Venezuela - The show must go on

By Anja Dargatz, Social Europe, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 6th, 2026

The absence of the president and the first lady shows that Venezuela is not a one-man dictatorship and never has been.

Months of uncertainty, a night of fear and terror — and the president is gone. The events of the night of 2 to 3 January suddenly thrust Venezuela into the spotlight of world attention. But whether anything will actually change for the country remains entirely unclear.

The dramatic night still haunts the people of Caracas. On the Ávila mountain, otherwise a popular destination for hikers and campers, many experienced the attack under the open sky. Added to this was the concern about forest fires that could be triggered by the rockets. Although the bombed targets were military installations, they are located in close proximity to residential areas. The impacts were loud and violent, and hardly anyone slept that night. Parents tried to explain to their children what was happening without knowing themselves how far the attack would go and what might follow. While cheers could be heard in the diaspora, fear and uncertainty dominated in the country itself.

The day after Maduro’s arrest, the usually bustling streets of the capital were dead quiet. The shock was palpable. A day later, however, cars were already rolling again, and in a few days life should return to its usual pace. For the people in the country, nothing has changed — for the time being.

The same old leadership that has ruled Venezuela for years remains in power — minus two people: Nicolás Maduro and his wife, MP Cilia Flores. The military attack did not enable Edmundo González, who was elected president in 2024, to return and take office, nor did it pave the way for a new political figure. Nor is there any sign of a plan that would give any indication of where the country is now heading. Against this backdrop, it is only logical that many assume that nothing will change for the time being and that everyday life will resume. The smoke has cleared, and it is clear that the scenario many observers had predicted has come to pass.

As dramatic as Maduro’s capture was, looking back now that the dust has settled, it is clear that the scenario predicted by many observers has come to pass. Weeks of political attrition followed by targeted attacks designed to be as ‘clean’ as possible and without major bloodshed. The figures from hospitals in Caracas and La Guaira paint a different picture, however. On Saturday, there was talk of around 60 injured and several soldiers killed. On Monday, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reported 32 dead security forces from Cuba who were deployed to protect Maduro.

The regime began a targeted search for suspected collaborators in the US attack.

It is implausible that no Venezuelans or Americans were harmed. However, neither side has any interest in being seen as a warmonger (the US) or weak (Venezuela). Accordingly, both remain silent and images of a precise operation without collateral damage can be broadcast around the world.

The rhetoric of peace cultivated by the Venezuelan government for months ultimately had no effect. Even rigorous discipline within the circle of those closest to power had no visible impact. No one allowed themselves to be provoked by the north; everyone fulfilled the roles assigned to them in the power system: the president, close to the people; the outwardly serious face of the former foreign minister and vice-president Delcy Rodríguez; the hardliner with interior minister Diosdado Cabello; the loyal general with defence minister Vladimir Padrino. Control of parliament has been in the hands of Jorge Rodríguez, the vice-president’s brother, for years, and he was re-elected to his post that night. He swore in his sister as the new acting president, who immediately declared a national state of emergency to restore ‘peace and order’ in the country. Simultaneously, the regime began a targeted search for suspected collaborators in the US attack.

The state will not fall apart

The absence of the president and the first lady shows that Venezuela is not a one-man dictatorship and never has been. The apparatus functions even without them. The country is ruled by a clique that originally came to power legitimately but, in view of dwindling support among the population, is increasingly resorting to repression and violence.

Is this unconditional loyalty now suddenly crumbling? Will the absolute priority of retaining power, which has determined government action for years, be abandoned? Will declared enemies of the US now become cooperation partners, at least rhetorically? This seems unlikely, especially since US President Trump has no interest in profound political change. He is relying on an existing regime that can control the military and police. The president elected in 2024, Edmundo González, the actual challenger and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, and other democratic parties play no role in this calculation.

While parts of the opposition celebrated in exile, democratic actors in the country reacted with much more restraint. It is still unclear whether new political opportunities will open up. One of the first to speak out was MP Henrique Capriles, who called for a peaceful and democratic transition. He is one of 28 MPs in the 2025 parliament who do not belong to the ruling party. Negotiations on a coalition of opposition forces were underway when the rockets struck. On 5 January, the newly elected parliament began its work in accordance with the constitution.

Transforming this entrenched security structure into a democratically controlled system would be a Herculean task.

At this point in time, the current government guarantees one thing above all else: that the state will not fall apart. The army and police remain under control. Since his election in 2013, Maduro has systematically fragmented the security apparatus, knowing full well that, as a former trade unionist, he would never enjoy the support of the military that his predecessor Hugo Chávez had. The deliberate avoidance of concentration of power continues to shape the security sector to this day.

The years of rampant crime are not long past. Draconian police operations and the economic crisis have temporarily pushed it back. But there is justified concern about the impact a possible collapse of the regime would have on public safety. Transforming this entrenched security structure into a democratically controlled system would be a Herculean task. It would require lengthy negotiations, material incentives and, above all, a functioning labour market with real prospects for the future. A look at the police academies shows that they mainly train people who have few opportunities elsewhere and cannot afford alternative paths.

Stability is also in Trump’s interest. A failed state in the US’ ‘backyard’ that triggers new migration movements is unacceptable to him. At the same time, stability serves as the basis for the Venezuelan government to maintain its power. On this point, the interests of both sides coincide. Democracy and the rule of law, on the other hand, play no role for either side.

This is precisely why the international community cannot afford to stand idly by, but must take a clear stance and develop political proposals — ideally in close coordination with Venezuela’s immediate neighbours. Colombia and Brazil are key strategic players in this regard. They have already taken a first step by issuing a joint declaration together with Mexico, Chile, Uruguay and Spain. Given the differing interests in the region, this is anything but a natural step.

The current situation is not a revolution, but a moment in which windows of dialogue can open.

The attack on Venezuela shows once again how urgent it is for Europe to emancipate itself from the United States as a supposedly reliable partner. Instead of speculating about Trump’s statements, alternative alliances should be strengthened, both in terms of security policy and economics. Multilateral institutions and regulatory frameworks must be strengthened and filled with life, rather than being exploited for national self-interest.

For the acute crisis region, this means above all deepening cooperation with South American nations and developing concrete offers for countries such as Venezuela: investments, humanitarian aid, development programmes, education campaigns — all clearly linked to conditions that correspond to European values. The current situation is not a revolution, but a moment in which windows of dialogue can open. Even if Trump has announced that the US will now steer the country’s fortunes, Venezuela remains a sovereign state that chooses its own allies.

As Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said shortly after the attack, this is not purely a Venezuelan conflict, but an attack on the international community. Whether the latter will draw any political consequences from this remains the crucial question.

Anja Dargatz, Head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s (FES) office in Venezuela. She previously headed the FES offices in Baden-Württemberg, Bolivia and Sudan. She worked in the Peace and Development Working Group (FriEnt) and at the FES office in Brussels. She studied contemporary history and political science.

Burrows on course to be the new UUP leader

SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2026

FORMER PSNI MAN FAVOURITE FOR THE TOP JOB WITH DIANA ARMSTRONG AS HIS RUNNING MATE

Jon Burrows is the clear favourite to become the next Ulster Unionist leader, with sources saying the “overwhelming majority” of party members are rallying behind him.

He is expected to declare his candidacy — on a joint ticket, with the UUP's sole female MLA Diana Armstrong running for deputy leader — immediately after the party formally opens nominations.

The contest is set to be held on Saturday, January 31, but it could be a coronation if current deputy leader Robbie Butler doesn't run.

Senior UUP figures hope he will stand as they believe that a contest would be healthy for the party.

The party was last night still nailing down a venue for the gathering which would be attended by hundreds of members from across Northern Ireland.

Once that is finalised, party chairman Lord Elliott of Ballinamallard will lay out a timetable. It will include plans for hustings with Mr Burrows and Mr Butler debating policies and approaches, as well as answering questions from party members.

While the hustings will be private, the two men may also go head-to-head in TV debates.

Last night Mr Burrows declined to comment. Mr Butler didn't respond to a request for comment.

