Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara – Died on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh
19 May 2026
THURSDAY, 21 MAY 1981, witnessed the deaths of two more Hunger Strikers. Raymond McCreesh passed away at 2:30am. That evening, Patsy O’Hara died. The deaths of Raymond and Patsy – who had started the strike on the same day, died on the same day and were born within a fortnight of each other in February 1957 – marked a critical escalation in the prison struggle as well as the struggle outside the prisons walls. Free article
Women and girls have lived in fear forever – Mary Lou McDonald
14 January 2022
Speaking ahead of a vigil outside Leinster House in memory of Ashling Murphy, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said: in memory of Ashling Murphy, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD said: “Violence against women and girls, and the fear of it, is far too common and blights the lives of women and girls across the country” Free article
Why Disability Rights are Human Rights – Declan Kearney
7 January 2022
Declan Kearney writes on the need to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) into law. Free article
Dáil Éireann divides on the Treaty
6 January 2022
One hundred years ago this week Dáil Éireann voted on the Treaty and divided just as the Cabinet had already divided and as the IRA was shortly to do also. It was a division that would lead eventually to armed conflict, but not for another six months, with many other factors contributing to the outbreak of the war. Free article
Liam Mellows defends the Irish Republic
3 January 2022
Dáil Éireann debated the Treaty in December 1921 and early January 1922. One of the most enduring speeches is that of Liam Mellows, senior IRA officer, former envoy in the United States, 1916 Rising leader in Galway, former Fianna Éireann organiser. He argued that the Republic existed and that the Treaty surrendered it. He warned prophetically of what would happen when politicians took power in the Free State and his message was strongly anti-imperialist, pointing to the crimes of the British Empire across the globe. The speech was delivered 100 years ago on 4 January 1922 and we carry key extracts here. Free article
Pat Rehill – A tribute
22 December 2021
Republicans across Ireland were saddened by the recent death of committed and dedicated republican Pat Rehill. Free article
PSNI wrong to quash Hooded Men case - British Supreme Court
15 December 2021
In a landmark victory, Britain’s highest court has ruled that the PSNI decision to not investigate the torture of fourteen men in 1971 was “wrong”, and “irrational”. Free article
British government amnesty legislation will make legacy a permanently toxic issue – Declan Kearney
14 December 2021
Writing in his latest blog, Declan Kearney said the British government's amnesty legislation will make legacy a permanently toxic issue. Free article
Máire Drumm our ‘Unmanageable Revolutionary’
8 December 2021
Martina Anderson was a guest speaker at a commemorative event for Máire Drumm in Scotland last weekend. In her speech Martina remembers a “republican visionary”. Free article
Centenary of a catastrophe - the signing of the Treaty
5 December 2021
The ‘Articles of Agreement’ commonly known as the Treaty were signed in London in the early hours of the morning of 6 December 1921. They were signed by a divided Irish delegation under threat of an immediate resumption and escalation of the British government’s war of terror in Ireland. Free article
The future is bright…Ireland’s future – by Declan Kearney
3 December 2021
The latest blog by Declan Kearney on Irish unity and changing dynamics across the island of Ireland. Free article
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Uncomfortable Conversations

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Contributions from key figures in the churches, academia and wider civic society as well as senior republican figures




