PSNI/RUC are not only Misogynistic they are Racist and also Sectarian and they should face public 'misconduct hearings' in court and be named and shamed why should they be protected after conviction?

Changes to police disciplinary processes should be considered, including holding officer misconduct hearings in public, a review by the Policing Board has suggested.

The Policing Board said it was aware of the difficulties public hearings would pose in the North of Ireland 

It follows cases of sexual harassment and misogyny highlighted by the media.

The board has written to the Department of Justice (DoJ) making a number of recommendations which would require legislative change.

It also urged the police to make "better use" of its sacking powers.

Following a review of professional standards, the board has made six recommendations for improvement.

The actions of the PSNI officer in this sickening act can only be described as utterly depraved and pure sectarianism 

They included having disciplinary panels chaired by a legally-qualified person, instead of an assistant chief constable, as happens presently.

PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said the report and recommendations were welcomed and had highlighted a "number of areas where changes to the current police misconduct systems will improve performance" as well as helping to improve public confidence in policing.

The board also stated holding proceedings in public, as happens in other parts of the UK, "should be explored".

It said: "This can be beneficial in sending out a clear message to other officers and the public on what behaviour is expected of officers and also the sanctions imposed.

"Whilst there is no doubt as to the benefits of hearings in public, the board is aware of the difficulties this would pose in Northern Ireland."

The board also recommended the police make "better use" of existing powers to dismiss new recruits if behavioural issues arise during their probationary periods.

It called for quicker disciplinary processes and for investment in the police professional standards department.

The board noted there had been recent improvement around vetting procedures.

▪️PSNI sexual misconduct 'not taken seriously enough' 

▪️Almost 40 officers investigated over sex complaints

The review followed concerns raised within the police and by the media.

It made reference to the case of Sinead McGrotty, a civilian employed by the police, who said she was let down after making allegations of sexual assault against an officer.

BBC Northern Ireland's Spotlight programme also exposed a group of 20 officers who were exchanging sexist, pornographic and racist messages. exchanging sexist, pornographic and racist messages.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme, Ms McGrotty said the police misconduct system "has to be modernised". 

She welcomed the review's recommendation to replace the assistant Chief Constable as chair of misconduct hearings. 

The police officer in Sinead McGrotty's case was fined £250 after accepting an allegation of inappropriate touching 

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has also been engaged in an internal review of vetting and whistle-blowering arrangements in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard in London.

The chair of the Policing Board Doug Garrett said: "The board is mindful of the negative impact this issue has had on both public confidence in policing and the reputation of the PSNI.

"In the course of this review, the board has recognised the significant efforts being made by the PSNI leadership to make sure all police staff are aware of the standards and behaviours expected within the service."

Mark Hamilton added the board had acknowledged the work police had already carried out in "raising awareness within the service of the standards and behaviours expected of our officers and staff".

"The Police Service of Northern Ireland expects the highest standards of professionalism and integrity from all of our police officers and staff," the deputy chief constable said.

He said breaches of the law and the code would be "thoroughly investigated and robustly dealt with" in accordance with the police procedures.

"We are currently considering the recommendations for improvement made by the board and we will work with them to set out our implementation plan moving forward," he added.

Liam Kelly, from the Police Federation for Northern Ireland, said the recommendation to explore holding disciplinary hearings in public would expose officers to unacceptable risks.

He said there are "some meaningful and sensible steps that could be taken to expedite hearings", but "the recommendation to ape what happens in England and Wales simply isn't a runner".

"Only recently, we witnessed an attack on two young officers in Strabane and a further cowardly attempt on colleagues in Derry-Londonderry," he added.

He said the representative body was "willing to engage with the Policing Board and the PSNI to devise and implement steps that are progressive and are not fanciful".

With many thanks to: BBC News NI and Julian O'Neill (NI Home Affairs Correspondent) for the original story. 

