Long read on Drumcree stand-off: Even moderate hearts are hardened as fears of contagion mount. Top unionists & Orange are privately both furious and worried, while previously unreported comments from Breandán Mac Cionnaith reveal the key player’s mindset.

Marching backwards: Drumcree stand-off hardens even moderate hearts as fears of contagion mount

Orange figures are privately both furious and worried, while previously unreported comments from Breandán Mac Cionnaith reveal the key player’s mindset

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

There are no true believers in Stormont any more. Everyone has lost their faith. It is a place united in despondency where MLAs knock off early. The Drumcree standoff is threatening to topple Stormont but this is merely a symptom of an underlying disease.

There are no true believers in Stormont any more. It is a place united in despondency where MLAs knock off early

The Drumcree standoff is threatening to topple Stormont — but it is merely a symptom of an underlying disease

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Was on #BBCRedLines discussing the potential electoral implications of Drumcree with @sjamcbride.bsky.social @markcarruthers7.bsky.social and Gareth Gordon www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Red Lines - Drumcree: The Winners? - BBC Sounds

Who are the political winners and losers from the Drumcree dispute?

bbc.co.uk

🎧 What's it really like inside Sinn Féin? Siobhán Fenton was recruited as an outsider - who doesn't even support what the Provisional IRA did. She became Mary Lou McDonald's deputy chief press secretary, but left in December 2024. I sat down with her.

Former Sinn Féin Spokesperson on what goes on in Ireland's most secretive party | The BelTel

YouTube video by Belfast Telegraph

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Could a ‘one and done’ final Drumcree parade work? Before he died, the most senior Orangeman in Portadown told me of a secret plan to definitively resolve the Drumcree dispute — with the Catholic Church at its heart.

Could a ‘one and done’ final Drumcree parade work? A dead Orangeman’s words show this was offered in a secret process

Before he died, the most senior Orangeman in Portadown revealed a plan to definitively resolve Drumcree — with the Catholic Church at its heart

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

What has happened in Portadown over the last 48 hours has ramifications which will echo for years. Michelle O’Neill has shown an understanding of constitutional law which is closer to that of a medieval monarch than a democratic government minister.

As the First Minister behaves like a medieval monarch, flouting courts she’s bound to respect, Stormont is lurching towards collapse

O’Neill’s view of her power akin to that of Richard Nixon, and has profoundly disturbing implications in other areas

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

🎧 The Drumcree crisis and what's likely to happen next, with @ciarandunbarrach.bsky.social, Allison Morris, Andrew Madden and Claire Dickson.

Drumcree: Nationalist and unionist camps completely divided over Garvaghy march

There is a stalemate in Portadown and deep division in Stormont.On the Orange side, the issue is the rights of a small number of people to march their traditional route – backed by a legal ruling. On ...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Amid myriad crises and without a budget half way through the financial year, Stormont is spending three days debating if someone can invent their own gender...& if people should be jailed for trying to "suppress" that. It's been a remarkable debate so far.

Amid myriad crises, Stormont is spending three days debating if someone can invent their own gender

Assembly in third sitting of wrangling over whether trying to ‘suppress’ a self-declared identity should carry a jail term

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Northern Ireland's Legacy Commission has been highly controversial. But today after two years its first investigative report is published, leading to a "sacred and transformative moment" for the dying son of a man murdered by the IRA for being a lawyer.

Legacy body’s report into IRA murder of SDLP founder shot dead for being lawyer brought ‘sacred and transformative moment’ to dying son

ICRIR investigation examines IRA murder of devout Catholic SDLP founder killed for being a lawyer

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

After head-hunting and then ditching an opponent of IRA violence, Sinn Fein stands at a crossroads. Siobhán Fenton's journey into and then out of SF - right up to deputy press secretary to Mary Lou McDonald - reveals SF's vulnerability when it opens up.

