‘We should all be ashamed’: Ex-loyalist paramilitary sees North’s future in a ‘New Ireland’

Former UDA member David Adams says loyalist ‘lurch to the right’ plus rise in racism and sectarianism in Northern Ireland compel him to speak out

Seanín Graham, Irish Times, September 15th, 2025

On the livingroom wall in the Co Armagh home of David Adams hang photographs of him meeting Nelson Mandela and shaking hands with Bill Clinton.

The former loyalist paramilitary, who took part in the political negotiations that led to the 1998 Belfast Agreement, points to his favourite photograph taken at an Ethiopian refugee camp during his work with Dublin aid agency Goal.

“My children call it ‘The Davy Wall’, sneeringly,” he says, laughing while petting his ageing dog, Walter.

Since retiring from the Dún Laoghaire-based agency seven years ago, Adams (72) has kept a relatively low profile.

His profile was not always low. Adams was a senior figure within the Combined Loyalist Military Command, a group representing the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and the Red Hand Commando; he was heavily involved in the negotiations that led to the 1994 loyalist ceasefire.

He is a former member of the UDA, although he was never convicted of any offences while a member of the paramilitary organisation. He was also a leading figure in the now defunct Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), the political party linked to the UDA. His association with the group didn’t end well.

It is almost 20 years since Adams was put out of his home by the UDA for his involvement in the peace process – “my daughter is still triggered,” he says of the intimidation – and his life threatened when a gang climbed on the roof of his house and blocked up the chimney in the middle of the night.

“It was winter and we would often have banked the fire up at nights with coal and a bit of slack. That night we didn’t. If we had, we could have easily been killed in our beds, burnt or poisoned,” he says.

His pet dog, Oscar, was taken away and killed by paramilitaries.

Reactivated by ‘lurch to right’ in Loyalism

The “last thing” his family wants is for him to have a public profile again, he adds. But an escalation in racist and sectarian attacks in Northern Ireland has had an effect on Adams.

The “lurch to the right” within loyalism – and links with far-right figures in the South – have also altered his thinking on where he believes the North’s future lies.

He says he feels compelled to speak out.

On the Tuesday morning he invites The Irish Times to his village home a short drive from Belfast videos are circulating online of a group attacking individuals in a car park in east Belfast the previous evening. Later in the day, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirms it is investigating the incident as a race-related crime.

Catholic families being forced to flee a mixed social housing development on a Belfast interface where a UDA flag flies sparked an outcry the previous week.

“Whenever I was away overseas with Goal, I could divorce myself from here and what was happening to a large extent,” he says. “When I came home, it was worse than what I’d left in 2005.

“It is absolutely depressing and what it does as well, it throws me back in my mind to the 1970s. We now have vigilantes on the street; their target is those with different skin colour and people of a different religion. So, it all has echoes of where we once were and what that led to.”

In the kitchen are painted handprints of one of five grandchildren; he mentions them repeatedly by name.

Grandchildren’s Future

For the first time, he has reached a decision in the event of a referendum on a united Ireland. The criterion was simple: his grandchildren’s future.

“Negative” unionist leadership and growth in political support for what he brands “pound-shop Paisleys” preaching “self-serving” anti-migrant rhetoric were also a factor.

“My former position was, come a border poll – and it is inevitable somewhere down the line – that I would make up my mind then on where I thought the best future would lie for my grandchildren,” he says, of a potential vote on Irish unification.

“And I wouldn’t be swayed by tribalism or anything like that. I now believe that a ‘New Ireland’ is where the future lies, and has to lie.

“But I have to stress it has to be a new Ireland for all of us. It can’t be a replica of what was here obviously or what the Republic of Ireland was in the past.

“So there really does have to be that effort – and unionism, if it has any sense, should begin negotiations towards a new Ireland.”

He dislikes the term “united Ireland” because it’s “very nationalistic” and “suggests all we need to do is nail six [counties] on to 26 and everything will be fine”.

Any move towards Irish unity would require an acknowledgment from the Irish Government on how Protestants living in the South were “treated very badly” in the past, he insists.

“There were two minorities who were abandoned after partition. The Catholic minority up here, who were discriminated against – no two ways about that, terribly so. But ignored in every conversation about a future Ireland is, how the Protestant minority in the South fared.”

Republicanism also needs to take “a long hard look at itself”, adds Adams.

“I have friends in Sinn Féin, I have friends among ex-IRA people, I don’t want to be insulting them … I would just be worried about some of the rhetoric,” he says.

“It’s not about denigrating the other side to win plaudits from your own side.

Inside the UVF at the height of its murderous campaign

CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 15th, 2025

FRESH details about the internal workings of the UVF at the height of its murderous sectarian campaign can be revealed today for the first time.

A team of investigators has spent years looking into a series of related murders carried out by the UVF during the Troubles.

The Operation Denton re-port, produced by key members of the Kenova investigation team, is understood to run to 400 pages and is due to be published in the coming weeks.

However, detailed briefings have already been given to some of the victims’ families, including Brendan Hayes, who was aged just three when his father was killed in a bomb attack at Dublin Airport.

It took place more than a year after the May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bomb attacks that claimed the lives of 33 people.

Baggage handler John Hayes (38) died in the airport explosion in November 1975.

Mr Hayes was provided with fresh information about his father’s murder, and the wider UVF, which can today be revealed by the Irish News.

This includes:

• Brothers Ivor and Stewart Young have been identified as key UVF leaders, after transferring from the UDA.

• The UVF in Belfast was in the midst of a bitter ‘coup’ at the time, with members of the brigade staff demoted.

• “The interventionists sought to stand down all brigade staff on the basis of the rampant sectarian attacks by the UVF on the nationalist community,” the investigators found.