MORE ON THIS STORY... 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: PSNI/RUC officers exchange sexist, pornographic and sectarian and racist messages, Spotlight reveals

No prosecutions despite PSNI’s anti-corruption probe into 99 officers and members of staff

Another PSNI/RUC officer arrested on Tuesday in Belfast this time over an alleged payment for sexual services

Police misconduct hearings 'should be in public'

DUP's Edwin Poots Stands Accused Of Gerrymandering Over Protocol Letter Lobbying The British Government Into Diluting The NI Protocol Bill

MR Poots publicly has suggested that he'd rather "eat grass" than be pressurised financially to accept the NI Protocol and has been accused of "talking out of both sides of his mouth" after it emerged the former DUP leader had lobbied the British goverenment to change the NI Protocol Bill.

It has emerged Mr Poots wrote to the British government last year in his role as Stormont Agricultural Minister, describing a plan to dissapply an approach to farmers' subsidies resulting from the protocol as "unacceptable". The proposed change is contained in the British government's NI Protocol Bill to override the controversial arrangement that keeps the north under EU single market rules.

The ex-DUP leader had spoken to the "significant policy flexibility" the protocol offered farmers in the north, despite the party’s demands that the protocol be scrapped in order for the party to end its boycott of Stormont. The letter has led to accusations of "cherry-picking" by Mr Poots who claimed he had "reasonably suggested one change" to the British government legislation that is currently making its way through Westminster.

Sinn Féin's North Belfast MP John Finucane said: "The DUP are talking from both sides of their mouth on the protocol."

The Financial Times reported that Mr Poots, in his role as Stormont agriculture minister in July 2021, wrote to the then-UK environment secretary George Eustice to say it was "unacceptable" that farmers in the north would be forced to accept the same agricultural subsidiary regime as the rest of Britain.

Mr Poots, himself a farmer, said the letter that state aid arrangements in the protocol provided "significant policy flexibility", and said the NI Protocol Bill was "proposing to disapply the approach to subsidy control" - a move he described as "unacceptable".

This is despite the DUP expressing public support for the bill, and refusing to nominate ministers to a Stormont Executive due to the protocol.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson MP has warned that next year's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was likely to pass without an Executive in place unless the protocol - which was agreed by the UK and EU in the 2019 Brexit Withdrawal Agreement - was scrapped.

The UK and EU are continuing negotiations to secure changes to the protocol, but the protocol itself will remain, and the British government have been urging the DUP to return to Stormont in the meantime. 

'FORMER DUP LEADER SAID FARMERS IN NI SHOULD NOT BE FORCED INTO THE REST OF UK's SUBSIDIARY REGIME' 

The revelation over the letter suggesting the UK keeps part of the protocol's outworkings has led to Mr Poots defending his stance, telling the Financial Times that he "reasonably suggested one change which would maximise Britain's ability to use state aid under World Trade Organisation (WHO) rules".

He added: "If the NI Protocol Bill were to be progressed as currently drafted, that would remove the EU State Aid framework and bring NI agriculture within scope of the UK domestic subsidy control regime.

"That imposes a different set of requirements and the agricultural policy framework would need to be assessed in light of this different regime."

However, following a move by NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to cut MLA pay in the absence of an executive earlier this month, Mr Poots said his party’s protocol stance was "not a matter of being financially insulated".

He said: "It's an issue that if we have to eat grass, then we'll eat grass. It's that important to us."

Sinn Féin has suggested Mr Poots's letter shows double standards over the protocol, and urged the party to end its "cruel boycott of the Executive" that has "punished workers and families". 

North Belfast MP John Finucane said: "The DUP have blocked an executive being formed now for six months and told people that the protocol needed to be scrapped in its entirety. 

"Now Edwin Poots, a so-called fierce critic of the Protocol, is lobbying to amend the Tory protocol bill to protect parts of the protocol because of its benefits for farmers. 

"This is the same DUP that originally welcomed the protocol as a gateway of opportunity and then got spooked by opinion polls into railing against it. Edwin Poots himself was minister in the department implementing border control checks for over a year before trying to halt them. The DUP are talking from both sides of their mouth on the protocol."

With many thanks to the: Irish News and Paul Ainsworth (and Pa) for the original publication. 

