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Just a week after a scandal was sparked by a preacher slating Islam as “satanic”, a second preacher has launched a broadside against the faith. The minister at Lord Bannside’s former church, Martyr’s Memorial Free Presbyterian in east Belfast, has blasted Islam as a “violent, intolerant, wicked religion”. The Rev. Ian Brown was speaking at a recent Sunday evening service in defense of Pastor James McConnell, whom he described as a “prophet”. […] In an sermon posted on the Martyr’s Memorial website, Rev. Brown is heard saying: “Now the allies and sympathizers of Islam are up on their hind legs;...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – A 75-year-old Irish preacher was subjected to a police probe after he condemned Islam in a sermon and was accused of ‘hate mongering.’ James McConnell, pastor of the Whitewell Metropolitan Church in North Belfast, Ireland, discussed the religion of Islam during an evening sermon on Sunday, May 18th. During the sermon, McConnell denounced Islam and said the contrast between it and Christianity is stark. “The God we worship and serve this evening is not Allah,” he proclaimed, according to a video of his sermon. “The Muslim god—Allah—is a heathen deity. Allah is a cruel deity. Allah...

Sinn Féin has emerged as the biggest party in Northern Ireland following the local government elections—but the DUP has claimed the greater number of council seats. The republican party claimed 24.1% of all first preference votes with the DUP on 23.1%. Both parties, however, saw their share of the vote slip with the DUP down by 4.1% and Sinn Féin marginally down by 0.7%. …

Police have launched a probe into a a potential hate crime after an outspoken evangelical pastor defended describing the Islamic faith as “satanic” and a “doctrine spawned in hell”. Senior Pastor James McConnell made the remarks as he addressed his congregation at the Whitewell Tabernacle Metropolitan Church on Sunday evening. They were described as “very offensive”, “hurtful” and “irresponsible” by a representative from the Belfast Islamic Centre. […] During his sermon, the clergyman said: “Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.” He also likened Muslims to the IRA, saying there were cells spread right...

She’s the woman who wants adultery criminalized, homosexuality made illegal and rock groups like Iron Maiden banned in Northern Ireland—and she wants your vote. Meet Susan Anne White, one of the most outspoken and controversial candidates in the upcoming council elections. The 55-year-old is standing as an independent in the new Fermanagh and Omagh district and is campaigning on what she says are the three most serious threats to society—the “destructive” homosexual agenda, the growth of Islam and the "money-draining" EU. “I don’t consider myself extreme at all,” Mrs. White told the Belfast Telegraph. …

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams is expected to be released from police custody without charge Sunday, and authorities will send a file of potential evidence against him to British prosecutors, a senior policeman said.

Gerry Adams has been released without charge from a Northern Ireland police station but a file on him will be sent to the public prosecution service, it has emerged. The Sinn Féin president was freed at 5.45pm on Sunday from the serious crimes suite at Antrim police station. He was being questioned about the murder in 1972 of widow Jean McConville as well as IRA membership.

The European Left's candidate for the European Commission presidency, Alexis Tsipras, Friday called for the immediate release of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams who is been held for questioning in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. Tsipras called the arrest a "politically inflammatory act against democracy".

Police in Northern Ireland have been given more time to question Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams in connection with the 1972 murder of Jean McConville. ... An initial 48-hour deadline to either charge or release him was due to expire at 20:00 BST on Friday, but the police successfully applied for more time to question him. ...

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams arrested

The IRA has a secret arsenal of deadly munitions capable of bringing down military helicopters and penetrating PSNI Land Rovers, killing all personnel traveling inside. Millionaire Florida stockbroker turned IRA gunrunner, Mike Logan, says he sent the powerful incendiary shells to the Provisionals who tested them and were “delighted with the results”. […] As well as arming the Provisionals with hundreds of handguns as previously reported, he has now disclosed that he also sent munitions as powerful as those the US Army deployed against Saddam Hussein in the Iraq war. He claims that years after the IRA ceasefire, the Provos...

