A section of the huge crowd

For a brief period the rain eased as we walked through Dundalk on Sunday but for most of the time it lashed. Thousands of brave souls, many soaked to the skin despite all kinds and sizes of umbrellas and coats, and led by relatives of the hunger strikers, walked the two miles from the assembly point to the centre of Dundalk where this year’s National Hunger Strike march and rally where held.

The talk of many was of similar marches in the past, often in similar cold and inclement weather, during the long years of the blanket protest in the H-Blocks and in Armagh Women’s prison.

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Along the route the County Louth organisers of the event had arranged for some street theatre to remind us of other days. At one place there were women holding posters shouting slogans in support of the blanket men and the Armagh women prisoners; at another spot a group was shouting slogans against strip searching; at yet another a group of women were vigorously bashing the footpath with the cleanest bin-lids I have ever seen; others were dressed as Brits and RUC; and there were still others holding posters in support of Paddy Agnew from Dundalk who famously won a Dáil seat along with Ciaran Doherty in the summer of 1981.

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The Louth Sinn Féin team did a brilliant job of planning and organising and participating in all aspects of the event – although Flash McVeigh failed to arrange better weather. Well done to everyone who played their part.

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Councillor Imelda Munster agus mise

Councillor Tómas Sharkey welcomed everyone to the car park where the event was being held and Councillor Imelda Munster was an excellent chair for the proceedings. Laments were played by Patrick Martin and the last post by Harry Bellew Jr echoed across Dundalk. The Roll of Honour of all of those who died on hunger strike in the last century was read out by Shauna McKee and Niamh Morrow and Donna Lawless and Aoife Archibald read two poems by Bobby Sands.

Ellen Maguire’s haunting voice carried across the huge space as she sang ‘Forever in my mind’ a song written by Christy Moore and based on a poem by Pierce McLoughlin. Ellen closed the proceedings with Amhrán na bhFiann.

When I stepped forward to speak I was looking down on a sea of umbrellas. This year there were more media than usual because of the controversy around the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan and claims by the PSNI about the IRA.

Below is a transcript of my speech. While it had to address other matters it is primarily about the hunger strikers, their courage and legacy.

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Remembering the Hunger Strikers:

“I want to commend and to thank the organisers of today’s event.

I also want to welcome all of you here to county Louth for this very special celebration of the lives of Bobby, Francie, Raymond, Patsy, Joe, Martin, Kevin, Kieran, Tom and Mickey.

Déanann muid cuimhneachán ar Frank Stagg agus Michael Gaughan fosta.

The men and women of Armagh Women’s Prison and the H Blocks, and especially the 10 men who died, hold a special place in the hearts and minds of Irish republicans.

Many of us today have known other friends and comrades who were killed during the course of the conflict.

Brave men and women who gave their lives in the pursuit of freedom and justice and independence.

We remember them all.

Déanann muid cuimhneachán orthu uilig inniu.

We are proud of them all.

Tá muid bródúil astu ar fad.

But the 10 hunger strikers are exceptional.

Perhaps it is because of the very public manner of their deaths.

Perhaps it’s because as human beings we are inevitably drawn to and inspired by those who are willing to sacrifice their lives, often in desperate circumstances, to save the lives of others and in pursuit of a noble goal.

Perhaps it is because we shared in the trauma and grief of the families who demonstrated enormous endurance and tenacity during those long difficult months.

Their indomitable spirit and selflessness stand out as an inspiration to us all.

The generosity and self-sacrifice of the hunger strikers, and the hard work and support of thousands of people across this island, inflicted a historic defeat on the Thatcher government.

Like the Easter Rising of 1916, it was a watershed in Ireland’s long struggle for freedom and against British rule.

The momentous election of Bobby Sands in Fermanagh South Tyrone gave the lie to the claim that the political prisoners did not enjoy popular support.

Several months later in June 1981 the criminalisation policy of the British government, enthusiastically supported and implemented by successive Irish governments, suffered another body blow with the election to the Dáil of Kieran Doherty in Cavan Monaghan and the election of Paddy Agnew here in Louth.

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As well as the election of Kieran and Paddy, Joe McDonnell came close to taking a seat in Sligo and Mairead Farrell and others won credible votes.

All of this was achieved with little real organisation and no great electoral experience.

I remember the first poster I saw in Dundalk during that election.

It said: “Support the Prisoners, Vote Paddy Agnew No 1.”

In every town and small village and sraid bhaile across Louth, there was Paddy’s face smiling down from telegraph poles, hoardings and tree trunks.

I have to say he hasn’t changed a bit.

Fianna Fáil and Charlie Haughey, who had thought they were on their way to another election victory, and who had treated the hunger strikers and their families so appallingly, were punished by the electorate.

No party has been able to form a majority single government in this state since then.

On Thursday we remembered Mickey Devine who died on that date in 1981 after 60 days on hunger strike.

Mickey was the last of the ten to die.

Three decades later it is clear that the 1981 hunger strike, and its electoral successes transformed the struggle.

It is our responsibility to finish the work commenced by previous generations, and by the men and women of 1916 and the men and women of 1981.

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Several weeks ago Sinn Féin’s hugely successful and popular re-enactment of the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa showed what can be achieved to further popularise the struggle for freedom, as well as to celebrate the lives of national heroes.

The Sinn Féin event also exposed the shallowness of the approach of Fine Gael, Labour and Fianna Fáil and of their policies.

Léirigh ócáid Shinn Féin nach bhfuil Fine Gael Páirtí an Lucht Oibre nó Fianna Fáil dáiríre faoi seo.

Fine Gael and Labour can rightly be blamed for the implementation of austerity policies and the dire social and economic consequences they have created.

But there is no difference in policy between Fine Gael and Labour, and Fianna Fail.

They will not deliver a fair recovery but more of the same old cronyism and clientelism.

A general election is only months, perhaps weeks away.

The Government says that a recovery is underway.

If it is, it isn’t a fair recovery.

It is a two tier recovery that benefits them and their friends at the top, not the majority of hard-working, fair-minded Irish citizens.

Fine Gael and Labour will make one last desperate effort in October to buy the next election.

We cannot and should never take the electorate for granted but I am confident that citizens will not be fooled.

Sinn Féin offers a different way – a better way – to build a fair recovery.

It is our responsibility to win the largest mandate possible for our party and for a fair recovery.

The reality is that the leaderships of Fine Gael and Labour and Fianna Fáil long ago abandoned any real belief in the principles of equality and of rights contained in the Proclamation, or any commitment to a united, free and independent Ireland.

Partitionism dominates and defines their politics.

For them the struggle for Irish freedom ended with the Treaty and the Civil War.

It ended with partition.

But Ireland divided never can be free.

So for us the struggle continues.

And Sinn Féin is in the vanguard.

Inniu tá an streachailt ag leanúint ar aghaidh agus tá Sinn Féin chun tosaigh.

For that reason our enemies seek at every opportunity to attack our mandate, to undermine the rights and entitlements of our electorate, and to undermine the peace process.

Like the men and women of Armagh and the H Blocks they seek to criminalise us.

They didn’t succeed in 1981 and they won’t succeed today.

The recent killings of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan have been opportunistically and cynically seized upon for this purpose.

Let me be very clear.

The killings of Jock Davison and of Kevin McGuigan were wrong.

Those involved do not represent republicanism.

They are not the IRA.

The IRA has gone away.

That organisation, undefeated, took the momentous step in 2005 and ordered an end to its armed campaign.

It instructed its representatives to “engage with the IICD to complete the process to verifiably put its arms beyond use” and ordered its volunteers to take part only in “purely political and democratic programmes” and no “other activities whatsoever”.

None of the many alphabet groups that now claim the proud name of the Irish Republican Army have a right to that title.

They have no connection whatsoever with the men and women who bravely resisted British militarism in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and who defeated Thatcher in Armagh women’s prison and the H Blocks of Long Kesh.

As we approach the centenary of 1916 there is no need, rationale, or reason for any armed groups whatsoever.

It’s time they called an end to their sham campaigns.

I have a similar blunt message for those who engage in a sham fight at Stormont on this issue in order to slow down or dilute the necessary process of change.

Those who threaten to take action against Sinn Féin in the political institutions have no basis whatsoever for this.

Sinn Féin’s mandate and the rights and entitlements of our electorate deserve exactly the same respect and protection as anyone else’s’.

And Sinn Féin will defend that assertively and robustly.

We will not be lectured to by those who have failed to honour their obligations time and again.

For our part Sinn Féin has kept every commitment we have made.

But today is about the hunger strikers.

On July 29th 1981 along with Owen Carron and Seamus Ruddy of the IRSP I visited the H Block Hospital in Long Kesh.

By this time Bobby, Francie, Raymond, Patsy, Martin and Joe were dead.

We met Thomas McElwee, Laurence McKeown, Matt Devlin, Pat McGeown, Paddy Quinn and Mickey Devine and Bik McFarlane in the prison hospital.

They all looked rough, prison-pale skin stretched across young skull-like faces, legs and arms indescribably thin, eyes with that penetrating look that I had often noticed among fellow prisoners in the past, and that Bobby Sands had described as "that awful stare, of the pierced or glazed eyes, the tell-tale sign of the rigours of torture."

As they smiled across the table at us we relaxed and were soon deep on conversation about the stailc, the campaign, the BGs position and the well-being of their friends and families.

After this meeting Bik arranged for us to go and see Kieran Doherty.
Doc was propped up on one elbow on his prison bed: his eyes, unseeing, scanned the cell as he heard us entering.

I sat on the side of the bed. Doc, whom I hadn’t seen in years, looked massive in his gauntness, as his eyes, fierce in their quiet defiance, scanned my face.
I spoke to him quietly and slowly, somewhat awed by the man’s dignity and resolve.

"You know the score yourself," he said. "I’ve a week in me yet"

He paused momentarily and reflected: "We haven’t got our five demands and that’s the only way I’m coming off. Too much suffered for too long, too many good men dead. Thatcher can’t break us. Lean ar aghaidh. I’m not a criminal."

"For too long our people have been broken. The Free Staters, the church, the SDLP. We won't be broken. We'll get our five demands. If I’m dead well, the others will have them.

I don't want to die, but that's up to the Brits. They think they can break us. Well they can’t."
"Tiocfaidh ár lá."

I never saw Thomas McElwee, Mickey Devine, Kevin Lynch or Big Doc alive again.
How do you explain the Hunger strikes?

How do you come to terms with what happened?

It can be understood only if we appreciate the incorruptibility and generosity of the human spirit when that spirit is motivated by an ideal or an objective which is greater than itself.

People are not born as heroes.

The hunger strikers were ordinary people who in extraordinary circumstances brought our struggle to a moral platform which became a battle between them and the entire might of the British state.

We Irish, all 70 million of us across this globe are no petty people.

If our opponents, if our detractors, if our enemies want to understand us, if they want to understand our struggle, if they want to understand our commitment and our vision for the future, then let them come to understand the hunger strikers.

For the rest of us there is peace to be made, elections to be fought and freedom to be won.

As Brendan McFarlane sings in his song:

We're stronger now.

You showed us how.

Freedom's fight can be won.

If we all stand as one.

Comrades, let us always remember the Armagh Woman and the Blanket men and especially the hunger strikers with pride.

And let us move forward together as one.

Ar aghaigh linn

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Councillor Tómas Sharkey addressing the huge crowd

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Former Hunger Striker Pat Sheehan with Paddy Agnew

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Dr. Garrett O’Connor was a world renowned psychiatrist. Last week dh died peacefully in his sleep at home in Aughrim, Co. Wicklow. Garrett was married to the equally well known actress Fionnula Flanagan.

He was recognised for work in the field of alcohol addiction and was the president and CEO of the Betty Ford Institute. Garrett was originally from Dublin.

His funeral took place on Saturday and I was one of those who spoke at the ceremony.

Below is my oration.

Oration for Garrett O Connor:

Ba mhaith liom mo chombhrón agus bá a dhéanamh le Fionnuala, Mathew, Turlough, Mary Lee, Julie and Mary.

Agus do clan uilig O Connor, do na cairde’s leathbhádóiri or fadh trasna an Domhan.

It was my great privilege to know Garrett, not as well as his close family who will feel his loss in a special intimate way, especially his beloved Fionnuala. But I am glad I knew him.

It is an honour to say a few inadequate words about this insightful, articulate, creative, honest, courageous and very gifted human being.

He would blush at this but in his long life he touched many people in a positive and empowering way. It should be of some consolation to his family that there are many thousands of people alive today, and tens of thousands of families, leading productive and loving lives, because of his tireless efforts in challenging alcohol abuse and providing counselling and other supports for those in need.

He also talked publicly and very bravely about the personal and family trauma alcoholism created in his life.

Garrett’s training in addiction training and psychiatry was unmatched.

For four decades he travelled widely teaching, consulting, learning, and sharing his experience and ideas with others. He and his close friend Dr. Ivor Browne were trail blazers. Under the auspices of the Irish Association of Human Development, founded by Ivor, which started initially in Ballyfermot, this work was then pioneered in Derry after Bloody Sunday with the Bogside Community Association and Paddy Doherty – Paddy Bogside. A lot of what they did there was based on experimental techniques created largely by Garrett and Ivor.

So although Garrett lived for 50 years in the USA his connections with Ireland were deep and constant. He loved Ireland and the Irish people.

Garrett has also written extensively and persuasively on the role of malignant shame in the Irish psyche and its connection to colonialism. He articulated his belief that the crisis created by malignant shame also extends now into the Ireland of austerity.

I first met Garrett and Fionnuala exactly 21 years ago. A group of us were travelling across the USA meeting Irish American communities and political leaders. Not long after the IRA sos in 1994.

On October 6^th, my birthday, Garrett and Fionnuala very kindly hosted a birthday party at their home in Beverly Hills. Our friend Richard McAuley was enthralled by all of the movie stars who turned up. A reporter for the Sunday Timeswas there also skulking around outside, taking down registration numbers of parked cars. Then Fionnuala produced a birthday cake and Garrett led us in singing ‘Lá breithe shona duit’, silencing the evensong of the crickets and giving our intrepid reporter colourful copy of the front page of his next edition.

Some weeks later I sent Garrett and Fionnuala wild flower seeds, mostly foxgloves or Méirini Púca which I gathered in a Glenside at the back of Errigal in Donegal. Not long afterwards Oscar, Garrett’s huge hairy Airdale died. Garrett dutifully buried the dog in the back garden – probably in breach of a thousand by-laws. Fionnuala unbeknownst to him sprinkled the wildflower seeds over Oscar’s grave.

When the wildflowers bloomed, with the sight and scent of the western highlands of Donegal on the west coast of the USA, Garrett proclaimed that Oscar had performed a miracle.

Garrett was a decent human being. A strong Irish patriot agus cara mór do pobal na hÉireann. Ní chífidh muid a leitheid arís ann.

The author Terry Pratchett, who died recently, put it well before his death.

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away …”

Garrett has left many ripples.

But of course now will be a time of great grief for Fionnuala and those closest to Garrett. Yours is the greatest loss. Garrett would want you all to be well. I think he would approve of Brendan Kennelly’s poem Begin.

This wee extract is for Fionnuala and all of the O Connor clan.

Begin again to the summoning birds

To the sight of light at the window

Begin to the loneliness that cannot end

At crying birds and the sudden rain

At branches stark in the winter sunlight

To words of greeting in the Dublin morning

Though we live in a world that thinks of ending

That always seems about to give in

Something that will not acknowledge conclusion

Insists that we forever begin

Slan Garrett

In my weekly column for the Andersonstown News I wrote last week about the current political crisis. Today the talks begin.

This week 21 years ago the IRA announced its “complete cessation of military operations”. It was a momentous decision that came after many years of intense and difficult hard work. It provided, as Seamus Heaney insightfully put it at the time, a “space in which hope can grow.”

