2 October 2003 Edition
Under Siege - Bertie blasted on first day back
2 October 2003
An impressive array of citizens with grievances gathered outside Leinster House this week as the Dáil resumed. Among them were anti bin charge protestors. There were children from Drogheda, who, like so many in the state, want a decent school. There were peace activists. There were people who were abused as children in state and Church run institutions. There were people whose children have Irish passports but who are facing deportation because the government won't grant residency to the parents. Free article
From the cradle to the grave...Schoolchildren targeted and even the dead can't rest in peace
2 October 2003
"I smelt the smoke and started to panic. I was crying, most in my class were crying." These are the words of an 11-year-old pupil of Our Lady of Mercy girls, secondary school in North Belfast. The child was describing the latest in a spate of attacks against Catholic schools throughout the north. Free article
Call Assembly elections now - Daíl returns
2 October 2003
On the return of the Dáil for its autumn session, the Sinn Féin TDs tabled a motion demanding that the British government call Assembly elections in the Six Counties. Free article
Kelly family misled by RUC
2 October 2003
Belfast High Court was told last Friday, 26 September, that the RUC misled the family of Independent nationalist councillor Patsy Kelly, who was shot dead in 1974, when they told them the killing had been reinvestigated in 1993. Free article
When hope and history collide - Gerry Adams' personal account of the Peace Process
2 October 2003
Gerry Adams has come a long way since the 1993 publication of The Street and Other Stories. Just ten short years ago, RTE refused to carry a 20-second ad for the book of stories penned by Adams, about Belfast and the people he had met there over the years. Free article
Bertie's Roman holiday - Sinn Féin calls for white paper and debate on IGC negotiations
2 October 2003
Rome beckons this weekend for the coalition government and the beginning of one of the most important negotiation processes for forging the future role and relationships of Ireland within Europe. Free article
Sinn Féin brings election demand to Labour Party conference
2 October 2003
Tony Blair wooed the Labour Party faithful in Bournemouth this week with his mutually incompatible promise of both a wide ranging listening and consultation process and a blank refusal to change any actual policy, especially those the people most want him to change; namely on Iraq, foundation hospitals and student fees. Free article