Sources said a meeting on Tuesday between Mr Butler and Ms Armstrong — where she said she wasn't supporting him but was backing his rival — was “a big wake-up call” for the Lagan Valley MLA.

“A Burrows-Armstrong ticket is a very strong one, and one Robbie may not want to go up against,” said an insider. “There is overwhelming support for Jon among our local associations.”

Armstrong vote pivotal

A third of party members — who each have a vote in the contest — are from Co Fermanagh, so Ms Armstrong's support is pivotal.

Mr Butler is much more popular than his rival among the party's MLA team, but that is not regarded as a game-changer.

A senior party source said: “Jon Burrows is determined to run. I thought that undue pressure might be brought on him not to stand but that didn't happen.

“The party wants a competition. The membership wants to see two candidates going head-to-head. Jon Burrows would have to be the runaway favourite to win any contest.

“A lot of people like Robbie, but there isn't the same support for him becoming leader. Burrows is the guy more likely to bring about change. It is a riskier proposition, but the party has to take that risk.”

The insider said that a contest would “play to” Mr Burrow's strengths: “I think he'd be a better campaigner than Robbie.

“He'd be more confident and robust making his case to members and in any media debates,” they said.

The source added: “If Burrows becomes leader, the dynamic between him and the MLAs will be interesting.

“He has shown some of them up since he arrived in the Assembly. There will have to be a better relationship built between Stormont and the local associations.

“Some MLAs have drawn up the drawbridge since Doug (Beattie) departed as leader. They are too isolated from associations, and that needs to change.”

Mr Burrows was co-opted into the UUP's North Antrim Assembly seat last July, and Ms Armstrong was co-opted into Stormont in September 2024.

Some in the party admit having an unelected leader and deputy leader is “far from ideal” but still believe they would be an appealing team to voters.

The last UUP leadership contest was in 2012 when Mike Nesbitt defeated John McCallister. Once the process is formally started by the party, candidates will need to be nominated by members across nine constituency associations.

Announcing he was stepping down last week, Mr Nesbitt said he had taken up the reins in 2024 “to do a short-term job of getting the party match fit for the forthcoming election campaign... that job is now done”.

He said he would not be contesting his Strangford seat in the 2027 Assembly election.

“The next five-year mandate stretches to May 2032, the month I hope to celebrate my 75th birthday. That's a commitment to full-time politics I just do not feel I can make. And I would not be comfortably seeking a vote knowing that privately I was intending to retire during the mandate,” he added.

Mr Nesbitt, who first quit as leader in 2017, insisted it was the right time “to select the politician who will lead us into the May 2027 polls promoting our brand of confident, responsible unionism”.

He has expressed hope that his successor lets him remain as Health Minister.

Two more US aircraft flew over Irish airspace to track tanker

CONOR GALLAGHER, CORMAC McQUINN and ELLEN COYNE, Irish Times, January 7th, 2026

Two more US naval aircraft flew over Irish sovereign airspace yesterday while tracking a ship in the North Atlantic, which attempted to collect oil from Venezuela last month.

The first Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft flew over a patch of sea just off the northern tip of Co Donegal at about 5.30pm, travelling between the mainland and the island of Inishtrahull.

A second aircraft entered Irish airspace after 8pm, around Wexford, en route to the Atlantic.

It is not clear if official permission was sought from the Irish Government for either flight.

A similar aircraft flew over the middle of Ireland on Monday before returning to its UK base via the same route.

Under long-standing Irish policy, foreign military aircraft are not permitted to use Irish airspace while on active military operations.

Irish and US sources said permission had been sought for Monday’s flight at Government level and it also received clearance from Irish air traffic control.

The Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a query on whether the aircraft from the flights on Monday and yesterday had been granted permission to fly through Irish airspace.

Sanctioned oil tanker

The aircraft were headed for a location in the North Atlantic containing the Marinera, a sanctioned oil tanker which US forces have pursued for almost three weeks.

The tanker had initially been on course to skirt the edge of Irish economic waters on its journey north. However, it has since moved further out into the Atlantic and is now in a position roughly halfway between Ireland and Iceland.

The ship made the manoeuvre before CNN and CBS, citing unnamed sources, reported on Monday that US forces still intend to seize the ship by force.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Marinera has claimed the protection of Russia since changing its registration to that country last month, while US forces were pursuing it.

Permission

Yesterday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said he was not aware whether permission had been sought for the flight over Ireland by the US military aircraft on Monday.

He told reporters there were “very clear rules in relation to planes from other jurisdictions accessing Irish airspace . . . I would imagine that those rules would certainly have been followed.”

Asked about the implications of such flights for Ireland’s neutrality, Mr Harris said the Republic is neutral and not militarily aligned.

“That doesn’t mean that we’re in any way immune from or unconcerned about security,” he said.

“Nor do we generally comment on those matters, for obvious reasons,” Mr Harris added.

DUP and SF at loggerheads as Little-Pengelly criticises O'Dowd's draft budget

SUZANNE BREEN, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2026

Emma Little-Pengelly has branded a draft multi-year budget by Sinn Fein Finance Minister John O'Dowd as “deeply flawed”, and warned it will require “significant changes” before the DUP could support it.

The Deputy First Minister was speaking after Mr O'Dowd released the document for public consultation, despite not having Executive sign-off.

The two main partners in government are now at loggerheads on another major issue at Stormont.

Mr O'Dowd challenged the other three Executive parties — the DUP, Alliance and UUP — to present alternatives. He said it wasn't good enough to simply say his proposals were flawed.

“I say this to the DUP, to other parties, and the general public as well, let's hear your proposal. I'm in listening mode,” he said.

“I have set forward a paper which I believe is a way forward. If others have alternative proposals, be assured I'm in listening mode. I'll sit down with other ministers, other parties, and engage in a constructive manner so we can bring forward a final budget by April 1.”

Mr O'Dowd said a three- year budget would allow for the transformation of public services. He remains confident that agreement can be reached in the Executive.

“Solo runs aren't going to resolve any of the issues that we face collectively, so we have to work in partnership,” he added.

In a statement, the DUP said it would not “accept a budget that fails to properly prioritise frontline services, particularly education, while wasteful and unnecessary spending continues elsewhere”.

‘Ghost budget’

SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O'Toole MLA branded it an “unambitious ghost Budget, bereft of vision”.

It was “a shabby attempt to cover for the failure of ministers to agree and deliver a proper multi-year Budget alongside a Programme for Government”. Mr O'Toole said: “Rather than setting out a plan to transform services and improve people's lives, it has a few pages of text blaming others and then tables setting out essentially more status quo.

“Nowhere in this multi-year Budget do I see the funding or vision needed to transform our health service, repair our wastewater infrastructure or build the housing we need.

“This is typical of a minister and Executive that have no intention of taking the decisions necessary to put this place on the right path, preferring to skate along as our public services crumble around them while blaming the UK Government at every turn.”

The SDLP MLA added: “This draft multi-year Budget represents the continued failure of Sinn Féin minsters to deliver for people in Northern Ireland, while their DUP counterparts run rings around them at the Executive table.”

UUP MLA Steve Aiken said Mr O'Dowd's allocations for health, education and policing were “insufficient” for transformation. “While the Minister insists that anyone criticising his budget should bring forward their own proposals, it is noteworthy that his own party holds two departments where substantial revenue could be raised. These obvious measures would require political decision making rather than mere 'Brit bashing',” Dr Aiken said.

“There will be many conversations — both private and public — with plenty of heated debate before an agreement is reached. But the starting point should have been realism: a commitment to tackle the gross inefficiencies in our public services.”

Hard to imagine a more dysfunctional way of governing

TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: “It is difficult to imagine a more dysfunctional way of governing. Here we have one minister formally briefing the Assembly on a draft budget, only for a senior colleague to issue a withering public rebuke shortly afterwards, and one half of the head of government to call for the public to oppose the draft budget.

