Léargas

  Respect On Sunday last I spoke at the 40th Anniversary Commemoration of the killing by the SAS of IRA Volunteers Henry Hogan and Declan Martin in Dunloy County Antrim. Declan was 18. Henry was 20. I was also the speaker at the  funerals in February 1984.  At that time hundreds of  RUC  and scores of landrovers surrounded Henry Hogans wake house and myself, Martin McGuinness, Danny Morisson and Owen Carron linked arms with other mourners to create a human barrier around the house and the funeral to shield them from the RUC. That is the way many republican funerals were conducted in those days. It was part of a conspiracy between the NIO, the RUC, British Army and the Catholic Hierarchy to stop patriot dead being buried with the national flag as part of their criminalisation strategy.  It eventually failed as  a strategy not least because of the resolve of the families  involved, their neighbours and friends and...

  An appeal for Information In the 1970s the IRA shot dead and secretly buried a number of people. This is a terrible legacy of that period of our history.   The families of those killed have suffered a grievous injustice. Republicans, including the IRA, recognise and have acknowledged this fact. What happened was wrong and unjustifiable. In the autumn of 1997 as part of the outworking of the peace process and following representations from Fr. Alec Reid and me the IRA established a special investigative unit to ascertain the whereabouts of these graves. Following that investigation the IRA said it   believed that the number of persons involved was nine. In April 1999 it issued a statement acknowledging this and naming those killed and buried by it. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains was established in the same month by the Irish and British governments. This followed representations from myself and Fr. Alec Reid. The hope at that time th...

  Something fundamental has happened. The restoration last Saturday of the political institutions and the election of Michelle O'Neill as First Minister marks an extraordinary turning point in the process of constitutional change for the North and for the island of Ireland. It is a significant new chapter in the transitional process of change that began with the peace process. Last Saturday something  fundamental  happened. In its century of existence the northern statelet reflected the ethos and wishes of those who ruled us. It was born out of colonialism, occupation, conflict, sectarian division, fear and partition. Under successive unionist and British regimes it relied for its survival on special powers, structured inequality and discrimination. Up to this point the northern state has had 11 unionist Prime Ministers and First Ministers and a succession of largely mediocre British Secretaries of State who saw their role as shoring up unionism and defending partitio...

  Comhghairdeas Kneecap Comhghairdeas Kneecap as an rath a bhí ar bhur scannán ag féile scannán Sundance. Last August I travelled over to a studio close to Queen’s University to meet with Kneecap. The three west Belfast lads were busy putting the final touches to their movie which recounts – mostly i nGaeilge - how they were formed. That night they were to do some work with Michael Fassbender but I was there to film a short segment. Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí and director Rich Peppiatt all watched and laughed as I stammered my way through several different versions of my lines. That evening Kneecap played a sell out gig at the West Belfast Féile in the Falls Park. I haven’t seen the film yet. I am looking forward to it. Kneecap’s music is exuberant and fun. They have a sharp sense of the outrageous, the political and the ironic. The crowd that night in the Park was enthusiastic and we all enjoyed every minute of the performance. Despite criticism from the DUP an...