Category Archives: Northern Ireland

Tories face test on cost of living and Partygate as people vote across the UK – as it happened

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Latest updates: elections take place in many areas across the UK with polling stations open from 7am to 10pm BST

Boris Johnson and the Japanese prime minister watched an RAF flypast together in Horse Guards Parade before their bilateral discussions in No 10, PA Media reports. PA says:

The pair stood on a dais as they witnessed a Voyager and two Typhoon fighter jets soar over St James’s Park and the parade ground.

Fumio Kishida was then invited in Japanese by the captain of the Nijmegen Company, Grenadier Guards, to inspect a guard of honour.

My forecast ... predicts that the Conservatives will lose more than 200 council seats across Great Britain on polling day (Thursday 5 May). They will suffer net losses of 63 in London, 38 across the rest of England, 83 in Scotland and 22 in Wales.

Labour, meanwhile, will make a net gain of 35 council seats in London but a net loss of 16 across the rest of England. That net loss, however, will be more than compensated for by net gains of 87 and 41 in Scotland and Wales respectively.

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UK will ‘reform’ Northern Ireland protocol if EU will not, says Rees-Mogg

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Brexit opportunities minister raises possibility of dramatic intervention after Stormont assembly elections

The UK will “reform” the Northern Ireland Brexit protocol if the EU will not, Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned, raising the possibility of a dramatic intervention after the assembly elections in a fortnight’s time.

The Brexit opportunities minister said he could not reveal any more due to the sensitivities of the Stormont election in Northern Ireland, where tensions have flared over the protocol.

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Derry to mark 25 years of Good Friday agreement with John Hume musical

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Playhouse to stage Beyond Belief in 2023 to ‘say a proper goodbye’ to late SDLP leader who helped persuade IRA to give up arms

A musical drama about the life of John Hume, one of the main forces behind the Good Friday agreement, will be staged next year to mark the 25th anniversary of the historic deal that helped end 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Beyond Belief, written by Damian Gorman with music by Brian O’Doherty, is the second part of a “peace-building trilogy” at the Playhouse in Hume’s home town, Derry, after The White Handkerchief, a play about the events of Bloody Sunday, earlier this year.

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UK temperatures to plummet to as low as minus 6C over weekend

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Gardeners warned of frost damage to blooms on Saturday night ahead of a week of unsettled weather

The UK is braced for more wintry weather across the weekend with frost creeping in overnight and temperatures set to plummet as low as minus 6C in some areas.

Forecasters said the “peaks and troughs” of spring will hit most of the country over the next week, with sunny spells and windy intervals expected in most regions.

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UK local elections: what is up for grabs, and what might we learn?

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The elections on 5 May will be a key test for Boris Johnson after ‘partgate’, but they are often difficult to predict. Here is our handy guide to the polls

Much of the UK will go the polls on 5 May for local and regional elections that will be seen as a key test for Boris Johnson after months of negative headlines over allegedly lockdown-breaking parties. Local elections can be hard to decode, so here is what is up for grabs, and what we might learn.

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Protests at UK ports as calls grow for P&O Ferries boss to quit

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Demonstrations come after the firm sack 800 staff and the European Causeway ship is detained for being ‘unfit to sail’

Protests are taking place at UK ports over the sacking of hundreds of seafarers, as calls grow for a P&O Ferries’ boss to quit.

The demonstrations come after a ship operated by the ferry firm was detained for being “unfit to sail”.

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Weekly Covid cases in UK increase by 1m, figures show

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ONS says one in 11 people in Scotland had coronavirus in week ending 20 March – country’s highest figure since survey began

The number of coronavirus infections across the UK rose by an estimated 1m compared with the previous week, with figures in Scotland at a record high, data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

According to the latest information from the ONS, based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, an estimated 9% of the population in Scotland had Covid in the week ending 20 March, about one in 11 people. The figure is the highest recorded by the survey since it began looking at the situation in Scotland in October 2020.

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Irish foreign minister abandons stage mid-speech after Belfast security alert

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Simon Coveney evacuated after suspect device driven to venue in hijacked van

Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has been evacuated mid-speech from an event in Belfast after a suspect device was discovered in a hijacked van driven to the venue.

A controlled explosion was carried out in the car park of the Houben Centre venue, next to Holy Cross church.

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US ‘will not entertain’ UK trade deal that risks Good Friday agreement

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US congressman Richard Neal says peace deal must not be held ‘hostage over domestic politics’

A bilateral trade deal between the US and the UK is “desirable” but will not progress while the Northern Ireland peace deal is being used for domestic political purposes, one of the most powerful American congressmen has warned.

Richard Neal, the chairman of the ways and means committee, has told the Guardian: “We will not entertain a trade agreement if there is any jeopardy to the Good Friday agreement.

