Afleveringen
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Stand-Up to Racism
In 1972 Catholic families – who had endured three years of sustained sectarian attacks on their homes – fled Annalee St in North Belfast. Last month - fifty-three years later - Catholic homes in Annalee St. were again the target of sectarian attack and families were forced to flee. In the last fortnight we have also witnessed the firebombing of homes in Ballymena, the Larne Leisure Centre and racist attacks in other parts of the North.
The images of homes in flames in Ballymena reminded me of similar scenes I first witnessed in Belfast in August 1969. The film footage of that period is of streets ablaze, frightened families hurriedly stacking furniture on lorries or carrying their most precious possessions on their backs. Then it was the racism and sectarianism of the apartheid unionist state attacking nationalist and republican families, killing residents, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing thousands to become refugees in our own city.
Regrettably, the same sectarian and racist fundamentalism that motivated those attacks still exists today among some in our society who campaign against housing for Catholics, hang effigies of political leaders on bonfires and use violent rhetoric to promote hate crime against immigrants and those they define as ‘others’. That is those who are of a different religion or colour, or sexual orientation.
Defending Neutrality
The Israeli rogue state has set the world on a dangerous course. Its deadly assault on Iran, allied to its violent actions in Lebanon and Syria and its genocidal war on the Palestinian people, has cast a huge shadow over the Middle East. As its military forces continue to kill scores of Palestinians daily in Gaza and its war planes attack Iran the Israeli military imposed a complete siege on the west Bank. Over a thousand military checkpoints which provide Israel with absolute control over the occupied west Bank, were completely closed imposing a siege on the Palestinian towns, villages and isolated farms of that region.
As the world focusses on the exchanges between Israel and Iran the Zionists’ genocidal and ethnic cleansing strategy against the Palestinian people is escalating. Those western states that have refused to challenge Israel’s murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians or stand-by international law, are now defending Israel’s attack on Iran using the same unacceptable excuse that Israel has the right to defend itself.
Pat Finucane - End the Delay
It has been ten months since the British Secretary of State Hilary Benn first announced that he was setting up an independent inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane under the 2005 Inquiries Act. Last week he appointed Sir Gary Hickinbottom as the Chair of the Inquiry. Hickinbottom has been given responsibility for investigating one of the most high profile examples of state collusion between loyalist death squads and British state agents and agencies during the decades of conflict.
As well as Hickinbottom, former Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan and international human rights lawyer Francesca Del Mese have been appointed as assessors to the inquiry. Their role is to advise the Chair but they will not be involved in any final report.
It has been a long difficult road for Geraldine Finucane and her family to secure this Inquiry. Twenty-four years ago the British and Irish governments agreed at Weston Park to establish public inquiries into a number of troubles-related cases. Canadian Judge Peter Cory recommended inquiries into the deaths of: Rosemary Nelson, Robert Hamill, Billy Wright, and Patrick Finucane and also into the deaths of RUC officers Bob Buchanan and Harry Breen.
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Jim Fitzpatrick signed Limited Print of Elizabeth O’Farrell
Regular readers of this column will know that I wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Moore St. Preservation Trust to preserve the 1916 Moore St. Battlefield site in Dublin that is under threat from the developers wrecking ball. This week the Trust - a not for profit organisation led by Relatives of the Signatories of the 1916 Proclamation – will launch a new limited edition signed print of Elizabeth O’Farrell by the renowned Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick. One hundred prints will be available from Thursday evening at €150 as part of the fundraising efforts of the Trust to raise much needed funds in support of its alternative plan for a cultural and historical quarter in the Moore Street battlefield site.
Health and Care in a New Ireland
Last month the European Movement in Ireland –Amárach Research – reported that a majority of people in both parts of the island were in favour of a united Ireland within the EU. The figures were 67% in favour in the North and 62% in favour in the South.
Last week the Life and Times Survey, which is conducted by Queens University, reported that the gap between those who support the union with Britain and those who favour Irish Unity, has halved in the last year. In 2021 the gap was 23 points. In 2023 that had halved to 12 points. This year it has halved again to 5 points.
An Act of International Piracy
In an act of international piracy Israeli forces hijacked the humanitarian aid vessel the Madleen in international waters as it was making its way to the Gaza Strip with much needed humanitarian aid for the beleaguered community. The Madleen is part of the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition and it had a crew of 12 including environmental activist activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan MEP. The Israel action is part of its strategy to control the public narrative around events in the Palestinian occupied territories, particularly Gaza, where millions face starvation.
