This week in 2019 Mícheál Martin expounded to the Fianna Fáil annual fund-raising dinner about that permanent resident in his head - Sinn Féin. He said: “If we want to see the scale of the damage which a party can cause when wrapping itself in the flag but actually putting its own interests first, all you have to do is look at how Sinn Féin has left Northern Ireland without a voice at the very moment when its future is being decided.” Free article

Irish Unity is firmly on the agenda in the presidential election with all three candidates saying they support unity. This is despite the best efforts of Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin to bury the issue. Free article

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations Charter being adopted, which has become the foundation of the United Nations itself and our international law framework.

The Charter emphasises the universal nature of human rights, the exercise of self-determination, and global peace.

Following the defeat of fascism in 1945, the UN Charter fuelled the emergence of a new... Free article

THOMAS DAVIS was one of the most significant Irish nationalists of the 19th century. His writings helped to shape Irish nationalism itself and they exercised a key influence on the cultural and political revival of the early 20th century. Free article

The grave of an Irish Republican who died in prison in England in 1977 was marked with a new headstone in Glasnevin Cemetery on 7 September by the National Graves Association. Free article

Today, Irish unity is closer than at any time since the partition of our country and there are many reasons to be optimistic about what national reunification can deliver in terms of economic growth, shared prosperity, and a better quality of life for workers and families throughout Ireland. 

An unprecedented political consensus now exists among the majority of political parties... Free article

August 20th marks the death of Michael Devine, the 10th republican hunger striker to die in 1981. Born in Derry, Devine grew up in the tumult of the civil rights protests, internment and Bloody Sunday in January 1972. He died after 60 days on hunger strike. The same day that voters in Fermanagh and South Tyrone elected H-Block candidate Owen Carron as an MP. Free article

The summer of 2025 has seen a spate of racist attacks on members of minority communities in Dublin, Belfast and beyond. The season of hate was symbolised by the appalling sight of a boat with effigies of refugees burnt on a loyalist bonfire in County Tyrone in July. Free article

Thomas McElwee, at the age of 23, was the tenth man to join the 1981 Hunger Strike. From Bellaghy in south Derry, he was imprisoned in 1976 after a premature bomb explosion in which he lost an eye. Free article

On the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O’Connell we republish this article which was first published in August 2019. Free article