# Northern Ireland
Yesterday
30th March 2023
# Good Friday Anniversary
UK's Northern Ireland Secretary says peace 'must not be taken for granted'
MPs acknowledged the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement during a debate in the House of Commons.
This week
26th March 2023 - 31st March 2023
# biden visit
‘They can’t keep me out’: Biden vows to visit Northern Ireland despite increased terror threat
MI5 yesterday increased the terror threat level in Northern Ireland from substantial to ‘severe’.
# Terror Threat
MI5 increases terror threat level in Northern Ireland from 'substantial' to 'severe'
The Northern Ireland secretary has said ‘the public should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed’.
# Wayward shooting
Michael O’Neill rues missed chances as Northern Ireland suffer Finland setback
Benjamin Kallman’s first-half goal earned the visitors victory at Windsor Park.
Last week
19th March 2023 - 25th March 2023
Voices
Analysis: If the SDLP decline continues, Northern Ireland's politics will suffer
Ahead of the SDLP’s party conference this weekend, Emma DeSouza looks at its struggles to hold support in a polarised political landscape.
# Northern Ireland
Windsor Framework gets formal sign-off after success in House of Commons vote
The new post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland was approved at an official meeting in London.
# Northern Ireland
'No renegotiating' Windsor Framework, Heaton-Harris warns DUP
The UK’s Northern Ireland Secretary has said the new post-Brexit arrangements for the North are a done deal.
# Northern Ireland
Taoiseach is 'disappointed' with DUP's decision not to return to Stormont
Varadkar is in Brussels today for a meeting of EU leaders where the Windsor Framework will be discussed.
# Brexit
Varadkar concerned new UK visa waiver scheme will deter tourists from visiting NI
Non-Irish tourists visiting the Republic will need one of the new visa waivers to cross into Northern Ireland.
# census 2021
First Northern Ireland census to track sexual orientation finds 2.1% identify as LGB+
The latest census results focus on employment, marital status and sexual orientation.
# Northern Ireland
Windsor Framework: DUP to vote against Government on 'Stormont Brake'
Jeffrey Donaldson said that while the proposed terms represent “real progress”, it fails to address “the imposition of EU law by the Protocol”.
The first Commons vote on the EU/UK agreement on trading arrangements for Northern Ireland will take place on Wednesday.
Downing Street has said the UK government has no plans to seek changes to the deal despite the DUP's decision to oppose it.
Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill has said "the deal is done" and the onus is on all parties to get Stormont moving.
# Northern Ireland
PSNI release man held over New IRA claim for John Caldwell shooting
Detective Chief Inspector Caldwell was shot several times last month in Omagh.
# Northern Ireland
McDonald says DUP would be 'foolish' not to return to Stormont for Biden visit
The Sinn Féin leader said she was hopeful the DUP would ‘do the right thing’ and agree to the terms of the Windsor Framework.
# nostalgia for the future
Beneath green shamrocks and fluff of St Patrick's Day lies Ireland's soft power busy at work
Ireland sees cringeworthy flattery of the US as warranted if it achieves the end goal.
Last month
March 2023
# Joe Biden
PSNI arrest another man in connection with attempted murder of John Caldwell
Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell remains in a critical but stable condition.
# Tony Blair
Blair: Good Friday Agreement 'the only really successful peace process' of the past 25 years
The former UK prime minister gave an interview to AFP ahead of the 25th anniversary of the agreement.
# Ballyarnett Country Park
Man charged after dog found partially buried alive in Derry
The incident was described as ‘soul destroying’ by an animal welfare organisation.
# unity referendums
McDonald plays down significance of Sinn Féin-backed Irish unity adverts in US newspapers
The advert says the British Government continues to ‘break its obligations’.
# DUP
'Still more work to do' in addressing Windsor Framework concerns, Donaldson says
The DUP leader said the Brexit deal “does not deal with some of the fundamental problems” created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
# John Caldwell
Tenth man arrested in connection with attempted murder of PSNI detective
John Caldwell was shot in front of his young son at a football club last month.
