Léargas

Last Sunday this blog spoke at two Easter commemorations in Louth and East Meath. They were the first in that constituency since I became its Teachta Dála. It was a beautiful spring day. A nice day to remember our patriot dead. All across this island, and beyond, there are monuments and plaques, on roadsides, in cemeteries and in town centres, in rural lanes and housing estates, in memory of those who over many centuries have lost their lives in pursuit of Irish freedom and independence. Many thousands of people contribute to their upkeep and to organising events like Easter so that the sacrifice of this and previous generations is properly honoured . So, I want to commend all of those who organise events and who contribute to the upkeep of these graves and monuments. It is right and proper that we remember and celebrate the lives of our patriot dead. This year Irish republicans mark 95 years since the Easter Rising. It is also the 30th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike. Each event...

There are a series of scandals involving the health service which have a particular resonance in County Louth. The allegations of sexual abuse surrounding Consultant Surgeon Michael Shine in Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one which the previous Ministers of Health have failed to deal with properly or humanely. They have failed to provide the victims with the information and closure they deserve. This blog is hopeful that the new Minister James Reilly will see his way to holding an inquiry into the Shine allegations. It is also a matter of extreme urgency that he restores full funding to the Dignity for Patients Group which campaigns on behalf of victims. However, another scandal deserving redress is that of women scarred by the medical practice of symphysiotomy. Symphysiotomy is an 18th century operation performed on women in labour that unhinges the pelvis, splitting the pubic joint and its ligaments with a scalpel knife. Another version of this operation, called pubiotomy, sever...

Yesterday this blog questioned the Taoiseach about his meeting on Monday with the British Prime Minister and asked him whether he had raised the Dublin Monaghan Bombings in which 34 Irish citizens were killed and hundreds more injured? Specifically I asked the Taoiseach if he had raised directly with the British Prime Minister the Dáil request from July 2008 for the British government to hand over all files and other information in relation to the bomb attacks on May 17th 1974 and other atrocities inquired into by Justice Barron and for these files to be opened to independent, international scrutiny. The Taoiseach was evasive in his response. But the only conclusion to be drawn from what he said is that he didn’t. This failure to act in Irish national interests or in the interests of Irish citizens is characteristic of the submissive attitude of Irish governments to British governments over the years. The colonization and occupation of Ireland over many centuries by Britain has left a ...

On October 4th 2002 lines of armoured police vehicles came screaming up the drive to Parliament Buildings at Stormont. As the heavy doors clanged open scores of PSNI officers, some wearing riot gear, jumped out and rushed into the building. They were there to raid the Sinn Féin offices. Because those in the Special Branch who were responsible for the operation had alerted the media the whole exercise was carried out in the full glare of publicity. The spin to the press was that a republican spyring had been uncovered in Stormont! According to the PSNI itself the Stormont raid, with all of the attendant armoured vehicles and police officers, was to enable them to search “one desk and immediate surrounding area". The room was the administrative office for the party and the desk belonged to Denis Donaldson, who was the administrative manager for the Sinn Féin team in Parliament Buildings. The PSNI took away documents and computer discs. The television images and snapper’s pics we...

As party leader one of my tasks on a daily basis in the Dáil is to question the Taoiseach. There are two opportunities for this. Taoiseach’s Questions is an opportunity to ask Enda Kenny about issues for which he has specific responsibility and Leader’s Questions are on the important matters of the day. Thus far I have used the opportunity afforded by Taoiseach’s Questions to quiz him on the withdrawal of the 50:50 recruitment policy to the PSNI by the British secretary of State; the European Council meeting; about meeting with the Ballymurphy Massacre Committee (which he agreed to do); north-south co-operation and much more. This week I asked him about his plans to re-establish the all-party committee in the Dáil to plan for the 1916 celebrations which he agreed to do by Easter. I reminded him that the decade before us is one which 100 years ago was filled with momentous and tragic events which dramatically shaped the subsequent history of this island. They included the formation of ...

Today thousands of people, from all walks of life came together in Omagh in an act of solidarity with the family of Ronan Kerr. They were also determined to demonstrate their opposition and defiance of those responsible for Ronan’s murder last weekend and the placing of a bomb near Newry. One week ago, last Sunday it was Mother’s Day. For families in Omagh, and across Ireland and around the world it was a day when they spoiled and pampered their mothers. But for the Kerr family Mother’s Day was tragically different. Instead of celebrating together Nuala Kerr was in front of television cameras, standing with her children, Dairine, Cathair and Aaron, and speaking with love and affection about her son Ronan who had been murdered the previous day. The shock and the tragedy and trauma were etched on their faces. Despite this Nuala Kerr spoke strongly and clearly. Her message was simple and her assertion that we all need to stand up and be counted struck exactly the right note. It was a mess...

Since Ronan Kerr's murder on Saturday April 2nd I have met many people. Most have been former republican prisoners and their families and other activists of long standing. These are the stalwarts who over decades of conflict lost loved ones to the British Army, RUC and collusion; were tortured, imprisoned and had their homes raided and often wrecked. They were and are the people who have been the backbone of the republican struggle over many years. And they have suffered grievously for their stand against British injustice and partition. And they are seething with anger at the violent actions of a small core of anti-peace groups who have killed citizens; forced the elderly from their homes; injured children; threatened community workers; orchestrated sectarian conflict at interfaces and some of whom are involved in extortion and drug related crime. I want once more to address these groups directly. Sinn Féin has offered - through people like me and Martin McGuinness - to meet y...

Leinster House My editor has determined that as I have now relocated – at least in terms of constituencies and Parliaments – that I should be charged with keeping Andytown News readers appraised of political and other developments in this part of our country. So, let me begin at the beginning and introduce you to my new Parliamentary home – Leinster House. As someone who has spent many years visiting various big houses during the negotiations around the peace process, it is obvious that the British aristocracy like their big houses. So too with some wannabe aristocrats from this island. Of course, these big houses were not confined to Britain. Some were built in Ireland, usually by absentee landlords who liked to occasionally visit their holdings in England’s first colony. Leinster House, which is the home of the Houses of the Oireachtas, is an example of one of these. I have been in Leinster House on many occasions over the years. Those visits were short affairs and usually for meet...

‘My belly thinks my throat’s cut,’ your man gasped. His face was red and he was breathing in short sharp gulps, sucking in the air like his life depended on it, which of course it did but usually without the dramatics of this particular moment. We were on the Mountain Loney, towards the top, at the very steep turn on the road. The two of us stopped to take in the view behind us and to catch our breath. ‘Do you remember the wee tin church that used to be down there where the houses are now?’ ‘Indeed and I do’ I said ‘ it was a wee Protestant church’. ‘Same style as the old Saint Mathais’ one’ he continued ‘ they were flat pack churches. Made for the missions. They transported them off to Africa and put them together like an Ikea pack.’ St.Mathais Church on a winters days. He was breathing more evenly now. ‘I never tuk any breakfast’ he mused. ‘I’m famished now’. ‘You shud always have breakfast’ I chided him. He ignored me and whistled to Snowie. Snowie ignored him. That gave me some s...