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Raymond McCreesh and Patsy O’Hara – Died on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh

19 May 2026

THURSDAY, 21 MAY 1981, witnessed the deaths of two more Hunger Strikers. Raymond McCreesh passed away at 2:30am. That evening, Patsy O’Hara died. The deaths of Raymond and Patsy – who had started the strike on the same day, died on the same day and were born within a fortnight of each other in February 1957 – marked a critical escalation in the prison struggle as well as the struggle outside the prisons walls. Free article

Workers' rights delayed or blocked are rights denied

26 May 2026

Last week a large number of local trade unionists, various MLAs, and Party workers rallied together outside Parliament Buildings in Belfast to call for progress on implementation of the ‘Good Jobs Employment Rights Bill’, which is being spearheaded by the Sinn Féin Economy  Minister, Caoimhe Archibald. Representatives from all political parties at Stormont addressed the... Free article

“We wouldn’t be where we are without that struggle”

14 May 2026

Forty years after the killing of IRA Volunteer Séamus McElwain, former political prisoner, Sinn Féin MLA and republican activist Seán Lynch reflects on the man he knew, the conflict they lived through, and the political path that followed. Free article

Francis Hughes – Died on 12 May 1981 on hunger strike in the H-Blocks

11 May 2026

The death of Francis Hughes at the age of 25 on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh saw not the end of a legend but a new chapter in what was, by any measure, the story of one of the most fearless and tenacious guerrilla fighters of the 20th Century and of the Irish Republican Army. Free article

The Triple Lock - the truth

8 May 2026

There was huge interest among delegates to the presentation on the Triple Lock at last summer’s ICTU Global Solidarity School. As a result Dublin Council of Trade Unions organised a similar presentation for its delegates and a call for the Trade Union movement to lead their defence of the Triple Lock and Irish Neutrality. This led to the formation of Trade Unionist for the Triple Lock. Since then they have been building a grassroots campaign in unions and Trades Councils across Ireland. Free article

Séamus gave it his all

5 May 2026

Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly gave the main oration to a gathering of over 1,000 people in Scotstown, Co. Monaghan, to honour IRA Volunteer Séamus McElwain on the 40th anniversary of his death in a British SAS ambush. Free article

Bobby Sands MP – Died 5 May 1981 on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh

4 May 2026

5 May 1981 was one of the most defining days in Irish history. It was the day that Bobby Sands, the 27-year-old Member of Parliament for Fermanagh/South Tyrone, died on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh as part of the republican prisoners’ campaign for the restoration of political status. Free article

A progressive, united Ireland can and will be achieved

24 April 2026

24 April marks the 110th anniversary of the Easter Rising in Ireland, when Irish revolutionaries took on the might of the British empire and declared a national Republic.

The Proclamation of the Republic itself was a revolutionary document which asserted the sovereignty of Ireland, and the rights of all its people to freedom, equality and social justice.

Today the Proclamation’s... Free article

Easter 1976 - ban defied and 1916 veteran saluted

22 April 2026

Easter 1976 marked the 60th anniversary of the 1916 Rising with the armed conflict ongoing in the Six Counties while in Dublin the Fine Gael/Labour Coalition government turned its back on both the North and on the heritage of Easter 1916 which it once claimed.

The 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising had seen extensive State commemorations but in 1976 there were none. Sinn Féin... Free article

Catalpa flag to go on display - but for only two days

15 April 2026

The flag of the ship that carried out the daring rescue of six Fenians from Western Australia 150 years ago this week is to go on display in the National Museum - but only for a mere two days. Free article

A blast of fresh thinking

15 April 2026

‘A Nation for All - Solidarity, Democracy & Sovereignty’ by Caoilfhionn Ní Dhonnabháin. Published by Green Island Press. Free article

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