THE UNTHINKABLE has happened. With a high turn-out and a wide margin, the 'No' campaign has defeated the Lisbon Treaty. The responses from the Government, the 'Yes' campaign more generally, and their partners across the EU have ranged from the measured to the extreme. Free article

WHAT a difference a year makes. Last year, in the aftermath of our profoundly disappointing general election campaign, along with a number of other party activists, I contributed to the debate on the next steps for our party with an article in An Phoblacht. Free article

WITHIN an hour of the first ballot boxes being opened, party officials across the political spectrum were calling the referendum as a 'No' to the Lisbon Treaty. The earliest tallies showed that the 'No' vote had swung the day despite a high turn-out, which would have been seen traditionally as a boost for the 'Yes' side in any referendum. Free article

SPEAKING on Wednesday in the European Parliament on the outcome of the Lisbon Treaty, Sinn Féin MEP Bairbre de Brún highlighted the momentous opportunity available to re-open the debate about the future of Europe. Free article

A MAJOR REPORT released this week has the potential to eradicate the scandal of child poverty in the North if its release leads to real action, Foyle Sinn Féin MLA Martina Anderson said at its launch on Tuesday. Free article

People from all over Belfast and beyond will gather in the Whiterock Leisure Centre this Saturday, 21 June at 7pm for the Great Escape 25th anniversary night. Free article

THE visit by US President George W Bush to the North on Monday saw Ógra Shinn Féin mobilise activists from across Ireland for a protest against US imperialism at Belfast City Hall. Free article

Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan and Dáil group leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin attended a 24th anniversary event on Wednesday marking the beginning of the anti-apartheid boycott by Dunnes Stores workers in 1984. Free article

Leading Irish republican and Sinn Féin TD for Kerry North, Martin Ferris is to deliver the keynote address at the 2008 republican commemoration at Bodenstown next Sunday. Free article

THIRTY-year-old Sinn Féin Councillor Matt Carthy was unanimously elected Méara Chontae Mhuineacháin at the AGM of Monaghan County Council on Monday. Sinn Féin Councillors Rose McMahon and Niall Quigley have been elected to the chairs of Carrickmacross and Clones Town councils respectively. Free article