But the process that followed proved torturously slow. At times it collapsed. Hope was often in short supply. The British conservative government under John Major were reluctant participants who erected one hurdle after another in an attempt to stymie progress.

Ian Paisley claimed the IRA cessation was the worst crisis in the history of the northern state and Jim Molyneaux, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party – then the biggest of the unionist parties – described it as one of the most destabilising events for unionism and the Orange state since Partition. These attitudes have largely shaped the character and approach of political unionism since then.

Republicans and nationalists have focussed on achieving the maximum change, the greatest progress and to secure the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Unionist leaders have sought to minimise progress and dilute change. Successive British governments, generally backed by compliant and insipid Irish governments, have consistently backed political unionism.

The internal electoral battle within unionism – primarily between the UUP and DUP, but now also involving Jim Allister’s Traditional Unionist Voice - has also played a significant role as each unionist party seeks to win voters.

The current political crisis is the latest manifestation of this. The UUP decision to walk out of the Executive was no surprise. Mike Nesbitt claims that the decision is about taking a‘principled stand’. Few believe him.

Four years ago the Ulster Unionist Party was in decline. It was desperately trying to carve out an electoral niche for itself, separate from the DUP. As part of this the then leader Tom Elliot argued for the creation of an opposition in the Assembly. A Belfast Telegraph opinion poll claimed that 80% of delegates to the party’s annual conference in 2011 supported this.

The following year the UUPs new leader Mike Nesbitt called for the ‘introduction of an official opposition.’Last year Reg Empey another former leader, tabled an amendment in the British Parliament to the ‘Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill’ which would enable the introduction of an opposition in the Assembly. And he was supported in this by John Taylor, who at the beginning of this year publicly called for the UUP to go into opposition.

As explained by Taylor the rationale for such a move was because the Ulster Unionists were ‘losing ground politically.’

Mike Nesbitt’s ‘principled stand’ is therefore the fulfillment of a long standing objective of the UUP - to go into opposition in the Assembly.

At its most cynical it’s about electoralism – it’s about winning votes and taking seats. The once all powerful UUP – which ruled the north for 50 years - has been pushed to the margins. However, in May the UUP won two Westminster seats in the British general election – ironically in Fermanagh South Tyrone with the help of the DUP – and Nesbitt now sees a further opportunity to resurrect the electoral fortunes of his party.

His decision to exploit the brutal murder of Kevin McGuigan is about positioning the UUP as the party of leadership within unionism.

The same electoral motivation is at work south of the border. The government parties – Fine Gael and Labour - and Fianna Fáil are setting aside the imperative of peace in order to ally themselves with the northern unionist parties to attack Sinn Féin. This is short term narrow party political self-interest taking precedence over the peace process. This is a contemptible approach.

Sinn Féin’s condemnation of the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan has been forthright and unequivocal. So too is our support for the PSNI in their investigation and efforts to bring those responsible before the courts.

Sinn Féin rejects any attempt to undermine the rights and entitlements of our electorate because of the actions of criminals.

In their desire to try and bolster the fortunes of their parties through attacking Sinn Féin the government parties and Fianna Fáil need to be mindful that the DUP and UUP have never been enthusiastic partners in the power sharing institutions. They were each brought grudgingly and reluctantly to participate in the Good Friday Agreement institutions.

Both parties remain wedded to the notion of majority rule. Peter Robinson in an interview only five months ago with the Economist said: “My view is that we should be moving to a voluntary coalition rather than a mandatory coalition, so that people who are like-minded form the government rather than being forced with people who are ideologically not only different, but opposites to each other being in the executive.”

If unionism succeeds in overturning the Good Friday Agreement, collapsing the power sharing structures, and turning the clock back to the bad days of majority rule, the political consequences for the island of Ireland will be very serious.

Now is the time for real leadership. To put the needs of the peace process front and centre. Since that historic IRA cessation on August 31^st1994 Sinn Féin and republicans have taken significant risks for peace and in support of the political process. If a resolution of the current crisis is to be achieved then sectional electoral interests and narrow party politicking needs to be pushed aside.

Any negotiations must focus on the real issues; the outstanding elements of the Good Friday Agreement and the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement. Anything less is not acceptable.

There are some images that have seared their way into the collective consciousness of humanity. Most are traumatic. In my lifetime the screaming face of a naked young girl – Kim Phuc – badly burned from a napalm attack, running down a road, as US troops in Vietnam looked on, is one. Fr. Edward Daly frantically waving a blood stained handerchief as a group of frightened men pass British soldiers carrying the body of another who was shot during the British Paras assault in Derry on Bloody Sunday is another.

Soweto in 1976 and school children taking on the military might of the apartheid south African regime. Four little babies, in blood splattered white shrouds, lying in an ice-cream freezer in Gaza last summer. The rubble of the Shankill as dust covered men and women desperately scramble through rubble trying to find survivors.

We each have our own memories of these and other events. Where we were when we saw them. The emotional jolt. The sadness, the shock, mixed with anger, which often turned to outrage.

Sometimes the image lifts the spirit. Rekindles our belief in humanity. Whether it was ordinary citizens taking hammers and sledge hammers to the Berlin Wall or the release of Nelson Mandela.

But most frequently the image is violent and distressing. Despite this the public and personal reaction is often shortlived as the next shocking image or piece of film, of the next atrocity, emerges onto our television screens or newspapers. They rarely have a lasting political impact. The image comes and goes. It remains in our memories. But the media move on to the next event and the political leaders and governments, having expressed their condemnation, put it behind them.

But there are exceptions. The harrowing and distressing photo last week of three year old Aylan Kurdi lying on a beach in Turkey is one of these. How many times have you walked into a bedroom and looked into a cot, or onto a bed, and watched your son or daughter or grandchild lying peacefully asleep with their face pressed into the mattress and backside sticking up defiantly?

But Aylan was not asleep. His death was not peaceful. He had died with his five year old brother Galip and mother Rihan and seven other refugees trying to cross the five dangerous miles from Turkey – which is outside the EU –to the Greek island of Kos which is inside the EU.

Like so many other instances we have heard of in recent months the boat was too flimsy and the sea too rough.

In April as many as 700 men, women and children died when a boat carrying refugees sank about 60 miles off the coast of Libya. In response to this disaster and other incidents in which boats sank and people drowned the EU increased its naval presence in the region. The Irish government dispatched the Lé Eithne in May. During its tour of duty it saved thousands. Lieutenant Commander Eric Timon said: "The numbers of people fleeing Africa for whatever reason... casting themselves adrift on unseaworthy vessels in the hope of rescue or the hope of reaching European shores, it's quite extraordinary.”

The Lé Eithne was replaced by Lé Niamh. Together they have rescued an astounding five and a half thousand people. Lé Samuel Beckett will shortly take over this essential humanitarian work. If the Irish boats hadn’t been there all of those people might well have died.

Despite the efforts of the Irish naval vessels and others from many countries the deaths are continuing. Last week as the world mourned a little Syrian child and grieved with his father for the family he has lost another 200 refugees drowned less than a mile off the Libyan coast. Some had been locked in the hold of the ship unable to escape.

So far this year over two and a half thousand have died in the Mediterranean Sea.

But now the media and political focus has shifted. Thousands of desperate Syrians, Eritreans, Kurds, and others have taken to the roads of Europe. They are walking hundreds of kilometres from Greece, up through the Balkans, to Germany. The Hungarian government has behaved shamefully but ordinary citizens along their route have demonstrated great compassion to this unfolding human tragedy.

It was into this crisis that the dreadful image of Aylan Kurdi has injected a greater sense of political momentum. Germany has said it will take up to a million refugees. Other states have been less forthcoming as their governments enter into a new round of negotiations to discuss how they will respond to this crisis.

The cynic in me says that the more positive noises in recent days from European governments has less to do with the photo of a dead child on a beach and more to do with the countless thousands of refugees who are on the roads of Europe – no longer penned in to camps or ports in Italy and Greece. This is a human catastrophe that can no longer be ignored or politically defused with a quota agreement that targets 40,000 when hundreds of thousands – millions – are on the move.

Martin McGuinness moved quickly to argue that the north should take several thousand refugees. The Irish government is still deciding what it should do but it is difficult to see how it cannot agree to substantially increase the miserly 600 it was to take under the previous quota system. It needs to decide this quickly and to respond generously.

Perhaps it’s because we are an island people, colonised for centuries, who have been forced to flee in our millions for freedom and work or perhaps it’s because we naturally abhor injustice. But whatever the reason the public response has been amazing. Thousands of offers of accommodation and help, including collections of clothing, have been made. Ordinary citizens have opened their hearts and are pledging to open their homes also to aid those in need.

The governments of Europe have a responsibility to do more. It was their greed and imperial ambitions that created the context for much of this crisis 100 years ago. It was the political and military decisions they have taken in the decades since, and mostly recently in respect of Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Afghanistan, that have shaped the violent maelstrom that is gripping the Middle East and north Africa. In Syria alone hundreds of thousands have died; seven million citizens have been disposed of their homes and communities within the country and more than five million are scattered in refugee camps in surrounding states.

The conditions in the camps are appalling and are set to get worse. The United Nations humanitarian agencies have no money and cannot meet the needs of millions. In recent months food rations for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, as well as in north Africa have been cut. Many health care services run by the UN in Iraq have been closed. Last month 184 health clinics run by the World Health Organisation in Iraq were also closed. WHO needs $60 million for Iraq. Thus far it has only raised $5 million.

A recent report in the Guardian newspaper quoted one Syrian refugee, Fatmeh, who said of her two children in Lebanon: “When we can’t afford both medicine and food, I tie scarves around my boys’ bellies at night so they don’t wake up crying from stomach aches because they are hungry.”

Is it any wonder that families have chosen to make the perilous journey to Europe? It’s time that the EU institutions, European governments and Mr. Kenny and his colleagues, agreed to be as generous and as imaginative and as compassionate as this crisis demands of them.

The political institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 hang by a thread. The historic agreement which internationally stands as a beacon of hope for efforts to advance conflict resolution processes in other trouble spots around the world, is now at the point of collapse. Of the many crises faced since the Agreement was achieved over 17 years ago this is probably the most dangerous, both because of its contrived nature and because the issues at its core should not be matters for the politicians and political institutions but for the police.

It is now clear after the arrest and then release of Bobby Storey last week that the grave concerns Sinn Féin has expressed about recent events; how they occurred, and how they were subsequently handled, are entirely justified. As Bobby pointed out in his press conference on Sunday; “The PSNI had no basis for arresting me. At no time during my detention did the police present a shred of evidence or intelligence, which in either my opinion or the opinion of my solicitor, warranted my arrest. Questions must be asked about the timing and nature of my wrongful arrest.”

It is also important to note that the British Secretary of State knew two days before his arrest that Bobby was to be lifted by the PSNI. Some in the media were briefed also, as were some unionist politicians.

The question that must be asked is whose agenda is being served by this crisis and by the spin and the arrests. It is certainly not Sinn Féin’s. It is also now obvious that the Ulster Unionist Party has sought to exploit these murders for very narrow party political reasons.

The DUP’s electoral pact with the UUP during the Westminster election, which saw the UUP take Fermanagh South Tyrone and the DUP’s south Antrim seat, has emboldened that party. Afraid of being gobbled up by the DUP or Jim Allister’s TUV, the UUP leader Mike Nesbitt has embarked on a political strategy to present his party as effective in challenging republicans and the DUP as impotent. Hence this contrived crisis. Thus far Nesbitt has succeeded even though there have been extraordinary moments of incoherence, contradictions and confusion during his contribution to debates on recent news programmes.

Sinn Féin’s position was well articulated by Bobby Storey on Sunday during his press conference. ‘The IRA is gone, stood down. It’s not coming back. The only republican organisation is Sinn Féin. The only republican leadership is the Sinn Féin leadership.’

It is important also to remember that there are other matters tied up in this crisis. These include the absence of a workable budget, outstanding issues arising from the Good Friday and other agreements, including Acht na Gaeilge, a Bill of Rights and the failure to implement the Stormont House Agreement.

The threat by the British Secretary of State that she will legislate on welfare matters is not helpful. It is however typical of the approach of this British government to the process. For almost five years it disconnected from the agreement. So too did the Irish government. As co-equal guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement their responsibility is to uphold its integrity and implement it in full.

The Taoiseach needs to make the north a priority. Over the last few years he has virtually abandoned his responsibilities. It is a reality that clumsy interventions at times of crisis are no substitute for long-term engagement and the strategic consistency which is what is required.

For our part Sinn Féin will respond to all of these events in a calm and reasonable manner. We refuse to kneejerk. Sinn Féin will also engage in any talks in good faith and determined to find resolutions and agreement on all outstanding matters. But We will not accept or tolerate a situation in which the democratic rights of our electorate are not recognised and valued on the same basis as those of other parties.

Nor will be lectured to by unionist parties who turn a blind eye to loyalist violence and who work with loyalist paramilitary groups in pursuit of mutually agreed political objectives – like getting sectarian marches through nationalist areas.

The unionist parties’ attitude to the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan in Belfast and to the recent revelations about the sell-off of NAMAs northern loan book for a third of its value of £4.5 billion, as well as allegations that a senior politician in the north was to benefit from this, are all evidence of their ad hoc attitude to the political institutions.

Sinn Féin could have decided to walk away from the Executive over the NAMA issue. We didn’t. We asserted the primacy of due process and the need for these very serious allegations of political corruption to be fully investigated by the relevant Assembly and policing agencies.

The negative unionist approach comes from its difficulties in coming to terms with the new political dispensation. They want to have political power on their own terms and not on the basis of equality, as set out in a series of agreements. Pandering by both governments to Unionism has reinforced this tendency.

It is obvious that the manner in which the DUP and the UUP are treating the institutions is seriously damaging public confidence in politics. In the longer term Unionism will be freed and liberated by the ending of partition and the union. These are the causes of the dysfunctionality which regularly surfaces in the political institutions and the contradictions between the rhetoric of unionist leaders and their actions.

In the immediate short term it is obvious that the parties in the North and the two Governments need to live up to our obligations and to do the work we are well paid to do. A starting point should be to support the police in their work.

The police for their part also have questions to answer but that too should be done in the appropriate way and through the appropriate accountability mechanism. Police should be above politics. It has no place in the political processes.

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Declan Kearney, Cllr Críona Ní Dhálaigh, Dominick Chilcott, Gerry Adams

Uncomfortable Conversations – An Initiative for Dialogue towards Reconciliation is a book published by Sinn Féin which contains contributions from key figures in the Churches, academia and wider civic society, as well as senior republican figures.

On Thursday in Dublin the Mansion House was the scene for the southern launch of the book. The Mayor of Dublin, Sinn Féin Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, welcomed everyone to the event which was hosted by the party’s National Chairperson Declan Kearney, who was responsible for collating the articles first published in An Phoblacht.

The speakers included Rev Dr. Heather Morris who in 2012 was elected as the Methodist Church in Ireland’s first female President; the British Ambassador to Dublin Dominick Chilcott; agus mise.

Below is the text of my remarks:

Building new relationships

Ard Mhéara, Ambassador, Reverend Morris, agus a chairde.

I am very pleased to have been invited to speak at this launch of "Uncomfortable Conversations for Reconciliation" by Declan Kearney.

The islands of Ireland and Britain have had a long, entangled, conflicted and tragic relationship.

Because of our shared centuries of occupation, conflict and open war, nationalists and unionists historically have defined themselves, our cultures and aspirations in terms of our relationship with Britain.

Because of our experience of colonisation and oppression nationalists have largely rejected Britishness in its entirety, whilst unionists have embraced every British symbol and gesture.

Consequently many unionists distrust the entire nationalist population fearing that if our respective roles are ever reversed we would imitate and repeat their excesses.

In Belfast parlance the boot would be on the other foot.

