WE are in a decade of centenaries – the Ulster Covenant of 1912, the outbreak of the First World War, the 1916 Easter Rising and Battle of the Somme, the first meeting of Dáil Éireann in 1919, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the first meeting of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921. There will, of course, be those who are only too eager to use the centenaries to trumpet old, divisive narratives of our past on these island. They will do so to sow new discord and new division in 21st century Ireland, seeking to undermine the peace and new relationships we enjoy on this island. Free article

ON SATURDAY 2 MAY 1976, 47-year-old forestry worker Seamus Ludlow had finished for the day at a timber yard in Ravensdale, County Louth, and went out to enjoy a drink and a few games of darts and rings with friends in Dundalk. Free article

THERE IS a growing consensus among economists that a united Ireland would be good for growth, jobs and living standards. One of the most important recent contributions is from Professor Kurt Huebner of Vancouver University. Free article

THE YEAR AHEAD marks the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. This should be a time for national renewal, hope and political progress across Ireland. Free article

Sa dara cuid dár sraith ‘ Ról an Stáit agus Ról an Phobail’, scríobhann fear gnó agus ceoil Breandán Ó hEaghra faoi thábhacht an dearfachas. Bhí Breandán páirteach i bpainéal plé a shocraigh Sinn Féin ar imeall na féile ag Oireachtas na Samhna chomh maith. Free article

THE REPORT into the economic crash of 2008 by the Dáil’s Joint Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis is almost complete. It was set up almost two years ago. The final weeks have been a shambles. Free article

THERE IS NO DOUBT that legacy issues arising out of the conflict need to be addressed if we are to move forward as a society. Free article

IN STORMONT in September, a collective of women launched a document on dealing with the past. Entitled Gender Principles for Dealing with the Legacy of the Past, it suggests mechanisms to ensure that women and men can participate in any processes on an equal basis. Free article

WHILE the failure of the far-right National Front in France to win any of the regional assemblies in that country in the second round of voting was greeted with widespread relief, there remain fundamental questions – not only for Europe but for the European Left as well. Free article

LAURA CRAWFORD AND PAUL FOX were killed on active service in Belfast on 1 December 1975. Danny Morrison – the novelist, former IRA prisoner and Editor of An Phoblacht/Republican News – was asked to speak at the commemoration for Laura at the Women’s Garden of Remembrance, Roddy McCorley Club, Glen Road, on 21 November 2015. We reproduce Danny’s tribute as it depicts the background to the conflict that these young republicans were thrust into and which cost their lives and of so many others. Free article