MITTS-TAKE | Belfast’s controversial Blair twins tipped for Walter Mitty 'honour' over RUC claims

The Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ say they expose people who make false claims about their time in the service. 

A group which ‘hunts’ ex-forces ‘Walter Mittys’ have revealed that twins from Belfast who claim to be former members of RUC Special Branch are favourites to win ‘Walt of the Year 2022’.

The Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ say they expose people who make false claims about their service because their actions “causes distress and anger for veterans and their families”.

Last month the Sunday Worldrevealed how twins Robert (Bobby) and Joseph Blair had come on the radar of the Walter Mitty Hunters Club after claiming they had been Special Branch RUC officers in 1982, fighting republican terrorists of the IRA and INLA.

For years the Blair have been attending veterans' marches and protests and organised campaigns to help former servicemen and women who suffer from PTSD. 

But as revealed here, the Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ (WMHCHQ) don’t believe they have ever served a day in the RUC and they compiled a dossier of evidence to call them out.

The dossier includes a timeline which, they say, doesn’t fit, medals which they say couldn’t have been awarded to them and the fact one of them sports a ‘Special Branch NI’ tattoo on his arm – something, they say, no real Special Branch officer would ever do.

Joe Blair has a tattoo of Special Branch on his left arm

◾Campaigning twins who claim they are ex-RUC special branch deny they are 'Walter Mittys' 

◾'Dublin Jimmy' who ran terror campaign to support Seán Quinn was 'working for MI5' 

The twins took to social media to publicly denounce allegations they had completely made up their service record.

They continue to stand by their claims that they DID serve “on the frontline of terrorism” in Northern Ireland and had to leave the country in 1982 because of “an imminent death threat from the IRA” after their cover was blown.

This week the Walter Mitty Hunters Club HQ, which has exposed dozens of what they describe as ‘Walts’ across the UK, said the Blair twins are among the favourites to win the ‘prestigious’ ‘Walt Of the Year 2022’ end of year title.

But they told the Sunday Worldthey’ll have to beat an ex-UKIP candidate who claimed to be a decorated ex-Navy officer and a ghost hunter who claimed to have saved the lives of two high-ranking US generals in Afghanistan and that he also brought back the spirit of a dead British soldier — despite having never been to 

Afghanistan!

“At the moment the twins are neck and neck with their mate, (name removed), for Walter Mitty of the Year,” they told the Sunday World.

The Walter Mitty group say veterans’ groups are being increasingly targeted by people either exaggerating their service record or simply making it up completely.

         Robert (Bobby) and Joseph Blair 

And with a plethora of old medals and uniforms on sale across the internet, it’s easy to buy your way to becoming a decorated service person.

"Currently there is no law in place which effectively prosecutes people who use the armed forces and the veterans' community to gain an advantage," they told us. 

“The wearing of medals and regimental berets and badges which have not been earned does cause distress and anger for veterans and their families.

“The WMHCHQ solely exist to act as a deterrent to those who wish to masquerade as a veteran, be it political gain, financial gain or simply to inflate one’s ego. We’re watching.”

The Blair Twins even had the audacity to have photographs of themselves placed on mugs when at remembrance day parade 

The Blair twins have lost a lot of support.

"The WMHCHQ are appalled of the actions of these two."To date no member of the veterans' community has been able to vouch for having served with them in any capacity in the armed forces. It's an insult to all those who served and have paid the ultimate price. Their needs to be a law against this behaviour. 

“One very important thing to add – because of our reputation we have had people try to use us to destroy the reputations of innocent veterans.

“Mainly business competition or ex-spouses looking for revenge so we have to take time on every report and only act on 100 per cent factual evidence.”

Since posting live videos of their defence, the Blair twins have removed most of the videos from the internet.

But Joseph did post another live video three weeks ago where he openly talked about the pair of them being arrested for pouring petrol over the reception of a police station in Birmingham in 2013. He says he and his brother took over Bournville Police Station to make a protest about PTSD and the lack of action by the government.

Veterans within the WMHCWQ claim the Blair twins couldn’t possibly have been in the RUC’s Special Branch Anti-Terrorist Squad at the times they claim to have been.

They point to the fact the Blair admit they were in St Patrick's school (known as Saint Pat's Home for boys) in west Belfast in 1979 when they would have been 15 years old, and according to papers produced by the twins they were implicated in burglaries. 

