A QUIET CHRISTMAS.

A QUIET CHRISTMAS.


The goose was quartered expertly. Your man has that ability. Learnt he says in the days before he became a revolutionary. When he had a life he says. In between Fleadh Ceoil and a short stint as a civil servant, he served his time at the butchering. In those days apprenticeships meant something. He says.

Wee Boots was well pleased with the goose. He didn’t pass any remarks on how well it was quartered. Which is just as well, seeing as he got the biggest quarter. As well as a very fine ham. And a goodly chunk of corned beef. And some wonderful soup.

Wee Boots was dressed as a Bedouin. He was holding court – or whatever Bedouins do when the Bedouins receive guests - in the front room. Me and your man let on not to notice his attire. We presented our gifts. Wee boots was delighted with the savouries. He served us a cup of camomile and a forkful of pickled red cabbage.

He and his brother were discussing the merits of thermal wear. Particularly tops. His brother didn’t have bottoms. But he had a new thermal simmet fresh from New York courtesy of Wee Boots’ daughter and her wise man from the west. But no bottoms. Although he is on a promise. Of a new pair for the summer. He didn’t seem to mind. He was more concerned about the situation in Korea.

‘They are all set to have a go at each other’ Wee Boots was saying.

‘The Chinese would be wise not to be sucked into that’ his brother said.

‘They have too much sense for that’ Wee Boots declared.

He was nibbling on the goose leg. Every so often he sneaked a morsel of pickled red cabbage of my fork when he thought I wasn’t looking.

‘Every time capitalism is in trouble somebody starts a war somewhere. No money for hospitals or schools but they don’t be long getting money for missiles.’

‘This year cud be very interesting’ his brother agreed.

Your man and I sipped on our camomiles.

‘We had a great dinner Wee Boots’ this blog said during a break in the conversation.

‘So did we’ Wee Boots replied. ‘every thing was great’.

Your man said nothing. Camomile was grand but he needed the hair of the dog. The morning after the night before the hair of the dog is your only cure. So we didn’t stay long.

Saint Stephens Day – or Lá na Dreoilin – when the boys of Bearna Straide and the late Steve MacDonogh go hunting for the wran, is a day for reflection and spiced beef. Or the last quarter of the goose. Or the cure. So we left.

Wee Boots left us to the door and embraced the two of us gently and solemnly. Your man and this blog still hadn’t mentioned his Bedouin gear.

We bowed Btowards him with a certain formal stiffness. The two of us were overwhelmed by the majesty of his bearing. So we untied our camels and rode off into the thaw. In silence.

NOLLAIG SHONA DAOIBH

NOLLAG SHONA DAOIBH.

It was the night before Christmas
And all through the house
Not a creature was stirring
Not even a mouse.

That’s not the case in this house. Between one thing and the other no self respecting mouse would even dare to stir here. Its bedlam. But bedlam of a goodly kind. The bedlam created by the small persons in my life. Especially on the night before Christmas. Or to be exact the day before Christmas. By now they are in Tír na nÓg dreaming of Dadai Na Nollag coming on his reindeers with lots of goodies.

Today we ventured forth together. Out in the hard cold of an early glacial afternoon. It was great craic. Anna especially – all seventeen months of her wrapped up like a native of the Artic - slipping and sliding and refusing to wear gloves. And Drithle like a gazelle whizzing ahead of us while Luisne explores the terrain with the zeal of a five year old middle sister.

Et moi? Big boots, ear muffs and thermal undergarments are your only man as I learned from Todler and big Mick in the cages of Long Kesh. Mick and Todler were great guys to do time with. We spent a Christmas in the punishment block together. That was the time we were cutting our way through the razor wire and crawling out of the Kesh towards the MI and freedom. Except we got caught. And badly beaten for our trouble. But not bate, as your man would say.

And that was before the winter of 78.

