Dissidents force cabbie to deliver ‘bomb’
Monday, 12 October 2009 A taxi driver was ordered to drive a suspected bomb to Strabane courthouse during a night of violence in the Co Tyrone town. Four dissident republicans carrying handguns stopped the man on Townsend Street late on Friday night. They threatened him before ordering him to transport what they described as a “bomb” to the courthouse. The man drove a short distance before abandoning his car and running away. Army technical experts who examined the device overnight later declared it a hoax. Police also revealed they came under petrol bomb attack in Meeting House Street. No one was inj

Shoukri pals confident of parole vote
Monday, 12 October 2009 Fomer North Belfast UDA leader Andre Shoukri has been cleared for parole release by the Prison Service. Friends of the 32-year-old former UDA Brigadier say it’s now up to the Northern Ireland Office to signal that he can join the pre-release parole scheme. Shoukri’s sidekick John ‘Bonzer’ Boreland has already been allowed a 48-hour parole from Maghaberry Prison where he’s serving a nine-year sentence for blackmail, intimidation and the possession of an imitation or real firearm. Boreland, from north Belfast, was released for 48 hours last month and spent most of his time in the Newtowna

Questions remain over INLA weapons arsenal
Questions remain over INLA weapons arsenalMonday, 12 October 2009 Republican paramilitaries who yesterday announced an end to a 35 year campaign of violence in Northern Ireland must now decommission their weapons, the government said last night. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) responsib

4,000-year-old arrowhead found in Burren excavation
Thursday, September 17, 2009GORDON DEEGANARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE discovered evidence of what could be the oldest habitation site in the Burren dating back 4,500 years at Caherconnell.Director of the dig, Graham Hull said yesterday that the team of archaeologists “were whooping and jumping up and down at the discovery of a stone arrowhead”.He said: “We didn’t even have to carbon date it. We knew instantly that the arrowhead is a time marker and dates to approximately 2500 BC”.The arrowhead was found by archaeologist Anita Pinagli and Mr Hull said the discovery “was the star find of the dig”. He said: “The remains of a post-bui

Twist in city's name change debate
Equality Commission wades into row between Derry v Londonderry By Angela Sammon - 30/09/09The Equality Commission has recommended that Derry City Council halt plans to change the name of the Maiden City from Londonderry to Derry.The long running debate over the name of the city took another twist last week when the Equality Commission published the findings of its report into an equality impact assessment on the proposals carried out by Derry City Council.The Equality Commission said it recognises that the argument over the name is “deeply resonant of the history of Northern Ireland and touches on some of the fundamental issues