“This is not collective responsibility. It is open disarray. In any properly functioning system, this level of dysfunction would bring an administration to an end. Instead, Stormont lurches on, paralysed by internal disagreement, incapable of agreeing a budget and utterly unable to deliver stable, competent government for the people of Northern Ireland.”

There will now be an eight-week public consultation exercise on the draft

It proposes £26bn for health provision across three years, including almost £500m to tackle waiting lists. Some £10bn is allocated to education, while the costs for a plan to increase police officer numbers will also be fully covered, as will the compensation bill for officers whose details were made public in the 2023 data breach.

Mr O'Dowd has earmarked over £1bn to fund the A5's upgrade. He is proposing over £100m for Casement Park's redevelopment - significantly more than the £62.5m originally ringfenced for the project in 2011.

He applied an uplift based on an estimate of construction cost inflation in the intervening years.

The plan also allocates around £67m to the sub regional stadia programme to upgrade and improve smaller stadiums and sporting venues here.

The draft budget includes £442m for building social homes and £434m to address capacity issues with our outdated water and wastewater infrastructure systems. Some £24m has been allocated for capital building projects within the special needs education sector.

You want the power, well take the responsibility too

JOHN MANLEY POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, January 7th, 2025

WHILE money isn’t the root of all Stormont’s woes, the dearth of finances certainly plays a major role in destabilising this already fractious administration.

There’s finite funding to go around and all ministers are expected to tighten their belts. However, cuts in some departments, such as health and education, are much less palatable to the public than others.

Yesterday, John O’Dowd ostensibly sought to do the right thing in trying to formulate a multi-year budget that will set targets for day-to-day spending up to the beginning of April 2029 and for capital spending over the next four years.

Fo more than a decade, when the institutions have been operational, Executive ministers have lived hand-to-mouth, with their officials unable to plan strategically.

There’s consensus around the table at least that a multi-year budget is preferable to 12-month emergency spending plans – but getting agreement on anything long-term proves more problematic.

The Sinn Féin finance minister, who last month told a Stormont scrutiny committee he was confident a multi-year budget would be agreed before the year end, is understood to have circulated a paper on his proposals before Christmas and asked his ministerial colleagues for their feedback.

‘Unless something drastic happens, public services will keep deteriorating’

Irish News, Editorial

While there’d been hope of Executive sign-off for the draft multi-year budget, Mr O’Dowd has instead chose to act unilaterally and launch an eight-week consultation on his plans, which effectively divvies up a block grant that is reducing year-on-year in real terms.

The reaction from the DUP was immediate, with a party statement describing the minister’s proposals as “deeply flawed”.

The statement accused Mr O’Dowd of failing to properly prioritise frontline services, particularly education, while pointing to unspecified “wasteful and unnecessary spending”.

Education Minister Paul Givan, whose department is already in the red going into the next financial year, went further in an extensive statement in which he said cuts to his department’s budget of almost £3bn over three years were “simply not achievable”.

Alliance and the Ulster Unionists too were critical of the finance minister’s plan, also citing waste and a failure to transform public services.

While highlighting the need for Stormont to raise revenue, notably none of the parties’ statements pointed to specific areas where cuts could or should be made.

On the face of things, its appears Mr O’Dowd is disregarding his colleagues. However, he can only get so far on his own.

The consultation that he’s launched will inevitably feed into the negotiation which will have to take place if this budget is ever to be signed off, though the March 3 closing date leaves little time for the parties to agree a long-term spending plan, meaning they may be forced to approve yet another one-year budget.

Education Minister Paul Givan said cuts to his department’s budget of almost £3bn over three years were “simply not achievable”

There has certainly been a lot of noise in response to the minister’s proposals at a time when little else is happening politically but don’t necessarily regard all the criticism as ill-feeling, perhaps it’s more like ministers doing their negotiating in public.

One thing is clear, however, unless something drastic happens, our public services will continue to deteriorate, whether it be crumbling infrastructure or completely demoralised staff.

There are solutions worth considering but with the exception of the Alliance Party, which in the past has advocated for the introduction of water charges, none of those around the Executive table has shown the courage or determination to break out of the current precarious cycle.

It seems our politicians want power but without the responsibility.

SF man says he proposed bank hack idea to IRA, but Army Council member blocked it

Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2025

DUBLIN SINN FEIN FIGURE CLAIMS PLAN TO HACK BARCLAYS SYSTEMS IN 1980S, STEALING MONEY FROM APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA, WAS VETOED BY TERROR GROUP COMMANDER

One of the IRA's most feared commanders blocked a proposal to hack into the systems of one of Britain's biggest banks to steal vast sums, the Sinn Fein man behind the plan has claimed.

The IRA will forever be associated with the £26.5m 2004 Northern Bank heist, then the biggest robbery of a British bank. However, by then the IRA was winding down and therefore the use to which that loot was put remains unclear.

Yet a new academic book suggests that at a time when the IRA had a far greater need for money to buy weapons and pay its members, the terror group passed up on a potential chance to not only secure huge sums, but to take that money from a hated regime.

The revelation comes in a new book, Solidarity and Pressure: The Story of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, by the historian Connal Parr.

Parr, a Belfast-born assistant professor in the school of humanities and social sciences at Northumbria University, is a young but already highly respected academic.

His new book sets out what he says is a previously neglected area of study by Gerry Adams' biographers — the extent to which South Africa influenced and inspired the former Sinn Fein president's strategy and tactics.

At a key Sinn Fein Ard Fheis in 1984, Adams expressed solidarity with “our black brothers and sisters in Africa, and especially those who struggle under apartheid in South Africa”.

Adams and Anti-Apartheid Movement

Parr highlights that Adams was among those who joined the January 1970 march against the Springboks in Dublin. However, “more important were the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement's (IAAM) kudos and its networks when his political career took off”.

“A level of respectability flowed from Sinn Fein's involvement in the anti-Apartheid struggle in Ireland, especially to other politicians on the left and in the Republic, some of whom first got to know Adams at anti-Apartheid events 45 years before Sinn Fein's electoral breakthroughs.”

Parr says that Adams was impressed by the human rights perspective of Kader Asmal, the South African-born Dubliner who set up the IAAM, “especially when it had the British justice system and security forces in its sights”.

While Asmal claimed to never have supported the IRA, he was sympathetic to republicanism.

Asmal would go on to become a minister in Nelson Mandela's government.

After his death in 2011, Asmal's posthumous memoir set out his role in one of the most famous attacks on the Apartheid regime, the bombing of the Sasolburg oil refinery in 1980.

Asmal said the attack was the direct result of contacts between the ANC's armed MK wing and the Provisional IRA.

Asmal said he approached the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Ireland, Mick O'Riordan, who contacted Gerry Adams (who denies ever having been in the IRA), with it being arranged for two 'military experts' to arrive in Dublin to engage two MK personnel in two weeks of intensive training in a safe location.

Barclay’s Bank

However, after recounting that episode, Parr writes: “Unknown until now is that the IRA also considered hacking Barclays Bank's records, then quite rudimentarily kept and not 'backed up'.

“They were advised by experts in computing, namely Seán Marlow, who had been the Sinn Fein member on the IAAM Executive Committee, that they could electronically remove money from Barclays accounts and transfer it to the republican movement, acquiring money as per any bank robbery, and simultaneously striking a blow against a bank known for its extensive operations in South Africa… Marlow had easily hacked into Barclays accounts, which gave him the idea.

“However, IRA commander Brian Keenan chose to ignore this tactic in the 1980s, with it taking another decade for the IRA to begin exerting economic pressure through targeted bombings such as the 1996 Canary Wharf attack.”

A footnote in the book attributes this information to an interview Parr conducted with Marlow in 2022.

When contacted by the Belfast Telegraph, Marlow, who was a lecturer at Dublin City University, confirmed that he had proposed the operation and the idea was to not only steal the money but “to take the bank down”.

He said: “It was big thinking... but that's what I was trying to push.”

He said someone told him: “You go back to your wee ivory tower in Dublin.”

