Afleveringen
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Nollag Shona Daoibhse.
I enjoy Christmas time. It a time for family and friends and for relaxation. For children and Dadaí na Nollaig and presents. For visiting family. For good food – often too much good food - good craic and sitting at home watching a movie, listening to music and reading a good book. It’s a time for remembering those who are no longer with us or for visiting those sick or in hospital.
60 Years A Growing.As this year draws to a close it strikes me that I first became an activist sixty years ago. It was in September 1964. I was a student in St. Mary’s Grammar School in Barrack Street at the bottom of Divis Street. On my way to school I noticed that a shop front in Divis Street was plastered with election posters for the upcoming British General Election. Liam McMillan, a local republican had his election office there. He displayed the Irish national flag in the shop window. The flag was illegal and the RUC, at the behest of Ian Paisley, an up and coming demagogue, using crowbars and pickaxes smashed their way into the election office and seized the flag. The republicans replaced it and there were a few days of street disturbances. The Divis Street Riots.
2024 – A defining year for UnityLast February the North’s political institutions were re-established. This was an important development but more crucially Michelle O’Neill was elected as First Minister of the Executive. This was a historic moment in the constitutional transformation that commenced with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
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Release Leonard Peltier
Last week I posted a Christmas card to Leonard Peltier. I dont know if he will receive it. Or the numerous other notes and cards I have sent over the years. At 80 years of age Leonard, a native American rights activist and victim of a miscarriage of justice; has been imprisoned for 48 years. This makes him one of the longest serving political prisoners in the world.
Hunger for Justice
Well done to all of those – 1600 at the last count – who last week participated in the Hunger for Justice fast - Troscadh ar son na Córa – in support of the people of Palestine. Over €100,000 has been raised. As well as individual contributions scores of vigils and protests were held across the island of Ireland.
People want to talk about UnityOn Monday Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald TD joined National Party Chairperson Declan Kearney, in publishing the report of the work of the party’s Commission on the Future of Ireland. The Commission was established to undertake a grassroots engagement by providing citizens with a space in which they can have their say on the future of Ireland.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Protecting our environment
Last week the Northern Executive took welcome and decisive action to protect our environment, our health and jobs by committing to a ban on all forms of onshore petroleum exploration and production, including fracking. This decision is part of the Executive’s commitment to tackle our dependence on fossil fuels. Conor Murphy, the Economy Minister announced that, following drafting and consultation, he will be introducing legislation next year to block licensing applications.
Palestinians treated as subhuman – Amnesty Report
Last week Amnesty International published a landmark and damning report on Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip. The report entitled, ‘You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, documents how the Israeli state has “carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza.”
Hunger for JusticeI want to ask your support for an important initiative aimed at drawing attention to the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and also to raise much needed funds for UNWRA. This columnist is committing to join the Hunger for Justice - Troscadh ar son na Córa initiative. This is a 24-hour fast taking place across Ireland on the 12th December, 2024. The event is being organised by former republican hunger strikers, including Laurence McKeown and Jackie McMullan, in conjunction with Nenagh Friends Of Palestine. All funds raised will go to UNRWA. The aim is to get at least 1,000 people across the island of Ireland to participate.
Anyone wishing to donate to it can do so at:gofundme.com/f/hunger-for-justice-gaza
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The Numbers Game.
As I pen these lines it is too soon to attempt a deep analysis of the Leinster House election. Not all the counts have concluded although there is enough to form general impressions of the outcome. I outline them in no particular order.
Christmas in Long Kesh 1976It’s three weeks to Christmas. The decorations, inside and outside of the houses and shops. and the Christmas trees in all of their finery are everywhere as we prepare for the festive season. It puts me in mind of another Christmas which was not so jolly but where the spirt of friendship and family rose above the place we were in.
Solidarity with the Palestinian PeopleLast Friday – 29 November – was the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. It was a day set aside by the United Nations General Assembly in 1977 to mark the date in 1947 when the United Nations Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II)). The 1977 resolution was intended to encourage UN member states to give the widest support and publicity as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The United Nations designates such days as a means of raising issues of concern and to mobilise political will and resources to address global problems.
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SINN FÉIN CAN WIN THIS ELECTION.
During the General Election campaign I have been in several constituencies. In Dublin, in Drogheda, Dundalk, and Donegal and some other places in between. People are clearly fed up with the cost of living, the crisis in public services, especially in health and housing, childcare and disability services.
