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

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

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

Welcome to The Weekly Digest from Sinn Féin where we bring you a flavour of the work and campaigns that we have been engaged in over the past week. Free article

Tributes have been paid to veteran republican and former Sinn Féin MP Tom Mitchell who died yesterday, aged 88. Free article

When the Partition of Ireland was first proposed in 1914 James Connolly said that such a scheme would mean “a carnival of reaction both North and South”. In the summer of 1920, as the British government unleashed the Black and Tans, and as it pushed forward legislation to partition the country, the carnival of reaction was seen in its full horror in the Six North-Eastern Counties that were to form the new state of ‘Northern Ireland’. Free article

Writing on An Phoblacht.com, Sinn Féin Health Spokesperson Colm Gildernew MLA said politics must be set to the side to tackle Covid19 on an all-island basis and flaws in Coronavirus travel safeguards need to be addressed Free article

Welcome to The Weekly Digest from Sinn Féin where we bring you a flavour of the work and campaigns that we have been engaged in over the past week. Free article

A republican ex-prisoner who was wounded in a loyalist gun attack while saving the lives of young people has said a pension for those injured in the conflict should be open to all with no one left behind. Free article

The growing prevalence of nitrous oxide can be tackled by controlling supply, but most importantly by talking to young people about why they use drugs, the harm that might happen and the risky behaviour it can lead to. Free article