• UVF members linked to the notorious Glenanne Gang were responsible for the Dublin Airport bomb and not the UDA, as reported at the time.

• The Tigers Bay UVF in north Belfast cooperated with the Mid Ulster UVF in the attack on the airport.

• While 12 people are believed to have been involved in all aspects of the airport attack, five individuals have been singled out by Operation Denton as being involved, including the Young brothers.

Full Story below

New information on the UVF’s sectarian campaign has been uncovered by a team of investigators from the Kenova team, with those findings revealed in The Irish News today

Frontpage

The Young brothers, the Glenanne gang and a deadly attack on Dublin Airport

Baggage handler John Hayes was killed when Dublin Airport was bombed in 1975. His son Brendan has been told by Operation Denton investigators that members of the UVF in mid-Ulster and north Belfast were responsible for the attack, previously claimed to be the work of the UDA.

UVF members linked to the notorious Glenanne Gang were responsible for a deadly bomb attack on Dublin Airport previously blamed on the UDA.

Baggage handler John Hayes (38) was killed when a bomb ripped through the airport on November 29 1975.

Fresh information about the lethal explosion has now been revealed to a son of Mr Hayes by key members of the Kenova investigation team as part of Operation Denton.

It was set up to carry out a review of the loyalist Glenanne Gang, which included members of the RUC, UDR and UVF.

A draft of the Operation Denton report has already been circulated to some interested parties, and the report, which relatives have been told runs to 400 pages, is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

While the UDA initially claimed responsibility for the airport attack Operation Denton officials have told relatives the UVF was responsible.

The victim’s son Brendan Hayes, who was aged just three when his father was killed, recently met with Operation Denton investigators.

During the meeting the campaigner was provided with fresh information about his father’s murder and the review.

His father was killed after a bomb exploded in a toilet block in the arrivals terminal at Dublin Airport.

The powerful explosion ripped through a wall into an airport bar where around 30 people were sitting.

A second bomb went off around an hour later but there were no injuries after the building was evacuated.

New information - with a note of caution

It is understood that, as in other Kenova probes, Operation Denton had access to material not considered by previous investigations.

However, it is believed Operation Denton officials have provided a note of caution around this material after it emerged last year that MI5 had withheld information from Kenova staff members investigating the activities of the British agent known as Stakeknife.

Now, for the first time relatives of Mr Hayes have been told that members of the UVF from mid-Ulster and north Belfast were responsible for the 1975 airport attack.

It took place more than a year after the May 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bomb attacks that claimed the lives of 33 people.

The recent family briefing revealed that the findings of a forensic expert included similarities with the airport attack and the 1974 Dublin bomb attacks.

While 12 people are believed to have been involved in all aspects of the airport attack, five individuals have been singled out by Operation Denton as being involved.

In particular two brothers, Ivor and Stewart Young, from Portadown, Co Armagh, have been identified by Operation Denton.

Stewart Young has been linked to other bomb attacks south of the border in the 1970s.

While the brothers have previously been connected to the Mid Ulster UVF, it is the first time they have been associated with the 1975 airport attack.

Intelligence dated to November 1978 reveals that Stewart Young was a member of the Mid Ulster UVF.

Described as a “commander”, he was linked to murders and robberies.

It was claimed that he was a founding member of the mid-Ulster unit in 1973, after his release from internment, and that he had close associations with the organisation in Belfast.

Operation Denton told Mr Hayes that the UVF became a “substantial force”, which at the time was answerable to the organisation’s leadership in Belfast.

Stewart Young and Mid-Ulster connection

It is claimed Stewart Young was in overall charge “of the Mid Ulster UVF companies” and “all operations” carried out were “sanctioned” by him and that he would then re-port to the UVF in Belfast.

The UVF planted two bombs in the toilet block of the arrivals area at Dublin Airport in November 1975

The review also deals with Young’s alleged role in the attack that claimed the life of Mr Hayes.

Intelligence marked November 1975 suggests that the Dublin Airport bombs were made by mid-Ulster loyalists.

Operation Denton also assesses that Young was involved in both the delivery and planting of the devices.

Prior to joining the UVF, Young and his brother Ivor were members of the UDA.

It is claimed that when the brothers defected to the UVF they took a “large number of more militant members” with them.

It is suggested the brothers’ links to the UDA “gives rise to the premise of UDA involvement or joint UDA/ UVF” involvement in the airport attack.

He initially joined the UVF as a battalion commander and was responsible for directing “all actions” in mid-Ulster, where he remained until 1978.

He later moved to Scotland after an attempt on his life.

Operation Denton officials have revealed that Young, who tried to join the UDR but was rejected, was arrested in 1978 after a meeting.

Intelligence dated 1975 described Ivor Young as a “senior ranking member of the UVF” in Portadown.

Three years earlier, in 1972, he was described as a UDA commander in Portadown, and linked to murders and other attacks.

Interned in 1974, he also transferred allegiance from the UDA to the UVF.

Cold blooded killer

He is described as a “cold blooded killer and vicious individual”.

A former member of the British army’s Royal Ulster Rifles, he was discharged for gross misconduct in 1963.

In 1975 the brothers were described as intelligence and operation officers for the UVF.

Ivor Young, who has been linked by intelligence to the airport attack, moved to Scotland in 1976.

According to Operation Denton, the UVF battalion under the command of the Young brothers had “members of the security forces in its ranks”.

“Members of the RUC and UDR were active members of the battalion and were involved in numerous operations,” the minute confirms.

The Irish News understands the Young brothers have also been linked by Operation Denton officials to the murder of Margaret Hale (32) who died on September 22, 1975, after a gun and bomb attack on McCann’s Bar, Ballyhegan, near Portadown, earlier that month.

It is also confirmed that in January 1976 the RUC did not disclose the role of either of the Young brothers to Gardaí in relation to the air-port attack.