Sanctions urgently needed against IsraelLast Wednesday was World Children’s Day. It was first established in 1954 as Universal Children's Day and is celebrated on 20 November each year to promote international togetherness, awareness among children worldwide, and improving children's welfare. It is also the date in 1959 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. It is also the date in 1989 when the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Solidarity and Condolences to the family of Pat DonaghyAs I finish this column I got the sad news that Pat Donaghy has died. Originally from Tremoge near Carrickmore in County Tyrone Pat emigrated to the United States in the 1950s. Like many others he went looking for work because work was sparse for northern nationalists in unionism’s apartheid northern state. He was in his late teens. His older sister Nora sponsored him. Pat was the sixth of fifteen children. Phyllis, Peggy and Bella along with Nora had already emigrated. Other siblings born after Pat and the older sisters also emigrated.
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The local and the national
I have been doing a wee bit of canvassing in the General Election in the South. The response has been positive. There are clearly some who see election campaigns, including this one, as opportunities to write Sinn Féin’s obituary. Sorry to disappoint. Like all parties fighting elections there will be moments of gain and moments of pain. That is in the nature of electoral politics especially in volatile times. However, if your political ideology and the leaderships connection with the base is strong then all challenges can be overcome. That’s one of Sinn Féin’s strengths.
Mind Your Language.Throughout Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinians countless social media posts by Israeli politicians, officials and its occupying forces have highlighted the racism that underpins Zionism and that is being used to dehumanise the Palestinian people.
Lá breithe RichardRichard is seventy-two. He reached that lofty age on Sunday. If he lasts for a few more months he will have lived longer than any of his ancestors in his branch of the historic clann of McAuley. That’s quite an achievement. Congratulations
RG. I hope you live forever.
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Time for a Change of Government.
The southern general election was called last Friday. In just over two weeks’ time 174 Teachtaí Dála (TDs) will be elected to the Dáil – an increase of 14 over the number elected in the 2020 general election.On Sunday I was in Dublin for the Save Moore Street rally but afterwards I was in Caledon Road and St. Mary’s Road in East Wall with a Sinn Féin canvas team urging voters to give their number 1 vote to Mary Lou McDonald and their number 2 vote to Janice Boylan. The response was very good.
Judicial Review lodged in defence of Moore StreetThe battle to save the 1916 Moore Street Battlefield site has entered a new and critical phase with the decision by the Moore Street Preservation Trust to seek leave for a judicial review of the decision by An Bord Pleanála to allow the developer’s plan to proceed. Almost two decades after the campaign to protect this important historic part of the Easter 1916 revolutionary story the campaign has reached a decisive moment.
New Mural in support of PalestiniansAt the weekend a new mural was unveiled in Andersonstown in west Belfast highlighting the shared experience of struggle and solidarity between the peoples of Ireland and Palestine. Well done to Marty Lyons and Michael Doherty and the organisers.
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Prison Poems by Bobby SandsIn a recent interview Christy Moore remarked that the death of Bobby Sands robbed us of a great writing talent. Christy was praising the quality of the work Bobby created in the harsh conditions he endured. He was making the point that you can only imagine what Bobby might have gone on to produce in different circumstances where his creative imagination could have been nurtured and not repressed. But of course this was not to be. Bobby led the second hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh and he was the first of the ten men who fasted to death in that awful summer of 1981.
Rally to Defend Moore St this weekendThe campaign to protect the 1916 Moore St Battlefield site from demolition is moving up a gear. As regular readers will know An Bord Pleanála - the planning authority in the South – gave the go ahead recently for the Hammerson development plan which will see much of this historic site reduced to rubble.
Irish government fails PalestiniansMore massacres. More children dead and maimed. More civilians killed by the Israeli government in a series of deadly assaults in Gaza and Lebanon. Health workers, journalists, and children continue to be the preferred targets for a right wing Israeli government that is being armed, funded and empowered by its western allies.
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Cage Eleven. This coming weekend O’Brien Press are republishing my book – Cage 11 - about my experience of life in Long Kesh between August 1975 and February 1977. Available from most good bookshops including from www.sinnfeinbookshop.com and An Fhuiseog 55 Falls Road www.thelarkstore.ie No Parking remember Father Des Wilson many moons ago lamenting the narrowness of streets in Turf Lodge and Ballymurphy. “The City Planners don’t think the working class should have motor cars” he said one day as we tried to manoeuvre our way by tightly packed vehicles in Ballymurphy Drive.
