Irish breaking news | Irish politics

Hush Hush

DAVID WALSH NAILED

June 27, 2019

THE JUDICIARY has finally nailed barrack room lawyer David Walsh, a former haulage contractor who is now serving a fortnight’s jail sentence for... Read more »

DREW HARRIS’S GONG

June 12, 2019

The AWARD of a Queen’s Police Medal (QPM) to Garda commissioner Drew Harris brought zero adverse comment in the Irish media, but it... Read more »

STAKEKNIFE INQUIRY BLUNTED

June 12, 2019

This week’s news of a legal challenge to Operation Kenova (the ‘Stakeknife’ inquiry), by the family of murdered Belfast pensioner Francisco Notarantonio, leaves... Read more »

STAKEKNIFE INQUIRY COLLAPSE

May 29, 2019

The underwhelming response to the selection of Simon Byrne as the PSNI’s new chief constable shows that the media missed two bigger stories... Read more »

CAPTAIN NAIRAC’S REPUTATION

May 29, 2019

THE CAMPAIGN to sanitise the reputation of British Army undercover operative Captain Robert Nairac, shot dead and disappeared by the IRA in 1975,... Read more »

IRA ‘VETS’ WARNING SHOTS

May 16, 2019

FOOTAGE last month of Saoradh dissident republicans jostling a BBC reporter outside Derry’s courthouse received widespread coverage. But more serious stuff involving IRA... Read more »

JEFFREY DONALDSON’S BAHRAINI PALS

May 16, 2019

THE DUP’S Jeffrey Donaldson has come over as the essence of sweet reason in comments about the Irish language and also about the... Read more »

BRITISH SOLDIERS TAKE THE FLAK

May 2, 2019

Reports of the formal interview by police of top Force Research Unit (FRU) spook Brigadier Gordon Kerr got British media headlines last week.... Read more »

DREW HARRIS CROSS-BORDER SECURITY

April 18, 2019

Elite and heavily armed units of the PSNI cruising around Dublin is a steep step change in policing here in the south. But... Read more »

BRIT SPOOKS IN THE REPUBLIC

April 4, 2019

THE MEDIA’S gullible lionising of ex-British Army under cover operative, ‘Sean Hartnett’ (not his real name) and his second book, Client Confidential, shows... Read more »

SLEEPWALKING WITH THE FAR RIGHT

March 21, 2019

The biggest shock for New Zealanders is that the Christchurch massacre at two mosques happened at all. The Kiwis pride themselves on being... Read more »

DONAL CAULFIELD’S TAX BILL

March 7, 2019

GOLDHAWK spotted an old pal on the Revenue’s latest list of defaulters. Boom-era builder Donal Caulfield made a settlement with the taxman for... Read more »

FINUCANE: WHY NO PUBLIC INQUIRY

March 7, 2019
The most basic question arising from Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane’s murder is whether RUC Special Branch members aided and abetted loyalist paramilitaries in the... Read more »

STAKEKNIFE AN RUC CONSTRUCT

February 21, 2019
THE EPIC John Le Carré-type tale about super spy ‘Stakeknife’, aka Fred Scappaticci, was last week seriously challenged by Operation Kenova, the team tasked... Read more »

BRITISH SPOOKS TARGET VARADKAR

February 21, 2019

The anarchist ‘Hacktivist’ group Anonymous continues to leak details of a disinformation campaign run jointly by the UK’s Foreign Office and Ministry of... Read more »

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER

February 7, 2019

MEDIA scrutiny of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s attendance at a DUP fundraiser in Ballymena last week largely focused on the comfort he gave to Ian... Read more »

STAKEKNIFE ‘A FICTION’

January 24, 2019
THE UK government’s multimillion pound Stakeknife investigation was thrown into disarray last week after its most controversial storyline was described as a “fiction”. The... Read more »

KINAHANS CRY FOUL

January 10, 2019

The Kinahan crime cartel is accusing the gardaí of favouritism towards the rival Hutch gang after a series of reverses in the last... Read more »

ARRESTING THE MESSENGERS

December 13, 2018

DESPITE WORLDWIDE protests, Belfast-based journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney – arrested by paramilitary units of the PSNI in August – are still... Read more »

GEMMA O’DOHERTY’S NEXT MOVE

December 13, 2018
HAS JOURNALIST Gemma O’Doherty, who failed to get a presidential nomination, begun planning for another shot in seven years? And has she decided that... Read more »

MI5 SNUFF MOVIES

December 13, 2018

THE EXTREME porn conviction against Brit spy in the IRA, Fred Scappaticci, is a very public admission of defeat for Operation Kenova. In... Read more »

BORIS, JEFFREY AND BAHRAIN

November 29, 2018
THE SHAM elections held over the last week in Bahrain coincided with a report from the Irish section of human rights group Front Line... Read more »

SHARON BANNERTON’S NEUTRALITY

November 15, 2018

THERE HAS not been much love shown by the media to presidential runner-up Peter Casey. Even the normally cuddly Ryan Tubridy got his... Read more »

FORENSIC PURSUIT OF DOWNEY

November 15, 2018

THE PSNI’s pursuit of John Downey contrasts with its failure to hunt down those who committed a raft of serious crimes in the... Read more »

LUCINDA’S NEO-CON FRIENDS

November 1, 2018

LUCINDA CREIGHTON, former minister for Europe and Fine Gael enfant terrible, has returned to the continent and the EU lobbying gravy train with... Read more »

LICENCE TO KILL: MARTIN O’HAGAN

October 18, 2018

The murder and state detention of journalists is currently worldwide news, but the anniversary last month of the slaying of Sunday World journalist... Read more »

PAUL POGBA’S BRAND

October 18, 2018

WHILE MANCHESTER United fans have been despairing at the underwhelming performance of superstar Paul Pogba, the Irish end of the story continues to... Read more »

LESLIE BUCKLEY’S GOOD TIMES

October 4, 2018

Leslie Buckley has had a lot on his plate courtesy of that investigation into Independent News and Media by the ODCE. However, the... Read more »

WILD ATLANTIC FASCISTS

October 4, 2018

A GARDA ASU (armed support unit) assisting detectives from Milford and involving four garda jeeps recently raided a home near Annagry, close to... Read more »

KINAHANS’ LAUNDRY

September 20, 2018

AMID TABLOID allegations of the Kinahan cartel sourcing personnel and supplies from Eastern Europe, particularly Estonia, the question has to be asked why... Read more »

OMAGH BOMB AND MARTHA POPE

August 23, 2018

DESPITE Dame Nuala O’Loans extraordinary ‘intelligence’ intervention last week and the media spotlight on the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bomb, there’s been... Read more »

DUP FOREIGN POLICY

August 9, 2018

AN INDIGNANT letter to The Irish Times this week from the London Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain defended its human rights record... Read more »

SIMON COVENEY’S HEADACHE

August 9, 2018

CANADA’S militant pursuit of human rights in Saudi Arabia will have left foreign minister Simon Coveney at a loss as he watches the... Read more »

GERRY ADAMS AND STOREY ATTACKS

July 26, 2018

REVELATIONS in the recent British House of Lords report on police use of underage CHIS (covert human intelligence sources) is directly relevant to... Read more »

IAN PAISLEY’S AGENDA

July 26, 2018

WHEN Ian Paisley told an unnamed Sri Lankan government official over a lavish dinner in 2013 that he had useful contacts in the... Read more »

JACKIE LAVIN’S WARRIOR ACTIONS

June 13, 2018

SPARE A thought for Jackie Lavin and Bill Cullen whose long-running battle with the dreaded bankers has been taking its toll. The latest... Read more »