ON May 21st 1981, Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Charles Haughey called a general election, the first since he took over as leader of Fianna Fáil and Taoiseach in 1979. The election was overshadowed by the H-Block crisis.
On the very day the general election was called, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara died after 61 days on hunger strike.
Bobby Sands and Francis Hughes had died on May... Free article

BOOK REVIEW
BY MARK MOLONEY

‘PAWNS IN THE GAME’,
BY BARRY FLYNN
(COLLINS PRESS €13/£12)

THIS YEAR being the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike, it’s no surprise that some writers outside republicanism are looking at this historic period and one of the more interesting publications is without doubt Barry Flynn’s Pawns in the Game.
And don’t be put off by the title. I had... Free article

BY JUNE 1981, four prisoners — Bobby Sands, Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara — had died on hunger strike and four more — Joe McDonnell, Kieran Doherty, Kevin Lynch and Martin Hurson — had joined the fast.
Outside the jails, IRA Volunteers George McBrearty and Charles ‘Pop’ Maguire had been killed in action in an ambush by British forces in Derry City in the last... Free article

THE British Government is reported to have bowed to the demands of the Finucane family and is set to announce a full inquiry into the 1989 killing of human rights lawyer Pat Finucane.
The reports indicate that the British Government will reveal plans for an extensive public inquiry into the Finucane killing, a move British governments have previously and strongly resisted.Free article

BY PEADAR WHELAN

I WAS STANDING on the Garvaghy Road with Rosemary Nelson in July 1997 as the RUC and the British Army invaded the area, beat residents off the road and forced a triumphalist Orange parade through the area.
As a reporter working with An Phoblacht I saw at first-hand the hostility that the crown forces displayed toward Rosemary Nelson.
I knew of the numerous... Free article

The inescapable conclusion – it was collusion

BY GERRY ADAMS

ROSEMARY NELSON was a human rights lawyer. She stood up for what she believed in and she sought to use the law– even one as corrupted as that of the North during the years of conflict - as a means of defending citizens from abuse and discrimination and as a way of achieving justice.
Rosemary was killed in a car-bomb... Free article

OVER 60 activists attended Sinn Féin’s annual Irish-language conference in the Teachers’ Club in Dublin on 21st May.
The first half of the day saw lively debate about the party’s proposed Irish-language strategy document under the able chairmanship of Gearóid Ó hEaghra. The document is composed of motions passed at ardfheiseanna in recent years with regard to the Irish language in... Free article

D’FHREASTAL breis agus seasca duine ar chomhdháil Ghaeilge Sinn Féin a bhí ar siúl i gClub na Múinteoirí ar an Satharn 21 Bealtaine. Ocáid bliantiúl atá i gceist, ann a mbuaileann Gaeilgeoirí an pháirtí le chéile chun an Ghaeilge a phlé.
Bhí Gearóid Ó hEaghra i mbun cathaoirleacht ar an gcéad chuid den chruinniú agus an doiciméid stráitéiseach don Ghaeilge de Shinn Féin. Tá an... Free article

‘The Dáil’s in dire need of reform’

JONATHAN O’BRIEN is one of the new TDs amongst the 14 elected to the Dáil in the February general election.
Married to Gillian, they have four children and live in Farranree, on Cork’s northside.
A keen follower of sports, he is a former player with Na Piarsaigh GAA Club and is a director of Cork City FC.
MARK MOLONEY grabbed a half-hour with... Free article

Mayoral chain on young republican shoulders

BY PEADAR WHELAN

ELECTED to Belfast City Council for the first time on May 5th and and newly installed as the Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast — the youngest in the city’s history —  on May 26th, 26-year-old Niall Ó Donnghaile set down a marker that he wants to be a mayor for all the people when one of his very first acts was to visit the... Free article