An Phoblacht, Issue 4 - 2022

I

Women in sport have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go

LAURA CARROLL writes with honesty, humour and insight on what needs to be done to promote equality in sport

ROBBIE SMYTH editor@anphoblacht.com

The threshold of a new era

Acentury ago, Ireland was being pulled apart, not just physically partitioned, but spiritually and socially also, as the republican ideal was usurped in favour of a conservative, elitist, class-based distortion of what a free equal Ireland should have been.

This November’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis clearly signposted how the republic envisioned in the 1916 Proclamation and the First Dáil can be returned. The first full Ard Fheis since the 2020 Dáil and 2022 Assembly elections and the end of the Covid lockdown was the coming together of the elected representatives and membership of Ireland’s largest political party.

Dublin’s RDS was filled with plans and ideas for the better Ireland and how we can take the next steps and build a society that really does cherish everyone equally. Sinn Féin Uachtarán Mary Lou McDonald captured the spirit of the moment when she said, “We meet in Dublin in a spirit of ambition, enthusiasm, hope for the future. Together we seize the day”. McDonald told delegates and the watching TV audience that “We stand on the threshold of a new era”.

This edition of An Phoblacht tries to give some flavour of what that day was like, and you can still dip in and out of the video feed of the day’s proceedings. We carry in full the speeches of Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill as well views and contributions from a range of our elected representatives north and south.

One of the other themes of this issue is the marking of the executions during the Civil War of republican prisoners beginning in November 1922 with the killing of Richard Twohig, James Fisher, John Gaffney, and Peter Cassidy at dawn on 17 November 2022.

We have articles on Erskine Childers and Liam Mellows, executed on 24 November and 8 December respectively. Micheál Mac Donncha quotes Mellows extensively in his article. He highlights key points such as where Mellows wrote how, “James Connolly realised that if Ireland were really to be free, it must be owned by the Irish people; that it was little use freeing Ireland from foreign tyranny if, in the course of a comparatively short time, it would fall under domestic tyranny”

And how “the ‘stake in the country’ people were never with the Republic” and that republicans should “base our appeals upon the understanding and needs of those who have always borne Ireland’s fight”.

This November nearly a century on from Mellows’ execution Irish republicans are once again organising around these very themes, working for Irish unity and campaigning on the needs of those in the front line of Ireland’s cost of living, housing, and health crises.

Last word to Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, “Friends, it’s time for change”.

'We meet in Dublin in a spirit of ambition, enthusiasm, hope for the future. Together we seize the day'

MARY LOU McDONALD

“On the threshold of a new era”. With the historic Dáil and Assembly elections of 2020 and 2022 respectively Sinn Féin has established itself as the political party with the largest electoral support in Ireland. This year’s Sinn Féin Ard Fheis culminated in the presidential address of Mary Lou McDonald. We carry here the full text of Mary Lou’s address to the Sinn Féin delegates

Together, we seize the day

We meet in Dublin in a spirit of ambition, enthusiasm, hope for the future Together we seize the day. To chart new directions. To capture opportunities that lie ahead. A new dawn is breaking in Ireland. We stand on the threshold of a new era. Friends, it’s time for change.

So much has happened since last we met. Things have been tough for so many of you joining us tonight, struggling with an unbearable cost of living. I want to acknowledge your resilience. Under enormous pressure, you’re holding the line. holding it together for yourselves, your families, your community.

This crisis won’t last forever. You deserve political leadership to support you through these difficult times and to match your hopes for the future. That’s the job of good government.

We are ambitious for change. Those ambitions aren’t confined to Ireland. We send solidarity to people who endure imperialism, war, occupation, and the denial of human rights. We send our unwavering support to Palestine.

Ukraine fights for its very survival against Putin’s criminal invasion. We stand with Ukraine. We will

support you until that day when your beloved homeland is free from Russia’s war. Russia must end its war. The journey to peace must start now.

Ireland stands on the side of international law, against those who trample on the rights of others. Be it Putin’s war or Israeli apartheid. Though the world has changed. Our values remain strong.

In hard times, when the odds are stacked against us, when hearts are heavy with loss, we come together. In Donegal, following the tragedy in Creeslough, families face the heartbreak of the empty chair. We can only imagine the enormity of your loss. Know that you are not alone. The nation wraps its arms around you.

The outpouring of sympathy for Creeslough stretched far beyond our shores in acts of solidarity and condolence from the Irish abroad. In this moment of profound grief, we saw again that to be Irish is not only to be from a small island but to be part of a very large global family who have built their lives in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and beyond.

We are very proud of them. They have kept faith with home. To our young people who once again depart our shores, you have been badly let down, particularly by a

A Chairde.

failed housing system. I want you to know that we are working hard to change things for you. We will make Ireland the home you deserve.

So, enjoy your experience, work hard but come home and be part of the new Ireland that we must build. We need you.

The demand for change is growing

The demand for change is strong and growing with the energy of a generation impatient to claim their future. To achieve a new Ireland. 100 years ago Ireland was traumatised by Partition, divided by bitter Civil War. A century on, we strive for a nation that honours and learns from its past but is not held back by it. This spirit for change was so powerfully expressed in May’s Assembly Election. Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party.

For the first time, a republican, a nationalist, a woman from Tyrone, was elected as First Minister in a state designed to ensure that this could never happen. Well friends, it did. Michelle O’Neill, a First Minister for all.

There is no turning back. There is now no job in the land off limits to anyone. The days of second-class citizenship are over.

A new generation moves together, to a new Ireland where everyone has the chance to realise their dreams. To push the boundaries. To exceed expectations. To succeed. To change Ireland. Change means a place called home. A secure, affordable roof over your head. It means access to a doctor, to hospital and to care when you need it. It means real opportunity, good jobs, decent pay, and the right to retire at 65 on a fair pension.

And friends, change means taking those final steps to full nationhood, ending Partition, reunifying Ireland.

Change can’t be stopped

This change is no longer on some distant horizon. Change is now on our doorstep. It can’t be stopped by the DUP who refuse to accept the result of an election and prevent the formation of an Executive.

While they left workers, families, and businesses without support, Ministers like Conor Murphy stepped-

up. The people of the North deserve, need, demand a government that works for them.

This stalemate cannot continue. British government dithering must end. They must immediately bring clarity, a timetable for concluding negotiations with the European Union and the restoration of the Executive.

But whatever happens, be clear that a return to Direct Rule from London is not an option. Working together is the only way forward. Change can’t be stopped by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, now so joined at the hip that it doesn’t matter to them which leader is Taoiseach. So long as it’s one of them.

Leo leaves, Micheál goes in. Micheál leaves next month, Leo goes back in. In. Out. In. Out. Political hokey pokey. That’s the cosy club that has run this state for a century. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have had their time, had their chance.

It’s time for a new government. A government of change. A government for the people. Change can’t be stopped by the chaotic Tories in London either. They can’t run their own country without bringing it to the brink of financial ruin. They certainly have no right to tell the people of Ireland how to run ours.

They attack the Good Friday Agreement. An Agreement that has delivered 25 years of peace, a peace won and defended by our partners Europe, in the United States of America and beyond.

They disgracefully seek amnesty for their troops and deny victims of the conflict justice. They attack the Protocol. An Agreement that protects livelihoods and our economy. They care so very little about Ireland.

The Tories should leave governing of this island to the people who live here, and we’ll shape a better future together.

Young people and Ireland’s decade of opportunity

That better future calls to us. Asking the big questions of us. I believe that this generation has the answers. This is our moment. Ireland has three big opportunities this decade. The reunification of our country. The achievement of energy independence. And the power of our young people.

Our young people are brimming with talent, ideas,

� Ireland stands on the side of international law, against those who trample on the rights of others. Be it Putin’s war or Israeli apartheid 2022 SINN FÉIN ARD FHEIS

Táséinam

• Change can’t be stopped – Michelle O’Neill is a First Minister for all, there is no turning back

and energy. Yet those in their twenties and thirties will likely be the first generation worse off than their parents. That’s not right. We must renew the promise that if you work hard, you can get ahead and build a good life. This generation looks with fresh eyes and fresh hearts to the Ireland that can be.

They know Ireland’s success must be driven by inclusion and equality. That there’s a seat at the table for everyone. For our Traveller Community, our ethnic communities, our citizens with disabilities, for our LGBTQ+ citizens.

No words of hate from any pulpit or stage will set us back or divide this generation. Our young people refuse the boundaries of yesterday. They reach for opportunity. For their shot. For their chance. If we give them that chance our young people will transform Ireland.

So, the question for the rest of us is straight and simple - are we prepared to do the work with them? The answer must be - yes, yes, and yes again!

Our young people will change housing. Locked out of affordable homes, locked into extortionate rents, living in a society where children grow up in hotel rooms. Government after government has failed on housing. That’s the truth. Targets set. Targets missed. Deadlines set. Deadlines missed. Big on promises. Short on delivery. Young people are calling this out, and we will work with them to deliver the biggest affordable and social housing programme that Ireland has even seen!

Our young people will change healthcare. We saw during Covid 19 how student nurses and midwives

put everything on the line. Those who have kept our health services together for decades, taught them well. They demonstrated skill and compassion innate to all those who work in health services across Ireland. This generation has no time for inequality in healthcare.

They refuse to accept tired excuses that leave more than one and half million people on waiting lists. Or the jaded alibis that leave people on hospital trolleys. They know overcrowded, two-tier health systems do not work. That a border in healthcare does not work. We need a fair health service. A National Health Service for all of Ireland!

We now have Acht Gaeilge. Tá ár ndaoine óga paiseanta faoin nGaeilge. Is léiriú iad de spiorad an seanfhocail - tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. Is mar gheall orthu go bhfuil athbheochan chultúrtha nuaaimseartha faoi lánseol. Is de thairbhe a bpaisean agus a bhfuinneamh, agus an chaoi nár ghlac siad le dada níos lú, a bhfuaireamar Acht na Gaeilge. Is iad na tréithe céanna seo a spreagfaidh Gaeilgeoirí na todhchaí agus beocht a chur athuair sna ceantair Gaeltachta. Tá an athbheochan seo mar thosaíocht ag Sinn Féin.

Living costs were out of control

We now approach our first normal Christmas for three years, a time of great excitement. Yet, there is tension and uncertainty as the bills stack up. Government has been far too slow to respond. Long before Russia invaded Ukraine, living costs were out of control. You felt it in your pocket every day.

Government had to be forced into action by the

The Irish government must immediately establish a Citizens Assembly on unity. If this government refuses to hear tomorrow coming, if it does not establish a Citizens Assembly, Sinn Féin in government will

There is no turning back. There is now no job in the land off limits to anyone. The days of secondclass citizenship are over �

opposition and by public pressure. Forced to curb soaring fuel, gas, and electricity prices. Forced to introduce a winter eviction ban. Forced to provide relief for renters. Now they drag their heels as mortgageholders are walloped with massive interest rate hikes. Just like they drag their heels on rip-off insurance costs.

You shouldn’t have to force your government to protect you. Well, rest assured Pearse Doherty won’t let that drop. Government should be up and at it, on your side. We need that government - with ideas, that can plan, that can deliver.

A strong and vibrant economy is core to our vision for Ireland. We want to support innovation, new ideas, and new businesses to succeed. A strong economy needs certainty, affordable housing, good public services, modern infrastructure, and energy security. The current energy crisis makes one thing very clear. Our island must achieve energy security and energy independence.

We can achieve this by harnessing our abundant renewable resources, building our capacity in wind, solar and green hydrogen. The state must make Ireland’s energy revolution a priority.

Energy Independence will be a game changer for Ireland, transforming our economy, creating new jobs, opportunity, prosperity. Central in turning the tide of climate change and achieving a just transition. So, we need action, we need a plan, and we need pace.

We must sort out the delays in our planning system, invest in our ports so we can pursue offshore energy, and work in collaboration with business, semi-states, and international partners, to realise investment opportunities. This moment cannot be wasted.

Irish Unity

A chairde. We live in the end days of Partition. On the cusp of an historic opportunity – the reunification of our country and our people. Shaping a future for everyone. Moving forward in the belief that there is no ‘them’. There is only ‘us’, who call Ireland home. We can build a nation home for all our people.

Some are apprehensive about Irish Unity. I want you

to know that in a new Ireland you will be cherished, included, respected as equal citizens. This is your place. This is your home. Be part of shaping its future. Others say yes to unity, but not now. They’re wrong.

The time to plan for peaceful, democratic constitutional change is now. The days of treading water are over.

The Irish government must immediately establish a Citizens Assembly on unity. If this government refuses to hear tomorrow coming, if it does not establish a Citizens Assembly, Sinn Féin in government will.

Sinn Féin is ready

The future is ours for the making. So, we need the right leadership. A new leadership with fresh ideas. Sinn Féin is ready to provide that leadership. Ready to lead government, North and South. We have the team, the policies, the energy to build that better future. We will get basics right in the here and now and drive ambitious plans for the future.

To everyone watching tonight: I am asking you to give us the chance to lead. To deliver for you, for your family, for your community. For all of Ireland. Give us that chance - that chance to lead - and we will get the work done.

Friends, the Ireland we shape today is our legacy for future generations. This is our moment to write our chapter in our nation’s story. We face challenges, but this is a time of hope and opportunity. So, let’s do big things. Let’s change Ireland. Let’s choose courage, ambition, belief. Let’s be the generation that finally unites our country and our people. Let’s build the nation home for all. No one left out. No one left behind.

Our people are ready for change. Sinn Féin is ready to lead. Ireland has seen some great days, but our greatest days lie ahead. Days of unity, equality, and prosperity. Days that belong to everyone. That’s a future worth believing in, worth working for, worth achieving.