However, it did provide information and details relating to two other suspects, referred to as Man One and Man Two.

Both of these men are said to have been from the Tigers Bay area of north Belfast.

Security forces intelligence from November 1975 has identified Man One as the explosives officer for Belfast and a member of the Tigers Bay ‘battalion’ in 1971.

He later rose through the ranks and was established as the leader of the UVF in Belfast by 1975.

He has been linked to several operations and is said to have sourced explosives in Scotland.

Following a shift in power at the top of the UVF in October 1975, Man One was demoted to the rank of ‘volunteer’, a move that prompted him to react in a “highly militant fashion”.

Linked to the UVF in Portadown, he did not support the new UVF Belfast Brigade leadership.

While Stewart Young is in the frame for making the airport bombs, intelligence also suggested that Man One was responsible, although there is nothing to suggest he was involved in planting them.

Stewart Young never questioned

He was never arrested or questioned about the attack.

Operation Kenova has concluded there were four “high graded intelligence” linking him to the attack.

Some information received named suspects, including Man Two.

He has been described as a “high ranking member” of the UVF in Tigers Bay.

He was interned and on release was connected with two sectarian murders in October 1976 carried out by the UVF in Tigers Bay.

Like his colleague, Man Two was also busted down the UVF’s ranks in 1975 and was never arrested in relation to the airport bomb attack.

He is referred to as Suspect M in the Barron Report, which looked at the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and was subject to an exclusion order from Britain in relation to the discovery of explosives.

Man Two is believed to have been killed by republicans in March 1989.

Another individual, known as Man Three has been identified as “officer in command’ of Tigers Bay UVF.

A mechanic by trade, he is said to have travelled to Germany to buy weapons.

Arrested in Scotland in August 1975, he was also served with an exclusion order.

Intelligence suggests he resigned from the UVF in the mid-1980s and emigrated to South Africa.

After the Dublin Airport attack the new UVF leadership in Belfast, which had not sanctioned the bomb plot, launched an internal inquiry.

That investigation quickly established it had been carried out by the UVF and not the UDA.

The intelligence provides that the bomb run was planned by “three senior members of the UVF in Tigers Bay working closely with Portadown UVF”.

Operation Denton has concluded that the UDA link to the attack “arises from an overlap” and is most likely based on the “Young brothers moving from the UDA to UVF, fuelled by Ivor Young continuing to keeping close ties with the UDA in mid-Ulster and Belfast”.

Operation Denton has seen intelligence prior to the UDA claiming responsibility suggesting the organisation was not involved.

Just days after the bomb attack an envelope containing a gist of events on the day of the Hayes murder was “slipped under the door” of UDA headquarters in Belfast.

Glaring defects in HET investigation says Kevin Winters

Solicitor Kevin Winters, of KRW Law, said: “The revelation about the identities of suspects, and two in particular, completely undermines the integrity of the original HET (Historical Enquiries Team) findings generally concerning attacks by the Glenanne Gang or more specifically the Mid Ulster UVF served to basically shut down on the cases.

“To compound the problem there was a glaring failure to make a connection with other Glenanne Gang linked atrocities.

“Denton linked the same suspects involved in the Dublin Airport bombing to the killing of Margaret Hale who died in an attack on McCann’s Bar on 4 September 1975.”

Mr Winters said access to quality information is key to those searching for the truth.

“Access to meaningful information like this can make all the difference for conflict bereaved families in terms of getting some sort of closure,” he said.

“Whilst I commend Denton for its work in this and so many other Glenanne-linked cases, the case does highlight the inequity of having such a disjointed approach to truth recovery.

“It’s inequitable that the quality of information next of kin receive should depend on the robustness of individual investigators and their bespoke terms of reference.”

Brother of Bloody Sunday victim prepared for trial of ex-paratrooper​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

DAVID YOUNG, Belfast Telegraph and Irish News, September 15th, 2025

The brother of a man killed on Bloody Sunday says it is still sinking in that a former paratrooper accused of the murder is to finally face trial.

Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Londonderry on January 30 1972.

He is also charged with five attempted murders during the incident in Derry's Bogside area — namely of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon, Patrick O'Donnell and a person unknown.

He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.

The long-awaited trial of the military veteran is due to begin at Belfast Crown Court today.

The non-jury case will be heard by judge Patrick Lynch.

The Wray and McKinney families are expected to be joined by a large group of supporters as they walk together to the court.

Ahead of the trial commencing, William McKinney's brother Mickey summed up his feelings.

“We're here now, at last, after all this time,” he told the PA news agency.

“It's not nervousness, it's anticipation more so.

“I'm not even sure that it's really sunk in yet that we're here now.”

Bloody Sunday was one of the darkest days in the history of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Thirteen people were killed on the day and another man shot by paratroopers died four months later.

Many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday but his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.

Police in Northern Ireland launched a murder investigation after the landmark Saville Inquiry, which in 2010 found there was no justification for shooting any of those killed or wounded.

At the time of the inquiry's publication, then-prime minister David Cameron issued a public apology, saying the killings were “unjustified and unjustifiable”.

The Saville report overturned the long-disputed findings of the 1972 Widgery Tribunal which concluded that the soldiers had been shot at first, and returned fire in self-defence.

In 2019, Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that one former paratrooper — Soldier F — would face prosecution for two murders and five counts of attempted murder.

However, two years later, the PPS halted the prosecution, citing concerns the case could collapse if it went to trial.

That move followed the collapse of a different legacy trial of two other veterans accused of murder during the Troubles.

The trial of Soldier A and Soldier C for the 1972 shooting of Official IRA leader Joe McCann in Belfast ended in April 2021 after a judge ruled that key evidence due to be relied upon by the prosecution was inadmissible. The inadmissible evidence were statements given by the soldiers to the Royal Military Police (RMP) in the aftermath of the shooting.

