Free Republic

Hillary Clinton has called for an end to “unacceptable” violence in Northern Ireland as she visited the region amid a revival of sectarian tensions. The US Secretary of State said she was “distressed” to hear about a death threat to Naomi Long, the East Belfast MP, and the discovery of two unexploded bombs. … Mrs. Clinton landed in Belfast as part of four-day European trip, just hours after police seized an unexploded bomb from suspected Republican dissidents in Londonderry. A second device was found in a postbox. …

A Free Presbyterian Church minister who sparked protest at Belfast Pride on Saturday has defended his actions, calling the parade “a very unpleasant experience”. Rev David McIlveen, of Sandown Free Presbyterian Church, amassed a crowd of protesters at the corner of Waring Street and North Street on the parade route. He criticized the Pride event claiming: “I certainly do not see it as an asset to Belfast in any way. It is something that is grieving to a good number of people”. The Irish Times report that McIlveen, who organizes an annual anti-Pride protest, did not see his actions as...

A 25-year-old police officer has been killed after a bomb exploded under his car in Omagh, County Tyrone.The device exploded under the vehicle outside his home in Highfield Close, off the Gortin Road, just before 1600 BST on Saturday. He is the second policeman to be killed since PSNI was formed out of the RUC. Since 2007, dissident republicans have planted dozens of booby-trap bombs under the private cars of police officers. The bombs have failed to detonate, but two policemen lost their legs in attacks in May 2008 and January 2010.

More than 54,000 people in Northern Ireland were waiting more than nine weeks for their first outpatient appointment, it has been revealed. The total number of people waiting for a first outpatient appointment at the end of December was 124,589. This represented a decrease of 4,246 on the number waiting at the end of September 2010 and an increase of 42,019 on the number waiting at the same time last year. At the end of December, there were 54,472 patients waiting more than nine weeks for a first outpatient appointment, of whom 37,655 were waiting more than 13 weeks. Mr...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Northern Ireland leaders condemned Irish nationalist rioters Tuesday who wounded 82 police officers during two nights of street clashes sparked by the province's annual parades by the British Protestant majority.

Tensions remained high in Northern Ireland after a wave of sectarian violence and republican protests during the Ulster loyalist marching season. Sinn Féin and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) blamed republican dissidents for orchestrating trouble in north and west Belfast in which three police officers were shot and 24 others also injured. In west Belfast, two armed and masked men also hijacked a bus this afternoon and forced its driver to drive to the local PSNI station in Woodburn. The men said they had left an explosive device on the bus, which the driver was forced to abandon...

Police say a car bomb has exploded outside a British Army barracks in Northern Ireland. The blast was behind Palace Barracks in Holywood, Belfast, at 12.24am and is described as "ongoing". Reporting from the scene, Sky's Ireland correspondent Vicky Hawthorne said: "Police are not confirming this but there are unconfirmed reports of some injuries on the ground.

Murphy acquitted over Omagh bombing COLM MURPHY walked free from the Special Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday after he was cleared at a retrial of a conspiracy charge in relation to the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 people and injured more than 300. Mr Murphy said after being acquitted of the charge: “I am glad to see it’s all over. Find out who was behind it – MI5 agents setting people up.” The three-judge non-jury court ruled that there was no evidence upon which the court could have convicted Mr Murphy after it ruled that all the evidence of...

Northern Ireland In Uproar Over Lawmaker's Secret Affair With Teen Iris Robinson, [Pic in URL] family-values advocate and wife of First Minister Peter Robinson, not only carried on a sexual liaison with a 19-year-old but also allegedly helped funnel money his way. By Henry Chu January 10, 2010 Reporting from London - The threat of renewed sectarian violence is at its highest in years. But it's a seamy affair between Northern Ireland's most famous female politician and a man nearly 40 years her junior that has put the province's fragile peace pact between Roman Catholics and Protestants in danger of...

A political scandal riveting Northern Ireland has a certain cinematic feel: an affair by 58-year-old woman named Mrs. Robinson with a 19-year-old male lover. Five separate Facebook groups with hundreds of followers have sprung up, lampooning the affair and comparing it to the 1967 film, "The Graduate." But there is a serious side to the story of Iris Robinson, who also happens to be a member of Parliament and the wife of Peter Robinson — Northern Ireland's government leader. The BBC reported that Iris Robinson allegedly solicited 50,000 pounds ($80,000) from businessmen so her young lover could open a restaurant...

