``We are certain that if Ronnie Flanagan is saying he is recruiting to a new policing service, then he is doing so illegally,'' Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly has told An Phoblacht. ``What this amounts to is a recruitment drive for the RUC.' Free article

Several hundred people attended the 25th anniversary Volunteer Frank Stagg commemoration in Ballina, County Mayo, last Sunday, 18 February. Frank Stagg died after 62 days on hunger strike in Wakefield Prison, England, on 12 February 1976. The parade was led by a band and colour party from Newry, County Down. Free article

Ever since the term `decommissioning' was coined by the last Conservative government and was applied solely to the IRA's weapons, the term has continued to be almost exclusively used in the same context by the Labour government, unionist politicians and the media. Free article

The RUC are ``keeping an open mind'' on the motive behind a bomb attack on a Catholic family in Lisburn on Wednesday, 21 February. The family, who were asleep at the time of the attack on their Knockamore estate home, heard a loud bang around 5.20am on Wednesday. They later discovered a pipe bomb had been thrown at the outside of the house, causing minor damage. Commenting on the attack the RUC said they had not ruled out a sectarian motive but they were still keeping an open mind, an assertion immediately challenged by local Sinn Féin councillor Paul Butler. Free article

Cast your mind back to November last, and remember the images of SDLP representatives standing at British War Memorials, wearing poppies and telling us they were commemorating the dead of the British army out of respect for ``the other tradition''. Free article

Jim Armstrong, one of the organisers of the local 1981 Committee in Twinbrook, has spoken to An Phoblacht about the events the area has organised to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike. Free article