Léargas

Meitheamh 29th 09 THE LONG ROAD TO CLONES. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! What joy! What sheer unadulterated totally wonderful bloody joy! What a game! What a team! What a victory. I saw it in the Fiddlers Green Pub in San Francisco just before our big Unite Ireland Forum. Me and Mairtín óg and Benny and Richard. At 11 0 clock in the morning. We were joined by Paul and Seamus from Tir Éoghan. They comported themselves with the grace of princely Gaels. All Ireland champions. And they didn’t mind who knew it. Seamus is a good hearted young man from Coalisland. Paul a much older dude from the same parish. Paul told us maybe we would be better going some where else for coffee instead of wasting our time thinking we could beat Cavan. I told him we had our sights on Croke Park in September. Seamus laughed. I told him the old joke about Peter Canavan. You know the one? From the era before Tyrone were the Champions? When they were like Antrim. ‘What’s the difference between Peter Canavan and a Falls Roa...

Meitheamh 26th 09 POLITICAL FOOTBALLS AND PEACE PROCESSES. This blog comes to you from San Francisco. I have long given up the effort to persuade others that globe trotting is an enjoyable business. It is interesting. There is no doubt about that. But my jet lag has jet lag. That’s because we passed through two time zones – Richard says three – to get here. Or maybe four, he adds. I offered him a herbal sleeping tablet to ease the pain. ‘No’ he said ‘I don’t take sleeping tablets they make me too drowsy’. But anyway we are in San Francisco for the west coast United Ireland Forum which will star Fionnuala Flannigan, Bobby Ballagh, and Professor Ruan O’Donnell as well as hundreds of west coast activists, including John Burton, Chair of the Democratic Party in California who will moderate the event. The feedback from the New York Forum has been very positive. At least here in the USA. In Ireland it led to predictable attacks from unionists and the SDLP, as well as some negative commentar...

Myself and Fr. Des 22 Meitheamh 2009 AN SAGART MAITH. August 1969 was a watershed month for citizens of Ireland, and particularly for people living in the North, especially in Derry and Belfast. A series of protests across the six counties to relieve the people of the Bogside, under siege by the RUC and the B Specials, culminated in the Belfast pogroms when these forces attacked nationalist neighbourhoods particularly in Ardoyne and the Falls. Late one evening in August I was at the top of Springhill Avenue, in west Belfast with a small group of local people . There was widespread tension throughout the city and rumours of shootings and petrol bombings were rife. All was quiet in Springhill and the Upper Springfield. Then a car came up Springhill Avenue which was then open onto the Springfield Road. Our small group watched anxiously as the vehicle approached us. When it drew alongside and stopped we watched it cautiously. There was only one passenger, the driver. I approached him...

19 Meitheamh 2009. BACK TO PORRIDGE. Back in Belfast where the rain and bright sunshine are taking it in turns to razzle dazzle us. Back to news of mass evictions of Romanian families by ultra right groups in Belfast, to leaks about arms decommissioning by unionist paramilitary groups and rumours of continued fall out within unionism from Bairbre de Brún's spectacular election success here in the North. So what to blog about? This blog isn’t all or always about politics as regular readers will know. My preference would be to tell you about the baby sycamore which I found growing in the gutter. It now recovering in a little pot. Or about the pair of black birds who befriended me while I carried out this rather difficult and taxing task. But I’m not in the mood. The images of small children and their parents being shepherded from refuge to refuge is heartbreaking. The people who attacked them are mean people. None meaner. What possible threat are Romanian families to anyone? An...

From left to right; Pete Hamill; Brendan O'Leary; myself, Terry O'Sullivan; Brian Keenan. June 15th 2009 A GOOD DAY'S WORK. ‘This is an Assembly of the Irish American community’ one delegate declared to the large gathering in the Hilton Hotel on Saturday in New York. ‘An Assembly of the Irish American community’ he said ‘And what a community we are’. This blog agrees. That community was the Hilton in its myriad social and campaigning groups. Eight hundred activists from the east coast of the USA crowded into the large downtown hotel to plot a course forward in support of Irish unity. Renowned writer Pete Hamill chaired proceedings and Professor Brendan O'Leary, American Labour leader Terry O'Sullivan and former Beirut hostage Brian Keenan made contributions which were both informative and instructive before the ‘Assembly’ went into plenary session. This blog congratulates everyone involved. It was a great event. For those who don’t watch these matters the New York c...

11 Meitheamh 2009. MY FLIGHT FOR IRISH FREEDOM. There are many things I do not understand. Flying is one of them. That’s not strictly true. I sort of a way understand birds flying. And insects. They are made to fly. They have wings. So if they beat their wings or flap them or do whatever it is that they do to get airborne there is some sort of logic in that. There is even a logic to angels flying. If you believe in angels. Or fairies. If you believe in fairies. I also have some sort of an understanding about wind and air currents and such like. Nothing too profound or scientific but enough to appreciate that if you have a kite or even a glider that you can ride the warm thermals with it or in it. Sort of a way. There is some sort of logic in that as well. Even some seeds, like sycamore or dandelions, can do it. Though I must confess that I have never been in a glider and I’m not very successful with kites. But that’s not the point. The point is that there is no logic whatsoever, as fa...

Bairbre de Brún and the SF team after the result was announced June 8th 09 Building an alliance for change now This blog has just left the count centre in Belfast. Bairbre de Brún has been elected on the first count. Bairbre is the first republican to top the poll in a European election. That’s a significant result given that it was the DUP who made topping the poll an issue during the election campaign. Well done Bairbre. Comhgairdheas. It’s great that a republican woman has achieved this honour for Sinn Féin. I have no doubt that Bairbre will use this new mandate to continue to represent all citizens on the basis of equality and fairness. Well done also to everyone else who stood for our party in local elections in the South, in the two by-elections and in the European contest. Thanks especially to everyone who voted for Sinn Féin. Tá muid fíor buíoch daoibhse. First count results I returned to Belfast in the early hours of this morning. The last of the local government counts in the...

June 1st 09 Organise for Irish Reunification By this time next week the election results north and south will be known. At this time Sinn Féin is set to retain our EU seat in the north. In Dublin every vote will count but people know if they want to take a seat off Fianna Fáil and tell the government that its days are numbered then the only candidate who can do that is Mary Lou MacDonald. Mary Lou is now sitting at 15% in the polls. In the Ireland South constituency Toiréasa Ferris is polling extremely well and has captured the support particularly of young voters. So too in the North West with Pádraig McLochlainn while in Leinster Sinn Féin’s two candidates Kathleen Funchion and Tomás Sharkey will increase our vote by around a third. The fate of the Irish government could hang – pardon the pun – on the outcome of these contests. The big challenge is not for the politicians. The big challenge is for the electorate. If citizens can be motivated to realise that election day is their day ...