Léargas

      Last Saturday I travelled down to Limerick for a quick walkabout with Maurice Quinlivan and his team of Councillors and activists. It was a lovely day. Everyone was in great form and the response from those we met was positive and supportive. And then it was on to Athea in west Limerick for the unveiling of a memorial to Con Colbert, one of the 1916 leaders executed by the British. There was an excellent turnout of local people. I want to thank the west Limerick Monument Committee and the committee of the local community centre for all of their efforts. And to the Colbert family, the colour party, Grainne and Ronan for their music and to all of those who made it happen - go raibh maith agaibh go leir.   A chairde, I am very honoured to be here for the unveiling of this monument to Con Colbert and all those who have died in the cause of Irish freedom. Tá mé an-sásta a bheith libh anseo inniu chun an leacht seo a nochtadh in ómós do Con C...

Funerals can occasionally be surprisingly joyous events. A celebration of the life of someone who has lived it to the full, and made a unique contribution to family, community or society. But mostly they are sad. Last week was a particularly sad time for funerals. As readers will know the week before I had attended the funeral of my good friend Paddy McGeady in Donegal. But last week there were two distressing funerals for the ten victims of the Carrickmines fire at a temporary Travellers halting site. Five adults and five children. On Tuesday I was in Bray for the funerals of Tara Gilbert, her partner Willy Lynch, their daughters Jodie (9) and Kelsey (4) and Willy’s brother Jimmy. Two days later I was in Sandyford for the funerals of Sylvia and Thomas Connors and their children Jimmy (5), Christy (2) and Mary (5 months). Sylvia was the sister of Willy and Jimmy Lynch. Ten members of one family gone in a few brief minutes of horror. The haunting, beautiful laments of a lone U...

Following the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan; the political fallout from these events and amid threats by unionist leaders to crash the institutions, the British government appointed a panel to make a determination on the structure, role and purpose of proscribed organisations. Sinn Féin saw the panel as unnecessary. It is thought that it will report within days. Whatever its conclusions Sinn Féin will not tolerate any undermining of the rights of citizens who vote for Sinn Féin. The cynical exploitation by unionist political leaders, in particular Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionist party, of the two Belfast murders has brought the political institutions in the north to the point of collapse. His antics and the reaction of the DUP, have eroded public confidence in the power sharing institutions. Mr. Nesbitt saw an opportunity to electioneer on this issue and has put nearly two decades of relative peace and political progress at risk in his desire to win more vote...

Last weekend the Carrickmines fire claimed 10 victims. On Sunday a homeless man died on the streets of Dublin and later that evening Garda Tony Golden was murdered and Siobhan Phillips was critically wounded in a shotting in the Omeath, County Louth. On Tuesday Dáil parties expressed their condolences. Expressions of Sympathy – Gerry Adams TD Ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le teaghlach agus cairde na ndaoine a fuair bás sa tine ar an Charraig Maoinis ar oíche Shathairn; agus do chlann agus cairde an Gharda Anthony Golden a dunmharú ar oíche Dhomhnaigh le clann Adrian Mackin, do Shiobhán Phillips agus a clann féin agus don duine gan dídeán a fuarthas marbh ag doras ar shráid Westmoreland maidin Domhnaigh. The weekend tragedies in Carrickmines, in Dublin, and in county Louth have stunned and saddened citizens across this state and beyond. The deaths of ten citizens, many of them children, on a Traveller halting site in a horrifying fire, another apparent death...

The sun was shining gloriously in a clear blue sky last Friday in Havana. It was a hot and humid Cuban morning. Our small delegation – myself, Lucilita Bhreatnach, Eric Scanlon and Richard McAuley – walked the short distance from our cars to the hunger strike memorial in Parque Victor Hugo - a beautiful park in central Havana - named after the author of Les Miserables. I was first there just before Christmas in 2001 to unveil the memorial which was erected to mark the 20 th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike. The hunger strike clearly had a significant impact on the people of Cuba. On September 15 1981, during the hunger strike, Fidel Castro addressing the 68th conference of the Interparliamentary Union in Havana said: “In my opinion Irish patriots are writing on the most heroic chapters in human history. They have earned the respect and admiration of the world and likewise they deserve its support. Ten of them have died in the most moving gesture of sacrifice, selflessness...