2 Timothy 4:7 states, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” This verse reflects Paul’s declaration of faithfulness and perseverance in his service to Christ, emphasizing the importance of remaining steadfast in the face of challenges. It serves as a timeless reminder for believers to continue their spiritual journey with dedication and commitment, especially as Paul wrote this during his final days before martyrdom. Overall, it encapsulates the essence of the Christian journey—a noble struggle and unwavering commitment to faith.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the ruling on Wednesday had ‘wide-ranging implications’.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has welcomed a Supreme Court ruling on a Troubles case
By Jonathan McCambridge, Press Association
December 17, 2025 at 1:49pm GMT
The Government has said it will consider how a Supreme Court ruling over a Troubles death is relevant to calls for it to reveal the identity of the agent Stakeknife.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the ruling on Wednesday had “wide-ranging implications”.
The final Operation Kenova report last week urged the Government to name Stakeknife, who operated as an Army spy within the IRA during the Troubles.
Mr Benn said at the time he would respond after the Supreme Court ruled in a government appeal over a coroner’s decision to disclose some sensitive material in the inquest into a 1994 murder in Belfast.
The court has now ruled that the coroner should not release the information around the murder of Liam Paul Thompson in Belfast in 1994, and said the responsibility lies with the Northern Ireland Secretary over assessing risks to national security.
Mr Benn said: “The Government welcomes the unanimous judgment handed down by the Supreme Court.
“This is a highly complex case with wide-ranging implications.
“The Government will therefore take time to fully consider all aspects of this judgment, including those relevant to the request made by Operation Kenova for the Government to name Stakeknife.
“I will return to the House on this as soon as the Government has come to a final view.”
Last week’s Kenova report looked at the actions of Stakeknife, the Army’s top spy in the Provisional IRA’s internal security unit during the Troubles.
The agent has been linked to at least 14 murders and 15 abductions.
He was widely believed to be west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who was 77 when he died in 2023.
The Kenova report also called for the UK Government to publicly reveal the identity of Stakeknife.
The Government has resisted previous calls to do this, arguing that departing from its policy of Neither Confirm Nor Deny (NCND) in regard to officially confirming the identity of agents would have implications for national security.
In his judgment in the Thompson case, Lord Stephens said one of the issues for the coroner to consider had been the fact that the Ministry of Defence and PSNI held documents which were relevant to the issue of whether the security forces had received information from a covert human intelligence source in connection with the death.
He said the Government considered that “disclosing those documents would be contrary to the public interest in protecting national security, in particular because it would be contrary to the policy of neither confirming nor denying the use of informers or other secret source”.
If you confined judgement on the Trump administration’s immigration policy to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website you would likely be cheering.
The website features a veritable rogues gallery of “criminal aliens” who have been detained and in some cases deported. The photos make the FBI’s most wanted list look like a beauty pageant lineup.
Few would object to the apprehension of serious criminals who have entered the United States illegally and have continued their criminal activities in our midst.
The initial understanding of ICE’s enhanced role in going after people illegally in the country was that it would be primarily focused on serious criminals and gang members.
But, as we all have seen, it has gone well beyond this.
The young woman in the photograph is 19-year-old Any Lucia Lopez Belloza.
She is from Honduras but had lived in the U.S. since the age of seven. She was about to board a flight at Boston’s Logan Airport heading for Austin, Texas where her parents live. She would surprise them for Thanksgiving. Lopez Belloza, however, was pulled aside and would end up in shackles and handcuffs.
She is a student at Babson College outside Boston. Babson’s business school is one of the top rated in the country. This young woman had a bright future and would in all likelihood have contributed significantly to the only country she knew as home, the United States.
She was deported to Honduras despite her attorney securing a court order preventing her removal from the U.S. Some courts matter more than others these times.
In the past couple of days the Boston Globe reported that immigration agents had appeared at Lopez Belloza’s family home in Austin. Once it gets its teeth into something ICE’s appetite is seemingly insatiable.
Lopez Belloza is Honduran. She could just as easily have been Irish.
Few would argue that the United States has a right to control its borders and to properly run its immigration system. And few would argue that individuals in the country deserve a more minimal legal consideration if they commit serious crimes.
But we have witnessed the forceful detention of legal residents and even citizens. We have witnessed families being torn apart and thousands of people being confined in detention centers, often in horrific conditions.
This newspaper is aware of one particular horror story from a detention center that would sound as if it took place in a Russian Gulag.
ICE would argue that it is carrying out the job that it is mandated to do. It’s likely the case that many ICE agents feel uncomfortable with some aspects of that job. It’s hard to judge feelings when your face is hidden by a mask. Some agents, the more zealous, likely relish their tasks.
It’s hard to know where all this will end. We are coming up to Christmas and it’s certain that more families will experience a holiday they will want to forget.
America wears its christianity, the various forms of it, very loudly on its sleeve. But said christianity is being drowned out amid the cries of people whose only crime is to reach for a chance at pursuing the American Dream.
It all comes down to politics in the end; as it always does. Congress has been a miserable failure for all too many years in the matter of comprehensive immigration reform. With an aging population you would think that an ordered immigration system would be a priority on Capitol Hill.
But of course Capitol Hill is lately very much a second tier legislative entity behind an administration that grows in power, and the desire to wield power, with every passing day.
The Statue of Liberty still stands tall in New York Harbor. But Lady Liberty is in the unemployment line. And not to forget, she is French. Hopefully she has the correct papers.
There comes a time in every nation’s story when the people must decide whether they will stand silent… or stand together.
We are living in that moment now.
For too long our communities have been ignored, divided, and pushed aside while decisions about our future are made behind closed doors. The pain felt in towns and villages across this island is real — but so is the strength that lives within us.
The tear in the image is not a sign of weakness.
It is a reminder.
A reminder of what we have lost…
And a reminder of what we can still save.
When we stand united — shoulder to shoulder, county to county — there is nothing stronger than the people of this island. No government, no outside influence, and no agenda can overpower a nation that remembers who it is.
We do not weep for our country.
We rise for it.
We protect it.
We take back our voice, our community, and our future.