Sanctions Now In April 2009 as part of a Sinn Féin delegation I entered the Gaza Strip. The blockade of the area by Israel was two years old at that point. The UNWRA staff, school teachers, doctors, university students, elected representatives and workers we met were dignified and courageous, quiet but resolute. They were the survivors of an Israeli siege and a military incursion in 2008/09 that had left many dead and key facilities devastated. From the minute we passed through the Erez Crossing into Gaza under the gaze of Israeli watchtowers and the huge security wall that surrounds the enclave my overwhelming sense was of entering into a huge open air prison. Today I am horrified at what continues to unfold each day in that place. The Gaza City I saw 15 years ago is gone. -
ON Saturday night I was privileged to attend the oíche mhór Ghlór na Móna in Belfast’s City Hall. The event was to celebrate twenty years of this amazing Irish language initiative made up mostly of and aimed at young people in the Upper Springfield area. It was a great night. Packed out with young Gaeilgeoirí. But there was also a good clatter of veteran campaigners. The pioneers who gave us the Shaws Road Gaeltacht, An Chultúrlann, Lá, Raidió Fáilte, An Meánscoil (now Coláiste Feirste), an Cheathrú Ghaeltachta and many other wonderful cultural and communal creations, including a thriving Irish medium education sector.Protest and book launch
Moore St
THE threat by English developer Hammerson to demolish much of the 1916 Moore Street Battlefield site in Dublin was given the green light by An Bord Pleanála several weeks ago. The Moore Street Preservation Trust, which is led by the relatives of the signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, is currently discussing the legal options available to it to challenge this decision.Roy remained unbowed and unbroken
Roy Walsh
ROY Walsh was born on November 1, 1948. He died on October 16 after a long illness, which he faced with the same grit and humour that he had faced life. -
Ethel Kennedy
It was with sadness I heard last week of the death of Ethel Kennedy, the wife of assassinated US Senator Robert Kennedy. She was aged 96. Ethel Kennedy was with her husband in Los Angeles in 1968 when he was shot and killed. She was left to rear 11 children. It was a huge blow to her and to the family. Ethel’s response was to found the Robert F. Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights, along with her brother-in-law Sen. Teddy Kennedy. The Centre advocates for gun control and human rights. She was also active in the Special Olympics, and in her eighties she took part in 2016 in a demonstration in support of higher pay for farmworkers in Florida.
Irish America’s role in Irish Unity
Last week Friends of Sinn Féin in the USA organised the first of a planned series of public discussions on Irish Unity and the role of Irish America and the USA in achieving that objective. The American events – and those in Canada that will come later – are mirrored on the People’s Assemblies organised by Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland. They are intended to engage with the diaspora and others in North America and to help inform the work of the Commission and of Sinn Féin. -
Leo’s unity words are welcome
Irish Unity is the big idea that will positively transform society on this island. Its popularity is growing and the economic, political, and social arguments in support of it are advancing each day. The recent interventions by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are an example of this. In June at the Ireland’s Future event in Belfast he said that the goal of a united Ireland had to be more than a “political aspiration.” It needed to become a “political objective.”
Seeds For The Future.
This is the season for tree planting. That is for planting bare root trees. Any month with an ‘R’ in it is the general rule for tree planters, though there is always a debate on whether planting should happen before or after the risk of frost. As an ad hoc tree planter who struggles to get free time I think September or October are fairly safe even in these muddled climate changing times. I try to plant native broad leaf species though some like the Beech or Horse Chestnut are here for so long that they are probably naturalised by now.
It didn’t begin a year ago
At the weekend millions of people across the world took to the streets in solidarity with the people of Palestine and those of Lebanon. The decision by the governments of the USA, Germany, Britain and the EU to back Israel has unleashed a vicious war on the Middle East. Monday marked one year since the 7 October attack by Hamas. The nature of that attack was and remains unacceptable. But the viciousness and brutality of the Israeli response has been unparalleled in modern times. -
WIN.
