I went from being Chris Graham, newly released Mountjoy POW to reporter Maeve Armstrong – my by-line with Republican News from 1978-89. The name held its own wee story. Maeve, well, the Irish Warrior Queen herself no less! I was living in a war zone so it might be handy to have a warrior around me and Armstrong, that was my wee granny Julia’s maiden name. She was my real-life heroine, so between the two names, I hoped the strength of character they both encapsulated might rub off on me! Free article

Not many people can say that they went to work every day under the watchful eye of the Special Branch. Or that the main (only) perk of their working week was a free meal on a Wednesday night, our publication deadline. That was what it was like to work for AP/RN in the late ‘80s, when I got my start. Free article

On my release from the H Blocks after 16 years, I began work with An Phoblacht. As a former life sentence prisoner, writing for the ‘Phoblacht’ was a platform for political work, an extension of the political education I was involved in while in jail. It was about promoting republican ideals and policies as well as challenging the narrative of the struggle, particularly that of the mainstream media and our political opponents. Free article

Although I had come across the odd copy here and there since at least 1979, the first issue of An Phoblacht that I actually bought was during the Hunger Strikes in the summer of 1981. Free article

John Hedges came to An Phoblacht as a reporter in 1982 and was the paper’s editor from 2010 to the end of 2017 Free article