In the Gaza Strip and the west Bank the daily slaughter of innocents by the Israeli regime’s murder squads continues unimpeded. So too does the deliberate targeting of the health service which has been all but obliterated by Israel’s genocidal military campaign. The objective is clearly to remove sll Palestinians from Gaza.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Old Farts
As I get older I seem to be farting more than I used to. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t keep a record of my farts. That would be impossible but I do have a notion that my flatuence is more intense since I turned seventy, or at least I’m getting more complaints than I used to. Richard is particularly offensive and loud in his protestations at my alleged emmissions. Especially in the car. He is theatrical. And dramatic. And loud. Not satisfied with lowering the windows he makes choking noises. And exaggeratted smothering sounds
I find this very upsetting. I’m also at a huge disadvantage. I have no sense of smell. As you, dear reader, will know farts come in different forms. The ones which trip me up are the silent ones. They sneak out anonymously in carpetslippers. Apparently they are also very very pungent.
Or so Richard says. Colette is the same. Without a sense of smell I have only their word for it.
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Mothers Against Genocide
This column makes no apologies for writing so much about the genocide in Palestine and the urgent need for ceasefires and a peace process. At least 14,000 babies face imminent death from starvation. Over 60,000 Palestinian children, women, men have been killed, including more than 4,000 since Israel ended its ceasefire in March. One especially harrowing example of Israel’s murder machine at work was the deliberate targeting last Friday of the family home of Hamdi and Walaa al-Najjar, two doctors who work at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis. As Hamdi was at work nine of her ten children were killed. Her husband and a 10th child was left critically ill.
Mothers Against Genocide have stood up against this savagery and for the rights of the Palestinian people. Sue Pentel and Martine McCullough are active in this campaign. Sue has been a political activist all her life. My earliest memory of her is as a member of Women against Imperialism over 40 years ago. Sue is a Gaeilgeoir who has worked for decades promoting the education of our young people through the medium of Irish. She is also a committed advocate for the rights of the people of Palestine and last weekend she and her friend Martine were arrested by the PSNI and charged with ‘criminal damage’ to an ATM at Barclays Bank in Castle Place in Belfast City Centre. The so-called criminal damage was the placing of a sticker on the machine as a reminder of Barclays role in selling Israeli war bonds.
‘If I Must Die’
There will be a public event this Saturday – 31 May - about the ongoing genocide. The venue is St Comgalls/Ionad Eileen Howell and it starts at 7.30pm. Chairing the meeting, which is sponsored by the Bobby Sands Trust, will be Dr Brendan Ciaran Browne, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution. The main speaker will be Yousef M. Aljamal
On the International Wall in Belfast there is a poem by Refaat Alareer, ‘If I Must Die’ which he wrote for his daughter, Shaymaa, who would grow up to be an accomplished illustrator. It is very poignant because the Israelis went on to kill Refaat, along with his sister, brother and four of nephews and nieces, eighteen months ago.
Give the vote to 16-year-old citizens.
The debate on reducing the voting age to 16 is gathering momentum. Twice in the last decade the Assembly – minus the DUP - has endorsed the call for the vote to be reduced in the North from 18 to 16. Several years ago Sinn Féin introduced a Bill in the Oireachtas to allow for this in southern elections and last week An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that he had an “open mind” on such a proposition and would give it “serious consideration.”
The Commission on the Future of Ireland are hosting 'Health & Care in a New Ireland' on the 6th of June, 1pm at St Comgalls, Belfast.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/health-care-in-a-new-ireland-tickets-1354804690299
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San Francisco – A Ballymurphy Man/A Work in Progress
If you live in the San Francisco area go along to the Vogue Theatre on 1st June to see a sneak preview of Trisha Ziff’s film – A Ballymurphy Man.
It’s me telling my story, talking about the influences in my life and of our efforts to build the peace process.
Trisha is still working on the final cut and The World Premier of her documentary film will take place in the Galway Film Festival on 12 July.
But this is an opportunity for people in San Francisco to see the current work in progress.
Tickets are available through the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival at sfdocfest2025.eventive.org/schedule or you can pay in person.
The film begins at 7.30 pm and Trisha Ziff, the Director will be there for a Question and Answer.
Verbal Disorder
When I was younger I used to have a stammer. I don’t know what age I was. Somewhere between seven and ten perhaps. A youngster! I grew out of my speech impediment, and I have very little recollection of my stammering phase but I was reminded of it when I was on the phone to a friend in Ard Oifig in Dublin last week.
The Floodgates of Horror
Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D Higgins does not mince his words when it comes to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Last weekend he addressed the annual commemoration of Ireland’s An Gorta Mór – The Great Hunger - of the 1840s. The commemoration is a reminder of our colonial experience and of a potato plight which became a genocide because of the policies of the British government. Over a million died and millions more fled.
The Catastrophe – Nakba
Last week Palestinians across the world commemorated the Nakba – The Catastrophe. In 1948 almost a million Palestinians fled as refugees from their homes as the Israeli state was forcibly carved out of Palestine.