I say we can do it. I say we must do it. I say we will do it. And, my friends, we will do it together.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh agus An Phoblacht Abú! �

We live in the end days of Partition. On the cusp of an historic opportunity – the reunification of our country and our people. Shaping a future for everyone. Moving forward in the belief that there is no ‘them’. There is only ‘us’, who call Ireland home

I will work for all citizens and for all communities

Sinn Fein Leas Uachtarán

Míle buíochas do gach duine as bheith linn inniu. Tá fáilte mhór romhaibh uilig. It’s so good to be with you all here today. We meet at a time of major change right across our entire island.

That change was demonstrated most loudly six months ago, when the people of the North voted in huge numbers in the Assembly election. It really was a defining moment.

For the first time, the balance of power at Stormont shifted, and Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party, topping the poll with 27 seats.

The electorate overwhelmingly endorsed our message of hope, optimism and of working in partnership with others to get things done. They voted for us to invest extra money in our health service and to help them through the cost-of-living crisis.

They voted for us to build more homes and to create good quality jobs. I campaigned to lead a new Executive as a ‘First Minister for All’. And I meant what I said during the campaign. I will work every day as First Minister Designate to demonstrate through word and deed a spirit of partnership and respect towards everyone in our society. For politics to work it must be inclusive.

That means the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement must work, serve and deliver fairly and equally for all citizens, and for all communities. My commitment is to make politics work for everyone and to lead an agenda for change through partnership, not division.

I want to co-operate across party lines and deliver in government by working with others who want progress.

Our mission is to deliver on health, housing, education and jobs. We need to put money into people’s pockets to help deal with the rising cost of living. To agree a budget and an extra £1 billion into the health service to reduce waiting lists. To support cancer and mental health services, and recruit more doctors and nurses.

Since day one after the election, Sinn Féin has stood ready to form a power-sharing government.

We have been ready to work with other parties and to serve all communities. It is wrong that progress on the issues affecting the daily

lives of people is being put on hold, because one party refuses to accept the democratic outcome of last May’s Assembly election. At any time, this would be unacceptable.

But in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis it is utterly disgraceful. As you all know, the DUP are using the Brexit Protocol as cover not to enter power-sharing. And the real reason is because as an Irish nationalist, I will be at the

dysfunction and chaos in Belfast and London. The British Secretary of State repeatedly stated he would set a date for an election should the DUP fail to restore power-sharing.

Yet come the day and come the hour, he backed down and failed to do anything whatsoever. He has left people in limbo with indecision and the dithering. He needs to step out a definitive pathway to restore an executive. Instead of fuelling instability and uncertainty

If an election is called, we stand ready to refight a positive campaign. A campaign to deliver on the change you voted for in May. A campaign about a future built on inclusivity, togetherness, and respect.

helm as First Minister. And everybody knows it.

Last Friday, Caretaker Ministers were forced from their departments leaving civil servants in an impossible position. They are now expected to run our essential public services, with no budget and no powers.

Not good enough. I want to thank our outgoing Finance Minister Conor Murphy, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey, and Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd for their hard work and delivery.

Back in May, the people voted for change. Yet the DUP and Tories offer only disruption,

In the meantime, we cannot allow the vacuum to be filled by threats of violence or intimidation from loyalists who want yesterday. Let’s be clear, yesterday is not available to them!

From this Ard Fheis today, I send our solidarity to James Nesbitt and Professor Colin Harvey of Queen’s University who have both come under attack from senior DUP politicians, and some loyalists. This attack on them is an attack on democracy and us all.

This must stop.

Earlier this week, I was honoured to attend the funeral service of the late Baroness May Blood. I was privileged to join her beloved family and all those from the Greater Shankill community who mourn the loss of their greatest and deeply respected community champion.

Michelle O’Neill’s speech to Ard Fheis 2022 included not just a commitment to work for all voters as First Minister but also a pledge to make politics work for everyone and to “lead an agenda for change through partnership, not division”.

�

My commitment is to make politics work for everyone and to lead an agenda for change through partnership, not division

A mill worker, trade unionist, a community worker, a campaigner for social justice and integrated education, and the founder of the Women’s Coalition.

As First Minister Designate, I wanted to pay my respects and go onto the Shankill because at the end of the day we all live together. Our battles are the same. To make our communities better.

To offer families a secure life. To build a better future for our children. We have so much more in common than divides us.

Reaching out the hand of friendship to advance reconciliation is our common ground. Where together, we can all build for the future and do so, in a way that reflects the diversity of our different but equally legitimate, Allegiances, Identities and Aspirations.

That is why in September I attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. I was being respectful to all of those of a British and unionist tradition from across our society who felt her loss dearly. It reflects maturity as a new era of change is ushered in where we can celebrate difference and diversity.

A chairde, last week after decades of campaigning the Irish language was given official recognition in law in the north for the first time. Tá Acht Gaeilge againne anois! This will mean Gaeilgeoirí will have guaranteed protections in law, and the legal right to access public services through Irish.

Resistance to rights has failed. Let’s value, not diminish, each other’s culture and identity. I am working to build a society not of Orange and Green, but a rainbow of colours and multi-culturalism which reflects who we are and what we stand for today.

Since we last met, some progress has been made on women’s rights. Finally, women in the

North have the right to modern compassionate healthcare when they need it.

Those services need to be put in place now. A new generation of women will not abide a repeat of the failures of the past, particularly when it comes to our healthcare.

I want to address the issue of the Brexit Protocol. You see, it is an irrefutable fact that the Protocol is working, and that Jeffrey Donaldson is incapable of accepting that is the

and the British Prime Minister last week. We must defend and protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and the need to reach a negotiated agreement with the European Union.

We welcome the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meeting with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen. What we all want to see is a deal done to make the Protocol work better.

But for the avoidance of doubt. Neither the Assembly or the Executive has any mandate or role in these negotiations. So holding back power-sharing in the meantime is simply to punish the public.

This is reckless and it needlessly polarises our society and politics. My call is for London and Brussels topropel the Protocol talks and for Downing Street to demonstrate the political will to get a resolution.

case. He has now been rebuffed on numerous occasions in the past week about his misleading claims.

Including scaremongering about vital medical care. A chairde, Jeffrey doesn’t just need a fact-check, he needs a reality check.

Most working people, businesses and key sectors I meet want the British Government to urgently reach a negotiated settlement with the EU around the Protocol. They want certainty and stability so they can invest for the future taking full advantage of our access to the EU single market and the benefits this brings to our economy.

We welcome the unstinting support of the White House and Congress. This was reaffirmed in a call between President Biden

As for the Stormont leaders, now is the time for renewed unity of purpose and determination to deliver a stable power-sharing coalition that works, and delivers. Next April we will mark 25 years of peace and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. And we will reflect on the transformation of our island over the last quarter century.

We will also take the opportunity to look forward and to imagine the future. We are now in the decade of opportunity. Friends, let’s embrace it and let’s do better for all.

Tá obair le déanamh againn ar son an phobail. We have work to do, and people to represent.

The people want Government, and we all want change.

I am firmly committed to both. Sin mo ghealltanas daoibh uilig.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh. �

� In May the people voted for change. Yet the DUP and Tories offer only disruption, dysfunction and chaos in Belfast and London �

• Michelle O'Neill puts the final touches to her speech

Time for an all island CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY

The campaign for the Irish Government to set up the Citizens' Assembly on Irish Unity was the first debate of the 2022 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis. EMMA McARDLE reports on the key themes of this session and the follow-on Citizens' Assembly fringe meeting held during the lunch break

Ard Fheis 2022 opened with a section on Irish Unity, and I have to admit to feeling a certain sense of nervousness that there might not be enough speakers or attendees in the RDS at 10am on a sunny Saturday morning to do the section justice.

I knew the event itself would be jammed but a niggly voice in my head wouldn’t let me forget that this was the first proper post-Covid Ard Fheis. And for many their priority might be having the craic with friends and comrades and enjoying the social aspect of the day, especially first thing in the morning after a long drive.

But as speaker after speaker lined up to take the podium, it became clear that delegates wanted their say and that discussions about constitutional change would be one of the dominant themes of the Ard Fheis.

The main demand from those who spoke on the uniting Ireland motions was for the government to begin the planning process in earnest with the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish unity. The keynote speaker for the section, Declan Kearney MLA, said:

“The new Ireland cannot and will not be the old Ireland. We are beginning the next stage of our journey. So, the mapping and modelling should start immediately. That is

why it is time for the Irish government to establish an allisland Citizens’ Assembly. It has an important role to play in advance of a unity referendum, by bringing together all representative strands of civic society & political opinion.”

Kearney also flagged a fringe meeting on the topic of the Citizens’ Assembly which would take place during the Ard Fheis lunch break.

Kearney’s call for the government to set up the Citizens’ Assembly were echoed by other speakers including Francie Molloy, Mairéad Farrell, Carál Ní Chuilín and Ruairí Ó Murchú among others.

Delegates also spoke about the economic imperative of unity, the party’s Commission on the Future of Ireland which a few weeks previously hosted the Belfast People’s Assembly, and the impact of Partition on border regions.

The Ard Fheis had opened with unity at the top of the clár and the scene was set for the theme which dominated contributions for the rest of the day.

Listening to the remarks of delegates throughout the morning motions, I was fairly confident that there would be a good attendance at the fringe event.

What I wasn’t so sure about were how the audience would interact with the guest speakers – Tom Arnold and

• Panel at the Fringe Event on Citizens' Assembly on Irish Unity: Declan Kearney, Tom Arnold and Ailbhe Smyth

Ailbhe Smyth – or indeed if these guests might challenge the approach the party was taking.

Tom Arnold is a distinguished protagonist in the field of global food security, having served on many international bodies. Of greatest relevance for the Citizens’ Assembly campaign is the fact that Tom was Chair of the Constitutional Convention which sat from 2012 – 2014.

In many ways, the Constitutional Convention was a precursor to the series of Citizens’ Assemblies in the South which began in 2016 and led to referendums on same sex marriage, lowering the age of eligibility in Presidential elections, and removing the offense of blasphemy from the Constitution.

Tom also chaired the All-Island Civic Dialogue on Brexit and the OECD Committee on Agriculture. Tom’s remarks outlined the positive contribution made by the establishment of Citizens’ Assemblies in the 26 Counties to the democratic process and how they have led to constitutional change.

However, Arnold was also cautionary, citing Brendan O’Leary and Jane Suiter, who have both remarked that citizens’ assemblies on divisive issues may be unhelpful and lacking in political legitimacy should a distinct cohort of the population, such as northern unionists, not participate.

Ailbhe Smyth has been a lifelong activist for social change; she was the founding head of Women’s Studies at UCD and she played a leading role in the successful Marriage Equality campaign in 2015. In 2013, she co-founded the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment and was co-director of Together for Yes, the campaign for the legalisation of abortion in 2018.

Currently, Smyth is Chair of Women’s Aid and also of Ballyfermot STAR Addiction services. She is a board member

of Age Action and of Women’s Global Health Ireland and is Patron of the Women’s Collective Ireland. Ailbhe is a founding member of Le Chéile: Diversity not Division, an alliance which challenges far right extremism.

Smyth’s contribution to the fringe event focused on the opportunities and risks associated with citizens’ assemblies and the need to build a broad and deep coalition to secure the Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity.

Smyth described the campaign to get the Irish government to establish the Citizens’ Assembly on unity as a practise run for the actual unity referendum as it raised the prominence of the unity question and it provides an opportunity to test and refine the key messages.

In terms of building the coalition, Smyth advised that it must be inclusive and diverse, drawing in all demographics and sections of society and she said that the best time to start is always now!

Alively discussion section followed, and it was clear that those in the room, which was at capacity, were interested and informed on the issue. Activists that I spoke with following the event are enthusiastic for the campaign, which we know is popular and winnable.

As part of the campaign, the party has produced a discussion document entitled ‘Our Future lets plan for itWhy the Irish Government must set up a Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity’. This document is a guide to the Citizens’ Assembly on Irish Unity, how it could function, who would be involved, the topics it could consider, and the potential next steps in pursuit of a new united Ireland. The document will be accessible on the Sinn Féin website. �

Emma McArdle is a Campaign and Policy Manager on Sinn Féin’s Uniting Ireland project.

• Tom Arnold chaired the Constitutional Convention 2012-2014

Below we carry an edited version of the Ard Fheis adresss by South Down MP CHRIS HAZZARD. He sets out the case for an anti-imperialist, socialist transformation of Ireland

We must dare to win!

As the rotten nature of Partition becomes more apparent by the day, there is no doubt that the forces of capitalist continuity are organising to secure their economic interests beyond the current constitutional arrangements.

As republicans, we must resist this slippery path towards convergence and instead champion a transformative economic and ecological vision of the future.

We must recognise that liberal economic orthodoxy will not address the wretchedness of Partition; and with this in mind we must also recognise that parliamentary politics is but one site of struggle - and electoralism a disease too long stitched through the political fabric of the broad spectrum of the Irish Left.

So, we need to nurture the growth of grassroots actors beyond the confines of parliamentary politics in order to effectively challenge the material power of capital outside political institutions.

It is vital then to invest time, energy, and resources in rebuilding the trade union movement, community groups, and rural organisations in order to realise the transformative potential of struggles at the point of production and social reproduction.

To have any chance of success, our efforts must always be rooted in praxis and practical activity. Let Marx remind us always, “Philosophers have interpreted the world, the point however is to change it!”.

In short, we must nurture and lead a grassroots movement aimed at establishing a free and socially just democratic society; a republic of the people, for the people!

But to do so, we must decide what type of republic meets our interests and our needs. What do the traditional republican principles of liberty, freedom, sovereignty, equality, solidarity, and secularism mean for ordinary people today?

We must also remember the prophetic words of Lazare Hoche - a General of the French Republic and contemporary of Wolfe Tone - when he warned the United Irishmen that “You cannot make the Republic loved by carrying only sword and flame!”

We must therefore build a transformative movement around the long-established right of the people of Ireland, to the ownership of Ireland and the unfettered control of Irish destiny. A republic of equals, where are laws are made by reason, not landlords, kings, nor priests!