The case against Soldier F also involves RMP statement evidence, from other soldiers who were on the ground in the Bogside during the shootings, and the outcome of the McCann case prompted the PPS to review the prosecution and, ultimately, discontinue it.

But this decision was then successfully challenged in court by the family of Mr McKinney, with judges in Belfast quashing the PPS's decision.

The prosecution was subsequently resumed by the PPS and it has now reached Crown Court trial.

The bitter UVF coup at the height of its sectarian murder campaign

CONNLA YOUNG, Irish News,  September 15th, 2025

Details about the structure of the UVF’s Belfast Brigade have emerged as part of Operation Denton, which has examined the activities of the Glenanne Gang

THE UVF in Belfast was in the grip of a bitter takeover during the peak years of its sectarian murder campaign in the 1970s, detectives involved in a review of the group’s infamous Glenanne Gang have confirmed.

Kenova detectives have provided fresh insight into internal UVF tensions during the 1970s.

Details about the structure of the group’s Belfast Brigade have emerged as part of Operation Denton, which has examined the activities of the Glenanne Gang.

Comprised of RUC, UDR and UVF members, the gang is believed to have been responsible for more than 120 murders.

While some members of the murder squad operated out of a farm owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell in Glenanne, south Armagh, it is known to have used other properties in the mid-Ulster area to launch attacks.

Details of its activities were recently revealed in a briefing to the family of John Hayes (38) who died after a bomb attack at Dublin Airport in November 1975.

The victim’s son Brendan Hayes was provided with fresh information about his father’s murder and the review is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

Joint operation by UVF in Mid-Ulster and Tiger’s Bay

Minutes of that meeting, seen by The Irish News, show that Mr Hayes has been told the attack that claimed his father’s life was a joint operation between the UVF in mid-Ulster and Tigers Bay in north Belfast.

Review officials have confirmed that in 1975 Belfast there were five active battalions with companies and platoons in north and west Belfast.

The Dublin Airport bombing took place in what has been described as “year of madness” from October 1974 to October 1975.

According to Operation Denton officials, a Belfast Brigade meeting was interrupted by two individuals “in a coup against the then leadership”.

“The interventionists sought to stand down all brigade staff on the basis of the rampant sectarian attacks by the UVF on the nationalist community,” the minute states.

One of those behind the ‘coup’ established himself as the new ‘chief of staff’ of the UVF and “brought in friends as brigade staff”.

As part of the takeover previous members of brigade staff were demoted, including two men from the Tigers Bay.

An internal inquiry later found that the airport attack had been carried out by the UVF and not the UDA as claimed, and was planned by members from Tigers Bay and Portadown.

Operation Denton has assessed that two men named in the internal review of the attack were brigade staff members removed from position in October 1975.

‘Violent side’ of UVF

“The actions of the disaffected members are considered to have been a blatant act of defiance as the two individuals were described as being part of the very militant and violent side of the UVF,” the minute states.

According to Operation Denton officials, Dublin Airport was considered a “soft target” and reasons for it are recorded in British army intelligence reports from the end of 1975.

One suggestion was the attack was carried out in revenge for a republican gun attack at Tullyvallen Orange Hall, near Newtownhamilton, Co Armagh, in September 1975 that claimed the lives of five people.

A second suggestion is that the attack was carried out in a bid to force the Irish government into legislative change “to address the movement of IRA members and those on the run in other parts of Ireland”.

Officials added there was no intelligence prior to the attack which “could have prevented the bombings”.

Dr Aaron Edwards, author of ‘UVF: Behind the Mask’, said declassified British military intelligence documents from 1976 reveal the activities of the UVF in mid-Ulster were being tracked, while Tigers Bay is also mentioned.

“The Mid Ulster UVF were plotting in Easter 1976 to disrupt the train from Belfast to Dublin, to coincide with Easter,” he said.

“They were definitely very active and it seems to me there was a lack of centralised control inside the UVF, a bit of turmoil on the UVF ‘brigade staff’.

“And then actually in July 1976, turmoil within the Mid Ulster UVF.

“There’s certainly factionalism within the UVF at that time, which would suggest there is no effective centralised controls until afterwards.”

More Operation Denton revelations in tomorrow’s Irish News

6,000 'threat to life' alerts issued in just five years, the PSNI reveals

ANDREW MADDEN, Belfast Telegraph, September 15th, 2025

MLA HITS OUT AT PARAMILITARIES AND BRANDS FIGURES AS 'ALARMING'

Almost 6,000 'threat to life' warnings have been issued to people in just five years, the PSNI has said.

They include more than 200 to those aged under 18.

Alliance MLA Nuala McAllister described the figures as “incredibly alarming” and called for an end to paramilitarism.

The statistics were released by Chief Constable Jon Boutcher after a question from her at the Policing Board.

TM1 notices are issued if police have intelligence someone is at risk of attack.

These threats often originate from paramilitaries or drug gangs. In many cases they are one and the same.

Issuing a TM1 involves the police visiting the person under threat and giving them a written notice, as well as a booklet on safety measures.

Figures show 5,855 TM1s have been issued since 2020, of which 205 went to people under 18.

A breakdown shows 1,528 notices in 2020; 1,051 in 2021; 1,058 in 2022; 1,298 in 2023, and 920 in 2024.

Women targeted

Around one in four (1,265) were issued to women.

Belfast had the highest number of threat notices (1,926), followed by Ards and North Down (593).

Ms McAllister said: “Everyone in our society deserves to feel safe where they live, and even one instance in which someone has had their life threatened is one too many.

“It's insidious and we cannot accept it.

“To see paramilitary intimidation in particular feature as an origin for some of these notices is disgraceful.

“It's about time those who seek to coercively control vulnerable people got off the backs of local communities and left the stage for good.