Yet within three years they had not only joined the RUC, passed training, passed specialist training to become members of the anti-terrorist squad but they had also been rumbled by the IRA and forced to flee Belfast for ever, still only aged 18.

In a since deleted video defence, Joseph Blair said: "In 1982 we had threats off the IRA and the INLA. They were going to kill us and we were pulled out of the North of Ireland by Special Branch RUC who I f***ing worked for. 

"I worked because of you bastards. What you don't realise is we've got splinter groups in the North of Ireland. Both me and Bobby served in the North of Ireland on the front line of terrorism. 

"You mother f***ers have just signed me and his f***ing life away. "I'm ending this now, you shower of bastards." 

With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Steven Moore for the Exclusive original story. 

Follow this link to to find out more on this story: MITTS-TAKE | Belfast’s controversial Blair twins tipped for Walter Mitty 'honour' over RUC claims

GUN ATTACK | Government feared IRA involvement in Johnny Adair UB40 murder attempt, State Papers reveal

The terror boss was shot in the back of the head at a UB40 concert in Belfast

   Ex-terror chief Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair 

Secret files revealed Government fears over possible IRA involvement in the attempted murder of feared loyalist paramilitary leader Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair at a UB40 concert in Belfast.

The Department of Foreign Affairs was liaising closely with the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Belfast and the RUC over precisely who was behind the May 1999 attack at a time when the IRA was on ceasefire and the Northern Ireland peace process was reaching a critical phase.

The files detailed urgent contacts between Dublin and Belfast over the attack on Adair which was reportedly only foiled due to the use of damp ammunition by the would-be killer.

The Ulster Freedom Fighter godfather escaped serious injury at the Botanic Gardens attack – but later presented himself at a Belfast hospital to have shrapnel removed from his head.

On May 5, 1999, secret memos between the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Anglo-Irish Secretariat revealed urgent attempts to determine who was involved in the murder bid.

Four years earlier Adair became the first person charged in Northern Ireland with directing terrorism.

He also served as a brigadier within the West Belfast UDA.

The department noted that: “There have been no authoritative statements from republican quarters denying responsibility for the incident, apart from denials attributed to ‘republican sources’ in media reports at the weekend.

“Some media reports also suggest that the attack was carried out by dissident loyalist elements.”

A follow-up memo noted that the RUC were coming under pressure to attribute the attack to some group.

Government officials noted that UDP member John White had blamed the IRA for the attack.

However, it also noted that republican officials had now denied attempting to shoot the loyalist paramilitary – with some Belfast media outlets strongly hinting that the attack was linked to a drugs feud rather than specific paramilitary rivalry.

“BBC Radio quotes Sinn Féin South Belfast Council member...as stating that the IRA was not behind the attack on Adair and that the IRA ceasefire remains intact.”

Government officials also noted the fatal shooting of Brendan ‘Speedy’ Fegan in Newry which both police and paramilitary sources were linking to a drug feud.

A link between the two incidents was drawn in one memo which said: “...the person who shot Adair was a drug dealer well known on the E Tab scene in Ulster who has been an associate in the past of drugs godfathers like Brendan ‘Speedy’ Fegan and Liam ‘Fat Boy’ Mooney”.

Fegan, who was shot dead as he was drinking in a Newry pub, had survived a murder attempt the previous February.

     He lived like a rat and died like a rat

Meanwhile, confidential files also noted concern over the impact that another loyalist godfather, Billy ‘King Rat’ Wright, might have after being transferred to the Maze Prison.

Wright, who was eventually expelled from the UVF, founded the Loyalist Volunteer Force and became a staunch opponent of the peace process which he described as a sell-out to nationalism.

The Government was concerned at the influence Wright might exert at the Maze where prison officers had already been subjected to threats from loyalist prisoners.

Irish officials raised their concerns with Northern Ireland Prison Service chief executive Alan Shannon at a dinner on April 30, 1997.

Mr Shannon warned that they were “between a rock and a hard place” in terms of Wright’s prison accommodation.

“On arrival at Maghaberry, Wright had to be placed in a secure unit for 23 hours a day on Special Branch advice because of threats to his life,” he said.