There is an onus on Irish republicans to address these fears.

We must do so in a genuine and meaningful way.

Most people in England consider anyone who comes from the island of Ireland as Irish – as Paddy’s or Patricia’s.

The same is true in the USA and Canada and elsewhere.

This can come as a shock to unionists when they travel there.

And of course England itself has changed much in recent decades.

In cities like London and Birmingham there is now a cosmopolitan mix.

Most citizens in England would have little in common with what unionists describe as ‘British culture’ most often represented by ‘blood and thunder’ loyalist marching bands and demands to walk through nationalist areas.

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Declan Kearney

At the same time the story of colonisation and conflict has run parallel with many positive and shared experiences over the centuries.

Irish people have settled in Britain for generations.

Irish artists have contributed enormously to English literature, music and the arts.

On the sports field our people enjoy a robust and healthy rivalry.

In more recent years Irish personalities have been popular and prominent in the British entertainment industry.

The relationships between Ireland and Britain as well as those among the people of Ireland itself, are currently in transition.

Tá na caidrimh atá ann idir Éire agus an Bhreatain agus na caidrimh idir na pobail in Éirinn fosta, ag athrú anois.

The Peace Process and the Good Friday Agreement have provided the basis for building an entirely new relationship between our two islands based on partnership, equality and mutual respect.

All of us - the Irish and British governments, as well as Irish republicans, nationalists and unionists must play a full role in developing this process.

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Rev Dr. Heather Morris agus mise

And let us remember that it is a process. There will be ups and downs but the direction is clear.

Sinn Féin is committed to this process and to working with the political representatives of unionism to fully implement the Good Friday Agreement.

Uncomfortable Conversations opens up the pages of what is possible is people are prepared to listen and to talk to each other.

During her historic visit to Ireland in 2011, Queen Elizabeth made clear her desire to be part of a process of reconciliation and healing.

The subsequent meeting between Martin McGuinness and Queen Elizabeth in Belfast and the state visit by President Michael D Higgins to Britain were widely acknowledged as groundbreaking.

Last May, Martin McGuinness, Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and I met Prince Charles in Sligo.

This arose because I originally went to the British Ambassador Dominick Chilcott and suggested the possibility of such a meeting and he worked behind the scenes to make it happen.

We had a cordial and relaxed discussion with Prince Charles. Despite some of the difficult issues we spoke of, it was a positive conversation.

We acknowledged that Charles and his family had been hurt and suffered great loss at Mullaghmore by the actions of Irish republicans.

We spoke also of the hurt inflicted on our friends and neighbours and on our own communities in Derry and Ballymurphy and Springhill by the actions of the Parachute Regiment and other British Army regiments.

He shared his own memories of the conflict starting in the 1960s. It was obvious to me that he wishes to play a positive role in making conflict a thing of the past.

Thankfully the conflict is now over.

The past is not another country; it shapes our lives, our politics and our present.

The sense of loss remains with families and communities.

I’m mindful that this week two of the disappeared were buried, and tomorrow we reinter Tomas Ceannt.

I also recognise that the Ambassador’s predecessor, Mr Ewart Biggs was killed by the IRA.

We cannot undo these things but we can work to ensure that they are never repeated.

We can work to reconcile ourselves to each other and to the past. To build a future based on equality, respect and inclusion.

So, the peace must be sustained. It needs to be nurtured. It needs to be inclusive.

The resolve and responsibility of all political leaders now must be to ensure this; to ensure that no else suffers as a result of conflict; that no other family is bereaved; that the experience of war and of loss and injury is never repeated.

This means all of us working together. It requires generosity and respect from all and for all.

The British government has a key role in encouraging and developing this process of healing and reconciliation. It must act on this. Mr. Cameron’s government has not done so.

Victims and survivors of the conflict, who are still seeking justice and truth, must be given the strongest possible support and assistance.

Whether they were bereaved by the IRA, by British state agencies, or through collusion with unionist paramilitaries, the victims and their families and communities deserve justice. That is an essential ingredient in the reconciliation process.

I know only too well from speaking directly to families of victims of the conflict, including victims of the IRA, that the past is part of their present.

I also know from talking to these families that closure and healing is possible.

For that reason the Stormont House Agreement which deals with these matters must be implemented.

When we speak about reconciliation it cannot be confined merely to a reconciliation between this state and the British state.

What is required is a genuine process of reconciliation between the people of the island of Ireland and Britain, between North and South and between the various traditions on this island.

Reconciliation must go beyond the big houses and palaces. It must be felt on the streets of Belfast and Derry and everywhere else.

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Forgiveness is also and important element in all of this.

Many years ago during the 1970s I was arrested and taken for interrogation by the British Army and RUC. British soldiers beat me unconscious several times in the course of this. On one occasion a British Army doctor came in to see if I was fit for the beatings to continue.

Many years later I was in Parliament Buildings when this wee man came up to me and said; “I used to be a British soldier and I battered you when you were arrested and I’m sorry.”

I said: “Do you promise not to do it again?”

We shook hands and he went off happy and so did I.

Reflect on this. If Martin McGuinness and Sinn Féin had not taken our recent initiatives the people of the north, despite the presence of the President, would not have felt part of those historic developments.

In fact many may have felt alienated from this state as well as the British state in Ireland.

So any future initiatives must try to involve those communities in the north who have borne the brunt of the conflict.

This should include the consistent and non-threatening presence of Irish government ministers in all communities in the north working to break down misunderstanding, to assist regenerational work and to build working relationships.

It also must include the government here delivering on important projects like the Narrow Water Bridge, the A5 motorway and delivering on cross border co-operation.

It must have a tangible presence in those communities who have borne the brunt of the conflict.

The North has been transformed in recent years by the peace process.

However it remains a work in progress.

As we have witnessed in recent weeks, there are serious and significant challenges facing the political Institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement.

Nobody is well served by the current machinations at Stormont.

Let’s remind ourselves that the pledge of office taken by Ministers in the Executive commits them to discharging their duties of office in good faith and to serve all the people of the north “equally, and to act in accordance with the general obligations on government to promote equality and prevent discrimination.”

The Code of Conduct demands that Ministers “operate in a way conducive to promoting good community relations and equality of treatment.”

How are these commitments honoured by resigning or standing aside from Ministerial office one week, only to be reinstated in post a week later, and to then resign again?

How does this assist the efforts to resolve the crisis or build confidence in the political process?

I welcome Peter Robinson’s indication yesterday that he will join the talks on Monday.

Mr. Robinson knows that there is an urgent need for real talks to commence and solutions found.

Sinn Féin is up for that and that should be the goal of all political parties.

Building on the peace and developing reconciliation is not just a matter for people in the North.

There is a particular responsibility also on leaders in this state, in the government and in Opposition - and let me say also - in the media, to deal with legacy issues in a way which takes us all beyond invective.

The partitionist mindset in this part of the island poses particular difficulties.

The government and its permanent government – the civil service – think in 26 county terms.

A recent example of this was Labour Minister Aodhan O Riordain tweeting his annoyance at the branding of a chicken product from Tyrone as ‘Irish’.

So too is Micheál Martin’s call for the suspension of the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and the Taoiseach’s support for the DUP’s move to adjourn the Assembly.

Policy decisions in this state on the economy, on planning, on health and education and infrastructure are all generally taken in that context.

They need to broaden out and have an all-island context.

There have been some exceptions as a result of the north-south bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement.

The policy makers have to think outside the narrow frame of partition.

Greater cohesion and co-operation and the normalising of relations would be good for every part of this island, especially the border region.

I have always regarded reconciliation as a personal issue. There are things such as the Partition of Ireland to which I and most Irish people will never be reconciled.

However, as an Irish republican I believe fundamentally in what Wolfe Tone termed a 'cordial union' between all our people.

I firmly contend that all those of us who, want to see a united Ireland have a duty to reach out, to stretch themselves, to go the extra mile.

The united Ireland that emerges in the future may not be the one traditionally envisaged over the years.

But it must be pluralist, inclusive and accommodating to all our people in all their diversity including those citizens who currently regard themselves as British

Orange is one of our national colours.

There will be Orange parades in a united Ireland.

I would appeal directly today to the Orange Order to also begin playing its part in the Peace Process by following the example set by Queen Elizabeth.

I would remind people also of the words of Britain's King George V Message on 7th June, 1921:

"May this historic gathering be the prelude of a day in which the Irish people, North and South, under one Parliament or two, as those Parliaments may themselves decide, shall work together in common love for Ireland upon the sure foundations of mutual justice and respect."

So, we need republicans need to be open, imaginative and accommodating in our approach to achieving Irish unity.

We must be open to listening to unionism about what they believe are the virtues of the union.

We need to look at what they mean by their sense of Britishness and be willing to explore and to be open to new concepts.

We need to look at ways in which the unionist people can be comfortable and secure; ways in which they have real ownership in a new Ireland.

We need to able to consider transitional arrangements which could mean continued devolution to Belfast within an all-Ireland structure.

While much of the history of our two islands has been marked by sadness and tragedy, we now have a unique opportunity to be the authors of a new, peaceful, hopeful and exciting chapter.

To forge a new chapter of peace and reconciliation in our long history of division and conflict.

The future is not written yet.

All the people of this island and the governments of these islands can do this. Together.

Sinn Féin is up for that challenge. I know others within unionism and the British establishment who are also.

I believe we can do it – all of us working together.

It needs political will and a vision of a new Ireland that appreciates that Ireland is the island and the people of the island.

That is our challenge and our opportunity.

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This morning I spoke to a breakfast meeting of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and set out some of the party’s plans for business and the economy and Sinn Fein's vision for Dublin. Below is the text of my remarks to the Chamber.

A chairde,

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh Chomhairle Trádála Bhaile Átha Cliath.

I would like to open my remarks by extending warmest congratulations to the Dublin football team on their marvellous victory in the All-Ireland Final. Comhghairdeas!

Commiserations of course to worthy opponents Kerry.

Dublin

Dublin is a proud city with a long and illustrious history.

Many key events in the history of the nation happened here. It was site of the Easter Rising, the Centenary of which we will commemorate next year.

Dublin is also internationally renowned for its contribution to literature and has produced many prominent literary figures, including Nobel laureates Yeats, Shaw and Beckett.

Other influential Dublin writers and playwrights include Wilde, Swift, Stoker, Synge, O'Casey, Behan, Maeve Binchy, and Roddy Doyle.

Of course Dublin is arguably best known as the location of the greatest works of James Joyce, including Ulysses, which is set in the city.

Reputedly one of Europe's most youthful cities, with an estimate of 50% of citizens being younger than 25, Dublin is also the centre of the political media and communications activity on the state.

The Dublin region has always been the economic centre of the state and is now home to large numbers of global pharmaceutical, information and communications technology companies, with many having their European headquarters or operational bases in the city.

Dublin's challenges

Like many large, capital cities across the world, Dublin faces particular infrastructural and environmental challenges.

A lack of strategic integrated planning – a multi-agency approach - has been a feature of the city's growth over the decades. This has created many problems for those who live, work and visit Dublin.

The city is choked by traffic gridlock, and a big issue for Dublin businesses is the lack of an integrated public transport system, despite the investments of recent years.

Workers living on one side of the city, or from neighbouring counties (like Louth) must have a car in order to travel to work.

Years of underinvestment in water infrastructure threatens future supplies with serious implications for businesses and householders.

I know that Dublin Chambers is specifically focussed on Dublin’s water supply for the longer term.

Householders and businesses in Dublin face the prospect of water rationing unless the supply crisis is tackled.

Dublin's population is expected to rise from the current 1.5 million, to 2.15 million by 2050. Water demand in Dublin and outlying regions is expected to grow by that time.

The existing water infrastructure - much of it built more than 100 years ago - is not capable of delivering extra capacity.

Sinn Féin is very conscious of this crisis and we understand the need to invest and expand our water services and believe this can and should be done under the control and direction of a democratically accountable body.

Dublin also faces challenges if it is to become an inclusive and equal city. There is much social deprivation, poverty and problems associated with drug addiction and crime.

There is a chronic lack of social housing and recent years have witnessed huge increases of people sleeping rough with some dying as consequence. This cannot continue.

Like many European cities Dublin now faces the challenge of accommodating and integrating people from all parts of the globe in a way which enhances and enriches the city's cultural mix.

All of this points to the urgent need for Government to work more strategically with the 4 local authorities to ensure the capital city’s infrastructure is fit for the 21st century.

This is something Sinn Féin will seek to do if given a mandate.

Mar is eol daoibh tá Sinn Féin glórach i gcoinne téarnamh nach bhfuil measta tríd an Stát.

Economic growth has been focussed almost entirely on the large urban centres.

That said, businesses in the greater Dublin area face unique challenges of their own.

Over 40% of GDP is generated from the capital city and its surrounds.

Sinn Féin believes there are now key infrastructural challenges for the economy and that these challenges are particularly acute in Dublin.

Costs associated with housing, childcare and health affect businesses and citizens alike.

We cannot attract new businesses into the city if their employees face astronomical crèche fees and cannot find a home.

Over the coming months Sinn Féin will publish detailed policies to tackle these challenges for the longer term.

Sinn Féin - a pro-enterprise party

As a republican party, Sinn Féin puts the welfare of citizens – the rights of citizens - first and foremost in all our considerations.

To achieve this and to develop the type of fair, just and prosperous society which Sinn Féin advocates, we need a strong economy.

We believe that such an economy, including a thriving enterprise sector, is essential to sustain decent, accessible public services and to protect vulnerable citizens.

For that reason, Sinn Féin is a pro-enterprise party.

We know that businesses across this state have faced unprecedented challenges over the last seven years.

Those that have survived have had to make tough decisions to keep their doors open.

Despite the trauma of the great recession and the significant problems that remain, new businesses are emerging and some who weathered the storm are expanding.

The Government has been the first to claim credit as the macroeconomic figures have slowly improved. All new job creation has been claimed by Fine Gael and Labour as being a result of Government policies.

Ach tá an fhírinne searbh éagsúil.

Irish businesses are resilient and have understood the need to adapt and reinvent.

Wage bills were cut, investment plans scaled back and operations downsized.

But for many businesses these measures were not enough to secure their future.

Debt overhang continues to hinder re-investment.

The Central Bank says SMEs still face investment difficulties which are limiting growth potential. This has obvious, negative consequences for employment.

The Banks

The Fine Gael/Labour Government has taken little concrete action to address the Irish banking sector's failure to work with businesses.

The most recent Red C/SME Credit Demand Survey points to SMEs re-investing their own funds for working capital purposes rather than applying for bank funding.

Interest rates charged by the banks here remain higher than in other European states.

We need to see banks passing on these low interest rates to business lending.

If the Government cannot achieve this through engagement with the banks that it owns in part or in whole, then the banks need to know that alternative, emergency measures can be taken.

Irish banks need to face up to their responsibilities to the wider economy.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

I would like to take a moment today to debunk a myth regarding Sinn Féin’s view of Foreign Direct Investment.

Tá infheistíocht níos tábhachtaí ná ariamh.

Let me be very clear. Sinn Féin supports and encourages FDI businesses into Ireland.

We understand the value of FDI in a small, open economy.

As the political party with perhaps the best record on international engagement, Sinn Féin experiences first-hand the high regard for Ireland as a place for investment.

We do not see FDI as an either/or choice.

We see it as part and parcel of the island’s enterprise landscape.

In fact we believe we are much more ambitious than the Government for what can be achieved through FDI.

We believe more work needs to be done to increase links between Irish indigenous business and FDI.

In my view these companies are open to exploring how this can be achieved.

Dublin-Belfast economic corridor

There is now widespread support across the political and economic spectrum for an integrated, economic structure for the island of Ireland.

All those who share the island can only benefit from the creation of a vibrant, dynamic all-Ireland economy.

