Léargas

The IRA cessation is 25 years old this week. August 1994 was an intense month. I was involved, along with Martin McGuinness, and others in the Sinn Féin leadership, in intense, mostly private, efforts to persuade the SDLP Leader John Hume, the Irish Government and allies in Irish America to establish an alternative unarmed strategy to pursue republican and democratic objectives. Fr Alec Reid was central to this. And Fr Des.  The Sinn Féin aim was to open up the opportunity for a meaningful peace process that could bring about fundamental political and constitutional change. At the same time we were intent on advancing our republican objectives of ending partition and bringing about Irish Unity. August 1994 was the month when it all began to come together. To be honest, neither Martin nor I really knew if we would succeed. We were attempting something unique and exceptional - to construct a series of agreements which together could persuade the IRA leadership that there exis...

   The second week of August 50 years ago witnessed the most intensive and violent period of conflict in the North since the 1920s. It also saw British soldiers arrive on the streets of Derry and Belfast, where they remained for another 30 years. The fighting in Derry, and the widespread destruction of homes in Belfast, revealed in all their stark brutality the deeply sectarian nature of the northern state and exposed the institutional links between the unionist political establishment, its armed state forces and loyalist paramilitary organisations. Several recent publications have been produced about August 1969. They include ‘Burnt Out; How the Troubles began’ by Michael McCann, and two books of photographs, ‘Ardoyne - The Aftermath’ and  ‘Bombay Street’. The Clonard Residents Association has also produced an excellent video film; Eyewitness- The Burning of Bombay Street, which uses filmed reports of the time, including interviews with victims - to provide an...

Wasn’t Féile an Phobail 2019 great? 11 days, covering over 300 events, which attracted tens of thousands people. Amazing. Comhghairdeas to all of those who made it happen. To everyone involved in planning, organising, or participating in this year’s Féile. The best ever. Buiochas to Kevin and the entire Féile team. Well done. As Emma Goldman said “A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having.” She was right. Dancing is an essential part of Féile an Phobail. And singing. There were sold out concerts in the Falls Park – Boyzone, Wolftones, and Dance night. Other seisúns everywhere. The Michael Conlan Fight Night was televised live to millions of people across the world on BT Sport and ESPN+. Phil Coulter packed out Clonard Monastery. Féile comedy night was hugely successful. There were dramas, art exhibitions,film, debates and discussions, lectures, the carnival parade, sporting events, and the visual arts. And the Cribby World Championship. There were also a...

August 69 was a turning point for the North and for many of us who lived here.  The Civil Rights Association had been campaigning for an end to discrimination by the Unionist regime at Stormont. I was a member of NICRA and on the committee of its West Belfast branch. I was also very active in the West Belfast Housing Action Committee, campaigning against high rise flats at Divis, and squatting homeless families in the Falls area.  At the start of the year Loyalists and B Specials had attacked a Peoples Democracy March at Burntollet, outside Derry. Sporadic rioting had occurred in the months since then and in Belfast Catholic homes were attacked and some families evicted. In April Samuel Devenney had been batoned in his home by the RUC. He died three months later on July 16th. That same month an Orange parade had clashed with nationalists in Derry, and in three days of renewed attacks on the Bogside by the RUC, two civilians were shot and wounded. In the course of two ...

By the time you read this the new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have played a fleeting visit to the North. The last time he was here it was to speak at a DUP party conference. On that occasion he joined with them in calling for the backstop to be ditched. The North was one of his stops on a quick tour of his increasingly disunited ‘United Kingdom’. In Scotland, in almost the same breath, he said that the withdrawal agreement is ‘dead,’ while repeating his claim that a deal with the EU is still possible. The EU has ruled out any renegotiation. Downing Street is spinning that Johnson will not negotiate with EU leaders unless they agree to scrap the backstop and reopen the withdrawal agreement. Perhaps that’s why, in a breach of the usual protocol, he hasn’t yet spoken to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar At the same time Mr. Johnson’s Brexit ‘war cabinet,’ and his new team of gung-ho Brexiteer Ministers, have not been disguising their belief that a no-deal crash out of t...