“He objected strongly to this, demanded to be moved to his own segregation wing and threatened to go on hunger strike unless this was granted.”

Prison officials feared Wright’s supporters would attack Catholic prisoners, destroy their unit and leave “Maghaberry in flames” – at which point he would have to be moved to the Maze anyway.

Irish officials were worried that by transferring Wright to the Maze as he demanded, prison officials had effectively enhanced his standing.

With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Ralph Riegel Independent.ie for the original story. 

Follow these links to to find out more on this story: 'I believe IRA man sent to murder me is being protected by security services’, says former British Agent.

GUN ATTACK | Government feared IRA involvement in Johnny Adair UB40 murder attempt, State Papers reveal

PSNI/RUC officer charged with 'drink-driving' after Lisburn collision

The officer is due to appear before Lisburn Magistrates Court in January

How it all started - how it all ended up                    Don't Drink and Drive!!! 

            27th December, 2022. 

A serving PSNI officer has been charged with drink-driving after a collision in Lisburn on Christmas Eve.

The incident involving the woman was reported on Saturday, December 24.

She has been charged with a number of motoring offences including driving with excess alcohol and driving without due care and attention.

Read more: Top PSNI officer is charged after Christmas Eve collision 

She is due to appear before Lisburn Magistrates Court on Thursday, January 19.

The PSNI confirmed that she has been suspended following the incident.

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The Police Ombudsman's office confirmed it was aware of the alleged incident.

"The Ombudsman has been informed, however as this is an incident of off duty conduct, it is not a matter for the Ombudsman's office to investigate," a spokesperson said.

The PSNI/RUC launched its annual winter drink-driving campaign on 1 December with a key message asking people to "pause for a second" to think about the damage they could do getting behind the wheel after drinking or taking drugs.

Figures released covering the start of December until 18 December showed that 176 people were arrested on suspicion of drug or drink-driving, up by 12 from the same period last year.

Commenting at the time, Superintendent Gary Busch said those people had ignored the warning issued at the start of the campaign.

“It is disappointing that a minority of people continue to disregard the safety of themselves and others, by taking the incredibly dangerous risk of driving after drinking or taking drugs," he said on 22 December.

“Our message is clear. Never EVER drink and drive. Just one drink can impair decision making.

"Just one drink can cause a collision. Just one drink could kill.”

With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Damien Edgar for the original story. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: 

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Catholic Scottish police sergeant wins £44,000 harassment case over anti-Pope mug

A Catholic firearms officer has won almost £44,000 in a religious harassment case after “f*** the Pope” was written on his work coffee mug.

The officer said the harassment led to panic attacks and depression 

    Tuesday December 27th 2022, The                                   Times

Paul McCue, a police sergeant, discovered the message on the underside of his Celtic Football Club mug and was so upset that he had to go home from work.

The officer had previously been “harassed” by colleagues writing comments about the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group, an employment tribunal in Glasgow was told.

There was a history of “religious tensions” within the Civil Nuclear Constabulary unit where he worked, with the force having to hold investigations and training sessions after allegations of sectarianism.

McCue, who has been off work for more than a year, was awarded £43,981 in compensation after successfully suing the force that protects the UK’s nuclear sites.

He was based at Hunterston B Power Station in Ayrshire, having joined the force in 2007. McCue, a Roman Catholic, had previously fallen out with colleagues he believed to be Protestant on nights out.

In June 2020 he found a note saying “UDA no surrender” in his pigeon hole, then in August that year his wife discovered another note with the same words inside his work jacket.

McCue reported the notes and a “critical incident” was declared by his bosses, with Police Scotland beginning an investigation and examining the notes for fingerprints.

McCue spent two months on sick leave as his mental health was “not great” while the nuclear police started a new equality policy and Police Scotland closed their investigation due to a lack of evidence.

By June 2021, having returned to his £42,000-a-year job, McCue found the offensive message scrawled on his mug.

“The ink had not fully dried which suggested it had been written relatively recently,” the tribunal report said. “The mug had been stored in the kitchen cupboard which was unlocked.

“The mug was not in its usual location in the cupboard and had been moved to his section’s cupboard where it was located. Sgt McCue reported the incident to a fellow sergeant who was nearby. He was upset and had to go home . . . He was unable to continue working that day and commenced a period of sick leave with work-related stress. Sgt McCue stated he would inform Police Scotland as a hate crime.”