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PRESIDENTIAL VOTING RIGHTS
In a historic vote in the Assembly last week its members overwhelmingly passed by 46 votes to 25 - a motion calling on the Irish government to implement the recommendation of the 2013 Constitutional Convention on the Constitution to extend “the right to vote in elections for President of Ireland to all Irish citizens on the island of Ireland.” The reality of course is that successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments have deliberately refused to implement this recommendation despite having 12 years to do so.
DONNACHA RYNNE
Donnacha died last week. I had planned to visit him in July. Unfortunately, that will not be. Donnacha loved West Belfast. And West Clare. He loved life. He lived in the nowness. Donnacha remains an inspiration.
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Swinger
I spent the last week in Dublin in the Four Courts as part of the outworking of my case against the BBC’s Spotlight programme nine years ago. But more of that when it’s over which could take another fortnight.
On the morning that the case started our Gearóid phoned me to say that his father-in-law Paddy ‘Swinger’ McBride was dead. The news was a great shock. I had spent a half hour or more a few days before chatting with Paddy in his home. He was just out after a spell in hospital, and although he was ill his spirit was strong and he was full of craic and talk about the current politics, his son Patrick’s Man of the Match performance for Antrim against Armagh, the need to build Casement and how a son of Tony Benn could behave the way Hillary Benn does.
Israel’s reign of terror
As this column goes to press the Israeli government is calling up tens of thousands of army reservists for a full scale military invasion, subjugation and occupation of the Gaza Strip. After almost 20 months of genocide against the Palestinian people the Israeli state is now embarking on its final solution – the displacement of two million people and the mass murder of more Palestinians.
Last Saturday was World Press Freedom Day – but not in Gaza. In the year and a half of this current reign of terror by Israel at least 211 journalists have been killed in the Gaza Strip while the international press corps is denied access to report on events in that huge concentration camp. Britain and most western and European states are silent on this. They are silent also on the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war against two million people, many of them children, who live in Gaza. According to UNICEF over three hundred thousand children under the age of five are suffering severe malnutrition.
Commission on the Future of Ireland
As momentum in the demand for Irish Unity grows the work of Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland continues to expand.
In the last two months the Commission has held a Mid Ulster Peoples Assembly in the Seamus Heaney Homeplace in Bellaghy; a Tionól Pobail Bhaile Ghib in County Meath; a climate crisis conference - One Island, One Environment – in Dublin and an EU & Irish Unity- What next?- event in the European Parliament in Brussels.
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Statue of Bobby Sands to be unveiled
On May 4 at 3pm, a statue of Bobby Sands will be unveiled in the Republican Memorial Garden in Twinbrook, where Bobby lived. The organisers of the event, all local republican activists and all inspired by the courage and self-sacrifice of Bobby and his comrades, have worked hard over recent years to raise the funds for the statue. Former hunger striker Pat Sheehan who spent 55 days on the 1981 hunger strike will speak about Bobby and his comrades who died.
There will also be a Bobby Sands Mountain Walk that morning and the annual Bobby Sands lecture will be given that evening by Pat Sheehan in the Andersonstown Social Club.
Bobby was the first of ten republican hunger strikers to die during the H-Block hunger strike of 1981. He died on May 5. The others were: Francis Hughes; Raymond McCreesh; Patsy O’Hara; Joe McDonnell; Kieran Doherty TD; Kevin Lynch; Martin Hurson; Tom McElwee; and Mickey Devine. Nor should we forget Michael Gaughan 1974 and Frank Stagg 1976 who died on hunger strike in prisons in England.
I knew Bobby and Francie Hughes, Kieran Doherty and Joe McDonnell. I also met Tom McElwee and Mickey Devine on a visit to the prison hospital in July 1981. They were all ordinary young working class men. Joe McDonnell at 30 was the eldest. The rest were all in their 20s. In extraordinary times they revealed a depth of resolve that few are ever called upon to demonstrate.
The Refugees
A hurried worried people, a human stampede to God knows where,
Were spat out from the back streets, for God knows who to care.
Their little kitchen houses lit up the night around about
‘For God and Ulster’ was the reason that the refugees were driven out.
Oh little humble homes where the people hugged the open fire,
Oil-clothed floors and little ornamented cabinets that the neighbours would admire,
The little backyard havens where the youngsters would play
And in the hall the little font of holy water to bless you on your way!
Pope Francis
The funeral last Saturday of Pope Francis was an occasion to mourn the passing of a leader who championed progressive causes, stood up for those most marginalised and vulnerable while opening the door to reform within the Church.
There is much more to be done to make the Church democratic. I am among those who are alienated by the deep absence of equality in the Church’s structures. Banning women from the priesthood is totally unacceptable as is the opulence of some institutions and the unaccountability of church leaders, particularly over the treatment of children and vulnerable people. But still there are good priests and nuns and many decent people doing their best to make amends.
