Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ Category

A series of Tributes to the Investigative Journalist Ed Moloney – “A strong voice against censorship: both that of the state and the more insidious self-censorship that had crept into journalism”

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A number of tributes to the investigative journalist Ed Moloney are published below.

Also included is an account of how Ed published sensational evidence about the role of William Stobie (at one time a quarter-master in the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association), in the political murder of Belfast human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. The British state’s unsuccessful attempt to obtain details of the journalist’s confidential sources were defeated.

It is refreshing to read tributes about about a man I knew well that are kind, affectionate, and that do not pretend Ed was a saint.

He had a short fuse!

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A tribute to the outstanding  journalist Ed Moloney, who passed away in New York Aged 77

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https://wp.me/p1iwpM-4NB

Ed was a great friend and will be missed.

Condolences to Joan McKiernan, and all friends, colleagues, and  comrades.

A reminder : Ed Moloney’s work on issues concerning child abuse in the six-county bit of Ireland which remain unsolved :

John Meehan October 20 2025

Epping Forest Asylum Hotel Case Judge Mr Stephen Eyre has right-wing form in the 6 County bit of Ireland

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We are used to NIMBY (Not in my back-yard) racists in Ireland attacking asylum-seekers and refugees in vulnerable accommodation. This political plague is currently sweeping across the British State. An Epping Forest Judge, Mr Stephen Eyre, has political form in the six-county bit of Ireland


Judge in Epping Forest asylum hotel case ran for Tories in NI poll

Liam Tunney, Belfast Telegraph, August 22nd, 2025

A judge behind a landmark ruling on hotels accommodating asylum seekers in the UK once stood for election in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Eyre’s ruling on the legality of The Bell Hotel’s eligibility to house asylum seekers has sparked a wave of complaints to local authorities across the UK, including three councils in Northern Ireland.

The action, taken by Epping Forest District Council against Somani Hotels, alleged the group had not notified the local planning authority of a change of use for the premises.

Mr Eyre is a former election candidate for the Conservative Party, standing in Birmingham Hodge Hill in 1987, Stourbridge in 2001 and again in a 2004 by-election in Birmingham Hodge Hill.

In the 1992 General Election, he stood in Strangford as the Conservatives attempted to gain a foothold in Northern Ireland.

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Pensioner (Sue Pentel) arrested during pro-Palestine protest outside Belfast bank ‘will not stay silent’, lawyer says – Belfast Telegraph Report

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A Belfast Telegraph report is below :

Source :


Pensioner (Sue Pentel) arrested during pro-Palestine Protest outside Belfast bankwill not stay silent, lawyer says

A pensioner arrested during a pro-Palestine protest outside a bank in Belfast will “robustly contest” any charges that are brought, her solicitor has said.

Sue Pentel was one of two women held on suspicion of criminal damage after an incident on Saturday.

The 72-year-old Jewish grandmother is a high-profile campaigner against Israel’s military action in Gaza.

Her solicitor said she was arrested “whilst peacefully protesting against the ongoing genocide in Palestine at Barclays Bank”.

According to reports, the two women were arrested after stickers promoting a boycott of the bank were allegedly placed on an ATM.

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The British State and the 6 County Bit of Ireland – Hilary Benn’s Three Cover-Ups Are Protecting State Killers

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Hilary Benn is the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. He is very busy, scrambling to protect state killers.

Appalling vistas have come to the surface.

Hilary Benn, British boss (Six County bit of Ireland) flanked by Stormont 1st and Deputy 1st Ministers Emma Little-Pengelly and Michelle O’Neill

Three major scandals will not go away, public pressure is building up.

Number 1, The murder of Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Chairperson Sean Brown in 1997

The Sean Brown case is extraordinary – Hillary Benn is covering up the involvement of 25 people connected to British intelligence in a case that dates back to 1997. Let that sink in.