Marlow said he accepts the plan might not have worked, but that if it did, then he thought London's role as a financial services hub could have been weakened, with banks moving to Frankfurt.

While there is no way to verify Marlow's claims, he was a significant link between Sinn Fein and the anti-Apartheid movement. He told Parr that he had joined the IAAM executive in the mid-1980s at Asmal's invitation, because the latter had spotted his potential as an activist, commenting that many of the others were elderly and confined to letter-writing campaigns.

As chairman of Dublin and Ballymun Sinn Fein at a time when the party was defending IRA atrocities, Marlow's presence in the IAAM caused a political storm, prompting Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald's resignation from the group.

Eventually, he resigned from the IAAM, taking the decision himself in part because he was too busy — but said that Asmal, Adams and Martin McGuinness were “annoyed” and urged him to reconsider.

Asmal fearful of IRA-ANC links

Parr said that Asmal was always keen to rebut any claims about IRA links to the ANC, even though he would subsequently make those claims himself: “Asmal himself was very frightened whenever IRA/ANC comparisons were made publicly. Ambiguously, he wished to help Sinn Fein in private at the same time as sharing the ANC's fear of public association with the IRA.”

When the ANC's Billy Masetlha said, in an interview with the Irish News in 1990, that the ANC “has nothing and never has had anything to do with the IRA” and “are opposed to terrorism in all its forms… we never had any cooperation with organisations such as the IRA (sic), nor would we want to”, Asmal was involved in background attempts to resolve tensions.

Parr writes: “Asmal communicated directly with Masetlha, carefully pointing out that Sinn Fein's ultimate concern was good relations with Mandela: “They have an anxiety concerning the possibility of Comrade Nelson condemning their position.”

“Asmal wanted the ANC to be aware of this in its future conduct. This reflected Asmal's underlying sympathies, and it also showed him using his position to help Sinn Fein politically.”

After the end of white minority rule in South Africa, the ANC became the government and often exerted a moderating influence on the Provisional movement, Parr writes, something which assisted Adams in persuading recalcitrant IRA members to go along with the winding down of violence and growing focus on politics.

In 1997, a cross-party group of Northern Ireland politicians travelled to Arniston in Western Cape. Parr writes: “Unionist politicians including David Trimble were particularly interested by insights from Roelf Meyer, chief negotiator for the National Party Government, and were reportedly the big learners from the trip”.

Files newly declassified at The National Archives in Kew show that these contacts endured.

In the run-up to the 2003 Assembly elections, NIO associate political director Chris Maccabe had breakfast with Meyer, the former South African minister who had acted as FW de Klerk's chief negotiator in the transfer from Apartheid to democracy.

He said Meyer was excited at the looming elections because “at last the only people that can do the business — the DUP and Sinn Fein — are at the table, with their flanks secure. David Trimble is not the man to drive things forward ('just an average politician with mediocre leadership and communication skills').”

Meyer said he'd “struck up a solid relationship with Peter Robinson when Robinson visited South Africa earlier this year” and was “welcomed into the Robinson home on Friday evening 'like an old friend'”.

He said Robinson told him that “there will be no direct contact with Sinn Fein (according to Robinson, 'Ian would never allow that [word underlined]), and HMG will be relied on as a go-between”.

Meyer offered to help the DUP by hosting a 'training session' in South Africa the following month in which Robinson, Nigel Dodds, Gregory Campbell and nine other DUP figures, along with “a couple of administrators”, would travel. Robinson was “enthusiastic” about this, he said.

Maccabe said that Meyer's “involvement with them can only be beneficial and if they take his advice on strategy and tactics and, perhaps most important of all, on what is and is not realistic, any review is bound to be much more productive”.

Solidarity and Pressure: The Story of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement is published by Oxford University Press, but at price of £99 you’ll need to rob a bank to afford it.

Sinn Féin has plenty of form in Latin America

Michael McDowell, Irish Times, January 7th, 2025

Listening to a backbench Tory in the House of Commons arguing in the case of the armed abduction of Nicolás Maduro that “the end justifies the means”, I was reminded of a saying more fashionable in my childhood: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” As I wrote on December 17th, the recent US national security strategy ought to be read by anyone concerned about the future of global peace and politics.

Trump’s unlawful armed action against Maduro has been predictable and predicted for a long time. In these columns, I have warned about it on more than a dozen occasions going back to 2017. After inauguration in 2017, Trump openly spoke about coming armed conflicts involving American forces. While claiming to be an international peacemaker, Trump is happy to use micro-wars in the form of missile, drone and air operations on one condition – that the receiving party lacks any capacity to respond. Moreover, his use of force is always done in pursuit of his underlying agenda – the planet’s oil resources.

The security strategy document has this to say about the Middle East: “As this Administration rescinds or eases restrictive energy policies and American energy production ramps up, America’s historic reason for focusing on the Middle East will recede”. Decoded, the US intends to bypass oil resources of the Arab world by finding its increasing oil requirements elsewhere.

The document also states: “Strengthening critical supply chains in this Hemisphere will reduce dependencies and increase American economic resilience . . . The Western Hemisphere is home to many strategic resources that America should partner with regional allies to develop to make neighbouring countries, as well as our own, more prosperous . . . At the same time we should make every effort to push out foreign companies that build infrastructure in the region.”

Criminal conspiracy

In this context, Trump’s armed action against Maduro is clearly concerned with oil resources – no security threat or criminal conspiracy against the US. If Trump was concerned about the drugs threat to the US, he would take action against Colombia and Mexico. We have yet to see the evidence at Maduro’s trial, but the inescapable conclusion is that Trump wants to grab control of the world’s largest oil reserves in Venezuela.

Let’s be clear about three things. Venezuela’s oil reserves are not US property. The western hemisphere from Greenland to Tierra del Fuego is notthe domain of the US by right or by history. The Monroe doctrine concerned foreign imperialism in the western hemisphere; the so-called Donroe doctrine is a claim of outright ownership where sovereignty is sublet to complaisant vassel regimes.

Watching prominent Sinn Féin personalities and others of the hard left congregating in their scores on the Ha’penny Bridge on Saturday, a different thought struck me. Why on earth would Sinn Féin, an Irish political party, however wealthy, have sent an official delegation to Maduro’s inauguration in 2019? Do their “shared values” include the values of Hugo Chávez and Maduro? Why has nearly a quarter of the Venezuelan population fled the socialist paradise so admired by Sinn Féin?

Communist insurgency

Sinn Féin has form in the region, of course. It lied that it had not an official representative in Cuba until the Havana regime inadvertently confirmed the true position.

At the Weston Park talks which I attended in 2001, US representative Richard Haass alleged IRA involvement with Colombia’s communist Farc guerilla insurgency. In exchange for $25 million narco dollars financed by the cocaine trade, the IRA supplied mortar technology to Farc, resulting in the loss of many innocent Colombian civilian lives, US intelligence claimed. This was IRA post-ceasefire, post the Belfast Agreement of 1998. We now know that Provo research into mortar and IED technology continued in the west of Ireland until 2003.

Sinn Féin is Ireland’s wealthiest political party and beneficiary of its largest property portfolio. How?

This should be borne in mind when we read about Sinn Féin’s drum-beating for a united Irish socialist republic. Socialism takes many forms but Sinn Féin’s version is to be judged by its open admiration for Chávez, Maduro, Castro and Farc, not to mention other international hard-left revolutionary movements. Sinn Féin is a political chameleon. When fundraising in the US it conceals its hard-left and Marxist ambitions and alliances. It speaks of a united Ireland and preaches “Brits out” while paying mere lip service to the Belfast Agreement’s guarantees for the British identity of Protestant unionists.

Attempts by Sinn Féin to create a popular-front government in the Republic in alliance with every shade of left-wing opinion have as much potential to repeat in Ireland the economic collapse presided over by Chávez and Maduro. Is the ugliness of the Trump regime in Washington mirrored in Sinn Féin’s ambitions for a hard-left Chavista socialist republic in Ireland?

