Article

The article I have reproduced from the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ of 17th February 2023, will prove to be poignant reminder of a most horrific atrocity carried out by the IRA back in 1978. I knew the owners of the hotel for I was living with my parents in a rented house belonging to them, the late Mr and Mrs Wesley Huddleston, in the mid-60s, a mere 100 yards away from the building destroyed.

The reported hypocritical, dissembling responses of Gerry Adams at the time, along with the quotations from prominent southern politicians, register afresh the ongoing bitter animosity seated deep within the psyche of the Irish Roman Catholic republican!

That being so, it is utterly galling to see the prominence given to those two political harpies, Sinn Fein leaders, McDonald and O’Neill, by the BBC yesterday when reporting on the latest ‘Protocol’ developments even though it is chiefly the concern of Unionists.

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster

---

La Mon House bombing 45th anniversary

Belfast Newsletter- 17th February 2023.

By Henry Patterson

‘You build up resistance, but these injuries were horrific – the worst ever’. ​Norman Hughes was Northern Ireland’s senior plastic surgeon when the La Mon House bombing occurred, 45 years ago today. He treated eight of the most severely burned survivors, five men and three women.

He told the Belfast Telegraph, ‘It would depress anyone to see them. What is it supposed to achieve?’.

In the same report a nurse, Jane McCall from Holywood, spoke of her experience , ‘The injuries are dreadful. I had one student nurse who was sick and then asked me if it was normal to be sick looking at people in such a condition. You build up a certain amount of resistance but these injuries were horrific, the worst ever.’ (more…)

A call has been made for all local councils in Northern Ireland to ‘honour’ the 50th anniversary of the female UDR soldiers, or ‘Greenfinches’, but Sinn Fein/IRA has vetoed the call.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who is also President of the Ulster Defence Regiment Association, has challenged Sinn Fein to justify how it can veto a public honour for them at Armagh Craigavon and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council when republicans “glorify and eulogise those who set out to murder women”.

197 members of the regiment were killed both on and off duty, including four women (Greenfinches), as well as over 60 killed after leaving the Regiment. Over 400 were seriously wounded and many still continue to suffer both psychologically and physically as a result of their service.

In 2006, when Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, came to Belfast to present the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross to The Ulster Defence Regiment, she said that the contribution of the Regiment to peace and stability within Northern Ireland had been unique and had required ‘uncommon courage and conviction’.

Her Majesty reflected that no challenge faced by The Ulster Defence Regiment went unmet, whatever the personal cost.

The Victoria Cross is the only higher combat gallantry award presented by the United Kingdom

Sir Jeffrey was speaking after Sinn Fein blocked a motion from UUP Alderman Glenn Barr to honour the female UDR soldiers at the local authority last month.

The formation of the female UDR soldiers, or Greenfinches, in 1973 was the first case of complete integration of men and women in a British military unit and it proved to be a very successful model. The initial recruitment drive attracted over 530 applications from women.

Once again the unremitting and relentless hatred of all things British is seen on the part of Sinn Fein/IRA. Its members glory in the cowardly deeds of those who waited in ambush to shoot down and murder those dedicated to offering protection to civilians. (more…)

Here is yet another shameful exposure of the iniquities of Roman Catholicism.

It is a report from ‘The Guardian’ newspaper, dated yesterday, Monday 13th February 2023 and sent to me by a watchful friend.

I cannot help but be amazed that this evil system of falsehood and lies and blasphemy retains its standing amongst men despite the repeated laying bare of its true character. Were this any other organisation, it would be condemned, ostracised and repudiated by all. The old saying is yet again proved true! “The devil takes care of his own!”

Sincerely in Christ’s name,

Ivan Foster

---

Portugal: Catholic clergy abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, inquiry finds

Independent commission reaches conclusion after hearing evidence from over 500 survivors last year

Catholic clergy in Portugal have abused nearly 5,000 children since 1950, an independent commission said on Monday after hearing hundreds of survivors’ accounts.

Thousands of reports of paedophilia within the church have surfaced around the world, and Pope Francis is under pressure to tackle the scandal.

The Portuguese inquiry, commissioned by the church in the staunchly Catholic country, published its findings after hearing from more than 500 survivors last year.

“This testimony allows us to establish a much larger network of victims, at least 4,815,” the commission head, Pedro Strecht, told a press conference in Lisbon that was attended by several senior church officials. (more…)