Follow this link to find out more on this story: DUP Lies Won't let Protocol facts get in way of Brexit devotion

HIDING | Michelle O’Neill says serving under a Sinn Féin First Minister is the real reason behind DUP boycott

DUP accused of “talking out of both sides of its mouth” after Poots protocol letter

UVF | READY FOR WAR - FORMER ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT SOLDIER WHEN HE WAS CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES HIS RAP SHEET READ TO BE USED TO "ENDANGER LIFE OR PROPERTY IN THE UK OR REPUBLIC OF IRELAND"!

        EXCLUSIVE PICTURES OF UVF                                   ACCUSED

      Loaded pistols and primed pipe-            bombs apparently were to be                       used by East Belfast UVF                            against rival drug gang

A UVF weapons haul discovered by police was apparently for immediate use in attacks on a rival drug-dealing gang which was refusing to pay protection money to the terrorist organisation.

Both security forces and loyalist paramilitary sources say that is why some of the eight recovered handguns were loaded and the three pipe-bombs were primed. Four suspected East Belfast UVF members (pictured below) have appeared in court charged with possessing the stash - former soldiers Bryce Pounder (34) and Noel Bambrick (49), and brothers William Baker (51) and Robin Baker (49). They deny any wrongdoing.

ABOVE: Bryce Pounder ex-squaddie Welsh Regiment former rifleman 

ABOVE: Noel Bambrick ex-squaddie former Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldier 

ABOVE: William Baker one of two brothers arrested in the PSNI crackdown on the East Belfast UVF last week 

A senior figure in the terrorist organisation told the Sunday Life: "The fact the guns were loaded means they were about to be used. There is no doubt about that, and the guns and armunation would have been stored separately. "This is normal procedure as it ensures that if the guns are found by the PSNI, a person can only be charged with possession, and not the more serious possession with intent to endanger life, which is what those four boys have been charged with.

"The same goes for pipe-bombs - you don't make them and then leave them sitting around. They are nearly always made a few days before they are used."

UVF jumpers and beanie hats recovered in one the planned raids in the home of a former RIR British soldier 

This assessment from UVF insiders backs up what PSNI sources told the Sunday Life - that the handguns and explosives were to be used in drug-dealing and extortion rackets (if that is to be believed). However, sections of the loyalist paramilitary gang have played down claims that the East Belfast UVF unit is 'tooling up' in anticipation of a feud with a rival gang. Two major underworld figures - one a former UVF hitman and the other a hard-as-nails street-fighter - have some time been muscling in on criminal rackets in east Belfast.

                        FEARSOME 

Both, who cannot be named because they are before the courts on serious criminal charges, have fearsome reputations and a major axe to grind with the UVF leadership in the area. It has been strongly suggested that a possible confrontation with the gang is the reason why the East Belfast UVF pooled together eight handguns and three pipe-bombs but it could also be they were preparing for some other immenient attack. 

       One of the fully loaded handguns               recovered in the planned raids on                          the UVF suspects 

But this has been downplayed by other UVF members who claim the arms haul was to be used in anti-protocol attacks. However, PSNI chiefs rejact this and insist the guns and explosives were to target their own community. 

Tellingly, when former Army rifleman Bryce Pounder appeared in Belfast Magistrates Court last Monday charged with possessing the weapons, his rap sheet read they were to be used to "endanger life or property in the UK or Republic of Ireland". This supports the notion that they could have been for anti-protocol violence as loyalist paramilitary terrorists have threatened to target Irish government buildings on both sides of the border.

   RECOVERED: Wembley revolver with                      a fully loaded magazine 

Details of the major policing operation that led to the find were revealed in court, including how officers from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force unearthed the weapons after first raiding Noel Bambrick's home at Connswater Grove. Inside they discovered a Wembley revolver loaded with six bullets, pipe-bomb components and UVF jumpers and flags. 

Bambrick, who previously served with the disbanded Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) a British Army unit exclusive to NI only. He denied any knowledge of the pipe-bomb device and disputed that the revolver recovered was a real firearm. He said the UVF jumpers were connected to an event to commemorate the contribution made to loyalism by the late Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) leader David Ervine.

