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Progressives and democrats must organise for unity
left to right Michelle O'Neill, Sile Middleton, mise, Pete Middleton, Mary Lou and Michelle GildernewProgressives and democrats must organise for unityThis week’s Andersonstown News, because of...
View ArticleWe’re on the road to freedom
We’re on the road to freedomTen years ago Bruce Springsteen came to Belfast as part of the Seegar Sessions – named after Pete Seegar the great American singer songwriter - and played to a packed...
View ArticleEqual rights and dignity for Palestinians
Last week, when I was writing about Martin Luther King I came across a line which as I watch the desperate events unfolding in the Gaza Strip struck me as particularly appropriate. In a speech in...
View ArticleCommunity sector is owed a debt of gratitude
The event on Tuesday last week, at Queens University, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, was an opportunity to reminisce about the difficulties we all faced at that time,...
View ArticleThe SDLP – masters of their own misfortune
An emerging narrative in recent weeks as the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was celebrated is the spurious notion that the SDLP’s electoral decline is because it set aside its own...
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A Ten Point Plan for Irish Unity
Matt Carthy MEP; Gerry Adams TD; Mary Lou McDonald TD; Cllr Ruairi Ó Murchú; and Michelle O'Neill MLA at All-Island Civic Forum on Brexit in Dundalk on Monday April 30There has been more written and...
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Let our revenge be the laughter of our children
RG and I arrived in Bilbao in the Basque Country, on the same flight as former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, last Thursday afternoon. While we were in the air a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland had...
View ArticleThe state versus women
The last few weeks have seen the southern state rocked by the cervical smear scandal and a shameful lack of individual and institutional accountability for this. It’s a story that only emerged as a...
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Vote YES and Remove the Eighth Amendment
Friday citizens in the south will have an opportunity to remove the eighth amendment. That is citizens will, if they wish to, remove this amendment from the Irish constitution or leave it in. This...
View ArticleTransforming Irish society
When the votes were counted on Saturday the result of the referendum on the eighth amendment was decisive. Two thirds of the electorate voted YES. The onus is now on the Taoiseach and his government...
View ArticleIt’s always tomorrow for me
“It’s always tomorrow for me” – Joe ReillySeven months ago my long-time friend and comrade Joe Reilly from Navan was given the awful news that he had terminal cancer. He had a rare form of the disease...
View ArticleLá breithe Féile an Phobail
I was very disappointed to miss the launch of Féile an Phobail’s thirtieth birthday celebrations last week. I had to travel to the USA for the funeral of Bill Flynn, who died on June 2nd and separately...
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Well done Mary Lou
I have been attending Sinn Féin Ard Fheiseanna for over 50 years. For thirty-five or so of these years I have delivered the Presidential address. For a decade or so before that Ard Fheiseanna were very...
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I love Books
Last Saturday I was in Kells, in County Meath for the Hinterland Festival of Literature and Arts. I was invited to speak about my latest book – Never Give up – to read extracts from it, and answer...
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Extending the hand of friendship - Remembering Martin McGuinness
The soulful keen of the úilleann pipes echoed across the fields and hills of south Armagh. The tricolour and provincial flags fluttered in the breeze against the backdrop of a clear blue sky and Slieve...
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BLESS ME FATHER
Fr. Des Wilson is a living legend. He has been an integral part of the west Belfast community for six decades. He is hugely respected and loved as a priest, a community activist, an educator, a...
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They should stop their stupid actions
Last Friday night’s explosion at my home in west Belfast is not the first time my family have been targeted in this way. It was a carbon copy of an attack late one night in June 1993. On that occasion...
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An apartheid Israel
Mise agus Seanadoir Frances BlackTwo weeks ago I attended the launch in Kilmainham Prison of the Centenary Exhibition of the life of Nelson Mandela. The exhibition was a testimony to the extraordinary...
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Plan now for referendum on Presidential vote
Martin McGuinness stood in Presidential election in 2011 - he could not voteIn recent years two referendums in the south have attracted huge public interest and international attention. In May 2015...
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Go raibh maith agat Mr. Ballagh
Bobby Ballagh agus miseFéile on Phobail is celebrating its 30th birthday this year. In the three decades since its establishment a lot has changed, not least the growth of the Féile. It’s now the...
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