The 94 Cessation – how it happened
The IRA cessation is 25 years old this week. August 1994 was an intense month. I was involved, along with Martin McGuinness, and others in the Sinn Féin leadership, in intense, mostly private, efforts...
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Hugs Galore.
Fr. DesDear reader, have you have noticed that republican men of a certain age are nowadays more inclined than their predecessors were to hug other men, including other republican men of a certain age?...
View ArticleNew York – New York
By the time you are reading this column RG and I will be winging our way across the Atlantic to New York for a two night stopover. I am there to speak at the Irish Echo Labor awards. It’s an annual...
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Celebrating the Champions of US Labor
Presenting Bridget Hughes with her awardI want to thank the staff of Aer Lingus in Dublin and New York who pulled out all of the stops last week to ensure that RG and I succeeded in getting to and from...
View ArticleCelebrating 100 years of partition?
Three months ago, during the July marches and rallies by the Orange Order, the DUP declared that the centenary of the northern state in 2021 should be a public holiday and a source of celebration....
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Climate Justice now
Two weeks ago the Court House Square in Dundalk was alive with the chants of young people from a variety of Dundalk secondary schools as they gave voice to their concern about the impact of climate...
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Time for Unity
Carrickdale HotelLast Thursday evening, in the midst of Storm Lorenzo, hundreds of citizens braved the weather and turned out to the Carrickdale Hotel on the border for a conference on Brexit. It was...
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Ulick O Connor – Patriot
Ulick, mise agus Paul 'ODwyer with Tom Hartley in the backgroundUlick O Connor died last week in the nursing home where I last saw him in August. I intended to visit him last week when I got word of...
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Máire Drumm; leader and visionary
©Gérard HarlayThis photo by French photographer Gérard Harlay was taken on 8 August 1976. It shows Bobby Sands on the left carrying the Harp flag and Máire Drumm to the right leading the march. The...
View ArticleThe Houses of Chaos and the road to Unity
As I write this column news is emerging that a British general election is likely to be held in December. If it is confirmed it will be an opportunity to send a clear message to whatever new government...
View ArticlePlanning for Ireland’s Future
I want to commend this week’s initiative by Ireland’s Future. It is an important contribution to the ongoing debate around Brexit, the issue of rights, the need to defend the Good Friday Agreement, and...
View ArticleHOMILY AT FUNERAL OF FR DES WILSON by Fr. JOE MCVEIGH 9 November 2019
HOMILY AT FUNERAL OF FR DES WILSON (November 9, 2019)JOE MCVEIGHA phobal Dé agus a chairde go léir.Tá muid bronach inniú. Tá ár gcara Des imithe ar shlí na Fírinne. It’s a fitting way to describe the...
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Ar slí na Fhírinne
I met Dickie Glenholmes over fifty years ago. He has been in my life ever since. Sometimes we didn’t see each other for ages. Apart from anything else sometimes we would be in jail. Different jails. At...
View ArticleBetrayed – again: who is fooling who?
Words have power. They can enrage, motivate, depress, uplift. They can change peoples’ minds - persuade them to adopt new positions, policies, attitudes. Words can exploit and encourage the best and...
View ArticleWe can afford Irish Unity – we can’t afford the Union
In 1921 when the British partitioned Ireland they retained control of the six north east counties. This gave them an influence over the entire island. It also provided their unionist allies with what...
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“I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD”
Mark Ward the new Sinn Féin TD addressing the media at the DáilDublin Mid West is a sprawling constituency with vast housing estates of working class communities cheek to jowl with more affluent...
View ArticleThe government needs to invest in community services
I believe that citizens have rights. Economic, as well as civil, and social rights. I believe in a citizen centred rights based society. These rights include the right to a home, to a public health...
View ArticleThe Peoples’ Day.
In an ever changing and increasingly technological world more and more people are spending increasing amounts of their time on social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others. Much of...
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A new shop front for the Falls: An Fhuiseog – The Lark
If you are looking for a gift for Christmas, a decent book of Irish interest or republican memorabilia, political posters, craft work, Irish language cards, prints, recordings of rebel songs or decent...
View Article2020 – the year ahead
When An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar finally decides in 2020, with his Fianna Fáil partner in government Micheál Martin, to call the general election my tenure as the TD for Louth will come to an end. Sin é....
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