As An Phoblacht takes the historic move towards being a monthly production, the first ever editor of the amalgamated AP/RN reflects on his momentous time at the paper. Free article

An-seans ann go bhfuil cóisir ar nós 'deireadh téarma' ar siúl i gCearnóg Parnell an tseachtain seo agus an fhoireann dílis ag cur críche leis an eagrán seachtainiúil deireanach den pháipéar. D'iarr an t-eagarthóir reatha, sealadach, eatramhach orm alt a scríobh faoi mo thréimhse leis An Phoblacht, rud a cheap mé a rinne mé mí ó shin, ach is léir nach léann aon duine an colún seo (an t-eagarthóir san áireamh!). Free article

"So, what do you do exactly?" It was my first ever Sinn Féin cumann meeting and, to be honest, I wasn't completely impressed. Donal seemed okay. He was the cumann secretary and the lad I'd contacted about joining. His brother, Trevor, also seemed relatively sound though I wasn't 100 per cent sure he was aware this was a political party and not a Celtic match. The chairperson, Ronán, glared at me the whole time having taken an instant, and it would turn out lifelong, dislike to me and the other lad, well, I was fairly sure he was an eejit so I can't be bothered making up a fake name for him. Free article

The split in the IRA and Sinn Féin led to the establishment of An Phoblacht as the national republican newspaper in January 1970. Six months later republicans in the Six Counties founded Republican News under the editorship of Jimmy Steele. Free article