So a walk on the wintery wild side with three young women is wee buns to this blog. We skated and skied and skidded and pirouetted without a care in the world. It reminded me of the big snow in 1959. Or thereabouts. When me and Joe Magee made our way one early morning from Divismore Park and across the Brickfields and the Pithead to Kennedys Bakery in Beechmount for pillowcases of bread and buns. We were ten or eleven years old. I must have rescued Joe a dozen times. He kept disappearing into snowdrifts. I remember to this day how the snow transformed the Pithead. An abiding memory. It truly was a winter wonderland. Instead of a rubbish dump.

We ate most of the buns on the way back. Well, the Diamonds and Soreheads and Flies Graveyards and Paris buns. Or at least Joe did. I didn’t tell any of the young persons in my life any of this. They think I spoof a lot. And they don’t even read the Indo, the Sunday Tribune, The Herald or the Irish News. So I just went with the flow on this fine brittle icicled Christmas Eve.

Until one of them wanted carried. There is no plan B when that happens. Especially when it is Anna. Especially if you are outnumbered. Tom Crean never had it so bad. Every bone in my body was sore. And then some.

And when we got home it was deserted. Even the mouse had gone shopping. But three ravenous young persons – yes this blog is young no matter what age I am - and a very dirty nappyed rosy red cheeked younger one demanded refreshments. And after that entertainments. All in all a good day. And almost a politics free zone. Which is very good in the day that is in it.

I also got to throw snowballs at my oldest sister Margaret. Problem was she threw some back. I really enjoyed that. Yes I know the snow is a pain but holy flip me pink, even the snow has its place in the scheme of things. All that dreaming of a White Christmas and then when it comes what happens?

We whinge and gurn. Enjoy it. Unless this is the beginning of a new Ice Age as predicted by your man it will be gone again soon. And the nights will begin to turn. Since this weeks Winter Solcise the days are beginning to lengthen. So good cheer to all. Have a great life. You will be a long time dead.

Nollag Shona daoibh.

Roger Casement

Roger Casement

Last week the draft budget for the north revealed that over £100 million has been earmarked for investment in three sports stadium for the GAA, soccer and rugby. Apart from the obvious benefits for the sports there is significant economic benefit for the construction industry and for local businesses in these substantial investments.

Casement Park, which was opened in June 1953, has been chosen by the GAA as the location for its new 40,000 seater Ulster stadium. Tens of millions will be spent in building a state of the art covered stadium.

News of this multimillion pound investment in Casement Park got this blog thinking about Roger Casement.

Roger Casement was not your typical Irish patriot.

Although born in Dublin he was raised in and around Ballymena in County Antrim. He was a member of an Ulster Protestant family, a Knight of the British Empire and a British diplomat. He was also a gaelgóir who loved the Glens of Antrim.

He was proud to be Irish. He was a thinker who took many of the weightiest decisions of his life whilst pacing on Cushendall beach.

He was resolute in his opposition to British rule in Ireland and his goal was a free, united and independent Ireland.

In 1913 he helped found the Irish Volunteers. He travelled to the USA to raise money for that organisation and was involved in the smuggling of German weapons into Howth in July 1914. Casement negotiated with the German government during the First World War for more guns and assistance for the planned rebellion. He was arrested by the British at Banna Strand in County Kerry in April 1916 three days befor the Rising took place.

Casement was tried for treason and hanged on August 3rd 1916.

Casement was very conscious of the role and history of British involvement in Ireland. And during his time as a British diplomat he also saw at first hand the impact of European Imperialism in Africa and South America. Casement wrote extensively about this and his efforts succeeded in bring some positive change to the lives of millions of people.

By coincidence last week this blog was also reminded of Casement’s role as an investigator of human rights abuses with the publication of two photographs of two native slaves from the Putomayo area of Columbia. These are believed to have been taken in 1911, and were discovered in the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

What links them to Casement is that they are black and white pictures of two natives who were brought to London by Casement to highlight the human rights abuses of native peoples in the Amazon by British and other European companies.