After head-hunting and then ditching an opponent of IRA violence, Sinn Fein stands at a crossroads

New book from former aide to Mary Lou an insight into the opposing forces within the party

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Look forward to discussing my forthcoming book 'Troubled Waters' with Sam McBride and others as part of this event on Sunday. Tickets are still available and there's more info at the @shhomeplace.bsky.social event link here: seamusheaneyhome.com/event/a-loug...

A Lough Neagh Sequence - Seamus Heaney Home

Inspired by Seamus Heaney’s enduring connection to Lough Neagh, this special afternoon presents a sequence of events exploring the beauty, fragility and future of Ireland’s largest lake. Experience A ...

seamusheaneyhome.com

The man who murdered our printer 50 years ago is now laughingly boasting of his exploits, yet exposes his lies & bigotry. Thomas Louden didn't speak to me when I knocked his door yesterday - but the newspaper he bombed has obtained a telling video of him.

Man who murdered our printer 50 years ago is now laughingly boasting of his exploits, yet they expose his lies and bigotry

Thomas Louden, a heroic figure within republicanism and a personal friend of Bobby Sands, made a six-hour film he thought he’d hidden — but we’ve got it

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Northern Ireland's devolved government is in effect insolvent. It has become an unwelcome UK experiment in what happens when fiscal discipline collapses - and Stormont has little incentive to control its spending. London talks tough, but keeps acting weak.

Northern Ireland cannot balance its budget. Nobody cares

The most expensive part of Britain

economist.com

More money well spent by Stormont. Sometimes all one can do is marvel at the wisdom of our rulers. It's frankly outrageous that the horrid Treasury isn't sending billions more so that Jayne Brady can get a proper pay rise. Shocking austerity.

Civil Service salaries on rise — with head Jayne Brady enjoying biggest hike of 8.4pc

Figures also show female and Catholic staff still subject to pay gap

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

When the Belfast Telegraph was bombed by the IRA in 1976, the 800 staff took refuge in St Anne's Cathedral. At midday on Saturday - the day our printer Joseph Paton died from his injuries - there will be a memorial service for him in St Anne's. All are welcome.

Half a century ago today, the IRA bombed the Belfast Telegraph. They failed to stop the newspaper, but murdered 64-year-old printer Joseph Paton. Today his family speak publicly for the first time to recall an apolitical "ordinary, innocent man".

‘He went out to do a day’s work and never came home’: Son remembers dad killed in IRA attack on Belfast Telegraph 50 years on

Newspaper worker died four days after the 1976 bombing of our Royal Avenue offices exactly 50 years ago

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

An intriguing shift has been happening of late: Some staunch Northern Ireland unionists are making a pro-Irish argument in favour of the Union. This is not entirely novel but a rediscovery of an argument which had become rusted through disuse.

Some staunch unionists are banging the pro-Irish drum to argue in favour of the union... and it’s not a totally new argument

Staunch unionists like Phillip Brett and Moore Holmes now use Irish identity to defend the Union, reshaping Northern Ireland’s constitutional debate.

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Stephen Walker was yesterday given an exceptional send-off by his wife and remarkable children, who did him proud. I've never attended a funeral where there were so many laughs amid the inevitable sadness. Stephen epitomised so much of the best of Northern Ireland.

More than half a century ago, one of the darkest figures in Northern Ireland’s history recorded a tape. That man was the Beast of Kincora, William McGrath. The tape lay hidden until another deeply sinister figure — Jeffrey Donaldson — was convicted of child rape three months ago.

Hidden for over half a century, audio tape exposes Beast of Kincora’s hate-filled religiosity which snared young men and fuelled Troubles

Ferociously anti-Catholic McGrath, who believed Ulster Protestants descended from Lost Tribes of Israel, recorded tape in 1971 while a rampant paedophile

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

This year's PISA survey asked questions on AI use at school and the results are clear: increased AI use in school is associated with lower scores.

Secret files reveal how politics overrode security advice about Queen's NI Silver Jubilee visit: Security assessment considered possibility of suicide bomber or IRA divers & fears Duke of Edinburgh young people could be shot, but visit judged politically imperative.

