Violence ‘leading young people to prison’
YOUNG people involved in rioting are being “led by the nose” towards prison, the chief constable has warned.Matt Baggott – who was speaking following another weekend of flag protests and outbreaks of...
View ArticleHelp is urgently needed, Villiers told
BUSINESS owners in Belfast are in urgent need of action to stop the disruption caused to trade by the flag protest and support to help them to recover, Secretary of State Theresa Villiers was told...
View ArticleDebate exposes Stormont’s brittle forced relationships
Analysis: The loyalist riots were raised in Stormont on Monday under a mechanism that limits debate and tends to see the main parties presenting a united front. But the veneer of public unity across...
View ArticleBus driver injured in rioting
A driver was injured when rioting loyalists hijacked two buses as violence returned to the streets of east Belfast.Police were attacked with stones and bottles last night and petrol bombs were thrown...
View ArticleOne by one, Nesbitt’s generals are leaving
ANALYSIS: The announcement of Fred Cobain as a DUP member yesterday had the feel of one of those defecting Syrian generals or intelligence chiefs whose name to us conveys nothing but whose position...
View ArticleAssembly approves tax on carrier bags
THE Northern Ireland Assembly has given the green light to a tax on carrier bags.Some supermarkets in the Province already charge for carrier bags, but all retailers will have to introduce the charge...
View ArticleWebchat this Thursday with leading loyalist Jim Wilson
A leading east Belfast loyalist will face readers’ questions on Thursday during a live webchat with the News Letter.Jim Wilson is an ex-PUP member and, according to his own description, “a former Red...
View ArticleMaskey condemned for stone-throwing comments
SINN Fein’s Alex Maskey has been strongly criticised for saying he would have thrown stones if he lived in an area caught up in the latest violence at interface areas in Belfast.The south Belfast MLA...
View ArticleCobain joins DUP with parting shot at Nesbitt
AN Ulster Unionist veteran said that he gave up a paid job with the party to join the DUP, such was his disillusionment at the party under Mike Nesbitt’s leadership.Fred Cobain, who 18 months ago was...
View ArticleSpeak up on Europe
DON’T you just wish that the Prime Minister could deliver his much-heralded European speech and get it behind him?This speech will be the most important of his political career. Whatever he says, when...
View ArticleCarroll awards for young peace activists
A peace foundation in memory of the first Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer to be murdered is to honour two young anti-violence activists.The Steve Carroll Foundation is highlighting...
View ArticleEx-pat tells of view of Ulster ‘in dark ages’
A Fermanagh ex-pat now living and working in Australia said the riots in Northern Ireland are doing untold damage to the province.Kevin Daly, orginally from Ederney, said the trouble is gaining more...
View ArticleHeated exchanges at Stormont over flag trouble
Unionist and nationalist politicians clashed at Stormont in a heated debate about the Union Flag protests on Tuesday.During a 90-minute debate on Stormont’s second day back from its five-week Christmas...
View ArticleUK role in Europe is not secure
EUROPE has now become the most pressing issue for Prime Minister David Cameron, outside of striving to connect with the British electorate, and he is now gradually moving towards the holding of a...
View ArticleContinued protests prompt bus diversions
Translink have announced that all their services through east Belfast will be diverted from Tuesday until further notice.On Friday a bus was set alight in Newtownabbey and on Monday night a driver was...
View ArticleSon held over father’s murder in Ballymena
A 26-YEAR-OLD is still being held by police on suspiciioon of the murder of his father and the attempted murder of his mother in Ballymena.The victim who was named locally last night as 64-year-old...
View ArticleMaskey reported over ‘throwing stones’ comment
An MLA who made controversial comments about throwing stones has been reported to the Assembly’s standards committee, it has emerged.Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey, a former Northern Ireland Policing Board...
View ArticleBoth sides attacking PSNI - David Ford
Both loyalist and republican terrorists are targeting police officers, it was confirmed today.Justice Minister David Ford told the Assembly how members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)...
View ArticleSoldier’s mum brands murder appeal ‘scandalous’
A terminally ill man jailed for the killing of two soldiers at a military base in Antrim has had his conviction quashed.The Court of Appeal ruled that the guilty verdict returned against Brian Shivers...
View ArticlePSNI may need help for G8 summit
Police officers from other UK forces could be drafted in to help the PSNI cover the G8 conference, it was revealed on Tuesday.Justice Minister David Ford said the Police Service of Northern Ireland...
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