Every firm operating in an all-Ireland economy would immediately see an increase in its potential home market.

Of course, no-one believes that this would be sufficient to resolve all the economic problems of all regions.

However Dublin, in particular, stands to benefit from further development of the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor.

This has the potential to bring enormous social and economic benefits to both cities and to all areas in between.

Sinn Féin wants to see the removal of barriers to promote intercity travel between Belfast and Dublin by tourists and non-tourists alike.

Crucially we need improved telecommunications services and removal of the virtual barrier caused by connectivity issues at the border.

There should be no “roaming” charges for phone users across the island of Ireland and issues regarding loss of coverage at the border should be urgently addressed.

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Utilising NAMA

Ach cinnte tá fadhbanna eile ann roimh mhuintir Bhaile Átha Cliath.

A shortage of office space is a real problem, particularly in the city centre.

Sinn Féin has called for a renewed emphasis on the use of NAMA development funds here in Ireland.

In the past, NAMA’s development funding has been skewed away from Ireland, which is wrong.

This is despite the fact that the large bulk of NAMA loans are Irish.

This imbalance must be addressed in the time ahead.

NAMA's current funding activities are focused on shortages in the Dublin office and residential sectors.

NAMA initiated a 3-year plan in 2014 for 4,500 new residential properties in the Dublin area and the delivery of key Grade A office, retail and residential space in the Dublin Docklands Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and wider central business district.

NAMA has indicated that, if required, it could advance a further €3 billion over the remainder of its life to support the delivery of Grade A office space and residential development in Dublin and in key urban centres in which debtor and receiver properties are located.

While this funding is dependent on planning, cost evaluations and demand, we believe it can be used as stimulus for the construction sector at a time when there is a need for both housing and commercial property in Dublin and across the state.

Tax breaks/development levies

There is no single solution to the shortage of office space in Dublin.

Even those economists who advocate for tax breaks accept they have not always worked.

Dublin Chambers has called for a 2-year waiver on development levies to address the shortage of offices, housing and hotel space.

This is a big ask and if pursued needs to be accurately quantified.

If the predicted additional revenues were realised, Dublin’s local authorities would still need to provide for the lost revenue during the waiver period.

There are many lessons to be learned from the macroeconomic mistakes made since 2001.

In that time hard won gains in employment, living standards and infrastructure were squandered.

All mechanisms to address critical infrastructural deficits that hinder growth and employment must be on the table.

But so too must be the cost/benefit checks and balances to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself.

Public Procurement

Sinn Féin wants to maximise the value of public procurement which amounts to about €12 billion annually in goods, services and capital projects.

I note that Chambers Ireland has described a continued sense of frustration amongst SMEs at the Government’s focus on the lowest tender price above wider social and economic benefits.

Sinn Féin has argued that public procurement acts as a critical stimulus for the domestic economy.

It is an important driver for recovery both in terms of employment and employment standards across the economy.

Sinn Féin's has set out a number of recommendations to increase the participation in public procurement tendering of SMEs, particularly micro and small businesses.

We also note the new EU Directive on Public Procurement provides SMEs and their representatives with an opportunity to make a increased demand of Government.

Budget 2016

As Budget 2016 approaches, Sinn Féin is in the process of finalising our alternative Budget proposals. This is due to be launched in the next two weeks.

Sinn Féin's budgets are costed in full by the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and have withstood public scrutiny by senior economists.

Of course budgets are not just about balancing the books.

They also offer an opportunity for the opposition to set out our alternatives to the Government’s policy agenda.

Sinn Féin's budget submission for 2016 will include measures to support and encourage business and entrepreneurship.

Dublin Chambers has set a very clear policy agenda in relation to Budget 2016.

You have also set out more long term proposals.

These include tripling of investment in Dublin’s infrastructure and a new water supply for the Eastern and Midlands region.

These are ambitious goals and Sinn Féin looks forward to a continued engagement with Chambers on how these can be best addressed.

Dublin Chambers has specific demands regarding taxation.

While our methods may differ we share an objective in making a taxation system that is fair.

We have long called for a more progressive approach to commercial rates and have committed to pursue this matter in government.

As with all taxation measures, new taxation expenditure must be found elsewhere.

That is why the costing element of any taxation or expenditure proposals is so central to budget preparations.

Sinn Féin’s first response to the emerging recession in 2008 was to publish a detailed job retention and creation document.

We have retained a focus on jobs since, through numerous policy papers and our work in the political institutions.

We support the proposition that business is a critical component in the economic and societal landscape.

As a political party we must address all of these components.

As republicans we do so in a manner that is fair to all – businesses and citizens alike.

The massive shortfalls in investment and the failure of political leadership by successive of governments are causing fundamental fissures in our society and economy.

Businesses and citizens alike will pay an extraordinary cost if we do not plan for the medium and long term, particularly in the policy areas of housing, childcare and health.

If you ask our best and brightest why they are still emigrating, they will cite poor pay, lack of career progression opportunities, poor access to housing and childcare costs.

Sinn Féin's understands that we must support enterprise to ensure work pays, businesses can grow and new entrepreneurs can flourish.

This will require investment to address serious infrastructural deficits.

These are just some of the challenges we face in developing a programme that achieves our objective of delivering a fair recovery.

Sinn Féin is ambitious for Ireland, we are proud of our workforce and we understand that we do our business in a fast paced, globalised world.

There are numerous policy areas on which we must enhance our shared discussion.

These include Transport, Dublin’s water supply and how we can boost indigenous e-commerce trade to stem the excessive leakage of sales outside the state.

We won’t always agree on everything.

As a progressive political party Sinn Féin has a duty to consider all sections of society and the economy.

We passionately believe that inequality is bad for society, bad for the economy and bad for business.

We want to deliver the best and fairest result for all.

If I am to impart one key message from today’s event, it is that we in Sinn Féin are pro-business, just as we are pro-citizen and pro-fair play.

Sinn Féin accepts the need to work harder to build our relationship with enterprise and those who represent you.

We won’t be able to do all that you ask of us, but we assure you that our door is always open and we will work with you to deliver the fairest outcome. Go raibh maith agaibh.

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Mise agus nieces of Tomás Ceannt

On a bright May morning in 2000 I spoke at the unveiling of a memorial in Cork City to the 1916 patriot Tomás Ceannt at Ceannt railway station. The Ceannt Memorial had been commissioned and erected by a committee of railway workers and was unveiled by Kathleen Ceannt, a niece of Tomás Ceannt.

Last Friday the sun shone brightly down again as I laid a wreath at the memorial and later at St. Nicholas’s Church in Castlelyons in north county Cork where the Ceannt family, their friends and neighbours and thousands of admirers of Tomás Ceannt took part in his historic state funeral.

For the last 99 years Tomás – sometimes referred to as ‘The Forgotten Volunteer’ - has lain in a shallow unmarked grave behind the walls of Cork prison. He was one of only two of the 1916 patriots to be executed outside of Dublin. The other was Roger Casement who was hanged in London.

But in truth he was never forgotten. Not by his family and not by republicans who have celebrated his life and death, and those of the other patriots of 1916, each year since 1916. Nor is he the only Irish republican prisoner executed by the British and buried in the grounds of a prison. Just months before I spoke at the unveiling of the Cork station memorial in 2000 the remains of Tom Williams were finally laid to rest in a family plot in Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast.

Tom Williams was only 19 years of age when he was executed in Crumlin Road Jail. A massive campaign, which included a 200,000-signature petition, to secure his reprieve was ignored by the British and Stormont authorities and the execution went ahead on 2 September 1942. Like Tomás Ceannt the body of Tom Williams had lain buried in an unmarked grave within the prison walls for 58 years.

The Manchester Martyrs continue to lie in unmarked graves in New Bailey prison in Manchester. William Allen, Michael Larkin and Michael O’Brien were hanged in November 1867 for their part in an ambush to free two Fenian leaders. Their bravery in the course of an infamous show trial, their cry of ‘God Save Ireland’ from the dock, and their resolve and courage in the face of death sentences are the stuff of legend.

Tomás Ceannt was born in 1865 at Ban Ard House, Castlelyons, one of nine children. As a young man he emigrated to the United States but returned in his mid-20s and became actively involved in the Land War. The Ceannt family had long been active in agitation against British rule, the Land War and a cousin was involved in the Fenian 'dynamite campaign' in Britain. Tomás was also a member of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael (GAA) and the Gaelic League.

In 1914 Tomás and his brothers were among the first recruits to the Cork Brigade of the Irish Volunteers and they formed the core of that body in the area with Tomás becoming commandant of the Galtee Battalion in 1916. In February 1916 he was imprisoned for two months for agitation. Immediately on his release, he resumed his activities. As preparations got underway for the 1916 Rising, the Irish Volunteers in the East Cork area were led by Tomás Ceannt and Terence McSwiney

However, Eoin MacNeill's countermanding order to the Volunteers not to rise at Easter caused great confusion amongst their ranks outside Dublin. The failure of Roger Casement to get weapons through also meant there was a chronic lack of arms. The Ceannts and their local Volunteer company decided to secure what arms they had and to go into hiding.

When they heard that the Rising in Dublin was over, the brothers decided to return home on the night of 1st May. Early the next morning, the house was surrounded by a party of RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary) who demanded their surrender.

Despite being armed with only one rifle and three shotguns, the brothers gave no consideration to surrender. A fierce gunfight ensued. The Ceannt brothers were supported by their 84-year-old mother who loaded the guns. One brother, David, was injured, and RIC Head Constable Rowe was shot dead. The Ceannt’s were all captured when they ran out of ammunition.

The RIC lined them up against the farmhouse wall and only the intervention of a medical officer prevented their immediate execution. As they were being led away, Richard Ceannt attempted to escape across the fields but was fatally wounded in the back.

Tomás was taken to Cork Detention Barracks where he was strictly isolated from the other prisoners. There is a famous photograph of him and his brother William walking across the bridge at Fermoy. The hands of both are tied and Tomás is in his stockinged feet. They are accompanied by a British Army officer and three British Army soldiers shouldering rifles with bayonets attached. Behind them is a horse and cart in which it is believed lay the wounded David and Richard and their mother.

Tomás Ceannt was charged with ‘waging war against His Majesty the King’ quickly court-martialled and sentenced to death. He was shot by firing squad on May 9^th in Victoria Barracks, now Cork Prison by a British naval detachment from Cobh. He died, in the words of the British officer in charge, "very bravely, not a feather out of him''.

The British had by that stage already executed 12 of the leaders, including Tom Clarke, and Padraig Pearse. Tomás Ceannt’s execution was followed three days later, on May 12^th, by those of James Connolly and Sean MacDiarmada and finally by Roger Casement on August 3^rd.

The executions caused profound shock and there was rising anger across the country. The reaction of many Irish people was summed up by the writer George Bernard Shaw in a letter to the Daily News:

"My own view... is that the men who were shot in cold blood after capture or surrender were prisoners of war, and that it was, therefore, entirely incorrect to slaughter them.

"The shot Irishmen will now take their places beside Emmett and the Manchester Martyrs in Ireland and beside the heroes of Poland and Serbia and Belgium in Europe; and nothing in heaven and earth can prevent it.''

That is the calibre, spirit and fearless determination of the man re-interred last Friday. Like many other men and women before and since Tomás Ceannt demonstrated incredible courage and selflessness in the struggle to free Ireland from British occupation.

Enda Kenny in his oration at the graveside was right when he said that “Ireland needs people who believe in their community, their country and in putting others before themselves” but his Ireland is 26 counties. His remarks are set in the context of partition and ignore the reality that a part of Ireland is still under the control of the British government.

The approach of the Fine Gael/Labour Government to this Centenary has been shallow and wholly self-serving. Tomás Ceannt engaged directly in revolutionary armed activity against British rule in Ireland. He was what many successive Dublin Governments would have termed a 'gunman'.

Unlike the Government, Sinn Féin makes no apology for recognising this fact. We salute Tomás Ceannt's stand and will not attempt, like the Labour leader Joan Burton, to re-write history to fit narrow party political objectives or to misrepresent the facts.

This Government has nothing in common with men like Ceannt, nor any intention of promoting the ideals to which he dedicated his life. The Government's Centenary commemorative events will not discuss the unfinished business of securing the full independence of Ireland. They will not seek to debate the failure of partition.

Nor will they seek to debate the ideals of social equality which are at the heart of the 1916 Proclamation.

They do not wish people to be reminded of the unfinished business of the Rising and the struggle for independence. The most fitting tribute to Tomás Ceannt and to the men and women of 1916 is to deliver the type of republic promised on the steps of the GPO on Easter Monday 1916 - a sovereign, 32-County republic in based on the principles of equality and social justice.

The sun was shining gloriously in a clear blue sky last Friday in Havana. It was a hot and humid Cuban morning. Our small delegation – myself, Lucilita Bhreatnach, Eric Scanlon and Richard McAuley – walked the short distance from our cars to the hunger strike memorial in Parque Victor Hugo - a beautiful park in central Havana - named after the author of Les Miserables.

I was first there just before Christmas in 2001 to unveil the memorial which was erected to mark the 20^th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike. The hunger strike clearly had a significant impact on the people of Cuba. On September 15 1981, during the hunger strike, Fidel Castro addressing the 68th conference of the Interparliamentary Union in Havana said: “In my opinion Irish patriots are writing on the most heroic chapters in human history. They have earned the respect and admiration of the world and likewise they deserve its support. Ten of them have died in the most moving gesture of sacrifice, selflessness and courage one could ever imagine.” Part of his remarks are inscribed on the memorial.

The Sinn Féin delegation was joined in our celebration by a small crowd of Cuban activists, some of whom were involved in solidarity work at that time, as well as representatives of the Cuban Communist Party.

It was a poignant moment. Friday was October 2^nd. It was almost 34 years to the day - October 3^rd 1981 - when the hunger strike ended.

The Stailc Ocrais (hunger strike) has since become a metaphor for Ireland’s long struggle for freedom and independence. I reminded my Cuban audience that “it was an epic story of unselfishness, courage and generosity versus self-interest, intransigence and imperialism. Though it ended in the deaths of 10 prisoners and countless other people outside the prison it was a triumph for human dignity and the human spirit.

That same spirit is visible here in Cuba and everywhere stronger powers refuse to recognise that people have the right to be who we are. It is visible when stronger powers try to grind down those who have different more egalitarian values. The people of Cuba have been vindicated by the change of US policy recently and while that will present many challenges, such challenges are part of revolutionary struggle.”

I concluded my remarks by stating my belief that the hunger strikers would be pleased that this memorial stands in Havana. They would also be pleased by the changes that are evident in Cuba’s economy and in the quality of life of its citizens. Clearly the embargo still makes life very difficult but the Cuban people have demonstrated a remarkable resourcefulness in circumventing this obstacle. For example, major progress has been made in developing Cuba’s economy; in introducing new tax laws and a labour code, and in the creation of huge deepwater sea port, and special economic development zone at the port of Mariel, just west of Havana.

Tourism too has expanded significantly since I was last here. And the relaxation in some of the restrictions on US visitors by President Obama has seen an increase in travellers arriving from there. Many are coming to visit families but others have come to enjoy Cuba’s rich history; its cultural diversity; its great weather and beaches; and the warmth of its people.

Some have also come to look at or travel in the fleet of 1950s American cars that are a regular sight on Havana’s roads. They come in all shapes and sizes and colours. Some, even after 60 years, are still immaculate. They look as fresh as the day they came off the assembly line in Detroit.

Havana is famous for its streetscape of old buildings and castles. Some dating back to the early 16^th century. Its’ museums have reminders of gold and silver plundered by Spanish adventurers and monarchs from central and south America, as well as Cuba. The Museum of the Revolution is in Old Havana and in what was the Presidential Palace of all Cuban presidents. It contains many artefacts and photographs from the revolutionary period, including in a glass building beside the museum the Granma – the 60 foot yacht that was used to transport Fidel and 80 fighters from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 at the start of the revolution.

