The DUP will often claim to have secured a veto in ongoing negotiations with other parties in the North. In general, unionists have yet to recognise that the power to exercise a veto can be a potent weapon if used judiciously and in a manner that provides a positive and beneficial outcome. The negative use of a veto purely as a means of frustrating political progress will ultimately result in rejection by the electorate. Free article

AS A CHILD in primary school, the date of the First Dáil in 1919 was a mystical event. I knew it was important as teachers cryptically alluded to it but I could never remember when it was and I knew absolutely nothing about the relevance of the day. So I am just like a member of the Irish Government then! Free article

Fadó, fadó ag deireadh na n-ochtaidí ní raibh mórán rogha ag daoine a bhí ag iarraidh fad-teagmháil a choinneáil lena gcairde ach litir a scríobh nó glaoch a chur ar ghuthán (baile, oibre) an duine eile. Deir go leor daoine go raibh muid níos fearr as cé nár thuig muid é sin ag an am, ach bhí athraithe ag teacht, ar ndóigh agus luath sna nochaidí bhí an chéad 'ghlúin' de ghutháin póca ag éirí níos coitianta. Beag seans go rachadh cuid des na gutháin seo ido phóca, ní mór a rá, agus bhí díol mór ar sparáin a chróchfá ar do chrois leis an ghléas trom a iompar timpeall leat. Agus nuair a smaoinim faoi sin, an cheangail idir gutháin agus croiseanna bristí, is dócha go raibh níos mó fir ag baint úsáid as gutháin póca sna laethanta sin ná mar a bhí mná. Free article

WHATEVER chance there was of a resolution to the Cork hurling dispute seems to have been blown out of the water by the extraordinary statement and press conference by the 2008 panel on Monday night. Free article

DUBLINER Joe Clarke was one of the longest-serving republicans of the 20th century. He joined Óglaigh na hÉireann as a young man and took part in the 1916 Rising. Free article

An Phoblacht's famous weekly satirical column. Free article