Remembering Martin | Beauty an Oileáin | GFA 25 with Sue Ramsey
Talking about Martin McGuinness Tuesday was the sixth anniversary of the death of my friend and comrade Martin McGuinness. I travelled to the Derry City Hotel that evening for a public conversation about my relationship with Martin with Roy Greenslade. Roy is an author, broadcaster and journalist who during a long and distinguished career has held a series of senior positions in many of London’s main newspapers. Beauty an Oileáin Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of Claddagh Re...
26 Maalis 202318min
GFA25 Gerry Kelly | St Patrick | Bono's Book
Celebrating St. Patrick and the GFA This week Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald and Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill will be in the USA for the St. Patrick’s Day events. St. Patrick’s Day or week is regular part of the annual calendar for the Irish diaspora everywhere but especially in the USA. Mary Lou and Michelle and Conor Murphy will engage in an extensive round of diplomatic talks with senior political leaders on Capitol Hill. They will brief them on the current situation and atten...
19 Maalis 202315min
GFA 25 | Macalla na mBán
Macalla na mBán. This week’s column is dedicated to women. It includes a guest piece by Bairbre de Brún, former MLA and Minister. Wednesday was International Women’s Day. It is a day set aside to celebrate the advances of women and their contribution to society and to draw attention to the inequalities and injustices still experienced by them. In the last week three woman friends of mine died. They were Rita O Hare, Bridie Crowe and Marie McBride. I extend my sympathy and solidarity ...
12 Maalis 202316min
Moore Street | Decision Time | Wounded Knee | Horror in Palestine
The Story of Moore Street Last week the Moore Street Preservation Trust held an Urgent Public Meeting in Liberty Hall in Dublin to discuss the crisis surrounding the future development of the Moore St. Battlefield site and the threat posed to these historic 1916 laneways by a developer. The meeting was chaired by Christina McLoughlin who is the niece of Sean McLoughlin. He was appointed Commandant General of the Republican forces in Dublin after James Connolly was wounded. A short fil...
5 Maalis 202321min
Decision Time | Unity is Our Future | Stand Up | Letting Sleping Dogs Lie
Make Your Mind Up Time. As I write this column the rumours are rife that the European Commission and the British government are close to an agreement – maybe – on the Protocol. It could be this week –it could be next week – it could be tomorrow. It may be done by the time you get to read this. The British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak added to the speculation by jetting into the North last Friday to brief the parties. Watching the spin and manoeuvring my instincts and experience su...
26 Helmi 202318min
Celebrating Activism | Prison Books | Brendan Behan
Celebrating with Alex and Fra Republicans don’t say thank you often enough to each other. Fra McCann and Alex Maskey are 50 year activists. That is they have both been involved in the struggle for over 50 years. The two of them stepped down from the Assembly two years ago. Fra was replaced by Aisling Reilly and Alex by Danny Baker. Alex still remains the Ceann Comhairle – Speaker of the Assembly – until such times as the DUP agree to elect a new Speaker. Last Friday evening several hundred ...
19 Helmi 202318min
Moore St | Prison Books | Have your Say
Moore St belongs to the people The importance of the Moore Street 1916 Battlefield site was best summed up by Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins who said: “This area belongs to no one individual, group or party. It belongs to the people”. If you want to protect this hugely important part of our revolutionary history with its many exceptional links to the dramatic events in Dublin at Easter 1916 then support the Urgent Public Meeting being held by the Moore Street Preservation Trust in ...
12 Helmi 202324min
Duke of York | Bloody Sunday | Citizens Assembly
The Duke of York The recent cold snap and the sniffles of many of my associates reminded me of when I was a young curate in The Duke of York pub in Commercial Court in Belfast in the mid 1960s. In those days a hot whiskey was the cure for colds of all kinds. In the Dukes a ‘Hot Coleraine’ was the much prized preference of hot whiskey drinkers whether they had a cold or not. But in the winter it was regularly utilised to see off the ravages of Belfast chills for all and sundry. B...
5 Helmi 202321min
