One of the largest military operations undertaken by the British Army since the end of the Second World War was mounted across the Six Counties on 31 July 1972. Danny Morrison writes 50 years after on the both the background to and days of what British military commanders codenamed ‘Operation Motorman’. Free article

One of the joys of historical research, arguably the greatest joy, is the discovery of people buried in the thicket of the past who have not been given their due. So, I am delighted to exhume Denis Holland, who surely merits a prominent place in the republican pantheon. Free article

In the mid-1980s when I was in the Long Kesh prison camp, in the H Blocks, I found myself engaged in a conversation with a fellow Republican POW in which we assessed the task facing the Republican Movement at that time. Free article

In October 2021, at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ policy-making conference in Belfast, trade unionists rallied under the banner, “No Going Back” and unanimously endorsed a motion committing ICTU to promoting the interests of workers in conversations about constitutional change on this island. Free article

James McVeigh’s first novel ‘Stolen Faith’ was published recently and reviewed in An Phoblacht online. We asked James to write for us on the wider story of his journey through the H-Blocks on to being a Sinn Féin councillor, trade union representative, and now novelist. Free article

‘On Dangerous Ground – a Memoir of the Irish Revolution’ by Máire Comerford, edited by Hilary Dully, had a special launch in Sandyford, County Dublin at the end of March. Máire lived in the village for many years and some of her old friends and neighbours attended the launch which was organised by the local Máire Comerford Sinn Féin Cumann and publishers Lilliput Press and was hosted by Sinn Féin representative Shaun Tracey. Speakers included Hilary Dully, Mary Lou McDonald, and historians Liz Gillis and Tim Pat Coogan. Attendance included Proinsias Ó Rathaille, grandson of The O’Rahilly, and Evelyn Campbell, who sang her song ‘Fenian Women Blues’. Rita O’Hare got to know Máire when she came to live in Dublin in 1972. Rita is a lifelong Republican activist and former political prisoner, whose roles within the Republican Movement included editor of An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin Director of Publicity, and the party’s North American representative.Here, she pays a personal tribute to Máire. Free article

The word ‘iconic’ is over-used these days but, on 24 April 2016, the exact centenary of the Easter Rising, a photograph was taken which has indeed become iconic in the true sense of the word. Free article

Since papers have been put to print in Ireland, there have been countless articles written from every angle about the Irish language; from its legal status to its cultural role and relevance to its future and survival. As we graduate from paper to tablets, it would be hard to ignore the ever-growing social media presence that an Ghaeilge has developed in the digital world. Free article