Stormont proposal hailed a 'significant step for Casement'

COLM KEYS, GAELIC GAMES, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2026

The Stormont Executive has proposed close to a £40m inflationary uplift in its draft budget for 2026, a move welcomed by Ulster GAA as the beleaguered Casement Park project moves into the delivery phase this year.

The proposal would bring to £209m the amount of money now available for Casement Park's redevelopment, still well short of the estimated £260-£270m it is expected to cost under current plans. The UK and Irish Governments have pledged £92m between them, with the GAA putting up £15m. The Stormont contribution would be over £100m if the draft budget were accepted in full.

Stormont had initially pledged £62.5m, but with construction inflation soaring in the intervening years, the Executive is now earmarking the increase to help offset that.

The money would be ringfenced between now and 2030 and released on a phased basis if it is approved. The draft budget, open to public consultation, is likely to face opposition.

For now, though, Ulster GAA has welcomed the move, as a decision on what shape and size Casement Park will take grows closer.

“This represents a significant and positive step forward in a project that Ulster GAA, alongside many partners, has worked diligently on for a number of years to secure,” Ulster GAA said in a statement. “Casement Park is an Executive flagship programme for Government priority and a vital piece of sporting and community infrastructure, not only for Gaelic games but for the wider sporting and cultural life of the North.

“We acknowledge that the Draft Budget is now subject to public consultation and further consideration. However, we wish to place on record our thanks to the Minister of Finance and his officials for recognising the strategic importance of Casement Park and the need for inflationary support to enable the project to progress.

“The GAA will continue to work closely with the Department for Communities to move the project forward as the budgetary consultation process progresses.”

The scale of the project has met some opposition in Ulster, with a hardening view that a scaled-down version would be more prudent and money set aside for other projects in the province.

Politics must have greater ambition - Northern Ireland

Editorial, Irish Times, January 6th, 2025

Northern Ireland has passed another year without the power sharing institutions collapsing, although the pace of executive function has been sclerotic.

Perhaps when the Belfast Agreement was signed on Good Friday 1998, and considering all the crises since then, most people would have settled for such political tedium. However, the Northern Executive and Assembly must improve their operations and have greater ambition. Northern Ireland faces many challenges, not least a malfunctioning health system, an under-resourced police service, a defective water supply, climate change, pollution – most egregiously exemplified by the green algae on Lough Neagh – and other pressing matters such as creating jobs, housing, addressing educational under-achievement and improving infrastructure.

Economically, the North could exploit its unique double access to the EU and UK markets but this is being undermined by arcane constitutional disputes over the baleful continuing fallout from Brexit.

The dissident republicans haven’t gone away and neither have the loyalist paramilitaries who continue to exercise control over some working class communities through drug dealing, extortion and racketeering. The British and Irish governments have appointed a special interlocutor, Fleur Ravensbergen, to assess whether these organisations can be persuaded to clear the stage. It is long past time that they did.

The Troubles past is not an abstraction. For many establishing truth, if not actual justice, about how their loved ones died during the conflict is important. Dublin and London must ensure the legislation required by the new agreed legacy machinery is speedily passed and properly implemented to assist that healing process.

The important debate over the pros and cons of a united Ireland will continue but the parties have a responsibility to make certain that the work of the Executive and Assembly is not impeded. Matters are not helped by the fact that there are Assembly elections in 2027, possibly tempting politicians to retreat to their tribal trenchant positions this year, leading to political stasis or worse. They must resist that tendency.

Reading and listening to some of the political commentary there can be an understandable inclination towards pessimism and fear of yet another, possibly fatal, Stormont suspension.

There are tensions and even more hurdles ahead but First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly have demonstrated an element of compatibility and a willingness to try to get things done and where problems arise, for the most part, to agree to disagree. They must confound the cynics and lead the Stormont Executive and Assembly in making Northern Ireland work for the common good.

Prosecution concludes case against businessman in Nama fraud trial

ASHLEIGH MCDONALD, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2026

The prosecution case against a Co Down businessman accused of fraud officially concluded yesterday.

Frank Cushnahan has been on trial since last September on a charge of fraud that he denies.

The 84-year old, from Alexandra Gate in Holywood, has been accused of fraud by failing to disclose information between April 1 and November 7, 2013.

The charge relates to the sale of the Northern Ireland property loan book held by the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).

The agency was set up in the Republic in 2009 following the property crash and banking crisis.

As the trial at Belfast Crown Court resumed yesterday following the Christmas break, the jury of nine men and three women were addressed by Crown barrister Jonathan Kinnear KC.

The prosecutor revealed that, over the break, “we have managed to dispense with all other witness evidence there is”.

Mr Kinnear then told them of “one agreed fact” which is that “Mr Cushnahan has no previous convictions”.

Following this, Mr Kinnear told trial judge Madam Justice McBride: “With that agreed fact, that effectively is the close of the prosecution case.”

Defence barrister Frank O'Donoghue KC, representing Cushnahan, also addressed the senior judge and said: “I have an application in the absence of the jury.” As a result, Madam Justice McBride said the legal matter being dealt with in their absence will take “a little time” and told the 12 members to return to court at the start of next week.

It's the Crown's case that between April and November 2013 Cushnahan was providing assistance to the American investment fund Pimco regarding the sale of the Northern Ireland loan portfolio.

The Crown also alleges that at the relevant time, Cushnahan sat on the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee which was set up by Nama to advise in respect of property debts in Northern Ireland.

In this role, it's the Crown's case that he was under a legal duty to disclose any conflict of interests that he had which he failed to do.

Ultimately, the deal with Pimco fell through in March 2014 and the following month a billion-pound deal with another US investment fund Cerberus was agreed.

At hearing.

NI teachers are offered 4% pay rise, matching award in England

MARK BAIN, Belfast Telegraph, January 7th, 2026

UNIONS LOOK SET TO RECOMMEND ACCEPTANCE OF DEAL FROM MANAGEMENT

Teachers in Northern have received a formal offer of a 4% pay rise, effective from September 2025, with unions expected to recommend acceptance from members.

In recent years, schools have been disrupted by a series of industrial disputes over pay negotiations, though the new offer is separate from ongoing talks over workload issues.

The offer comes after Education Minister Paul Givan said he would be in a position to make the formal offer “early in the new year”.

“I've made provision for a pay reward to be made up to 4%, and that would be the basis upon which we will enter into that negotiating process through the proper framework,” the minster said.

“I do believe that it is reasonable that we would be aligning ourselves largely with parity when it comes to teachers' pay. I think it is a fair pay reward to be making to the teaching profession.”

Teachers received a pay rise of 5.5% in 2024/25 and the minister added that the Executive had taken “an important step towards ensuring teachers are treated fairly”.

“While this is a positive step forward, the wider financial challenge for my department remains acute,” he warned.

“I continue to work with officials and the Education Authority to reduce the projected deficit of £267m for this financial year. But critical pressures persist.”

The NI Teachers' Council (NITC) has welcomed the formal pay offer for the 2025/26 academic year. The offer proposes a 4% consolidated increase to all teacher salary scale points and a 4% increase to all allowances, effective from September 1, 2025.

“While teachers will have hoped for more, the NITC believes that this offer is the maximum possible in the current financial circumstances,” the NITC said.

“This offer will now be taken to our member unions for consultation. Each union will carefully consider the details and implications of the proposal on behalf of the teachers that they represent.

“Once each union has received a view on the offer, the NITC will formally respond to management side.”

The NASUWT, the largest teachers' union in NI, said it is recommending its acceptance to members.

“The union commends the negotiating team for delivering this offer from management side in what are very difficult circumstances for the Northern Ireland Executive.

“This offer matches the 4% award made to teachers in England for the 2025/26 academic year and keeps teachers' salaries broadly in line between NI and England,” said Matt Wrack, the union's general secretary.

Justin McCamphill, NASUWT national official for NI, added: “We welcome this pay offer, which is a significant and hard-won achievement which was only made possible by Executive agreement after a ministerial direction.

“On the basis that there is no prospect of additional funding, the union will be recommending that members accept this offer.

