26 July 2007 Edition
Challenging cocaine complacency
26 July 2007
The interception of more than one and a half tonnes of cocaine, valued at €107 million, by Irish authorities at Dunlough Bay, Mizen, in West Cork on 2 July was a chilling indicator of the scale of the cocaine epidemic that is engulfing Ireland. Once considered the drug of the elite, it is now so widespread that there is barely a town in Ireland where it cannot be obtained. Free article
The Magill Summer School, McGuinness wants fair and equal society
26 July 2007
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was joined by Junior Minister in the Northern Executive, Ian Paisley Junior, in addressing the annual Magill Summer School in Glenties County Donegal on Friday evening last. Free article
The Mary Nelis Column
26 July 2007
In his book, The Point of No Return, the renowned journalist Robert Fisk wrote of "the 15 unprecedented days in which a million British citizens, the Protestants of Northern Ireland, staged what amounted to a rebellion against the Crown, and won. During those 15 days, a section of the realm became totally ungovernable". Free article
Interview : former internee Margaret Shannon
26 July 2007
On Monday 9 August, 1971, a series of raids across the Six Counties signaled the beginning of internment without trial, as hundreds of people were dragged to prisons and camps, where many were tortured. Within the first 24 hours 342 people were arrested and within three years the number of people held in Long Kesh internment camp alone had risen to 1,500. This was at the instigation of then Six County premier Brian Faulkner. Reminiscent of following tragedies like Bloody Sunday and the 1981 Hunger Strike it emerged that Free State governments of these periods were ambivalent enough in terms of addressing such tragedies. The detainees were overwhelmingly nationalist and male but among the women interned was Belfast woman Margaret Shannon, who this week talks to Ella O'Dwyer about her own experience of internment, how the Irish government of the time let the nationalist people of the Six Counties down, and her hope that now - 36 years on - the importance of remembering such events is recognised. Free article
March for Truth - National Hunger Strike March & Rally
26 July 2007
The struggle for truth is the theme for this August's National Hunger Strike march and rally on Sunday 12 August Free article
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Centenary of Amhrán na bhFiann - The Soldier's Song
26 July 2007
The song which was to become the Irish National Anthem was written one hundred years ago in 1907 by Peadar Kearney, Dublin republican, IRB Supreme Council member, Irish Volunteer, political prisoner and author of many songs and poems. The story of The Soldier's Song/Amhrán na bhFiann is inseparable from the life story of Kearney, which is typical of so many who took part in the struggle for freedom at the start of the 20th century. Free article
Double standards on business investment
26 July 2007
Three linked statistics tell a miserable story this week about how the Irish economy is being managed by government. Enterprise Ireland invested €67 million in Irish business ventures last year, while other Irish investors ignored new businesses to pour €11 billion into commercial property investments, €8 billion of which was outside Ireland. Finally, only €63 million of the €20.75 billion Irish Government National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) is invested in Irish venture capital. Free article
Dangerous dog ban
26 July 2007
Dublin City Council has introduced a measure banning eleven breeds of dog and all their cross breeds, from local authority properties and estates as of 1 July. Due to the absence of a sounder legal basis, the measure is to be made a condition of tenancy agreements. This breed-specific measure, while well intentioned, is not without problems, however, and has sparked controversy already. Free article
1001 things to do...
26 July 2007
West Belfast's August Féile is the largest community-led festival in Europe and is now entering its 20th year. This year's festival takes place between the 5 and 12 August 2007. Free article
The Matt Treacy Column
26 July 2007
This weekend promises to be a feast of hurling. The postponed Kilkenny/Galway and Wexford/Tipperary matches take place on Saturday, while Sunday sees Limerick take on Clare and the much anticipated meeting of Cork and Waterford. Free article