TWO GAA premises in County Tyrone were badly damaged in what are believed to be loyalist attacks last weekend. The attacks took place on GAA clubhouses near Cookstown and outside Dungannon. Free article

FOR YEARS it poured poison into the Irish atmosphere. This blight on the landscape was widely reviled in Ireland and loved by British governments but all demands to get rid of it were spurned because it was heavily relied upon for power. No, I don't mean Sellafield - I'm referring to the Progressive Democrats, who finally put themselves and the rest of us out of our misery and wound up the party in Mullingar last weekend. It was their most positive contribution to Irish politics in two decades. Free article

THE news of the death of former RUC Chief Constable John Hermon last week opened up old wounds within the nationalist community. While the mainstream media attempted to portray Hermon as a conventional cop serving during a testing time of turmoil, nationalists remember him as the RUC leader who presided over arbitrary detention and summary executions. Free article

Sinn Féin Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald has congratulated activists from the 'Remember Saro Wiwa' campaign group for poignantly marking the 13th anniversary of the execution of Nigerian environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Saro-Wiwa led a prominent non-violent campaign against the environmental damage associated with the operations of multinational oil companies, particularly Shell, in Nigeria. Free article

SINN FÉIN activists held a successful conference on the theme 'What Women Want' on Saturday, 8 November, at St Mary's University College in west Belfast. MEP Bairbre de Brún and Jennifer McCann MLA were key speakers at the event, which discussed the role of women in the Republican Movement and the challenges facing women today in the ongoing fight for equality. Free article

ADDRESSING the many republicans from across Belfast who gathered in the Felons' Club last Friday, 7 November, for the launch of the Bobby Sands Trust website, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams praised the work of the members of the trust for their work over the years. Free article

SINN FÉIN West Belfast MLA Jennifer McCann has said that a recent statement from the UDA carried this week is "disingenuous". In the statement the unionist paramilitary group they said it will defend "Britishness" against what it claimed was a threat by republicans. Free article

Bairbre de Brún joined prominent international speakers in calling on the European Union to encourage a peace process in the Basque Country. Free article

SINN FÉIN nominee Ruairí McHugh was co-opted unopposed onto Strabane District Council this week. Councillor McHugh now fills the vacancy left on Council resulting from the death of his father, veteran Sinn Féin Councillor Charlie McHugh, last month. Free article

Crisis talks in Aer Lingus dispute, Sinn Féin calls for action over jobless breakdown and Permanent TSB offers staff cash for career break Free article