Christmas presents with a message

BY JOHN HEDGES

BUYING a present that’s different or means something can be the toughest part of Christmas for some and this year people are particularly hard-pressed to find value.
Look no further than the Dublin City Centre Sinn Féin Bookshop & Coffee Shop at 58 Parnell Square at the top of O’Connell Street.
If you’re up shopping in Dublin, drop in to enjoy the terrific full menu of coffees, teas, paninis, wraps, soups with a chat with the hospitable and knowledgeable staff about politics, economics, the state of the nation or the price of the pint
And there’s a huge range of presents and gifts for all budgets.
One that everyone can afford annually and still drives the Daily Telegraph mad is the full-colour Republican Resistance Calendar, priced just €5.
The top-selling item flying off the shelves at €40 is the GAA-style shirt in the Dublin colours emblazoned on the front with a Dublin City crest and crossed rifles with an eye-catching graphic on the back of the 1916 Rising leaders under the legend “Dublin City 16 – The City That Fought An Empire”.
You can score with one of the decorative hurley sticks displaying various emblems and inscriptions are a novel idea at just €20.
For those chilly times ahead, the shops also stocks waterproof jackets. Get ahead and get a baseball cap with a republican crest for €10.
The IMF and Fianna Fáil may be planning to take the shirt off your back but for those happy days when the sun might shine again, pick up polo shirts and T-shirts (€15) celebrating resistance and struggle in Ireland and internationally.
A new line in showing international solidarity with Palestine is the extra virgin olive oil made in Hebron, providing you with a quality product for €15 and giving real solidarity and an income to Palestinians trying to earn a living in their day to day struggle.
You can fly the flag at home and overseas with Tricolours at €10 and flags of other progressive countries as well as provincial flags and the Starry Plough available at €12 apiece.
Statuettes of IRA Volunteers and historical figures make striking presents or there are framed or unframed copies of four variations of the 1916 Proclamation.
There’s a range of five different Christmas cards, including the GPO, Bobby Ballagh’s ‘Legacy’ to remember the H-Block Hunger Strikers and ‘Revolutionary Greetings’ from Che Guevara to pick from.
The music CDs and books there are too numerous to mention. Some books that I picked up (and paid for!) were Meda Ryan’s Michael Collins and the Women Who Spied for Ireland (€12.99) and Renegades: Irish republican Women 1900-1922 (€19.99), by Ann Matthews (that’s two female comrades’ present problems unexpectedly solved for sure for me and which I can be sure will be appreciated).
Others on my to-get list are The Munster Republic: The Civil War in North Cork, by Michael Harrington (€16.99), and for a hill-walking buddy Tales of the Wicklow Hills: 200 Years of History, Myth, Legend and Local Stories (€10).
And if you’re looking for a particular book (like Donal Donnelly’s Prisoner 1082: Escape from Crumlin Road, Europe’s Alcatraz),  just phone 01 814 8542 and if it can be got it will be got it it’s not in store already.
Most of these items are also on sale in the Belfast shop as well.

• Or order online at http://www.sinn feinbookshop.com/catalog/index.php where you can see the whole range available.