Displaying items by tag: Northern Ireland

MPs said that many thousands of people in Northern Ireland had been ignored last year when Westminster politicians voted to repeal Northern Ireland’s strong protections for women and unborn. In her maiden speech in the House of Commons, Carla Lockhart MP said, ‘I want a society in Northern Ireland that values life, and I want to see services that will help women choose life.’ Rebecca Long-Bailey, a Labour leadership candidate and practising Christian, said that she agreed with the words of the Disability Rights Commission that ‘the context in which parents choose whether to have a child should be one in which disability and non-disability are valued equally.’ The Equality and Human Rights Commission consistently criticises laws which differentiate between unborn babies on grounds of disability. See

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for three years. Proposed legislation for an Irish language act and reforming the assembly's controversial veto system are among the key sticking points in ongoing talks. The DUP has been accused of holding up a deal. Sinn Féin's Declan Kearney said on 9 January that the situation is at the point where closure must be found. After three days of talks, the text of a draft deal has been shown to the DUP and Sinn Féin, but not yet to the smaller parties, who feel they are being left out again. Some think that the two main parties have done enough negotiating, and a final call needs to be made. Since Stormont collapsed, civil servants have run day-to-day operations. In July the Government extended a law that gives civil servants flexibility to take certain decisions, but that runs out on 13 January.

On 19 December, 15,500 NI nurses began a twelve-hour strike over pay and staff numbers. The NI secretary, Julian Smith, believes the action illustrates why it is important that power-sharing is restored. He is leading political talks which he hopes will lead to a restored ministerial executive early next year. When devolved government was operating, decisions on health sector needs were taken by individual ministers from different parties. But for almost three years, the parties have been absent from Stormont following the collapse of devolution, and it has been left to civil servants, without power to make or overturn decisions, to hold the fort on health. Hours before the strike, party leaders urged Mr Smith to order civil servants to release the money health unions were asking for. It was too little, too late.

There have been calls for protection of churches in Northern Ireland after figures showed almost 450 attacks in three years. For example, Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church suffered two arson attacks in July 2016, while the Sacred Heart Church in Ballyclare was attacked with paint on Easter Sunday 2019. In Belfast, both the synagogue and the Islamic centre have been damaged in the last ten years. Christian Access Research and Education (Care NI) has written to the leaders of all the political parties asking for more support to be made available for religious buildings, and urged them to set up an initiative like the Place Of Worship fund which helps protect religious buildings in England and Wales.

800+ health professionals have written to the secretary of state opposing the Northern Ireland liberalisation of abortion laws. Doctors, nurses, and midwives say their consciences will not allow them to stay silent. They want reassurance as ‘conscientious objectors’ that they will not have to perform or assist abortions. Abortion restrictions will be drastically reduced unless the Stormont assembly is restored by 21 October. In July MPs passed the Executive Formation Act, placing a duty on the government to provide access to abortion in Northern Ireland. Those who signed the letter said their concern was for pregnant mothers and their unborn children. As Christians, it is their firmly held belief that abortion is the ‘unjust and violent taking of human life’. There are two strands to this argument: the unborn child is a human being with value and worth, and women in crisis pregnancies need compassionate care.

The following is a prayer from Transformations Ireland: ‘Our Father in heaven, may Your name be honoured in families. May Your kingdom come into homes, meeting needs and revealing Your blessings. Father, please heal relationships and build Your kingdom, manifesting Your glory in homes and across the land. Father, we are thankful for Your mercy and Your abounding love. In the Name of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, we come on behalf of families and communities bound by many strongholds and strategies of the Evil One; we confess and repent of partaking in sins associated with addictions. We ask that, by the blood of the cross and the power of Your Holy Spirit, You will have mercy and set men and women free from all addictions so that they may follow You in fullness of life. As Your church, give us courage and strength as we now take our stand against them.’

On 11 September a 33-year-old man was detained in the Strabane area for a mortar bomb found pointed at the police station. The improvised explosive device was positioned close to a family home, and the incident has been blamed on a dissident republican group, the New IRA. Within 48 hours of the bomb being discovered officers moved into the Creggan estate en masse, quickly locating a command-wire activated device built to kill a passing police patrol. Senior officers clearly knew what they were looking for and where it was placed - precise information that must have come from what they describe as a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS). Many believe the New IRA, like all paramilitary gangs past and present, is filled to the brim with such informers.

Northern Ireland’s cold war is smouldering. Everything is political - your name, where you live, the pub you use, your accent, the football team you support, or the passport you hold. Politics are rigid and archaic, deeply rooted in the past, yet continuing to dominate the present; running deep, rooted in divisions prevalent long before the signing of the peace agreement. Brexit and a political vacuum have added a dynamic across the region that is far from peaceful. Although Northern Ireland is no longer be at war, peace cannot be defined by the reduction of armed conflict. Much more is needed for peace to take hold fully. For years, in communities across the land, people have used a gentle, intricate negotiation of difference on a daily basis, using language, humour, silence - or whatever is needed to navigate challenging situations. See

There have been calls for protection for churches in Northern Ireland after 445 incidences of criminal damage to religious buildings, churchyards, or cemeteries in the last three years. Belfast’s synagogue and Islamic centre have also been damaged in the last ten years. The leaders of all the political parties have been urged to make more support available to religious buildings and to commit to setting up an initiative like the ‘Place Of Worship Fund’, which helps to protect religious buildings in England and Wales. Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler said, ‘Places of worship, no matter what faith or denomination, should be a cherished place of peace and sanctuary. Attacking a church is an attack against its entire congregation.’

Kevin Meagher, a former special advisor to Northern Ireland’s Labour party, has said that Boris Johnson is trying to ‘look down the barrel of the European Commission to see if there is any wiggle room for him’ as he tries to negotiate a backstop which only applies to Northern Ireland and avoids a hard border between the UK and EU. Let us pray for an answer that only God can bring about. May there be a frictionless open border agreed upon by every British, Irish and European politician.