Category Archives: Northern Ireland

Boris Johnson says he wants to see county lines drug gangs ‘totally wound up’ in first interview of 2020 – live news

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Follow all today’s political developments as they happen

There were various news lines in that interview, but perhaps the most surprising line came when Johnson announced that he wanted to end country lines drug dealing. No one will question the merits of his ambition, but he is making a promise that will be very hard to deliver.

This is what he said on the topic.

I want to see crime come down. I want to see the county lines drugs gangs wound up, rolled up. They are reducing the quality of life for people across our country, they are killing young kids. I want to see that thing totally wound up.

Q: Will Ann Secoulas, the US diplomat accused of killing Harry Dunn in a road accident, face justice?

Johnson says the US are unlikely to send her back to the UK. That is not what they do.

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Labour leadership: Thornberry in, Lewis out, leaving five candidates as deadline passes – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen

From Business Insider’s Adam Payne

Asked Nandy whether she’d work with the Greens/Lib Dems at future elections. She says she supports working “with the broadest possible alliance” but pours cold water on electoral alliances, telling me: “it’s a bit defeatist to say we can only win power through electoral pacts.”

This transition period stuff is catching. The Queen has just released a read-out of her talks at Sandringham about Harry and Meghan and it turns out that their breakaway is also going to involve a transition period. Doubtless there will be calls for it to get extended too.

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Johnson hails ‘incredible time’ for region as he visits Northern Ireland

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PM welcomes restoration of power sharing as he and Varadkar meet first and deputy ministers

Boris Johnson has predicted “an incredible time” for Northern Ireland now that the region has a functioning power-sharing government again.

Prior to a trip to Belfast, the prime minister welcomed the historic deal that restored the cross-community coalition at Stormont.

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Northern Ireland assembly reopens three years after collapse

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Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill stress need for unity as they take up senior roles

The Northern Ireland assembly has reopened for business three years almost to the day after it and the power-sharing executive in the region collapsed.

At an unprecedented Saturday sitting of the regional parliament, assembly members elected Sinn Féin’s Alex Maskey as the chamber’s speaker, the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, Arlene Foster, as first minister and Sinn Féin’s deputy leader, Michelle O’Neill, as deputy first minister.

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Will Northern Ireland’s new power-sharing assembly survive?

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Many stumbling blocks lie in path of government, including referendum on Irish unity

The agreement hinged on the issues of language and culture. Sinn Féin insists on an Irish language act that would put Irish on an equal par with English in Northern Ireland, not unlike the situation with Welsh in Wales. Unionists oppose this but the two governments appear to have hit upon a compromise whereby the rights of Irish speakers are balanced with rights for the Ulster Scots/loyalist tradition.

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Northern Ireland assembly to reopen after three-year suspension

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Stormont to elect new speaker and nominate ministers as part of power-sharing deal

Northern Ireland’s assembly will reopen on Saturday after a three-year suspension following a historic deal that has resurrected power-sharing government in the region. The Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, said history had been made at the climax of the post-Christmas political negotiations at Stormont.

The parliament will elect a speaker and nominate ministers to a devolved administration around Saturday lunchtime.

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Northern Ireland parties challenged to restore powersharing on Friday

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Sinn Féin and DUP consider proposals asking them to return to Stormont after three years of deadlock

Northern Ireland’s political parties have been challenged to return to Stormont and restore powersharing on Friday after a dramatic night of developments in political efforts to resurrect devolution.

The UK and Irish governments jointly published a suggested deal late on Thursday and urged the five main parties to sign up and re-enter the region’s institutions.

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Fresh attempt to sue Libya for supplying IRA with Semtex explosive

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Claims lodged in high court in Belfast on behalf of victims of bombings in Northern Ireland

A fresh attempt to sue Libya for supplying the IRA with the plastic explosive Semtex during the Troubles is being launched by victims and the bereaved in Northern Ireland.

Claims have been lodged with the high court in Belfast on Thursday on behalf of two men who are seeking compensation respectively for the 1993 Shankill Road bombing and a blast on the Falls Road, west Belfast, in 1988.

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Brexit: Boris Johnson to open trade talks with Ursula von der Leyen

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Prime minister also intends to press his Brexit bill through Commons in three days

Boris Johnson will host the president of the European commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, in Downing Street this week as he prepares to take Britain out of the EU at the end of this month, kicking off a race against time to secure a free trade deal.

The prime minister will use the comfortable majority he won at last month’s general election to press his Brexit bill through the House of Commons in three days when MPs return to Westminster on Tuesday.

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Varadkar dismisses Johnson plan to make EU pay for ‘interesting’ bridge

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Irish PM says UK must pay for any bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland

Ireland’s prime minister has said he will not dismiss the idea of building a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland, but insisted the UK must pay for it.

Boris Johnson and the Democratic Unionist party have spoken in favour of the idea.

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Top-security Northern Irish jail lets in secular chaplains for first time

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Atheist inmates at Maghaberry prison can now get pastoral care from humanist carers

Non-religious pastors have been allowed for the first time to run a secular “chaplaincy service” for atheist prisoners inside a top-security jail holding some of the most dangerous paramilitary prisoners in Europe.