This year’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis last weekend was full of enthusiasm and passion with great speeches covering every issue imaginable and the delegates voting through policy motions that will help shape Sinn Féin politics in the time ahead. The speeches, particularly from Michelle O’Neill and other national leaders demonstrated the strength and relevance of the party across our island.
South Africa Supports Irish Unity.
Irish Republicans have had a long and enduring relationship with the African National Congress. In 1995 I travelled to South Africa to meet its senior team of negotiators who successfully achieved an end to apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as President. In the midst of the negotiations around the Good Friday Agreement some of those senior figures travelled to Ireland to hold public meetings and go into the prisons to talk about their experience of negotiations. That relationship has remained strong over the years thanks in part to the hard work of Declan Kearney, Sinn Fein Party Chairperson
.Irish government must take a stand against Israel
Last week most of the governments of the world turned their back on Israel as Benjamin Netanyahu took to the rostrum at the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York. Netanyahu claimed that “no army has done what Israel is doing to minimise civilian casualties” and as he described the United Nations as an “anti-semitic swamp” and an “anti-Israel Flat Earth Society,” scores of UN delegates got up and walked out. Regrettably, the Irish government representatives stayed. -
Moore St. Demolition Gets Green Light
The battle to save the iconic 1916 Moore Street Battlefield site has been ongoing for over 20 years. During that time there have been a series of plans by developers, appeals against those plans, court cases, protests and sit-ins. Last week, in an appalling decision An Bord Pleanála (ABP) – the Planning Authority in the Irish State – ruled on the remaining appeals and published its recommendations on the future development of the site.
Máire Ferguson
Every week seems to bring the death of the last of that generation who kept freedoms flame lit in the twilight decades of the republican struggle from the 1950s on. Emmett O Connell from the South Bronx was one of these. Tá sé ar slí an fhirrne anios. So was Máire Ferguson. -
Casement Must Be Built Now.
British government policy toward Ireland has long been dictated by Britain’s strategic self-interests. From the conquest of Ireland nine centuries ago to partition the needs of the people of Ireland have played no meaningful part in the decision making processes of a British state that focusses primarily on the interests of England and the English economy. Consequently, Labour and Tory governments have each ensured that funding from Westminster has never been adequate to deal with the many social and economic demands of society here. The North – denied our right to our own fiscal powers - is a partitioned backwater that has consistently been at the bottom of London’s agenda.
Sean Brown
The refusal of the British to hold a public Inquiry into the killing of Sean Brown is also particularly reprehensible. At the inquest it was revealed that 25 people, including state agents, had been linked to Mr Brown's murder and that surveillance on a key suspect – Mark Fulton - was suspended the night before the murder and reinstated the following day.
Prepare for Unity
This column makes no apology for believing the people of the island of Ireland have the right to self-determination. But there is now a growing body of public opinion beyond Irish republicans who believe that the current constitutional arrangements are not working. On the contrary it is self-evident – as evidenced by the recent decisions - that the union with Britain works to our disadvantage. We therefore need to honestly, respectfully, and publicly encourage a conversation that looks beyond the current deeply flawed constitutional arrangements and examine the enormous potential that Irish Unity offers. -
The Far Right and Social Media
There has been a significant increase in recent times in far right racist, islamophobic and hate attacks on social media. The purpose of these has been to promote a climate of fear through a range of conspiracy theories from climate change, to migration and asylum seekers, to direct interference in elections. Sinn Féin and Friends of Sinn Féin (FoSF) in the USA have become a particular target for these social media accounts. The most consistent themes are that ‘Ireland is full’, ‘Sinn Féin are traitors’, ‘Sinn Féin favours immigrants over the Irish’, and a wide variety of islamophobic and racist comments.
DeJa Vous
‘As soon as the kids go back to school the sun comes out’ your man mused.
‘It’s always the same,’ he continued, ‘Rain during the holidays and they are cooped up inside playing their devices and all the rest of it. Then school starts again and the sun is splitting the trees and the poor children can’t get out to enjoy it. Stuck in the classroom looking out at the sun.’ -
Champion Palestinian Self-determination
In less than five weeks the genocidal war by the Israel government against the Palestinian people will enter his second year. Having ruthlessly and cruelly waged war against the Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip for 11 months Israel’s war machine has now shifted to a full blown pogrom against the Palestinian people in the occupied territory of the west Bank. Violence from the Israeli military, and from settlers eager to steal Palestinian land and water, had already seen over 600 Palestinians killed in the west Bank since last October. Six hostages died also executed, it appears, in Gaza hours before Israeli forces reached them. All this must be brought to an end. That means dialogue.
