Léargas

A President for All All three candidates in the Presidential election have made commitments in support of Irish Unity. Clear evidence of the growing importance of Irish Unity to the electorate. Last Saturday Catherine Connolly was invited to address a Sinn Fein conference in Dublin. There was a palpable buzz of anticipation in Dublin City University as over 500 party activists gathered to discuss ‘Building For Unity.’  It was an opportunity to judge her style, hear at first hand her vision for the future of our island, and to assess her ability to challenge the establishment parties and their candidates. Connolly has been an outspoken critic of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and an advocate for workers, communities, and equality. She supports the need for the Irish government to plan for the future unity referendums. A call Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their candidates refuse to make. An Taoiseach Micheál Martin has made clear and repeated it last weekend, that there wil...

  Catherine Connolly – A President for all of Ireland In less than five weeks’ time the next Uachtarán na hÉireann will be elected by the people of the 26 counties. Election day is 24 October. That the people of the North and of the diaspora will be denied a vote is a disgraceful consequence of the efforts over recent years by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael (FFFG) to prevent the extension of the presidential franchise. Both parties are frightened by the prospect of people, who have never voted for either party, voting in Presidential elections.  They want to retain the status quo not change it. This partitionist approach also influences the resistance of Micheál Martin and others to the growing potential for a referendum vote in favour of Irish Unity. Last weekend’s decision by the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle to endorse Catherine Connolly’s campaign is, to quote Mary Lou, a ‘ game changer .’ Sinn Féin has many capable, articulate leaders who would have been great candidates. But the p...

  Defending the Assembly and Executive If we were to listen to and accept at face value those in the media who criticise the Assembly and the Executive as ineffective, and who question their value or use, we would mothball both institutions and sack the MLAs. Yes, there is justifiable frustration at the failure of the institutions to address concerns on health and education and delivery on Casement Park, Saving Lough Neagh, building the A5, delivering for Gaeilgeoirí, tackling poverty and hate crimes and legacy issues alongside problems in our public services. But that is not the fault of the institutions. It lies with the political parties and others who are blocking progress. Yes, there are problems but it is wrong to tar all our politicians with the one brush and it would also be wrong to hand over responsibility for these issues to unelected civil servants and to the British government. That would be irresponsible and stupid. Does anyone really want another British Secreta...