McCue later had therapy, it was heard. He believed he was being targeted particularly by one colleague “and his cronies”.

An internal health and safety investigation found that unknown officers had targeted him because of his religion knowing it would distress him but declared there were “no widespread problems of sectarianism”. Group training sessions were carried out, where it was suggested the acts were “normal banter”.

David Hoey, the tribunal judge, said the impact on McCue had been “severe”, he had been absent from work for 16 months as a result of the mug incident, experienced panic attacks and required medication for depression.

He ruled that McCue was harassed on grounds of religion over the “exceptional case” of the mug because steps were not followed that could have prevented it after the previous two incidents.

The officer accused by McCue of being responsible for the incidents was never interviewed and “bespoke” training was not carried out within six months.

McCue’s religious harassment claim over the mug incident succeeded because “reasonable steps” including carrying out a formal investigation were not carried out. However, his religious harassment claim relating to the two “UDA” incidents were struck out as the tribunal found the force treated them seriously.

At the hearing to decide compensation the tribunal was told that he is still at least nine months away from returning to the force and may need to look for another career.

With many thanks to: The Times. and The Sunday Times and Tom Jackson for the original story. 

Follow this link to find out more on this story: PSNI/RUC investigating Scots Guards Motorman 50 Reunion

Call urgent review how Metropolitan Police are strip-searching children

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?

Catholic police sergeant wins £44,000 harassment case over anti-Pope mug

NEW: Defra has confirmed that proper Border Control Posts will need to be constructed at NI ports as part of the UK Govt’s unilateral green lane/red lane plan.

   The BCPs will be needed to enforce EU         agri-food rules for 'red lane goods'. 

(1) The need for proper BCPs, even under UK unilateral plans, has been implicit as far back as the Frost command paper in July 2021, though there has been a reluctance to spell out what this means in practice.

(2 ) Now we have a letter from Lord Benyon to the Lords Protocol sub-ctte. It states ‘The Government’s position has always been that the arrangements in place for the red lane will require the enhancement of existing SPS facilities at points of entry in the North of Ireland.’

(3 ) ‘The necessary construction has not taken place to date owing to wider concerns about the Protocol’s implementation. However, acting to deliver these facilities is pivotal to securing a viable and sustainable way forward on the Protocol in relation to EU-destined goods.’

(4 ) Sites for proper BCPs were identified as far back as the 2nd half of 2020, planning consent is in place & contractors were even appointed. But for various political reasons nothing was progressed & officials have been operating temporary facilities.

(5) The Defra letter continues: ‘In the absence of a NI Exec & Assembly, it will now fall to the UK Government to take that work forward. In line with that responsibility, Defra will introduce the necessary statutory instrument and relevant guidance to underpin this early in 2023.’

(6) In one respect this is just the UK Govt pressing ahead with its unilateral plans. It was obvious that the red lane would require this sort of development. Under the unilateral plan only GB goods destined for Ireland & wider EU will be checked.

(7) However it has long been an EU bugbear that proper BCPs have never been built. So the willingness of the UK to get on with it could play into the wider negotiations because these facilities will also be needed if there is an agreed outcome from the current talks.

(8) You can read the full letter here from Lord Benyon:

Follow this link to read the original Tweet from JP_Biz:

SNOW JOKE | Man (22) arrested over republican Christmas display of snowman pressing bomb trigger

A 22-year-old man has been arrested under the Terrorism Act by police investigating the circumstances of a window display in Derry.

The PSNI/RUC will arrest and charge you for putting the bottom one up and arrest and charge you taking the top one down but won't arrest the individuals from erecting the top one because they don't wish to interfere with loyalist paramilitary terrorism 

       Thursday 22nd December, 2022. 

He has been charged to appear at Bishop Street courthouse on Thursday morning.

Last month a Christmas themed window display appeared at the offices of dissident-linked group Saoradh. It showed a snowman pressing a bomb trigger.

The display was condemned by the DUP.

The image at Junior McDaid House is accompanied by the phrase “they haven’t gone away ye know” – referencing the well-known Provisional IRA phrase.

