18 March, 2010

Top Stories

Search: Sign up to receive news from An Phoblacht. Enter your e-mail address: Privacy policy

McGuinness says Brady should consider his position

Martin McGuinness, speaking on Tuesday night from the United States, called on Cardinal Sean Brady to consider his position over recent revelations about the primate's role in relation to the church's internal investigation of now deceased paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.

When is a story not a story?

In a time when government talk is all about pay cuts, hardship and tightening our belts, the last thing anyone would have expected was the news last week that the chairperson of state body NAMA had received a 70% pay increase, just three months into the job.

Photo: NAMA Chairperson, Frank Daly

Gerry Adams meets Hillary Clinton

SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams is in the United States this week, where he has briefed senior political figures on the political and peace process in Ireland and attended a number of events to celebrate St Patrick's Day with the Irish American community. On Tuesday he met the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. Adams thanked Clinton and the U.S. Administration for continued support for the Peace Process in Ireland.

Photo: Gerry Adams

Easter Commemorations 2010

IT'S that time of year again, Easter ,when Irish republicans commemorate our patriot dead and rededicate ourselves to the struggle. In the aftermath of a very successful Sinn Féin Ard Fheis the mood heading into Easter is very upbeat. "We're expecting a large turnout for this year's events", Mary McArdle of the National Commemoration Committee says. "Republicans are very conscious of the importance of commemorating our dead and especially in the run-up to the hundredth anniversary of the 1916 Rising. We are on the countdown to a very important anniversary in 2016, so that will be a big focus for us in the coming years. The Sinn Féin Irish Unity Task Force has been hosting conferences on the theme of unity and this is a theme that will be at the core of the buildup to the hundredth anniversary."

Photo: Mary McArdle

Ó Caoláin urges referendum on children's rights

CAOIMHGHÍN Ó Caoláin, Sinn Féin Dáil Health and Children spokesperson has called on the government to table legislation to hold a referendum on the issue of children's rights as a matter of urgency. He was speaking on Monday during the Dáil debate on the publication of the third and final report of the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children. Ó Caoláin served on the committee, which met on 62 occasions over the space of two years. "The timely publication of this report presents an important opportunity to strengthen children's rights in this state," he said.

Photo: Caoimhghin Ó Caoláin has served on the Joint Committee on the Constitutional Amendment on Children which met on 62 occasions over the space of two years

Bloody Sunday families in U.S. and London

Representatives of the Bloody Sunday families are this week in London and the United States to further highlight the need for urgency and vigilance regarding the long-awaited release of the Saville Report. John Kelly (brother of Michael Kelly) and Jean Hegarty (sister of Kevin McElhinney) will travel to Washington to coincide with planned events at the White House and will meet senior U.S. politicians to appraise them of recent developments concerning the imminent release of the Inquiry Report.

Photo: Relatives and supporters in London