Fifty Cent +1

Shame on you @CliveMyrieBBC - he stabbed 3 people not 2.

@richardtgarland You are right, no one Unionist or otherwise should be giving character references in support of paedophiles nevermind turning a blind eye to them. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is facing similar such charges in court on Tuesday.

Sinn Fein might be able to turn a blind eye to sex offenders, but we are not Sinn Fein. We should not tolerate sex offenders, never mind defending them or giving them character references. Anyone who disagrees with that shouldn’t be involved in politics to begin with.

The force used by a soldier in shooting three people, including a Catholic priest in Belfast in 1972, was “not reasonable”, a coroner has said. Mr Justice Scoffield said Father Noel Fitzpatrick, 42, father-of-six Patrick Butler and David McCafferty, 15, were shot dead at Westrock Drive in west Belfast at around 10pm on July 9 1972. Read more: tinyurl.com/55m567zv

Statement from The Irish News and Rodney Edwards

British Army soldiers did not use reasonable force in the shooting of a Catholic priest, a father-of-six and three teenagers in two areas of west Belfast on July 9 1972, a coroner ruled on Thursday. Mr Justice Scoffield said that Father Noel Fitzpatrick, 42, father-of-six Patrick Butler, 38, and teenagers David McCafferty and Margaret Gargan were unarmed and posed no risk when they were shot. Families, friends and supporters of the five gathered at Belfast Coroner’s Court and applauded and hugged each other as the findings were read out. Relatives of the victims reacted to the ruling outside court, with calls for the “British establishment” to apologise. 🎥 Rohit Balaji

BBC News report today on the Bloody Sunday case: Family of Bloody Sunday shooting victim gets £275,000 in damages The family of a man shot and wounded on Bloody Sunday are to receive £275,000 in damages, a High Court judge has ruled. Daniel McGowan, a father-of-nine, was left with life-changing injuries and unable to work again after being shot when the Army’s parachute regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry on 30 January 1972. Thirteen people were killed and 15 injured. The father-of-nine, who died in 2004 at the age of 69, was said to have suffered psychological trauma similar to Vietnam War veterans. The judge, Mr Justice Rooney, held that part of the payout is to cover the wrongful actions of British paratroopers who opened fire in the city. “The deceased was exposed to humiliation and degradation and the soldiers behaved in a malicious and oppressive manner,” he said. An initial inquiry into the shootings, the Widgery Tribunal, cleared the soldiers of blame and was derided as a whitewash by the victims’ families. In 2010 the Saville Inquiry into the shootings found that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting. The British Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, issued a public apology for the soldiers’ actions and described the killings as “unjustified and unjustifiable”. A number of compensation cases have already seen the Ministry of Defence pay out significant amounts to those bereaved or injured. The case brought by Daniel McGowan’s estate centred on a dispute over the scale of the compensation. He attended the civil rights march as a 37-year-old, while his wife was pregnant with her ninth child. McGowan was shot in the leg close to the Rossville Flats area, the court heard, with the inquiry finding it “highly probable” that Soldier F was the paratrooper responsible. He lay wounded at the scene for about an hour before being taken to hospital and undergoing repeated surgeries. Due to the injuries he was unable to return to his job as a maintenance operator in the local Du Pont factory. He later began drinking heavily and suffered from anxiety, neurosis and depression. With McGowan believed to have also witnessed others being shot and killed, a consultant psychiatrist likened the consequences to the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) developed after US troops returned from the Vietnam War. Lawyers for the family argued that the pay-out should reflect both his wrongful vilification and the loss of earnings when his life fell apart after Bloody Sunday. The court was told McGowan’s death meant he never got to experience the exoneration and vindication of the Saville findings. “His sense of grievance was essentially life-long,” Karen Quinlivan KC said. Ruling on the claim, Mr Justice Rooney highlighted the victim’s “impeccable good character and work ethic”. He was never involved in any form of criminal or paramilitary activity and had no political affiliations. The judge also highlighted how Daniel McGowan was unable to play football or take part in other activities after Bloody Sunday. A lawyer for the family, Fearghal Shiels, said the outcome was a final vindication of his innocence. “Danny McGowan was a loving husband, father and keen and proud breadwinner for his large but young family. “The impact of his unlawful shooting, which the Bloody Sunday Inquiry found was most likely caused by Soldier F, had profound and everlasting implications for all of his family.”

