Sinn Féin refused to partake in a sham debate at Peter Hain's assembly in Stormont on Tuesday. Party President Gerry Adams said the debate amounted to no more than a talking shop and re-iterated the demand for the primary political focus to be on the formation of a fully functioning Executive which had the power to tackle the range of issues affecting the people. Free article

Sinn Féin staged a Day-of-Action on Saturday, 13 May highlighting the crisis in healthcare provision. Over 50 protests took place across the country from Donegal to Kerry, and from Wexford to Dungannon. Free article

Over 10,000 Catholics live within Ballymena, one fifth of the town's population but any kind of civic profile is deemed "provocative" in this DUP stronghold. "The ethos isn't simply predominantly unionist but exclusively unionist," says Sinn Féin North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan. Free article

This week marks the 32nd anniversary of the Dublin/ Monaghan bombings. While relatives of those killed or injured in 1974 are still forced to campaign for the truth about what happened, the atrocity is but the worst example of a range of incidents involving British state collusion with unionist paramilitaries or direct operations by British forces in which civilians were killed in the 26 Counties. Free article

Political unionism's relationship with violence has been further highlighted after secret British government documents revealed the ease with which a unionist politician in the early 1970's, with dual membership in a loyalist paramilitary group and the UDR, moved into the ranks of the RUC. Free article

The 25th anniversary of the death on hunger strike of Francis Hughes was marked by vigils and commemorations across Ireland last weekend. Hughes was the second man to die on the 1981 H-Block Hunger Strike. Free article

In the prison hospital in the H Blocks of Long Kesh Tom McElwee died on hunger strike in cell 1, Kieran Doherty and Raymond Mc Creesh died in cell 2, Francis Hughes died in Cell 3, Kevin Lynch died in Cell 5 and Bobby Sands died in Cell 8. Free article

Unofficial action at Iarnród Éireann this week gave the media another opportunity to fall back on its panto like representation of industrial disputes, where customers and passengers suffer at the hands of evil trade unionists. The reality is that the safety of those passengers is at the core of the confrontation between Iarnród Éireann workers and an increasingly obdurate management. Free article