Gail Walker

There is a new dividing line in Northern Ireland, one that ignores the old sectarian lines of loyalists and republicans, and threatens the province with a new, insidious kind of division

Gail Walker: We can’t keep fumbling immigration issues we do have control over at expense of wellbeing of the people who live here

Every now and again in our world of toxic public discourse and rancour, a lone voice breaks through all the noise to remind us there is more to life than burnings, yelling, mayhem and point-scoring. This week, it has been that outstanding sportswoman Ciara Mageean.

Jeffrey Donaldson was at the pinnacle of his political career when his world imploded. He was knighted which made him a ‘Sir’. He was a Privy Councillor which made him a ‘Right Honourable’. He was the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Egypt and Cameroon, no less.

Jeffrey Donaldson was at the pinnacle of his political career when his world imploded. He was knighted which made him a ‘Sir’. He was a Privy Councillor which made him a ‘Right Honourable’. He was the Prime Minister’s trade envoy to Egypt and Cameroon, no less.

Brief meeting took place between Complainant B, the Hoys and Donaldson, with no discussion of what the allegations were about. Mr Hoy said he asked B if she ‘wanted to take this further and she said no’

Of all the thoughts about Jeffrey Donaldson and his crimes, this is among the most troubling for those of us whose paths he crossed: were there any signs that he was a serial child sex abuser, and if so could his victims have been spared their suffering?

Twenty-seven days. That’s how long Natalie McNally’s family got before her murderer struck again. First, the brutal killing, then the terrorising of the relatives — her survivors — conducted from the comfort of a state-owned prison cell and paid for by your taxes.

Twenty-seven days. That’s how long Natalie McNally’s family got before her murderer struck again. First, the brutal killing, then the terrorising of the relatives — her survivors — conducted from the comfort of a state-owned prison cell and paid for by your taxes.

There was not a day in her public career that the late Ann Widdecombe was not subject to personal comment, most of it abusive.