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28 September 2006 Edition

Feature interview: Mary Nelis

28 September 2006

Next week Mary Nelis, former Sinn Féin MLA and Derry City Councillor, begins a fortnightly column in An Phoblacht. Here she talks to ELLA O'DWYER about her political background, her family, experiences of struggle and 1981 Hunger Strike. Free article

The Mitchel McLaughlin Column

28 September 2006

Scarcely a day passes that we don't witness the effects of the cosy relationship between government, developers and mainstream political parties. There is the ongoing issue of the gas pipeline in Mayo and the granting of further lucrative exploration licences around our coast to multinationals that will bring no benefit to the Irish taxpayer. All of the parties that have held power in the last twenty years are culpable in this blatant asset-stripping of Irish national, natural resources and their giveaway to these multinationals. Free article

Remembering 1981: Faul makes public call for family intervention

28 September 2006

Jim Devine aged 24 from Strabane, County Tyrone, joined the H Block hunger strike on Monday, 21 September 1981. The Glasgow born man was the 23rd person to join the Hunger Strike. The second eldest in the Devine family with four brothers and five sisters, he was born in Glasgow. The family moved back to Ireland in the 1960s when John was a young man and lived in the predominantly unionist town of Comber in County Down. Free article

The Health Crisis: Public Health Centres under strain

28 September 2006

As Sinn Féin builds for a major rally on the 26 County Health Crisis in Dublin on 21 October, ELLA O'DWYER talks to Sinn Féin's Dublin Mid West general election candidate Joanne Spain about one aspect of the health service that is causing major hardship. Free article

Tax: The social cost of right wing proposals

28 September 2006

The Progressive Democrats have been peddling their proposals for new tax cuts in recent weeks. A compliant media has uncritically reported these proposals. No analysis has been presented regarding the heavy price that ordinary people pay for such cuts, or the damage that follows when the state does not have the revenue to provide for public services and social protections. Free article

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Media View By Frank Farrell

28 September 2006

Now and then a slip of the tongue or pen reveals, in just a few words, a chasm of ignorance, prejudice or, even worse, a political agenda that compels a journalist to consciously twist reality. The lead-up to the recent Drumcree jamboree of Bible-belt sectarianism was characterised by a supine, negligent response from the now thoroughly-discredited Parades Commission, legal action by Garvaghy Road resident Joe Duffy which effectively forced the commission to revise its decision, and a pervasive fear by nationalists that they would be terrorised once again by rampaging loyalist gangs. Free article

The Matt Treacy Column

28 September 2006

A hushed gallery waits expectantly. A soft breeze whispers through the trees. Silence. A difficult tee shot. The ball lofts off the wet grass but on a low trajectory. Bouncing on the edge of the green it rolls towards the pin and nestles against the butt of the flag pole. A hole in one! For Ciara. At the Castle View Par 3, Lady's Island. Free article

Clondalkin the victim of planning decisions investigated by Tribunal

28 September 2006

Liffey Valley shopping centre's glossy shops, numerous restaurants, cinemas and surrounding car dealerships scream 'spend, spend, spend'. It easily lends itself to the Celtic Tiger vision that all is well in Ireland and money is aplenty. Free article

OPINION: Human trafficking: Radical rethink on approach needed

28 September 2006

In May of this year, RTÉ's Prime Time highlighted the issue of human trafficking into Ireland. The programme correctly noted the absence, in the 26 Counties, of sufficient penalties for those who engage in this abhorrent practice. WENDY LYON argues however that the programme failed to locate the problem within a broader context of migration options and restrictions - and it completely bypassed the subject of how traffickers are being facilitated by Irish legislation which was put in place to limit the entry of refugees. Free article

Cúlchaint, le Seán ó Donaile

28 September 2006

Tá mé ag athrú mo chreidimh go dtí Moslamachas - ní maith liom an Pápa agus muna maireann mo chéad phósadh eile beidh triúr ban céile fágtha agam. Free article


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