“These figures are incredibly alarming and we need clarity around the factors at play and conditions which have led to such levels.

“I will be looking further into them in the time ahead.”

While the PSNI will not discuss the security of individuals, it said if officers receive information a person's life may be at risk, they will be informed.

“The confidence of the communities we serve is at the forefront of our minds,” it added.

“Keeping people safe will always be our priority and how safe people feel is an important factor in their quality of life.

“We want to reassure the public that police officers and staff are working around the clock to prevent crime and harm to individuals, protect the vulnerable and detect those who commit crime and bring them before the courts.”

In 2023, Queen's University academic Dr Colm Walsh carried out a review of threat to life processes here.

The PSNI has had a “service instruction” in place since 2017 setting out the procedures for officers to follow when dealing with threats to life. This was updated in 2021.

No standardised information system

Dr Walsh's review found the PSNI's procedure was not being consistently implemented and there were “few opportunities for new, or indeed seasoned officers, to familiarise themselves with serious safeguarding issues such as threats to life”.

The review also found there was no standardised system for the collation, sharing, and analysis of data between relevant statutory agencies when it comes to threats to life.

“This review points to the need for a coherent and consistent regional response,” he stated.

“Piecemeal implementation of service instructions that do not fully comply within international obligations and regional policy commitments are insufficient.

“However, the review also hints at the need for locality-based responses underpinned by such regional strategic direction and oversight.”

Late-night calls from unknown numbers: what it's like to learn you are a target

ALLISON MORRIS, Belfast Telegraph, September 15th, 2025

As someone who reports on criminal and paramilitary gangs, I've become used to death threats.

The first sign is usually a phone call from an unknown number. A police officer on the other end will ask if I'm at home and if it's convenient to call by. But sometimes they are a cold call — delivered with a knock on the door at an anti-social hour.

The PSNI have a duty to deliver the threat within a reasonable time period, and often base the urgency of that on grading through their own intelligence.

A uniformed officer will then call to my home and read out the threat.

Common themes are that 'police have information you are to be shot on your way to work' or 'police have information you are to be attacked, the use of firearms cannot be ruled out'.

They also hand over a booklet on how to protect yourself. They've changed over the years from a single-page black and white photocopied version, to a now glossy brochure with helpful advice such as 'maintain a good quality first aid kit'. I don't even own a box of plasters.

An Amnesty International study recently found that Northern Ireland is the most dangerous place in Europe to practice journalism.

For myself living under threat is a constant peril of the job.

I realise it's not normal, I realise it's not right. But I'm so desensitised to it at this stage that the unacceptable has become the acceptable.

Over my career I've had dozens of threats from criminals gangs as well as loyalist and republican paramilitaries.

I don't count them so I've no idea how many.

They range from face to face threats while covering court cases, protests and riots to being handed a TM1 form — a written threat delivered by the PSNI.

In the last few years this has escalated.

My home was visited nine times between December 2023 and October 2024 by police to deliver threats from paramilitary or criminal groups.

At the start of the summer police delivered another TM1 stating that there was to be a gun attack on my home.

I merely thought: 'That'll be a good test of the bulletproof windows'.

Like my colleagues who work the crime beat, my home is fortified, so is my car.

Unless I dig a moat and fill it with sharks, I'm all out of ideas on how to further protect myself.

In Northern Ireland, what are known as 'key persons' are entitled to additional security measures, paid for by the Northern Ireland Office. They include police, politicians and members of the judiciary.

Journalists do not qualify for the Key Persons Protection Scheme, so the bill for securing my home is met by my employer Mediahuis, who have been exceptional when it comes to their duty of care to staff under threat.

In the past I have always laughed the threats off — if they really wanted to kill me they'd hardly tip me off first?

An increasingly angry society

But we live in an increasingly angry society and my job has now expanded from dealing with organised criminals and paramilitaries to an increasing array of unhinged extremists, who are more than capable of inflicting harm. At one stage I thought if I didn't publicise the threats that they might stop. On some occasions I told my employers and no one else — not friends, family or work colleagues — as though not speaking about it would make it go away.

That didn't work, in fact it made the behaviour even more extreme to try and get a reaction.

Online they come for my children, my elderly parents, anyone really they think will either intimidate or deter me from doing my job.

All that said, I am not a victim, I chose this job, I love my job. I am also very aware that there are journalists being deliberately targeted in Gaza for documenting the horrors unfolding in Palestine.

However, I am concerned that the threats I and others receive will deter young journalists.

I work with some very talented young reporters, who give me hope for the future of our industry.

But I worry that if they were subjected to the kind of threats and abuse that I have become so used to, they might reconsider staying in journalism. And that would be a great loss.

War of words 'unsettling the Executive', says former minister

JONATHAN MCCAMBRIDGE, Belfast Telegraph, September 15th, 2025

A war of words between Sinn Fein and the DUP is “unsettling” the Executive, a former Stormont minister has said.

Independent MLA Claire Sugden called on parties to “tone down” their public rows and concentrate on delivery.

The Assembly returned last Monday from its summer recess and ministers quickly became embroiled in a series of disagreements.

DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said she would be showing “leadership” by attending a banquet during the state visit by US President Donald Trump, while also telling MLAs Sinn Fein First Minister Michelle O'Neill would not be attending.

DUP Education Minister Paul Givan also faced criticism after he said he had ordered the removal of transgender guidance from the website of the Education Authority.

On Tuesday DUP leader Gavin Robinson and Ms O'Neill had a public row after the Army withdrew from a jobs fair in Londonderry following objections from some councillors.

Mr Robinson said he did not believe Ms O'Neill was a “First Minister for all”, while the Sinn Fein vice-president told him to “butt out”.