In one glass case is an instrument that was used to tear off the fingernails of prisoners while in another there is a photograph of a crowd of smiling revolutionary prisoners – not unlike smuggled photographs from within Long Kesh and Armagh Women’s prison in our own time. A guitar, with the names of political prisoners written across it, is another reminder of the similarities of prison struggle between Cuba and Ireland. The museum is currently under renovation and the guide who brought us around proudly showed us the bullet holes in the walls that were revealed during the restoration process.

Last week’s visit was an opportunity to build on the close ties of solidarity that Irish republicans and many Irish people share with the people of Cuba. It also came on the back of a very successful visit to Cuba by Pope Francis and the major breakthrough in Cuban – US relations. In the course of a very busy schedule I met senior political leaders in the Cuban government, including Cuban Vice President Salvador Antonio Valdés Mesa, as well as a the Minister for Health; the Minister for Foreign Trade; the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and senior figures from the People’s National Assembly and the Central Committee.

Our conversations ranged across international affairs and the role of Cuba in the world today, including its medical aid to other countries. The recent thaw in relations between Cuba and the United States dominated much of our discussions.

While US President Obama has taken steps to ease some of the more punitive aspects of the embargo most of the really important elements of it are written into US law and need the Congress to introduce the necessary enabling legislation to finally bring an end to the embargo, as well as to close the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay and return it to the Cuban people.

Sinn Féin has consistently opposed the embargo imposed by the USA. Its economic, cultural and human cost on the people of Cuba has been enormous. The interests of Latin America and especially of Cuba and the USA are best served by an end to the embargo and the creation of a new relationship based on mutual respect and equality. Key to the progress we have witnessed thus far has been the leadership of President Raul Castro and President Obama.

On October 27^th Cuba will introduce its annual motion to the United Nations calling for an end to the embargo. How the US responds will be an important indicator.

Finally, I also took the opportunity to publicly and privately commend Cuba's role in facilitating the Colombian peace process. The recent press conference in Havana, hosted by President Raul Castro,at which Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the leader of the Farc rebel group Timochenko shook hands, was a remarkable breakthrough after many yearsof effort. They have now set six months in which to achieve a final agreement.

Finally, finally I left Cuba impressed by the candour and determination of the Cuban people and their political leadership. All of those I spoke to made clear their willingness to construct a new relationship with the USA but there was an equal determination not to compromise on the principles of the revolution.

Last weekend the Carrickmines fire claimed 10 victims. On Sunday a homeless man died on the streets of Dublin and later that evening Garda Tony Golden was murdered and Siobhan Phillips was critically wounded in a shotting in the Omeath, County Louth.

On Tuesday Dáil parties expressed their condolences.

Expressions of Sympathy – Gerry Adams TD

Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le teaghlach agus cairde na ndaoine a fuair bás sa tine ar an Charraig Maoinis ar oíche Shathairn; agus do chlann agus cairde an Gharda Anthony Golden a dunmharú ar oíche Dhomhnaigh le clann Adrian Mackin, do Shiobhán Phillips agus a clann féin agus don duine gan dídeán a fuarthas marbh ag doras ar shráid Westmoreland maidin Domhnaigh.

The weekend tragedies in Carrickmines, in Dublin, and in county Louth have stunned and saddened citizens across this state and beyond.

The deaths of ten citizens, many of them children, on a Traveller halting site in a horrifying fire, another apparent death of a homeless man in the capital, and the brutal murder of Garda Anthony Golden and wounding of Siobhan Phillips have left families bereaved and traumatised, and communities numb with shock and disbelief.

On behalf of Sinn Féin I want to extend my sincerest condolences to the extended families of Thomas and Sylvia Connors, their children Jim, Christy and Mary (who was aged just six months), William Lynch, his partner Tara Gilbert, their children Jodie and Kelsey, and William’s brother Jimmy. Tara was also pregnant with their third child.

I also want to express our condolences to the entire Traveller Community. Two families were devastated in a tragedy that has drawn universal sympathy and understanding.

Today is a moment for the Dáil to stand in solidarity with the Traveller community. But we have to do more than that.

It is time also for that solidarity to be extended beyond rhetoric and into practical expressions.

Since the events of last Saturday morning disturbing information has come to light about the conditions on halting sites across the state and the lack of investment by government and local authorities in safe accommodation for Travellers.

The Carrickmines site was overcrowded. 29 people were sleeping in cabins and caravans at the time of the fire.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is one of 15 local authorities that accessed no state funding for Traveller accommodation this year.

In the last 7 years funding for accommodating the travelling community was cut by 93%.

Even in difficult times this is unacceptable.

The treatment of the Traveller community would suggest that local authorities and government do not prioritise accommodation for travellers in the way they should.

I welcome the decision by Dublin Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh to establish an urgent review of fire safety at all halting sites run by Dublin City Council.

I also welcome the announcement today by the Dept of Environment that all local authorities must now hold audits on safety at halting sites.

This audit needs to be independent. It needs to include all accommodation for the Traveller community. There also needs to be a moratorium on the Trespass Act.

It is important that the heartbreak caused by the calamity in Carrickmines galvanises government and local authorities to prioritise living accommodation for Travellers so that the tragedy of Carrickmines is never repeated.

The morning after the Carrickmines fire the body of a homeless man in his thirties was found in the doorway of a shop in Westmoreland Street.

While the circumstances of his death are still not entirely clear I offer our condolences to his family and friends.

Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le bean agus le clann Garda Tony Golden agus cúnamh a thabhairt dá chomrádaithe sa Gharda Síochána agus seasamh leo. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Garda Tony Golden was murdered in Omeath. On behalf of Sinn Fein I want to extend my sympathies and solidarity to his family, friends and many comrades in An Garda Síochána.

Garda Golden was a respected, dedicated Garda officer who was deeply embedded in the community of Omeath and the Cooley peninsula. On Sunday he was going about his work as a Garda serving the community. He was brutally killed as he helped a young woman, a mother, who was the victim of domestic abuse and violence.

Today this Dáil rightly pays tribute to his courage, his dedication and his selflessness. He is a hero.

Adrian Mackin who tried to murder his partner and who then brutally killed Garda Tony Golden was allegedly a violent dissident.

Four years ago so-called dissidents killed PSNI Constable Ronan Kerr. His mother Nuala speaking then said:

“We all need to stand up and be counted and to strive for equality. We don’t want to go back to the dark days again of fear and terror.”

Nuala Kerr was right. She was right four years ago and her words are right for today. None of these groups have anything positive to offer society.

On behalf of the people of Louth and of Sinn Féin I want to make it clear that we have no time for those who exploit and disgrace the proud tradition and noble calling of republicanism for their own self-serving and selfish ends.

These people are the enemies of republicanism. They are the enemies of the peace process.

If there are any rational people involved with these violent groups; the aftermath of the killing of Garda Golden and the wounding of Siobhan Philips presents an opportunity for them to do the right thing.

Leave. Bígí imithe. Do it now.

I want to offer my sympathies to An Garda Síochána who on Sunday evening lost a much respected and esteemed member of their service. Bhí Tony Golden gníomhach sa phobal, ball den Chumann Lúthchleas Gael agus sa scéim Pobal ar Aire, scéim a thacaíonn Sinn Féin go láidir leis.

Tá Contae an Lú agus an tír ar fad thíos leis mar gheall ar an tragóid seo.

For the second time in three years the people of the Cooley peninsula and the Gardaí are grieving for an officer who served his community with distinction and integrity.

We all remember the vicious slaying three years ago of Garda Adrian Donohoe. Another Garda serving the community and gunned down by criminals.

There are real questions about the lack of Garda resources in County Louth; questions about the government’s commitment to policing in rural Ireland.

There are also questions about the DPP and PPS not pursuing charges even when significant evidence is available.

There are questions about some of those within violent dissident groups who are agents of the police or the intelligence services.

But these are for another day.

Today is a day to show an appreciation of the work of An Garda Síochána and particularly Garda Anthony Golden.

To his family and to all of those others who have lost loved ones in An Garda Siochána I offer my condolences.

Following the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan; the political fallout from these events and amid threats by unionist leaders to crash the institutions, the British government appointed a panel to make a determination on the structure, role and purpose of proscribed organisations. Sinn Féin saw the panel as unnecessary.

It is thought that it will report within days. Whatever its conclusions Sinn Féin will not tolerate any undermining of the rights of citizens who vote for Sinn Féin.

The cynical exploitation by unionist political leaders, in particular Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionist party, of the two Belfast murders has brought the political institutions in the north to the point of collapse. His antics and the reaction of the DUP, have eroded public confidence in the power sharing institutions. Mr. Nesbitt saw an opportunity to electioneer on this issue and has put nearly two decades of relative peace and political progress at risk in his desire to win more votes than the DUP.

His ability to do this is largely because no unionist political leader has ever positively embraced the Good Friday Agreement and championed its advantages for fear of being outflanked by the more extreme shades of unionism.

The behaviour of unionist leaders helps no one. On the contrary their damaging approach to resolving difficulties in the political process has created huge frustration among Sinn Féin activists, and the wider republican and nationalist community, who don’t believe that unionist leaders are serious about making politics work unless it is to their advantage.

In the weeks ahead there are major political challenges facing the current negotiations.

Firstly the British and Irish governments must honour their commitments. They have failed to do this thus far.

Secondly, the British government has to provide a viable, workable sustainable budget, which allows the Executive to deliver public services and proper protections for the most vulnerable in our society.

And lastly, the commitment to address legacy issues agreed in the Haass talks and in the Stormont House Agreement must be reflected in any final legislation produced by the British government. The current draft produced by the British government will not do – it is not acceptable.

Nationalists and republicans need persuaded that unionist leaders are genuinely committed to power sharing. The deliberately slow and damaging approach of unionist leaders to the Good Friday Agreement is no longer tolerable or acceptable.

After nearly 18 years of the Good Friday Agreement and eight years of a working Executive and Assembly, and all-island institutions, there are increasing numbers of citizens who seriously doubt the capacity of political unionism to ever share power in good faith. They are perplexed by the constantly negative and begrudging approach of the unionist parties.

Martin McGuinness summed it up well recently when he said; “Republicans share power with unionists because we want to. They share power with us because they have to.”

Unionist reluctance to work positively with nationalist and republicans; indeed the vitriol that often marks their public commentary has emerged in a number of recent examples. When she was appointed by Peter Robinson as temporary First Minister Arlene Foster set aside the commitments to promote equality contained in the Pledge of Office and the Code of Conduct. The DUP Minister said: “I have been placed there as a gatekeeper to make sure that Sinn Féin and the SDLP ministers don't take actions that will damage Northern Ireland and principally, let's be honest, that damage the unionist community."

And if there was any doubt as to her purpose: "If anybody knows me and indeed knows the Democratic Unionist Party they know that I'm not going to put at risk to the people of Northern Ireland the possibility that rogue Sinn Féin or renegade SDLP ministers are going to take decisions that will harm the community in Northern Ireland."

Last week Edwin Poots told viewers watching the BBC that he had to hold his nose when doing business with Sinn Féin.

All of this has its roots in our colonial history and the partition of the island.

The value of the union for the unionist landed aristocracy and business class – big house unionism – was that it guaranteed unionist domination of society. The unionist working class were persuaded that their ‘freedoms’, jobs, homes, superior social status all depended on the union. Job discrimination based on religion became a means of controlling the growing urban unionist working class.

So it was in the 19^th century and the 20^th century. As a result most skilled and semi-skilled jobs in all of the north’s businesses were held by unionists. Before partition but especially afterward discrimination in housing, the periodic use of pogroms and sectarian violence, and the withholding of any political power or influence from nationalists were regarded by unionism as necessary elements of maintaining their control.

The history books are full of quotes from unionist leaders boasting of the effectiveness of their domination of the north, its institutions and economy. The Orange state was in reality, and experience, a “Protestant state for a Protestant people”

Unionist leaders have never come to terms with any of this. None has ever apologised for or even acknowledged the role of political unionism in contributing to the conditions of conflict.

And so it is with the Good Friday Agreement. Unionist leaders see it as an aberration; as undemocratic – because it denies majority rule. It is unacceptable because it elevates equality and parity of esteem. And just as they object to the principle that there can be no hierarchy of victims so too would they deny citizens the right to vote for the party of their choice and to recognise the mandate that the exercise of that democratic choice provides.

Despite these difficulties Sinn Fein is not for walking away. We are not for giving up. Our responsibility is to insist that the Good Friday Agreement is implemented in full. And if unionist leaders cannot accept that then, though they probably have not considered this, their shenanigans are a huge argument in favour of ending partition.

Funerals can occasionally be surprisingly joyous events. A celebration of the life of someone who has lived it to the full, and made a unique contribution to family, community or society. But mostly they are sad. Last week was a particularly sad time for funerals.

As readers will know the week before I had attended the funeral of my good friend Paddy McGeady in Donegal. But last week there were two distressing funerals for the ten victims of the Carrickmines fire at a temporary Travellers halting site. Five adults and five children.

On Tuesday I was in Bray for the funerals of Tara Gilbert, her partner Willy Lynch, their daughters Jodie (9) and Kelsey (4) and Willy’s brother Jimmy.

Two days later I was in Sandyford for the funerals of Sylvia and Thomas Connors and their children Jimmy (5), Christy (2) and Mary (5 months). Sylvia was the sister of Willy and Jimmy Lynch. Ten members of one family gone in a few brief minutes of horror. The haunting, beautiful laments of a lone Uilleann piper echoed over the church grounds and the nearby car park of a shopping centre as Mary Lou and I arrived.

Sylvia, Willy and Jimmy’s brother John spoke at Thursday funeral. His voice frequently broke as he tried to hold back the raw emotion evident in his face. He described the last day they had all been together. “We had a lovely day. The kids were playing in my garden… “But the next morning came the call. I thought it was a hoax call. Then, in a moment, I realised all my family was gone. My brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my nephews and nieces. The whole lot gone in one go.”

Mary Lou and I and local Sinn Féin Councillors and activists were there to extend our condolences and solidarity to the Lynch, Gilbert and Connors families and to the Traveller community.

But it is time that Irish society went beyond mere sympathy and solidarity. The treatment of the Traveller community by the settled community over many centuries has not been good. The response of governments and the health and educational institutions of the state has not been good.

In the north nationalists were treated as second class citizens for longer than the existence of the state. The Orange state, in which sectarianism and discrimination in housing and jobs and political representation was endemic made it an apartheid state. Almost two decades after the Good Friday Agreement we are still trying to reverse the social, economic and political legacy of the policies and attitudes which led to that. That is why equality and parity of esteem are so fundamental to the process.

But Travellers have been treated as even less than that and the prejudice and discrimination they face has for many worsened over the years.

The opposition to the erection of a temporary halting site for those bereaved by the Carrickmines fire is a case in point and deeply disappointing.

The decision to provide the families with a site on a parking lot that is inadequate for their needs and which lacks basic amenities is an indictment of this and successive governments and their inaction in providing for the needs of the Traveller community.

Some people in the settled community blame Travellers for anti-social behaviour, crime and other misconduct. But even if some Travellers, like some in the settled community, behave badly that is no reason to demonise and exclude an entire community.

What must be acknowledged is that ignorance breeds fear. The only cure for that is education and engagement. It’s about people getting to know each other and learning to respect and tolerate one another.

Travellers are citizens. They have rights. Those rights are being denied to them.

Travellers are among the most socially marginalised and disadvantaged groups in Irish society today.

These citizens fare badly in all key indicators of disadvantage including employment, poverty, health, infant mortality, life expectancy, literacy, education and accommodation.

Many Travellers are forced to endure intolerable, substandard living conditions with around a third living without access to basic facilities such as sanitation, water and electricity, leading to widespread health problems among Travellers.

