Léargas

As I write this column news is emerging that a British general election is likely to be held in December. If it is confirmed it will be an opportunity to send a clear message to whatever new government is elected to Westminster that the people of the North are opposed to Brexit and the austerity policies of the Tory/DUP government. It will also be an opportunity to send a clear message to the DUP that only the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, and a resolution of the issues which led to the collapse of the political institutions, will suffice to make progress. The election will also present an opportunity for Sinn Féin to put to the people our demand for a referendum on Irish Unity. The DUP/Tory alliance has been bad for the people of the North. I warned against it when I led a party delegation to meet the then British Prime Minister, Theresa May and her secretary of state, James Brokenshire in Downing Street in June 2017. I cautioned May and Brokenshire that d...

©Gérard Harlay This photo by French photographer Gérard Harlay was taken on 8 August 1976. It shows Bobby Sands on the left carrying the Harp flag and Máire Drumm to the right leading the march. The late Marie Moore is behind Máire carrying a loud hailer. Tuesday, October 22 nd  was the centenary of the birth of Máire Drumm. Many readers will know of her. Máire was one of the most courageous a nd visionary leaders Irish Republicanism has ever had. This week I published a book on Máire. It is the latest of a little series of books in the Leargas series which so far has included folklorist Michael J Murphy, Republican leader John Joe McGirl and human rights lawyer Pat Finucane. I intend to republish a book on Sheena Campbell by Ella O’Dwyer and others in the next short while. Maire was born Máire McAteer on Kelly’s Road, Killean, in south Armagh on October 22 nd  1919. She was the eldest of four children – Christina (Teenie), Tommy and Seán. Máire attended Kil...

Ulick, mise agus Paul 'ODwyer with Tom Hartley in the background Ulick O Connor died last week in the nursing home where I last saw him in August. I intended to visit him last week when I got word of his death. I first met Ulick in the 1980s. I was scheduled to speak at a debate in Cork University on a motion along the lines of  ‘This House accepts that armed struggle in the north is a legitimate response to military occupation.’  That may not be the exact words but it’s the gist of it. As the date of the debate came closer I was told that the university society involved was having difficulty getting anyone else to speak in support of the motion. Then Ulick stepped in. He was very well known by then because of his frequent appearances on the Late Late Show and his passionate republican defence of the nationalist position – a rare enough occurrence in those revisionist days. After the debate – which we won – I got my first experience of Ulick’s legendar...

Carrickdale Hotel Last Thursday evening, in the midst of Storm Lorenzo, hundreds of citizens braved the weather and turned out to the Carrickdale Hotel on the border for a conference on Brexit. It was organised by Martina Anderson MEP and Mickey Brady MP. The conference room was packed to capacity. It was an informative conversation just days after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson published his self-proclaimed ‘workable alternative’ proposals to the Backstop. The Johnson proposals are dangerous and reckless. They will undermine the institutional and all-island structures, as well as the human rights principles, which are the strengths of the Good Friday Agreement. Any proposal that will establish checks along the border is unacceptable. Any proposal that requires two borders on the island of Ireland is a fantasy. The alignment proposal would mean that significant elements of the all island economy would be outside the single market and customs union. It is woefull...

  Two weeks ago the Court House Square in Dundalk was alive with the chants of young people from a variety of Dundalk secondary schools as they gave voice to their concern about the impact of climate change. They were demonstrating their fears about the future of humanity, and demanding that more is done to save the planet. These students represent the millions of young people, in scores of countries around the world, who took part in a global day of action to raise awareness about climate change. Their enthusiasm, energy, and commitment to this campaign is inspirational. The speeches In Dundalk were thoughtful, informed, direct and a warning of the threat climate change poses to us all and to our families and the billions whose lives are already being changed every day by the damaging effects of human pollution. A few days later, speaking in New York at a UN climate change summit, Greta Thunberg berated the political leaders of the world for failing to honour past ...