Northern Ireland

By offering to shoot the killers of Robert McCartney, The IRA has further tarnished the image of Sinn Féin, writes Suzanne Breen

The IRA still regards itself as the one true army and the legitimate government of the Republic. Where does that leave Ahern's government? And what does it mean for the peace process? By Brendan O'Brien

Richard O'Rawe's own memory of the hunger strikes is flawed, and his assertions are wrong, writes Denis O'Hearn, the author of a forthcoming biography of Bobby Sands

IRA today are up to the same old tricks and facing same the obstacles as the old IRA did in the 1920s and 1930s. Conor Brady reports

^ Though they didn't specifically authorise the Northern Bank robbery, senior Sinn Féin members on the IRA Army Council sanctioned the principle of armed robberies, writes Suzanne Breen

Is Gerry Adams about to make another momentous phone call? Just before the explosion at Canary Wharf in February 1996, which ended the IRA's first ceasefire, the Sinn Féin president rang the White House to warn of disturbing news.

The report of the Independent Monitoring Commission is an irrelevance. An irrelevance even if any independent credibility could be attached to its findings. On Thursday (10 February) it concluded the IRA was responsible for a series of robberies, including the Northern Bank robbery on 10 December and that senior Sinn Féin people, by which it means Gerry Adams and Martin McGuiness, approved of these robberies in advance.

In a week when Gordon Brown was alleged to have said to Tony Blair: "I would not believe a word you say to me", Bertie echoed the same sentiments to Gerry Adams. The continued denial by the republican movement of involvement in the Northern Bank heist is typical of the choreography and bare faced cheek we expect from Sinn Féin – the Arms and Armani party.

The fall-out from the bank heist continues, but the North's biggest nationalist party are unlikely to find themselves out in the cold.
Suzanne Breen reports on developments since the robbery

We sat in a small café, opposite the prison, waiting for clearance from the authorities for our visit. El Modelo is situated in an extremely poor quarter of Bogota and the people around us represented the marginalised in this divided and dangerous country. Thousands have been displaced from the countryside.