ONE YEAR AGO, the European Parliament adopted a very clear position on the revision of the Maternity Leave Directive. MEPs voted to increase the minimum period of maternity leave from the current 14 weeks to 20 weeks fully paid and also introduced two weeks’ fully paid leave for fathers.
We sought more, of course, but welcomed the vote at the time as “a boost for mothers and... Free article

CÉ GUR gheall mé cúpla uair go raibh mé chun éirí as an nós, tá mé fós ar Facebook agus ag caitheamh cuid de m’ama luachmhaire gach lá ag féachaint ar cad atá daoine eile ag déanamh (nó ag rá go bhfuil siad ag déanamh) agus ag smaoineamh (nó ag rá go bhfuil siad ag smaoineamh). ‘Sé an rud a bhí ag cur as dom ná na céadta tagairtí do dhaoine ag bailiú ainmhithe agus féir ar... Free article

‘Tadhg Barry Remembered’

» BY TREVOR QUINN
SIPTU, Cork

TADHG BARRY was to have the ominous distinction as one of the last people killed by the British forces in the revolutionary years. Just some three weeks before the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, he was shot through the heart on November 15th by a British sentry at Ballykinlar internment camp in County Down.
Born... Free article

TORTURE of detainees by NATO forces has been widespread during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Forty years ago, torture by the government of a supposedly liberal ‘Western democracy’ required a hasty cover-up. The government in question was ‘Her Majesty’s Government’ in London and the torture victims were Irish citizens detained without trial in the Six Counties.
Internment... Free article

A good day for peace

» BY GERRY ADAMS TD
President of Sinn Féin

THE decisive and positive terms of ETA’s response on October 20th to the ‘Declaration’ in Donostia-San Sebastian by the International Conference Group in October is to be welcomed, as is the response of the Spanish Government and others.
It has taken many years of patient work to get to this point and every effort... Free article

The obituaries of Peter John Caraher, Rose Doyle and Seamus Loughran

Peter John Caraher
South Armagh

THE lanes and hills of Cullyhanna came to a standstill on Wednesday 12th October when South Armagh said ‘slán abhaile’ to one of its most well-respected leaders, a giant in the republican community, Peter John Caraher, who died the previous Monday morning.
The wake and funeral... Free article

I nDíl Chuimhne

1 October 1977: Seán Ó CONAILL, Sinn Féin (Parkhurst Prison)
1 October 1996: Pat McGEOWN, Sinn Féin
2 October 1971: Volunteer Terence McDERMOTT, Belfast Brigade, 1st Battalion
2 October 1978: Volunteer Pat HARKIN, Derry Brigade
6 October 1972: Volunteer Daniel McAREAVEY, Belfast Brigade, 2nd Battalion
9 October 1976: Noel JENKINSON, Sinn Féin (Leicester Prison)
9... Free article

Finding the truth in conflict

THE establishment of an Independent International Truth Commission - independent of the state, combatant groups, political parties and other vested interests - is the best way of dealing with what happened during the conflict, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on Victims, Mitchel McLaughlin MLA, told the McCluskey Civil Rights Summer School.
As a result... Free article

Hutchinson to go in January

BY PEADAR WHELAN

POLICE OMBUDSMAN Al Hutchinson has finally bowed to the inevitable, announcing he will resign from office in January 2012.
Despite three damning reports and pressure from families of victims, campaign groups, Sinn Féin and the SDLP, Hutchinson had previously dug his heels in, insisting he would not relinquish his post until June 2012.Free article

Fingal County Council seat target

» BY ROBBIE SMYTH

PAUL DONNELLY’S performance in the Dublin West by-election showed further growth for Sinn Féin in Donnelly’s second outing for the party here.
The 8.9% vote share signals a strong likelihood of the party winning back the Fingal County Council seat won here in the 2004 local elections.
An Phoblacht spoke with Seamus Hazlett, the... Free article