The new leader of the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland has angered the gay community just a day after his election by saying they should stay celibate. Rev. Dr. Michael Barry (63) takes charge of the Presbyterian Church in June following his election as Moderator earlier on Tuesday. […] “We welcome all people into the Church, but we would have a problem with those who are involved in a gay relationship because we believe the Bible teaches that is against the word of God,” he said. “We would encourage people who are gay to live a celibate life.” …

'Liam Adams, a brother of Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, has been jailed for 16 years for raping and abusing his daughter. Adams' sentence is subject to an automatic 50% remission. Adams, 58, from Bernagh Drive, Belfast, was convicted of 10 offences in October, including rape and gross indecency, against his daughter, Áine, who waived her right to anonymity. She welcomed the sentence but said it was "still much too little, too late".'

Retired police officers have warned they could be forced to reveal information which would undermine the peace process during any truth commission into Northern Ireland’s past. The warning from The Northern Ireland Retired Police Officers’ Association (NIRPOA) came in a 64-page submission to the Haass Commission for dealing with the past. The submission makes it clear that the body represents officers who have been involved in what was known as the “shoot to kill” policy, a term they reject, and it is also known to represent many retired Special Branch officers. …

Northern Ireland health minister Edwin Poots has insisted his controversial opposition to gay adoption is entirely natural. Man and woman should raise children, the senior Democratic Unionist said. The minister has tried to challenge an appeal court’s decision that paved the way for gay and lesbian couples to adopt children in the region. That bid was thrown out by the UK’s highest court, the Supreme Court. …

The dilapidated offices where plans for the Titanic were drawn up are to be re-opened as part of a £5 million regeneration project. The future of the historic building that used to house the headquarters and design studios of Harland and Wolff shipbuilders in Belfast has been secured by the Heritage Lottery Fund award. While the drawing offices will be opened for public use, the majority of the landmark structure is set to be transformed into a luxury Titanic-themed boutique hotel. The listed building is only yards from where the doomed liner was built and then launched more than a...

An £18 million ($29 million) EU offer to fund the building of a peace and reconciliation center at the former Maze prison site has been withdrawn. The Democratic Unionists earlier halted plans to build the facility at the Maze, near Lisburn, as relations with their power-sharing partners Sinn Féin deteriorate. Republicans have warned of a crisis facing the devolved administration after a summer of violence on the streets. The European Union had offered the money, but after talks with the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, the body responsible for allocating the finance said it had decided...

Liam Adams - the younger brother of Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams - has been found guilty of a string of child sex abuse charges. Liam Dominic Adams, 58, from Bernagh Drive in west Belfast, was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his daughter, Aine, over a six-year period between 1977 and 1983 when she was aged between four and nine. Bespectacled Adams, who was wearing a grey suit, cream shirt and blue tie, showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were returned. Remanding him in custody Judge Corinne Philpott said: "Take him down." The jury of nine men and...

Wow, stop the presses. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League has issued a statement reprimanding conservatives who have taken out of context President Obama’s comments about Catholic schools in a recent speech in Ireland:(T)he reaction on the part of conservatives, many of whom are Catholic, over (Obama’s) speech in Ireland, is simply insane. Never did Obama say he wants “an end to Catholic education.” Indeed, he never said anything critical about the nature of Catholic schools. It makes me wonder: Have any of his critics bothered to actually read his speech? …

BELFAST June 20, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Barack Obama is under fire this week after a speech he gave in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in which he labeled Catholic education “divisive" and likened them to segregated schools in the Deep South. Obama’s comments have not only angered Catholics in Northern Ireland, but have put him at odds with the Vatican’s highest authorities in what remains an extremely complex and sensitive internal political dispute. In comments that the Scottish Catholic Observer called “alarming” and “unfounded,” Obama implied that tensions between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland would be eliminated if there were...