Casement had been sent to South America by the British government. He was appointed Consul-General in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and was asked to investigate the use of slaves and the ill-treatment of local native people by a British rubber company.

Casement visited the Putomayo region on two occasions. He submitted his report to the British Foreign Secretary on St. Patrick’s Day 1911 and in it he graphically described the atrocities being carried out by the rubber company.




Omarino and Ricundo

Omarino and Ricundo were Casement’s living proof of the abuses being suffered by the indigenous people. His purpose was to introduce them to prominent figures in British political life in order to raise awareness of the violence and to secure support for action to be taken against the companies involved.

Dr. Lesley Wylie, who uncovered the pictures, is a lecturer in Latin American Studies in the University of Leicester and the images have been published as part of a research paper on Casement.

In his journal Casement wrote: ‘My hope is that by getting some of these unknown Indians to Europe I may get powerful people interested in them and so in the fate of the whole race out here in the toils’.

Casement’s investigation in South America was not his first inquiry into the use of slavery.

In 1903 he had been asked by the British government to produce a report on the conditions in what was then called the Belgian Congo.

Today much of Africa continues to suffer greatly from the consequences of European colonization and exploitation. The experience of the Congo in the late 19th and early 20th century gives an insight into how colonialism works and its horrifying affect on local peoples. And like Ireland, where the initial excuse for English invasion as to ‘civilise the barbarians’, so too was this pretext used in Africa.

The Belgian King Leopold 11 established in 1876 an ‘international benevolent committee for the propagation of civilization among the peoples of Central Africa.’

8 years later at the Conference of Berlin the European colonial powers, along with the Ottoman Empire and the United States, divided Africa up among themselves.

Leopold established the Congo Free State, a territory of over two million square miles and it became his personal fiefdom, his sole property. He set up the Force Publique and military body run by white officers whose job it was to ensure that the Congo’s vast wealth and resources were exploited in Leopold’s interests.

Rubber and ivory were the main products. Indigenous workers were mercilessly exploited. Many died from exhaustion and hunger and disease working on the rubber plantations. Resistance was ruthlessly suppressed. Victims were often whipped used the chicotte, a whip made of sun-dried hippopotamus hide with razor-sharp edges. Most victims were given a hundred lashes from which many died. Those who tried to escape or rebel were hunted down by the Force Publique who were ordered to cut off the right hand of anyone they killed.

During Leopold’s reign it is estimated that half the population of the Congo or almost 10 million people died.

This was the state of the Congo when Casement was asked to journey there and produce a report. Casement’s expose of the cruelty of Leopold’s activities created an international outcry which led to Leopold being stripped of his control of the Congo.

Think of all this the next time you play in Casement Park or watch a game there. Roger Casement was a decent human being and a patriot. That's why they hanged him.



A Child Victim of Leopold's brutality

A busy week

Off to a family wedding today. Best wishes and long happy life to Áine and Conor.

A busy week coming to an end. Madness! From Wexford to Derry. Cork to Dundalk. Leinster House to Stormont. And all places in between.

Wednesday in Derry was a good day for the Irish language. At the launch of the An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge this blog reflected on the Hillsborough talks last January. The peace process was in another crisis. The DUP was refusing to move on the transfer of policing and justice powers and the two governments and all of the parties ended up in Hillsborough Castle in an effort to find a resolution.

It was eventually achieved, at the end of a long and difficult negotiation, as a result of direct face to face talks between the Sinn Féin team and the DUP.

At the outset of the talks Sinn Féin put Acht na Gaeilge, an Irish language strategy for the north, and the 1737 Administration of Justice Act, which bans the use of Irish in the courts, on the agenda.

Sinn Fein mapped out for the two governments their obligations on Acht na Gaeilge and exactly what they could do about it.

The British government was not interested. It wanted the focus to stay entirely on policing and justice and the parading issue. This blog disagreed.

