Fabian Monds, head of the BBC in the Six Counties, has agreed to take a seat on the `Police Authority of Northern Ireland'. The appointment, announced at the end of last month, will incense nationalists already angry at the BBC's ``Orange-friendly'' coverage of the Twelfth, even in the face of widespread violence arising out of this year's Drumcree crisis. Free article

A Lurgan man whose evidence of RUC threats against Rosemary Nelson formed a crucial part of the UN Cumaraswamy report into death threats against the human rights lawyer, was severely beaten by the RUC in the early hours of the Twelfth. Free article

``The Patten Recommendations on policing are the threshold, the floor, not the ceiling, of what is required, `` Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly told reporters in Belfast on Wednesday, 19 July. ``The Policing Commission's position that their recommendations be implemented comprehensively as a package and not subjected to cherry picking needs to be adhered to.'' Free article

There were large numbers of heavily armed RUC personnel on the streets of Newry last Saturday, 15 July, reminiscent of scenes from the past, when such activity was taken for granted. No one is quite sure at this stage what prompted such a presence, but what was clear was the RUC's provocative display and attitude on Saturday last. Republicans were singled out for special treatment throughout the day with checkpoints set up spontaneously when known activists were identified. Free article

A Parades Commission determination barring a loyalist band from marching in a nationalist area of Castlederg, County Tyrone was ignored by the RUC last Tuesday night, 11 July. Free article

Inflation figures of 5.5% for the last 12 months provoked a barrage of criticism of government economic policies this week, as trade union leaders, employers' organisations and opposition parties all hit out at the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat coalition's inaction on the growing price spiral. Free article