Monday 20 July 2004 marked another important milestone in the advancement of the republican struggle when Bairbre de Brún, representing the Six Counties, and Mary Lou McDonald, representing Dublin, walked into the European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France. Free article

29 July 2004 Free article

A permanent memorial to the three CIÉ workers killed in the Dublin bombings was unveiled last Thursday 22 July. George Bradshaw and Tommy Duffy were killed in December 1972 and Thomas Douglas in January 1973. Free article

After years of sectarian intimidation by loyalists in Carrickfergus, three Catholic families were driven from their homes last weekend by a UVF-led mob that went on the rampage. The 50-strong gang smashed their way into a house in the predominantly unionist Thomas Street of the County Antrim town at around 7pm on Saturday 24 July. The gang then savagely beat two Catholic men. Free article

Sinn Féin North Belfast councillor Carál Ni Chulín has called on the Housing Executive to demolish houses in Mountcollier Street in the loyalist Tigers Bay after a Catholic pensioner's kitchen window was broken by slates thrown across the interface on Wednesday morning, 21 July. A number of cars were destroyed at a car showroom in Maghera, County Derry, when unionist paramilitaries targeted the Catholic-owned premises shortly before 2am on Wednesday 21 July. Free article

Ligoniel is a small and isolated nationalist area of 600 houses on the very edge of North Belfast. Life for the residents is made all the more difficult by the fact that there is only one way in and one way out and that way is through the notoriously hostile unionist-controlled Crumlin Road. Free article

Three Nigerian men fled their Coolfin Street home in the loyalist Village area of South Belfast at the weekend after a explosive device was found in the rear of their home. This attack came within 24 hours of a loyalist petrol bomb attack on a Bangladeshi family in the same area. Free article

What is happening at Aer Lingus? Just week's ago, its chief executive Willie Walsh announced that he and some of the other directors wanted to buy the state airline from the government. This week, Walsh proposed new job cuts, running to 1,300 workers or nearly one quarter of its workforce, even though the firm is on course to make profits of €94 million this year. Free article

Two reports on banking malpractice published in recent days have highlighted over €100 million in fraud through either non-payment of tax or overcharging customers. In the case of both National Irish Bank (NIB) and AIB, investigations are ongoing into illegal banking practices that ran throughout both organisations. Free article

In this era where the privatisation agenda is at full steam ahead in the telecommunications, transport and electricity sectors, the last week has provided a remarkable insight into how the private sector works when it comes to investing its own money into developing infrastructure. Free article