“Crucially, this offer is not conditional. It allows us to separate the vital issue of pay from our ongoing campaign to tackle excessive teacher workload, for which the independent panel's report now provides a concrete basis for resolution. The minister must now act decisively on those recommendations.”

Dr Graham Gault, NAHT national secretary (NI), also welcomed the offer: “We welcome the receipt of this formal offer, which represents the maximum level of funding secured by the minister from the NI Executive.

“In relation to pay, our priority now is to ensure members have their say through a full consultation process.”

NAHT will launch a member consultation running from 9am on Thursday until 5pm on Monday, January 12 to gather views on the offer.

Ulster Teachers' Union said it believes members will respond positively to the offer.

“While we had hoped for more, we believe this offer to be reasonable given the current financial constraints facing the public sector,” said Jacquie White, UTU general secretary.

“Of course we will now take this offer to our members before coming back to the management side with a formal response.”

In joint statement, the bodies represented at management side said: “This offer reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring fair and competitive remuneration for teachers in NI.

“We very much value the vital role of teachers and believe this pay award represents the best that can be achieved against the backdrop of increasing financial pressures.”

Number of Catholic officers in the PSNI set to fall to 23%

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

The numbers of Catholics PSNI officers is predicted to fall to below a quarter of the force

THE number of Catholics in the PSNI could fall to just 23% in the next 10 years, Policing Board members have been warned.

Details of the predicted slump in Catholic representation were highlighted in a report provided to members of the board’s Resource Committee last month.

Alarm bells about the expected drop in Catholic officer numbers come as the PSNI prepares to launch a new recruitment drive next week.

The Policing Board’s ‘Monitoring PSNI Performance’ report reveals that by 2035 the number of Catholics in the PSNI could drop to less than a quarter of the overall makeup of the force.

The potential fall in Catholic officer numbers is highlighted in a section of the report headed ‘Roman Catholic Officer 10-Year Forecast’.

“Forecasts predict Catholic Officer representation could fall to 23% in 10 years due to retirements from the Patten period,” it warns.

“Members may wish to ask the PSNI what strategies they will use to mitigate this?”

Catholics currently make up around 31% of the force’s membership and around 18% of its civilian staff.

Later this year the PSNI will mark its 25th anniversary.

It was established after the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, chaired by Chris Patten, introduced wide-ranging reforms in the years after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

50:50 recruitment target abandoned

Under Patten’s recommendations, 50:50 recruitment, which was scrapped in 2011, was intended to level up the numbers of Catholic and Protestants in the police.

SDLP Policing Board member Colin McGrath said the latest figures “should be a cause of serious concern for the Chief Constable, the Policing Board, the Justice Minister and wider society”.

“If any of these stakeholders are not responding to the alarming forecasts for Catholic officer recruitment, then they are failing to grasp the scale and seriousness of the problem,” he said.

“The PSNI was envisioned as a police service that represents the community it serves.

“It’s clear that there is a distinct lack of diversity that stretches far beyond one community.”

Mr McGrath said the “rule of law in Northern Ireland has suffered repeated and severe blows, secret talks with paramilitaries, amnesty schemes, flawed NCND (neither confirm nor deny) policy and the blocking of public inquiries into murders such as that of Sean Brown all erode confidence”.

The SDLP representative said the “challenges” faced by the PSNI are compounded by “chronic underfunding” of “and a lack of political urgency to undertake a comprehensive review of what has succeeded and what has failed since the Patten reforms”.

The South Down MLA added that his party “remains committed to a new beginning to policing” in the north.

“Unfortunately, that vision has yet to be realised and there is a real sense that we are going backwards when it comes to a properly resourced and representative police service that commands the confidence of the community it serves,” he said.

SDLP leader Claire Hanna has called for a review of the PSNI and voiced concern that policing has drifted from the reforms introduced by the Patten Commission.

Ex-Catholic PSNI officers have recently voiced concern.

Recently retired former chair of the PSNI’s Catholic Guild, Superintendent Gerry Murray, has spoken of the need for a “cultural review” of the force.

Another ex-officer, who had faced a death threat, recently told the Irish News there is a “severe lack of understanding” at PSNI leadership level over the difficulties faced by people from her community background. The PSNI was contacted.

New IRA and other paramilitary groups urged to ‘pack up’ CONNLA YOUNG

Connla Young, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

THE New IRA has been urged to “pack up” after it urged members to continue targeting the security forces.

In a New Year statement circulated online, the hardline group “commended” its members and urged them to “do your up-most to target the crown forces when an opportunity presents itself”.

The statement, signed T O’Neill, said that in 2026 the group intended “continued resistance to the occupation of our country”.

“We are, and continue to be the few but faithful, with a deathless dream that cannot be bought or beaten into surrender,” it added.

The statement also offered support to republican prisoners and was critical of those who do not back them along with “constitutional false prophet republicans” and “right-wing reactionaries who twist the history books in an effort to give their bigoted ideology some form of patriotic credit”.

The group also referenced “a sharp rise in imperialistic capitalist war efforts across the globe”.

“We salute all organisations and forms of resistance used against imperialist forces,” it added.

Alliance Party Policing Board member Peter McReynolds said: “The New IRA, along with every other paramilitary group, needs to pack up and leave the stage immediately.”

He said such groups offer “nothing but hatred, bigotry, and violence, while trying to drag us back to the bad days.

“Their poison is not wanted by the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland and they should leave the community to get on in peace,” he added.

“Northern Ireland does not want or need anything they are offering in 2026, nor have we ever.”

Lawyers for DCI Caldwell gun attack accused criticise delays

TANYA FOWLES, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

LAWYERS for 17 men charged in connection with the attempted murder of former DCI John Caldwell have heavily criticised the delay as the case approaches the three-year mark.

The now-retired senior officer was shot while coaching a youth football team at a sports complex in Omagh, Co Tyrone on February 22 2023.

In the aftermath the New IRA claimed responsibility for the attack stating that an “active service unit was in position to target the enemy within our chosen kill zone with our armed volunteers giving cover”.

Until November last year, 16 men were charged in connection with the incident of which seven are accused of attempted murder, and the rest face various related allegations.

However, another man, John Charles Coleman (73), from Lakeview Cottages, Ardboe was added in relation to charges of preparing for acts of terrorism and perverting the course of justice between February 21-24 2023 by destroying a Ford Fiesta.

A 37-year-old man arrested with him was released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

A detective sergeant said the charges against Coleman are grounded on evidence in the form of engagement with other suspects, communications data, CCTV and phone movements.

It is alleged Coleman made numerous calls to scrapyards to have the vehicle disposed of and when these were unsuccessful a decision was made to burn it, then transport two other suspects from the fire.

Bail was not opposed, and Coleman was remanded in the sum of £1,000 with a £2,000 surety.

But his addition to the case delayed progress for the other 16 defendants whose lawyers have repeatedly voiced concerns.

At Omagh Magistrates’ Court yesterday a prosecuting barrister explained Coleman is “integral” to the case against two other accused and his file is due to be completed next month.

Now-retired DCI John Caldwell survived a murder attempt in February 2023

She added: “This isn’t a matter of adding more papers to the case but adding a further defendant. I have been assured there will be no slippage.”

A defence solicitor for some defendants responded: “It is ludicrous to suggest (Coleman) is integral to the case. I don’t buy that further time is needed.

“This case is going to be massive so the PPS should be ordered to start disclosing files now rather than more delay. We could be making a start because when we do get the papers it will take us time to work through.

The longer the PPS are given, the more this is slipping.”

Another defence solicitor added: “The rights of defendants have to be considered in this abject delay. The court needs to take control and manage this case. The latest PPS update is just a rephrasing of last month. It’s the same words with no iota of progress.”

Noting the concerns, District Judge Connor Heaney declined the PPS application for a four week adjournment and instead ordered the matter would be revisited on January 20 saying “I would like to see a global position on the structure of this case. Thereafter there will be a detailed review of progress”.