The Irish government also resisted having the Irish language on the agenda. Neither, the Taoiseach or the British Prime Minister made any mention of the rights of Irish speakers or of the language when they came to Hillsborough or when they left the talks two nights and three days later.

The Taoiseach did raise the issue eventually but that was only after Martin McGuinness and I had a blazing row with him and forcefully challenged Mr. Cowen and Gordon Brown.

Some progress was made in separate discussions with the DUP Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland, who agreed to bring forward a strategy on the Irish language. Regrettably, he has not honoured this commitment and the battle around that aspect of the Irish language continues.

However, this blog secured a commitment for a £20 million funding package for the Irish language from Gordon Brown the British Prime Minister.

£12 million went to the Irish Language Broadcast Fund for a further four years after 2011.

And £8 million was provided for funding for Irish Language capital projects.

As a result a new organisation - An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge – was created to administer the distribution of the £8 million fund. Its focus is to work with Irish language organisations and explore ways in which Irish language capital infrastructure projects can be advanced.



The Board of An Ciste with this blog

An Ciste is about stimulating economic development and job creation and to do so in partnership with other Irish language groups.

Its formal launch was last Wednesday morning in An Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin in Derry.
The establishment of An Ciste is a vital step forward in the process of investing in and growing the Irish language across the north. And while this funding is very important and will make a huge contribution to the growth of the language, there remains much work to be done.




Gaeilgeoirí have a big job before us to win support for the Irish language and culture from those who feel threatened by it.

We have to persuade them that the gift of an indigenous language is a national treasure and the heritage of all who live on this island, no matter about political or other allegiances.

At the same time Irish language rights cannot be withheld or reduced at the whim of any political party. Equality is equality is equality.

In the meantime Sinn Féin Ministers will continue to support and introduce gaeilge-friendly policies in their departments, including bi-lingual services and signage, and the DUP is in no doubt about our insistence that the Executive has to deliver for everyone, including Gaeilgeoirí.

There has been progress. The Minister of Education Caitriona Ruane is doing pioneering work in Irish medium education. An Ghaelscolaíocht has been put on a more secure footing across the north as it continues to expand and develop. Millions of pounds of funding and capital investment have been secured for the sector.

So, comhghairdeas to all involved with An Ciste and adh mór for the future.

The following day it was an early start for Cork.

The plane was tiny. No one was swinging a cat, or anything else in it. Cork was a hectic day of media interviews and meetings, including a briefing, and question and answer session with community, voluntary and trade union representatives in the city.

There is a good team of Sinn Féin candidates in the rebel county – Jonathan O Brien, Chris O Leary, Sandra McLellan and Paul Hayes and Des O Grady.





And then it was back on that tiny plane and heading for Belfast. The weather forecast all day had been predicting snow and there was a concern that we might be diverted but as luck had it we arrived in Belfast City Airport as the first of the heavy snow was falling on the mountains below us.

And finally a word of thanks to the Belfast National Graves who do tremendous work looking after republican monuments and graves in Belfast and remembering our fallen comrades.

Last Monday morning they held an event in Parliament Buildings in Stormont to relaunch Patriot Graves, first published in 1985.

The book, which sells for £6.99 tells the story of republican activism in Belfast since the 1790’s and remembers those of previous generations who battled for Irish freedom and sovereignty.

It recalls all of those IRA Volunteers and Sinn Féin activists who died in Belfast from 1969 to 1984 and gives a little account of each. The second book which covers the later period will be republished for Easter.

It is an excellent publication.



Mise agus Jane Adams team Captain with Joan O'Flynn (President of Camogie Association) and Joachim Kelly (Offaly Hurling Legend)






And finally, finally. Well done also to Antrim’s Camogs. We had a great event in Stormont on Tuesday to celebrate our county teams’ achievements.

This group of young women did us proud.

