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Michael J Murphy Two weeks ago I was pleased to speak at the Michael J Murphy winter school in Tí Chulainn in the shadow of Sliabh Gullion. Who is Michael J Murphy I hear you ask.  Michael was a  Seanachai , a Sage and a Citizen.   I first came across his writings when I was in Long Kesh.   Some of his stories  have  stayed with me until now.  He wrote six plays, ten books, was an accomplished poet, a photographer and a broadcaster.   Michael was born in Liverpool in 1913 . H e came to Dromintee in 1922 with his parents and family .  W hen he left school aged 14 he started to work as a farm labourer.   He began to write down the stories he heard from the people he worked with.  He also  took thousand s  of photos which he developed himself.   At a time, with some notable exceptions, few photographers recorded the lives of poor people or working people ,  particularly in rural communities ,  Michael ’ s photos are a treasure trove of people at work, at play or relaxing in thei

When the news broke that a withdrawal Brexit agreement had been reached between the British government and the EU Sammy Wilson of the DUP responded in time worn fashion. It was, he said  “ a punishment beating for the UK because they dared to vote to leave the EU”. Even before he had read the agreement Wilson declared that the DUP would not support it. Later he told Channel 4 News,  "If the EU think that what the IRA couldn't achieve, they're going to achieve, they have another thought coming to them." Outside the Westminster bubble loyalist activist Jamie Bryson was warning that the Brexit deal would " almost certainly trigger a grassroots unionist reaction that would dwarf the anger of the flag protests and Drumcree". This type of excessive threatening language has long been part of political unionism’s response when faced with the prospect of change. It’s a combination of hysterical exaggeration and threat. It’s the language of dire warnings, of ci

Brexit is a deadly serious issue. It threatens the two economies on this island, will undermine social cohesion, and directly attacks the Good Friday Agreement. It is within this context that the stupidity, insanity, absurdity and ludicrousness of Brexit and of the British government’s approach to Brexit emerges for all to see. Take one example. Last week the British Secretary of State for Exiting the EU Dominic Raab admitted that until recently he did not fully understand how much of British trade relies on the Dover to Calais crossing. This generated a flood of ironic and sarcastic responses asking whether Raab even knew that Britain was an island? Perhaps the most devastating and scathing critique came from Raab’s Parliamentary colleague, former British Tory Minister Ken Clarke, who responded on twitter with,  “I’ve just given Dominic Raab an early Christmas present; a globe of the world. He was flabbergasted at how close the rest of Europe is then asked ‘what’s the blue stu

This article comes to you from the USA. It’s an interesting time to be here. The mid-ter m elections for the Congress; for some Senate seats; and for governorship and state legislatures and a host of other elected positions will be over by the time you get to read this. And you will know the results. But at the time of writing on the eve of the election everyone I have spoken to is focussed on what is going to happen. Will President Trump consolidate his position? Or will he lose out? Will the Democrats take the Congress? Sinn Féin steadfastly refuses to get involved in the domestic politics of the USA. Our cause here is the cause of Ireland. Of course we oppose many aspects of US foreign policy and I myself have raised these with previous administrations. As I travel from New York to Nashville to Atlanta and back to New York I am also conscious of the homeless people I see in all these cities and the other signs of poverty sitting starkly alongside affluence. This is a time o

Countless books have been written about the Irish peace process. Its origins - the principle characters and key dates. Who met who, and when, and where, and what was said? And yet there are still aspects of that process which have not been aired in public. Private meetings that took place. Conversations that were held in quiet, out of the way places involving men and women who are not household names. There is another book – a negotiators book – still to be written. One of these days. The Negotiators Cookbook is not that book. It lifts the lid on one aspect of the negotiations known to only a few. When you bring a large team of hungry republicans together for days – sometimes weeks on end – how do you feed them? This is not a frivolous matter. There is a psychology to the planning and running of negotiations. Castle Buildings where the Good Friday Agreement negotiations occurred had a good canteen. Siobhan O’Hanlon and Sue Ramsay developed a great relationship with the cater