   One of the pipe-bombs recovered from     both of the homes of the former British                             soldiers 

Follow-up searches of Bryce Pounder's apartment another former British soldier with the Welsh Regiment, uncovered a pipe-bomb, handgun, silencer and assorted ammunition. Some of the material was found in a schoolbag and a holdall under the bed. 

Pounder, who was arrested at another address, told police that menacing individuals instructed him to keep the holdall after he had amassed an £1,800 drug debt.

        Former PUP leader David Ervine 

A third raid at a house shared by brothers William and Robin Baker led to the discovery of a large quantity of ammunition, two pipe-bombs and two smoke grenades. The weapons were found stored behind plasterboard in a void between the living room and kitchen area.

During police interviews, William Baker claimed he had been given a bag of items to hold onto as a favour after problems with a neighbour holding all-night parties was resolved.

He also denied his brother Robin Baker, who was described in court as vulnerable, knew anything about the haul. 

All four defendants were remanded in custody on charges of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and in suspicious circumstances. The Baker brothers and Pounder are further accused of having explosives with intent to endanger life.

Loyalist sources have described the loss of the eight handguns and three pipe-bombs as a "body blow" to the East Belfast UVF. The pistols, they claim, would account for a significant proportion of the gang’s weaponry in the lower Newtownards Road area. Crucially though, the haul found by police does not include modern guns bought recently from Dublin-linked gangsters.

Last month senior UVF sources told the Sunday Life the organisation was reviewing the "basis" for its ceasefire, saying that "talk of joint authority has pushed the organisation to the edge". This followed warnings from the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), which includes representatives of the UVF, UDA and the Red Hand Commando, about there being "dire consequences" if there was no movement on the protocol.

With many thanks to the: Sunday Life and Ciaran Barnes (Chief Reporter) for the original publication.

Follow these links to find out more on this story: East Belfast UVF: First pictures of gun accused amid feud fears

'Significant' arms and ammunition find in another major blow against the East Belfast UVF

East Belfast UVF: Four charged after gun pipe bomb seizures but not one has been charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation?

East Belfast UVF: Four charged after gun pipe bomb seizures but not one has been charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation?

Four men have been charged after a pre-planned operation targeting the East Belfast UVF on Friday night. But no one has been charged with belonging to a proscribed organisation. 

               IMAGE SOURCE, PSNI 

Two vehicles were also seized during the searches as well a large quantity of assorted ammunition, balaclavas and UVF flags

                IMAGE SOURCE, PSNI 

Police seized eight handguns and three pipe bombs during searches in the lower Newtownards Road area.

The men face a number of charges including possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm and ammunition in suspicious circumstances.

               IMAGE SOURCE, PSNI 

They remain in custody to appear before Belfast Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The operation involved searches of three residential properties and one business premises.

                IMAGE SOURCE, PSNI 

Police seized eight handguns and three pipe bombs

On Sunday, police confirmed the 51-year-old, 47-year-old and 34-year-old have also been charged with possession of explosives in suspicious circumstances and possession of explosives with intent to endanger life.

While, the 49-year-old man has been charged with possession of articles for use in terrorism.

Two vehicles were also seized during the searches as well a large quantity of assorted ammunition, balaclavas and UVF flags.

The searches led to two security alerts, that required homes to be evacuated in the Connswater Grove area and near the Skainos Centre.

With many thanks to: BBC News NI for the original story. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: DUP has been urged to end all engagement with the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) after warning letter

Major drop in Terrorism Act charge rate in loyalist paramilitary activities in the North of Ireland

East Belfast UVF investigation leads to discovery of handguns and pipe bombs

East Belfast UVF: Four charged after gun pipe bomb seizures

'Them 'Un's' complaining that the PSNI/RUC are picking on them over a new mural on Shankill Road honouring a UVF granny-killer

The PSNI has failed to say why it has apparently singled out one UVF terrorist mural memorial – out of countless terror memorials across NI - for a criminal investigation.

