2 November 2006 Edition

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In Briefs

News in Brief

Ógra SF National Congress

Ógra Shinn Féin is holding its National Congress between 3 - 5 November in Liberty Hall, Dublin. The conference will be addressed by Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams.

A number of International delegations will be invited from youth movements in Palestine, the Basque Country, Cuba, South Africa, Catalonia , and Britain.

Ógra Shinn Féin also intends to launch a new campaign at the weekend event.

Bloody Sunday Inquiry delay

Sinn Féin Derry City Councillor Maeve McLaughlin has called on the Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday to give the families of those killed in Derry in 1972 a definitive date of when the Inquiry will be completed.

McLaughlin said it was unacceptable the Inquiry findings had been postponed again.

"The truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday needs to come out but these delays in the publishing of the findings is eroding public confidence that the inquiry will achieve this", she said.

Irish Language Act Gaining Momemtum

Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún has said that preparatory work for the introduction of an Irish Language Act is gaining momentum. De Brún made her comments as she prepared for 'Oireachtas na Gaeilge' - an All-Ireland Irish language festival being held this week (2nd-5th November) in Derry city.

Irish schools need certainty over funding

Sinn Féin Education Spokesperson in the Six Counties, West Tyrone MLA Barry McElduff has said that schools in the Irish Medium Sector require a greater degree of certainty about future funding after Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaiochtas revealed that many new schools will struggle to survive and that future development may be halted because it does not have sufficient funds.

Allow Gardaí resources to target drugs gangs

Sinn Féin Justice spokesperson Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD called on the Minister to do much more to tackle gun crime. He was speaking after the end of a gun amnesty in the 26 Counties, which concluded last Tuesday. He went in to call for more resources for Operation Anvil and for the civilianisation of Garda traffic duties to allow more officers to be deployed to tackle drug gangs and other serious crime.

Welcome contribution to truth recovery

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Truth issues Philip McGuigan has welcomed today's report 'Making Peace with the Past' from Healing Through Remembering as "an important contribution to the debate on how society should deal with the legacy of conflict, the lessons of the past, the needs of victims, and the exploration of how to build support for the process of conflict transformation"

Fuel scheme needs to be extended

Sinn Féin Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew has called for winter fuel payments scheme to be extended to people with serious medical conditions that are effected by the cold weather.

Gildernew said there was a clear need for the winter fuel payments scheme to be extended to people with medical conditions that are effected by the cold weather, for example, people who suffer from Scleroderma, Raynauds disease, chest and lung problems or serious debilitating forms of arthritis.

Toomebridge remembers

Three hundred and fifty people attended a gala dinner in the O'Neill Arms Hotel Toomebridge, County Antrim on Friday, 20 October to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike. Among the guests were the families of the ten 1981 hunger strikers and representatives of the family of Frank Stagg who died on hunger strike in 1976. Speakers on the night were Sinn Féin Kerry County Councillor Toiréasa Ferris, Chairperson of the 1981 Committee Paul McGlinchey, Sinn Féin MLA for Tyrone Barry McEIduff and North Antrim MLAPhilip McGuigan

National Draw winner...

Winner of the First Prize in the Sinn Féin National Draw, Paddy Kearney from Maghera, County Derry is presented with a cheque for €20,000 by An Phoblacht editor Seán MacBrádaigh on Friday, 20 October


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