Vow for justice and Ian Paisley’s foreign travels

Two stories dominate the front pages – a vow to catch the killer of a Belfast murder victim and new revelations over Ian Paisley’s holiday arrangements.

Both the Irish News and the Mirror lead with the raw grief of the family of Jim Donegan, who was shot dead last week as he collected his son from school.

The Irish News carries a poignant tribute from his 13-year-old son who left a handwritten note at the scene.

“No matter what anyone says about you, you were my daddy,” the boy wrote.

Mr Donegan’s widow, Laura, also left a floral tribute at the scene, expressing her love for the west Belfast father of two and disbelief at the “cruel way” in which he was taken from her.

“I promise to get justice for you, I won’t stop!” she wrote.

The Mirror also reports the release of new CCTV footage of the suspected gunman, which police have described as “extremely chilling”.

The man is seen waiting alongside primary school children at a pedestrian crossing, just seconds before opening fire on the victim, shooting him multiple times.

The Belfast Telegraph and the News Letter lead with the Asian adventures of Ian Paisley, following a BBC Spotlight investigation into his 2016 family holiday to the Maldives.

Mr Paisley only recently returned to the House of Commons after a 30-day suspension for failing to declare two family holidays to Sri Lanka in the MPs’ register of interests.

The News Letter focuses on the “mystery friend” who part-funded the Paisleys’ Maldives trip, saying the North Antrim MP has “declined to identify” the individual.

The Telegraph highlights the fact that Mr Paisley embarked on the 2016 trip just eight months after he was “part of a controversial parliamentary visit” to the islands.

The paper says he also spoke out against economic sanctions imposed on the Maldives.

Mr Paisley, however, has said he was “satisfied the vacation did not have to be recorded on the register”.

He said the friend who partially paid for the holiday was not connected with his work and received no benefit.

A fatal gun attack in the French city of Strasbourg also makes it onto the News Letter’s front page because all three of Northern Ireland’s MEPs were in the city when a gunman opened fire at a Christmas market.

Sinn Féin MEP Martina Anderson says she was walking to a nearby restaurant when she heard gunshots and “suddenly it was pandemonium”.

“We were running in the other direction, telling people to run and get back,” she said.

DUP MEP Diane Dodds was already in a Strasbourg restaurant when plain-clothed police stormed in and locked down the building.

“Police raced into the restaurant, turned out the lights, pulled the curtains. Everybody was told to stay in, we’re locked in,” Mrs Dodds said.

Art thieves are in the frame in the Mirror, after five prints by Belfast-born artist Terry Bradley were stolen during a house burglary in south Belfast.

The homeowner tells the paper the intruders “wrecked” her home in Knockbreda Park, taking her late mother’s jewellery and “every Christmas present I’d bought” as well as the valuable artwork.

The stolen works include Bradley’s popular Night on the Town image and the paper urges art lovers to steer clear of dodgy deals.

Another significant loss to the arts scene in Northern Ireland features on the front page of the Belfast Telegraph, which marks the death of the Duchess of Abercorn.

It carries a two-page feature on the “fascinating life and huge legacy” of the aristocrat, who married a unionist MP and became lady of the manor at Baronscourt Estate in County Tyrone.

The paper says her remarkable lineage included tsars and assorted European royalty as well as the renowned Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.

In 1987, the duchess set up a cross-community children’s charity named after her famous ancestor – the Pushkin Trust – which helps young people to express themselves through creative writing.

She was inspired to help children during Northern Ireland’s Troubles after her own young daughter suffered nightmares, fearing their family would be attacked.

The paper says that Snow Patrol musician and songwriter Johnny McDaid was among the first group of young people to take part in the project.

“I was really inspired as a child that writing was something I could do with my life,” he said.