Free Republic

A survivor of the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings said she still carries the psychological scars of the atrocity 50 years on. Twenty-one people died in The Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town after a vague IRA warning gave inadequate time to evacuate. Another 220 people were injured. Robyn Tighe, who had just turned 19 when she was caught up in the blasts, told a new BBC documentary: "I’m a survivor with scars." Memorial services are being held in Birmingham on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the bombings, for which no-one has been held responsible. Although six men...

Gabe Megahey (82), one of a group of Irish republicans known as the "deportees" who had been allowed by President Clinton to remain in America, has been ordered to leave the United States by way of a letter from the Department of Homeland Security. Others in the group, which includes Belfast H-Block escapees Terence Kirby and Kevin Barry Artt who live openly in California, seem, so far, not to have attracted the attention of the US authorities. In 1983, Gabe Megahey was convicted in an FBI sting of trying to procure SAM missiles to enable the IRA to step up...

The public has been repulsed by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza, incoming Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris has said. Mr. Harris said that Ireland stands ready to recognize the Palestinian state while calling for a two-state solution. In his keynote speech at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis* in Galway, the Fine Gael leader said the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened “before our eyes” and Ireland cannot stay silent on the actions of Israel. “We condemn the massacre carried out by Hamas in October and again call for the release of all hostages,” Mr Harris said....

Omagh bombing trial gets started DNA evidence links man to 1998 massacre, court is told By Jonathan McCambridge 25 September 2006 The trial of the man accused of murdering 29 people in the 1998 Omagh bomb massacre finally got under way today. Belfast Crown Court was told that DNA and fibre evidence could connect 37-year-old Sean Hoey to the no-warning Real IRA explosion and a number of other dissident republican attacks. Hoey, from Molly Rd, Jonesborough, who denies a total of 58 terrorist offences, sat in the dock in Court 12, guarded by two court officials, as the Diplock trial...

Sinn Fein accuse McDowell of 'posing' as tough on crime Sinn Féin spokesperson Aengus O Snodaigh TD today accused Minister for Justice Michael McDowell of "headline grabbing" and posing by adopting a tough stance on crime. In his statement Mr O Snodaigh supported suggestions that overcrowding at Mountjoy contributed to the death of Gary Douch in July adding: "More prisons and bigger prisons is not the answer." The Dublin south-central TD said: “After the tragic death of Gary Douch in Mountjoy Prison at the end of July, the Irish Prison Service rejected suggestions that Mountjoy was overcrowded, or that overcrowding...

IRA 'has ceased its criminality' The IRA is no longer involved in any centrally organised criminality, the British and Irish governments believe. Speaking after meeting Irish ministers, NI Secretary Peter Hain said cross-border intelligence indicated the IRA was living up to its commitments. Mr Hain said individual IRA members may still be involved in criminal activities, but that should not prevent political progress from being made. However, the DUP's Nigel Dodds said Mr Hain was "living in fantasy land". "This latest assessment from the secretary of state lacks credibility and will be treated by the vast majority of people in...

The three Irishmen in hiding after being sentenced to 17 years in prison for training Farc rebels in Colombia have returned to Ireland and insisted they are not on the run. Martin McAuley, Niall Connolly and Jim Monaghan have been on the run since a Bogota court overturned their original acquittal in December. A Government spokesman has been quoted as saying the Government had no prior knowledge of the men's return. "This issue was not part of the Government's discussions with Sinn Fein and we had no prior knowledge of their return to Ireland," a spokesperson said. The Department of...