Secret files reveal how politics overrode security advice about Queen's NI Silver Jubilee visit

Security assessment considered possibility of suicide bomber or IRA divers, alongside fears Duke of Edinburgh Award recipients could be shot

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Leading loyalist bandsman warns that re-opening the Drumcree dispute could be disastrous for parades across Northern Ireland - and reveals the NIO in 2023 rejected him for the Parades Commission in favour of Billy Gamble, who has just quit in controversy.

Drumcree ‘publicity stunt’ could set parading back a decade, warns prominent loyalist bandsman

Derek Moore claims NIO rejected his application to join Parades Commission after an interview lasting a few minutes

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy’s error was simple, but catastrophic. Unknown to the IRA gangster, the newspaper he was suing had all but abandoned hope of winning. A previously secret file reveals key elements of The Sunday Times' seminal libel victory in 1990.

Secret file reveals IRA gangster was on cusp of £1m newspaper payout before one legal slip pulled house down on his criminal empire

The inside story of The Sunday Times’ seminal libel victory over notorious Provo leader – and how close it was to defeat

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

‘It seems unjust’: How the NIO helped self-confessed paedophile evade justice in 1997, with child victim blamed for their own abuse and one of the NIO's most senior officials joking about the abuser.

‘It seems unjust’: How NI Office helped self-confessed paedophile evade justice, with child victim blamed and top official joking about abuser

Declassified ocuments reveal how Northern Ireland’s criminaI justice system let child abuser John Kevin Wilson — in the words of an official — ‘get away with it’

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Inside IRA bomber Dolours Price’s final months in jail: ‘She sits, listless and companionless… a gaunt spectre, prematurely aged’.

Inside Dolours Price’s final months in jail: ‘She sits, listless and companionless… a gaunt spectre, prematurely aged’

Medic said ‘it seems that her advisers are pushing things to the limit...he does not see himself being able to hold the situation for more than another 10-12 days’

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Sinn Féin controlled Tallaght using guns and "muscle", the British Embassy was told in 2000: "There's a more urgent need for decommissioning in Dublin South West than in Northern Ireland".

Sinn Féin controlled Tallaght using guns and ‘muscle’, British Embassy told in 2000

Labour councillor warned there was ‘more urgent need for decommissioning in Dublin South West than in Northern Ireland’

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The Irish Government seriously explored opening an Irish passport office in Belfast more than a quarter of a century ago, but refused to make it a consulate, prompting British opposition.

Irish Government seriously explored opening Belfast passport office in 2000, but baulked at consulate proposal

Prior to Good Friday Agreement, there were 7,000 NI applications a year for Irish passports - now that figure is 84,980

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Under direct rule, ministerial papers were routinely shredded by the Department for the Environment after being read by the minister, declassified file reveals.

Stormont department routinely shredded papers after they were read by minister

After Good Friday Agreement, devolved departments were told to shred or return files from direct rule era

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Britain’s 1950 view of Northern Ireland declassified: Militarily strategic, religiously harmonious and bound to GB by racial ties. Detailed internal Foreign Office document fused self-reflective honesty about the past with wishful thinking about the present.

Britain’s 1950 view of NI declassified: Militarily strategic, religiously harmonious and bound to GB by racial ties

Internal Foreign Office document fused self-reflective honesty about the past with wishful thinking about the present

belfasttelegraph.co.uk

As first minister designate, David Trimble was paid £5,000 more than Seamus Mallon — despite the first and deputy first minister roles being equal. There was a plan to hike the differential to £15,000, with the NIO fearing Trimble would ‘get mad’.

David Trimble was paid thousands more than Seamus Mallon — despite the first and deputy first minister roles being equal

Pay differential was £5,000, and plan was to hike it to £15,000 with NIO fearing equal pay lest Trimble ‘get mad’

belfasttelegraph.co.uk