They include Pope Francis. The many stories of his deep sense of compassion for the sick and vulnerable and those who are victim of abuse and violence have filled the airwaves and social media since his death. His loss is a huge blow to the institutional Church which often seems aloof to the trials and tribulations of ordinary people while being less than open about the sins of some within its own ranks.
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Kathleen Lynn – a Rebel Woman
I hope you all had an enjoyable Easter. Across the island and further afield commemorations were held at countless locations to remember those who fought in the 1916 Easter Rising and in all of the generations of the freedom struggle. The Belfast turnout was big and Pearse Doherty, who made an exceptional speech, was given a very warm welcome. I saw no mention of his remarks or those of other republican speakers on RTE, BBC or other broadcasters. So much for public service broadcasting!
The story of Easter 1916 reverberates with many remarkable accounts of courage as a small band of Irish Republicans took on the largest Empire ever to have existed in human history. They include many women. Among these are Julia Grenan, Winifred Carney and Elizabeth O’Farrell who were in the GPO and in Moore St. when the decision to surrender was taken. Winifred Carney’s statue now stands proudly in front of Belfast City Hall.
Finding their place in a new Ireland
In his Easter remarks at the Republican Plot in Milltown Cemetery Teachta Pearse Doherty referenced the fact that the “momentum for Irish Unity grows stronger every day…. it is fast becoming the defining political project of our generation.” Pearse also addressed the importance of preparing for unity and in doing so the imperative of engaging with the unionist section of our people. He said: “There are many issues for republicans and unionists to talk about. We need to address the genuine fears and concerns of unionists in a meaningful way.”
That means examining what they mean when they say they are British. We must be willing he said; “to explore and be open to new ideas. We need to look at ways in which the unionist people can find their place in a new Ireland.”
A Barren Landscape of Death
The Gaza Strip is one eighth the size of County Antrim and has a population three times larger. Imagine if Belfast north of the River Lagan and including Mallusk and Newtownabbey were levelled to the ground. No schools, no hospitals, no homes – just tents – no churches, no shops, no transport system, no sewage system. A barren levelled landscape of death. Gaza City has been under strict Israeli siege for seven weeks. No bread, no water, no fuel, no medicines have been allowed to enter the area. The people – the children – are starving. And all the time the international community with a few honourable exceptions does nothing – is complicit in this genocide.
All that Fuss
A friend of mine in County Tyrone was taking her seven year old daughter to her local Gael Scoil when the child drew her attention to the road sign for Londonderry. Someone had drawn a line through the London bit.
‘Why is that like that Mammy?’ She asked.
So Mammy gave a children’s explanation.
‘But they are both wrong’ the child replied ‘It’s not Londonderry or Derry. Its Doire.’
And that dear readers is why there is all that fuss about Irish or bilingual signage.
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Wear an Easter Lilly
I did not think Easter is almost upon us. It has crept up on me. For Irish republicans Easter holds a special significance. It is synonymous with the 1916 Easter Rising and the heroism over a century ago of those who rose up against the British Empire and declared for a Republic. It is also a time when we remember all of those women and men – over countless generations – who gave their lives in pursuit of Irish sovereignty and independence.In the course of my activism I have travelled widely. I have visited many countries. Time and again I have been struck by the determination of nations to honour the patriots and freedom fighters who gave meaning to their desire for freedom and self-determination.
Across the world there are countless memorials to those who fought in wars against colonialism. National ceremonies of remembrance are held. Buildings or lands and even prisons associated with struggles for freedom are protected and used as aids to teach young people the value of citizenship and the importance of freedom and democracy.
Across this island and beyond there are many such monuments to Irish patriots. Next Sunday tens of thousands of people in towns, villages and cities, at country crossroads and at lonely hillside graveyards across the country, will gather for commemorations. They will gather also in Britain, Australia, Canada, the USA and many other places.
Most will wear an Easter Lily. This is a symbol of our enduring commitment to the ideals of 1916 and of the Proclamation of the Republic and is a mark of respect for all those, from every generation, who paid with their lives in the cause of Irish freedom.
Micheál Martin and Moore St.
Micheál Martin visited 14-17 Moore St. last week. Number 16 is where the leaders of the Rising held their last meeting before their execution. Numbers 14-17 are the planned location for a National Monument to those who fought in the 1916 Easter Rising and who evacuated to that street as the GPO was in flames. Martin’s visit comes 12 years after he called for the "protection and enhancement" of Moore Street. It comes 19 years after the Fianna Fáil government of Bertie Ahern designated 14-17 Moore St. as a National Monument. During that time the buildings lay derelict and have fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair
Now almost two decades later Martin takes an interest, on the cusp of Easter, in a site that his government has starved of funding. Moreover, Martin has backed the plan by the London based developer Hammerson to obliterate the Moore St. Battlefield site, including historic buildings that are part of that period.
