Northern Ireland

5 February 2013Feature

The December 2012 de Silva report on the assassination of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane in 1989 led prime minister David Cameron to concede that there had been ‘shocking levels of collusion’ by the security forces in the killing. Cameron said he was ‘deeply sorry’ to the Finucane family.

The brief flurry of attention in the British media made us at PN reflect on the general level of knowledge and ignorance of the conflict in British activist circles. So here is a poll…

2 July 2012News in Brief

A recently-declassified memo indicates that the British government gave British soldiers a ‘licence to kill’ in Northern Ireland. The memo records a meeting on 10 July 1972 between then-secretary of state for Northern Ireland, William Whitelaw, the top army commander in Northern Ireland, the deputy chief constable and senior civil servants.

The 10 July meeting discussed the army’s strategy in Northern Ireland, noting that Whitelaw would announce the government’s intention to carry on…

13 August 2011Feature

Northern Ireland is dotted with murals, created by both loyalist and republican communities. Bill Rolston explains how and why they originate, and argues that, while we don't have to accept their political message, they should be treasured nonetheless.

At any one time there are hundreds of political wall murals throughout Northern Ireland. The tradition goes back a century in loyalist areas, but only a quarter of that time in republican areas.

Yet this phenomenon is often rejected out of hand. The art establishment is quick to point out that the murals are not “art”, but propaganda, the supposed antithesis of art. Many mainstream politicians view the murals simply as incitement to sectarian hatred, which ought to be obliterated.…

3 May 2007Comment

One of the most influential nonviolent actions of twentieth-century European history was carried out by men committed to violence -- the ten men of the IRA and INLA who fasted to death in British prisons in 1981, causing an earthquake in Irish politics.
5 May is the 26th anniversary of the death of the first hunger striker, Bobby Sands MP. This exchange centres on a new book by Dennis O'Hearn - Bobby Sands: nothing but an unfinished song - which has a different attitude to…

1 April 2007News

The rather lacklustre Northern Ireland Assembly elections on 7 March saw parties talking a lot about “bread and butter” issues, in particular the forthcoming introduction of a new water rate for NI. This constituted a definite shift in emphasis away from the politics of the peace process.

Out of the 108 seats available (via Single Transferable Vote), the two apparent “extremes” did best. Sinn Fein gained four seats for a total of 28 seats (becoming the second-largest party in the…

1 October 2005Feature

Since the end of July, Northern Irish politics and communities have experienced change,upheavals and violence: from the IRA's declaration of an end to armed struggle, to September's extended rioting across Loyalist communities, and the use by the police of water cannon and live rounds against citizens. Peace News invited members of the Northern Irish peace movement to tell us what they are thinking.

After my time as a staff member of War Resisters' International, I moved to Northern Ireland. This is now my home and life which, for me, includes being Chilean and confronting what was going on in Chile for over 25 years, either from within Chile itself or from wherever life has taken me.

Life in peaceful Benone allows me to look at what is going on here and in other places, with both serenity and urgency at the same time. One cannot merely be a spectator, we are also part of what is…

3 September 2005Comment

It is one of the ironies ofmodern history that some one looking for a safe place to live in the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" might today choose the capital of Northern Ireland over the capital of England (and perhaps even more ironic that the British government looks set to make some of the same mistakes it made in Northern Ireland thirty-odd years ago). However a quick glimpse at recent newspapers in Northern Ireland will show you that life has not been transformed…

1 April 2005News

Cessation of armed struggle has enormous significance for the IRA, who regard themselves as defenders of the 1919 Dail with a clear mission to secure Irish freedom from British colonialism through physical means. Indeed, this armed force tradition is reflected in the annual rituals taking place over Easter, which serve to remind republicans of the death of 1981 hunger striker Bobby Sands and of their ideological roots.

Political progress

The memorial of Bobby Sands also marks the…

1 March 2005News

On Wednesday 2 February, a pirate ship set sail from the south coast of England, docking three days later at Carlingford Lough in Ireland. But this wasn't just any pirate ship, it was the Enterprise - an ex Royal Navy minesweeper - converted by volunteers into a force for good by the Southampton-based charity Pirates For Peace.

The aim of the Pirates For Peace project is to foster cooperation and opportunity for the young people of Ireland, north and south, through the…

3 June 2003Comment

With yet another pause in the Northern Irish peace process, Rob Fairmichael puts forward the case for nonviolent responses and "democratic insurrection".

The recent impasse on re-establishing the institutions of local government in Northern Ireland raises many questions, among them the goodwill of both the republican and unionist communities.

The postponement of elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, until at least the autumn, is a disappointment, particularly as the normally volatile summer period is nearly upon us. It is usual to seek to blame one side for such an impasse, and, while there can be some point in this at times, it…

3 June 2001News

In Northern Ireland, Derry's political parties must find the backbone to publicly state their position on the development of an arms industry in the city, according to Patricia McKenna, Ireland's leading Green MEP. “I believe that the vast majority of people in Derry will oppose the arms trade once they are clear about what is going on in this city,” she added.

McKenna was speaking at a “teach-in” on the arms trade and the militarisation of Ireland, organised as part of a weekend of events in Derry to highlight the contradictions posed for the Irish peace process by local cross-party support for the Ministry of Defence contractor, Raytheon.

The world's third biggest arms manufacturing giant has been invited to establish a software centre at Derry Science and Technology Park, to work on the British Ministry of Defence's military Airborne…