SINN FÉIN is ready to fight any election that arises. That was the upbeat message of Alex Maskey who addressed the first official party event to be held in Lisburn town. Maskey was speaking at a convention in the Lagan Valley Island Centre which selected Paul Butler as the Sinn Féin candidate for the Lagan Valley constituency at the next Westminster election. The selection convention was chaired by Belfast Sinn Féin Chairperson Bobby Storey. Free article

CRIAGAVON Civic Buildings were for long an example of everything that was wrong in the Six Counties. But there was an unmistakeable air of change surrounding events on Tuesday, 15 December as republicans gathered to launch the latest book in the Republican Legends series; 'Dancing to the Revolution: Sheena Campbell, A Lost Leader'. Free article

FAMILIES of eleven people killed by the British Army in August 1971, in what has become known as the Ballymurphy Massacre, have organised a candlelight procession for Truth and Justice to be held on Thursday, 17 December One of the family members, Briege Voyle, whose mother Joan Connolly was killed during the massacre, has urged as many people as possible to support the procession. Free article

ONE year after the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, Sinn Féin has added its voice to calls for Israel to be held to account for war crimes and for an immediate end to the devastating economic siege of the territory, home to 1.5 million people. To mark the anniversary, a thousand Palestine solidarity activists from around the world, including representatives from the Irish Palestine Solidarity Committee (IPSC), are planning on joining an estimated 50,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Freedom March from northern Gaza to the Erez border with Israel on 31 December. Free article

A potentially damaging controversy for Angela Merkel's conservative German Government sees her defence minister at the centre of a storm over his handling of a row about a German-ordered air strike in Afghanistan that killed civilians. German involvement in Afghanistan has proved to be deeply divisive. It is credited as one of the reasons that the opposition Social Democrats have been losing ground to a relatively new left-wing party - Die Linke. Here, SEÁN Ó FLOINN examines recent political developments on the German left. Free article

CHRISTMAS has traditionally been a time when Irish republicans think of political prisoners. Coiste na nIarchimí is the umbrella body representing the interests of republican ex-prisoners throughout the length of Ireland. One of its members is Joe Doherty (53) from New Lodge in Belfast. Joe spent nearly 24 years in prison, including a nine-year stint in a US jail fighting extradition to Ireland. During the 1981 Hunger Strike, he was one of eight men who broke out of Crumlin Road Jail in a daring and spectacular escape. Today, as well as working on behalf of republican ex-POWs Joe is involved in community work in his native New Lodge. Free article

A GREAT crowd gathered on Friday, November 20 last, in Hugginstown, South Kilkenny, for the annual Manchester Martyrs commemoration. This year saw the largest attendance in recent times for the torch-lit commemoration. Republicans from Kilkenny, Carlow, Kildare, Dublin, Wicklow, Tipperary and Waterford, braved the November cold to hear guest speaker Barry McElduff. Free article

A WINTER sun set low in the sky over Loughgiel Cemetery last Sunday, as republicans from across County Antrim joined the Carey family to commemorate the 17th Anniversary of the death of Volunteer Malachy Carey, Óglaigh na hEireann. Presiding over the commemoration, Eamonn McBride, Vice Chair of the Malachy Carey Sinn Féin Cumann, spoke with affection of his friend and comrade, whom he described as "a true Irishman, who gave his life for his country." Free article

SINN FÉIN Deputy Mayor of Belfast Danny Lavery accompanied the city's mayor Naomi Long and High Sheriff Frank McCoubrey to promote the 'Food for Thought' initiative in the City Hall on Monday 14 December, 2009. Celebrity chef Stephen Jeffers cooked a meal for the three civic dignatories and other guests using food that was destined for landfill to highlight the food waste that exists in Belfast. Free article

IT was with sadness and loss that the entire Inniskeen community heard of the death of Tom Fitzpatrick on 10 September. Tom of Candlefort, Inniskeen was in bad health for some time but nevertheless his death left a deep feeling of sadness in the community. Tom was born in 1930, his mother was Nan O'Neill, Anaghad and his father, Tommy Fitzpatrick came from Cavan. In his young days he was a keen Gaelic footballer. In 1947 he went to work in the engineering works on the railway in Dundalk. Free article