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‘Significant changes’ needed to NI protocol, Johnson tells Irish premier

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin says there is an increasing view in Northern Ireland that agreement is working

Boris Johnson has told the Irish premier that “significant changes” are still needed with the controversial Northern Ireland protocol – after the taoiseach said there is an increasing view that it is working.

The prime minister met taoiseach Micheál Martin in London where the pair discussed Ukraine and the protocol before watching Ireland beat England in the Six Nations at Twickenham.

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Victims of ‘vile’ abuse of children in care in Northern Ireland reject apology

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Religious orders called on to pay compensation for physical, sexual and psychological abuse carried out for more than 70 years

Victims of sexual, psychological and physical abuse of children in care in Northern Ireland have rejected a formal apology by religious orders and called on them to pay compensation.

Ministers and representatives of six institutions at the centre of the scandal on Friday issued a long-awaited statement saying sorry for what was described as “vile” and “unimaginable” abuse carried out for more than 70 years.

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Funeral of DUP’s Christopher Stalford attended by all main parties

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Figures from across Northern Ireland’s political spectrum came to mourn 39-year-old MLA who died suddenly

Mourners from across the political spectrum gathered in Belfast on Saturday for the funeral service of DUP MLA Christopher Stalford.

The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, alongside party MPs and MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly), were among the congregation at Ravenhill Presbyterian Church in south Belfast.

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Tributes paid to DUP politician Christopher Stalford, who has died at 39

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Leaders across Northern Irish political spectrum praised ‘passionate’ Stormont assembly member

Tributes from across Northern Ireland’s political divide have been paid to Christopher Stalford, a Democratic Unionist party member of the Northern Ireland assembly who has died suddenly at the age of 39.

The DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, said he had talked at length on Friday night with Stalford, whom he described as a friend and as someone who had been “born to be a public representative”.

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Brexit: huge jump in trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland

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Official Irish data suggests boost in trade on island of Ireland, but imports from Great Britain fell €2.3bn

The impact of the first year of Brexit on Ireland has been revealed after official data showed cross-border trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland jumped by €2.8bn (£2.3bn) in 2021.

Full-year figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office show that imports to Ireland from Northern Ireland were up 65% to €3.9bn, a rise of €1.5bn compared with 2020.

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‘I just cried’: film stirs memories on Belfast street Branagh left behind

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As director’s movie is nominated for seven Oscars, residents of Mountcollyer Street recall when the Troubles started

Little remains of the street where Kenneth Branagh was raised.

It is the day after the Oscar nominations and Branagh has professed he is “dazed and delighted” and in a “beautiful state of shock” over the seven Oscar nominations his film Belfast has received.

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Northern Ireland first minister resigns over Brexit checks on goods

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Paul Givan’s move triggers parallel departure of deputy first minister and could bring forward elections

The first minister of Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist party’s Paul Givan, has resigned, plunging the devolved government at Stormont into turmoil two years after power-sharing with Sinn Féin was restored.

His resignation, over Brexit checks in the Irish Sea, will also bring the parallel departure of the Sinn Féin deputy first minister, Michelle O’Neill, under the power-sharing arrangements.

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Halt to Northern Ireland Brexit checks ‘a breach of international law’

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Ireland’s European commissioner criticises decision by DUP minister affecting food and animal imports

A decision by a Democratic Unionist minister to halt all Brexit checks on food and animals entering Northern Ireland has been described by Ireland’s European commissioner as “an absolute breach of international law”.

The move announced by the devolved administration’s agriculture minister, Edwin Poots, on Wednesday has been branded an electioneering stunt by opposition parties in Northern Ireland and has set the UK on a collision course with the EU.

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‘I grew up with Branagh in Belfast: our childhoods haunt his new film’

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The director’s first cousin Martin Hamilton tells of family and the Troubles that went on to inspire an acclaimed memoir

There is one man with very personal reasons for finding the scenes of sectarian intimidation in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s film homage to his home city particularly haunting – his first cousin, Martin Hamilton.

Hamilton, who grew up with Branagh and his family in inner-city north Belfast, says the images of Catholic families being forced out of the mainly Protestant district brought back painful memories of his own fractured friendships that were lost in the Troubles.

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Two people killed by falling trees as Storm Malik hits northern parts of UK

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Winds of more than 100mph reported in parts of Scotland, with widespread disruption to travel and power supplies

Two people have been killed by falling trees as Storm Malik battered northern parts of the UK on Saturday, cutting off power from thousands and causing widespread disruption.

A nine-year-old boy died in hospital after a tree fell on him and a man in Winnothdale, near Stoke. Emergency services were called at 1pm on Saturday, and they were taken to the Royal Stoke university hospital. The man is still receiving treatment.

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