On Wednesday Ms O'Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly appeared together before their Stormont scrutiny committee where there were sharp exchanges with a number of MLAs.

While the pair insisted the Executive is delivering on its objectives, they also disagreed on several issues.

‘Laughing stock’

On Thursday a High Court judge urged the Executive to resolve a row over Irish language signs at Belfast's Grand Central Station, warning it is seen as a “laughing stock”.

Former Justice Minister Ms Sugden told the BBC Sunday Politics programme the First and Deputy First Ministers had given “polar opposite” views on a number of issues when they appeared before committee.

She said: “I suppose to me that points to an instability within the Executive. Ultimately, if we are about delivering, we have to ensure we implement all of these things that they say they are trying to do.

“I would have a concern that the war of words on various issues is unsettling the Executive.

“I asked for a commitment we would see the end of this mandate out so that we can push through these policies that we are so keen to highlight and we can do more in relation to people on the ground.

“A lot of these strategies, a lot of this work, is quite high level and it probably will take a number of years before it realistically filters through to the people on the ground.”

Ms Sugden said she is concerned the Executive parties “seem to disagree on everything”.

She added: “Yes, there are four political parties and yes, to an extent, each of them are talking to their base, but they have to recognise they all signed up for one government and that government exists to improve public services for everyone.

“I think they maybe need to tone down this bad relationship. The people out there aren't stupid; on one hand they say they are doing this and we are on common ground, and the next they are disagreeing with each other.

“I think if they are talking about communication they need to look to their own communication and how they present themselves.”

The MLA also said she did not believe the Executive had delivered enough in terms.

Bryson says Kimmins must ‘accept illegality’ over Irish language signs

MARK ROBINSON, Irish News, September 15th, 2025

LOYALIST activist Jamie Bryson has said that the infrastructure minister must “accept her illegality” in implementing dual language signage at Belfast Grand Central Station or his legal challenge will proceed to a full hearing.

It comes after Liz Kimmins said that the decision to provide signage in Irish and English at the station is “entirely consistent” with her position as infrastructure minister.

During a hearing on Mr Bryson’s request for a judicial review of the decision on Thursday, Mr Justice McAlinden said the executive should try and resolve the row or risk being regarded as a “laughing stock”.

He called on ministers to enter discussions instead of spending vital public money being on opposing sides in a legal battle.

On Friday, Ms Kimmins noted the comments and agreed “it could be worked out through dialogue – something I have attempted to do on more than one occasion”.

“I remain willing to do so and believe this is the best way to avoid legal action and the unnecessary use of public funds,” she said.

“Grand Central Station is an all-island transport hub and visibility of the Irish language is important in delivering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all our people.”

However, Jamie Bryson has since responded to the minister and said Ms Kimmins “wants a discussion in which everyone will agree with her”.

‘Unconditional surrender’

“There is no discussion to be had, save for to discuss her unconditional surrender in this case,” he said.

“Let’s be very clear: she will bring this to the executive and accept her illegality, or the case is proceeding to hearing.

“She may hope to cook up some deal with the DUP to save face. There will be no deals with me, I am the applicant, so no resolution of this case is possible without my consent.”

He added that there is “no middle road” and that he will not accept “anything less than a complete acceptance of her illegality, and a halt to Irish language signage at Grand Central station”.

“The Court cannot impose political resolutions; it must enforce the law. That is what I will ensure it does,” he said.

Mr Bryson claims the decision to allocate £150,000 for the train station project was controversial, cut across other Stormont departments and that the issue should have been brought to the Executive Committee for discussion and agreement.

Last Monday, it was revealed that Irish language rights group Conradh na Gaeilge has lodged papers to intervene in the legal challenge.

New report ranks Belfast and Derry among worst places to live in UK

GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph, September 15th, 2025

REPORT LAYS BARE GEOGRAPHICAL INEQUALITY IN LIFE OUTCOMES, WEALTH AND OPPORTUNITY

Belfast and Derry both feature in the bottom 10% of a new UK-wide index charting the best and worst places to be born, grow up and grow old.

The International Longevity Centre UK report reveals that inequalities in health, wealth and opportunity are “stark and persistent”.

It emphasises that 'place' still plays a critical role in shaping life outcomes — impacting health, opportunity and ageing.

Belfast ranked 334 out of 359 locations, while Derry City & Strabane was the lowest of all local areas (357).

Hart in England was at the top of the table for life expectancy at 84.4 years. In Derry City & Strabane it is 79.5, and in Belfast 78.1.

While the child poverty rate in Hart is 7.3%, it is 24.9% in Derry City & Strabane, and 26.9% in Belfast.

Factors contributing to Derry City & Strabane being ranked so low included disposable income of just £17,520 (Belfast is £18,276).

The report states: “We estimate over 550,000 excess deaths across the UK between 2016 and 2021 due to geographic inequality. This shows the urgent need for place-based investment and reform to close the health and wellbeing gap.

“The planned rollout of health hubs in England's most deprived areas is welcome, but our UK-wide index reveals major challenges for supporting better lives in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland too.

No ‘joined up’ strategy

“A joined-up, pan-UK strategy is needed — one that connects national health plans with devolved systems and works with local communities to reduce inequalities across all nations.”

It adds: “This index is not just a diagnosis, it's a roadmap for action. It helps us see where inequality persists, but also where meaningful, inclusive growth can take root.

“With the right attention and investment, the places currently at the bottom of the index can become engines of renewal while improvements can be made across different dimensions in all places to support longer, better lives.”

Lisburn & Castlereagh was ranked the highest local area (170).

Mid Ulster was 197th; Ards and North Down 226th; Antrim and Newtownabbey 235th; Newry, Mourne and Down 242th; Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon 244th; Mid and East Antrim 252th; Fermanagh and Omagh 303rd, and Causeway Coast and Glens 323rd.

