Léargas

  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 19...

  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. Another rebel woman...

  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 you...

  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.  That was the  Ulster Senior Football Championship  quarter-final between   Antrim  and  Monaghan .  Since then the site has been derelict. A sullen lump of waste ground. Antrim Gaels have been denied the use of our county ground and a generation of young athletes are being denied the right to play there. It is a disgrace.  The history of failure to build the new Casement and all the twists and turns, of mistakes and upsets and set-backs, would take too long to record here. But what is for sure is that the delay now rests with the Minister of Communities Gordon Lyons,the DUP ...

  Protect the Assembly Rooms   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. It was a time of change, of great ideas and of hope for a new future free from England’s cl...

  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. Of course the love of his life Bernie, and their children and grandchildren and his siblings were the ones most effected but yet in their grief they knew that Martin mattered to a lot of people, particularly from his other family. His republican family. And they let us grieve with them. Grief is the price we pay for love. There are layers of feelings, unpredictable and unique to each of us personally as we adjust to the absence of ...