We need to draw the forces of republicanism and socialism closer together - not merely towards a Left campaign against the Partition of our country - but for the social transformation and fulfilment of national liberation in the phase of struggle yet to come.

We need to develop a much better understanding of the nature of the state and the deep roots of imperialism and colonialism in Ireland.

We must also understand that to develop

the kind of freedom we want means we will have to control capital and wealth in Ireland - and no longer allow it to control us. We must break away from the social domination of capitalism. We must advance a new system, an eco-socialist order that for the first time ever would ensure an Irish state would submit its external economic relations to the requirements of its internal society.

So, our natural resources would not be the private property of corporations, or individuals - they would be the common wealth of society, all our natural resources harnessed for the common good.

As we stand on the precipice of Climate catastrophe, Irish Republicans must urgently advance a vision that is rooted in decolonisation and decarbonisation, an anti-imperialist, socialist transformation of Ireland.

In the words of our great James Connolly, “There is but one ideal, Ireland ruled and owned by the people, sovereign and independent from the centre to the sea…Our demands most moderate are, we only want the Earth!” �

We must nurture and lead a grassroots movement aimed at establishing a free and socially just democratic society; a republic of the people, for the people!

CHRIS HAZZARD

• Sinn Féin TD, Pat Buckley and Dr. Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Ireland

• Pearse Doherty, Mary Lou McDonald, Michelle O'Neill and Conor Murphy make their way in to the Ard Fheis

The spirit of our movement

BY EMMA SHEERIN

Sinn Féin Ard Fheiseanna have always been a personal highlight of party membership. An interesting weekend of political discussion and an opportunity to create new and dynamic policies, whilst also catching up with comrades from across the country and cementing friendships for life.

Always an uplifting event, when the spirit of our movement becomes almost tangible in a way that cannot quite be explained, this year’s Ard Fheis was particularly light hearted, due in no small part to the ending of a pandemic that cast a shadow over all of our lives for two years, and the fantastic position that our party finds itself in across the country. There’s something about being in a venue full of comrades, united in common purpose, that brings an atmosphere of hope and happiness.

The mood of the Ard Fheis reflected where we are in our project. Ahead in all polls in the 26 Counties, and in the wake of the most successful election we’ve ever fought in the North, our activists have never been in better form.

People who have been working for Sinn Féin since times when doing so meant you were a target, in danger just for being a republican, recognise that their life’s work is nearing fruition. Discussions around and planning for, Irish Unity have never been more prominent,

and momentum is building every day. This was evidenced over the weekend when the Fringe Event on Irish unity, chaired by Declan Kearney, was at capacity and ran over time by more than a half hour, such was the interest and level of debate.

Under the stewardship of leaders whose vision goes far beyond anything that our political opponents could ever comprehend, our movement has progressed to a point where we are making real change in two states that were designed not to work for the people. Our ministers in the North have shown what delivery is and our ministers-in-waiting in the 26 Counties are

chomping at the bit to get the opportunity to do the same.

The wide range and diversity of organisations who presented the many stalls is another example of the groups we are now partnering with. Charities, businesses, sectoral interests who recognise that, if you want delivery, it is Sinn Féin that you should contact. It made for an interesting and exciting day, full of opportunities to engage and learn and find better ways of representing the people who elect us. Until next year- onwards! �

Emma Sheerin is a Sinn Féin MLA for Mid Ulster

• Emma Sheerin

• Radharc ó chúinne an bheoshruthú ar theacht i láthair Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald, agus an slua éirithe ina sheasamh san RDS

Fheis 2022: 'Táimid chun an tír seo s’againne a athrú!'

LE EOGHAN Ó FINN

Tús maith, leath na hoibre. Tús luath a bhí ann domsa toisc go raibh orm ullmhú don chúram nua a bronnadh orm ag Ard Fheis 2022: Don chéad uair riamh i stair na polaitíochta in Éirinn is cosúil, bhí ardfheis náisiúnta le bheith craolta ina iomlán le tráchtaireacht bheo ar líne. Mar leathbhádóir liom don lá, bhí Sinéad gealgháireach, spleodrach Ní Bhroin, a bhíonns ag obair liom i dTeach Laighean, agus sular thosaigh an díospóireacht d’fhear muid fáilte roimh an lucht féachana sa bhaile agus thar lear go fíorúil RDS Bhaile Átha Cliath.

B’ait liom go rabhamar sa ‘Royal Dublin Society’. Is ag cúinne an ionaid, i bhfoirgneamh deartha ag athair Edward Carson (Halla Bhaile Pheambróg), a choinnigh Arm na Breataine priosúnaithe poblachtánacha le linn Éirí Amach 1916. Poblachtánaigh a ghlac seilbh ar Dhroichead na Dothra i mbliana, tar éis bua a fháil i seancheanncheathrú an RDS (Teach Laighean) i 2020.

Pléadh rúin ó 10am sa mhórhalla, ach i halla eile bhí seastáin á reachtáil ag eagrais neamhrialtais ar son réimse leathan cúiseanna; cearta mhná, cearta othair le tinnis éagsúla, neodrachas agus síochán, srl. Bhí caiféanna ag freastal ar scata mór feisirí a bhí ag suí timpeall ag baint sult as chomhluadar a chéile, roinnt acu nach bhfaca a chéile ó thús na paindéime.

Bhí iriseoirí ann ag déanamh iarracht conspóid a chothú as cupáin ‘Tiocfaidh ár latte’ a bhí ar dhíol ag siopa leabhair Shinn Féin. Bhí feisirí ag bogadh thart ag lorg cá háit le vóta a chaitheamh don Ard Chomhairle nó cainteanna suimiúla ar aontú na hÉireann agus leabhair a bhí eagraithe don lón, gan trácht orthu siúd a bhí imithe ar strae sa halla béaldorais, áit a bhí Comhdháil Tatú Bhaile Átha Cliath faoi lánseol (agus éileamh níos mó ar thatú lile na Cásca i mbliana ann seans!).

Toisc go raibh mé féin agus Sinéad sáinnithe sa chúinne ag míniú cúrsaí daonlathais dóibh siúd a bhí ag éisteacht (Fionnán Sheahan agus Miriam Lord gafa linn creid nó ná chreid), lig mé do roinnt baill óga a bhí ag freastal ar Ardfheis don chéad uair a mhíniú dom conas mar a thit rudaí amach.

Bhí iontas ar Róisín Ní Threasaigh (26) go raibh deis ag gach duine labhairt. Bhí sí féin ar tí labhairt go dtí gur chuala sí Pádraig Delargy MLA ag rá go díreach cad a bhí i gceist aici faoi chúrsaí míchumais. Tá Róisín faoi mhíchumas agus ag fanacht dhá bhliain ar bhunchúram leighis. “Thuig mé go raibh mé i measc daoine a smaoinigh ar an gcaoi céanna liom”, a dúirt sí.

Bhain Megan Tynan (19) tairbhe as an phlé faoi rudaí nach gcuireann as dí féin, ar nós míchumas agus gnóthaí idirnáisiúnta, toisc go dtuigeann siad níos fearr anois iad tar éis an Ardfheis. “Ní raibh mé ag súil go leanfadh na rúin i ndiaidh a chéile gan briseadh, agus

bhí tú gafa leo i gcónaí, ní raibh sé riamh leadránach”, dar léi. D’aithin sí deighilt idir thuairimí an dream óg agus na baill níos sine go háirithe ó thaobh rún uimhir a 66 faoin dlúthpháirtíocht leis an Úcráin, agus tá sé i gceist aici súil a choimeád ar rudaí mar sin amach anseo dá bharr.

Sheas an rún seo amach i measc an 70 iomlán a bhí pléite toisc an paisean lena labhair roinnt baill óga ina aghaidh. Bhí buairt orthu go gcuirfeadh foclaíocht ag tacú leis an bhféinchinneadh naisiúnta i ngach cás tacaíocht d’Iosrael nó do scarúnaithe sa Donbass fiú ar chomhchéim leis an Phalaistín nó an Úcráin, agus níor thacaigh siad le moladh smachtbhannaí mar phrionsabal.

Cé gur fógraíodh sa deireadh gur éirigh leis an rún, thaispeáin an slua tacaíocht do na baill óga as labhairt amach faoi na rudaí a ghoill orthu. Dar le hAdam McKenna (21), ba é buaicphointe na hardfheise daoine óga a fheiceáil

ag labhairt ar ábhair éagsúla a bhain leo mar dhaoine óga.

Gan cúlra poblachtánach aige, ghlac Adam le Sinn Féin ar mhaitheas leis an athrú a bhí uaidh don tír a chur i bhfeidhm, agus dar lena chomhghleacaí John Jo McGrady (20), léirigh an Ardfheis conas a ndéanfaidh Sinn Féin an t-athrú sin a chur i bhfeidhm. Ní uailmhiain ídéalaíocha amháin a bhí léirithe in aigne John Jo, ach rialtas réidh ag leagan amach a bplean, rud a bhí feicithe aige go háirithe in óráid Mary Lou. Bhí sí “díongbháilte, seasmhach”, dar leis, “ag léiriú cad atá uainn mar phoblachtánaigh, mar shóisialaigh, go bhfuil an córas lochtach – más tithíocht do mhic léinn nó pá atá i gceist, tá daoine ag obair go dian agus gan faic a shaothrú – agus táimid chun an tír seo s’againne a athrú!”

Beidh Ard Fheis eile ag an bPaorach ar ndóigh, ní raibh san Ardfheis do na gníomhairí óga seo ach tús. Tús maith áfach! �

• People who got up early in the morning - Sinéad Ní Bhroin agus Eoghan Ó Finn ag tabhairt faoin chéad tráchtaireacht bheo ar Ard Fheis pholaitiúil i stair na hÉireann (molta go mór ag Fionnán Sheahan agus Miriam Lord)

• Mol don óige- Roinnt de bhaill Ógra Shinn Féin a bhí i láthair ag Ard Fheis 2022

A powerful leader’s address

BY KATHLEEN FUNCHION

As I arrived at the RDS, I felt there was a great buzz around the place as people milled around the many stalls or grabbed a coffee for a long overdue catch up with a colleague. So, while we had an in-person Ard Fheis in 2021, it was great to be back to what felt like a “proper Ard Fheis” meeting with colleagues many of us had not seen since 2020.

Although squeezing so many really important topics into a one-day event was always going to be challenging, credit to those in charge of the infamous speaking line, they pulled it off without a glitch.

One of those most striking things for any one attending had to be not only the abundance of young people at the Ard Fheis, but how many spoke so passionately about the issues, ranging from a United Ireland, to housing, to health care.

It really does illustrate that younger generations are hungry for change and willing to fight for that change North and South. It is probably what irks our political opponents so much.

I’m sure I was not the only one wondering why Shane Ross was wandering around the Ard Fheis, I can’t imagine there was much of an audience there for him. As we all know Sinn Fein are living rent free in many of our opponents’ minds at the moment!

The highlight of course was the address by Mary Lou McDonald, in contrast to the “step in, step out again" Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

Mary Lou was energetic, passionate, powerful, and, most importantly, hopeful. While

so many individuals and families suffer due to the decisions of our current and past governments, it is so important to remind people that things can be different and change is possible. That was the message coming loud and clear from Mary Lou. With Michele O'Neill first Minister elect in the North, we are standing on the cusp of history.

Times are definitely changing. As a woman in the political arena, it gives me incredible hope to think that not only could we witness a strong republican woman as our First Minister in the North but that we could also have our first female Taoiseach.

It will not only be a game changer in terms of much needed political transformation in both Leinster House and Stormont, but for those advocating for greater female representation in politics it is a huge step forward.

So, we need to ensure we offer that much needed hope, backed up by delivery of our policies. What on earth will our political opponents do then! �

Kathleen Funchion is the Sinn Féin TD for Carlow-Kilkenny

• The message was loud and clear, with Mary Lou McDonald and Michele O'Neill we are standing on the cusp of history

• WOMEN FOR ELECTIONS: Katie Deegan at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis

• GENERATIONS: Gerry Adams holds seven month old Aidan Mícheál Lambert

A VISION OF A NEW IRELAND

There were a range of Sinn Féin speakers including delegates, MLAs, TDs, MPs, and councillors who contributed at the Ard Fheis. Here we highlight edited summaries of a cross section of contributions. The full day’s proceedings are available to watch at the Sinn Féin website. Collectively, they unwrapped a vision of what Ireland could be, a new inclusive Ireland for all.

Takeaway quote of the Ard Fheis must go to Dublin City Councillor DAITHÍ DOOLAN when he said:

�

One of the areas I represent, Cherry Orchard has two prisons, one playground, one shop, one road in, one road out, but the government has built two fine big prisons in it. That’s not what we need. We need playgrounds. We need recreation facilities. We need youth services, mental health services, addiction services, trauma services. We need less prisons, less criminalisation, and more support of our communities

A VISION OF A NEW IRELAND

Time for change on childcare

LIZ KIMMINS MLA for Newry Armagh

Affordable childcare is fundamental to building a fair society. A fair society in which our children receive the best start in life. And one where hard-working families aren’t struggling every month to meet the cost of their childcare.

Working families’ wages are already being eroded by inflation and the increasing cost of living. Yet, North and South, childcare is fragmented, poorly funded and under-valued.

Childcare fees are far too high and parents simply can’t afford them. Many families are forking out the equivalent of a month’s mortgage or rent every month just for childcare.

This can’t continue - it’s time for change. In the North Sinn Féin Minister Deirdre Hargey introduced upfront childcare costs for the

first month for parents on low incomes moving into employment.

However, we are still waiting for the delivery of a childcare strategy for the north which is vital to a fuller understanding of the needs of parents and ensuring we have a sustainable childcare sector providing a high standard of childcare.

In the South, Sinn Féin have set out how we would cut childcare fees by two thirds to make childcare affordable for parents.