Key findings show that child poverty averages 12% in the top-ranked areas but 29% in the lowest — and more than 40% in Oldham, Pendle and Bradford.

Life expectancy at birth is nine years longer in Richmond upon Thames (85) than in Blackpool (76).

Households in the top 20% of areas were found to have £10,000 more disposable income on average than those in the bottom 20%.

And avoidable mortality is almost twice as high in the bottom fifth of areas compared to the top.

Former prisoner’s Long Kesh ‘Cages’ collection available to view online

JOHN MANLEY, Irish News, September 15th, 2025

A FORMER republican prisoner’s collection of 50-year-old photographs and handmade journals produced in the ‘Cages’ at Long Kesh has been made available digitally by the University of Galway.

The Paddy McMenamin Collection was recently donated to the university by the eponymous 72-year-old, who was interned in 1972 aged 17.

He was first incarcerated on the prison ship Maidstone and then held in Long Kesh until his release in 1976.

A year later he moved to Co Donegal, ending his association with the republican movement.

Now living in Galway, over the past decade or more Mr McMenamin has secured an arts degree, a post-graduate diploma and a Masters, working as a teacher and examiner.

In 2022, he published his memoir From Armed Struggle to Academia.

During his time in Cage 18, Mr McMenamin acted as PRO (public relations officer), contributing to a number of prison journals, as well as serving as editor of An Fuascailteoir.

The journals were smuggled out of Long Kesh over time, preserving the collection, before it was deposited with University of Galway library.

Along with individual cover artwork, the journals featured articles and writings by republican prisoners, as well as poems, Irish language lessons and articles on Irish history and international politics.

While a successful mature student, the former internee says his “real educational experience was in the Cages of Long Kesh in the seventies”.

“The Cage papers are a product of the time of conflict, death and imprisonment,” he told The Irish News.

“Smuggled out and preserved for 50 years, it gives me a certain pride that my University of Galway alma mater are now holding them within special collections for the benefit of future undergrads during research of our past history.”

Former Sinn Féin director of publicity Danny Morrison said the collection was a welcome addition to extensive archive of material produced by republican prisoners, including Gerry Adams and Bobby Sands, whose writings are held in the National Library in Dublin.

Drilling and marching during the Easter commemoration in 1976 in Long Kesh that is included in the Paddy McMenamin Collection at the University of Galway

“Paddy’s donation to the university represents another important addition to the canon of republican prison literature and a rich primary source for researchers,” Mr Morrison said.

Could there be light at end of the tunnel for historic Crumlin Road courthouse?

NOEL DORAN, Irish News, September 15th, 2025

The former Crumlin Road courthouse still lies derelict in north Belfast, with the redeveloped gaol standing opposite and linked by a tunnel

BELFAST is a place of stark contrasts, with some impressive and comprehensively developed aspects sitting alongside others which have been neglected to a scandalous degree over many years.

The Crumlin Road is very much a microcosm for the rest of the city, and nothing sums up our missed opportunities like the juxtaposition between two adjacent listed buildings there which previously played a hugely significant role during our darkest days – the courthouse and the prison.

They face each other across the main thoroughfare, with the prison, after closing in 1996, painstakingly restored with a careful balance of exhibits, and attracting thousands of paying visitors every week who are fascinated by the macabre reputation of the complex, including the execution chamber, as well as providing the base for a successful distillery.

The courthouse is unfortunately a wrecked and burnt-out shell, epitomising the way in which we have repeatedly and unforgivably failed to protect many of our greatest assets.

Lanyon landmarks

Both landmarks were designed by the celebrated architect and later Belfast mayor Sir Charles Lanyon, and constructed between 1845 and 1850, before becoming central to some of the most turbulent periods in Irish history.

Entry to the prison was usually restricted to inmates, staff and statutory representatives, but the corridors of the courthouse were packed by officials, prison and police officers, solicitors and barristers, relatives and supporters of victims and defendants and, occasionally, confrontational groups of loyalists and republicans, all in close proximity.

Many of them went on to become prominent figures elsewhere, and I found myself regularly in the middle of it all while working as a reporter with The Belfast Telegraph during the 1980s, covering some of the massive cases resulting from the Troubles which had to be chronicled on a daily basis.

The atmosphere was invariably tense, and frequently boiled over during high-profile convictions and acquittals, notably in supergrass trials when sometimes more than 20 individuals were accused of a range of offences, including multiple murders, on the word of an alleged accomplice, although such prosecutions were ultimately abandoned.

There was enormous drama when the main crown witness entered, surrounded by security personnel, to give evidence against those presented as former comrades from organisations such as the IRA and the UVF, who roared abuse from the other side of a Perspex screen.

Fighting in the dock and the public gallery was common, judges struggled to retain control of the proceedings, and, even during stages of relative calm, the unpredictable was never far away.

Chief Justice undisturbed by projectile

I sat at the press desk during one republican supergrass appeal which had been running for months with little of note happening until suddenly there was a spectacularly loud crash just in front of me.

Most people assumed it was a gunshot or grenade, and dived to the floor, but it turned out that one defendant, who had previously appeared disinterested in the legal exchanges, had abruptly hurled a metal glasses case straight at Lord Justice Turlough O’Donnell. Although it struck the wall inches above his head, O’Donnell never moved a muscle and stared impassively as the culprit was hauled down a set of stairs to a holding centre below.

On a much later occasion, I had the opportunity while completing an external course to walk the full length of the narrow brick-lined tunnel which connects the prison to the courthouse and eventually to the same steps up to the dock.

It was an unforgettable if unnerving experience, and the link, although it is now blocked by a heavy metal gate, could yet symbolically unlock the wider potential of the entire site.

The courthouse ceased operating a matter of weeks after the passing of the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, and its subsequent shocking decline, with various changes of ownership punctuated by devastating arson attacks, has been well documented.