Roll on 2011. We ain’t seen nothing yet. Na Camogs abú



Mise agus Jane Adams Capt of the team with Joan O'Flynn (President of Camogie Association) and Joachim Kelly (Offaly Hurling Legend)



With Pat Sheehan



With Micky McCullough - Manager

An Ciste Infheistíochta Gaeilge can be contacted at www.ciste.ie

Patriot Graves can be bought through www.sinnfeinbookshop.com/catalog/index.php
The Belfast National Graves Association expects to have its own web site up and running shortly.

A New Type of Politics

This blog is now the Sinn Féin candidate for Louth and East Meath. In the Fairways Hotel last night party activists from across the constituency unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed my candidacy. I thank them for that.

Louth like all the border counties has suffered grievously as a result of partition. The Good Friday Agreement has provided a peaceful and democratic way to unite the Irish people. Sinn Féin is committed to this.

The general election, when it comes, will be the most important in recent decades. There is huge public dissatisfaction and anger at the revelations of corruption within the political system. There is frustration and resentment at the policies of parties whose goal is to bail out the banks, and their developer friends in the golden circle, while handing over sovereignty to the IMF/EU.

This blog believes that citizens are looking for a new kind of politics. A politics they can trust, that empowers and includes them. A politics that sets aside elites, doesn’t pander to the wealthy and seeks to build a new kind of Ireland.

This blog believes there is no more important time; no more relevant time than this for republican politics and core republican values.

Take down the Proclamation. Read it. Carefully. It is about freedom and empowerment of citizens, and equality and inclusivity and sovereignty.

It is about the nation – the whole nation – all 32 counties. It is about nation building.

So, how do we translate all of this into a new type of politics? How do we make genuine republicanism relevant for citizens?

Pearse Doherty spelt it out eloquently and passionately in his budget speech.
It is about defending public services, constructing a new and fairer tax system. About protecting the disabled and disadvantaged, as well as low and middle income earners. It has to be about stimulating the economy and protecting and creating jobs; promoting the interests of our rural communities, including the promotion of the farming community and fishing industry.

There is also a need for a root and branch reform of this discredited political system.

Change is possible. Look at the peace process, imperfect though it is. Much more needs to be done by the Dáil to transcend partition and to have a single island policy focus. Good inclusive relationships need to be continuously fostered with unionists.

The gap between the political classes and the people needs to be removed. Politicians should be public servants. People are citizens.

Citizens have the right to be involved in all matters of public policy. And politicians and other public servants must be accountable to their peers. All of this is an argument for republican systems of government; that is, systems in which the people are sovereign and equal.

Such a society has to be tolerant. Society must reflect and include the entirety of its people, not part of them. Why should gender or sexual orientation be the basis for the exclusion of anyone? Or disability?

Why should race or class or skin colour or creed give one group of human beings the ability to deny other human beings their full rights or entitlements as citizens?
And if citizens have rights, why are they not all-encompassing rights? Should the right to the basics for life not include economic rights as well as political and social This blog believes that all human beings have the right, as a birthright, to be treated equally.

To have the right to a job; to a home; to equal access to a health service that is free at the point of delivery; to equal access to education at all levels for all our children; and to a safe and clean environment.

A rights-based society – a true republic - requires citizens to fulfil their obligations for the common good. It also requires the state to inform all citizens of their rights, and to uphold and defend these rights.

The political system in the 26 counties needs completely overhauled and democratised, and all with an eye to advancing the all-Ireland institutions and structures that will benefit society on this island.

Historically, Ireland is a highly centralised society in its political administration, going back to the days when Britain ran the whole island from Dublin. Dublin has become more dominant still as a result of urbanisation and the shift from rural Ireland to the capital.

This blog believes that the Oireachtas needs radical, root and branch reform, including a reform of the electoral system. Ministers should be more accountable and be paid significantly less; there should be greater decentralisation, including the devolving of real powers to local communities in respect of schools, social care for the elderly and dependent, and improving the physical environment.

Referendums could have a key place in politics, allowing the people themselves to legislate directly.

These are just some thoughts, some ideas of the new type of politics – republican politics – that might shape the future.