Unemployment is huge. Most estimates put it around 75% while to be a traveller means your life expectancy is significantly reduced by as much as 15 years. Cutbacks in education, health and other services have impacted severely on the Traveller community. The suicide rate is six times that of the settled community.

At the root of all these problems are the unacceptable levels of prejudice, discrimination and social exclusion experienced by Travellers at institutional and other levels. Fundamentally, Travellers are not treated as full and equal citizens. There is an underlying racism at work which has created a form of apartheid. This is at odds with the generosity and inclusiveness evident by Irish society in the recent marriage equality campaign, or the solidarity demonstrated with refugees from the Middle East or the amazing amounts of money raised each year by charities for international relief programmes.

The widespread expressions of sympathy following the fire that killed ten people, including five children at the temporary halting site on Glenamuck Road, provided hope that this situation could begin to be turned around.

Unfortunately that hope has been dented by the reappearance of familiar negative attitudes and problems as attempts have been made re-house the families of the victims of this tragedy.

What this has underlined is the need for an urgent, far-reaching and fundamental reappraisal of the way in which Travellers are treated in Irish society.

In April 2014 the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality recommended that this State recognises the ethnicity of the Traveller community.

The government needs to build on the solidarity which has been evident since the Carrickmines fire, by demonstrating political leadership and declaring that the State recognises Traveller ethnicity.

Of course, such a development would not of itself solve the problems which confront the Traveller community but it would demonstrate leadership on this issue by the Government and set a clear and positive example.

But much more needs to be done. I believe that we now need to establish a national forum, across the island of Ireland, involving Travellers and the settled community, including representatives of all political parties, of Government, local authorities, health and education sectors and representatives of media organisations to plan a way forward.

Such a forum would discuss openly and in detail how discrimination against prejudice against Travellers can be confronted, including prejudicial attitudes facilitated by the actions of some politicians and media outlets. It would examine and make recommendations on how the wider community can be educated about Traveller culture.

And importantly it would tackle those areas which have frequently resulted in conflict between Travellers and the settled community.

Last week, when I put this to the Taoiseach in the Dáil he rejected it. His view is that the existing structures can meet this need. Patently from the statistics available they cannot not.

If we are to build an inclusive society in which equality is real and meaningful and not something that is occasionally given lip services then we need a sea change in attitudes and legislation. Travellers must be treated and regarded as full and equal citizens of Ireland. This will only happen with political leadership and must be led by Government.

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Last Saturday I travelled down to Limerick for a quick walkabout with Maurice Quinlivan and his team of Councillors and activists. It was a lovely day. Everyone was in great form and the response from those we met was positive and supportive.

And then it was on to Athea in west Limerick for the unveiling of a memorial to Con Colbert, one of the 1916 leaders executed by the British. There was an excellent turnout of local people. I want to thank the west Limerick Monument Committee and the committee of the local community centre for all of their efforts. And to the Colbert family, the colour party, Grainne and Ronan for their music and to all of those who made it happen - go raibh maith agaibh go leir.

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A chairde,

I am very honoured to be here for the unveiling of this monument to Con Colbert and all those who have died in the cause of Irish freedom.

Tá mé an-sásta a bheith libh anseo inniu chun an leacht seo a nochtadh in ómós do Con Colbert agus do na daoine sin ar fad a fuair bás ar son Saoirse na hÉireann.

I want to thank the organisers for the invitation and to extend a very special welcome to those of Con Colbert's relatives who are here with us and to Con's great-niece Aida Colbert-Lennon for the unveiling.

Con Colbert was born in Moanlena, Castlemahon in 1888. He had twelve brothers and sisters and was the fourth youngest child in the family who moved to Galeview, Templeathea when Con was three.

Con’s father, Michael was a farmer. His mother, Hanora, died when his youngest sister, Brigid, was born in 1892. He attended the national school in Athea.

Con's family were republican and his father had taken part in the Fenian Rising of 1867.He left Athea at the age of 16 and went to live with his sister Catherine in Ranelagh, Dublin.Con continued his education at the Christian Brothers school in Dublin's North Richmond Street and was later employed as a clerk in the offices of Kennedy's Bakery.

Con's time outside of his day job work was entirely dedicated to the Irish republican cause. Nuair nach raibh Con ag obair bhí sé tiomanta go hiomlán don chúis Poblachtánach Éireannach.When Constance Markievicz founded Fianna Éireann in Dublin in August 1909 Con Colbert was among the first to join. He quickly won widespread respect and rose to a position of leadership.

He was a founder member of the Irish Volunteers in November 1913 and was on the National Executive the following year. He opposed John Redmond’s Irish Parliamentary Party attempt to take over the organisation. On request from Pádraig Pearse, Con instructed the boys of Scoil Éanna in drill but refused to accept payment.

Admired and trusted by the leaders of the forthcoming Rising, Con was posted as Pearse’s bodyguard in the days immediately before Easter 1916. His rank was Captain, F Company, Fourth Battalion of the Dublin Brigade, based in Inchicore.

On Easter Monday 1916, with fewer than 20 men, Con Colbert occupied Watkin’s Brewery. They moved to Jameson’s Distillery, Marrowbone Lane on Tuesday and for the rest of the week were engaged in a fierce fire-fight with British troops. They remained in place until Sunday when they were ordered to surrender by Thomas MacDonagh. It was said that Con was visibly distraught at having to lay down arms.

Con Colbert and Seán Heuston were court-martialled in Richmond Barracks and executed in Kilmainham Jail on 8th May 1916.

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The IRA and Sinn Féin gained widespread popular support in Limerick following the repressions and executions of 1916. County Limerick went on to play a key role in the Tan War with many decisive engagements between British forces and the IRA. In every generation since that time, Limerick republicans have played their part in the struggle for a united, independent Ireland.

It is very, very important that Irish citizens remember and honour women and men like Con Colbert and I want to commend the local Committee for leading the way here in County Limerick with this monument. The 1916 Rising in which Con played such a valiant role was a proud and momentous event in the history of the Irish nation. Ócáid bhródúil chinniúnach a bhí in Éirí Amach Naoi Déag is a Sé Déag agus ghlac Con ról lárnach ann

Next year marks the hugely important 100th anniversary of the Rising.

This is a time for promoting the republican ideals of democracy and equality. It is a time for focussing on delivering a genuine republic for the people of this island. The democratic and egalitarian principles contained of the 1916 Proclamation are as urgently required in the Ireland of 2015, as they were 99 years ago.

Austerity, inequality, enforced emigration and Partition are anathema to the ideals of the Proclamation. The Proclamation remains the mission statement of modern Irish republicanism. It is a freedom charter for this whole island and all the people who live here. It is a declaration of social and economic intent for a rights-based society in which the people are sovereign.

The great challenge of the Proclamation is to unite all the people of this island, regardless of background, in equality and mutual respect. Sinn Féin’s central political aim is to deliver the type of Ireland envisaged at Easter week. Is é sprioc lárnach Shinn Féin ná Éire a thógáil mar a cuireadh chun tosaigh i seachtain na Cásca.

Today's event is a reminder, as the Centenary events will be that the business of 1916 remains unfinished. Some people in high places do not like to be reminded of that. Our country is Partitioned. We do not yet have a 32-County Republic. The Proclamation has yet to be implemented. Equality has yet to be achieved.

But we are living in a time of great change, great hope, and great potential. Irish republicanism is growing, as never before, North and South. Despite what some of our political opponents have recently tried to claim, Sinn Féin has never tried to "claim ownership of 1916".

Instead we have sought to popularise the centenary and place the message of the 1916 Proclamation at the centre of commemorative events. Some in the political establishment don't want to talk about the republican and egalitarian message of the Proclamation. This reluctance has been reflected in their approach to marking the Centenary of the Rising. From the initial shambolic launch of its commemorative programme, the Government has been playing catch-up with popular opinion.

At every stage they have sought to sanitise and de-politicise the events of Easter Week. They have refused to agree to the request from Sinn Féin for a public holiday to mark this momentous event in our history. We must be one of the few countries in the world not to have a day which is a celebration of nationhood and the sacrifices of those who struggled for independence.

But the Centenary will be marked by Irish people next year through popular events at home and abroad and Sinn Féin will be part of that. We are committed to honouring the bravery and sacrifice not just of those who took part in the Rising but in every subsequent period of republican struggle.

Today, republican objectives can be pursued peacefully and democratically thanks to the struggle sacrifice of so many people over the decades. Sinn Féin is determined to see the full implementation of the Good Friday and subsequent agreements, and a referendum on Irish unity, which will allow the people to decide the future.

As you know, the peace and political process is facing difficulties at this time.

However, Sinn Féin approaches the latest round of talks with a determination to make progress. For this to happen, the British Government needs to accept its role as a participant in the conflict. British political and economic policy towards the North has to change. And both the British and Irish governments must take their responsibilities seriously. The Taoiseach needs to make the north a political priority and not an issue for political opportunism and party politicking.

The negative political pattern which has held back political progress must be broken. Political stability, power sharing, a workable budget and dealing with the legacy of the past are central resolving the current difficulties. But let us be clear - a united Ireland and a real republic is the only fitting monument to the sacrifice of Con Colbert and all those who died in 1916 and since then in the cause of freedom.

Republicans in 2015 are as determined to achieve those objectives as Con Colbert was 100 years ago. Tá muidinne, mar Phoblachtánaigh, inniu in Dá Mhíle is a Cúig Déag chomh tiomanta do na spriocanna sin is a bhí Con Colbert céad bliain ó shin. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

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Paddy with Hillary and Bill Clinton

For the last two weeks in August Paddy McGeady and I spent a few minutes together every night. We stood at his back door listening to the birdsong, discussing the weather and celebrating the day. Paddy was a happy man. A bachelor, Gaeilgeoir, a quiet republican and a good neighbour. He was a gentleman, a scholar and a fine judge of Irish whiskey.

He took sick in September, was rushed to hospital, operated on and was very seriously ill. When I visited him, Paddy was in Intensive Care and on a Life Support Unit. But he started slowly to improve. I took succour from this. Father Reid had been in the same position but he recovered to the point that he was able get on with his life. Not as independently as before but alive all the same. For a few more years.

It looked like Paddy was on the same pathway. Then wham!

He suddenly got worse. I was on the way out of the Dáil when Eamonn phoned me with the bad news. Hours later he phoned again. Paddy was gone. Ar slí an fhirinne. Eamonn was with him when he died. That was not surprising. Eamonn and Eilis had visited him every day in Letterkenny hospital. They and their six children saw Paddy nearly every day for years and years. Their home is at the bottom of Paddy's lane. On his daily walk to the village Paddy would exchange greetings with them. The same with Margaret further down the road. Or her brother Paddy and Seamus.

Since he retired Paddy's routine was as regular as clockwork. A day for the shop. A day for the post office. A yarn with Tom. A few hours in the hotel for a deoch and a read at the newspaper. Then the walk home. For years he used to go on my bike. He was in his seventies before he gave up the cycling.

He kept his little home spick and span. He was a planter of trees. Mostly conifers. Unfortunately. And once he planted bamboo. It went on to almost devour one side of his property. But he was very fussy about a wee hedge which he cultivated along the side of the gable. It was as straight as a die.

And he was a bit of an artist. The little wall which flanked his lane way was decorated with little faces which Paddy shaped with great skill years and years ago. All the little people in my life love Paddy's wee faces. The gable of the stone shed facing his back door is dominated by a huge bear. He got a slab of slate from me and erected it like a standing stone after cutting designs in it based on a photo of a stone carving in Borneo.

There is something pagan about it all. The bear. The faces. The standing stone.
But Paddy was a quiet unassuming Catholic. He lifted the collection in the chapel a few times a year when it was his turn to do so. He was very shy and never looked forward to that.

He was also independently minded. He had a flag pole in his front garden. He would fly the tri colour there on special occasions. He had a thoughtful world view. A few years ago at the height of the Israeli assault on Gaza Paddy got a large piece of canvass and painted his own Palestinian flag on it. Hardly anyone knew but that wasn't the point. He flew his homemade Palestinian flag on his flag pole in the highlands of west Donegal in solidarity with the people of Palestine. He was equally against the war in Iraq.

Paddy and I travelled to meet Bill and Hillary Clinton one day in Belfast. Paddy thanked them for their work on the Irish peace process. He quietly asked them to do the same thing in the Middle East. He was extremely courteous. That never left him.

When a young man Paddy left Donegal and travelled to Glasgow and then to Luton where he worked in the Vauxhall plant. He spent a wee while in Germany also, camping and motor cycling. Then he came back home again. He kept himself busy doing odd jobs and working with his father on the farm before getting a job in McFadden’s Hotel. He also got involved with a local dramatic society. His Irish was beautiful. So was his handwriting. He used old Irish script and grammar.

One time he and I were talking about films.

"I would love to see Treasure Island again" he told me.

"When I was a wee lad they used to show a film every month or so down in the Parochial Hall. All of us really loved Treasure Island. But it was in English so nobody could follow the dialogue. I always meant to watch it again.'

But he never did.

He was a simple man. And cheerful. His life was uncomplicated. But he was well read and knowledgeable too. There are men and women like Paddy all around Ireland. In little homes at the top of long lanes. Living their lives in relative serenity. Doing harm to no one and enriching the lives of those they meet along the way. For years he minded his mother. He told me he rarely used the front door once her coffin exited that way some years ago.

I will miss Paddy. So will Colette. So will his sister Máire. Our solidarity to her and to the wider McGeady clann and his neighbours and friends. An tAthair Gallagher spoke very well at Paddy's funeral Mass. Then we all walked up the steep path to the sloping graveyard on the hill above Gorta A Choirche. We buried Paddy in the clean dry soil there.

He would have been pleased at the number of people who turned up and at the nice things that were said at his funeral. He would have been embarrassed at the tears we shed.

When it was all over I returned alone to the house. As I passed her home Mairéad who knows Paddy from childhood came out into her street to talk to me and to commiserate with me about Paddy's demise, in her lovely singsong Irish. Then I walked on slowly up the lane past the little faces and turned the gable corner along his neat little hedge. I was caught by surprise by the sight of the tri colour flying at half mast from Paddy's flag post. Eamonn must have hoisted it. Quite rightly.

I sat on the window sill. Bloody Foreland used to be visible from here before the conifers got too tall. Paddy could tell how long it would take the rain to travel from there to Cashel. He was seldom wrong.

I sat there in the bright Autumnal sunshine on my own and thought of all the craic and comhra and companionship Paddy and I enjoyed le cheile. Then the breeze sighed gently and the flag fluttered and my heart loosened again.

That’s when I cried a little for the passing of this good and gentle man. Sitting on my own on his window sill looking out towards Bloody Foreland.

Slán Paddy.

In six months the centenary celebration of the 1916 Rising will take place. Central to that act of remembrance will be the GPO. It was there that much of the fierce fighting that followed the Rising took place. A short distance away is Moore Street where the last meeting of the Provisional Government and of the key leaders took place.

With the GPO in flames the republican garrison made its way under fire to the corner of Moore Street. Tunnelling from house to house they eventually stopped in number 16. There the final moments of the Rising were played out as the leaders, including Pádraig Mac Piarais, Joseph Plunkett, Tom Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada and the wounded James Connolly decided their next steps.

It was from there that Pádraig Mac Piarais and Elizabeth O’Farrell walked to the Moore Street barricade where the document of surrender was signed.

Moore Street holds a special place in the history of Ireland. The streets and laneways around it are part of the battlefield site where Irishmen and women took on the might of the British Empire in pursuit of Irish freedom.

