Belfast is in many ways still a deeply divided city, but last week young people from Catholic and Protestant communities – who live apart and go to religiously segregated schools – played music together at Belfast Summer School of Traditional Music, as part of the week long Belfast TradFest. From the sound of bagpipes echoing Read more
The leaders of both main churches in Ireland have attacked Britain’s plans to deal with the legacy of the Troubles, warning it will “deepen divisions” in the North. The Catholic and Church of Ireland Primates of All Ireland, Eamon Martin and John McDowell, accused London of setting up its Northern Secretary as a “commissar” to Read more
The “Good Friday Agreement” that brought an end to the late 20th-century Troubles in Northern Ireland needs further work. The Agreement committed Northern Ireland’s political parties to resolving political issues by democratic and peaceful methods. Speaking on the Agreement’s 20th anniversary, the Catholic Church Primates of All Ireland say it “took a great effort to Read more
Edward Daly, the Emeritus Catholic Bishop of Derry who tended victims of Northern Ireland’s Bloody Sunday killings and became a defining image of the massacre, died on Monday aged 82. The Catholic Diocese of Derry says Daly died peacefully on Monday after a long illness. Daly was a priest in Londonderry when British paratroopers opened Read more
Northern Ireland politician Rev. Ian Paisley, who was infamous for his anti-Catholic rhetoric, yet came to share power with his enemies, has died. Rev. Paisley died in Belfast on September 12, aged 88. He had a history of heart ailments. He served as First Minister of Northern Ireland for a year when power was first Read more