However, there is finally hope that better times are ahead, as consultation finished last week on a visionary scheme which could see it transformed into a centre used for educational, health, residential, tourism, hospitality and commercial purposes, which also retains the principal courtroom.

It will require substantial investment, possibly through a private/ public partnership, but the striking renaissance of the neighbouring prison demonstrates how, even in the most difficult of circumstances, ambitious projects can not only help to transform the image of a city but also generate long-term revenue.

Belfast City Council’s purchase earlier this month of the Assembly Rooms, on the corner of North Street, another derelict complex with an outstanding heritage dating back to 1769, shows what is capable of being achieved.

The new strategy for the courthouse strongly deserves to be endorsed, and has one particularly crucial element – the reopening of its subterranean access to the prison, which shows that for the city, in every sense, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

Family of Bloody Sunday victim hails ‘momentous day’ as Soldier F trial begins

By David Young, Rebecca Black and Jonathan McCambridge, PA, Belfast News Letter, September 15th, 2025

The family of a man killed on Bloody Sunday has described the start of an Army veteran's trial for his murder as a "momentous day" in their five-decade campaign for justice.

The long-awaited trial of the former paratrooper accused of two murders in Londonderry on January 30 1972 began at Belfast Crown Court on Monday morning.

Soldier F, who cannot be identified, is accused of murdering James Wray and William McKinney on a day when members of the Parachute Regiment shot dead 13 civil rights protesters on the streets of Derry.

He is also charged with five attempted murders during the incident in the city's Bogside area, namely of Joseph Friel , Michael Quinn , Joe Mahon , Patrick O'Donnell and a person unknown.

He has pleaded not guilty to the seven counts.

The non-jury case is being heard by judge Patrick Lynch .

Ahead of the start of the case, Soldier F was brought into the dock which was surrounded by a curtain.

Earlier, the Wray and McKinney families were joined by a large group of supporters as they walked together to the court on Monday morning.

Those taking part in the march carried a banner bearing the words Towards Justice.

A short rally was then held outside the court buildings.

John McKinney, a brother of William McKinney , told those gathered: "Today marks a momentous day in our battle to secure justice for our loved ones who were murdered on Bloody Sunday.

"It has taken 53 years to get to this point, and we have battled all the odds to get here.

"Everything that we have achieved to this point has been through relentless commitment and a refusal to lie down.

"We will shortly occupy a courtroom very proudly with our heads held high and in the knowledge that, regardless of the ultimate outcome, that we are on the right side of history.

"A matter of a few metres away from us in the courtroom will sit Soldier F, cowering behind a curtain, waiting to go on trial for two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder."

Mr McKinney added: "Today, we place our trust in the hands of the Public Prosecution Service to finish the job.

"We hope that they do not let us down.

"This is a prosecution brought not just on behalf of the Bloody Sunday families and the wounded, but for all the people of Derry and further afield who have stood with us.

"We sincerely thank all those who have joined with us in solidarity today, and have supported our justice campaign over the last 50 years.

"Today, our message is simple - towards justice, we shall overcome."

‘Wholesale demonisation’

Supporters of Soldier F, and the wider veterans' community, also gathered outside the court.

Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner David Johnstone claimed former soldiers were being subjected to "wholesale demonisation" as a result of the legacy process in Northern Ireland .

"Many veterans today feel frustrated, feel angry, and indeed feel betrayed by the legacy process since 1998," he said.

"The legacy of Northern Ireland's past is emotive and still very raw for many who lost loved ones during what were very turbulent and dark days in our province."

Mr Johnstone added: "Legacy is indeed the unfinished business of the Belfast Agreement, and for there to be any reconciliation in this province, there must first be a fair and balanced legacy process, a process that does not facilitate the wholesale demonisation of those who served and certainly not facilitate the rewriting of the history of the Troubles.

"As Veterans Commissioner, I will continue to advocate for a legacy process that ensures fairness for all, upholds the principles of justice and recognises the service and the sacrifice of those who stood in defence of all sections of this community during one of the darkest chapters in our history."

Bloody Sunday was one of the most notorious incidents of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Thirteen people were killed on the day and another man shot by paratroopers died four months later.

Many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday but his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.

Police in Northern Ireland launched a murder investigation after the landmark Saville Inquiry, which reported in 2010, found there was no justification for shooting any of those killed or wounded.

At the time of the inquiry's publication, then-prime minister David Cameron issued a public apology, saying the killings were "unjustified and unjustifiable".

The Saville report overturned the long-disputed findings of the 1972 Widgery Tribunal which concluded that the soldiers had been shot at first, and returned fire in self-defence.

In 2019, Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced that one former paratrooper, Soldier F, would face prosecution for two murders and five counts of attempted murder.

However, two years later, the PPS halted the prosecution, citing concerns the case could collapse if it went to trial.

That move followed the collapse of a different legacy trial of two other veterans accused of murder during the Troubles.

The trial of Soldier A and Soldier C for the 1972 shooting of Official IRA leader Joe McCann in Belfast ended in April 2021 after a judge ruled that key evidence due to be relied upon by the prosecution was inadmissible.

The inadmissible evidence was statements given by the soldiers to the Royal Military Police (RMP) in the aftermath of the shooting.

The case against Soldier F also involves RMP statement evidence, from other soldiers who were on the ground in the Bogside during the shootings, and the outcome of the McCann case prompted the PPS to review the prosecution and, ultimately, discontinue it.

But this decision was then successfully challenged in court by the family of Mr McKinney, with judges in Belfast quashing the PPS's decision.

The prosecution was subsequently resumed by the PPS and it has now reached crown court trial. The issue of evidence admissibility is a key factor in the case and one that is set to be examined in the first week of proceedings.