It also is part of the ‘laneways of history’ that include Tom Clarke’s shop on Parnell Street; to the GPO; to Henry Street where the Proclamation was signed; to Moore Lane and Moore Street where the GPO Garrison retreated; to the spot where ‘The O'Rahilly’ died; to the Rotunda where the garrison was held by the British; and where the volunteers were founded three years earlier; these are all places intimately connected to the Rising and to the men and women who participated in it.

These modest buildings and back lanes provide a tangible link with the great ideas that were given expression in the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

For years now the families of the executed leaders and many others have campaigned for the Moore Street buildings to be preserved as a national monument and the area developed as a revolutionary quarter. In reality the dilapidated and neglected condition of the buildings is a metaphor for the state we are in. One hundred years after the Rising successive governments have ignored this historically significant battlefield site in much the same way as they have ignored the ideals and principles of the Proclamation.

Most of the terrace and that part of O Connell Street adjoining to it where owned by developer Joe O Reilly of Chartered lands. It was his intention to develop a huge shopping mall fronting on to O Connell Street and taking up most of Moore Street. However, this property is now owned by the National Asset Management Agency - NAMA – in other words by the taxpayers – and is part of what is called the Project Jewel loan portfolio.

Last year the government announced that it would - through NAMA - invest five million euro in refurbishing and restoring the section of Moore Street which has been designated as a national monument, that is, Nos. 14 to 17 Moore Street. The remainder of Moore Street is to be demolished to make way for the Mall and Hotel development.

At the end of September it was revealed that Hammerson and Allianz are to purchase the Project Jewel loan portfolio from NAMA. This decision has caused considerable anger and a real concern that commercial interests will be allowed to override the national and historical significance of a site which the National Museum of Ireland described as the ‘most important historic site in modern Irish history.’

I recently met the families of the 1916 leaders. They are deeply concerned by the failure of the government to defend the battlefield site.

They have asked the Public Accounts Committee in the Dáil to seek answers to a series of questions, including what are the terms and conditions of the transfer of ownership of the National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street to the state; what buildings will be demolished in the Project Jewel/Chartered Land loan portfolio; did NAMA have the site assessed, surveyed and valued for including it in the Project Jewel Loan Portfolio auction; where is the five million euro set aside for the restoration of the derelict National Monument and why are the buildings being allowed to deteriorate further?

These are all important questions deserving the fullest response but the campaign to save Moore Street must go beyond questions by the Public Accounts Committee.

Specifically the role of the government in defending Moore Street needs to be seriously questioned. Last week NAMA unexpectedly withdrew the Westport House estate from another of NAMA’s loan portfolios – in this case it is the Project arrow portfolio of loans. NAMA had just announced that U.S. investment fund Cerberus – which is at the centre of the controversy over the sale of the Project Eagle portfolio of loans in the north - as the preferred bidder for that project.

The decision to withdraw Westport House from the Project Arrow portfolio came about after the government intervened over the sale of this major tourist attraction in the Taoiseach’s constituency of Mayo. The Minister of State for Tourism, and Westport TD Michael Ring, has already confirmed that he arranged a meeting between Mayo County Council and NAMA.

Westport House is a stunning tourist destination which attracts tens of thousands of tourists to Mayo each year. Securing its future is an important political and economic initiative.

The same arguments also apply to the Battlefield site around Moore Street where the economic benefits to Dublin would be greater; the number of jobs created would be higher, and the national historical significance of the site is greater.

But thus far the government has not adopted the same approach it has in respect of Westport House. Last week Sinn Féin TD Aengus O Snodaigh raised this issue in the Dáil and urged the Minister for Finance to intervene in the sale of this property. He has the authority to do so and he and his predecessor have used that authority on at least 15 separate occasions since 2009. However the response from Labour Minister Alex White was dismissive and at this time it seems likely that the government will opt for destroying the ‘laneways of history’ around Moore Street.

In the battle over the future of Moore Street we see the culture of naked consumerism as exemplified by the desire to build another mall in a city of malls challenge the valour and self-sacrifice and national pride of 1916.

Moore Street and its environs are the heart and soul of the 1916 Rising. But if consumerism and the rush to profit have their way the buildings and lanes around Moore Street will be effectively obliterated. Historically, culturally, politically, and emotionally there can be few other places on this island that are of greater significance.

As long as Britain has been involved in Ireland it has bought or cajoled or intimidated some people into acting as their eyes and ears, their spies and spooks, and advocates. Some of these do so because it suits their own politics and prejudices. But the end result is that citizens die and freedom is denied.

These strategies are not unique to Ireland or indeed to the British. They are as old as wars. However, in the most recent period of conflict their use became an indispensible part of Britain’s counter insurgency strategy in Ireland. As I have recorded in these columns before the foremost counter-insurgency stratgist was the British Army’s Frank Kitson. When he arrived in Belfast in 1970 he set about restructuring the RUC and British Army approach based on his experiences in post second world war British colonial wars.

The British Army brought with it the techniques of torture; of counter-gangs; of propaganda, and of media and political manipulation. The key objective for Kitson, and for others in the British intelligence and security services, was to reshape the government, the law, the judiciary and the media to defeat Irish republicanism. It didn’t matter how this was done or what the consequences were.

Kitson who served in many of Britain’s counter-insurgency campaigns wrote: ‘The fundamental concept is the working of the triumvirate, civil, military and police, as a joint and integrated organisation from the highest to the lowest level of policy making, planning and administration.’

For example Kitson rationalised the use of death squads and the corruption of justice: ‘Everything done by a government and its agents in combating insurgency must be legitimate. But this does not mean that the government must work within exactly the same set of laws during an emergency as existed beforehand. The law should be used as just another weapon in the government’s arsenal, in which case it becomes little more than a propaganda cover for the disposal of unwanted members of the public.’

Of course, he wasn’t the first to apply these arguments. The stories of spooks and spies, of agents and informers working for the British state during the centuries of Ireland’s long struggle for freedom are legion. An informer called Owen O’Connally gave information to the British during the 1641 rebellion that led to the arrest and executions of two of the leaders, Lord Maguire and Colonel McMahon. Money was his reward.

The 1798 rebellion by the United Irish movement was bedevilled with informers. Many are named in the history of that period. Men like Leonard McNally and Samuel Turner and Thomas Reynolds were informers. In his ‘History of the Irish Rebellion of 1798’ WH Maxwell writes: ‘The prisons were crowded with persons denounced by those infamous informers, Armstrong and Reynolds, Dutton and Newell, with a list of subordinate villains acting under the direction of police agents, themselves steeped deeper in iniquity than the perjured wretches they suborned … Numbers, innocent in most cases, through the instrumentality of those bad men, were brought hourly to the scaffold.’

In later years agents and informers remained an integral part of Britain’s colonial class in Ireland in their efforts to subvert the Young Irelanders; the Fenians; the Land League and Charles Stewart Parnell.

It was the evidence of Pierce Nagle, who met Chief Inspector Mallon each week in Dublin Castle that led to the arrest of the Fenian leaders O’Donovan Rossa, John O’Leary and others. It was also at this time that the Special Branch was established. Mayo man Michael Davitt, leader of the Land League, recorded some of the actions of the spies and spooks at work against the tens of thousands seeking land reform. In his book, ‘The Informer’s’ by Andrew Boyd writes: ‘Davitt accused the British government of employing terrorists to lure young Irishmen in political crime and them have them arrested, imprisoned and even hanged’.

The Tan War saw the use of agents and informers increase enormously as the British sought to defeat the IRA. For its part the IRA dealt with such spies ruthlessly. Michael Collins execution of 14 British agents on the morning of Sunday November 21^st is one of the best remembered actions of that period. But there were hundreds of others killed as informers. One occasion two IRA volunteers brought one man out onto a river and drowned him rather than shoot him.

In the most recent decades of conflict the application by MI5 and the RUC Special Branch and British Military intelligence of evolving and increasingly complex technologies to listen, record, monitor, track and trap their enemy became an essential element in all of this. Recent court cases show that this is still going on.

Forty years ago these same organisations were involved in the establishment of armed loyalist paramilitary groups which they then supplied with information and weapons to kill Irish citizens and foment sectarian strife.

The recent publication by the British Secretary of State Theresa Villiers of the MI5 report into allegations of paramilitarism but specially the IRA, is an example of how the use by Britain of agent provocateurs, and of spies and spooks continues. The political exploitation of this report to attack Sinn Féin, especially by some elements of the Dublin based media, is also evidence of the deep desire on the part of some to use any excuse to criticise republicans. They are unconcerned about the bone fides of the authors.

So, the fact that MI5 has been involved in the murder of countless hundreds of Irish citizens, including those murdered by the Dublin-Monaghan bombs, and has no credibility as an independent source, is deemed irrelevant.

One contemporary example of this emerged within days of the publication of the panel report. The Public Prosecution Service in Belfast revealed that it was initiating a major investigation into the role of an MI5 agent – named Stakeknife – and his alleged involvement in the murders of between 24 and 40 people. Critically this investigation will also examine the roles of all of those in the RUC Special Branch and MI5 who were involved in running Stakeknife.

But Stakeknife was not alone. MI5 and other British security agencies ran hundreds of agents. Whether it was people like Mark Haddock, a loyalist serial killer in north Belfast, or those who murdered human rights lawyer Pat Finucane, MI5, British Military Intelligence and the RUC colluded in the murder of citizens.

Today there are still some in those organisations who believe that the peace process was wrong. That it was possible to defeat the IRA. And who resent deeply the growth and popularity of Sinn Féin.

In my view the report from Theresa Villiers was and is primarily aimed at undermining the political institutions and the Good Friday Agreement. It is regrettable but not surprising that elements of the Irish political establishment and sections of the Irish media are willing to exploit this specious report to attack Sinn Féin.

Some of the Irish media got carried away last week with the success of the annual Friends of Sinn Féin dinners in New York and Toronto. The $500 a plate event in the Sheraton Hotel on 7^th avenue got the most attention. There were glossy pics of tables laid out for guests and the menu attracted lots of interest. The Journal.ie reported how “As guests arrived for the cocktail hour in the Metropolitan West Ballroom, traditional Irish musicians played songs including The Town that I Loved so Well, Grace and Whiskey in the Jar… As we revealed last night, guests dined on a meal of Mediterranean salad to start, with grilled filet mignon for mains and pastries and cookies for dessert.”

It was all a little bizarre. Far from filet mignot we were reared. And to this mix was added the mock outrage of Joan Burton, the Labour Leader and Enda Kenny our Taoiseach, bemoaning the fact that Mary lou and I were going to miss the debate on the social welfare Bill in the Dáil. We were actually only missing a bit of it. Their concern was touching. But as I assured our New York and Toronto guests both Mary lou and I would be back in the Dáil holding this government to account for its bad policies.

That struck a chord with some of our exiles in the room who are among the half a million who now live on that side of the Atlantic because government policies forced them to search for jobs overseas.

Sinn Féin has long ago understood the importance of the Irish diaspora and its ability to use its political influence to assist the peace process. This was especially true in the United States. Our success there, as elsewhere, is very much down to the fact that we engage in an on-going dialogue with the diaspora. Sinn Féin representatives travel to Australia, and Britain, to the USA and Canada and other places where there are strong Irish communities. We update the diaspora on whatever is happening in the peace process and answer any questions they may have.

Other parties, including Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael and the SDLP have tried to do this, as well as to fundraise. But none have been successful. Perhaps that’s part of the issue – begrudgery and jealousy in equal measure.

Sinn Féin is not the first Irish republican organisation to understand this. In his book ‘America and the 1916 Rising’ Dr. Ruan O’Donnell, senior lecturer in history at the University of Limerick, details the political and financial connections between the Irish Republican Brotherhood – the 1916 Rising – and Irish America.

Did you know that five of the seven signatories of the Proclamation had engaged in political activity in the USA in the decade before 1916? I didn’t. I knew of Tom Clarke and James Connolly but not the others. Ruan also makes the connection between those who fled Ireland during and after An Gorta Mór – the great hunger and the Fenians, Clann na Gael and the planning for revolution and rebellion in Ireland. Read his book and you are left in no doubt that the Rising was funded in large part by Irish America. By the children of the Great Hunger. For this reason and for the political support it offered the Proclamation talks of “and supported by her exiled children in America.”

America and the 1916 Rising is a commendable book which was published by Friends of Sinn Féin in the United States and given to every guest at the two dinners I spoke at. It is part of the celebrations leading to next year’s centenary for the Rising and the Proclamation.

For their part those I met wanted to know what the current crisis in the political processes is really all about and what are the prospects of finding solutions?

I reminded them of the prescient words of George Mitchell who chaired the Good Friday Agreement negotiations. On the day the Agreement was achieved George said to Martin McGuinness and me that that was the easy bit – the hard bit would be getting it implemented. And how right he was. I have lost count of the number of times negotiations have collapsed or the institutions have been suspended or a crisis was threatening to bring it all to an end.

The canker at the heart of these difficulties is the resistance to change and to equality from those in the British system who believed they could win the war, and from those in unreconstructed unionism who resent power sharing and equality.

This is the context of the current crisis. For our part Sinn Féin is involved in the negotiations to find solutions and to move the process forward.

The next six months will also be among the most challenging we have faced in many years and potentially the most rewarding. Sometime in the spring the Taoiseach will call a general election. In May there will be an Assembly election in the north.

Both of these elections present real opportunities for political growth and for advancing Sinn Féin’s objectives of unity and independence. That’s what our political opponents in Britain and Ireland are afraid of.

They fear a strong Irish republican party focussed on uniting Ireland, and committed to achieving real change, and advancing citizens’ rights instead of the two tier Ireland with its elites, privileges and inequalities.

We hope to do well in the General Election and in the Assembly election. We are seeking a mandate to be in Government. On both sides of the border. Our opponents fear this also. Especially our opponents in the media.

They know a strong Sinn Féin party, organised across Ireland and with mass support, and in government in Belfast and Dublin is the best vehicle to deliver Irish unity and the end of Partition and the Union. They also know that we represent a viable alternative to the right-wing conservatism and austerity of the establishment parties.

So, negative campaigning by our political opponents or elements of the media will not deter us. It only stiffens our resolve and that of those who think we are doing a good job.

Today the Dáil heard expressions of sympathy on the attacks in Paris last Friday which saw 129 killed.

To understand those events it is necessary to set them in their context.

Below is the text of my remarks in the Dáil in which I condemn “in the strongest possible terms the deplorable, murderous attacks perpetrated in Paris last Friday" ... extend my sincerest sympathies and solidarity to the French Ambassador, to the victims, their families and to the people of Paris and of France with which Ireland has deep, historic and cultural ties”... urge citizens to make a "stand against fundamentalism, bigotry, sectarianism and racism" and set it in the wider context of western militarism and imperialism and the failure to support the rights of the people of Palestine."

Expressions of Sympathy - 17^th November 2015

On behalf of Sinn Féin I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the deplorable, murderous attacks perpetrated in Paris last Friday.

Thar ceann Shinn Féin ba mhaith liom cáineadh láidir a dhéanamh ar na hionsaithe uafásacha a tharla Dé hAoine i bPáras.

Seasann muid leis na daoine a maríodh agus a gortaíodh agus lena muintir.

I wish to extend my sincerest sympathies and solidarity to the French Ambassador, to the victims, their families and to the people of Paris and of France with which Ireland has deep, historic and cultural ties.

France and Ireland enjoy extremely good relations, not least through our shared revolutionary history and republican values of liberty, equality and fraternity.

And people on this island have, like those all over the world, watched with deep shock and horror as the events in Paris unfolded.

The victims of these dreadful attacks were innocent people, many of them young people, enjoying a Friday night out with friends and family. They come from at least fifteen countries.

They posed no threat to anyone but were targeted without cause, without justification or without mercy.

Families were cruelly robbed of their loved ones - sons, daughters, spouses, parents and siblings.

We have seen, through widespread and heartening messages and demonstrations of solidarity, that Ireland and the world stands united with the people of Paris and of France at this awful time.

