Amnesty International has written to British Prime Minister Tony Blair this week with an agenda for human rights protection which highlights key human rights issues to be tackled by his government. Free article

On Tuesday 24 June in Washinton, DC fourteen members of the United States House of Representatives heard testimony on human rights violations in the north of Ireland The hearings were convened by the International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Rights. Free article

US Judge Andrew Somers, who presided over the independent public inquiry into the death of Castlederg Sinn Fein worker Patrick Shanaghan, this week attacked the RUC for its role in the events surrounding the 1991 murder, and the subsequent investigation. ``There is,'' he said, ``more than enough evidence here to point the finger of collusion. Either the RUC killed Patrick Shanaghan, or they directed his death.'' Free article

Paddy Kelly was brought up in County Laois in the 26 Counties and could very easily have ignored the ``troubles'' in the North. However from an early age he was eager to learn about Britain's involvement in Ireland and became deeply concerned at the plight of his fellow Irish people in the Six Counties. He came to believe that he had a duty to do something about this and he became an active republican. Free article

Research into discrimination towards the Irish in Britain has revealed evidence of inequality, discrimination and injustice, and a ``powerful sense of hurt and unjustified exclusion from an equal place in British society''. Free article

On Thursday night 26 June around 11.45pm the crew of a British armoured personnel carrier came under attack when the IRA launched a rocket propelled grenade in North Belfast. Free article

Details of the UVF murder of Kathleen O'Hagan, (38), and her unborn baby, in August 1994, were disclosed last week to Omagh Coroner's Court. The attack, later claimed by the Mid-Ulster UVF, was intended for husband Patrick O'Hagan, who was out when the murders occurred. Free article

Workers facing unemployment with the closure of United Technologies in Derry were joined in a solidarity protest outside the factory by the local community including MP Martin McGuinness. Among those protesting were workers from Maydown Precision Engineering. They transformed a similar situation when Molins Engineering relocated in 1984, and successfully established a workers co-operative. Free article

Ten years of Feile an Phobail for a community which decided not to sob but to sing Free article

Young People in West Belfast are starting to make their voices heard. Following Sinn Fein's conference ``Anti-Social Behaviour - A Community Response'' held last February in Twinbrook, West Belfast, a group of young people set up a new project, Young Tongues, providing a platform for the views of local youth. Free article