The SDLP strategy of appeasement of unionists at any cost, which we have witnessed for many years in arenas such as Belfast City Council, is beginning to emerge within the Assembly. In three key debates since 17 January, the SDLP have allowed the No camp of unionism to put forward and win votes on motions on decommissioning, flags and the Patten Commission on policing. Free article

Over 500 people crowded into a packed hall last week at the Westcourt Hotel, Drogheda, and hundreds more queued back into the street, for a meeting called to protest the privatisation of refuse collection in the town. There hadn't been anything like it since the Pope visited the town. Free article

The sight of a family forced out of their home by hired thugs backed up by members of the crown forces would, to many, evoke thoughts of the famine era. However, forced evictions are a modern reality and could become an increasingly frequent scourge. Free article

For 12 years now, environmental protestors at the Glen of the Downs in County Wicklow have campaigned to save the scenic woodland from road development. To the admiration of thousands of supporters, the protest has foiled the efforts of Wicklow County Council to destroy the Glen. The beautiful trees in the Glen of the Downs are still standing, but only just. Free article

THE multitude of candidates vying for the White House in this year's elections will have the opportunity to put forth their views on Irish issues at a special Irish American forum scheduled for Sunday, 5 March at John Jay College in Manhattan, New York. Free article

Most refugees arriving in Ireland visit 11 Mount Street in Dublin to lodge their asylum applications and seek help in finding accommodation. Over the past few weeks, these people have found themselves, without any choice, being put on buses and `dispersed' to occupy `bed spaces' around the country. Free article

The Rosemary Nelson Campaign for Truth and Justice has called on the United States Congress to conduct a thorough inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his arrest and the consequent dropping of weapons and explosives charges against loyalist Jim Fulton. Free article

Sixteen memorials in Belfast's republican plot in Milltown cemetery were destroyed last week in an act of vandalism which may have been the work of the RUC. Free article

Dr Dara O'Hagan, Sinn Fein Assembly member for Upper Bann, has accused the RUC of, ``wilfully endangering nationalists' lives'' by refusing to tell over 40 people that their files had been found in the hands of loyalists eight weeks ago. Free article

The first steps towards creating an island economy were taken this week when a new all-Ireland body on Trade and Business Development was set up in Newry. Free article