Full version parody of Simon and Garfunkel's famous tune. Based on recent events in Northern Ireland

LONDON – The wife of Northern Ireland's leader will step down as a lawmaker within days, British media reported Saturday, as pressure mounted on Peter Robinson's shaky coalition government over her admissions of an affair with a far-younger man. Iris Robinson was 58 at the time, and the man, Kirk McCambley, was 19.

The Lock Keeper's Inn outside Belfast is an attractive but otherwise unremarkable café. Serving up the usual Northern Irish fare of sausage rolls and stew, it's a place to stop for a quiet coffee after walking along the nearby riverbank. A world away, it would seem, from the bitter feuds of Northern Irish politics. But following a series of remarkable revelations this week, the inn is at the center of a scandal that could threaten the career of Northern Ireland's top politician. On Thursday, a BBC television program called Spotlight issued a report accusing First Minister Peter Robinson's wife Iris...

"EU funding 'Orwellian' artificial intelligence plan to monitor public for "abnormal behaviour" The European Union is spending millions of pounds developing "Orwellian" technologies designed to scour the internet and CCTV images for "abnormal behaviour"." SNIPPET: "A five-year research programme, called Project Indect, aims to develop computer programmes which act as "agents" to monitor and process information from web sites, discussion forums, file servers, peer-to-peer networks and even individual computers. Its main objectives include the "automatic detection of threats and abnormal behaviour or violence"." SNIPPET: "Project Indect, which received nearly £10 million in funding from the European Union, involves the Police...

It says much about humanity’s basic urge to be ruled by dynasties that Teddy Kennedy came anywhere near being elected president in 1980. Whatever his other qualities, his behaviour at Chappaquiddick eleven years earlier, where he might have been able to save Mary Jo Kopechne’s life but instead chose to save his own career by waiting until his blood/alcohol level reached a legal level, would have ruled out anyone else from becoming local rat catcher, let alone leader of the greatest nation on earth.But after the murder of his brothers John and Bobby, Teddy became America’s atheling – until the...

Note: The following text is a quote: August 21, 2009 Former IRA militant deported to Ireland Pol Brennan was convicted of transporting firearms and explosives for the Irish Republican Army HARLINGEN, Texas - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a former Irish Republican Army (IRA) militant and convicted criminal to Ireland on Friday. Pol Brennan, 56, was deported following a series of criminal convictions in the United Kingdom and the United States. Brennan's case received full review and consideration by the immigration court system. On order of the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, Brennan was detained...

Kendall Myers, 72, who appeared in federal court in Washington on Wednesday charged with spying for Havana for nearly 30 years, had a fascination with Northern Ireland. The Daily Telegraph has established that as well as seeking the envoy's post, which carried the rank of ambassador, Mr Myers travelled to the British Isles and met British and Irish officials, senior Northern Ireland politicians and intelligence officers. .... "Anything this guy could have found from his European responsibilities he might have funnelled to the Cubans for them to sell off," said John Bolton, a former top State Department official in the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Former State Department Official and Wife Arrested for Serving as Illegal Agents of Cuba for Nearly 30 Years Couple Allegedly Conspired to Provide Classified Information to Cuban Government A former State Department official and his wife have been arrested on charges of serving as illegal agents of the Cuban government for nearly 30 years and conspiring to provide classified U.S. information to the Cuban government. The arrests were announced today by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing D. Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Joseph Persichini, Jr.,...

A medieval silver ring dating back more than 800 years has been unearthed on a farm in Northern Ireland. The 12th century artefact was found by 17-year-old Conor Sandford as he was putting up a fence post at the edge of one of his father's fields near the village of Kilmore, Co Armagh. The teenager told a treasure trove hearing in Belfast today he initially thought the engraved finger ring was a ring pull from an old fizzy drink can. "Only when I was putting the soil back into the hole did I notice this wee thing sticking out," he...

A County Tyrone family could be in line for a reward after finding a rare Bronze Age gold bracelet on their land. Farmer Gary Sproule accidentally unearthed the precious artefact while ploughing over a field at Castlegore near Castlederg last April. The intricate item is believed to date from almost 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. An inquest was held yesterday in Belfast at which the item, which would have belonged to an important warrior or priest, was officially classified as treasure. Under the law, a ‘treasure trove’ inquest must be held by the coroner to determine the significance...