Two-tier politicial policing from the PSNI/RUC nothing has changed #DifferentNameSameAim

The display features the snowman in the image dressed in traditional republican attire and Father Christmas appears to be holding a walkie-talkie device.

Similarly controversial images have appeared at Junior McDaid House in the past including one of Father Christmas brandishing an AK47.

With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Garrett Hargan for the original story. 

Follow this link to find out more on this story: SNOW JOKE | Man (22) arrested over republican Christmas display of snowman pressing bomb trigger

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson MP claims he has a mandate not to return to Stormont but a recent poll shows 81% say the DUP should return to power-sharing

More than 1,500 votes were cast in the Belfast Live readers' poll

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson MP claims to have a mandate not to re-enter Stormont but a live poll conducted by Belfast Live shows otherwise 

Four in five Belfast Live readers believe the DUP should return to Stormont power-sharing, according to a snap poll.

Some 81% said Sir Jeffrey Donaldson's party should end its boycott over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol to focus on tackling the cost-of-living crisis.

More than 1,500 votes were cast in the online survey, which was held on Belfast Live from December 5.

Read more: Health officials feared DUP Protocol claims would be used for 'electioneering'. 

Readers were asked: 'Should the DUP agree to restore Stormont power-sharing to tackle the cost-of-living crisis?'

Of those who voted, more than 81% said 'yes' and almost 19% said 'no'.

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The snapshot poll was launched just days before MLA's were recalled to the Assembly in a fifth unsuccessful attempt to restore the devolved institutions.

A Sinn Féin motion backed by Alliance and the SDLP sought to debate cost-of-living pressures and uncertainty around when households would receive energy support payments.

However, the DUP once again blocked the Assembly and Executive from being restored in protest against the protocol.

Stormont's largest unionist party has vetoed the formation of a new administration since May's Assembly election.

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It has argued the protocol has undermined Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom by creatingting economic barriers on trade entering the region from Great Britain.

The party has insisted it will not allow a return to power-sharing until radical changes to the Irish Sea trade deal are delivered.

Negotiations between the UK government and the European Union to resolve differences over the protocol are continuing.

If a new Executive is not formed by January 19, the UK government assumes a legal responsibility to call a fresh Assembly election by April 13.

The government introduced legislation to extend the timeframe for forming an Executive beyond six months after a previous deadline of October 28 was missed.

Civil servants have assumed control of Stormont departments in the absence of ministers but they have limited decision-making powers. 

Now we have the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) and the UVF threatening violence and doing their very best to destroy the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). Whilst the DUP are taking direct orders from loyalist paramilitary terrorists 

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris is to reduce MLA salaries by 27.5% from January 1st to reflect the fact they are not doing their job as legislators during the ongoing impasse. 

With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Brendan Hughes Political reporter for the original story. 

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The Inside Story: the INLA execution of “King Rat”

The Inside Story: the INLA execution of “King Rat”: An account of the Irish National Liberation Army operation to execute Loyalist Volunteer Force leader Wright on the morning of 27th of December 1997.

Senior Irish government official 'is British military intelligence agent'

A former agent has claimed that a senior Irish government official has been working for British military intelligence for more than three decades.

Former Force Research Unit (FRU) agent Sam Rosenfeld claims he met a senior figure in the Irish government who works for the British military intelligence agency in the Dáil 

               21st December, 2022. 

The claim has been made by ex-Force Research Unit (FRU) agent known by the pseudonym Sam Rosenfeld.

Mr Rosenfeld says he worked for British military intelligence on both sides of the border during the 1990s.

Members of the FRU unit who were stationed in Ulster during the Troubles 

Now, for the first time, the former agent has revealed that a senior Irish government figure is a current British military intelligence asset.

He also revealed that he has visited the Dail in Dublin as a guest of the man, whom he refused to name.

"I will tell you what they (British military intelligence) are super, super, super, sensitive about, they have somebody still working, and I am assuming there's many still working in the Irish Republic, but one of them holds a very senior position in the Irish government," he said.

Mr Rosenfeld added that he recently "looked and and they are now even in a (more) senior position than they were previously and they still work for the British government, ie, the army.

"So they are still at it," he said.

He said that he was aware of other agents from his time working undercover in the north and that they have either "moved on, given up....or they have moved into stronger and better positions".

Mr Rosenfeld said he is unaware of how the alleged agent at the heart of the Irish government was recruited.

