Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fail party is losing ground amid a swing
to the more progressive parties, according to the latest
26-County poll conducted by the Red C organisation.
![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/rn.gif) | ![[Irish Republican News]](https://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/harp.gif) |
March 28, 2006
SF, Greens rise in latest poll
Informers ‘getting away with murder’
The family of a 19-year-old Catholic man shot dead by unionist
paramilitaries have publicly denounced the police investigation
which has failed to yield a single arrest in almost four years.
Hunger strikers and families remembered
Republicans across the country yesterday lit candles on Sunday to
mark the 25th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike.
Cash for victims and families lies unclaimed
Just one third of a 9 million Euro fund set up by the Dublin
government to help victims of the conflict has been claimed, it
has emerged.
NO TO ASSEMBLY SHAM
Sinn Féin has said it is not willing to take part in an Assembly
if there is no prospect of having an Executive up and running by
the summer.
Looking to the Future - Adams
The following is the text of the address on Monday by Sinn Féin
President Gerry Adams MP to Sinn Féin’s National Elected
Representatives Forum in the Writers Museum, Parnell Square in
Dublin.
Irish example for Basque peace process
Tributes have been paid to the Irish role in bringing about the
ceasefire by Basque separatist group ETA, particularly that of
peace intermediary Fr Alec Reid.
No future in parties’ fanciful ideas on assembly
In an unusually sharp and pointed criticism Sinn Féin president
Gerry Adams publicly questioned the quality of the advice being
given to US president George Bush, which is shaping his
administration’s policy in relation to the peace process here.
March 24, 2006
McDowell under strain
Pressure is growing on the 26-County Minister for Justice,
Michael McDowell after has was forced to apologise twice for
political outbursts while controversy mounts over unexplained
deaths in police custody.
UDA, UVF mount attacks
A prominent loyalist was shot in yet another attack in County
Antrim linked to the unionist paramilitary UDA - the third within
weeks.
Unionists could gain control over Housing
Nationalists have expressed concern at British Direct Ruler Peter
Hain’s proposals for changing the role of the Housing Executive
(HE) in the North.
ETA’S ARMED STRUGGLE IS OVER
A permanent ceasefire announced by Basque pro-independence
organisation Euskadi Ta Askatasuna [Basque Homeland and Freedom]
has gone into effect.
Ahern accepts past collusion, future cover-up
26-County Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said he
always believed there was British collusion in the murder of
Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.
The History of the Basque Country
The Basque Country, Euskal Herria, Vasconia, Navarre, etc. are
some of the many names given to the Basque nation throughout its
history. A nation, which, like Ireland, has endured a long
struggle against aggression by its neighbours. A nation that has
managed to survive to the present day, maintaining its own unique
identity.
‘Smoke and mirrors’ Assembly?
Sinn Féin remains opposed to reported plans from London and
Dublin for the restoration of an Assembly at Stormont with
limited powers and a target date for the appointment of
a powersharing executive.
Barmy logic of US Homeland Security officials
By Danny Morrison (for Daily Ireland)
Seven hundred people gathered on St Patrick’s night in Buffalo to hear Gerry Adams give an address on the subject of the peace process. However, he didn’t appear, having been detained by Homeland Security officials at Reagan National Airport in Washington, until he missed his flight.
March 20, 2006
Renewed US support sought for peace process
The US government and Irish Americans have been urged to support
Sinn Féin’s call for the implementation of the Good Friday
Agreement.
Birmingham Six man seeks apology
One of the Birmingham Six has promised to launch legal action
against the British government unless he gets a public apology.
Govts seek to quell concern over CIA renditions
Aircraft used by the CIA to transport prisoners to countries
where they are reportedly being tortured have landed in the
North, it has been revealed.
Adams defies ‘carrot and stick’ pressure
Efforts by Gerry Adams to brief Irish-American supporters of the
peace process this week were hampered by a fund-raising ban and
travel issues.
THE GHOST OF STORMONT
A “shadow assembly” could operate in Belfast for a “few months”
while efforts are made to restore power-sharing, Bertie Ahern has
said.
The Irishmen who died for Mexico
The Saint Patrick’s Battalion in the US-Mexican War has placed
the Irish as a revered race in Mexico; even to this day, an Irish
person in Mexico will be told a countless number of times about
the famous ‘Irish Martyrs’ who defected from the US Army and gave
their lives trying to save Mexico from US aggression from
1846-1848.
St Patrick’s breakthrough for Belfast
Belfast enjoyed its first ever official St. Patrick’s Day parade
with good cheer at the weekend despite disagreement over the
waving of the Irish flag.
All change in world of all-Ireland politics
People say nothing ever changes here, but they’re wrong. Movement
is so slow, glacial even, that usually people don’t notice.
March 16, 2006
Court setback for Save Tara campaign
An environmentalist has had legal costs of up to 600,000 Euros
(Stg413,000) awarded against him after he lost his court
challenge against the routing of the M3 motorway near the Hill of
Tara.
Exclusion not an option - Hain
Britain’s Direct Ruler in Ireland, Peter Hain, has made it clear
that he will not bar Sinn Féin from a restored Belfast Assembly
or power-sharing administration.
Adams appeals for peace progress
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP has said he is increasingly
concerned at the handling of the current talks by the Dublin and
London governments and the recent partisan behaviour of the US
government.