And part of this means reaching out to others of a like mind; other progressive members of society who are prepared to build an alliance for a new Ireland and a new type of politics that is free of corruption and characterised by civic virtue and social justice.

In all of this we should be guided by Wolfe Tone’s motto, which remains perennially relevant, to seek to unite politically all patriotic people “under the common name of Irishman”, which of course includes Irishwomen as well.

There will be three elections in 2011. On May 5th – the 30th anniversary of Bobby Sands death – the electorate in the north will vote in local government and Assembly elections. When the Taoiseach eventually calls an election we will vote for a new Dáil. It looks like being an interesting year.

The evening President Clinton Visited Dundalk

Tómas Sharkey, Jennifer Green, Mise, Edel Corrigan and Andrew Mawhinney

Last Thursday Councillors Tomás Sharkey, Jennifer Green and Edel Corrigan introduced this blog to Andrew Mawhinney who is the Dundalk Town Centre Manager. Andrew explained to us his plans for 2011 but he also showed us some of the material they are using in an exhibition this weekend to mark US President Bill Clinton’s visit to Dundalk in December 2000.

Just before he left office President Clinton made one last brief visit to Ireland. It was his third as President. And like the previous two it was a triumphant occasion as citizens gave him, his wife Hillary, and daughter Chelsea an exuberant cead míle failte.

The Clinton clann landed in Dublin early on December 12th and after a busy day of engagements they arrived in Dundalk around 9pm where a huge crowd was waiting patiently for them. Martin McGuinness and this blog were there also.

Pierce O Hanrahan who was then the Chair of Dundalk Town Council, presented President Clinton with a bronze sculpture that had been made by a local artist Sandra Bell. People still recall with affection his calling Hillary Clinton, ‘President Hillary’. Brian Kennedy sang Danny Boy and there was an impressive fireworks display.

It was a cold but good night in Dundalk. It was another time of crisis in the peace process but all of that was set to one side as people gave a deafening thank you to Bill Clinton for his support. It was a timely reminder of how far we had all come.

This weekend the Dundalk Town Centre Management along with Dundalk Council have put together a weekend of events to mark that occasion.

To mark the occasion this blog dispatched an email to President Clinton outlining Dundalk’s ‘Clinton Celebration’ weekend and asking if he would send a letter of support for the Dundalk event. On Saturday an email arrived from his office. It contained a letter of appreciation from the President for Andrew and all of those involved in the celebratory events.

In his letter Bill Clinton sends his best wishes, speaks of his fond memories of that visit and says he looks forward to returning.

It was a speedy and generous response and reflects the great affection the Clintons have for Ireland.

Thursday also saw this blog meet with the local County Registrar Mairead Ahern and several of her colleagues in the Electoral Revision Court in Dundalk Council. I had been told there was a problem over my registering in the constituency to vote. Mairead, who is the sister in law of outgoing TD and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, explained that there is fixed date in law – September 1st - for residency qualification.

This was six weeks before my decision to stand in Louth.

Some of the media, including - no great surprise - The Irish News and The Irish Independent, got carried away with the story. But it was as someone said a storm in a teacup. There is a supplementary register and one of the panel said they would send out a form so that this blog can vote when the time comes.

A bigger storm is brewing in Dublin where the government was forced by Sinn Féin to do a u-turn on its refusal to allow a vote in the Dáil on the EU/IMF digout for the banks.

For weeks we were told that this dig out was a done deal – can’t be changed – written in stone, and so on.

Sinn Féin’s view is that the government’s refusal to put the EU/IMF deal to a vote in the Dáil is a breach of the constitution. So, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin initiated legal action.

Within 24 hours the government had flipped on its position and announced that a vote will now be held next Wednesday. The IMF has put its contribution to the deal on hold until the vote is held.

So, all the claims that the deal is fixed and cannot be changed is exposed as nonsense. There are other options available. A proper recovery programme needs to be put in place that stimulates the economy rather than contracting it.