"I don't know how the contact between the two came about," he said.

"I have a suspicion, obviously a suspicion is never proof, I have a suspicion of how it came about and that relates to somebody who used to work at the British Embassy in Dublin.

"That person is in a very senior position now."

Mr Rosenfeld, whose relationship with the British army eventually broke down, said the agent's involvement is long term.

"This person has been involved for longer than all the crap that's has gone on between me and the army, so that relationship has gone on to bigger and better things," he said. 

He suggested that while in some cases intelligence "engagements" can be short lived the alleged Irish government agent falls into a different category.

"I mean, the intelligence is only available for a very limited period of time, depending on what kind of context you are talking about," he said.

"It depends on how you acquire it and in what circumstances.

"But there are times when you have people and you leave people and you don't bother people and they stay in place and you only have contact every now and again, sometimes these are long term engagements and this person is still there."

Mr Rosenfeld also revealed that he was often asked to spy on Irish army bases in the south.

"So the British army had identified every single target including targets inside the Irish government, specifically inside the military," he said.

"This is military bases in the Irish republic. I visited military bases and a few other places.

"Everything I done north and south of the border was under their (British army) direction and supervision."

The former military agent said that while Ireland poses no threat to Britain he believes there would be little the British government would not know about the affairs of their Irish counterparts.

"I don't think there's anything that the Irish government would have secret from the British government anyway," he said.

"It doesn't have the military prowess if you like, it's not a Russia, it's not a China, it's not really a potential enemy in any way shape of form but they would have stability and security and intelligence interests in what Ireland does."

He also said British intelligence analysts will be keeping a close eye on future political developments, particularly if Sinn Féin rise to power as current opinion polls indicate.

"I can guarantee you now that they are sitting there in their little war rooms planning out what will happen if Sinn Féin won in the Irish republic," he said.

"The dynamics of politics in Northern Ireland are shifting....people need to know what would happen if Sinn Féin were to suddenly have a majority vote or whatever in Northern Ireland and how the game would look.

"The British government would have a really, really, really keen interest in what's going on."

With many thanks to the: Irish News and Connla Young for the original story. 

Follow this link to to find out more on this story: Senior Irish government official 'is British military intelligence agent'

What happens with the NI Protocol and the GFA will reverberate far beyond the UK

              BEYOND BREXIT FROM A

             LOYALIST POINT-OF-VIEW 

In our series looking at life after Brexit, Kim Sengupta examines what might come next for Northern Ireland

Negotiations on technical aspects of the protocol restarted in October for the first time since February (Getty/iStock) 

                      Kim Sengupta

“When your own prime minister shafts you; when he comes to this city and says there will be no border between us and Britain, and then breaks his word so easily; when your voice is being ignored – you feel abandoned, and there are consequences,” said the loyalist community leader in Belfast after another night of petrol bombs and buses being set on fire.

The man speaking to me was a former member of the Red Hand Commando who had fought during the long years of the Troubles. The violence we were witnessing was taking place in spring 2021, as tensions reignited over the NI protocol. The prime minister accused of lying was Boris Johnson. 

The protocol had been signed 15 months earlier, along with the Brexit agreement, 23 years after the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreement had ended 30 years of bombings and shootings that had cost more than 3,500 lives. Today, the impasse over the protocol, which is intrinsically linked to the peace deal, continues, bringing with it the spectre of a return to the days of strife and unrest.

During the Brexit negotiations, both the UK and the EU agreed that preserving the Belfast Agreement was an absolute priority, and the protocol was a fundamental part of this endeavour. It was ratified by both sides and is now part of international law.

What happens to the peace deal has reverberations beyond the UK and the European Union. The US, under Bill Clinton’s presidency, played a key role in brokering it in 1998, and successive US administrations have committed to its preservation. The chances of any UK trade deal with America will disappear if the Belfast Agreement is imperilled.

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Speaking at the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington last year, Joe Biden emphasised the importance of what is at stake: “The Good Friday Agreement has been the foundation of peace and prosperity in the North of Ireland for nearly 25 years. It cannot change,” he said. All sides, the US president stated, “must continue to resolve challenges over the implementation of the NI Protocol”.

