Politics

August 2022

Executive Office suspends funding for Community Restorative Justice amid ‘concerns’

The Executive Office (TEO) has suspended funding for Community Restorative Justice Ireland (CRJI) - an organisation aimed at resolving and reducing conflict in Northern Ireland.

---

Tory leadership contender Liz Truss endorsed by Lady Daphne Trimble, as widow claims Lord Trimble’s legacy is ‘safe with her’

Lady Daphne Trimble – the widow of the late Lord David Trimble – has endorsed Conservative Party leadership contender Liz Truss on Wednesday evening.

---

Gallery

Premium

NI Conservatives split on who’ll be next leader after grilling Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak

For the Conservative Party in Northern Ireland, it was finally time to bask in the limelight as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss arrived to make their leadership pitch.

---

DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly receives apology from young man who sent sectarian insult

DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly has revealed a youth football team player who sent a sectarian message to her has apologised.

---

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss promise to protect Northern Ireland’s place in Union during Belfast Conservatives hustings event

While the Northern Ireland Conservative Party can often be forgotten between elections, local members got their chance to grill the UK’s next prime minister on Wednesday.

---

Communities Minister needs to review cash given to pensioners for winter fuel payment, says SDLP

A review of the rate of Winter Fuel Payment and an emergency package of money should be developed by the Communities Minister ahead of the winter, according to an SDLP MLA.

---

Belfast man becomes first openly gay political leader in NI

A Belfast councillor has become the first openly gay leader of a mainstream party in Northern Ireland.

---

New Green Party leader: Homophobia in NI ‘must be eradicated’

More needs to be done to eradicate homophobia in Northern Ireland, Mal O'Hara has said.

---

Gallery

Sinn Fein hits back at Liz Truss claims party ‘driving a wedge’ between Northern Ireland and Great Britain

Sinn Fein MP John Finucane has said his party will “take no lectures” from Liz Truss after the Conservative Party leadership hopeful accused the nationalist party of trying to “drive a wedge” between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

---

Gallery

Premium

DUP MP Ian Paisley accepted over £5k of free tickets to attend sporting events, register reveals

The DUP’s Ian Paisley has received free tickets worth thousands of pounds to attend major sporting events in recent months.

---

Two unionist councillors join DUP in south Down

An Ulster Unionist Party councillor and an independent unionist in Co Down have both joined the DUP.

---

Premium

Rishi Sunak Opinion exclusive I will fix protocol, protect the union and take Northern Ireland economy into new era of prosperity

If I become your next prime minister, I will restore trust, rebuild our economy and unite our great nation.

---

Gallery

NI Conservatives snub ex-chairman who stood down in row over protocol

The former chair of the Northern Ireland Conservative Party has been denied the chance to rejoin after quitting last year.

---

Gallery

Belfast City Council seeks views on new visitor attraction opening in 2028

Belfast residents have been asked for their views on a new visitor attraction opening in the city in 2028.

---

Premium

Philip Ryan Opinion Government reshuffle: Leo Varadkar will become Taoiseach but which ministers could lose their top table role?

The only thing that’s clear from the Programme for Government is that the Taoiseach’s Office will change between the leader of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael 10 days before Christmas .

---

SDLP to lead cost-of-living delegation as UUP calls for an emergency budget

The SDLP, now the official opposition party at Stormont, is set to start engaging with key groups including trade unions about the cost-of-living crisis.

---

DUP MLA says Sinn Fein ‘rewriting history’ after MP’s tweet honouring hunger striker

Sinn Fein has been accused of “doubling down on its rewriting of history and celebration of terrorism” after one of its MPs paid tribute to a hunger striker on social media.

---

Gallery

Premium

Urban Villages initiative: projects aimed at transforming socially-deprived areas in NI still not delivered six years after launch

Major projects geared towards improving the lives of people in Northern Ireland’s most economically and socially deprived areas have not been delivered – despite being launched six years ago.

---

SDLP leader demands answers on £400 energy payment

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has called on the Government to give clarity on a £400 energy bills discount for households in Northern Ireland.

---

Drop in number of people who see Northern Ireland town centres as welcoming for all – Good Relations Report reveals

The number of people who see town centres as "safe and welcoming places for people of all walks of life" has decreased significantly since 2018, according to the Good Relations Report.

---

Ian Paisley slams Michelle O’Neill’s ‘atrocious’ comments on IRA violence

The DUP MP Ian Paisley has said comments by Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill in which she claimed there was no alternative to IRA violence during the Troubles have created “a new crisis” for Stormont.

---

Gallery

‘MLAs are playing games at our expense and still getting wages’

Voters in Belfast are starting to notice that MLAs are missing from Stormont.

---

Sam McBride Opinion A day after unity for David Trimble, MLAs are divided as DUP again vetoes Assembly

A day after uniting in unanimous praise of David Trimble, MLAs returned to more familiar disputatious ways — with the DUP again blocking the Assembly from functioning and robust exchanges across the chamber.

---

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson rejects Michelle O’Neill claim on ‘no alternative’ to IRA violence

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has rejected a claim by Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill that "there was no alternative" to IRA violence.

---

DUP leader accuses SDLP of seeking ‘media opportunity’ over Assembly recall

The DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has accused the SDLP of being more interested in “a media opportunity” than restoring the Assembly.

---

Michelle O’Neill speaks of being prayed for while pregnant at school

Sinn Fein’s vice president Michelle O’Neill has spoken about how she was prayed for while being pregnant at school as a teenager.

---

Premium

From praise of Fidel Castro to the Belfast invite snub – President Michael D Higgins is no stranger to controversy

It is almost 11 years since Michael D Higgins was voted in as President of Ireland for the first time – and he has not been shy about letting his feelings be known during his tenure.

---

Play

‘It was different then’: DUP eulogises David Trimble despite past differences

DUP chief whip Joanne Bunting made no bones about the fact that she and David Trimble were on different sides of the divide at a key political moment.

---

Play

David Trimble: Book of condolence opened at Stormont for public to pay tribute to former First Minister

A book of condolence to Lord Trimble has been opened at Stormont for the public to sign following the former First Minister’s death.

---

Watch: Tory hustings heckler gets cheers and applause after suggesting wall should be built to stop border poll in Northern Ireland

A suggestion from a heckler that Liz Truss should “build a wall” to deal with the prospect of Northern Ireland and Scotland leaving the union led to outbursts of laughter and cheers among those at a Tory hustings event.