Two Good Women Gone
The recent deaths of Nell McCafferty and Edna O’Brien sparked a period of deserved and fulsome praise across the media for these two outstanding Irish women. I am sure this was a consolation for their families and friends and I extend my condolences and sympathy to them all. -
The 94 Cessation
The IRA cessation is 30 years old this Saturday. That Wednesday morning on 31 August 1994 two journalists – Barney Rowan from the BBC and Eamon Mallie from Downtown Radio – arrived at The Patio Restaurant in the Kennedy Centre. It’s where 26 West is now. They met a woman republican activist who took from her pocket a small scrap of paper – a comm – on which was written the IRA statement announcing a “complete cessation of all military operations”. While there had been significant speculation over the previous months of the possibility of a ceasefire the enormity of what was being read to them - very slowly because Mallie doesn’t have shorthand - was not lost on both.
Another Look Back at Féile 24
Last week’s column reviewed aspects of West Belfasts Féile An Phobail - Féile24. In particular, the Debates and Discussions elements. It also foolishly committed me to looking back at other aspects of this year’s events. I say foolishly with good reason. The Féile has so many dimensions it is impossible to do justice to them all. Six Hundred and thirty six events in 11 days. Events for families, youth, communities, women. Including Art, Tours and Walks, Theatre, Classes, Irish Language gigs, Comedy, Food and Drink, Sport, Health and International Affairs. Literary events, the Environment. There were also Trad sessions and loads of music. So mindful of the multifarious get togethers that are omitted in this piece I am going to conclude my Féile retrospective by dealing only with music in the park.
Opinions, Interviews Life Stories by James Woods
Seamus Woods is a gifted writer. This is his second book His first one, Hard Times. Good Times And The Celtic Tiger was published in 2011. I enjoyed it immensely. James brings his own unique style and insights to his writing. He is a natural story teller. He is also a long time dedicated writer of letters to the papers. Particularly on political affairs of the day. That’s how he started. In London. In 1987. Those were turbulent days in Anglo Irish history. -
Féile 24
I thought I would reflect on some aspects of Féile 24 in this week’s column. In particular the debates and discussions. First of all I’m sure all Féile enthusiasts agree that this was an outstanding Féile. The debates and discussions in particular were of a very high standard and variety and audiences and speakers had a very special treat this year at their Saint Mary's mecca on the Falls Road.
Advancing the case for Irish Unity
Lá breithe shona do Choimisiún Shinn Féin ar Thodhchaí na hÉireann - Happy birthday to Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland. In the summer of 2022 Sinn Féin established the Commission to advance Irish Unity through a grassroots consultation process nationally and internationally. The strap line for all of the events – Have Your Say – highlights the core aim of the Commission. It is about people having their say on the shape and composition of a new Ireland. Declan Kearney MLA is Chair of the Commission and Lynn Boylan MEP is the Vice Chair. -
Kneecap
I’m a big fan of Kneecap. From the time they were called NÍ CEAPAINN – a clever use of the Irish phrase and a play on the English words Kneecapping. Ní Ceapainn means ‘I don’t reckon’ or ‘I don’t think so’. For example, in ‘An ceapainn tú go bhfuil seo ceart?’ – ‘Do you reckon this is right? Ní ceapainn. ‘I don’t reckon’. Or ‘I don’t think so.’ Anyway it soon morphed into KNEECAP. As part of a clever and provocative name recognition ploy. That’s my recollection anyway of the origin of the name of this trio of Rappers and I’m sticking by this wee bit of musical history.
Maureen Wilson – a formidable woman
Maureen Wilson was 93 when she died in July. She was one of those countless women and men who over seven decades was a stalwart supporter and activist of Irish republicanism. It was a part of her DNA. When she died Maureen was a member of the Andersonstown Martyrs Sinn Féin Cumann.
Gaza – Don’t Avert your eyes
As I write this week’s column the merciless Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian people of Gaza continues unabated. A new order from the Israeli military this Monday morning instructs thousands of Palestinians in the city of Hamad in West Khan Younis to evacuate. They have no food and no water and nowhere to go that is safe. - Laat meer zien
