Between 600 and 800 republicans from the Beechmount and Iveagh areas of West Belfast attended a commemoration parade last Sunday, 3 March. They paraded through the area before assembling at a point along Beechmount Avenue where a memorial plot was dedicated in memory of three former H Block POWs. Free article

The 105 members of the newly formed EU constitutional convention met last week in Brussels to "write a new chapter in the history of Europe", according to convention president Valery Giscard d'Estaing. Free article

The changeover to the Euro has led to a rounding up of prices and has led to an increase in the cost of living, especially for those on low incomes. So said Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin when he spoke in the Dáil last week on the Social Welfare Bill. The Sinn Féin TD also raised what he termed inequalities with regard to the treatment of lone parents. Free article

Sinn Féin Councillor Martin Ferris has described the arrest of the party's Director of Elections for Kerry North, Jamesie Sheehan, last Friday as an outrageous interference in the political process. Sheehan was later released without charge. Free article

It was nice that the good folk of Kerry had laid on a special welcome for Derrig from Donegal. The weather was Inishowen-like and they had laid on specially Gweedore type roads for me. I had this Donegal notion that things in Kerry were hunky dory, but the roads in the north of the county were as bad as any at home. Free article

Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has called on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Noel Dempsey, to initiate a State takeover of the Ardagh glass bottle plant in Dublin, the only glass recycling facility in the State, which has announced that it is to close. Ó Caoláin said the State and local authority should intervene to ensure that the waste management crisis is not worsened and to save nearly 400 jobs. Free article

The fourth annual congress of Ógra Shinn Féin took place in Galway last weekend. Over 150 youth activists from around the country attended. A new national executive was elected to organise young republicans in the coming year. Free article

The threat of closure hanging over many sub-post offices, especially in rural communities, was highlighted in the Dáil last week. Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called on the government to equip An Post to provide more services through its network and thus to ensure the future of up to 900 sub-post offices currently under threat. Free article

Sister Sarah Clarke Free article