Springhill Inquest Findings: None of the victims posed a threat. All were aimed shots. All represented unreasonable force by the British Army. Father Noel Fitzpatrick and father of 6 Patrick Butler were killed by the same bullet. All killings were violations of British Army's own Yellow Card rules. John Dougal (16yrs): shot by Soldier A while running away and trying to find cover, he may have been armed but Coroner declared that irrelevant. Father Noel Fitzpatrick: was shot by Soldier A while trying to minister to injured/dead/dying. The British soldier would have seen that he was unarmed. Patrick Butler: was shot and killed by Soldier A while he was assisting Father Fitzpatrick. The British soldier would have seen he was unarmed. David McCafferty (14yrs): was killed by Soldier A while trying to retrieve Father Fitzpatrick's body. The British soldier would have seen he was unarmed. Margaret Gargan (13yrs): was unarmed and posed no threat when killed by Solider E. Our sincere thoughts and gratitude are with these extraordinary families this evening. They have borne unmerciful hardship and trauma. Their courage in the face of the British state's impunity has been truly inspiring.

Springhill Inquest findings: The Coroner finds that all 5 of the deceased were shot by soldiers from 1st Kings Regiment, firing from Corry’s yard, in breach of yellow card and that force used by soldiers was unreasonable!

UPDATE: Three people shot dead in west Belfast in 1972 posed "no threat to anyone", judge says. bbc.in/3OPiLc4

Mary Lou McDonald commends Springhill/Westrock families on their steadfast pursuit of truth "Their determination and courage has ensured that the events of 9 July 1972 are now openly acknowledged." sinnfein.ie/news/mary-lou-…

@Toibin1 @Pmacgiollabhain Well done 👏

Good news!! Aontú Bill to extend voting rights in Presidential elections to Irish citizens in the north of Ireland passes 2nd statge. rte.ie/news/politics/…

The Government has said it will not oppose Aontú's bill which would extend voting rights for Irish presidential elections to all Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland rte.ie/news/politics/…

@Sarahjdublin @mcdiesel88 Better than most of us.

Truly one of the best of us

James Molyneaux was right.

@irish_news N Ireland is not workable but for as long as it exists it is crucial that Sinn Fein and Nationalism is at the helm. Every passing year the demographics change, more elections are won while GB tears itself apart There is no rush, we are here and time will take care of it. 50%+1

Brian Feeney: It’s time for Sinn Féin to give up on this failing Assembly irishnews.com/opinion/brian-…

@NewtonEmerson @williamcrawley Trump effect > Brexit effect

@caf1888 @williamcrawley The US figures were worse!

A former Obama administration official writes:

@NewtonEmerson @williamcrawley UK healthy life expectancy falls by two years in past decade - BBC News bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@williamcrawley "something close to national suicide" is idiotic hyperbole.

@irish_news N Ireland is not workable but for as long as it exists it is crucial that Sinn Fein and Nationalism is at the helm. Every passing year the demographics change, more elections are won and GB tears itself apart. There is no rush, we are here and time will take care of it. 50%+1

"Now, here’s the question. Since the DUP refuse to operate the structures of the Good Friday Agreement, which admittedly they’ve always opposed, what is the point of the Stormont Assembly if it can’t deliver anything but provoke ridicule from people here? "Yes, Sinn Féin will be the largest party next year. And what? Will the DUP behave any differently? "They might even behave worse, because the TUV will win more seats." Read Brian Feeney: tinyurl.com/3tcxjmzn

@JimAllister Dry your eyes with a heat pump drier Jimbo!

Welcome to the Alice and Wonderland World of Starmer’s EU Reset | Parliament Politics Magazine parliamentnews.co.uk/welcome-to-the… We are seeing the EU Reset, NI Trojan Horse Dynamic, played out in advance of the formal reset with new legislation banning conventional tumble dryers in GB currently before Parliament (as we have previously with vehicle type approval). This follows the EU banning conventional tumble dryers in NI last year. Since 1 July we have been forced to buy heat pump tumble dryers which are more expensive to purchase and can only operate at ambient temperatures, requiring people who locate their tumble dryers in the garage or outhouse to heat it. Jim Allister calls out the Government attempt to use the failure to provide Brexit in Northern Ireland as an excuse to justify sabotaging Brexit in GB, in the article above, stating: ‘I am not prepared to sit back and allow the Government the opportunity of using the failure to provide Brexit for Northern Ireland to justify sabotaging Brexit in Great Britain. It is bad enough that the biggest democratic vote in the history of our country should have been sabotaged in one part of the UK, let alone that it should now be sabotaged in the rest of the UK.’ Jim has tabled a motion to annul the attempt to export the disenfranchisement of Northern Ireland to Great Britain. He concludes: ‘the only way forward is for the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to come together and make it clear to the EU that we are no longer prepared to be subject to their policy of divide and rule and that the whole United Kingdom must be afforded Brexit.’ Please encourage MPs to sign ahead of prorogation. ‘That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information (Household Tumble Dryers) Regulations 2026 (SI, 2026, No. 318), dated 19 March 2026, a copy of which was laid before this House on 19 March 2026, be annulled.’ edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…

My god, unionism really, really misses the IRA. Jim Molyneaux was right, but he didn’t know the half of it.