The protocol is essentially a trading agreement for the movement of goods across the Irish land border, in relation to which new regulations became necessary after Brexit because of the EU’s strict rules on border checks on some items coming from countries outside the union.

The border is a politically sensitive issue in Ireland, both north and south of the border, and there is real apprehension that reimposing overt border controls, with cameras and checkpoints, would encourage instability and invite attacks. Dissident armed republican and loyalist groups continue to maintain a presence in the North, despite the years of relative calm.

The protocol agreed that the checks would take place at Northern Irish ports rather than at the land border, and that once they had been carried out, the goods concerned could then be transported to the Republic. It was also agreed that the North of Ireland would continue to adhere to European Union rules governing the standard of goods.

The unionist parties in the North of Ireland are opposed the deal because, they claimed, the sea border undermined the province’s place within the United Kingdom. There has also been opposition to it from Eurosceptic MPs in Westminster, led by the European Research Group (ERG), which has continued to exert an influence well beyond its numbers on each of the Conservative governments since Brexit.

The continuing opposition of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to the protocol has meant that there is currently no NI government at Stormont. Although the party came second to Sinn Fein, which supports the protocol, in the elections six months ago, no administration can be formed without the backing of the DUP.

There is also a view among the wider loyalist community that Tory ministers from London misled them about the impact of the deal. Seven months after the signing of the protocol, Johnson, who was then prime minister, insisted during a visit to the North of Ireland that businesses would have unfettered access to markets in England, Scotland and Wales, as they had always done. 'There will be no border down the Irish Sea,' he declared. “That will happen over my dead body.”

David Campbell, a spokesperson for the Loyalist Communities Council, an umbrella group that represents the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association and Red Hand Commando, told me: “The view among many people in the unionist community is that the government, basically, cannot see beyond middle England. We wondered if Boris Johnson fully understands what’s at stake here.

“On the other side we have had the Irish government constantly telling the EU that there will be violence if there is a hard border; that is seen by the loyalists as using the threat of violence to bargain. That has been a dangerous tactic, and has certainly contributed to the anger among young loyalists.”

The British government has reneged on its agreement with the European Union over the protocol, which took four years to negotiate, claiming a legal entitlement to do so in order to “safeguard an essential interest”. Disagreements emanating from the deal, it held, threatened to undermine peace.

The UK wants to make unilateral changes to the checking status, bringing in a two-tier system, which would also require changes to be made to the tax regime for businesses in the North of Ireland, and would exclude the European Court of Justice from any dispute procedure, replacing it instead with an independent body. The current NI minister, Steve Baker – an ERG member – has proposed reopening the Brexit agreement, negotiated by fellow hardliner David Frost, in order to strip the European Court of Justice of any role in the proceedings.

It is hardly likely that the EU would agree to such changes. It has taken legal action against the UK for failing to adhere to the protocol, and has stated that it is not prepared to renegotiate the main terms. But there is, Brussels acknowledged, room for simplifying rules and cutting red tape.

Negotiations on technical aspects of the protocol restarted in October for the first time since February. And, after the acrimony of the Johnson years, which continued during the brief premiership of Liz Truss, there seems to have been a general improvement in relations under Rishi Sunak.

Earlier this month, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union, said she had held “encouraging” talks with Sunak, and suggested that the two sides should be able to “find a way” on the protocol. Indeed, she said she was “very confident” that a solution would be found if the UK was willing.

Von der Leyen’s words, spoken during a visit to Dublin, were echoed by the Irish prime minister Micheal Martin, who claimed that a deal could pave the way to a “new and vital partnership” with the UK. Miguel Berger, the German ambassador to London, sees a new “openness to engage” from Downing Street under the Sunak government, and spoke of a possible “landing zone for the NI protocol’s implementation”.

But Sunak, like Tory prime ministers before him, remains hamstrung both by his party’s Brexiteers and by the DUP in North of Ireland. His freedom of manoeuvre is limited by those who see any compromise as an act of betrayal. The anti-EU Bruges Group tweeted this month: “Another sell out incoming? If the EU is making cautiously optimistic noises about a deal, we can be assured that whatever half-baked drivel emerges will be bad for the United Kingdom.”

