The name Arthur Scargill will forever be synonymous with trade unionism and left-wing politics. Scargill, who served as President of the most powerful union in Britain, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), for most of the 1980s, came to international prominence 20 years ago, when he led the striking miners in their epic battle with the Thatcher government from 1984 to 1985. Free article

When delegates attend the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in March, they will be taking part in an historic occasion for the almost 100-year-old party. One of the topics that will be hotly debated over the weekend will be the party's new constitution, the final draft of which is being signed off on this month. Free article

Each year, the annual Bloody Sunday commemoration programme of events seeks to breathe life into the inscription on the monument to the victims of that day: "Their epitaph is in the ongoing struggle for democracy." Free article

An Phoblacht's famous weekly satirical column. Read on... Free article

Looking forward to the year 2025 has been a bit of a pastime throughout the media of late. Although it seems to be inferred that people in general play a passive role, AN DRAOI RUA likes to think that we all can play a constructive part in building a better future. Free article

On 21 January 1919, 86 years ago, the 3rd Tipperary Brigade of the IRA fired the opening salvo of the Tan War in Soloheadbeg. Information had reached the Third Brigade in December 1918 that explosives were being transported in their area and they began preparations to seize these much needed munitions. Free article

Much of the politics of the January session of the EU Parliament was taken up with a debate on the proposed EU Constitution. MEPs from the Conservatives, Socialists and Greens argued that the constitution would mark a new point in the development of the Union, although their arguments were contradictory, some argued that it was just a tidying up exercise, while others said it was an enhancement of the federalist project. Free article