Prisoners who do not believe in God inside Maghaberry jail in Northern Ireland can now speak with humanist carers.

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IRA man John Downey participated in Hyde Park bombing, judge rules

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Civil court decision opens way for relatives of four killed soldiers to obtain damages

A convicted IRA member in jail on separate murder charges was an “active participant” in the 1982 Hyde Park bombing, the high court has ruled in a civil action taken by the victims’ families.

Relatives of four soldiers who died in the IRA blast were told that John Downey was liable for the explosion that killed their loved ones.

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Cabinet mini-reshuffle under way as Johnson keeps Nicky Morgan as culture secretary – live news

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Simon Hart named new Welsh secretary as prime minister announces that Morgan – who stood down as MP – will get life peerage

Here’s a host more middle and junior-ranking ministerial appointments just announced by No 10:

A mooted plan to merge the department for international development (DfID) and the foreign office (FCO) risks allowing British aid money to be spent on “UK foreign policy, commercial and political objectives”, rather than on helping the world’s poorest people, more than 100 charities warn.

Related: Johnson to tell new Tory MPs they must repay public’s trust

Merging DfID with the FCO would risk dismantling the UK’s leadership on international development and humanitarian aid. It suggests we are turning our backs on the world’s poorest people, as well as some of the greatest global challenges of our time: extreme poverty, climate change and conflict. UK aid risks becoming a vehicle for UK foreign policy, commercial and political objectives, when it first and foremost should be invested to alleviate poverty.

By far the best way to ensure that aid continues to deliver for those who need it the most is by retaining DfID as a separate Whitehall department, with a secretary of state for international development, and by pledging to keep both independent aid scrutiny bodies: the Independent Commission for Aid Impact and the International Development Select Committee.

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NI parties signal talks to get Stormont back up and running

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Political figures say they want to get back around the table in the wake of the election

Political leaders in Northern Ireland have signalled that they want to revive the Stormont assembly and executive in the wake of the general election and talks to break the deadlock of nearly three years look likely to begin on Monday.

Northern Ireland secretary of state Julian Smith said he spoke with the heads of all the unionist and nationalist parties, including Sinn Féin and the DUP, on Sunday morning and later tweeted: “Good calls with all five party leaders this morning. Look forward to starting positive process tomorrow to get Stormont back up and running.”

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Brexit deal includes two-way customs checks, insists Ireland

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Foreign minister challenges Johnson’s claim about goods moving from Northern Ireland to Britain

Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, has challenged Boris Johnson’s claim that under his Brexit deal there would be no checks or controls on goods moving between Northern Ireland and Britain.

Coveney insisted that under the terms of the withdrawal agreement the prime minister negotiated with the European Union there would be inspections on goods moving in both directions.

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Irish deputy PM criticises Tory pledge on Troubles inquiries

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Simon Coveney says ‘law must apply to all’ after Conservative promise to end ‘unfair’ trials

Ireland has expressed concern over a Conservative party pledge to change the law to protect former soldiers in Northern Ireland from possible prosecution over deaths during the Troubles.

The Tories have promised to end what they describe as “unfair trials” of soldiers accused of unlawful killings in Northern Ireland by amending the Human Rights Act to exclude any case dating from before the act came into force in 2000.

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Belfast East voters: tell us which issues will decide this election

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The Guardian’s Rory Carroll is reporting from the constituency of Belfast East to find out what issues people there care about most – and he wants your help

Are you a Belfast East voter? The Guardian will be reporting from Belfast East next week ahead of the General Election, as part of a series of pieces from across the country focused on finding out what matters to the people who live there.

Traditionally a unionist seat, Belfast East is facing deep political uncertainty. It’s held by the DUP which supports Brexit but is not happy with Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal in case it weakens Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.

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Johnson accused of misleading public over Brexit deal after NI remarks

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PM says there will be no checks on goods going from Northern Ireland to rest of UK

Boris Johnson has been accused of misleading the public about his own Brexit deal, after footage emerged of him telling exporters in Northern Ireland they will not need to fill in extra paperwork.

After a rocky start to the general election campaign in which Jacob Rees-Mogg had to apologise for his comments about victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, and the Welsh secretary, Alun Cairns, resigned, footage emerged of the prime minister regaling businesses with the benefits of his deal.

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Businessman speaks of abduction and torture by gang on Irish border

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Kevin Lunney says kidnappers had sadistic ‘checklist’ in latest and most brutal act against QIH executives

The business executive who was abducted and tortured near the Irish border has spoken for the first time about a crime that has shocked and bewildered Ireland.

Kevin Lunney said the gang that kidnapped him went through a checklist of sadistic acts which left him in agony.

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McDonald’s Portugal apologises for ‘Sundae Bloody Sundae’ ads

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Halloween promotion was not intended to be ‘insensitive reference’ to historical events

McDonald’s in Portugal has apologised for using the slogan “Sundae Bloody Sundae” in a Halloween campaign for its ice-cream puddings.

It appears the chain decided to celebrate the spooky season with a two-for-one offer on the strawberry dessert and a nod to the early U2 song Sunday Bloody Sunday.

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