Last Friday, 3 May, former republican POW SEANNA WALSH delivered the annual BOBBY SANDS MEMORIAL LECTURE in the fitting surrounds of the Felon's Club in West Belfast. Seanna was a close personal friend of Bobby Sands, the first of ten Irish republican prisoners who died on hunger strike in 1981, and he shared some memories of the man he knew so well. Free article

Dutch political leaders have decided to press on with the country's 15 May general election after right-wing leader Pim Fortuyn was gunned down on Monday. While the Dutch prime minister appealed for calm, extreme right-wing supporters fought with riot police near the parliament. Free article

This week, AN DRAOI RUA discusses the cuckoo in Ireland, the weather predictions it brings, the superstitions connected with it and the respect that the writers of ancient manuscripts had for the bird. Free article