US FOCUS ON POLICING, PAISLEY
US envoy Ambassador Mitchell Reiss has suggested that Sinn Féin’s
insistence on further police reform can be equated with the DUP’s
refusal to hold talks with republicans.
The Diary of Bobby Sands (part 2)
For the first seventeen days of his hunger-strike 25 years ago
this week, Bobby Sands kept a secret diary in which he wrote his
thoughts and views.
The following is his writings for the last eight days. It is extracted from ‘Skylark Sing your Lonely Song: An Anthology of the Writings of Bobby Sands.
Institutional inequality must end
The North’s Equality Commission is being urged to begin
investigations of public institutions with records of
discrimination.
Adams, Ahern back emigrants’ rights
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams in New York yesterday morning
pledged his party’s “full support for the Irish Lobby for
Immigration Reform.
Struggle for freedom is story worth reading
Last Thursday, March 9 was Bobby Sands’s birthday. He would have
been 52.
March 13, 2006
Media smuggled in for border raid
A raid on an alleged border smuggling operation has provided the
launching pad for a wave of anti-republican news coverage.
‘Blood money’ for British soldiers
Relatives of people killed by locally recruited British soldiers
in the North of Ireland have described a massive cash payout to
the 3,000 troops as ‘repugnant and offensive’.
Hain announces new Policing Board
British Direct Ruler Peter Hain has announced the new make-up of
the North’s Policing Board, which includes a majority of
Independent members.
UVF ‘hit list’ destroyed by PSNI
An apparent hit list found in the home of a unionist paramilitary
murder suspect was later destroyed by the PSNI, it has emerged.
ADAMS TO MEET BUSH
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has accepted a St Patrick’s Day
invitation to the White House despite a US administration ban on
his fundraising plans and strong Irish opposition to George
Bush’s foreign policy.
The Bomb to End All Bombs?
Did a British agent at
the heart of a dissident republican group engineer the Omagh bomb?
Disgust at 1916 ‘Sale of the century’
There has been an outcry over a planned auction of historical
documents and artifacts associated with the 1916 Rising.
The shots that changed the world forever
By Tom McGurk (for the Sunday Business Post)
The public commentary ever since Bertie Ahern announced the revival of the 1916 memorial parade has been fascinating.
March 9, 2006
Brutal murder throws harsh light on justice system
A number of related policing and judicial scandals have followed
the murder of a 22-year-old woman at a party in Dublin last
weekend.
Jammed gun prevents UDA murder
A gun attack on a Catholic taxi driver in north Belfast at the
weekend is the start of a killing campaign against all republican
ex-prisoners, according to the unionist paramilitary UDA.
PMs TAKE STOCK
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and 26-County Taoiseach Bertie
Ahern appear to have moved away from plans for a ‘shadow’
Six-County Assembly in Belfast, but are still not revealing any
proposals for reviving the peace process.
All-party vote for Finucane inquiry
The Dublin parliament has unanimously backed a motion calling
for a “full, independent, public judicial inquiry” into the 1989
murder of Belfast defence lawyer Pat Finucane.
The Diary of Bobby Sands
For the first seventeen days of his hunger-strike 25 years ago
this week, Bobby Sands kept a secret diary in which he wrote his
thoughts and views.
The following is his writings for the first nine days.
Unionists snub ‘terrorist’ Rising
Ulster Unionists have rejected an invitation to attend a ceremony
to mark the 1916 Easter Rising and the declaration of the Irish
Republic, describing it as an “act of terrorism”.
High Court persecution of leading republican
Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane is to face a retrial in connection with
an IRA action over 20 years ago, the Dublin High Court has ruled.
Establishment be warned - the truth will out
By Danny Morrison
You might think that it would be to the advantage of Tony Blair and incumbent prime minister Gordon Brown to expose the involvement of their main opponents - the Conservatives - in murder. They certainly have the information and power to do it - but not the will or inclination.
March 5, 2006
PSNI raids block UDA propoganda bid
UDA leaders were among a group of up to 15 unionist
paramilitaries arrested on Friday after PSNI police raided a bar
during a ‘show of strength’.
Protest after Bush rallies troops at Irish airport
Political activists have demonstrated against stopovers through
Shannnon Airport this week by US President George Bush.
Orde evades Omagh questions
PSNI police chief Hugh Orde has dodged questions put to him at a
meeting of the North’s Policing Board about the 1998 Omagh
bombing.
Blair snub to McBride family
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to meet the family
of murdered Belfast teenager Peter McBride.
TALKING SHOP OPPOSED
An attempt by the London and Dublin governments to form a Belfast
Assembly with significantly reduced powers is meeting strong
resistance from northern nationalists.
Immortalised on the lips of old and young
By Danny Morrison (for Daily Ireland)
When recalling the 1981 hunger strike, people often preface their memories by saying: “You wouldn’t think it was 25 years ago. It seems like only yesterday.”
Dublin - the new Drumcree?
A unionist group has said it is determined to march through
Dublin in spite of the violence caused by its attempt to do so
last weekend.
Exclusion is politics of failure and the past
By Jim Gibney (for the Irish News)
What were the British and Irish governments, the SDLP and the DUP doing when they tried to exclude Sinn Fein from negotiations 10 days ago?