A solicitor for one of the accused who is remanded in custody urged the judge to grant bail even though it would not result in his release as he is being held on other matters, “but it might send a message to the PPS”.

The prosecution objected to this as notice of a bail application had been filed which was agreed by Judge Heaney.

The defence accepted this adding, “I was just chancing my arm”.

Judgment reserved in case of man accused of bomb attack on police officers

Charlie Love and his partner deny all charges connected to incident in Strabane in 2022

JOHN CASSIDY, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

JUDGMENT was reserved yesterday in the case of a Co Tyrone man accused of trying to kill two PSNI officers with an improvised bomb.

Charlie Love (31), of Bridge Street, Strabane, went on trial in March 2025 accused of the attempted murder of police officers in the town.

He was further charged with one count of causing an explosion likely to endanger life and one count of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life. All the charges are dated November 17, 2022.

His 28-year-old partner Symone Murphy, from the same address, was charged with withholding information which might assist terrorists. Both denied all the charges they faced.

During the conclusion of the trial proceedings yesterday, Belfast Crown Court heard that counsels for the prosecution and the defence were “adopting their written closing submissions” and they would be making no further oral submissions.

Reserving judgment in the case, trial judge Mr Justice Fowler said he would give his ruling on the case at a later date.

On the opening day of the non-jury Diplock-style trial, a senior prosecution KC said Love’s DNA was “all over the device” used in a “pre-planned attack” on police.

The prosecutor said that just before 11pm on Thursday, November 17, 2022 officers ‘A’ and ‘B’ were in the Mount Carmel Height area in an unmarked armoured Skoda Superb car.

The officers in the car made a radio transmission stating they had witnessed a flash and heard a bang, and that they believed they had been the subject of an attack.

The officers returned to Strabane police station with one reporting that the flash came from the direction of an old school site.

This officer also spoke of hearing a very loud bang and feeling a thud on the police vehicle which caused it to rock – and said he felt whatever hit the car peppered it and disintegrated. When the vehicle was examined at the station, no obvious damage was noted but there was peppering of the paint surface. A burning smell was also noted coming from the front passenger side of the car.

Following the attack, prosecution counsel said the area including waste ground was searched and several items were removed for forensic examination.

Included was a cordless drill which the Crown say was a “trigger mechanism for the device” and was found lying in grass.

Love’s DNA was found on the drill and on a galvanised post, whilst the presence of the explosive RDX was also located at the scene.

The prosecution KC said this type of explosive has been used by terrorists in the past and more recently linked to “dissident republican groups”.

Love was arrested on the Derry Road in Strabane the day after the bomb attack and over the course of four interviews, he gave a ‘no comment’ response. He was released on November 20 but was re-arrested on December 13 when the DNA results were confirmed but again refused to answer any questions.

When the DNA results were put to him, he provided a prepared statement in which he claimed that he was approached by a male involved with Saoradh – the political wing of the New IRA – on November 17, 2022. Love said this man asked him to do ‘a favour’ which was to take a drill in a bag to waste ground at Mount Carmel Heights.

British army search teams in Strabane after the attack on November 17, 2022

Witheld information

Regarding Love’s partner Symone Murphy, the prosecutor said it was the Crown’s case that she withheld information. He said that at the time of the bomb attack, Love’s mobile phone was left at his home address and that during this period his mother called her son which was answered by Symone Murphy.

The prosecutor said that when her phone was seized and examined, messages indicated she knew her partner Love was not at home during the relevant time and was worried where he was.

He added that when she was later spoken to by police about the explosion, Murphy didn’t answer their questions about Love’s whereabouts on the evening of November 17.

The prosecution KC said it was the prosecution’s case that Symone Murphy was “undoubtedly aware that Charlie Love’s whereabouts at the time of the bomb attack would be highly relevant to the police” but provided no information.

In conclusion, he said: “We say Charlie Love was part of a pre-planned attack on police with an intention to kill.

“Charlie Love’s DNA was all over the device and by virtue of his defence statement, he admits he was in possession of the device in advance of it being used… he was clearly present in that area at the time of the attack.”

He added the aim of the attack may have been “thwarted due to the fact the officers were in an armoured car”, that the device “appears to have exploded or impacted against a metal fence on the ground around it” and that it was “only through good fortune that deaths were averted”.

During the trial, the former state pathologist for Northern Ireland, Professor Jack Crane, confirmed that in the course of his profession he had dealt with a number of fatalities associated with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

He told the court: “The evidence would indicate that some type of improvised explosive device was detonated as the armoured vehicle was passing the scene. In this case it seems fairly clear that this device had fragmented and had caused peppering of the nearside of the pillar on the vehicle. If such fragments were capable of causing impact damage to the chassis of the vehicle they would have been capable of causing serious injury or death if they had struck an individual.”

Two people ‘badly shaken’ after petrol bomb attack

REBECCA BLACK, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

A MAN and a woman have been left “badly shaken” after a petrol bomb was thrown at a house in Derry.

Police said a suspected petrol bomb was thrown through the window of a property in the Circular Road area at around 6.45pm on Monday evening.

“The occupants of the house, a man and woman, were able to extinguish the fire that ignited in the living room area,” a police spokesperson said.

“They were both uninjured, but left badly shaken by what happened.”

The police spokesperson said they are treating the incident as ar-son with intent to endanger life.

“As a result of this arson attack, some damage was caused to the window – and living room floor area,” they said.

“We are treating this matter as ar-son with intent to endanger life, and enquiries are ongoing today to determine a motive and who was involved.

“We are especially keen to hear from anyone who observed a green saloon vehicle, or three men on foot at the time of the report.

“It’s understood the vehicle travelled from the direction of the Creggan Heights area, and left in the direction of Southway.

“Please make contact with us on 101, quoting reference number 1315 05/01/26 if you have any information, including CCTV, dash-cam or other footage of the area that could help with our investigation.”

People aren’t ready for the debate on Irish unity, Brian

ALEX KANE, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

FROM one curmudgeon to another, Brian, let me begin by wishing you a happy new year.

Part of my Christmas reading included Ben Collins’s The Irish Unity Dividend and Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride’s For And Against A United Ireland (both particularly good books, by the way).

My primary conclusion, which is underpinned by a number of other books and articles I’ve read on the subject this year, is that the vast majority of people, north and south of the border, are nowhere close to being prepared for a serious, thoughtthrough debate or campaign on the issue.

This conclusion doesn’t, of course, mean that the British and Irish governments won’t just wake up one day and announce that the conditions for calling a border poll have been met.

That’s because, as you and I have discussed in previous exchanges, no-one at this point knows what those terms and conditions are.

I was reminded of a comment made by the former Upper Bann MP Harold McCusker in a debate on the Anglo-Irish Agreement which took place in the House of Commons in November 1985.

“If the population is 49.9% Protestant and the remainder is Roman Catholic or nationalist, the government will seek to establish a united Ireland. Legislation would be introduced and supported in the respective parliaments to give effect to the wish of an undefined majority. Why do they not talk about ‘widespread support in the future?’ We are constantly told that there cannot be government without widespread support…”

Stuck in an echo chamber

That’s 40 years ago, Brian, and we are still stuck in the same debate about the precise meaning of words and phrases and how, exactly, we measure and define the levels of support one way or the other which would be regarded as game-changing.

My worry is that we will be stuck on some sort of neverending campaign carousel, in which competing pro and anti-unity lobbies continue with their own echo-chamber stuff until such times as the border poll is called (which it will be).

And if that is the case, any campaign will descend, at headlong speed, I suspect, into the toxicity and brutal madness of the Brexit referendum: when both Leave and Remain pumped out porkies on an industrial scale.

Right now, Brian – and I say this with no disrespect to existing campaign groups – the general view held on both sides of the border is that Sinn Féin is leading the unity campaign.

It says – although pretends is probably a more accurate description – that it has been reaching out to unionists and has been seeking to assure them that their needs and concerns would be recognised and accommodated in a new constitutional set-up.

Other than at some very fringe levels, I see no evidence of that happening.