The rumour was that he was to make a public statement about this. Representatives of the Moore Street Preservation Trust were there to respond, including the grandson of James Connolly, James Connolly Heron.
James presented An Taoiseach with the Trusts plan for a 1916 historic and Cultural Quarter. This encompasses the preservation, restoration and management of the Moore Street Battlefield Area, as designated by the High Court in 2016 “the lands, buildings, streets and lanes within an area including Moore Street, Henry Place, O’Rahilly Parade and Moore Lane, in which the 1916 Rising Volunteers travelled after evacuating the GPO”.
Two different Voices on Unity
Speaking of Micheál Martin, the Fianna Fáil leader was interviewed for the Belfast Telegraph last week. I was disappointed but not surprised by his assertion that he wasn’t even thinking of a ‘border poll’. When pushed about the constitutional future of Ireland in 50 years-time he couldn’t even bring himself to utter the words ‘united Ireland.’
In the 15 years he has been leader of Fianna Fáil Martin has engaged in a deliberate strategy of obfuscation when it comes to unity. His current excuse for not pursu
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Protecting our environment
The blue skies and warm weather of recent days is a reminder that spring will soon give way to summer. Everywhere the trees and flowers are coming into bloom and the dark evenings are retreating as our daylight hours increase. Regrettably, this change in weather also brings with it acts of vandalism, in particular the setting of wildfires that present a real danger to hill walkers, animals, local wildlife and the natural fauna.
Build Casement Now
The delay in building the new Casement Park is totally unacceptable. Like many Gaels of my age I grew up with Casement. I played there for our school teams and enjoyed sports days as well. I have watched umpteen games over the decades. Until 2013. That was the last time Casement Park hosted a game. On 10 June 2013.
International Palestinian Child Day
First, let me congratulate Francesca Albanese who despite a despicable campaign by Israel and its allies to have her sacked, will continue in her role as UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories until 2028. She has been a champion for the people of Palestine as Israel’s genocide continues to kill and wound hundreds every day.
Trade War Demands United response
The U.S. President Donald Trump has initiated the most dangerous trade war of modern times. His widespread imposition of tariffs threatens untold damage to the world’s economies. In the USA the stock market has declined sharply and senior economists are warning of a deep recession. These too will adversely impact world economies. There is no indication that President Trump intends to change direction. On the contrary he appears to be digging in.
Campaign for Moore Street Continues.
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The North began, the North held on,
The strife for native land;
When Ireland rose to smite her foes
God bless the Northern land
Thomas Davis
In the 1790s Belfast was the centre of an Irish political movement which linked Antrim and Down with the Republics of France and America, and Belfast citizens celebrated the Fall of the Bastille, drank toasts to Mirabeau and Lafayette and studied Payne’s great book, The Rights of Man. Presbyterians formed the Society of United Irishmen and declared for Catholic emancipation, for the abolition of church establishments and tithes, for resistance to rack rents and for sweeping agrarian reforms. They gave a cordial welcome to Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women and joined with their Catholic neigbours in the struggle for national independence and political democracy.
Calls for Kurdish peace process welcomed
Following World War 1 the European colonial states divided the Middle East into British and French zones of interest. An initial commitment to a Kurdish state was ignored and the Kurdish people were forcibly partitioned between Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Winston Churchill, who was Colonial Secretary in 1920 and helped draw up the state boundaries of that region, cleared the use of poison gas against the Kurdish people in Iraq. The renowned writer and historian Noam Chomsky writes that Churchill favoured the use of poison gas "against recalcitrant Arabs as an experiment" and cleared their use on the basis that; "I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes."
Since then the region has been convulsed with conflict. Not least has been the
centuries long struggle of the Kurdish people to self-determination.
Time for Unity
The Spring budget statement from the British Chancellor last week exemplifies much that is wrong in the current union between the North and England. It was a statement that Margaret Thatcher would have approved of. It directly attacks the most vulnerable in society and promises more cuts to public services, including welfare provision. It commits Labour to the implementation of policies that will cause significant difficulties for the North. It will significantly increase poverty, particularly for children and people with disabilities. At the same time Labour intends spending more money on weapons for war.
Free Palestine
This column salutes Mothers Against Genocide for their Protest on Mother’s Day against the genocidal war by the Zionists against the people of Palestine. Mothers Against Genocide are an inspirational group of women who campaign assertively and imaginatively for peace and self-determination for the people of Palestine. Their overnight vigil at the gates of Leinster House was forcibly cleared by An Garda Síochána and eight protesters were arrested.
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Martin Mc Guinness. A Reflection.