    It was revealed this week that a new          UVF mural in the Shankill Road area          of Belfast is being examined by police 

The mural (pictured above) depicts two identified UVF members holding guns, as well as a poppy wreath.

Police told the BBC they were "currently examining the circumstances surrounding the erection of the mural".

After the PSNI said they are investigating a new UVF mural on the Shankill Road, Victims campaigner Kenny Donaldson drew attention to loyalist and republican murals all across Northern Ireland. 

      Pictured is a memorial honouring              fallen IRA volunteer Tony Ahern Close              to Rosslea in Co Fermanagh 

Ann Masterson is the daughter-in-law of Elizabeth Masterson, a woman killed by one of the men on the mural.

She said she was "gutted" by the new feature.

Initially, the PSNI described the mural as abhorrent but said that, in its assessment, it did not constitute an offence, the BBC reported.

Coggle burning the United Ireland banner 

However, in an updated statement on Thursday morning, the PSNI said it was looking at the circumstances around the creation of the mural.

"The police service do not need to speak to the PPS to establish if something is a crime," a PSNI spokesperson said. "However, we do regularly consult with the PPS for pre-prosecutorial advice.

"Our own legal advice and previous experience of murals of this type is what has led us to our assessment."

Winston 'Winkie' Irvine attending Coggles funeral 

However Kenny Donaldson, director for victims group the South East Fermanagh Foundation, said: "We are not questioning the PSNI's decision to investigate a mural on the Shankill road which glorifies the UVF and its' personnel; individuals who were terrorists and criminals, that is the correct course of action.

"But we are certainly now challenging the PSNI to examine the dozens of murals and memorial dotted across our cities, towns, villages and wider countryside which promote and eulogise other organisations and terrorists, loyalist and republican.

"This is the first known occasion where the PSNI have taken such a step… they need to move very quickly to quell claims that they are in any way policing in a partisan way.”

Twice on Friday the News Letter asked the PSNI for confirmation of the status of the investigation and whether republican terrorist murals or memorials along the border would also be subject to the same criminal standards. The PSNI said it may comment on Monday.

With many thanks to the: News Letter and Philip Bradfield for the original story.

Follow this link to find out more on this story:

MP vouched for UVF sectarian killer Coggle in court

UVF mural on Shankill Road: PSNI silent on reasons for singling out one memorial out of hundreds across NI belonging to IRA, INLA, UDA and RHC

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/crime/uvf-mural-on-shankill-road-psni-silent-on-reasons-for-singling-out-one-memorial-out-of-hundreds-across-ni-belonging-to-ira-inla-uda-and-rhc-3924468

'Significant' arms and ammunition find in another major blow against the East Belfast UVF

Eight firearms, a large quantity of ammunition and three pipe bombs have been seized in what has been termed as a "significant" police operation into paramilitary activity in Belfast.

                   Photo Credit: PSNI 

         Saturday 19th November, 2022. 

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill said it was part of a long-running pre-planned operation against the East Belfast UVF.

Four searches were carried out at a number of residential properties and one business premises in the lower Newtownards Road area, and four men aged 34, 47, 49 and 51 years, were arrested.

The men were taken to Musgrave Serious Crime suite for questioning.

   East Belfast UVF balaclavas recovered 

Two vehicles, balaclavas and UVF emblems and flags were also seized during the searches.

The firearms were described as pistols. All the seizures are to be tested, but are being treated by police as working weapons.

        One of the primed 'Pipe Bombs'                recovered from the scene. Credit:                                      PSNI 

There was a security operation in areas of east Belfast on Friday evening into the early hours of Saturday while the searches were ongoing.

Det Supt Hill, who is the head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Organised Crime Branch, said the storage of the explosive devices meant that roads had to be closed and local people evacuated during the operation.

"We would like to thank the public for their patience as we managed this operation," he said.

"The storing of these weapons in this residential area also demonstrates the reckless actions of paramilitaries who don't care who they cause harm to or disrupt, or put at risk.