Similarly, we would deliver this by creating a scheme where the government would provide significant additional funding to the sector, in exchange for the providers cutting fees by two thirds. This would put money back into families’ pockets.

Sinn Féin want to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy for all. The provision of affordable and accessible childcare is vital to achieving those goals. �

fixed.

better way is possible'

DAVID CULLINANE TD for Waterford

I want to extend solidarity greetings from this Ard Fheis to all of those on the frontline – North, South, East, and West – whose daily sacrifices keep our hospitals running and save lives.

The challenges in our health services are failing our healthcare workers and patients. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would have you believe that the problems in healthcare cannot be fixed.

The fact is that unacceptable waiting lists, long delays in emergency departments, hospital overcrowding, a lack of home care opportunities, and collapsing GP services are a failure of establishment politics to deliver.

A chairde, healthcare can be fixed. A better way is possible. We can make things better. Sinn Féin has the vision, ambition and the plan to deliver the change which the people of Ireland are demanding and which they deserve.

In the Budget just gone, a Sinn Féin Minister for Health in the South would have funded over 600 additional beds across acute hospitals, community care, palliative care, inpatient mental health services, and rehabilitation services.

We would have delivered a 10% increase in surgical theatre capacity next year, and over 100,000 additional diagnostic scans in the public system.

And in the North, we stand ready to invest a billion pounds in the health service and to

fund a three year budget to tackle waiting lists and recruit healthcare workers. We stand steadfast with the frontline workers who need an Executive back up and running to deliver for them. For the patients stuck on waiting lists for years.

A Sinn Féin Health Minister would once and for all get serious about workforce planning in healthcare.

A Sinn Féin Minister would transform General Practice, train more GPs, establish a

new, modern fit-for-purpose GP contract, and directly hire GPs to provide vital out-of-hours cover.

A Sinn Féin Government would grasp the opportunity to deliver public healthcare in public hospitals for public patients, based on need and not on ability to pay.

Sinn Féin stand ready to transform the deeply unfair and broken two-tier health service into an Irish National Health Service. �

'Healthcare can be

A

• John Finucane, Liz Kimmins and Eoin Ó Broin getting ready to speak at the Ard Fheis

A VISION OF A NEW IRELAND

DUP wants a hard border in Ireland

CONOR MURPHY MLA Newry Armagh

During the Covid-19 pandemic, my department distributed hundreds of millions of pounds to support businesses and workers across the North. Now, as we face the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, the DUP have blocked the ability of the Assembly and Executive to assist vulnerable people and businesses struggling to keep the shutters up.

The DUP claim their boycott of Stormont is a principled stand against the Protocol, taken in all our interests. Let’s be very clear. The DUP’s Brexit agenda has never been principled, has never had our interests at heart.

The majority of people in the North voted to stay in the EU. They did so because they recognised the economic advantages of being a member of the world’s largest trading bloc.

The DUP could have used its influence over Theresa May’s government to deliver a soft Brexit. Instead, the DUP pushed for the most extreme, most economically damaging Brexit possible.

Their aim was to create a hard border in Ireland. But the DUP overplayed its hand. Under pressure from our friends in Europe and America, the British Government proposed the Protocol as a way to give Britain its hard Brexit while protecting the all-Ireland economy.

As with any new trading arrangements, the implementation of the Protocol can be,

and should be refined. But the unique ability to sell goods to the British and European markets has enabled local companies to expand their exports, attract inward investment and create good jobs.

Indeed, the DUP initially described the Protocol as a Gateway of Opportunity. But with the TUV preparing to Lundy the party, the DUP was determined to avoid any possibility of being outflanked.

And so, the DUP collapsed the Executive, citing the Protocol it was responsible for creating. The DUP didn’t care that this was in the midst of a deepening cost of living crisis. That families would need help to heat their homes and put food on the table. That businesses would need help, and to keep workers in a job.

If an Executive was in place, the Health Service would have a three-year budget and a billion pound uplift. People would have their £400m electricity discount. Nurses, teachers, and civil servants would have a pay increase. And small businesses would have additional rates relief.

While the DUP makes up costs in relation to the Protocol, these are real costs imposed by its boycott of Stormont. Families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads as mortgages rise while for others owning their own home is no longer an option.

Sinn Féin will bring much-needed clarity and focus on what is required for sustainable economic growth.

Sinn Féin would set four main objectives as part of a new Economic Strategy. Cre-

ating good jobs, meaning jobs that pay the Living Wage and that provide a degree of security. Raising productivity, which is a fundamental driver of overall living standards. Promoting regional balance, because everyone should share in growing prosperity. And decarbonising the economy, so that we reach net zero by 2050 at the latest.

And the benefits of the all-Ireland economy, resisted for ideological reasons by the DUP, would be embraced by a Sinn Féin Economy Minister. Because that is in the economic interests of all parts of our island.

Sinn Féin is ready to deliver a transformation in the North’s economic policy and performance, to build an economy based on fairness and regional balance. And to protect our planet for the generations to come. �

'Time for a radical change of housing policy'

EOIN Ó BROIN

TD for Dublin Mid-West

Fine Gael have been in government for 11 years. Fianna Fáil have been propping them up for six. We have had five housing ministers. Three housing plans. And countless promises. And yet the housing crisis has never ever been worse. Rents have never been higher, and they are still rising.

House prices have never been higher and are still rising. Homelessness is at record highs and looks set to get even worse. Tonight, more than 4,000 children will sleep in emergency accommodation facing into Christmas with no home and no Christmas tree of their own.

It is time for change, for a radical change of housing policy. A housing policy rooted in hope. A policy which says no more children can be allowed to slip into homelessness. A policy that says working singles and couples

should be able to buy a home at a genuinely affordable price. A policy that says renters deserve security and affordability and not to be fearful of the future. A policy that says whether you are a pensioner, a traveller, a person with a disability, or a migrant you too can have a place to call home.

A policy that says housing is a fundamental human right, central to the well-being of every single human being, no matter who you are or where you are from. A policy that meets the housing needs of the homeless, the refugee and every worker and family in between.

In Government Sinn Féin will ensure that all those locked out, denied access to secure, appropriate and affordable housing will not be left behind. We will deliver the most ambitious public housing programme in the history of the state. Good quality homes at prices working people can afford. Making home ownership a reality not a pipe dream. �

A VISION OF A NEW IRELAND

JOHN FINUCANE MP for North Belfast

We are facing a very real and present climate crisis. We have a massive challenge to counter decades of environmental damage.

Sinn Féin are committed to a fair and just transition to a sustainable society that leaves no one behind. Irish society, North and South, has suffered chronic inequalities in wealth, housing, access to transport, economic regional imbalance and challenges facing workers from low-paid and precarious employment.

The approach of establishment parties and big corporations to the climate crisis is to put the burden of fixing this onto the shoulders of those who can least afford it. This cannot be allowed to continue. Sinn Féin wants to advance social and economic justice side-byside with climate justice.

In our alternative to the Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael/Green Budget, we set out fair and deliverable proposals to tackle climate change while delivering a more secure and affordable life for workers and families.

We understand that the causes and effects of climate change are not equally shared. We know that indiscriminate carbon taxes not only place a disproportionate burden on those for whom alternatives are either unaffordable

or unattainable, but fundamentally fail in deterring the greatest emitters.

Sinn Féin would take the opposite approach by increasing and redirecting state investment to ensure that ordinary workers and families can avail of the alternatives and the benefits of a just transition.

Meeting our climate change target of net-zero by 2050 can only be done successfully if it is done fairly and in partnership with workers, farmers and small businesses in the different sectors.

It also requires us to work together as an island. The air we breathe, our rivers and our mountains don’t recognise the border so our policies to address the significant challenges that exist must be based on the reality that we live in a single geographical entity.

Reaching net-zero emissions, improving our environment, reversing biodiversity loss and developing feasible renewable energy resources requires nothing less.

Across the island, we are working to deliver real, fair and ambitious climate actions. Only with a Sinn Féin led government will this become a reality. �

MAIRÉÉAD FARRELL TD for Galway West

Throughout the day, we have heard from so many inspiring activists of all generations speaking with one voice on the new Ireland we can achieve together. I am proud of the passion and determination of our members as we work across Ireland to secure change.

To deliver a future that younger generations can look to with hope, eager for opportunity and hungry for change. It stands in stark contrast to the current government in Dublina government oblivious to my generation. One that has nothing to offer young people and young families.

Instead of real change, we get platitudes, we get patronised and all the while the big issues facing young people just get worse and worse under Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens.

No meaningful action to solve the housing crisis. No meaningful action on climate.

Too little, too late on childcare. Too little to protect us from the cost of living crisis which is hitting people’s pockets from every direction.

This government has now been in office for more than two years and the message that they are sending to our young people loud and clear is that, once again, you are being brought up for export; the mantra of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments.

Too often, I hear my friends say, “There is nothing for us here”. “We will never own our own home.” “I couldn’t afford to raise a child, even if I wanted to.” They see no future for themselves here in Ireland, so we see the spectre of emigration rearing its head once more. These are the nurses and doctors that have trained in Irish hospitals. They are the tradespeople we need here to build houses.

We in Sinn Féin won’t rest until you have the Ireland you deserve. Until you can feel that hope too. Until you know that there is space for you here, with opportunities to build a life and look to the future.

Together we can build a new economy fuelled by good jobs, decent wages, strong workers’ rights, and the just transition to a green, cleaner world.

We can deliver secure, quality housing. We can deliver childcare that is genuinely affordable. We can invest in our public services, to

deliver a national health service across Ireland that meets patients’ needs. We can achieve a new and united Ireland.

Le chéile, is féidir sin é seo uilig a bhaint amach. We can be the generation that says enough is enough - that demands change, that demands what we deserve. �

'The air we breathe, our rivers and our mountains don’t recognise the border'

'We in Sinn Féin won’t rest until you have the Ireland you deserve'

A VISION OF A NEW IRELAND

PEARSE DOHERTY TD for Donegal

We gather today at a turning point in Irish politics and the direction of our country. With the goal of building a Republic based on equality and social justice there to be won. Of building an economy that puts the rights and interests of workers at its centre. Of building a society that values secure housing as a social right.

We know the opportunity before us, but we also know the responsibility.

Our people face a national emergency and cost of living crisis. Energy bills are up. The cost of a weekly shop is up. Clothing, feeding and sending the kids to school has never been so expensive. Rents are too high, and the spectre of rising mortgage interest rates bears down on households. Households have seen the biggest fall in living standards since the financial crash.

Throughout this crisis, Sinn Féin have held this government to account and brought forward solutions to support workers and families. The cost of living crisis has taken hold when households were already contending with challenges on several fronts.

In housing, rents continue to spiral while

an entire generation are locked out of home ownership.

Hospital waiting lists stand at over 900,000; with hospital overcrowding breaking all the wrong records. Patients and our dedicated staff deserve so much better.

The scourge of low pay remains, with too many workers putting in long hours and hard shifts without having enough to secure a decent standard of living.

Things can change, but only if we seize change, make change and vote for change.

Sinn Féin is determined to deliver that change in government.

Sinn Féin want to build an economy to deliver a broad-based rise in living standards for all – Regardless of where they come from.

Sinn Féin would tackle high insurance costs, invest in our energy grid and accelerate the transition to renewables to ensure energy security and independence.

Sinn Féin want to build an economy that does not rely on the performance of a small number of multinationals. But instead spreads employment, opportunity and development right across our country – in every corner and region.

We are committed to stability and clarity for Irish enterprise and maintaining the

current rate of corporation tax. But the key to our prosperity and development today and in the future is not a race to the bottom, but a race to the top. Innovation is an engine of economic development. It is a basis for improving productivity which in turn drives up employment, wages and living standards.

For too long, investment in research and development has fallen far below other European countries. This has widened the gap between Irish firms and foreign multinationals, between the wages of workers and between regions of our island.

We want to change that. We want to see the State and industry collaborate on an agenda that sees innovation and high wages at the very heart of our economy.

We would also build an economy that puts workers at its centre. For far too long, workers have been getting a bad deal. Ireland has among the highest levels of low pay and pay inequality in Europe, with one in five people in poverty now in work. Sinn Féin are fully committed to legislating for the right to trade union recognition and collective bargaining. We have much to do. The challenges our people face are great. But Sinn Féin are up to these challenges. �

• Pearse Doherty addressing the Ard Fheis

'Our country is changing. Our people are no longer content with the status quo, the tried and failed ideas of the past'

Sinn Féin National Chairperson

PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR A NEW FUTURE

on the Future

Change is happening in Ireland and people are looking for a new future. Constitutional change is on the horizon. Electoral realignment and changing demographics have been influential and the arrogance and chaos of successive Tory governments and the Brexit madness foisted upon us by them and the DUP has turned a dial.

Who seriously wants to be part of their economic and political dysfunction? Instead, a new discussion has begun about another way forward for our island - one built on progress, pluralism & shared prosperity.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Irish unity is inevitable, but it has become one of the most dominant and defining discussions in society. The unionist electoral majority has gone, and the unionist veto is finished.

Many from Protestant backgrounds and unionist traditions have begun to reassess their economic and social priorities in the context of reunification and as a route back into the EU. There is a new future for Ireland to be authored.

One which is positive, progressive, inclusive, anti-sectarian, and multi-cultural.

We can achieve this by preparing and planning together. That is why the Irish government should establish an allisland Citizens’ Assembly to address the future, based on a process of engagement involving civic society and which starts to help frame discussion on all key issues.

Irish reunification will evolve from the exercise of selfdetermination in a unity referendum, and ultimately through negotiations. This political transition will be phased, and all of our people should be given the opportunity to shape its development.

The Sinn Féin Commission on the Future of Ireland was established by the party leadership with the aim of undertaking a widespread engagement with citizens in Ireland and across the diaspora on Ireland’s future.

It is not intended as an alternative to a Citizens' Assembly, but rather a model of grassroots community and sectoral

The first meeting of Commission

of Ireland was held in Belfast in October, with over 300 people attending, and further meetings are planned for December and throughout 2023.

