I imagine that reading for pleasure and leisure is a random occupation in which novels and other narratives are chosen on their own merit. Yet last year, a number of themes in my choice of reading began to emerge, not surprisingly a pre-occupation with the Middle East and the current debates around al Qaeda but also the experiences of women, whether in Tehran or Ardoyne. Free article

In the first of a series of articles, Sinn Féin's Director of European Affairs, Eoin Ó Broin, explores the party's new allies in Europe. With more than 700 MEPs from 25 EU member states, the list of political parties and interest groups is complicated to say the least. In order to simplify the complexity - and at times cacophony - inherent in this situation, members of the European Parliament have formed into political groups. Free article

Thinking of a Christmas tree, the native Scots Pine was seen as a tree to be honoured by our Celtic ancestors long before the introduction of the Sitka Spruce, writes AN DRAOI RUA Free article

As time passes, pieces of history fade into the background of our minds, events that played fundamental roles in the evolution of countries fade into obscurity. People who played imperative roles in the past are forgotten. Free article

An Phoblacht's Christmas quiz answers Free article