And nor do I see persuasive evidence that Sinn Féin is making much of an effort, either, to win over what I would describe as ‘small-n’ nationalists.

In both cases, or so it seems to me, the argument doesn’t go much further than “A united Ireland is coming, so just suck it up”.

Admittedly, Brian, things are no better on the unionist side.

Generally speaking, I am one of the few unionists with a public profile who urges fellow unionists to prepare for the inevitability of a border poll.

It could be 10 years or 50 years away, but it will be called – and more likely in the shorter than longer term.

As I’ve mentioned to you before, I don’t really care at this point if unionists don’t want to talk to anyone outside their own community.

But I believe it is essential that they actually have a serious internal debate about what their response should be when it is called.

And while doing that, they could also kick-start an immediate strategy for attracting new votes to the pro-union side.

The key thing to remember in all of this, Brian, is that the calling of a border poll is not, and never will be, in the hands of either the pro or anti-union lobbies.

It is in the hands, primarily, of a UK government, albeit with input from the Irish.

Leaving gigantic question marks around the timing, terms and conditions of a border poll will, I think, be hugely disruptive in general political terms.

Indeed, I would go further and argue that uncertainty, as is so often the case in Northern Ireland, would actually fuel new tensions and fears in both lobbies, creating the worst possible conditions for whenever the border poll is called.

Personally, Brian, I think a poll is unlikely before 2035 at the earliest. In terms of Irish history that, as we know, is the mere blink of an eye.

And you and I also know that the blink-of-an-eye crises tend to be the ones with the longest consequences when it comes to destructive all-island legacies.

Yes, Alex, but only because Dublin is refusing to talk

BRIAN FEENEY, Irish News, January 7th, 2026

FIRST of all, Alex, let me warmly reciprocate your good wishes for the new year.

We can go further and agree that the year is 2026 and, unlike unionist politicians, there is a future in which a reunification referendum will take place.

You probably wouldn’t accept the corollary that we’re one year closer to reunification.

You’re correct that “the vast majority of people north and south are nowhere close to being prepared for a serious, thought-through debate or campaign on the issue”.

The blame for that state of affairs lies squarely with the Irish government and specifically Micheál Martin.

His partner in government, Simon Harris, has no interest whatsoever in reunification.

Indeed, no-one has been able to discern any aim or ideology for him being in politics except his own ambition.

Harris seems delighted to have moved to finance and to have off-loaded foreign affairs and trade to someone who has never uttered a syllable on the north, except to complain about the number of asylum seekers coming south.

I suspect, Alex, that not one unionist in a hundred could name her, and not many more nationalists either.

On the other hand, Micheál Martin, who has been around a long time in government, has spoken about the north up until about five or six years ago, when Sinn Féin outpolled Fianna Fáil in the 2020 general election and looked a serious candidate for government.

Since then he has taken to appeasing unionists – to no avail, of course – and set his face against reunification, for the party political reason that it will mean Sinn Féin in government and the end of Fianna Fáil.

As a result, Martin has placed himself and his party in the curious position of promoting the opposite of Article 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, which states that “it is the firm will of the Irish Nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland”.

No plans for referendum

It is his firm will not to. He has said he will not plan for a referendum and will not hold one this decade.

He says this in defiance of the all-party Oireachtas committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which has recommended that the government begin to plan “immediately” for a referendum.

You’re mistaken, Alex, in thinking that the Irish and British governments will wake up one day and announce that the conditions for holding a referendum have been met.

You’re right that legally it’s for the British to call one, but what would people vote for or against?

The fact is that it’s for the Irish government alone to set out what the reunified state would be.

A central sovereign state? A federal sovereign state?

Would Stormont continue? What powers would it have? How much would it all cost?

Only the Irish government can do that, Alex.

The British can’t announce what kind of Ireland people would be voting for and this Irish government won’t do it so there’s an impasse – which, you’re quite correct, promotes “a never-ending campaign carousel” of uncertainty and instability in the north.

It’s possible, Alex, some say probable, that after the Starmageddon elections this May, all the devolved administrations will be led by people who want to bring the UK to an end. If so, that will hasten the reunification poll.

However, if he’s still around, Safety First Starmer won’t call one.

It’s a very big deal, Alex, and definitely something no British prime minister will “wake up some morning” and announce.

Starmer has already said he won’t call a second Scottish referendum even if the SNP win a majority in Edinburgh, though he may have to eat those words.

It’s a very big deal, Alex, because calling a reunification poll in the north means whichever prime minister does it has decided to end the UK.

That’s because, as you know, Alex, the Good Friday Agreement says “if it seems likely” a majority would vote for Irish unity.

It may be Scotland will go first, but whereas voting for reunification means the end of the UK, Scotland going means the end of Britain.

So, Alex, we end where we started.

No-one’s ready for a serious, thought-through campaign because all opinion polls on the matter are based on sentiment, not reality.

That’s because the Irish government, which must take the lead in drafting a blueprint, simply refuses to do so.

The consequence of this irresponsible dereliction of duty, Alex, is, as you say, that “any campaign is likely to descend at headlong speed into the toxicity and brutal madness of the Brexit referendum”.

An indictment of the Irish government, which ironically prepared so well for Brexit.

Starmer to introduce additional protections for British Army Troubles Veterans

Abbie Lowellyn, Belfast News Letter, January 7th, 2025

Sir Keir Starmer has indicated that there may be additional protections for veterans added to the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.

Labour has introduced its Troubles Bill to replace the previous government’s Legacy Act and end the immunity scheme in that legislation, which was ruled unlawful in the courts.

The scheme would have allowed perpetrators of Troubles-related crimes to be given immunity from prosecution in exchange for co-operation with a truth recovery body.

However, concerns have been raised by armed forces and veterans communities that the Troubles Bill will leave those who served in Northern Ireland open to vexatious litigation.

While the Bill removes the immunity provision, it is set to introduce six protections for veterans, including protection from repeated investigations, a right to give evidence remotely, protections for health in old age, a right to seek anonymity and a protection from cold calling.

‘No protection’ says Robinson

However, the leader of the DUP, Gavin Robinson, argued that these “offer no protection” for veterans, that they are procedural and “apply to terrorists too”.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Mr Robinson asked: “Will the prime minister confirm that what we have heard is true, that the Ministry of Defence and the Northern Ireland Office intend to bring forward government amendments that will specifically and particularly protect veterans and that they will offer protection?”

Responding, Sir Keir said: “The Bill, as he knows, will put in place new measures designed specifically to protect veterans.

Sir Keir Starmer speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, today. The prime minister was quizzed on his government's Troubles Bill by DUP leader Gavin Robinson

“These safeguards have been developed with veterans in mind, after carefully listening to their concerns.

“We’ve been meeting with veterans’ organisations and listening to their views, and when the Bill reaches the committee stages, the House will see the result of those considerations and he will be pleased to hear that.

“We’re determined to ensure protections are as fair and effective as possible, recognising the role that service personnel played in keeping people across the UK safe during the Troubles.”

Earlier, shadow Northern Ireland secretary Alex Burghart accused the Government of “ostrich-like complacency” over the Troubles Bill.

Existing Act has no support in N Ireland

He said: “Senior representatives of our armed forces are telling this House that the legislation is impacting morale and effectiveness…

“Why does the government think it knows better than our armed forces?”

Responding, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said: “Well, the government had to do something about the last government’s failed Legacy Act, which had no support in Northern Ireland.

“And if one is seeking to help the people of Northern Ireland to deal with the continuing consequences of the Troubles, the legislation has to have that support, and the last government failed to do that.”

Conservative former minister Sir David Davis asked Mr Benn “which political parties support his legislation”.

Mr Benn responded: “All of the political parties in Northern Ireland that expressed their profound opposition to immunity have welcomed the fact that immunity will go under the legislation that we have brought before the House – that includes (Mr Robinson) sitting next to (Sir David), who supports its removal. Indeed, the leader of the DUP.

“And that is a sign that the government has been listening to views in Northern Ireland, which, unfortunately, the Legacy Act failed to do.”