DECLAN KEARNEY outlines the value the Commission’s discussions could have on shaping the future Ireland.

engagement on important policy issues concerning Irish reunification. It’s about promoting popular democracy on these big questions.

The Commission has 4 elements:

People’s Assemblies which will be held across the country and internationally

Sectoral engagements

Private engagements where appropriate

The collation of written contributions/submissions from members of the public, community groups and organisations

The testimony gathered at all of the public elements of the Commission will be published in a report at the culmination of the project, which will last approximately two years.

On 12 October the Commission hosted its inaugural People’s Assembly at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. Over 300 people attended from all sections of society in greater Belfast. I opened the event as Chairperson of our Commission, and it was also addressed by Sinn Fein Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill.

The conference was divided into two sessions, covering ‘The Economy and Communities in the New Ireland’ and also ‘A New Ireland for everyone’.

Speakers who addressed the gathering included the ESRI Research Professor Seamus McGuinness; Ruth Taillon who has been involved in cross border policy work for 20 years; Glyn Roberts, Chief Executive of Retail NI; Áine Hargey, Chairperson of the Markets Development Association; David Gavigan, a leading Belfast businessman; Greta Gurklyte, who is Engagement Officer with Disability Action; QUB’s Professor John Barry; Dr Raied Al-Wazzan of the Northern Ireland Council for Racial Equality; Maighréad Ní

Many from Protestant backgrounds and unionist traditions have begun to reassess their economic and social priorities in the context of reunification and as a route back into the EU

A lively discussion followed presentations from the panellists and the meeting concluded with the independent chairperson, Eilish Rooney, calling for a show of hands in support of the Irish Government establishing a Citizens’ Assembly on the future.

The Commission is now preparing for its next initiative which will be hosted on Tuesday 6 December at 7pm in Derry’s City Hotel. This event will explore the theme of ‘Celebrating Diversity –Ending Division’. The objective is to create a space for people to listen to and participate in a discussion about processes to bridge differences in Derry, and beyond and to address the important work of building a better future.

The early programme of Commission work in 2023, will include a second People’s Assembly on 30 January 2023 in County Donegal to be staged in An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny.

In March 2023, another People’s Assembly is being planned for Carrickcarnon in the Carrickdale Hotel to cover the east border sub region.

The Sinn Féin Commission warmly invites everyone to attend these events. We want you to have your say on how the future needs to be managed and planned.

It is essential that we all have an opportunity to influence the type of country we want, and the kind of democratic and economic arrangements which will best serve our people. The future belongs to all of us, and the next generation. Our voices, hopes, ambitions, and ideas are important. They should be heard. �

Chonghaile, an Irish Language activist and Gaelscoil Principal; and Ben Collins, author & communications consultant.

The future belongs to all of us, and the next generation. Our voices, hopes, ambitions, and ideas are important

• David Gavigan

• John Barry

• Áine Hargey

• Ruth Taillon

• Maighréad Ní Chonghaile

• Greta Gurklyte

Flawed credit scheme could exclude 1 in 3 renters

With 400,000 people renting homes in the 26 Counties,

explores the limits and deficiencies of the proposed

ANNA CARROLL

tax credit for renters

announced in Budget 2023, highlighting the imbalances that put tax breaks for cuckoo funds and landlords ahead of the lost generation of renters that are trapped in a bind of high rents and fear of eviction.

As part of Budget 2023, private renters will be able to apply for a tax credit worth €500 per year. However, as we know for this rental credit to be claimed, the landlord must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB).

According to the CSO figures for 2021, there are nearly 400,000 renters in Ireland. The first official report from Census 2022 will be published in April 2023 which will give us a clearer picture of housing statistics in the State.

For the 400,000 private renters, we know many of these tenancies are not registered with the RTB which is required by law. According to the RTB, “Landlords who do not register a tenancy can be fined up to €4,000 and face imprisonment for up to 6 months on conviction”. However, less than €4,000 of fines were issued to landlords in three years for not registering a tenancy.

A sample check in Cork also found that 1 in 3 privately rented properties in the area around University College Cork were not registered with the RTB. If that study is in any way reflective of the total number across the State, that means there could be potentially 132,000 unregistered tenancies.

Renters are ultimately punished because their landlord has

not registered their tenancy and the onus is once again on them to make sure their landlords are following the law. Clearly, a system that relies on landlords to self-regulate is not fit for purpose.

As a renter myself, I’m sure I speak for many others when I say that there is a fine balance to be achieved when renting at the mercy of your landlord. We fear retribution from our landlords if we ask them to do basic repairs, let alone requesting RTB registration for our tax credits.

So, there is quite possibly going to be a situation where thousands of renters are not going to apply for this tax credit because it is not worth the danger of potentially becoming homeless or having a permanent rent increase. People will be afraid to claim what they are entitled to, and it is a fear that constantly looms over us. The government has refused to acknowledge the heavy power imbalance in favour of landlords against tenants without a lease.

My landlord ‘joked’ with me that he ignores our messages because he “can’t be dealing with them” sometimes. What a power-

Clearly a system that relies on landlords to self-regulate is not fit for purpose

ful position to be in. It makes me angry, this constant uncertainty I feel and I know this is not the case for everyone but all the govern ment has done in this case with the rental credit is barely treat the symptoms of the housing crisis with a rental credit, rather than curing it by in creasing housing supply, bringing in a rent cap and strengthening eviction law which needs to be fairer to tenants all year round, not just in the winter.

Those who are evicted really have nowhere to go because of abject fail ures of government. Scot land has just introduced a rent freeze and also a moratorium on evictions which will continue un til 31 March 2023. This will provide renters with much need ed breathing space. Our Government continuously lacks this type of foresight. This rental tax credit will only inflate rents further because of the Government’s refusal to ban further rent increases.

On the other hand, people will welcome this rental credit initia tive as perhaps a first step that the government is at least showing that they are trying. But then why are the cuckoo hedge funds con tinuing to enjoy tax advantages when purchasing newly built ac commodation to rent them out at extortionate prices whilst paying little to no tax on their rental income? The Government’s consistent support in providing these favourable conditions for vested interests speaks for itself.

Ireland is lagging behind international best practice when it

• Census 2022 will give us a clearer picture of housing statistics in the State, when published in 2023

eration when it comes to both renting and purchasing a home. This rental credit initiative feels fatally flawed in its design, but I’ll hope for the best because I can’t do much else. �

Anna Carroll is a Digital Media Officer for Sinn Féin

We fear retribution from our landlords if we ask them to do basic repairs, let alone requesting RTB registration for our tax credits

• Cuckoo hedge funds enjoy tax advantages for new builds then rent them for extortionate prices whilst paying little to no tax

Let the

BY JASON LAMBERT

Every now and again, an occasion arises that propels a sometimes forgotten song or phrase back into being. Often these occasions can be sports events, from the rugby fans singing Pete St. John’s Gorta Mór song ‘The Fields of Athenry’ to ‘Sean South from Garryowen’ being belted out by fans of the Limerick GAA teams.

Indeed, it should also be noted, the 1990 Football World Cup anthem of the Irish team ‘Put ‘Em Under Pressure’ was amalgamation of two songs, 'O’Neill’s Cavalry' and the Timothy Daniel Sullivan song ‘God Save Ireland’ celebrating the Manchester Martyrs, three Fenians executed in 1867, which also served as an unofficial Irish national anthem from the 1870s to the 1920s.

And now we move onto the latest re-emergence of a song and the complete debacle that surrounded it. I must confess firstly, I have no interest in sport. I am and have always been a music geek. So, while I wish the Irish Women’s football team all the best, this article gives a background to the origins of the song and to refute the faux outrage from some quarters about the choice of song the team chose to celebrate with in their dressing room.

'The Celtic Symphony' is not a song in praise of the IRA!

“Ooh ah” is a catchy little two-word bridge easily rhymed with and easily put to music. And so, you have “Ooh ah…. Paul McGrath” as sung by Irish soccer fans. Or “Ooh ah……just a little bit” as sung by Gina G when she lost out to a Eurovision win for England at the hands of our own Eimear Quinn with “The Voice”. It was also used in the already mentioned Irish soccer 1990 World Cup song.

This same phrase was used by Brian Warfield when writing ‘Celtic Symphony’ and paraphrasing graffiti often seen in and around Glasgow.

It was far across the sea

When the devil got a hold of me

He wouldn’t set me free

So he kept me soul for ransom ‘Celtic Symphony’ was written by Brian Warfield

of the Wolfe Tones in 1987 and was created for the centenary anniversary of Glasgow Celtic Football Club the following year. It tells the story of a sailor from Glasgow in Scotland who, after many years at sea and presumably a reliance on rum to keep him warm and fight his daemons on long trips, was convinced he was possessed by the Devil.

I’m a sailor man from Glasgow town

I’ve roamed this world around and round

He’s the meanest thing that I have found

In all my days of wandering

In our seafaring friend’s mind, he recalled his younger days going to see Celtic play in Celtic Park often referred to by Celtic fans as ‘Paradise’ and standing on his favourite terrace ‘The Jungle’. During a late-night chat between our friend and the Devil, he was surprised by the Devil’s request to take him to see Celtic Park and thought that if he got him to Glasgow, he might indeed be able to lose him.

And I could see his evil eyes

Was then he took me by surprise

Take me to your paradise

I want to see the jungle

Ok. so we have gotten this far and not a sign of any glorification of the IRA to be seen. I hope those who totally took this song out of context are following thus far. So now, our friend and the Devil are on the way back to Glasgow, back on dry land and away from wash of the salty sea. The sailor man at this stage is sure he’s onto a winner and beloved Celtic will rid him of his new companion.

Here we go again

We’re on the road again

We’re on our way to paradise

We love the jungle deep

That’s where the lion sleeps

For then those evil eyes

They have no place in paradise

And now we move to the chorus, as many will know Glasgow is a divided city, in particular when it comes to politics, religion and football. Many people

If we were to simply stop singing any of our native songs with the mere mention of the IRA, we would indeed have a very small repertoire and no National Anthem for that matter

“The songs that they use to sing are usually in the commendation of theft, of murder, of rebellion, of treason... how many times they had rebelled against their Prince, and what spoils and outrages they had done against the English”

‘A New Description of Ireland’ (1610) by Barnaby Rich, an English officer and colonist

people sing

of Irish decent moved to and lived their lives in and around Glasgow and there would always have been support for the Republican Movement back in Ireland.

In terms of football, many Celtic fans would have inscribed things like “Up the IRA” and Celtic-related graffiti on walls. For anyone who’s been to Glasgow, this will not be an uncommon sight. In the next verse, Brian details the trip of the old man and Devil heading to Celtic Park and recounts what they would have seen.

Graffiti on the walls just as the sun was going down I see graffiti on the walls (of the Celts, of the Celts)

Graffiti on the walls that says, “We’re magic, we’re magic”

Graffiti on the wall, graffiti on the wall

And it says

"Ooh ah up the ‘RA, say ooh ah up the ‘RA"

"Ooh ah up the ‘RA, say ooh ah up the ‘RA" Again, as we come near the end of this football anthem, nowhere has it glorified the IRA. If we were to simply stop singing any of our native songs with the mere mention of the IRA, we would indeed have a very small repertoire and no National Anthem for that matter. There are too many songs

to list and quite a few written by the author of ‘Celtic Symphony’ that mention the IRA but not “glorifying” every action of the IRA as claimed by the promoters of fake outrage.

This twisting of our history cannot be allowed to suit an anti-republican narrative by the Government or those in the hostile media. The very fact that in a week of all this ‘outrage’, ‘Celtic Symphony’, a song now 35 years old, was sitting at number 2 in the British charts and Number 1 and 2 in the Irish charts sums up the general public’s take on this nonissue.

To conclude with the words of another ballad penned by Warfield, “Let the people sing their stories and their songs, the music of their native land”. �

Jason Lambert is a Dublin-based Sinn Féin activist

The 1990 World Cup anthem of the Irish team ‘Put ‘Em Under Pressure’ was amalgamation of two songs; O’Neill’s cavalry and the Timothy Daniel Sullivan song ‘God Save Ireland’ celebrating the Manchester Martyrs, three Fenians executed in 1867

• CATCHY: 1990 World Cup fans sang “Ooh ah…. Paul McGrath”

OUR GAELTACHT COMMUNITIES ARE IN CRISIS

BY BEN Ó CEALLAIGH

It is surely unnecessary to inform the readers of An Phoblacht that current provision for the Irish language on either side of the border needs improving. Even those with only a casual interest in the heritage language of the island will likely be aware that the number of Gaelscoileanna is nowhere near sufficient to meet demand or that provision of classes for adult learners of Irish is pitiful in most areas.

This is the opposite of the situation in Wales, where I lived for the last two years while teaching Celtic Studies and language revitalisation in Aberystwyth University. Welsh-medium schools abound throughout Wales and a government-funded body offers adults a systematic curriculum progressing from complete beginner to fluent speaker, allowing me to reach a high enough level to lecture through Welsh after just one (intense!) year of study.

These classes are provided at nominal cost – and free

for under-25s and teachers – and available to suit all schedules. While colonial oppression operated in Ireland on a level that Wales never experienced (thus leaving their language community much more intact), there are certainly valuable lessons to learn from the Welsh. Indeed, many of these lessons have clearly been noted by groups such as An Dream Dearg, who have driven recent language rights developments in the North through their tireless grassroots organising.

Important as an Irish language act for the North, Irishmedium schools and classes for adults all are, language revitalisation, however, should firstly be about maintaining sustainable communities with high densities of speakers, as many leading figures in the field have explained. This understanding stems from an appreciation of the fact that losing the geographic strongholds of a minoritised language

Neoliberalism has caused the Gaeltacht’s woes – it must be challenged to ensure a future for Irish throughout Ireland

• The writing on the wall — "The Gaeltacht: let's fight for it"

makes everything else we might to do revitalise it much, much more difficult and is a key step towards the outright death of a language.