"East Belfast UVF continues to be involved in a range of paramilitary crime, including violence, intimidation, money laundering and drug dealing causing harm to their own communities.

"The Paramilitary Crime Task Force remains committed to the relentless pursuit of East Belfast UVF to tackle the harm they pose to local people."

He added: "I feel this is a very significant find that denies East Belfast UVF and paramilitaries the opportunities to cause harm to the local communities by us taking it off the streets."

With many thanks to: UTV News for the original story. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: East Belfast UVF chief Stephen 'Mackers' Matthews named in blackmail court case.

East Belfast UVF investigation leads to discovery of handguns and pipe bombs

'Significant' guns and ammunition find in police operation against east Belfast UVF

DUP only damaging itself through desire to shift the goalposts on Irish unity and this episode confirms Jamie Bryson's role in directing DUP policy

Ian Paisley’s fantasy legislation only continues party’s trend of weakening the Union as perception grows that reunification is looking more likely

        DUP's Ian Óg Paisley (defending          demockracy) the unDemocratic Unionist                               Party 

Belfast artist Brian John Spencer’s take on DUP MP Ian Paisley’s suggestion of a border poll supermajority bill

     Ian Óg moving the goalposts again

The most compelling reason to believe that Irish unity might happen is not that nationalists are likely to win a border poll, but that a hapless unionism might lose it. 

Ian Paisley Jr is not a stupid man, but this week he set out a monumentally stupid idea.

Ian Paisley Jr is not a stupid man, but this week he set out a monumentally stupid idea. In attempting to strengthen the Union, he weakened it - just as the DUP has been doing for years. The episode confirms Jamie Bryson's role in directing DUP policy.

(2) Cartoon of Ian Paisley's hapless attempt to move the goalposts on Irish unity drawn yesterday at very short notice by the outstandingly talented @brianjohnspencr.

▪️Read more: Follow this link to read Sam McBride's Tweet

Ian Paisley’s fantasy legislation only continues party’s trend of weakening the Union as perception grows that reunification is looking more likely. 

DUP only damaging itself through desire to shift the goalposts on Irish unity

Conservative and Unionist Party leader Rishi Sunak is invited to London premier of controversial DUP musical

We’d love to see PM at the London premiere, says composer behind play based on infamous Robinson interview

     Abomination: a DUP Opera received            rave reviews during runs in Belfast                    and Dublin earlier this year 

             November 13th, 2022. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been invited to the London premiere of a controversial musical focusing on the DUP and Iris Robinson’s views on homosexuality.

   Rishi Sunak leader of the Conservative                      and Unionist Party 

It’s heading to London’s prestigious Southbank Arts Centre, which is planning an extensive exhibition related to Northern Ireland, next May.

Other dates and venues have been discussed for the musical, which has been described as a fusion of opera, drag, cabaret and satire.

It was written for the Belfast Ensemble by the Lurgan-born composer Conor Mitchell, who previously wrote a requiem for the Disappeared.

      Iris Robinson: Wife of former DUP                       leader Peter Robinson 

He composed the DUP musical in the wake of Mrs Robinson describing homosexuality as an “abomination” during an episode of Stephen Nolan’s BBC Radio Ulster show in 2008.

The interview, which followed a vicious assault on a 27-year-old gay man by three youths in Co Antrim, reignited a fierce debate over gay rights and marriage equality.

Mitchell’s libretto features a verbatim quote from the radio segment combined with other statements by members of the DUP, including MP Sammy Wilson, who once said of gay people: “They are poofs. I don’t care if they are ratepayers. As far as I am concerned, they are perverts.”

  Sinn Féin fully supported Gay marriage       and marched side-by-side in support        of all communities in support with them 

A reviewer from the Irish Times who saw the show at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin wrote: “Abomination: a DUP Opera is a magnificent musical rendition of hate speech, hate speech that has destroyed lives, legitimised violence and oppressed LGBT+ people for centuries.

“There is no let-up in this production. There is no redemption. At the end of the opera, ultimately the DUP prevails, as they still do.”

Mitchell said he was looking forward to the musical’s new run in England.