All of us also need to stand against fundamentalism, bigotry, sectarianism and racism.

Agus muid ag amharc ar imeachtaí oíche Aoine, smaoinigh muid siar ar na hionsaithe gránna i bPáras i mí Eanáir.

The deaths of journalists, cartoonists and satirists - as well as civilians - in Paris on January 7th provoked justifiable outrage.

So far this year 47 journalists have been killed around the world.

Tragically, the violence that we witnessed in Paris on Friday has also been mirrored in countless other barbaric acts.

Last Thursday twin explosions in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, killed 43 people and wounded more than 200 others.

Last month bomb attacks in Yemen killed 35 people.

In the years of civil war in Syria over a quarter of a million men, women and children, mostly civilians have been killed.

In October twin blasts in Ankara claimed the lives of over 100 civilians.

A bomb was responsible for destroying the Metrojet that crashed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on October 31st.

All 224 people on board were killed.

51.2 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide.

Approximately 3,500 people have died at sea since January making the desperate crossing to Europe in the coffin ships.

These victims too were ordinary, innocent civilians.

Sin iad na deartháireacha agus deirfiúracha s’againne.

Like the citizens of Paris who played no part in these events, the people of the Middle East are entitled to live in peace and to pursue happiness and prosperity.

And while we think of the victims in Paris, Beirut, Yemen and Syria let us also remember the thousands, mainly civilians, including hundreds of children who were killed in brutal assaults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In the summer of last year 2,000 people, mainly civilians, including 500 children, and 13 journalists died during the Israeli assault on Gaza.

Like the Israeli citizens who also died at that time, they bleed like the rest of us, they grieve like the rest of us and they are equally deserving of our sympathy, compassion and solidarity.

Those behind the attacks in Paris and those who are daily perpetrating horrendous violence and injustice against civilian populations in Syria and Iraq are the enemies of all lovers of freedom and justice.

This is not a conflict between East and West, or between Islam and Christianity but between fundamentalism and freedom.

Whatever our religion, the colour of our skin or our nationality there can be no excuse for these attacks.

Wherever injustice or oppression or hatred exists, it must be confronted and challenged.

Wherever anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or sectarianism or racism exists it must be vigorously opposed.

So too, must poverty, injustice, inequality, discrimination, and imperialism.

ISIS and other fundamentalist groups thrive on the chaos and destruction wrought on Iraq, Syria, Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East as a direct result of western military and political interference.

This reality cannot be ignored.

The world has become a more violent, less secure place since September 11 2001.

The horrendous attack on the World Trade Centre in New York resulted in a misguided war with Western forces first bombing and then occupying Afghanistan.

This had major long-term implications for neighbouring countries and, indeed the rest of the world.

The Afghan war played straight into the hands those seeking to promote Western militarism all over the world.

Under the leadership of George W. Bush and Tony Blair, war in Afghanistan developed into a general global conflict and to war with Iraq.

As one war leads to another, Iraq developed into a war in Libya and north Africa and the death toll has grown ever since.

The so-called ‘war on terror’ has extended to Africa with the bombing of Libya and Mali and the growth of Boko Haram in Nigeria as well as the continued problems in Somalia.

The US and Coalition forces have carried out 8,125 bomb attacks in Iraq and Syria in the last 12 months.

We have also witnessed conflict in the Ukraine and growing tensions between Russia and the West.

There has to be a much deeper understanding, both of the causes of wars and their consequences for everybody.

Alongside the dead and injured in Paris those suffering the most from the actions of ISIS are the citizens of the Middle East.

Serious questions need to be asked about the funding and arming of groups such as ISIS.

Unfortunately the west has an inconsistent and duplicitous track record in its dealings with Islamic fundamentalist groups in the Middle East.

It is clear that arms from Western powers have ended up in the hands of these groups.

London’s Independent newspaper in 2013 claimed that the British government made £12 billion from arms sales around the world mainly in the Middle East and Africa.

Western duplicity and cynicism towards the Middle East must end if there is to be a peaceful, democratic future for the citizens of that region.

And the running sore that is the treatment of the Palestinian people must be faced up to once and for all if there is to be peace in that part of the world.

The horrific attacks in Paris must not become an excuse for attacks on Islam or on the rights of Muslim people; or to target or turn away from our responsibility toward the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in Europe, many of whom are fleeing the same fundamentalist forces who carried out the Paris attacks.

The actions of ISIS, the attacks in Paris and the alarming rise of far right parties must act as a catalyst for European governments and the European Union and Commission to counteract this sentiment.

Federica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs has said all of the attackers from Friday’s massacre in Paris so far have been identified as European Union nationals.

So, the European Union must do more to combat alienation and to promote integration, equality and respect for diversity.

It is our responsibility to stand united in defiance of murder, threats and intimidation. And to stand with the people of France and of Paris.

It is also our responsibility as political representatives and political leaders to go beyond mere rhetoric.

I welcome the Taoiseach’s assertion today that in formulating the international response we must seek to tackle the root causes.

That means Ireland needs to pursue a foreign policy based on peace making and human values. NATO has expanded globally and there are efforts through the Lisbon Treaty to link in the EU. Irish neutrality continues to be weakened.

This has included decisions to join NATO lead Partnership for Peace (PfP), and the utilisation of Shannon Airport to transport troops to join the illegal invasion of Iraq.

Despite plans for the creation of a Common European Army, Irish citizens deeply value our neutrality and oppose any Irish role in the growing militarisation of Europe.

The government must reflect this view and move to defend and promote Irish neutrality.

No matter how difficult it is there is an urgent need to find a durable settlement to the conflict in Syria.

We have a duty to understand and confront the causes of violence and division.

Our thoughts today are with the people of Paris and with all victims of conflict across the globe. We can only imaghine the pain and hurt they feel.

We can only imagine the panic, the shock, the grief of Parisians and of the people of France.

We are confident that their strength, their courage, their humanity will see them through. We stand in solidarity with them.

Sna laethanta amach romhainn caithfimid a chinntiú nach gcuireann freagra an phobail domhanda leis an chrautan agus an phian atá ann faoi láthair.

We know from our own troubled history that there are no purely military solutions.

Diplomacy, negotiations and political resolution of conflict is key.

As a lasting tribute to the victims in Paris – and to all victims of global conflict – world leaders must redouble efforts to resolve conflict and to build peace.

We and our government have a positive role to play in that.”

The agreement reached at Stormont on Tuesday is far from perfect. But it is the best that was possible at this time. It is the culmination of over three months of intense and difficult negotiations that arose following a series of crisis in the political process.

Last year’s Stormont House Agreement was a genuine effort to secure a deal that would protect the most vulnerable in society, to safeguard the rights and entitlements of citizens, to grow the economy and to enhance the working of the institutions.

But resistance to change, which is particularly strong within elements of unreconstructed unionism and the British security system, and the ideological commitment of the British Tory party to austerity saw the agreement come under immediate pressure.

The contrived political crisis by the Ulster Unionist Party following the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan in Belfast led to the virtual collapse of the institutions.

Martin McGuinness and others in our negotiating team have worked hard to find solutions to all of the core issues. Our focus was on defending public services, while dealing with outstanding issues. These include the Bill of Rights and Achta na Gaeilge, contentious parades and identity. Securing the full implementation of the legacy proposals from last year’s Stormont House Agreement was also critical.

On Tuesday, following progress in the talks, a new agreement was achieved. Not all issues were resolved but this is an important development which seeks to stabalise the political institutions, tackle some of the outstanding matters, and allow for progress. Sinn Féin has successfully negotiated a package of measures, including in excess of half a billion in new money; and additional flexibilities to invest in public services and the economy. We have also negotiated a fund of £585 million over four years to support the vulnerable and working families.

A panel headed by the renowned advocate Dr. Eileen Evason is to report on how best to use the £500 million fund to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. These measures will mitigate some aspects of Britain’s austerity policies but will not cover in their entirety the cuts being imposed by the Tories on working families, claimants and the block grant. The British approach is unfair, fundamentally undemocratic and economically counter-productive. Sinn Féin will continue to oppose this policy.

The agreement reached also seeks to deal with the issue of criminality and the continued existence of armed and active groups.

Of particular concern is the British government’s refusal to honor last year’s Stormont House Agreement on full disclosure to meet the needs of victims arising out of the conflict. Several weeks ago the British government introduced legislation, in direct contravention of the Stormont House Agreement, which seeks to prevent the victims of British state terrorism from getting the truth.

Using the pretext of ‘national security’ a British secretary of state can close down an investigation and push aside the genuine needs of victims. These proposals are unacceptable. As a result no agreement has been possible on dealing with the legacy of the past.

The British objective has been to prevent full disclosure to the families of victims of the conflict. The British government and its security and military apparatus continue to cover up the action of their agents, informers, army, police and political establishment by using a ‘national security’ veto. This is unacceptable.

What conceivable ‘national security’ concerns can exist for events, many of which occurred 30 and 40 years ago? What ‘national security’ interests are now served over 40 years later by a British government refusing to unlock the files to the Dublin Monaghan bombings or the actions of the Force Reconnaissance Unit or the role of Brian Nelson and others?

Will the efforts of the hooded men to get to the truth of who in the British cabinet sanctioned their torture come up against the excuse of national security?

Will the Ballymurphy families or those who believe the British agent Stakeknife played a part in the murder of their loved ones, or the hundreds of other victims and their families of British counter-insurgency strategies find their efforts thwarted by the overriding demands of British ‘national security’?

Will the truth about the apartheid south African arms shipment, involving MI5, which saw the capacity of the UVF and UDA and Ulster Resistance to kill Catholics in the late 1980s and 90s significantly increase, be hidden from the families of the two hundred people who were killed as a consequence?

The refusal of Theresa Villiers to implement the agreement she made last year is about covering up the extent to which the British state created and organised and provided information to unionist paramilitary gangs in the killing of citizens.

It is not acceptable to those victims who survived gun and bomb attacks or the families of those who died. Nor is it compatible with the Stormont House Agreement.

Finally, the Irish government has not asserted its role as co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday and other agreements. It has played the part of junior partner and has acquiesced to British demands, especially around the issue of legacy. Their role should have been to hold the British government to account. They failed to do this.

We should not be surprised by this. In economic terms, Fine Gael and the Irish Labour Party have consistently made common cause with the British Conservative Party in their relentless pursuit of austerity.

In the time ahead Sinn Féin will continue to stand up for the rights of the vulnerable, working families, our economy and our public services.

We believe the new agreement offers the best hope for a new start – a new opportunity to build a better future.

It is also an opportunity for Republicans to show that the union with Britain is not in the interests of citizens in the north. The price of the union is that a London government, unelected by citizens here, is imposing policies that will attack the vulnerable, the elderly and the young, while denying the Executive the resources to invest effectively in our economy. That doesn’t make sense. Uniting Ireland and building an all-island economy, rooted in equality makes perfect sense.

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Thursday saw the launch of the Free Arnaldo Otegi and Bring Basque Political Prisoners Home campaign in Ireland.

The event took place in Leinster House and was jointly sponsored by myself; Maureen O’Sullivan TD; Finian McGrath TD and involved speakers including Robert Ballagh, Artist and social justice campaigner; Urko Airtza, Basque Senator and human rights lawyer; Pablo Vicente, and Fermin Muguruza, famous Basque musician.

On my own behalf and on behalf of Sinn Féin, I extended solidarity greetings from the event to Arnaldo. I also warmly welcomed today's initiative and pledged Sinn Féin's full support.

Sinn Féin and the Basque people have a long history of solidarity in struggle. I and other Sinn Féin leaders have been active in travelling to the Basque country in support of efforts to achieve a peace process and agreement.

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Regrettably the dialogue for peace has been largely one-sided. The people of the Basque country, represented by a range of political parties and civic organisations, have been involved in recent years in a substantial dialogue around building a peace process. Their objective has been to bring an end to violence while creating the conditions for democratic and peaceful political change, including independence.

They took as their model the Irish peace process and the South African model. The strategy that has emerged, based largely on language and principles agreed here, commits Basque activists to using ‘exclusively political and democratic means’ to advance their political objectives. It seeks to advance political change ‘in a complete absence of violence and without interference’ and ‘conducted in accordance with the Mitchell Principles.’ And its political goal is to achieve a ‘stable and lasting peace in the Basque country’.

The key to making any progress is dialogue. The Spanish government needs to talk. Thus far it has refused. This runs entirely counter to Nelson Mandela’s oft quoted mantra that to make peace we have to make friends with our enemy. That cannot be done in the absence of a dialogue. It cannot be done in the absence of respect for the rights of citizens to vote for elected representatives of their choice.

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In this context the continued imprisonment of Arnaldo Otegi (Secretary General of SORTU) makes no sense and is deeply unhelpful. In the course of recent years I have met Arnaldo here and in the Basque country. I support his efforts and those of the Basque independence parties to construct a peaceful and democratic resolution to the conflict in the Basque Country.

Arnaldo is a courageous and visionary leader who has taken real risks for peace and despite speaking many years in prison on spurious charges he has never faltered from promoting the path of peace.

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The policy of dispersal of Basque prisoners from prisons close to their families is not helpful to the peace process. It mirrors the policy of ‘ghosting’ that was regularly used against Irish republican prisoners held in Britain. Families would make the difficult journey to the north of England for a visit with a loved one only to be told that they were moved the previous day to a prison in London. This policy, which has no security dimension to it, was simply about hurting the families and demoralizing the prisoners. So too with Basque prisoners.

It is also a truism of every peace process I know of that the release of prisoners was an indispensable part of building confidence. Invariably the prisoners themselves played a crucial role in assisting the peace.

The refusal of the Spanish government to engage in dialogue, the continued imprisonment of Arnaldo Otegi and its punitive regime against Basque prisoners, are evidence of a government reluctant to embrace the potential for peace.

The Spanish Prime Minister has an opportunity to take a step change in advance of elections in December by releasing Arnaldo Otegi, and ending its reprehensible dispersal policy and allow Basque political prisoners to go home to the Basque Country.

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1981 Hunger Strike - inflicted a historic defeat on the Thatcher government

Remembering Garrett O Connor

It’s about elections - stupid

Refugees: The Road to compassion

Political institutions hanging by a threat

Uncomfortable Conversations for Reconciliation

Addressing the Dublin Chamber of Commerce

Remembering Tomás Ceannt – soldier, patriot, revolutionary

Our man in Havana

Expressions of sympathy following weekend tragedies

Unionists must provide certainty

It is thought that it will report within days. Whatever its conclusions Sinn Féin will not tolerate any undermining of the rights of citizens who vote for Sinn Féin.

His ability to do this is largely because no unionist political leader has ever positively embraced the Good Friday Agreement and championed its advantages for fear of being outflanked by the more extreme shades of unionism.

In the weeks ahead there are major political challenges facing the current negotiations.

Firstly the British and Irish governments must honour their commitments. They have failed to do this thus far.

Secondly, the British government has to provide a viable, workable sustainable budget, which allows the Executive to deliver public services and proper protections for the most vulnerable in our society.

And lastly, the commitment to address legacy issues agreed in the Haass talks and in the Stormont House Agreement must be reflected in any final legislation produced by the British government. The current draft produced by the British government will not do – it is not acceptable.

Nationalists and republicans need persuaded that unionist leaders are genuinely committed to power sharing. The deliberately slow and damaging approach of unionist leaders to the Good Friday Agreement is no longer tolerable or acceptable.

A sea change in attitude toward Travellers is needed

Con Colbert: The only fitting memorial is a United Ireland

Paddy McGeady: "I would love to see Treasure Island again" he told me.

Protecting Moore Street and Dublin’s Battlefield site

Spies and Spooks: The same old story

Grilled filet mignon for mains

Paris Attacks condemned - Adams

A new opportunity for progress

Free Arnaldo Otegi – Bring them home