In Ireland, unfortunately, the situation of our Gaeltacht communities is one of crisis. Research published in 2015 showed that only 13.5% of the official Gaeltacht consisted of “category A” communities – those in which more than two-thirds of the population speak Irish daily outside the education system.

In the majority of the Gaeltacht (likely some 70% of it based on the 2015 research), Irish is now spoken outside the classroom only by older community members – meaning that native Irish in these areas is destined to pass as the elderly die off.

While groups such as Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta and Tús Maith are doing tremendous outreach to promote Irish as the language of the home in the Gaeltacht, and although local language planning committees and officers have done much valuable work in recent years, post-2008 austerity has had a devastating impact on our remaining Irish-speaking districts.

Funding for Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Gaeltacht development authority, was cut by 73.7% between 20082015, and government projections for the period up to 2027 state that its budget will be only €12 million at the end of this time – less than half the €25.5 million in was in 2008.

The state department responsible for the Gaeltacht and many other Irish-language institutions were similarly eviscerated by cuts which redistributed €70 billion of public money to bankers. The damp squib that is the ‘20-Year Strategy’ for the language was introduced the same week as the Troika took over the economy of the Republic in 2010 – at a time when the IMF-ECB-EC group had a veto over public policy.

So too was the Gaeltacht Act 2012 introduced while

the country was under the Troika’s management. No surprise, then, that the language planning process this act established shifted responsibility for the fate of Irish in the Gaeltacht onto underfunded voluntary community groups and abolished the election for the board of the Údarás.

The act thereby typifies what is a fundamental trait of globalised capitalism – organisations such as the

International Monetary Fund getting power without responsibility, while marginal communities are burdened with responsibility without power.

Importantly, I believe that the shambolic state of current Gaeltacht policy is not just a product of having politicians in power who personally dislike the language for some reason.

Such simplistic understandings of politics, though very common in Irish language circles, ignore the fact that the form of capitalism dominant globally for the last several decades – known as neoliberalism – is based on the

• Aberystwyth, Wales – Protest about housing earlier this year organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh language Society) main banner says: "Wales is not for sale"

In the majority of the Gaeltacht … Irish is now spoken outside the classroom only by older community members – meaning that native Irish in these areas is destined to pass as the elderly die off

understanding that states should not significantly invest in public policy.

This is the reason for continuing government reticence regarding building social housing, a decent health care system – or ensuring our ancestral language is not lost to history in a way that would make the colonialists of old smile.

Instead, the role of states under neoliberalism is to compete with one another for investment based on who can best facilitate the profits of big business through low tax rates, public-funded bailouts, etc.

Through this process, the old lie goes, wealth will ‘trickle down’ from the top of the class structure to the bottom. It is this trend in global political economy, more than anything else in recent decades, which has left the Gaeltacht in such desperate need of greatly increased investment.

Without such investment, we face the very real prospect of Irish no longer being the dominant language in any community within the next ten years – surely a tragedy for all who care about the language, regardless of where they live.

Serendipitously, however, the decentralisation of power and redistribution of resources that the Gaeltacht sorely needs very much aligns with the sort of proposals that have been made regarding the ‘Green New Deal’.

Described best by authors such as Naomi Klein, this idea for transforming the economy aims to help us overcome the most dire problem humanity has ever faced – the present ecological one.

Through aligning language policy with environmental policy in such a radical way, we may be able to both sustain the Gaeltacht, long since seen as the “tobar” of the language revival throughout the island and do Ireland’s bit to ensure a liveable future on a heating planet.

While never completely successful, a brutal colonial project expended vast resources over centuries on an unprecedented scheme of social engineering to ensure that English became the daily language of our island.

Reversing – or even delaying – the terminal stages of this language shift will require an equally significant effort. For there to be any chance of this occurring, however, we must

act in opposition to the dominant trend in international capitalism over the last forty years. Fúinne uilig atá sé le cinntiú go dtarlaíonn an t-athrú radacach seo. �

Dr. Ben Ó Ceallaigh is a member of radical Irishlanguage group Misneach. He is the author of the academic book 'Neoliberalism and Language Shift: Lessons from the Republic of Ireland Post2008' and is happy to share a copy with anyone who wants it:  riotpunx77@gmail.com

Without such investment, we face the very real prospect of Irish no longer being the dominant language in any community within the next ten years

• Lessons – An Dream Dearg, have driven language-rights developments in the North through their tireless grassroots organising, but unfortunately, the situation of our Gaeltacht communities is one of crisis

LIAM MELLOWS the revolutionary legacy

In ‘The Gates Flew Open’, Peadar O’Donnell’s inspirational memoir of his days as a Republican prisoner during the Civil War, Liam Mellows is described as “the richest mind our race had achieved for many a long day”. Others testified to the magnetism of his personality and his ability to motivate and to organise, as well as his deep thinking and profound commitment to the cause of the Irish Republic.

Nora Connolly O’Brien makes clear in the accompanying article that Mellows had a leading role in the Irish independence movement as a Fianna Éireann organiser, well before the Irish Volunteers were founded in 1913. He was by then tried and trusted enough to go on the first

Provisional Committee of the Volunteers. The British regime in Dublin Castle thought Mellows so menacing to their British Army recruiting campaign that he was one of the Volunteer organisers deported from Ireland prior to the 1916 Rising.

Liam Mellows returned secretly to Ireland in time to lead the Volunteers in County Galway during the Rising. It was the largest mobilisation outside Dublin but was only a shadow of the planned force that was to receive the German arms landed in Kerry, distribute them in the West and seize key positions. The failure of the German arms landing and Eoin MacNeill’s countermanding order meant that the Galway rising was isolated.

Mellows had a good number of

volunteers but few weapons and very limited other supplies. He wished to continue the fight, but his fellow officers prevailed on him to disband the force on Easter Saturday. The previous night he had addressed his men. In a letter to a friend in New York in 1919, he recalled:

“Can I ever forget the scene? Several hundred men drawn up in a courtyard of a castle residence that was our headquarters, at two o’clock in the morning, a weird light cast on the assemblage by several torches of bog deal. They were armed with every conceivable type of weapon, rifles, shotguns and pikes. I spoke to them at length, putting the situation clearly before them, and ended by saying that any man that did

“ James Connolly realised that if Ireland were really to be free, it must be owned by the Irish people; that it was little use freeing Ireland from foreign tyranny if, in the course of a comparatively short time, it would fall under domestic tyranny

not feel he could go further with us could go home and he would not be thought any worse of, he had risked everything in coming out and no man could do more. There was a dead silence for a few minutes then a big powerful countryman, one of the simple, honest, and so many I know here would denigrate as uncouth and ignorant fellows, stepped to the front and said, ‘we came out to fight for an Irish Republic, and now with the help of God we are not afraid to die for it’.”

Mellows went on the run in Galway and Clare and then crossed to the United States where he worked tirelessly for the Irish cause. On his return to Ireland during the Black and Tan War, he was appointed to the IRA’s General Headquarters Staff as Director of Supplies. He was a Sinn Féin TD for Galway East and Meath North. Mellows vehemently opposed the Treaty and his speech against it in Dáil Éireann on 4 January 1922 was perhaps the most impassioned and effective. He asserted that the Irish Republic existed and was a living, tangible thing that was being subverted by the Treaty. Unique in that debate was his strong attack on the British Empire and its whole basis:

“We have always in this country protested against being included within the British Empire. Now we are told that we are going into it with our heads up. The British Empire stands to me in the same relationship as the devil stands to religion. The British Empire represents to me nothing but the concentrated tyranny of ages. You may talk about your constitution in Canada, your united South Africa or Commonwealth of Australia, but the British Empire to me does not mean that. It means to me that terrible thing that has spread its tentacles all over the earth, that has crushed the lives out of people and exploited its own when it could not exploit anybody else. That British Empire is the thing that has crushed this country; yet we are told that we are going into it now with our heads up. We are going into the British Empire now to participate in the Empire’s shame even though we do not actually commit the act, to participate in the shame and the crucifixion of India and the degradation of Egypt. Is that what the Irish people fought for freedom for?”

In a lecture on Mellows in 1972, Peadar O’Donnell stated that while in the USA, Mellows had successfully argued for the inclusion of African Americans and representatives of colonised countries such as India on an Irish solidarity platform. Mellows

had known James Connolly and assisted the locked out Dublin workers in 1913.

So, while some have claimed the socialist ideas he set out in his ‘Notes from Mountjoy’ in 1922 came out of the blue, there was clearly a progressive and radical background to his politics. Mellows built on the principles in the First Dáil Éireann’s Democratic Programme, itself influenced by Connolly and Pearse. In a speech in Boston in April 1918, he said the three outstanding leaders in 1916 were Tom Clarke, Pádraig Pearse, and James Connolly. He said of Connolly:

“James Connolly realised that if Ireland were really to be free, it must

be owned by the Irish people; that it was little use freeing Ireland from foreign tyranny if, in the course of a comparatively short time, it would fall under domestic tyranny as other countries had done.”

Mellows was jailed in Mountjoy and was there from his capture at the fall of the Four Courts in June 1922 to his death in December. In prison, he had some time to begin formulating thoughts that he had been developing on the Irish Republic as “a People’s Republic”. Some of this was published in the ‘Workers Republic’ on 22 July 1922. He was encouraged by fellow prisoners to elaborate on this in a memorandum to the IRA Executive outside.

He set out what he saw as the political reality:

“In our efforts now to win back public support to the Republic we are forced to recognize - whether we like it or not that the commercial interest so-called money and the gombeen man - are on the side of the Treaty, because the Treaty means imperialism and England. We are back to Tone - and it is just as well - relying on that great body, ‘the men of no property’. The ‘stake in the country’ people were never with the Republic. They are not with it now and they will always be against it - until it wins. We should recognize that definitely now and base our appeals upon the understanding and needs of those who have always borne Ireland’s fight.”

“

We are forced to recognize - whether we like it or not that the commercial interest so-called money and the gombeen man - are on the side of the Treaty, because the Treaty means imperialism and England ” LIAM MELLOWS

• Peadar O’Donnell

Mellows then sketched a socialist programme:

“Under the Republic, all industry will be controlled by the State for the workers’ and farmers’ benefit. All transport, railways, canals, etc, will be operated by the State - the Republican State - for the benefit of the workers and farmers. All banks will be operated by the State for the benefit of industry and agriculture, not for the purpose of profit-making by loans, mortgages, etc. That the lands of the aristocracy (who support the Free State and the British connection) will be seized and divided amongst those who can and will op-

erate it for the nation’s benefit.”

These notes were captured by the Free State authorities outside the prison and were immediately published and presented as ‘Communistic’, using scare tactics to falsely present them as a threat to personal property, businesses and small farmers. This was worked into the vicious anti-Republican propaganda that escalated in October 1922 when the Free State government gave further Emergency Powers to its Army, with court-martials and the death penalty for possession of weapons, and when the Catholic bishops issued a trenchant anti-IRA pastoral.

The culmination of the Free State counter-revolution was the prison execution policy which began with four Dublin IRA Volunteers on 17 November after ‘trial’ under the new laws. The Free State government went even further with the execution of Liam Mellows, Rory O’Connor, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett – there were no charges and no trials because the government admitted openly that this was an act of reprisal. The IRA had shot dead Seán Hales TD, who was also a Free State Army officer, following an order from IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch who had warned that any TD who voted for the emergency powers would be held to account. The four prisoners in Mountjoy had nothing to do with this order or with the killing of Hales, but they were chosen to be executed in an act of revenge.

In the early hours of 8 December 1922, Mellows and his three comrades were taken from their cells to another part of the prison where they were told of their impending deaths. He had time to write a few last letters. In one of them, he wrote:

“I have no regrets, for the future of Ireland is assured. The Republic is assured and before long all Irishmen, including those now unhappily in arms against the Republic, will be united against Imperialist England –the common enemy of Ireland and of the world.” �

Mícheál Mac Donncha is a Sinn Féin Dublin City Councillor

“

The British Empire stands to me in the same relationship as the devil stands to religion. The British Empire represents to me nothing but the concentrated tyranny of ages ”

LIAM MELLOWS

On 8 December 1922, four young men were executed. They were Rory O’Connor, Joe McKelvey, Richard 'Dick' Barrett and Liam Mellows. It is of Liam Mellows, my friend, and for the sake of his memory, I would write.

In days to come, from the long list of Irish heroes, Liam Mellows may well be chosen by the youth of Ireland as their own special hero. They will learn from him how to answer Ireland’s demand for undivided allegiance, for self-abnegation, for service that has in it no taint of self, and that courage, foresight and absolute sincerity which must arm every worker in Ireland’s cause.

He served and was humble in his service, believing that no merit was due to him who did what was right and necessary. Devotion to Ireland was the mainspring of his life, therefore whatever Ireland demanded of him, a big task or a little task, he exerted his utmost in the doing of it – his only thought that it should be well done.

With all his unbounded devotion and singleness of purpose, he was so human, so cheerful, so kind-hearted. He loved a joke as much, if not more than the rest of us, and was eternally youthful in his love of the boyish pranks he would play upon his friends. The best comrade, the best friend, he is eternally enshrined in the memory of those who knew him, and the thought of Liam will forever lie warm in their hearts.

Liam’s service to Ireland began in his early boyhood when he joined and became one of the leading spirits in Fianna Éireann. In those days when the demand for Ireland’s independence was lulled and swamped by the Home Rule movement; when those who believed and hoped for complete independence were considered by the mass of the people, and denounced by their leaders as dreamers and visionaries, if not fools, and were contemptuously called “hillsiders”, Liam was giving every spare moment of his time to the task of winning the boyhood of Ireland to the republican ideal.

