Taoiseach, a chara,
I hear that Bertie has decided against running for the Áras. Is fearr rith maith ná droch sheasamh – a good run is better than a bad stand, I suppose.
Anyway, what set me thinking about the upcoming election for President of Ireland was a photograph in the Belfast Telegraph of Poles going to the polls in a community centre on the Ormeau Road. Then I met some... Free article

Free Arnaldo Otegi - Gerry Adams and 1.5 million march for Catalan independence Free article

Determination, courage and stamina in a good cause

BY ELLA O’DWYER

IRA VOLUNTEER Brian Keenan is a republican legend. He was described by the British Establishment as “the single biggest threat to the British state”. To people who knew him, Brian Keenan’s name is associated with determination, courage and stamina and someone who thrived on a challenge - attributes that motivate... Free article

BONO, lead singer with U2, the biggest band in the world today, has been vocal about the conflict in the Six Counties, most notably in the hit number Sunday Bloody Sunday and against those who took up arms when the Civil Rights movement was batoned or shot down on the streets. In the wake of the release of the Saville Inquiry Report into Bloody Sunday, Bono wrote an opinion piece... Free article

UP TO 1,000 republicans from across Belfast and some from further afield gathered in the Short Strand area of Belfast on Sunday, June 27th, to remember the Battle of St Matthew’s and the sacrifice of the people from the area who died in the struggle for Irish freedom.
Republicans from the east Belfast enclave used the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of St Matthew’s to... Free article

Baill Bhoird agus moltaí laga Fhine Gael

TÁ SÉ maíte ag Fine Gael go n-athróidh siad ballraíocht gach Bord Stáit taobh istigh de sé mhí ach iad a bheith ina rialtas i ndiaidh na gcéad toghcháin eile agus go bhfuighfidh baill nuacheaptha cáipéis ag míniú a gcuid dualgas agus go gceapfaí na baill ar bhonn fiúntais.
Ní théann na moltaí seo fada go leor. Ní mhíníonn siad, mar... Free article

Talking and walking, Cuts, Fianna Fáil and ‘Fianna Fáil Lite’ and Honouring the Hunger-Strikers Free article

By-election bid at the High Court

BY ELLA O’DWYER

IF Brian Cowen really does believe in democracy then he should not have had to be dragged into the High Court to try and force him to hold the South-West Donegal by-election more than a year after a Fianna Fáil seat became vacant. Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty was talking to me as he awaited a High Court ruling on the very... Free article

Parading, policing and protest gone riot Ella O’Dwyer talks to Sinn Féin Cuige Úladh Chair Seán Murray about the ongoing parades issues

THE violence that captured news headlines on the Twelfth were caused primarily by the insistence by the Orange Order on riding roughshod over the wishes of the nationalist community, according to a leading republican who has been trying to... Free article

WHEN the Health Service Executive (HSE) was established in January 2005 by the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats Government we were promised that a new era in Irish healthcare was beginning. The old health boards were abolished and the new structure was supposed to deliver the Government’s commitment to a “world-class health service”.
The Government Health Strategy had promised... Free article