# Invitation
Joe Biden confirms intention to visit NI and Republic for Good Friday Agreement anniversary
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said it is “very welcome news”.
# St Patrick's trips
Here's what Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin and Mary Lou McDonald will be up to in the US next week
Leo Varadkar will meet the US president in the White House on Friday.
# Brexit
Heaton-Harris: Westminster MPs to vote on new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland by end of month
The Windsor Framework reduces the amount of paperwork required to move good from Britain to Northern Ireland.
# Study
Brexit has caused challenges with cross-border travel on island of Ireland for migrants
That’s according to new researched published by the ESRI today.
# nolan show
SDLP says it's concerned over balance of BBC's 'editorial decisions' after MLA taken off-air
Matthew O’Toole and Stephen Nolan were discussing comments made last night by chair of the Loyalist Communities Council, David Campbell.
# windsor framework
Westminster to legislate to 'reassure' unionists of Northern Ireland's position in UK
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris most unionist concerns with the new post-Brexit deal relate to the Acts of Union.
# John Caldwell
PSNI restates focus on New IRA in Omagh shooting investigation after reports of loyalist arrests
An Assistant Chief Constable said people should not get “confused” with titles such as loyalism.
# Brexit
Boris Johnson says he wishes he had cut corporation tax to 'outbid the Irish' when he was PM
Johnson also challenged Rishi Sunak to cut corporation tax to ‘Irish levels or lower’.
# windsor framework
DUP will only sign up to Windsor framework if it 'safeguards the union', says Sammy Wilson
Wilson, an MP and the DUP chief whip, sharply criticised the ‘Stormont brake’ clause in the deal.
This year
2023
# windsor framework
Sunak pleads with MPs to give DUP 'time and space' to consider Brexit deal
The view of the DUP will be crucial if the deal is to help restore power-sharing at Stormont.
The British Prime Minister saoid "the last thing the public want is another Westminster drama".
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party will take its time to study the deal before coming to a conclusion on it.
Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill said "the deal is now done" and that getting Stormont up and running must now be the priority.
# bye bye protocol
Explainer: Pets, potatoes and the 'Stormont brake', what's the deal with the Windsor Framework?
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the new deal effectively removes “any sense of a border in the Irish Sea”.
Voices
Analysis: A deal on the Protocol is done but it's only now that the hard work begins
Former UK/EU negotiator Sydney Nash looks at the political wrangling ahead if the new Windsor Framework is to work.
# Northern Ireland
Joe Biden hails Protocol deal as 'essential step' in protecting Good Friday Agreement
The US president has long taken a close interest in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
# Backlash
King Charles III criticised for ‘constitutionally unwise’ tea with EU chief after Protocol deal
Former DUP leader Arlene Foster called the move ‘tone deaf’.
# Protocol
Varadkar: Talks over Northern Ireland Protocol ‘inching towards conclusion’
The Taoiseach warned, however, that there is still a ‘gap to be closed’ in the UK-EU talks.
# royally messed up
Sunak under fire for involving King Charles in Protocol negotiations
A planned meeting between the monarch and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is no longer expected to go ahead.
# John Caldwell
New IRA 'primary line of enquiry' into attempted murder of PSNI detective John Caldwell
A fifth man has been arrested by police investigating the attempted murder this evening.
# Dissidents
Explainer: The New IRA and their not-so-new belief in violent republicanism
The New IRA was formed in 2012.
# Poll
Health and economy ranked as bigger concerns than Protocol for Northern Ireland's voters
Talks have intensified to find a resolution to the Protocol dispute and get parliament functioning again in the North.
Voices
Local MLA: 'There's a black cloud over Omagh today - one we'd hoped had gone forever'
The SDLP’s Daniel McCrossan says the people of Omagh are shocked that such violence has once again visited them.
