Léargas

  Climate change is one of the defining challenges facing our society today. Consequently next Monday’s climate change conference in Paris, which will see representatives from almost 200 states across the globe participate, is of huge importance. The conference will run from November 30 th to December 11 th . Far from focussing only on environmental issues around stabilising the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - it is in reality a critical political and security negotiation about the future – including the island of Ireland. I believe that the Paris conference has to be about citizen’s fundamental human rights over the vested interests of big business or individual States.  Climate change has often seemed for many, a scientific debate and phenomena far removed from most ordinary people's everyday reality – until now. Several weeks ago representatives from the Pacific islands met in Fiji. They warned of the danger of large parts of their landmass disappe...

        Thursday saw the launch of the Free Arnaldo Otegi and Bring Basque Political Prisoners Home campaign in Ireland. The event took place in Leinster House and was jointly sponsored by myself; Maureen O’Sullivan TD; Finian McGrath TD and involved speakers including Robert Ballagh, Artist and social justice campaigner; Urko Airtza, Basque Senator and human rights lawyer; Pablo Vicente, and Fermin Muguruza, famous Basque musician. On my own behalf and on behalf of Sinn Féin, I extended solidarity greetings from the event to Arnaldo. I also warmly welcomed today's initiative and pledged Sinn Féin's full support. Sinn Féin and the Basque people have a long history of solidarity in struggle. I and other Sinn Féin leaders have been active in travelling to the Basque country in support of efforts to achieve a peace process and agreement. Regrettably the dialogue for peace has been largely one-sided. The people of the Basque country, represen...

The agreement reached at Stormont on Tuesday is far from perfect. But it is the best that was possible at this time. It is the culmination of over three months of intense and difficult negotiations that arose following a series of crisis in the political process. Last year’s Stormont House Agreement was a genuine effort to secure a deal that would protect the most vulnerable in society, to safeguard the rights and entitlements of citizens, to grow the economy and to enhance the working of the institutions. But resistance to change, which is particularly strong within elements of unreconstructed unionism and the British security system, and the ideological commitment of the British Tory party to austerity saw the agreement come under immediate pressure. The contrived political crisis by the Ulster Unionist Party following the murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan in Belfast led to the virtual collapse of the institutions. Martin McGuinness and others in our negotiatin...

Today the Dáil heard expressions of sympathy on the attacks in Paris last Friday which saw 129 killed. To understand those events it is necessary to set them in their context. Below is the text of my remarks in the Dáil in which I condemn “ in the strongest possible terms the deplorable, murderous attacks perpetrated in Paris last Friday" ... extend my sincerest sympathies and solidarity to the French Ambassador, to the victims, their families and to the people of Paris and of France with which Ireland has deep, historic and cultural ties”... urge citizens to make a "s tand against fundamentalism, bigotry, sectarianism and racism" and set it in the wider context of western militarism and imperialism and the failure to support the rights of the people of Palestine." Expressions of Sympathy - 17 th November 2015 On behalf of Sinn Féin I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the deplorable, murderous attacks perpetrated in Paris last Friday. Thar ...

Some of the Irish media got carried away last week with the success of the annual Friends of Sinn Féin dinners in New York and Toronto. The $500 a plate event in the Sheraton Hotel on 7 th avenue got the most attention. There were glossy pics of tables laid out for guests and the menu attracted lots of interest. The Journal.ie reported how “ As guests arrived for the cocktail hour in the Metropolitan West Ballroom, traditional Irish musicians played songs including The Town that I Loved so Well, Grace and Whiskey in the Jar… As we revealed last night , guests dined on a meal of Mediterranean salad to start, with grilled filet mignon for mains and pastries and cookies for dessert.” It was all a little bizarre. Far from filet mignot we were reared.  And to this mix was added the mock outrage of Joan Burton, the Labour Leader and Enda Kenny our Taoiseach, bemoaning the fact that Mary lou and I were going to miss the debate on the social welfare Bill in the Dáil. We were actu...

As long as Britain has been involved in Ireland it has bought or cajoled or intimidated some people into acting as their eyes and ears, their spies and spooks, and advocates. Some of these do so because it suits their own politics and prejudices. But the end result is that citizens die and freedom is denied. These strategies are not unique to Ireland or indeed to the British. They are as old as wars. However, in the most recent period of conflict their use became an indispensible part of Britain’s counter insurgency strategy in Ireland. As I have recorded in these columns before the foremost counter-insurgency stratgist was the British Army’s Frank Kitson. When he arrived in Belfast in 1970 he set about restructuring the RUC and British Army approach based on his experiences in post second world war   British colonial wars. The British Army brought with it the techniques of torture; of counter-gangs; of propaganda, and of media and political manipulation. The key objectiv...

In six months the centenary celebration of the 1916 Rising will take place. Central to that act of remembrance will be the GPO. It was there that much of the fierce fighting that followed the Rising took place.   A short distance away is Moore Street where the last meeting of the Provisional Government and of the key leaders took place. With the GPO in flames the republican garrison made its way under fire to the corner of Moore Street. Tunnelling from house to house they eventually stopped in number 16. There the final moments of the Rising were played out as the leaders, including Pádraig Mac Piarais, Joseph Plunkett, Tom Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada and the wounded James Connolly decided their next steps. It was from there that Pádraig Mac Piarais and Elizabeth O’Farrell walked to the Moore Street barricade where the document of surrender was signed. Moore Street holds a special place in the history of Ireland. The streets and laneways around it are part of the batt...