LAST SUNDAY saw hundreds of Sinn Féin members from across the country attend a special party conference in Dublin. Entitled Engaging Modern Ireland, the day-long conference followed months of intensive consultation meetings around the 26 Counties since the general election. The results of that consultation laid the basis for last weekend's conference theme and for a renewed political, organisational and electoral strategy by Sinn Féin in the 26 Counties. The conference format saw important contributions on a range of issues from senior party figures and a number of invited outside speakers. The keynote address was delivered by party president Gerry Adams MP in which he set out some of the key conclusions from the consultation process and what was described as the "new and challenging role" for republicans in modern Ireland. Free article

REMEMBER Sister Sarah Clarke, that amazing woman and nun who, more than anyone else, exposed the virulent and repressive nature of the British penal system, not just because of the plight of the Irish in Britain but also because those imprisoned were from the less-well-off English society. Free article

Faoi láthair i dTír na mBascach tá iarrachtaí úr á dhéanamh cos ar bholg a imirt ar an gluaiseacht saoirse ann agus éileamh na ndaoine a bheith i mbun ar a thír féin. Ag an noiméad seo tá teangmháil idir ceann stát na Spáinne agus na Fraince méadaithe go mór agus é mar rún acu deireadh iomlán a cur leis an 'sceimhleitheoireacht' atá ag dul ar aghaidh faoina cúram. Is scéal uafásach nuair a caithfidh rialtas 'Sóisialach' dul ag obair le rialtas coimeádach chun a aidhmeanna a cur i gcrích, rud beag cosúil leis an rialtas anseo dar liom féin. Lena chois sin caithfidh go bhfuil Príomh Aire Zapatero lán sásta le iompar Bush, a tugann lámh saor dó pé bac gur mian leis a cur i bhfeidhm i gcoinne na Bascaigh. Tá úsáid a bhaint as stad idirnáisiúnta ag rialtas na Spáinne chun an tír mar a fheictear dóibhsiúd a coimeád le chéile. Free article

CLIMATE CHANGE is not about economics but people. For the past two weeks this month, government representatives from around the world have been meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to decide on the future of earth and humanity. Free article

The Insider: The Belfast Prison Diaries of Eamonn Boyce, 1956-1962 Free article

From Vinegar Hill to Edentubber: The Wexford IRA and the Border Campaign Free article

Great GAA Moments 2007 Yearbook Free article

IF I was dependent on the RTÉ Prime Time programme on land rezoning to inform me of the development plan process in County Monaghan then I, like Seán Brosnan (Mála Poist, 6 December), would probably be confused and disappointed. Free article

AS WE stood in the ruins of Ancient Rome last weekend, Ciara was wondering whether the crowd in the Colosseum used to sing: "Come on, you Gladiators in Blue." Or perhaps it was: "Come on, you Lions?" Whichever of them got beaten before the final, I suppose. Free article

Shoppers of Destiny

SPURRED into action, no doubt, by our centrespread a couple of weeks ago on the online delights of the Sinn Féin Bookshop, I am indebted to a Mr W O’Dea of Limerick for alerting me to the Fianna Fáil online republican shop.
Is your Fianna Fáil man stuck on the ninth hole and still no nearer landing that lucrative property or planning deal? Then how about giving... Free article