Speaking to an elected representatives' conference in Belfast on Saturday, the Sinn Féin Chairperson and Foyle Assembly member, Mitchel McLaughlin, said that the major political topic for debate still outstanding is the issue of Irish unity. McLaughlin told the conference: Free article

Barney McFadden was a "colossus of the struggle in Ireland", Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness told mourners at the funeral of the veteran Derry republican, who died suddenly on Christmas Eve. Free article

Former Dublin Foreign Affairs minister David Andrews this weekend travels to Bogota, Colombia, accompanied by Caitríona Ruane of the Colombia Three campaign, Bring Them Home, to visit with Jim Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly. They will be joined by Mexican Irish embassy official Síle Maguire. Free article

Rab Duffy presents a commemorative plaque to Seamy Collins, friend and comrade of IRA Volunteer Danny O'Neill, at a function to mark the 30th anniversary of O'Neill's death. Free article

Before Christmas in Belgium, two important conferences on the EU were held. One, the Laeken Summit, received much publicity. The other, a smaller affair, was held in the European Parliament in Brussels and received virtually no publicity. Free article

Sinn Féin Kerry County Councillor and Dáil candidate Martin Ferris has said that "the story of the 2002 general election will be the success of Sinn Féin". He was delivering the Annual Feargal O'Hanlon Memorial Lecture in Monaghan town last Sunday. Free article

1921 By Morgan Llywelyn Published by Forge €29.01 (hardback) Hanged for Ireland: A documentary history By Tim Carey Published by Blackwater €20 (hardback) Republican internment and the prison ship Argenta 1922 By Denise Kleinrichert Published by Irish Academic Press €44.44 (hardback) Free article

Sinn Féin Portlaoise Councillor Brian Stanley has slammed the recent hike in refuse collection charges in County Laois as a "rip off." Free article

A fresh political row over waste charges and the Mayoralty on Sligo Corporation could now force the fall of the local authority. Free article

Sinn Féin has announced that prominent Buncrana community activist Padraig Mac Lochlainn has been selected by the party to replace retiring Cllr Jim Ferry on Buncrana Urban District Council. The party hopes to see the 28-year-old co-opted onto the council at its meeting on Wednesday, 9 January. Free article