BRIAN KEENAN, from Belfast, is the 2008 Le Chéile honouree for Ulster. Brian was one of the IRA's foremost strategists for most of the last 40 years. He was one of the first and longest-serving activists to live his life on the run, being sought by the British crown forces shortly after he joined the IRA. He spent much of his time on the run in the occupied Six Counties, living with supporters. Brian spent 16 years in Special Secure Units (SSUs) in various jails in England. He spoke to JIM GIBNEY ahead of the Le Chéile celebration. Free article

THE call by the Assembly Health Committee on the Minister for Health, Michael McGimpsey, to instigate a full, independent, public inquiry into the Clostridium Difficille outbreak in the North's hospitals is welcome. But the minister's reluctance to act even though he now claims not to have ruled out a public inquiry is a further sign of his indecision and preference for information management rather than openness and transparency. Free article

IN the years 2006-2007, the United States allocated some $16 million in public monies to fund the ousting - or overthrow, they're not too fussy - of a democratically-elected head of state. There was no international outcry, no clamour, no calls regime change in Washington. Free article

Is fada an lá ó scríobh mé alt i gcóir an pháipéar agus é lán le bolscaireacht - tá mé ag tógáil sos ón chnagchóicín faoi choine leathuair a chloig agus tá mo hata tuí agus mo bhandána crochta ar an falla. Free article

Given the alacrity with which the Cork County Board accepted the invitation to enter binding arbitration, few could have predicted the scale of the victory which Kieran Mulvey's decision actually conferred on the players. They won the battle over Holland and the method of selection and the right to have players representatives as part of the team selection process. In return all they had to concede was the promise never to strike again once the decision was accepted. A bit like getting a child to agree to stop hitting granny once she'd handed over the sweets. Free article

A couple of weeks ago it would have been a very small section of Irish society who knew what ABA stood for or what kind of education facilities were available to children with autism. Free article

BOOK REVIEW The Palm of Honour: An introduction to the history of Sinn Féin in County Laois By Gerry Quinn Published by Laois Sinn Féin Price €10 Free article

Nasty Nev’s bid for freedom

IT MAY have taken five years but the English council chief who branded the Irish  “lazy bastards” is now prepared to apologise – days after he learned he might be given the freedom of his city.
When Carrickfergus Borough Council in County Antrim canvassed ‘fellow British’ councillors in 2003 for support into their push for an inquiry into the fatal... Free article