The majority of the UVF's senior leadership were Special Branch agents. That's the conclusion of a report by Ombudsman Nuala O Loan emerging out of an investigation into RUC collusion with the loyalist killers of Raymond McCord Jr. due to be released next week. Free article

The upbeat and relaxed mood of nearly 300 delegates to the Cúige Uladh AGM last Sunday, 14 January, belied the seriousness of the political juncture we are now at. The Tí Chulainn Centre in Mullaghbawn, South Armagh, is the ideal setting for republicans to meet. The magical Slieve Gullion mountain, a symbol of Irish resistance to British rule, stands as a sentinel behind it while the rich South Armagh countryside embraces the Centre as it embraced our freedom fighters down through the years. Free article

"The old order is dying and the new order is struggling to be born." That was the assessment of Ronnie Kasrils, South Africa's Minister for Intelligence, of the present state of the peace process in this country. Free article

It is now five years since the first images appeared of prisoners in orange boiler suits being carried on stretchers after their interrogation by the US military in Guantánamo, sparking a controversy about the prisoners' fate and their rights in this no man's land. Five years later, these prisoners are still in legal limbo: the US refuses to declare them prisoners of war, thereby denying them their rights and entitlements under the Geneva Convention. + International News In Brief Free article

The Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle last Saturday unanimously supported the nomination of Cork City Councillor Jonathan O'Brien as the Sinn Féin Candidate for Cork North Central in the forthcoming general election. O'Brien had previously expressed doubt about his ability to fill the role. Free article

Sinn Féin Housing Spokesperson, West Belfast MLA Fra McCann has said that affordable and social housing must be a priority for any incoming Executive and that dealing with the problem of vacant properties would have a significant impact in the provision of both affordable and social housing and in eradicating homelessness. Free article

Taxpayer to foot €4.3m Irish Ferries redundancies bill, Lock out of workers at Fáilte Ireland, Vehicle licensing jobs uncertain and HSA commit to clean up mushroom industry Free article

Hundreds of Republicans from Counties Monaghan, Armagh and further afield gathered in Castleblayney last Sunday to commemorate the 32nd anniversary of IRA Volunteer John Francis Green. Free article

Seán McDermott was only 20 years of age when he died during an IRA operation over 30 years ago. Despite his youth, at the time of his death, Seán was already a seasoned Volunteer, who had faced incarceration as one of the youngest internees and survived serious injury after being shot by the British army. As an IRA Staff Officer in the 1st Battalion, Seán was a charismatic leader, astute political thinker and a courageous soldier. Free article

The weeks other news in brief Free article