“We’re very excited about the prospect of putting Abomination on in London,” he added.

“We’re all passionately committed to the musical and its important messages.

“We’re hoping that Mr Sunak and other politicians will take up our invitation to see Abomination, assuming of course that he’s still prime minister come next May.”

Mitchell’s reputation as a composer has been soaring. Only last week, his newest musical Propaganda, about the Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1949, finished a month-long run at the Lyric in Belfast, where it played to packed and enthusiastic houses.

He has had works commissioned by the Lyric and the National Theatre in London, and he has also received an award for best score in the New York Musical Theatre.

Soft Cell’s Mark Almond performed one of Conor’s song cycles in the UK.

The composer, who has written for productions in South Africa, Sweden and Scotland, also collaborated with the acclaimed English writer and actor Mark Ravenhill on a number of projects, as well as working with the award-winning English actor Simon Callow, who appeared in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

The only problem facing the Belfast Ensemble on its visit to London is that one of the nights it is staging Abomination coincides with the coronation of King Charles.

With hotels increasing their prices by as much as 300 percent as a result, finding accommodation for the 11 performers and the 16-strong orchestra is proving difficult.

The DUP did not respond to requests for a comment about the musical.

With many thanks to the: Sunday Life and Ivan Little for the original story. 

Follow this link to find out more on this story: Rishi Sunak invited to London premier of controversial DUP musical

DUP councillors storm out of council meeting in 'protest' during Taoiseach invitation to Newry debate

"I will not be voting for or against this, I will be abstaining due to the inconsistency shown here tonight"

     REMEMBER: Not so very long ago              Taoiseach Micheál Martin being                  warned at a 'Peace Conference' in               the north of a bomb threat from                 UVF terrorists after armed men                    hijacked a van on the loyalist                      Shankill Road. Where was the                  condemnation from the DUP then? 

                8th November, 2022. 

Angered DUP members stormed out of a council meeting in "protest" during a debate on inviting the Taoiseach to Newry.

A notice of motion was brought forward by Cllr Gary Stokes of the SDLP to invite Irish premier Micheál Martin due to EU funding being spent in the district, which was then discussed in the chambers on Monday night.

The DUP (unDemocratic Unionist Party) is drowning in racism and anti-Catholic attitudes from its leadership and all the way through its MLA's. As can be seen through their combined comments listed above🖕🖕🖕

Earlier during the same meeting, Cllr Alan Lewis, DUP, had put forward his own notice to request funding for public celebrations for the coronation of King Charles III.

Read more: DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson met Jamie Bryson before ending protocol talks 

Read more: DUP leader downplays relationship with Jamie Bryson

This matter was sent to the good relations committee by council chairman, Michael Savage (SDLP) to be considered and not given time for discussion at the full council meeting.

         Who really calls the shots at the                       leadership of the DUP? 

Disorder in the chambers grew as it was suggested there was a potential that Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald could be Taoiseach by the time an invitation was made, with the SDLP promoting the motion "no matter who it is".

Mournes DUP councillor, Glyn Hanna said: "I will not be voting for or against this, I will be abstaining due to the inconsistency shown here tonight at the council and in protest, we will be leaving the chambers.

"Cllr Alan Lewis proposed a motion earlier tonight and it was sent to good relations and so should this."

Fellow unionist, Cllr David Taylor (UUP) also alluded to his suspicions on the motion.

He said: "I will not be supporting this tonight. There has been no real detail given and I am not sure of the purpose of this or why it is being done.

"The UK government spends a lot of money here and there are no invites being made, it feels like there is a bit of politics at play."

The council chairman clarified his position after all DUP members became unresponsive at the hybrid meeting.

Cllr Savage said: "These two motions are not akin, they are two different matters.

      Ian Óg trying his best to move the             goalposts but forgetting we're now              playing on level playing fields and              some of them belong to the GAA! 

"One is about costings and the other is just an invitation. I can't understand the DUP's rationale on this.

"As chairman, I seek legal guidance from officials and I make the decisions where motions go."

With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Donal McMahon for the original story. 

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