief Supt Woods said.

"It was the first time we saw an organised right-wing group styling itself as a terrorist organisation and we are concerned that this is a trend, but the fact that we could intersect and interrupt this group shows our capabilities.”

Further arrests and liaison with PSNI

Revealing that the SDU is planning further arrests in the case, he pointed to the great co-operation between gardaí and the PSNI in this investigation in which explosives were discovered in separate searches in Co Laois and Co Down as part of the a cross-border counter-terror operation.

"We have seen some very successful prosecutions in cases where they may feel that they are operating in a safe place [the internet and social media],” the detective said.

"But we are proactively working in those spaces and taking prosecutions when the law had been breached.”

One of the most significant far-right prosecutions happened here when international terrorist and paedophile UK national Mark Wolf (39) was jailed for 10 years in March 2023 after he was caught in Dublin with firearms components and documentation in relation to the assembly of the weapons.

Wolf was earlier cited in an EU terrorism report as "a right-wing extremist sympathiser who had an interest in previous atrocities” and was also caught with Nazi paraphernalia.

He was living in a hostel on Gardiner Street, which was raided by armed SDU officers in June 2021 after they discovered he was trying to import firearms components from the United States.

Photos show some of the material seized from Wolf - including a mask, bulletproof vests, gloves, goggles and components to make guns - which are part of a special display at SDU HQ in Dublin, which also features other items from its 100-year history, including mortars and firearms seized from the IRA.

Throughout his long career, Det Chief Supt Woods has worked in a number of different specialist units, including holding senior roles in the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB). He was also involved in the Veronica Guerin murder investigation in the 1990s at the start of his career.

When asked if his current unit is examining links between individuals here and far-right agitators based outside this country, he said this is the case.

"The internet is global, it is vast. The globalisation of communication means there is no doubt that these interactions are taking place between our far right and individuals based abroad,” Det Chief Supt Woods said.

The SDU has monitored agitators who have come into the country from other European countries to attend protests or for other reasons.

But Det Chief Supt Woods explained: "The need for travel or in-person visits is not as much when you have the internet. There is a global trend of an increase in far-right activity and we are not immune to this here in Ireland. The threat has increased.”