Then in his early youth, when others were beginning to think of how best to make their way in the world, Liam threw up all hope of material success and accepted the job of organising the Fianna throughout Ireland. It was not an easy job nor a well-paid job, for he received as weekly wage but a few shillings, and only on a very special or urgent occasion could he take a train; he travelled from place to place on a push bike. But he considered himself generously repaid when his labours resulted in the launching of a new sluagh of the Fianna.

The historians of the future, when seeking the source of the independence movement and its rise from the

swamps of the Home Rule movement, will find that the seeds were sown by Liam Mellows in the little groups which he formed throughout Ireland. I would appeal to everyone throughout the country who knew Liam Mellows in those days to write down their stories of him; what he did in their town; the difficulties he had to face and how he faced them – everything they remember of him, political and personal, and send them to someone for safe-keeping so that there will be a record of him who prepared the ground and sowed the seed which blossomed forth into the great independence movement of our generation.

When the Irish Volunteers were formed, the Fianna lent Liam Mellows to be their secretary. And everywhere

The historians of the future, when seeking the source of the independence movement and its rise from the swamps of the Home Rule movement, will find that the seeds were sown by Liam Mellows in the little groups which he formed throughout Ireland.

a branch of the Volunteers sprang into being, there were young men who had been brought into the inde pendence movement by Liam. Boys graduated from the Fianna into the Volunteers; Fianna officers became Vol unteer officers.

When the World War broke out, Liam Mellows was one of the first to be arrested and imprisoned for anti-re cruiting activities.

And when Redmond demanded that his nominees should have seats on the council of the Irish Volunteers and have a deciding vote in its policy, Liam was one of those who fought and finally caused a rejection of that demand. He was one of those who believed that “Uni ty is a good thing but honesty is better, and if we can only have unity at the sacrifice of honesty, then it is not worth the price we are asked to pay for it.” It was not possible to believe in the honesty of men who recruited for England when it came to deciding the policy of the Irish Volunteers.

Liam was again arrested and imprisoned, but that did not satisfy the British government. They did not feel safe while he was in Ireland and they deported him to

England and confined him to a particular area there. But Easter Week was coming apace and Liam was to be in command in the West. Two Fianna members were sent to England to aid in getting him back. And on Good Friday, when Liam was safe, the Workers Republic came out with a ‘Stop Press’ telling that he was back in Ireland.

Liam was always reticent on the hardships he was called upon to endure while he was being hunted by the British after Easter Week; but there is one story he told which to others in inexplicable, but which Liam and his comrade accepted without seeking explanation. All the time they were being hunted, while they were seeking their way over strange fields and country, they were conscious of a third presence with them – a third man who seemed to lead and direct them and only left them when they reached safety. Liam felt it was someone who in his time had been hunted by the British and who had

come to help them. They were continually conscious of him and spoke of him as “the third man”.

Liam made his way to America. As usual, he sought no limelight, no personal fame. To work, and to work hard for Ireland was all he asked. He subordinated himself to Ireland, but he refused to subordinate Ireland’s cause to questions of political expediency for the Irish-American leaders. What he felt was right to do he did willingly; but what he felt was wrong no power on earth could make him do. And as a result, he found himself thwarted at every turn. It was not until de Valera arrived in America that his zeal and capacity for work could be exercised.

Devotion to Ireland was the mainspring of his life, therefore whatever Ireland demanded of him, a big task or a little task, he exerted his utmost in the doing of it – his only thought that it should be well done

Tyrone Republican, Patrick McCartan and Liam Mellows, in disguised while being hunted, both men were sent abroad as envoys – Mellows to the USA and McCartan to Russia

• Mellows was one of the leading spirits in Fianna Éireann

When he came home, he was back in harness immediately, working day and night at a job that by its nature must have no publicity – Director of Supplies for the Army. But Liam was happy that he was back in Ireland, working for her and serving her by seeing that she was supplied with the sinews of war.

We all remember the Treaty debates and how Ireland’s cause and demand for independence was being lost under a dreadful scramble of words; when so many gods showed their feet of clay; when personal ambitions disclosed themselves; when one-time leaders tore the war-torn nerves of the people by fear and threats; when the one clear speech, thrilling in its simplicity,

compelling in its sincerity, was Liam’s. A speech so great and so moving that his opponents declared if the vote had been taken after its delivery the Treaty would have been lost.

His simple undivided allegiance to Ireland made it impossible that he should waver for one instant or compromise her claim for complete independence.

When the Four Courts were attacked, he was one of the men who surrendered and was taken to Mountjoy Jail. There, when the Bishop’s Pastoral was discussed, he declared he could never accept it. His conscience was quite clear on the morality of all his actions, and, as a Catholic, he could not utter lip renunciation to an ideal which his heart would never renounce. That attitude he maintained to the shadow of the grave, and to a fervent, devout Catholic, such as he was, to face death without the consolation of the Sacraments was a greater sacrifice than his life. At the end, that consolation was not denied him.

About two o’clock on the morning of his execution, he got permission to visit a friend. A Free State officer remained at the door of the cell. The friend does not believe that Liam knew at that time he was going to be executed. He said he had come to say “Goodbye”. When his friend asked him where he was going, he said he did not know - he was just being shifted. Some premonition

must have come to him just as he was leaving, for he asked his friend to take care of any little things he might leave behind – and mind them for him.

Later that morning in his spirit of cheerful acceptance of all Ireland’s demands, he made his last sacrifice. �

His simple undivided allegiance to Ireland made it impossible that he should waver for one instant or compromise her claim for complete independence

• Rory O’Connor, Liam Mellows, Joe McKelvey and Dick Barrett

• Nora Connolly O’Brien - in 1980, supporting the protesting Republican prisoners in the H-Blocks and Armagh Prison

TheR IDDLE R EBEL

of the

BY JOE DWYER

“It was Erskine’s sniff that got him shot.” So remarked one who “knew and loved him well”. And perhaps there is truth in such a devastating verdict. For Erskine Childers was often an outsider, even among friends.

Born on 25 June 1870 in London, the second son of Robert Caesar Childers, a translator and scholar, and Anna Henrietta Barton, of Anglo-Irish land-owning stock. It marked a curious start for a revolutionary republican.

Indeed, for the first part of his life, he had been in every respect an establishment subject. A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, he worked as a committee clerk inside the British Parliament.

His cousin, Hugh Childers, had served as Secretary of War, first Lord of the Admiralty, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Home Secretary. His best friend from Cambridge, Edward Marsh, was to be the perennial private secretary to Winston Churchill.

Childers himself had even made a bid for a seat in Westminster, standing as a Liberal in Devonport in 1912. Away from parliament, he had served with distinction in the British Army, in both the Boer War and First World War.

Perhaps most notably of all, he penned a best-selling spy novel ‘The Riddle of the Sands’. Later heralded by John Buchan as “the best story of adventure published in the last quarter of a century”.

His first foray into active Irish nationalism came late in life. In 1914, he was approached by a small group of Lon-

Childers identified British interference in Ireland as “the ugly face of capitalistic imperialism”, and provocatively asked, “Has Labour forgotten James Connolly, thinker, writer, and Labour leader, who in 1916 for the first time identified national freedom with the cause of Labour in Ireland?”

don-based Irish nationalists, led by Sir Roger Casement, seeking a yachtsman to assist with procurement of arms for the Irish Volunteers.

As Darrell Figgis later recalled, “I went to see Mr. Childers at his flat in Chelsea. He told me that Casement had spoken to him fully concerning the project, and that he was willing to help in every way possible, recognizing the risks that were involved, and the necessity for absolute secrecy.”

The Howth gunrunning would become the first significant military operation in Ireland’s 20th Century fight for independence and represented a key milestone on the road to the 1916 Easter Rising.

Indeed, the aftermath of Easter Week and Sinn Féin’s subsequent victory in the 1918 General Election propelled Erskine Childers into the struggle for Irish freedom wholeheartedly. Hav-

could. As a former parliamentary committee clerk, he had spent years drafting and redrafting clauses, amendments, and enabling acts to carry out the functions of Empire. Childers knew the nature of the British establishment intimately and was equally cognisant of the radical, domestic challenges it faced.

For this reason, he was one of the few among Irish republicans to recognise the merit in rallying Britain’s still burgeoning labour movement behind Ireland’s cause.

In May 1919, he contributed a piece to George Lansbury’s The Daily Herald, highlighting reports of British Army mobilisation against striking British workers. He cautioned those on strike to “not forget where and how an army adapted for that purpose is receiving its training and practical experience. Under their very eyes—in Ireland.”

From the pages of the militant newspaper, Childers identified British interference in Ireland as “the ugly face of capitalistic imperialism”, and provocatively asked, “Has Labour forgotten James Connolly, thinker, writer, and Labour leader, who in 1916 for the first time identified national freedom with the cause of Labour in Ireland?”

Recounting Connolly’s subsequent execution, strapped to a chair before a firing squad, he suggested that “a parable for British Labour may be discerned in that incident.”

ERSKINE CHILDERS

ing crossed this Rubicon, Childers applied the same rigour and determination that defined much of his life.

When he first arrived at Sinn Féin’s Harcourt Street office in March 1919, Arthur Griffith enthusiastically confided to a colleague, “He’s a good man to have, he has the ear of a big section of the English people.”

Within only three years however, the same Arthur Griffith was rebuking Childers from across the floor of the Dáil in the aftermath of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. Bringing his fist crashing down onto a table, Griffith barked, “I will not reply to any damned Englishman in this Assembly.”

To draw such admiration and ire in equal measure was characteristic of Childers. He was in many respects a riddle of a man. Often appearing, to both comrades and critics, as inscrutable and irreconcilable.

Arguably, it stands as a measure of his effectiveness as a political propagandist that he was so loved when inside the fold and so vociferously detested once he stood outside it. Although a liberal by instinct and temperament, Childers penned some of the most radical contemporary thought from the Tan War period.

For he knew the enemy as only one who had once served it

His anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist critique did not cease here, however. Through an old London acquaintance, and leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, R. Palme Dutt, Childers contributed to ‘The Labour International Handbook’ of 1921.

In a chapter dedicated to Ireland, he argued, “The most powerful foe of Labour is capitalistic Imperialism and in Great Britain capitalistic Imperialism stands or falls by the subjugation or liberation of Ireland.”

It is unsurprising that when negotiations with the British finally came about, Childers was selected to serve as secretary-general to the Irish delegation. In fact, it was remarked that Éamon de Valera chose him “knowing that it would be impossible to find in the Dáil anyone so qualified for the position.”

Childers knew, probably better than any of the plenipotentiaries that he now served as secretary, exactly what to anticipate when negotiating with the British. He understood first-hand the need for precision of language when drafting official documents and the pitfalls of inexact terms and open ambiguity.

He was particularly conscious of the need to maintain a united front and avoid the risk of splitting the Irish negotiating team. For this reason, he deliberately elected to ignore his old friend, Edward Marsh, who now sat across from him on the British side, assisting Winston Churchill. It was a decision that hurt Marsh considerably.

'The most powerful foe of Labour is capitalistic Imperialism and in Great Britain capitalistic Imperialism stands or falls by the subjugation or liberation of Ireland'

• 1914 HOWTH GUN RUNNING - Childers at the helm of the Asgard and helping land guns in Howth

Unsurprisingly, having undertaken this personal approach, Childers was considerably frustrated when some on the Irish side began dining and socialising with British negotiators. It was not long before the delegation was split.

A convert of conviction, rather than convenience, Childers was not afraid to plough his own furrow. He could already see the capitulations and retreats that were taking place before his eyes in London.

The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, later recalled how following the conclusion of the negotiations, in December 1921, “we met Mr Erskine Childers outside, sullen with disappointment and compressed wrath at what he conceived to be the surrender of the principles he had fought for.”

Childers would go on to become one of the most vociferous critics against the resultant Treaty and silencing his voice would become a key objective for the counter-revolution that followed. With the outbreak of civil war, Erskine Childers’ operational control and authority over Anti-Treaty forces became grossly exaggerated by pro-Treaty propaganda.

From pro-Treaty pulpits and bulletins, Childers was recast as a sinister spectre who guided the hand behind every nefarious attack and heinous outrage.

On 27 September 1922, with conflict engulfing the country, the pro-Treaty Minister for Home Affairs, Kevin O’Higgins called out Childers personally, in all but name, in inflammatory terms:

“I do know that the able Englishman who is leading those who are opposed to this Government has his eye quite definitely on one objective, and that that is the complete breakdown of the economic and social fabric”.

In truth, Childers’ activity had remained entirely devoted to propaganda efforts, just as it had been prior to the split.

In fact, the closest he came to being ‘a gunman’ was his possession of a pearl-handled, souvenir revolver, a keepsake gift courtesy of Michael Collins, now a bitter opponent.

once they had taken up position in yard of Beggars Bush barracks, called out to them “come closer, boys, it will be easier for you.” Neither blindfolded nor trussed, he stood with perfect composure.

And so, it was that his supposed ‘sniff’ got him shot. A ‘sniff’ that to some cynics might have suggested a feigned superiority or condescension, but in truth represented a confidence and willingness to stand alone.

The assuredness and self-belief was characteristic of his class, a clarity of vision and certainty of the justness of one’s own beliefs that was instilled by his social background and upbringing. It was an unshakable conviction that rankled those who sought easy refuge and convenient cover.

Tragically, it was the possession of this revolver that ultimately sealed his fate. For when he was arrested by Free State forces on 10 November 1922, the possession of a pistol constituted a capital offence. The following week, he was brought before a secret military court, inside Portobello Barracks. A tribunal deliberately crafted to find him guilty.

That same day, 17 November, four anti-Treaty IRA men, James Fisher (19), Peter Cassidy (21), Richard Twohig (20) and John Gaffney (20), in Kilmainham Gaol, also held for the possession of weapons, were led out of their cells and shot by Free State soldiers.

