THE Irish in San Francisco gathered for a community meeting in the Sunset District on 27 June to discuss the goal of a united Ireland. The community spoke with one voice and made clear that the Irish in San Francisco and throughout California maintain a determination to strive for a united Ireland. Subsequently, the Irish American Democratic Club, supported by the Irish American Caucus of the California Democratic Party, took the initiative of writing a resolution that would make Irish unification part of California Democratic Party policy. Free article

GERRY ADAMS has met with the Palestinian Ambassador to Dublin and the Israeli Ambassador to London as part of Sinn Féin's ongoing engagement with the Palestinian peace process and following a republican delegation's visit to Gaza and the West Bank in April. The Sinn Féin president also attended the recent AGM of the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Committee in Dublin and has also met with a number of other key people involved in the Middle East since his return from Gaza. Sinn Féin Councillor Gerry Mac Lochlainn took part in an international aid convoy to Gaza in May. Free article

THE clear message emerging from this year's Magill Summer School is that increased North/South co-operation is more vital than ever in face of the economic crisis, Foyle Sinn Féin MLA Martina Anderson has declared. She was speaking after addressing the summer school with Minister for Labour Affairs and Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo Dara Calleary. Free article

SINN FÉIN West Belfast MP Gerry Adams will meet the family of murdered West Belfast shopkeeper Harry Holland next week to discuss and agree what representations can be made to the British Attorney General in relation to the case. Harry Holland died after he was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver near his home in September 2007. Earlier this month, 18-year-old Stephen McKee from Ballymurphy Road was sentenced to 12 years for the murder of the popular 65-year-old. Free article

Speaking after a statement from DUP leader Peter Robinson, criticising the make-up of the Equality Commission, Sinn Féin's Equality and Human Rights spokesperson Martina Anderson MLA said: "The reality that Peter Robinson and the DUP must acknowledge is that all of the equality mechanism and safeguards flow directly from the Good Friday Agreement and Sinn Féin has made it very clear that these aspects are in no way up for sale. Free article

SINN FÉIN Donegal Senator Pearse Doherty has called on the Minister for Agriculture to reopen the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) noting that "the measures implemented by Brendan Smith earlier this month wrongly target new entrants into the sector and ignores the hardship this decision will cause farmers completing five-year contracts." Doherty said: "The challenges facing the farming sector continue to be ignored by this government. Decades of underinvestment in critical infrastructure and services and the failure of government run state agencies to develop... Free article

A VIGIL and wreath-laying ceremony is to take place in west Belfast on Sunday 2 August, at 12 noon to mark the 28th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Volunteer Kieran Doherty TD. Kieran Doherty's involvement in the Republican Movement began in 1971 when he joined the Fianna. He was interned by the British in Long Kesh from February 1973 to November 1975 and was among the last internees released. Free article

Sinn Féin Donegal Senator Pearse Doherty has called on Health Minster Mary Harney to reverse her decision to close all cancer care services at Sligo General Hospital from August 6th. Senator Doherty was speaking at a demonstration held by the Save Our Cancer Services North West Group where hundreds of Donegal women symbolically tied bras onto the railings of the Taoiseach's office. Free article

A FESTIVAL of football, 'Love Football - Hate Racism', kicks off 7.30pm Friday 31 July at McEnaney's Bar with an open forum, 'How can we combat racism in sport?' Chaired by Michael Culbert (former Antrim and St Gall's football manager), the panel includes Ireland's foremost anti-racism and sports campaigner Frank Buckley (co-founder of SARI - Sports Against Racism Ireland), ex-ANC member now living in Ireland Patrick Maphoso, who is now head of the African School Sports Association, as well as supporters' reps from AC Milan, FC St Pauli, and Sport Under Siege (Milan), among others. Free article

SEVERAL HUNDRED marchers took to the streets of Liverpool last Saturday to commemorate the memory of Jim Larkin, trade unionist and socialist, who was born in Liverpool in 1876. Organised by the James Larkin Society, the march included the Liverpool Irish Patriots Republican Flute Band and the Volunteer Seán McIlvenna RFB from Glasgow, and featured banners from local trade union branches and the Liverpool-based Cairde na hÉireann group. Free article