Campaigners for Sean Brown are very clear on what they want. We are well used to British government cover-ups in Ireland, and are even more used to Dublin governments bowing, scraping, and capitulating to Westminster diktats.

So, it is notable that Simon Harris – Dublin government Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) has grasped this cover-up must end. This news report is very telling :

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Kincora House and Lord Mountbatten (grand uncle of King Charles) – Chris Moore and Suzanne Breen Say “It is long past the time that the full truth was told about what happened in the house of horrors” – they are 100 per cent right

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We wish to again congratulate the dogged investigative reporter Chris Moore for putting so much dedicated hard work into a shocking story which will not go away.

This smoking volcano has become more active recently. The criminal scandal will not go away, and further political action is vital. We are duty bound to keep up the pressure and, above all, support the victims of horrendous British state crimes.

For decades the Belfast Kincora child abuse scandal has attracted false and unverified accusations. In my own case I refused to believe many rumours about the involvement of Lord Mountbatten in a child abuse ring because no credible evidence was placed in the public arena.

At the Dublin Irish Film Institute  (IFI) launch of the stunning documentary “Lost Boys of Belfast” in 2023 I made this observation to one of the documentary makers, Chris Moore.

I had noticed there was no reference to Mountbatten in the sensational documentary. Chris confirmed that the documentary makers made no mention of the Mountbatten allegations because they possessed no credible proof.

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Stormont 1st Minister O’Neill (Sinn Féin) and Deputy 1st Minister Little-Pengelly (DUP) met US firm supplying Israeli military in Washington DC

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Gerry Carroll, a People Before Profit member of the Stormont Assembly in Belfast, raises very disturbing questions.

This is a Suzanne Breen Belfast Telegraph Report, April 18 2024


People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has slammed Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly for meeting a US engineering company which supplies the Israeli military with machinery to use in Gaza.

During their visit to Washington last month, the First Minister and Deputy First Minister met with Caterpillar, which provides its huge D9R armoured bulldozers to Israel.

The machines have a highly controversial history.

They were also used in the 2008-09 Gaza War, which left up to 1,400 people dead.

In 2003, American peace activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by a D9R as she tried to stop a bulldozer demolishing Palestinian homes in southern Gaza.

Rachel Corrie, crushed to death by Caterpillar armoured bulldozer in 2009

Mr Carroll lambasted Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly for also meeting Israeli-founded cybersecurity firm Forescout, which has a contract with the US Department of Defense.

He said: “It is deplorable for the First and Deputy First Minister to meet these firms during Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

“Caterpillar is complicit in the Israeli occupation, enabling the illegal bulldozing of Palestinian homes. This is not reflective of Caterpillar workers, but of the horrific profiteering of Caterpillar bosses.

“Israeli-founded Forescout continues to do business with Israel’s chief military backer, and should never have been at that meeting.”

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Irish Police Boss Drew Harris and Two Unsolved Murder Cases – 1975 Miami Showband Massacre; 2007 Paul Quinn Murder

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The Masks of Garda Boss Drew Harris

If you knew nothing about Irish 6 County whataboutery you might think “Fair enough – Garda Boss Drew Harris is doing the decent thing”. Maybe there are better questions : What mask is the former Royal Ulster Constabulary / Police Service of Northern Ireland high-flier wearing? Is he a “fox in charge of the hen-house”? Or, should we trust a “warm and friendly” chap “committed to justice”?

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has visited the barn in Co Monaghan where Paul Quinn was battered to death by the IRA, and has pledged to help bring his killers to justice.

But, when you know about Harris’s obstructive behaviour towards survivors of the 1975 Miami Showband massacre, you correctly suspect the motives of a powerful state agent who shields British State killers.

Garda boss Drew Harris and his legacy – Stephen Travers, Miami Showband, Aftermath of a loyalist murder spree.

Miami Showband Massacre survivor Stephen Travers also criticised Mr Drew Harris’s appointment, describing it as “putting the fox in charge of the hen house”.

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