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Ten Men Dead and David Beresford
35 years ago this Thursday, May 5th1981, Bobby Sands died on hunger strike after 66 days without food. He was the first of 10 men to die in the H Blocks of Long Kesh that terrible summer of 1981. For...
View ArticleParallels in struggle
Last week I had a moment to myself and settled down for the evening to watch Django Unchained. It’s a Quentin Tarantino movie. It is very violent. But it is also a powerful anti-racist movie in which...
View ArticleWe will stand by our commitments
Last Friday was one of those days. It started in Dublin with the election of a Taoiseach and finished at the Assembly count centre in the Titanic quarter in east Belfast with four Sinn Féin MLAs...
View ArticleEurope condemns treatment of Traveller community
There was nothing to show that the land adjacent to the car park had housed seven traveller families. New concrete bollards had just been laid. They blocked the entrance to the piece of waste land,...
View ArticleThe dangers of Brexit
To leave or not to leave - that is the question - facing millions of voters in Britain and in the north on June 23rdwhen they decide whether to stay in or leave the EU. The referendum on EU membership...
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The first cross border bridge since partition
Narrow Water Bridge Community Network in the DáilI love the Cooley peninsula and its two mountain ridges. I have walked Slieve Foye, Maeve’s Gap and the tranquil valley of Glenmore that lies below...
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A flicker of hope in the Middle East crisis
The Middle East peace process has been on a life support system for years. The use of words like ‘stalled’ or ‘impasse’ don’t describe the reality – especially after years of failure.Over the years and...
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Remembering the Soweto Uprising
Last week 21 years ago I made my first visit to South Africa and had my first meeting with Madiba Nelson Mandela. I was invited by the ANC – with whom Irish republicans have long enjoyed fraternal...
View ArticleRemain vote must be respected
Last week, for only the second time since the foundation of the northern state there was a significant cross community vote on an issue of political importance. The first time was in 1998 when the...
View ArticleEngland’s difficulty ….
The fallout from the Brexit vote rumbles on amid predictions of recession in the British economy, and in the north. The last week has seen millions sign an online petition and at the weekend thousands...
View ArticleBrexit, Iraq and the Somme
It has not been a good couple of weeks for British politics. The Chilcot report into the War in Iraq and the Brexit referendum result, which will see the British state exit from the EU over the next...
View ArticleBuilding for Success and a United Ireland
In 1992 Sinn Féin held our Ard Fheis in the Ballyfermot Community Centre. The previous year Dublin City Council had barred us from the Mansion House and the political establishment was united in...
View ArticleAn end to the Union
On her first visit this week to the North as British Prime Minister Theresa May met the First and Deputy First Ministers. Martin McGuinness told her that the British have to respect the democratically...
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I am proud to be a rebel - Roger Casement
A Plaque and Mural to Roger Casement were unveiled at Casement Park on Wednesday morning the centenary of his execution.Tuesday was the anniversary of Big Doc’s (Kieran Doherty) death on hunger strike....
View ArticleAn all-Ireland suicide strategy is essential
There is not a single family across this island that has not been affected by the challenge of mental health issues. It is now accepted that one in seven adults will experience mental health issues in...
View ArticleFLUICH! FLUICH! FLUICH!
I don’t mind the rain. I never have. Away back in the day when I was on the run it was easier to wander around West Belfast on a wet day when there weren’t a lot of people about and those who ventured...
View ArticleOde to a Dog
Long suffering readers of this column will know I am a dog lover. That’s the way it is. For all my many faults that may well be one of my redeeming qualities. I was thinking the other day that it may...
View ArticleBoxing Clever
The recent rí rá about our boxers at the Olympics in Rio brought back memories to me of my own boxing career. I used to box for a club on the Shankill Road in Belfast. It was around the time Johnny...
View ArticleSaying No to the Apple Billions
The British vote to leave the European Union – Brexit - and the ruling by the European Commission that successive Irish governments gave illegal state aid to Apple and that Apple now owes €13 billion,...
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Building Gaeilge for future generations
The Irish language was almost destroyed as a result of centuries of British colonial policy. As the greatest imperial power in human history successive British governments understood the importance of...
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