Features

There seems to be a cohort within the media, especially the print media in the North, who are determined to raise the political temperature, whether it is taking quotes out of context to make an eye-catching headline or playing on misplaced fears in sections of society.

2010 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis: Ulster Le Chéile Honoree

Despite being 86 years of age, Johnny 'Doc' Doherty is a man who doesn't seem to have lost any of his intellectual sharpness or enthusiasm for life. It is a life that he has spent in struggle, from his early teens to the present day. And in his native Ballymacarrett in East Belfast it is clear that the name 'Johnny Doc' commands respect. Last week An Phoblacht's PEADAR WHELAN travelled across the Bridge, to the Short Strand area of East Belfast, to interview Johnny in advance of the forthcoming Le Chéile gathering, at which he will be honoured for his commitment to the republican struggle down through the decades.

Photo: Johnny ‘Doc’ relaxes in his home

Another View by Eoin Ó Broin

Ambition is defined in most dictionaries as a desire for personal advancement or achievement. It comes from the Latin word 'ambitio' which means 'going around'. In ancient Rome the word was used to describe candidates who literally went round the city soliciting votes at election time.

Human trafficking - Today's slave trade

What is human trafficking? Cois Tine, an organisation promoting the integration of people from all communities and cultures into Ireland, defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people for the purpose of exploitation. This includes persons forced into prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. Chilling stuff - it's basically a modern slave trade.

Photo: Ajeet Singh

Cúlchaint LE EOGHAN Mac CORMAIC

Chuir mé suim ar leith i gclár Tommie Collins ar RTÉ an tseachtain seo caite, The Boys from St Columbs, nó chaith mé féin ceithre bhliana, a bheag nó a mhór, san institiúid sin ag deireadh na seascaidí. Ag amharc ar liosta na n-iardhaltaí a bhí ar an chlár teilifíse, mhothaigh mé go mbeadh na cuimhní cinn uathu ag titim sa réimse idir dath róis go dearg agus nach mbeadh mórán clamhsain, i ndáiríre, le cluinsint. Ní mar a shíltear a bhítear, agus bhí idir ionadh agus sásamh orm nuair a thuig mé, luath sa chlár, gur 'cuir i leith' seachas 'cuir i gceilt' a bheadh ann ó na 'buachaillí'.

THE JULIA CARNEY COLUMN

I don't care about George Lee. I really, really don't. Like most of us when I got the text messages last Monday week to let me know he'd resigned I laughed like anyone else. I thought he was a bit of an eejit, which I upgraded to complete eejit by Tuesday and to gibbering egomaniacal self-centred arrogant sod by Friday. I never thought it would be possible to feel sorry for Fine Gael, and it's not, but I was very close at one point.

More than a game BY MATT TREACY

Whatever about the new rules, the start of the National Football League has already brought a fair deal of controversy. Indeed, the part played in the generally mean-spirited games we have seen so far in Division One, and a few others, by the new rules is far from clear. Managers, however, do tend to prefer blaming the bad behaviour of their charges on rule changes, referees, the presence of television cameras, the decline of the spring potato or lunar eclipses rather than any moral failing on the part of the players themselves - who of course are exemplars of fair play and sportsmanship.

Remembering the Past: Wicklow in the fight for freedom

Book review Aspects of the War of Independence and Civil War in Wicklow 1913-1923 By Henry Cairns and Owen Gallagher Published by the Old Bray Society

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