Friday the 21 March was the eighth anniversary of the death of our friend and leader Martin McGuinness. Like many others, I am sure, I was perplexed as it dawned on me that eight years had passed since we lost him. In my head I thought it was five or six years ago. But as we people of a certain age should now know time waits for no one. I remember as if it was yesterday dashing to the hospital. Even though we were anticipating his death there was nonetheless a numbness, a shock to be told that Martin was gone.
A Courageous Advocate for Palestinian
Ms. Francesca Albanese is the Special Rapporteur for the United Nations in the Palestinian territories. She is a remarkable champion for human rights and international law whose moral integrity and deep rooted humanity are an inspiration. Her leadership on Palestinian rights, her unremitting and courageous criticism of Israel’s decades long illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, is an example for all of us who seek a just peace between the peoples of Palestine and of Israel.
Last week Ms. Albanese was in the South of Ireland addressing Universities, giving interviews, attending the massive pro-Palestinian march in Dublin on Saturday and meeting a wide range of individuals and groups.
The only answer is Unity
There are at least 50,000 people in Belfast reliant on PIP (Personal Independence Payment). Given that levels of disadvantage and poor health indicators are higher in west Belfast it is safe to assume that many thousands of families in that part of the city are especially vulnerable to British government cuts to the PIP system.
Over the years Labour governments have shown scant regard for their socialist roots. Often they are just a pale imitation of the Tories who care even less. They especially show no empathy when it comes to the North. Year after year the British block grant fails to meet our basic public service requirements whether in the provision of health, education, housing, agriculture or the environment. The Executive scrambles to stretch a finite budget.
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Defend Neutrality.
If truth be told the long standing claim of neutrality by the southern Irish state is not all its made out to be. It is a fact that successive Irish governments have turned a blind eye to American war planes using Shannon as a stopping off point for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as carrying munitions to Israel for its genocidal war against the people of Palestine. US planes carrying political prisoners to interrogation and detention sites, where they were tortured, stopped at Shannon to refuel. A breach of international law. The government did nothing.
In recent months a significant and increasing number of articles have been published in the mainstream Dublin based media claiming that neutrality was fine in the past but is not fit for purpose in the world today. It is ‘morally degenerate’ wrote one writer. Getting rid of neutrality would make the Irish state appear more ‘grown-up’ said another. The language has become increasingly belligerent as the demand is made for a substantial increase in spending on weapons and for the Irish government to join the NATO alliance.
Support the Occupied Territories Bill
Last week An Taoiseach Micheál Martin is reported to have told an Israeli lobby group in New York that the Occupied Territories Bill is not on the legislative calendar. He is sticking rigidly to the line that there are constitutional difficulties that require the Bill to be significantly redrafted. The end result of this prevarication is that the Occupied Territories Bill remains in limbo.
While Micheál Martin stonewalls meaningful action against Israel that state’s genocide against the Palestinian people is unrelenting. Israel has clearly breached the January ceasefire multiple times. Since 15 January Israeli forces have killed over 150 civilians in the Gaza Strip, including women and children, charity workers and journalists. For almost three weeks now Israel has imposed a blockade on desperately needed aid from entering the devastated region. It has also turned off Gaza’s electricity preventing the desalination plants from providing water for the besieged residents.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
St. Patrick’s Day is an opportunity for the Irish people and diaspora to celebrate being Irish. In some parts of the world St. Patrick’s Day morphs into a week of celebrations. I hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick’s Day/week wherever you are.
This year Friends of Sinn Féin published an advertisement in several US based newspapers, including the New York Times urging Irish America to speak out on the right of the diaspora to vote in Irish Presidential elections and called on the Irish government to prepare for Irish Unity.
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Let’s welcome the World
It has been a very busy and eventful couple of weeks for all of those who speak and enjoy the Irish language and who have campaigned for decades against government policies of institutionalised exclusion, inequality and discrimination.
Two weeks ago, and after years of prevarication by successive British governments, the British Secretary of State finally commenced the legal process by which the last penal law – the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737 - will finally be repealed. This is an important milestone in the long struggle to ensure equality of language rights for gaeilgeoirí in the North. There is now an onus on the Justice Minister Naomi Long to bring forward effective guidelines in the courts that reflect the increasing numbers of citizens using Irish in their daily lives in our society.
Na Mná Abú.
I have been a life-long supporter of Antrim’s footballers and hurlers. And the Camógs as well. Colette played county back in the day. Back in another day I had a dream that I too might make the grade. But wee boy dreams faded into reality and alas it was not to be. I sometimes reflect on how different my Gaelic sporting life might have been in a different political dispensation. If only?
So, I have followed our county’s fortunes and misfortunes from the side-lines for over seventy years now. That’s a long time. I am one among many. Not all of us can be county stars. But we kept the faith on tough days out as well as on heady days in Casement and other county grounds and occasionally in Croke.
Opening the Gates of Hell
Late last week war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he was blocking humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip. His Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich applauded this decision and called for the cutting off of electricity and water. Within hours this was done. Smotrich went further and demanded the "opening the gates of hell on Gaza with a powerful, deadly and quick attack.”
