Léargas

  Mise agus nieces of Tomás Ceannt   On a bright May morning in 2000 I spoke at the unveiling of a memorial in Cork City to the 1916 patriot Tomás Ceannt at Ceannt railway station. The Ceannt Memorial had been commissioned and erected by a committee of railway workers and was unveiled by Kathleen Ceannt, a niece of Tomás Ceannt. Last Friday the sun shone brightly down again as I laid a wreath at the memorial and later at St. Nicholas’s Church in Castlelyons in north county Cork where the Ceannt family, their friends and neighbours and thousands of admirers of Tomás Ceannt took part in his historic state funeral. For the last 99 years Tomás – sometimes referred to as ‘The Forgotten Volunteer’ - has lain in a shallow unmarked grave behind the walls of Cork prison. He was one of only two of the 1916 patriots to be executed outside of Dublin. The other was Roger Casement who was hanged in London.    But in truth he was never forgotten. Not by his fa...

This morning I spoke to a breakfast meeting of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and set out some of the party’s plans for business and the economy and Sinn Fein's vision for Dublin. Below is the text of my remarks to the Chamber.        A chairde, Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh Chomhairle Trádála Bhaile Átha Cliath. I would like to open my remarks by extending warmest congratulations to the Dublin football team on their marvellous victory in the All-Ireland Final. Comhghairdeas! Commiserations of course to worthy opponents Kerry. Dublin Dublin is a proud city with a long and illustrious history. Many key events in the history of the nation happened here. It was site of the Easter Rising, the Centenary of which we will commemorate next year. Dublin is also internationally renowned for its contribution to literature and has produced many prominent literary figures, including Nobel laureates Yeats, Shaw and Beckett. Other in...

  Declan Kearney, Cllr Críona Ní Dhálaigh, Dominick Chilcott, Gerry Adams     Uncomfortable Conversations – An Initiative for Dialogue towards Reconciliation is a book published by Sinn Féin which contains contributions from key figures in the Churches, academia and wider civic society, as well as senior republican figures. On Thursday in Dublin the Mansion House was the scene for the southern launch of the book. The Mayor of Dublin, Sinn Féin Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, welcomed everyone to the event which was hosted by the party’s National Chairperson Declan Kearney, who was responsible for collating the articles first published in An Phoblacht. The speakers included Rev Dr. Heather Morris who in 2012 was elected as the Methodist Church in Ireland’s first female President; the British Ambassador to Dublin Dominick Chilcott; agus mise. Below is the text of my remarks: Building new relationships  Ard Mhéara, Ambassador, Reverend Morris, ag...