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Meanwhile, the threat from NI Ireland-related terrorism remains “severe”, according to security and intelligence services. It was claimed last month that loyalists had planned an attack in the Irish Republic amid rising tensions over the protocol. The plot, thought to have been a response to Sinn Fein’s call for “joint authority” in governing the province with Dublin, was said to have been abandoned at the last minute.

The Belfast Telegraph has reported that loyalist groups the Ulster Volunteer Force and UIster Defence Association are reviewing their ceasefires, which were put in place following the Good Friday Agreement. The mood at a meeting of their leaders in County Antrim, according to the paper, was “angry and militant”. One of those present is reported to have said, “There were no hawks and doves there: everyone is a hawk now.”

With many thanks to: Independent and Kim Sengupta for the original publication. 

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

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UVF Godfathers threatening sick Nazi-style Kristallnacht Whatever happens to the NI peace deal will reverberate far beyond the UK

Whatever happens to the Northern Ireland peace deal will reverberate far beyond the UK

UVF Godfathers threatening sick Nazi-style Kristallnacht.

FIRST, apologies to that old crooner Bing Crosby.

One of his most famous Yuletide songs reads:

'It's beginning to look

A lot like Christmas, 

Everywhere you go'.

But after a couple of very sinister events over the past few days, I would beg to change those lyrics to:

'It's beginning to look

A lot like Kristallnacht, 

All over again...'

                         LAUNCHED

And not just in Germany where Hitler's Nazis launched their pogrom of the Jewish people on November 9th, 1938.

But back home here, those vile posters (pictured above) going up in loyalist Nazi getos across the north threatening the UVF would go 'back to war'. 

Their warped propaganda image carries a shot of Leo Varadkar, who took up the reins as an Taoiseach for a second term yesterday, against a grisly background of the Dublin and Monaghan UVF bombing blitz which murdered 33 innocent civilians, including a woman who was nine months pregnant. 

I know there will be the apologists for loyalist paramilitary terrorist gangs already crying 'what about the Shankill and Enniskillen Poppy Day Provo bombings?'. 

But even the fascists in IRA ranks have never, to my knowledge, published a poster with the aftermath of those atrocities as a backdrop. 

The UVF's poster, headlined 'PEACE OR PROTOCOL. IT'S YOUR DECISION'. 

And underneath warning: 

'The possibility of a return to violence is very real.' 

LOYALISTS: Have become very disillusioned with their own identity here in NI. As you can witness in this photograph. We have a flag with a British soldier on emblazoned beside him a large Poppy remembering the British war dead but next door they are celebrating by the flying of a Nazi flag.

It seems they're actually gloating over their mass murder (of innocent civilians) double bombings of May 17th, 1974.

In Germany, just a week ago, some 3,000 German police swooped on neo-Nazis lifting and jailing 25 of their alleged leaders. 

The German security agencies believe this cabal planned a violent coup to storm the country's parliament in Berlin, 'arrest' politicians inside and seize control. 

A mini-arsenal of lethal weapons was seized. They were being stockpiled by what the German authorities labelled a 'terror cell'. 

Most, if not all, arrested are still languishing behind bars. 

But there has been no international outcry from so-called human rights lawyers. 

No outrage from Amnesty International. 

Yet, flashback to August 9th, 1971. Internment. And consider the howls national and international outrage that exploded at the time, and since. 

But isn't what happened in Germany tantamount to internment? 

And yet hardly a peep or squeak from the usual 'humanitarian' hierarchy about it. 

The German authorities have branded those rounded up 'a terrorist cell'. 

This is the Front page of the UVF's published magazine the UVF is an armed loyalist paramilitary terrorist organisation and a proscribed organisation in the North 

So are the UVF. They are still a proscribed organisation. Just like the IRA, the UDA, the INLA and the rest of the blood-leeching terrorist gangs. 

That evil UVF poster proclaims: 'The possibility of a return to violence is very real'. 

The PSNI/RUC's intelligence wing, the National Crime Agency, surely know who the godfathers of the UVF and the other paraMafia mobs are. 

The police here should take a leaf out of the German cops' book. 

Round them up. Lock them up. 

Put them in the dock. 

With many thanks to the: Sunday World and Jim McDowell for the original publication. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: CRIME WORLD | How the Troubles hid history of collusion between loyalists and the security forces.

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

Loyalist Paramilitaries: Police say rising tensions remain under close watch!

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