UN Human rights experts accused Israel of "weaponised starvation" after the decision to block humanitarian aid. They asserted that Israel as the occupying power is obliged to ensure sufficient food, medical supplies and other relief services reached the people of Gaza and the west Bank. They accused Israel of weaponising aid by deliberately cutting vital supplies.
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Seachtain na Gaeilge
Seachtain na Gaeilge used to run for one week but because it was so popular it was extended. It now runs annually from 1 March to 17 March – St. Patrick’s Day.
Is í Seachtain na Gaeilge an ceiliúradh is mó den Ghaeilge agus Cultúr na hÉireann ar domhan. Bhí an oiread sin ráchairt uirthi gur síneodh amach chuig coicís í. Bíonn sí ar siúl ó 1 Márta go dtí 17 Márta - Lá Fhéile Pádraig, achan bhliain.
Seachtain na Gaeilge was founded in 1902 by Conradh na Gaeilge as part the Gaelic revival of that time. Initially Seachtain na Gaeilge was limited to the island of Ireland but today it is now a global phenomenon and the largest celebration of our language and culture here and overseas.
Seachtain is an opportunity to celebrate our native language and culture and to enjoy it all. I was lucky to attend the Belfast launch in An Cultúrlann on the Falls Road last week. I certainly enjoyed it. It was a great event. Bia blasta agus ceol milis. You could tell a new generation is here to take the language movement forward with confidence.
To read what's on in the festival, go to Seachtain na Gaelige le energia or cnag.ie
Death of Dafyyd Elis-Thomas
Next week the funeral will take place in Cardiff of Dafyyd Elis-Thomas the former leader of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh independence party, who died in February. Forty-four years ago Dafyyd was an MP in the British Parliament where he played a pivotal role in the 1981 hunger strike.
Bobby Sands commenced his hunger strike on 1 March 1981. He was to be followed in the weeks and months that followed by other blanket men. Five days after Bobby first refused food Frank Maguire, the Independent Republican MP for Fermanagh South Tyrone suddenly died of a heart attack. Following days of intense discussion, it was decided by Sinn Féin to stand Bobby Sands in the by-election. Harry West was the Unionist candidate.
When the result was announced on the 9 April in Enniskillen’s Technical College - “Sands, Bobby – Anti H-Block/Armagh Political Prisoner – 30,492; West, Harry – Unionist – 29,046” – history was made and the political landscape on the island of Ireland changed forever. Bobby was elected with a majority of 1447 on an 87% turnout.
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Brendan McFarlane
On Tuesday we buried our friend and comrade Brendan McFarlane. Bik texted me just over 2 weeks or so ago to say he was back in hospital. He had been battling cancer for some time. A few days later the medics stopped his treatment. There was nothing else they could do for him. Suddenly and unexpectedly he was gone. He died peacefully surrounded by his loving family.
My solidarity and sympathy to Lene, a mighty woman, and to their children Emma, Tomás and Tina, his brother Gerard and the wider family circle. His loss for them is immeasurable. For his countless friends and comrades his death is a deep blow.
Fáilte abhaile Leonard
Leonard Peltier was finally released from prison in Florida last week. The 80-year-old political prisoner had spent almost the last 50 years in prison protesting his innocence. Leonard is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and he now on his reservation in North Dakota. His family and friends gathered to welcome him home. After his release he said: “They may have imprisoned me but they never took my spirit!” and he thanked “all my supporters throughout the world who fought for my freedom.” Fáilte abhaile Leonard.
Taking A Stand.
The decision by Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald and Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill not to attend the St. Patrick’s Day events in the White House and the Speakers lunch on Capitol Hill, will undoubtedly upset some of our friends across Irish America. This is very understandable. Sinn Féin’s access to successive US administrations was won after decades of very hard work by many people across North America. Understandably they do not want to jeopardise or lose that influence. It is worth noting that in the past Sinn Féin has always attended White House events when invited, including during President Trump’s first term in office.
So the Sinn Féin decision was taken after much deliberation. The catalyst for this was the recent statements from President Trump in which he calls for the expulsion of over two million Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip, his refusal to countenance their return and his proposal that the United States of America will take over the region. The decision would have been the same had a democratic President called for the expulsion of two million Palestinians.
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The Re-interment of Frank Stagg.
Last week we remembered Frank Stagg who died on hunger strike in an English prison in February 1976.
Frank began his fourth and final hunger strike in December 1975. He died 62 days later. He last request was "to be buried next to my republican colleagues and my comrade, Michael Gaughan" who died on hunger strike two years earlier. Michael had been buried in Ballina with republican honours.
