Gerry Adams is the pre-eminent republican activist of our times. A former President of Sinn Féin, he served as MP for West Belfast and as a TD in the Dáil over a four-decade period of frontline elected politics.
He is the author of several books including Before the Dawn, The Street and Other Stories and Falls Memories. His latest collection of short stories The Witness Trees will be published in the autumn.
He describes himself as "an optimistic and hopeful activist" and publishes a famed Twitter account.
CUMANN na Meirleach Poblachtach Éireannach/the Irish Republican Felons Association celebrated its 60th birthday last weekend.
THE Moore Street Preservation Trust and Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald organised a conference to support the development of a Historical 1916 Cultural Quarter in Dublin city centre, with Moore Street at its heart.
IN 2014 Sinn Féin brought forward a Dáil motion calling on the government to “officially recognise the State of Palestine, on the basis of the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital".
A RECENT report - 'Northern Ireland Subvention: Possible Unification Effects' – published by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) caught the headlines. It contained the startling claim that Irish unity could cost the South up to €20 billion annually. It was grist to the mill of those who oppose unity.
24 YEARS ago I wrote a short piece for Antrim 2000. I discovered it this week when I was clearing out three decades of accumulated books, newspaper clippings and assorted pamphlets. Since then much has changed in the Gaeldom. The most important change is probably the growth of women's football. Until recent times women were confined to camogie. Now ladies' football is the fastest growing Gaelic game.
Fifteen years ago this month, I led a Sinn Féin delegation on a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories. Our visit took place seven weeks after Israel’s assault on Gaza between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. In that attack Israeli forces killed 1400 Palestinians, including more than 400 children and injured thousands more. Schools and hospitals and infrastructure were also targeted.
LEO Varadkar’s resignation from the office of An Taoiseach and as leader of Fine Gael caught observers by surprise. On reflection, however, it is very much in keeping with his personality. A bit petulant. Awkward. Impulsive. He had done his best by his own lights. And his best had not been good enough, by his own admission. So in fairness he probably did the right thing. Better to get out on his own terms.
IT isn’t easy speaking in public and it can be very daunting when faced by a hostile audience who are not interested in what you have to say but simply want to shout you down. Belfast Councillor Clíodhna Nic Bhranair faced this challenge at the weekend and demonstrated enormous strength of character when confronted by a section of people at the pro-Palestinian march in Belfast who chose to ignore what she had to say and tried to drown her out with whistles and boos.
ON International Women’s Day, history was made when two statues were unveiled at the front of Belfast City Hall to two formidable Irish republican women – Mary Anne McCracken and Winifred Carney. Despite the cold, hundreds of people gathered for the ceremony to applaud these two fearless women and this important initiative by Belfast City Council.
THE last two weeks have seen an increase in the conversation that has been growing around Irish unity. Sinn Féin’s Commission on the Future of Ireland held two packed, public hearings in Fermanagh and West Tyrone; Friends of Sinn Féin in the USA, the AoH and a range of other Irish American organisations had a hugely successful Irish Unity Summit in New York; the Irish Echo in New York editorialised on the imperative of a united Ireland; and Ireland’s Future produced a major report, ‘Ireland 2030’, which set 2030 as the date to hold the unity referendum promised in the Good Friday Agreement.
I HAVE spent many enjoyable afternoons in Casement Park watching countless football and hurling games – and playing in some of them. I have lost count of my Man of the Match triumphs. Especially for St Mary's or Belfast Schools in hurling. Or on Sports Days. In the past the stand and terraces or raised mounds around the pitch provided a wonderful view of the contests. Some games attracted a few hundred spectators while others were watched by enthralled thousands.
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.
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.
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.
COMHGHAIRDEAS Kneecap as an rath a bhí ar bhur scannán ag Féile Scannán Sundance.