Hundreds of women from all over Ireland took part in a colourful protest march to the Department of Finance on Tuesday, where they delivered 11,000 letters calling for reform of the social welfare system. Free article

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has called on Irish voters to reject the proposed EU Constitution in forthcoming referenda, which are expected to take place North and South in 2005 and 2006. Speaking at a press conference to launch the party's campaign for a No vote, he called on the Taoiseach to publish the government's proposals immediately and to put the referendum to the people this autumn. Free article

"The campaign must be taken to the people and especially into working-class areas, where apathy reigns. The battle for fair access to the media must also be fought, and won." In terms very familiar to Irish activists, Jacques Roillet, a leading member of the No to the EU Constitution Campaign in the north of France, explained what must be done to record a victory in that country's referendum at the end of the month. Roillet was speaking at a public meeting organised by the Campaign Against the EU Constitution in Dublin, attended by over 30 activists, many with long track records in fighting European referenda. Free article

Wednesday's AGM of Lisburn Council, which has a record of excluding nationalists, saw the majority DUP combine with the Alliance Party to exclude Sinn Féin again from any of the committee chair or vice chair positions. The DUP's Paul Craig is mayor and Alliance's Trevor Lunn deputy mayor. Free article

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams on Wednesday morning led a party delegation including Michelle Gildernew and Gerry Kelly to meet with the US Special envoy Mitchell Reiss in Belfast. Speaking after the meeting, Adams said that the party had welcomed the opportunity to meet with Reiss and brief him on the current situation. "From our discussions I am confident that the US administration remains committed to the Peace Process and to playing a constructive role in support for efforts to rebuild it," he said. Free article

Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald made a small bit of history on Wednesday when she became the first member of the party to address a full sitting of the Seanad. Mary Lou was there, along with the other 26 County MEPs, at the invitation of the Seanad for a discussion on the EU Constitution. Free article

Last Sunday, thousands of people gathered in West Belfast to celebrate the legacy of republican resistance embodied by the 1981 Hunger Strike and pay tribute to the ten brave young men who died in Long Kesh rather than accept the criminalisation of their struggle for Irish freedom. Free article