Former Real IRA prisoner denounces Irish deputy first minister's attendance at Windsor Castle banquet Republican dissidents have launched a bitter attack on Martin McGuinness after he toasted the Queen at Windsor Castle during the Irish presidential visit to Britain. Gary Donnelly, a former Real IRA prisoner and independent republican election candidate in Derry, said the deputy first minister's attendance...
The family homes of 'forgotten victims' of the illegal lending scheme are now at risk, writes Henry McDonald While two Anglo Irish bankers stare down the barrel of up to five years in jail for handing out illegal loans to save their bank from collapse, up to 12,000 mortgage holders across Ireland face arguably an even more uncertain future. Pat Whelan and William McAteer await sentence after being...
'We had gone to exactly the same shops and the same pub. We had even watched the same football games there' Growing up, in Ireland, I always knew I was adopted and for the first 10 years of my life it made me feel special. But as an adolescent, I began to really hurt. I was never resentful, but I longed to know that my birth mother cared. Birthdays were particularly hard, and my parents came to...
A novel triggered by an appalling case of abuse took Emma Donoghue's literary career to new heights. She joins the Guardian book club to talk about the Booker-shortlisted Room Continue reading... ...
Patrick Whelan and William McAteer convicted in Dublin court of illegally lending to Maple 10 group of investors Two former Anglo Irish Bank executives have been found guilty of handing out illegal loans from the financial institution whose reckless lending almost bankrupted Ireland. Patrick Whelan and William McAteer were convicted in a Dublin court of illegally lending to the Maple 10 group of investors...
Stormont's justice minister David Ford says that the head of the PSNI would oversee any National Crime Agency inquiries National Crime Agency investigations could only take place in Northern Ireland if the chief constable of the region agrees to them, Stormont's justice minister said on Wednesday evening. David Ford said powers for the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to oversee NCA inquiries...
Court told of huge loans to prop up Anglo-Irish Bank but its former chairman is found not guilty on majority verdict The former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank has been found not guilty of charges that he illegally loaned tens of millions of euros to prop up the share price of an institution that nearly bankrupted the Irish state. Seán FitzPatrick smiled in court in Dublin after the verdict was...
New TV deal allows greater exposure to the connoisseur and the unconverted, say supporters, but others argue the GAA has forgotten its community roots in Ireland The first day of April is one to be suspicious of news stories and so many in Ireland could have been forgiven for mistaking the Gaelic Athletic Association's press release that day for a close-to-the-bone wind-up. There were smiles from some...
The people of Ireland and England have long acknowledged their common culture. Now the politicians have caught up On Monday night, an Irish friend long resident in London sent an email to me in Dublin. He'd noticed that Buckingham Palace had tweeted a welcome to the Irish president Michael D Higgins on the occasion of the beginning of the first state visit of an Irish head of state to Britain. What...
The decision to have a directly elected mayor should have been put in the hands of the citizens of Dublin but it wasn't The Local Government Reform Act 2014 has received little media attention or public scrutiny in Ireland. However, one issue to get pulses racing, at least in one part of the country, is the proposal to have a directly elected mayor for Dublin. This is not a new area of concern in Ireland....
Bond sale, which was oversubscribed by six times, shows the heavily indebted country has regained the trust of the financial markets Greece has made a successful return to the financial markets , raising 3bn (£2.4bn) in its first bond sale in four years. Inside the Greek government, officials are already hailing the bond sale as "more than a triumph." Continue reading... ...
The Troubles and its horrors are impossible to forget, but in order to move on we have to put them behind us So, the Queen entertained for lunch at Windsor not only the amiable president of the Republic of Ireland, Michael Higgins (who came straight on to address both houses of parliament), but the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness. Predictably, and understandably, relatives of people who had...
Spies such as Mata Hari, heroic nurse Edith Cavell, suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst and the Boy Scouts feature in documents Exotic spies, heroes, and known and suspected communists feature in top-secret MI5 files available online for the first time on Thursday to mark the 100th anniversary of the first world war. Mata Hari, Edith Cavell, Sir Roger Casement, Arthur Ransome, Sidney Reilly, a leading suffragette...
Martin Rowson on the Irish president's state visit – cartoon Comment is free The Guardian Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off Jump to content [s] Jump to comments [c] Jump to site navigation [0] Jump to search [4] Terms and conditions [8] Edition: UK US AU Your activity Email subscriptions Account details Linked services Sign out Profile Beta About...
Milestone in Anglo-Irish relations to include Irish leader's address to parliament during state visit Ireland's president, Michael D Higgins, has met the Queen on the first ever state visit to the UK by the country's head of state. Continue reading... ...
Michael D Higgins, Ireland's president, visits Britain on the first state trip by an Irish leader in history. He meets Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Irish embassy in London, before attending Windsor Castle with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh. The trip, along with the Queen's state visit to Ireland in 2011, signifies further progress in the two countries' relationship Continue reading......
Michael Higgins uses historic address to hail Good Friday Agreement as momentous achievement that must be built on London and Dublin have a shared responsibility to ensure that the final steps are taken towards a "lasting and creative reconciliation" in Northern Ireland, the Irish president, Michael D Higgins, said in a historic speech to a joint session of parliament. Continue reading......
Michael D Higgins told MPs and Lords that no longer would the Irish and English 'have to look at each other with doubtful eyes' The first state visit of an Irish president to London came billed as a symbolic marriage to reunite two countries with a fractured history. If so, it was a union that was greeted with varying degrees of enthusiasm from different members of the family. On the left of the aisle,...
Irish head of state Michael D Higgins makes a historic address to the British parliament, calling for 'warm, deep and enduring' ties between Ireland and Britain. Higgins says the two nations have continued to solidify their relationship since the 1998 Good Friday agreement. He also praises the Queen's trip to Ireland in 2011, but cautions that there is 'still a road to be travelled' Continue reading......
Politician, sociologist and a strong critic of republican violence during the Troubles, Higgins is far from a figurehead leader Michael D Higgins has a lack of pomp and circumstance that is in sharp contrast to the Queen, his main host for the next five days. Last year, the Irish president known affectionately as Michael D surprised his minders by dropping into a Dublin pub after noticing a Galway...