Two weeks into his new job and true to his word Paul Murphy, Labour MP for Torfaen since 1987, member of the British government team during the tortuous Good Friday Agreement negotiations, and new Six-County Secretary of State, has been doing more listening than talking. That is fine, so far as it goes, but what matters is the action he now takes on the basis of what he has heard from those who have done the talking. Free article

Nineteen task forces on jobs since 1997, but what did they cost? What did they achieve? What were the benefits? Well if you ask the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat coalition the answer is 'we don't know and really don't care'. Free article

No one could ever refer to the political scene in this country as 'youthful'. It's 80 years since the state was established, and many of the politicians sitting in Leinster House look as though they were the ones who helped establish it. Voter apathy, though infiltrating all age groups, is most noticeable in those under 35, and the Daíl, with the exception of a few, just doesn't seem to appeal to those who still possess their own teeth. So when young people come forward to commit themselves to politics, it's a promising sign. Free article

On 1 November 2001, in Quito, Ecuador, the two faces of the American continent met again: on one side political leaders ready to sell off whatever is left of the countries they run, and pitted against them the social movements that are fighting against a future America of the Corporations. Free article

AN DRAOI RUA takes us through some of the popular superstitions of the week, day by day. Free article

The 1950s witnessed the most serious physical force campaign against the Six-County statelet since 1922. However, it remained mostly a rural campaign. This was the historical background leading to the deaths of five republicans in a premature explosion at Edentubber. Free article

Joe Cahill, A Life in the IRA By Brendan Anderson O'Brien Press Price €25/£16.99 Free article

Rabbit Proof Fence Directed by Philip Noyce From Friday 8 November Free article

"This is a brilliant piece of writing, says director Jack Moylett of the latest work from the pen of Belfast playwright Rosaleen Walsh. "She writes in her own original and unique style and I believe she is among the best and foremost writers in the English language today." Free article