Palestine Must Be Free | Oireachtas na Samhna | Liam Mellows and the Irish Revolution – ‘a Very Important Book’

Stardust families demand truth The inquest into the Stardust disaster opened in Dublin last week. The list of the dead from that terrible event in February 1981 is heartbreakingly long. The families of the 48 young people who died have been reading poignant pen portraits of their loved ones into the record of the inquest. All of those who were killed were aged between 16 and 26. Over two hundred others were injured Republican Women negotiators. The considerable media coverage of...

7 Maj 202317min

Agreement 25 The three days of the conference to mark Agreement 25 at Queens University, a quarter of a century after the Good Friday Agreement, was an opportunity to meet again many of those who were there when the Agreement was thrashed out in 1998. I was particularly happy to see George Mitchell. He was in great form and for me his speech was the highlight of conference. Lucid, reasoned, futuring and compelling. The absence of John Hume, Ian Paisley, Martin McGuinness, David Trimbl...

30 Apr 202315min

Standing up for rights Among those who attended the Easter Sunday commemoration in Belfast two weeks ago was John Montgomery. I haven’t seen John in many years and it was a delight to meet him again. John is originally from St. James’ in west Belfast.Thirty years ago John was the Chairperson of the Ballyfermot Community Association. Those were different times. Political censorship and the demonisation of Republicans was entrenched in government policy North and South. Collusion between ...

23 Apr 202318min

Back in the USA The 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement has attracted considerable national and international interest in recent weeks. Part of this involved me travelling last week once again to the USA. It must be four years since I was last there. While a lot has changed politically in that time both here and in the U.S. some things never change – among them the multiple stamping in red capitals of SSSS (Secondary Security Screening Selection) on our boarding pass...

16 Apr 202318min

A special podcast by Gerry Adams part 2. Marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Gerry’s guests include Mitchel McLaughlin, Bairbre De Brún and Gerry Kelly who all involved in the negotiations at that time..

10 Apr 202339min

I am writing my notes for this week's podcast in New York. Richard and I were there last weekend working on my remarks for Monday night when President Bill Clinton and I will share reflections on the Good Friday Agreement negotiations and developments since then. I will return to this in next week’s column. President Clinton played a critical role in the build-up to the Agreement, encouraged and supported by Irish America. He was at the end of the phone as agreement was reached and has...

9 Apr 202320min

Myself, Mitchel McLaughlin, Bairbre De Brún and Gerry Kelly who all involved in the negotiations at that time, reflect on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

6 Apr 202345min

The Good Friday Agreement protects everyone At the beginning of the month Jeffrey Donaldson established a panel, which includes Peter Robinson, Arlene Foster and some business and legal people, to advise on the DUP’s approach to the Windsor Framework. Some have interpreted this as Donaldson buying time until the other side of the local government elections on 18 May. Others believe that the panel will provide Donaldson with the fig leaf he needs to buy into Protocol 2.0, accept the Wi...

2 Apr 202319min