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
Pearse Doherty: This is a big win but we are still waiting for full reform of the insurance industry
3 September 2020
Sinn Féin Finance Spokesperson Pearse Doherty's legislation tackling the unfair practices in the insurance industry became law in 2019. In this piece he writes about the need to further hold the insurance industry to account and ensure fairness for consumers everywhere. Free article
The myth of Saint Jack Lynch demolished
3 September 2020
Book Review by Mícheál Mac Donncha – ‘The Arms Crisis of 1970 – the Plot that Never Was’ by Michael Heney Free article
Decades of activism recalled
24 August 2020
Mícheál Mac Donncha reviews ‘From Lucifer to Lazarus – A Life on the Left’ by Mick O’Reilly. Free article
British government has acted in bad faith on legacy - Kelly
22 August 2020
Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly MLA criticises a new British law which he describes as discriminatory and divisive and excludes many victims of the conflict from getting the help they need. Free article
Sham sandwiches
16 August 2020
Cartoons and poetry are rare in An Phoblacht. This weekend we carry both courtesy of Galway Sinn Féin activist Jim Ward. Free article
'A day in the Castle - All Ireland Politics in Action' by Declan Kearney
13 August 2020
In his latest blog, Declan Kearney reflects on the importance of the first meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in three years. Free article
Seán Russell and the IRA of the 1940s
13 August 2020
Eighty years ago on 14th August 1940 Seán Russell died on a German U-Boat and his body was committed to the sea. It was a journey that he began as a founder member of the Irish Volunteers and ended as IRA Chief of Staff attempting to return to Ireland from Germany. Free article
The death of Thomas McElwee
7 August 2020
THOMAS McELWEE, aged 23, was born in Bellaghy, south Derry, on 30 November 1957. Thomas was arrested following a premature explosion in an IRA operation in October 1976 in which he lost the sight of one eye. His younger brother, Benedict, was arrested in the same incident. Thomas received a 20-year sentence in September 1977.He spent 62 days on hunger strike from 8 June. He died on 8 August 1981. Free article
Remembering the Past – Kevin Lynch and Kieran Doherty laid to rest
31 July 2020
This weekend we remember Kevin Lynch and Kieran Doherty, the 7th and 8th 1981 hunger strike martyrs. Kevin Lynch died on August 1st after 71 days on hunger strike. Kieran Doherty died August 2nd after 73 days on hunger strike. Doherty had been elected to the Cavan-Monaghan constituency in the Dáil election of June 1981, while Lynch was a candidate in the Waterford constituency. Free article
Sinn Féin MP calls for DUP to show leadership on Campbell anti-Irish insults
28 July 2020
Arlene Foster and the DUP should ‘show leadership’ and make it clear that there is no room for offensive anti-Irish commentary following a fresh attack on the Irish language by MP Gregory Campbell on social media, a Sinn Féin MP has said. 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




