July, 2017

Mark Thompson The following is a statement issued by RFJ CEO Mark Thompson on the announcement by British Secretary of State James Brokenshire that he is making a visit to the US. “Relatives for Justice note the visit by the British Secretary of State to the United States. “It has been deeply disappointing that the […]

There’s a letter in the Irish Times this morning by Dr Niall Comer, who lectures in Irish at the Ulster University. He’s also the president of Chonradh na Gaeilge, so it’s fair to assume he’s worth reading when he writes about an Irish Language Act here in the north. Dr Comer rejects Edwin Poots’s assertion, […]

  The Unionist Times has been awishy wash with Gallows Humour of late. Which is possibly on account, by its own dismal prognostications, that it is soon known as (gulp) the late Unionst Times. Who was it first said – was it Rudyard Doyle, pechance? – –If you can keep your bleedin’ head When all […]

  The parades this year passed off peacefully, thanks mainly to the dignified response of the Nationalist communities in sensitive areas. The bonfires once again were provocative causing hurt to nationalists – as intended. They also caused considerable damage to property and to the ozone layer. The burning of an effigy of Martin McGuinness in […]

I think it is all so much chaff…this talk of stereotyping unionism and nationalism.Of course everyone is an individual with their specific mindset within the entire Norneverland community but we are all products of our individual households and upbringing or how else could you imagine that young children would end up in various marching bands […]

Why is it that some victims of the Troubles are household names and others aren’t? Everyone knows of the cruel death of Jean McConville; how many are equally familiar with the cruel death of Joan Connolly? For every victim whose case the media and politicians highlight, there are many others who  are buried and ignored. Here’s […]

Pics 1-5 are by John Patton Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 “Given that one of your Republican contributors derides Scotland’s right to self-determination, sensing little that sets it apart culturally or nationally from Berkshire or Essex, I shall choose my words with care. Highland Games are held across Scotland during […]

Negotiations for British withdrawal from the EU have finished their first week without any clarity about what is going to happen in Ireland when Brexit comes into force in March 2019. In their Press Conference, both the EU and British negotiators used the same phrase: ‘the clock is ticking.’ Monsieur Barnier says that they are concerned to […]

  Eighty one years ago this week Spain’s General  Francisco Franco launched what he thought would be a lightening coup to overthrow the elected Republican Government. He was not fully trusted by the Government, who had posted him to the Canary Islands where he might do the State no harm. But Britain’s Secret Service, which […]

In recent days the press and airwaves have been full of articles and programmes looking back at the 20th anniversary of the IRA’s ceasefire – the prelude to the Good Friday Agreement. Much store has been put on the events that followed the historic announcement of June 1997 which eventually led to the talks process […]