Faced with the prospect of another high-profile funeral of a republican hunger striker the plane carrying Frank Stagg’s coffin was diverted by the Irish Government from Dublin, where the Stagg family and friends were waiting, to Shannon. Frank’s body was hijacked and taken by helicopter to Ballina, where it was buried. A 24-hour guard was put in place and concrete was poured over it to prevent the family from exhuming the coffin.
Frank’s brother George later described how, when he took his mother to visit the grave, Special Branch officers took photographs of her as she knelt and prayed.
Slán Brendan.
This week came with the death of our comrade and friend, Bik McFarlane.
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My Internment by Roseleen Walsh
Roseleen Walsh is one of 36 women who were interned in the early 1970s. Her latest book – My Internment – tells the very personal story of her life as a young woman in west Belfast in the late 60s and early 70s. Of the constant pressure and danger of living under British occupation and of her time as an internee in Armagh Women’s Prison.
Roseleen has been writing for many years, including during her time in Armagh Prison. She is a writer of great skill including of poetry, plays and books. She is also a very determined individual as her account of her first days in Armagh makes clear. When her cell door was opened for the first time she remembers that “there before me was, not a mess, but a blank canvass. Immediately I knew white walls would suit me best for I intended making those walls a work of art! I would surround myself within the comfort of my own words. Since I was young, I had found it hard to express myself to others until I discovered that poetry was a wonderful way to articulate what I meant… The walls were to become like pages of a diary.”
Climate Crisis
January was a month of climate opposites. Storm Éowyn is now believed to have been one of the worst to ever hit the island of Ireland. It broke wind-speed records; forced the cancellation of flights and ferries; and within hours had cut power supplies to over one million households and businesses north and south. Tens of thousands were also left without water as treatment plants lost power.
Although last month Ireland was colder than usual January was still the hottest month ever recorded across the world. More worrying it is the 18th month out of the last 19 when the average global temperature was greater than that set by the world’s governments.
The World Stands at a Tipping Point
In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq by American and British forces and others in March 2003 Martin McGuinness and I warned Tony Blair and President Bush not to invade. We pointed out that it would be a breach of international law. At one particular meeting in Mr. Blair’s office in Downing Street Martin and I urged the British PM to learn the lessons of British involvement in Ireland and in other conflicts. We told him and his officials they were living in cloud cuckoo land; “if you go into Iraq it will be another Vietnam and it will be a huge mistake.”
One British official told us that it would all be over in a matter of months. Martin told him “... given the previous history of successive British military expeditions to Ireland, that certainly would not be my view of how the situation in Iraq is going to move in the next short while."
The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip and the pogroms against Palestinian towns and villages in the west Bank strike a similar note today and a lesson for the international community. The support of the British Government and the White House for the Zionist assaults on the Palestinian people is shameful. It is also, like the war in Iraq, short sighted and counter-productive.
Over 60,000 Gazans have been killed – mostly women and children and 80% of the infrastructure of Gaza has been destroyed; a thousand are dead in the west Bank; south Lebanon is ablaze; Israeli forces have moved deeper into Syria, and the US President is seeking to expel the Palestinian people of Gaza from their homeland. The world stands at a tipping point amid the real risk of a possible wider conflagration.
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Partitionism Rules.
Simon Harris has said that Irish unity is not a priority for him. That is self-evident. But for him to say so is at odds with the stated position of most senior Irish politicians including An Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Their position is one of verbalised adherence to the constitutional objective of unity. In other words, they are verbalised republicans. Rhetorical United Irelanders. Mr Harris doesn't even pay lip service to this. Some may think this clarity from him is good for the unity debate. And they have a point.
Simon Harris words reflect the reality of the position of successive governments. Thus far no Irish government has a strategy or a plan for unity. So unity is not only not a priority for Simon Harris. It is clearly not a government priority either.
The truth is he reflects a deep-rooted view within the southern establishment which sees partition as acceptable. For 100 years Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have run the southern state – in their own interests. One led the government. The other led the opposition. And every so often they would walk across the floor of Leinster House, play musical chairs and change places. Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. Now they are Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dum.
International support grows for Palestinian StruggleAs the Israeli state’s brutal assault on the rights of the Palestinian people continues in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank nine countries came together last Friday at The Hague, in the Netherlands, to inaugurate a new international alliance in support of Palestinians.
‘The Hague Group’ supports South Africa’s genocide case against the Israeli state at the International Court of Justice, and also seeks to maximise international diplomatic and legal action in support of Palestinian national and human rights.
OFF LINE.I ordered a pair of jeans on line recently. Why, by the way, do we say a pair of jeans? It’s the same with trousers. A pair of trousers is what we say. That means literally two trousers. Or does it? Maybe it’s a generational thing. Do younger people just say jeans? Or trousers? And why is it plural? Maybe because most jeans and trousers have two legs? A pair of them. So maybe that’s the answer to my question.
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