There is an onus now on all TDs who value Irish sovereignty to vote against the EU/IMF deal next week. It can still be opposed.

Those who support the EU/IMF running the state’s economy – or who do not vote against it should be mindful that they will have to explain that to the electorate when the Taoiseach eventually is forced to go for an election.



In the Marquee in Dundalk



In the Marquee in Dundalk

Text of Letter from President Clinton

Dear Gerry:
Please pass along my deep appreciation to Andrew
Mawhinney, the Town Management Committee and
Council, and all of the folks in Dundalk celebrating
this weekend.

When Hillary, Chelsea, and I arrived in this town
ten years ago, we were introduced to the incredible
warmth and generosity of the Dundalk community.
I've cherished my recollections of that trip, and
I'm delighted to hear that our visit was memorable
for so many of the wonderful people we met.

As I said that evening in December 2000, a piece of
my heart will always lie in Ireland. I'm glad that
I was able to visit this proud town during my final
trip abroad as President, and I look forward to
seeing it again soon.

Sincerely,

Bill Clinton

FRAUDS AND LIARS.

Monday was this blogs last day as a member of the Northern Assembly. The baton was passed to Pat Sheehan who woke on Tuesday morning as the new MLA for west Belfast. Adh mór Pat.

My last day as an MLA was a busy day.

At the end of my last speech in the Assembly this blog said my goodbyes. A thank you to the Ceann Comhairle and his colleagues for the fair, balanced and inclusive way the business of the Assembly is conducted, and a go raibh maith agaibh to all of the staff, from the cleaners to the admin people.

The Assembly is approaching the end of its first full term. That is a remarkable achievement given the difficulties that have had to be overcome. But the Assembly has to be about delivering for citizens. I reminded them of this.

“The island of Ireland is too small for us to be separated forever by an artificial border. Most sensible people know this and the Good Friday Agreement recognises this. God speed the day when we will be united. Today’s debate is an example of the issues that must be tackled if we are to improve the living conditions of citizens and particularly our children.”

And that was it. Apart that is for the remark of a DUP MLA who said he was glad to see the back of me. Ah well, there are some unionists who remain stuck in the past. They still refuse to speak to republicans and yearn for the old days when they ran the north as a one party state and wouldn’t have a Catholic about the place.



But those times are gone. The Good Friday Agreement and years of patient and focussed negotiations have changed all of that and we now have political institutions, rooted in power sharing and equality and with a strong all-island dimension. Sinn Féin is in government and the bigots and begruders just have to get used to it. That’s the future.

The afternoon was taken up with a meeting with the North and West Belfast Parades Cultural Forum. This blog first met them in August when we got together to discuss the issue of contentious parades and protests. That was an important engagement. Our conversation on Monday afternoon was a candid and honest discussion. We agreed a schedule of meetings to be held between now and Easter next year.

There are difficult issues involved but this blog believes that with dialogue and a genuine commitment a resolution can be found.



Arthur Morgan, myself, Kathryn Reilly and Martin Ferris

On Tuesday morning we were all up bright and early and heading for the capital. From one assembly to another. For budget day. The temperature gauge in the car was telling us that it was minus 10. Cold.

Sinn Féin will vote against the budget. If it gets through we will seek a mandate in the upcoming election to renegotiate the EU/IMF bailout and scrap what is being presented today. There is a better way of tackling the economic crisis.

Most TDS here know that. No one who I bumped into around Leinster House today, and I spoke to quite a few of Fine Gael and Labour TDs and one or two FFers, are happy with the way things are and their role in it at this time. The economic crisis has become a social crisis and increasingly a political one. All of the makings of a perfect storm.

James Connolly had a word for those responsible,

‘Ireland, as distinct from her people, is nothing to me; and the man who is bubbling over with love and enthusiasm for ‘Ireland’, and can yet pass unmoved through our streets and witness all the wrong and the suffering, the shame and degradation wrought upon the people of Ireland – yea wrought by Irish men upon Irish men and women, without burning to end it, is, in my opinion , a fraud and a liar in his heart, no matter how he loves that combination of chemical elements that he is pleased to call Ireland.’

By the way if you want to keep up to date with or to be part of Sinn Féin’s Uniting Ireland campaign check out www.unitingireland.ie



Caral, Martin, Pat and myself in Parliament Buildings

Deep and crisp and even

Anne Marie is holding the banner and then from left to right: Kathleen, Gerladine, Bernie, Stella, Mary and Mary and Colette holding the banner on the right

We were in the middle of Dublin. I Lar Na Cathrach. Parnell Square was like a skating rink. Buses were playing dodgems with each other outside the office. Traffic was gridlocked. Blizzards swept through Dorset Street. Lightning illuminated the whiteness of it all.

The journey north was nerve wrecking. Your man drives too fast. Even by his own standards. The roads were almost deserted. But your man was like a demented sledge rider.

Years ago when grit was a film starring John Wayne and absent from our roads I drove my mother home from Dublin during heavy snow. Those were the days before motorways and eventually after many adventures we had to stay over in Newry where we enjoyed the hospitality of the Curran household.

The next morning, a Sunday, we ventured forth. Just the two of us. It was great. There was no other vehicles on the road. There weren’t even any car tracks. Just virgin snow. Deep and crisp and even. Me and my Ma enjoyed it immensely. We skidded and slid and yahooed and hollered all the way up the MI. I have happy memories of that epic expedition.

With your man it is different. Especially when he passes big trucks. Or when they pass us. Scarey.

There were two family events in Belfast this last week. On top of all the political busyness. Well sort of family events. My youngest brother Dominic launched a book about his prison experiences. And a very readable book – Faoi Glas – it is too. He let me read the manuscript. I would recommend it. Dominic writes well.



The launch is very well attended and big Bob and Dominic and Niamh and Dominic Óg spoke very well. Well done to them all. And to Irene.

Nova Print have done a very nice job on the production and Jim Gibney has written a fine reamhrá. Dominic has included a few photos including one of our mother protesting at the strip searching of women in Armagh Women’s Prison. She looks a little wan, poor woman.



The other event was for Anne Marie’s 60th birthday.

‘ Anne Marie. Sixty!’ your man exclaimed. He is doing a lot of exclaiming this weather.

‘Sixty is the new thirty’ I explained to him. I also told him it was a surprise party and that Anne Marie didn’t know about it. Her clann had sneakybeaked it behind her back. When your man was fifty he organised his own surprise party just in case anyone else neglected to do so. Then he acted all astonished and pleased when we all turned up. So he found it hard to accept that Anne Marie was in the dark.

And she was. Totally flabbergasted. She burst into tears when she arrived at the restaurant where a gang of us had gathered in her honour. Anne Marie is great. So was the craic that night. All the old Whiterock, Westrock bungalows and Murph crowd, mostly women had had great fun.

Old camogie photos provided by Colette, of the old Seán Treacy’s club from the Whiterock made Anne Marie cry again. And a special birthday cake. Anne Marie had made the mistake of telling someone that she would like new teeth for a birthday present. Hence the cake. That made her cry another wee bit. Between crying and laughing her mascara was a mess. So was your mans.

Outside on the Falls Road the snow continued.

‘Hohoho’ I chortled. ‘Lá breithe shone duit Anne Marie’.

And all that before Dermot Ahern left the contest in Louth and the Red C poll put Sinn Féin ahead of Fianna Fail in the polls.

And the Anti-Government Rally was cancelled in Dublin.

‘Ulster says Snow,’ Your man exclaimed as I tried to explain to him that this was in no way similar to Eoin MacNeill's order before Easter week 1916.

A week is indeed a long time.



Left to Right top: Liam, Anne, Bernie, Anne Marie and Joe
and bottom row left to right is Colette, Mary and Mary