As O’Higgins later explained to the Free State’s provisional parliament, it was deemed appropriate that the first executions ought to be carried out against rank-and-file men, because:

“If we took, as our first case, some man who was outlandishly active and outstandingly wicked in his activities, the unfortunate dupes, throughout the country, might say that he was killed because he was a leader, because he was an Englishman.”

The following week was to be Childers’ turn.

His conduct prior to his execution was typically brave and courteous. He shook the hand of each member of the firing squad and,

His written tributes following the untimely deaths of Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, only months before his own untimely end, demonstrate a generosity of spirit and basic goodness that dispels any notion of him being a deranged warmonger or bloodthirsty ‘Englishman’.

While awaiting his execution, he wrote to his beloved wife Molly:

“I die full of intense love for Ireland. I hope, one day, my good name will be cleared in England… I die loving England and passionately praying that she may change completely and finally towards Ireland”.

For Erskine Childers was a riddle of a man. The English-born Irishman who fought for Ireland against England, and who died an Irish Patriot, loving England, before an Irish execution squad. Here was no fanatic. No zealot. Rather a visionary who saw beyond the bitterness and strife of his own time, who defied the narrow notions and definitions of identity and held fervently onto the hope that, one day, the land of his birth and the land of his heart might co-exist in harmonious friendship - as equals. It is a vision that is still to be realised. �

Joe Dwyer is Sinn Féin’s political organiser in Britain

'We met Mr Erskine Childers outside, sullen with disappointment and compressed wrath at what he conceived to be the surrender of the principles he had fought for'

LLOYD GEORGE

• Robert Barton, Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins Treaty part of the negotiations team returning to London in December 1921

• Kevin O’Higgins

• Winston Churchill

IRISH UNITY WILL CREATE THE BEST FUTURE FOR ALL CITIZENS

I think there is likely to be a unity referendum within the next decade and I wrote my book 'Irish Unity: Time to Prepare' because I want us to plan in advance of the vote so that we can have an evidence-based discussion on the benefits of Irish Unity and how this compares to being part of the United Kingdom. We will all win by having this constitutional conversation and I think that a New Ireland will benefit everyone.

I have been open to the idea of Irish Unity since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. As someone raised with a strongly pro-British and unionist background I was determined that I was not going to be forced into a United Ireland by violence or threats of violence.

The Good Friday Agreement changed all that. It secured the peace and enabled all of us who live across Ireland, to consider

what the best future would be for all citizens. I had always considered myself to be Irish, it was an instinctive thing for me. Initially this was in addition to being British. But after living in Britain for several years, I felt increasingly Irish and my sense of Britishness dissipated.

I came up with the idea of writing a book on Irish Unity back in the summer of 2012 because I passionately wanted to see my island reunited and I believe in a pluralist outward looking country. It was liberating when I realised that I did not have to be Catholic, speak Irish or play GAA to embrace the idea of unity.

It was clear that things were changing, first with the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and then the vote on EU membership in 2016. My long-term aspiration for Irish Unity became an urgent necessity because of Brexit.

For me this isn’t just about reclaiming the fourth green field, there are now increasingly hard-headed reasons why Irish Unity

way that they are across Britain and the rest of Ireland. I want to live somewhere where a woman has the right to choose an abortion and also that there is equal marriage,

“This is a unique moment where we can choose to build a new nation which is fit for these turbulent times”. BEN COLLINS whose new book 'Irish Unity Time to Prepare' has just been published makes the case for a unity referendum from the perspective of someone who grew up in a unionist background.

I want to live somewhere where a woman has the right to choose an abortion and also that there is equal marriage, recognised in law. Unfortunately, political unionism has shown that it is opposed to these things by its actions and words

recognised in law. Unfortunately, political unionism has shown that it is opposed to these things by its actions and words.

The Good Friday Agreement protects the human rights and provides safeguards for all citizens across Ireland. This will be maintained after Irish Unity has been achieved. While political unionism may refuse to take part in this conversation, civic unionism is already part of this discussion. I know from speaking to my unionist friends that it is happening and hearing about how individuals and businesses are talking to others about it.

This is not about victory for one side over another, it is about creating the best possible future for all who call this island home. I want there to be a pathway to prosperity for our unionist brothers and sisters, where their identity and rights are protected. We need to give them hope, in a way which they haven’t been able to enjoy, I believe, for many years.

When I think about the economy, the health service, protecting the environment, gaining education and celebrating cultural diversity, I can honestly say that I believe the best way to achieve all of these things is through Irish Unity. It will be beneficial for all of Ireland that we remove the uncertainty caused by Northern Ireland being used as leverage in the Brexit negotiations, either by the British government or political unionism.

My book is divided into three parts. Firstly I cover the circumstances which will lead to a border poll. I believe we are living through those right now. Secondly I explain how we can win the campaign for a New Ireland. Thirdly I set out how we make sure that the reunification process is a success after we have voted for it.

While Ireland is unique, I think that there are learnings from other places which can help us as we embark upon this journey. There are also opportunities to tap into the evident goodwill

which exists for us. In particular I think the EU will provide a key role in the reunification process, just as it has done throughout our peace process. Both the USA and Canada will provide support and I do not just mean financial.

Irish Unity is the escape hatch from the dysfunction of Westminster. You do not have to be an economist to understand that two of something is more expensive and less efficient than one thing.

All too often due to Partition we duplicate so many things across Ireland. There is a better way. We can reset our public

services, provide a stable platform for growing indigenous businesses and attracting foreign investment.

This is a unique moment where we can choose to build a new nation which is fit for these turbulent times. It is about taking the best of the two states and all of the people on this island and creating a New Ireland where all citizens are cherished and our diversity is celebrated, firmly anchored in the European Union. �

Ben Collins is a communications consultant. He is a former Unionist and Conservative Party member, who later joined the Liberal Democrats and Alliance party of Northern Ireland. He is no longer a member of any political party.

This is not about victory for one side over another, it is about creating the best possible future for all who call this island home

• Choice and equality – political unionism has shown that it is opposed to these, by its actions and words

An Ghaelainn É Éirinn Aontaithe

LE RÓISÍN NIC LIAM

Tá cur is cúiteamh ar Éirinn Aontaithe fé lán seoil le tamall de thréimhse anois. I gceithre hairde na tíre seo, tá Éire nódh á samhlú le flosc is le fonn, nó go deimhin féinig le masmas agus le múisiam. Tá an díospóireacht ar an ábhar go tiubh sna meáin Bhéarla agus todhchaí na tíre á cur trí chéile gach aon seachtain. Ach an amhlaidh an scéal i measc na nGael? Cuirim peann le pár inniu, a léitheoir, le taom imní, áfach, agus buairt orm nach amhlaidh. Ná cuireadh an dochma úd ó dhoras tú, áfach, óir is i méid a théann an misneach san alt.

Tréimhse chinniúnach staire is ea na blianta amach romhainn agus ábhar mór dóchais is ea na blianta céanna.

Tá glúin nódh ag teacht in inmhe agus ag múnlú todhchaí na hÉireann. Is diail na deiseanna romhainn, ach iad a éileamh agus a thapú. Tá ré na cinniúna agus ré na mórdheiseanna ag fáiltiú romhainn, ach is baolach go bhfuil na Gaeil ag tabhairt an eitigh di le neamhshuim agus neamhaird.

Má tá aon chaint ar Éirinn Aontaithe i measc phobal na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta, is tearc í an díospóireacht chéanna. Is rómhinic go mbímid – ó dheas go príomha – in easnamh ar fad ar dhíospóireachtaí an Bhéarla leis, rud a fhágann go bhfuil baol nach beag anois ann go múnlófar an

comhrá agus an Éire nódh so in éagmais na nGael.

Tá traidisiún radacach réabhlóideach neamhbhriste againn mar phobal. Ós na hÉireannaigh Aontaithe, go Gluaiseacht Cearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta, suas chomh fada le glúin na mBlocanna H agus an Dream Dearg, throid – agus troideann – na Gaeil go craosach agus go hardghlórach d’fhonn todhchaí níos a fearr a bhaint amach. Tá dualgas na gcianta orainn, mar sin, lorg ár sinsear a leanúint agus ár rian a fhágaint ar stair agus ar chinniúint na tíre seo sna blianta beaga romhainn. Má fhágtar fé lucht an Bhéarla in Éirinn amhlaidh a dhéanamh agus an chaint ar Éirinn Aontaithe a stiúradh, áfach, bí siúraltha gur le hanamnacha na marbh a luífidh na Gaeil feasta.

Ní fiú paidir chapaill a dhéanamh den mbaol úd níos a mhó. Teastaíonn uaim go spreagfaidh an t-alt so pobal na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta i mbun gnímh agus gur tuar dóchais a bheidh sa chaint chéanna. Féachaimis mar sin ar conas is fearr is féidir leis na Gaeil – idir eagrais Ghaelainne agus an chosmhuintir – teacht sna sála ar lucht an Bhéarla agus páirt a ghlacadh go fonnmhar sa chomhrá.

Tá ról agus cumhacht ar leith ag na heagrais Ghaelainne

Tá ról agus cumhacht ar leith ag na heagrais Ghaelainne sa chur is cúiteamh ar Éirinn Aontaithe

Cuirfear le cearta na nGael in Éirinn

Aontaithe. Ní bhainfear díobh

sa chur is cúiteamh ar Éirinn Aontaithe. An Piarsach féin a dúirt gur tús na réabhlóide ab ea bunú Chonradh na Gaeilge. Go deimhin is mó gaisce a chuir an t-eagras de go stairiúil agus is diail an rian a d’fhág sé ar Éirinn ar bhunú dó.

Tá dualgas ar an gConradh, mar sin, mar aon le Foras na Gaeilge agus Glór na nGael, na maidí a ghéarú agus na Gaeil a tharrac le chéile d’fhonn an cheist bhunreachtúil a phlé agus díospóireacht ar an ábhar a éascú. Níor mhiste dóibh an dualgas céanna a chomhlíonadh gan mhórmhoill, áfach, óir tá práinn anois ag baint leis an gcaint.

Cá bhfios ach go bhféadfadh na heagrais chéanna taighde a dhéanamh ar réimse leathan ceisteanna a bhaineann le seasamh na teangan in Éirinn Aontaithe chomh maith. Cad iad na seirbhísí ar chóir a bheith ar fáil inti? Conas a chosnófar féiniúlacht na nAontachtaithe a labhrann Gaelainn inti? Conas a chuirfear le fás na Gaelscolaíochta inti? Conas is fearr is féidir linn fíorchearta teangan, fíorshaoirse chultúrtha agus fíorshochaí dhátheangach a bhaint amach nuair a chuirfear deireadh leis an gcríochdheighilt fé dheireadh is fé dheoidh?

Léiríonn rialtas an deiscirt arís is arís eile gur politique l’autruche is dual dóibh chomh fada lena mbaineann sé leis an bpleanáil d’Éirinn Aontaithe. Tuigeann na Gaeil go rímhaith gur a leithéid de chur chuige a bhíonn acu do chúrsaí teangan leis. Go ndéana na heagrais Ghaelainne an beart iad féin mar sin, agus go réití siad an bealach don teanga in Éirinn Aontaithe. Gníomh contúirteach místuama a bheadh anois ann mara nglacfaimis chugainn armlann an eolais agus na prapála gan mhoill, agus gach cosúlacht ar an scéal go bhfuil Éire Aontaithe anois ag teannadh linn go mear.

Níos tábhachtaí ná cumhacht na n-eagras, áfach, tá cumhacht na ndaoine. Léirigh na reifrinn ba dhéanaí in Éirinn gur a bhuí leis an ngnáthdhuine, a shaothraíonn ón talamh aníos, go n-éiríonn le reifrinn ar cheisteanna móra sóisialta ár linne.

Ná fág fés na polaiteoirí amháin an chaint seo a dhéanamh agus ár dtodhchaí a cheapadh. Glaicse an chumhacht chugat féin agus múnlaighse an tír. Cuir tús leis an gcabaireacht age baile, sa tigh tábhairne, san ollscoil, sa seomra foirne. Téir níos faide leis an scéal agus eagraigh cainteanna agus seisiúin phlé i do halla áitiúil pobail. Áitigh go fíochmhar ar stáisiún raidió do dhúthaighse nach mór deireadh a chur leis an gcríochdheighilt. Téir i mbun pinn agus roinn an fhís atá agat d’Éirinn Aontaithe. Treabh na meáin éagsúla agus pléigh na deiseanna diamhra atá amach romhainn. Cuirse síol machnaimh in intinn an phobail, agus seas an fód dos na Gaeil. Bíodh de phribhléid ag clann do chlainne a rá gur chuid de mheitheal tú a chuir deireadh leis an gcríochdheighilt in Éirinn agus a d’aontaigh an tír.

Is rómhinic cúis ghearáin ages na Gaeil go ndéantar íochtaráin dínn inár dtír féin, agus go ruaigtear sinn go fíorimeall na sochaí. Tá an baol céanna ag bagairt orainn

in athuair agus lucht an bhourgeoisie sásta an Ghaelainn a ghéilleadh agus Éire nódh á samhlú acu. Dá bhfíorófaí a n-aisling dhamanta chéanna, ní bheidh mar leithscéal againn ach nár ghlacamar féin páirt ghníomhach sa díospóireacht agus i múnlú an stáit nódh seo. Mara mbeidh slí dos na Gaeil in Éirinn Aontaithe, orainn féin – agus orainn féin amháin – a bheidh an locht.

Cuirfear le cearta na nGael in Éirinn Aontaithe. Ní bhainfear díobh. Go deimhin ba é n an Cadhnach féin a d’áitigh gurb ionann athghabháil na tíre seo agus athghabháil na teangan. Ní gan dua a chuirfear leis na cearta úd, áfach, agus is fúinn féin atá sé na cearta céanna a éileamh.

Ar an tslí chéanna, ní féidir linn talamh slán a dhéanamh

de go mbainfear Éire Aontaithe amach ach oiread. Is le dúthracht, deora agus díograis amháin a bhainfear amach í, ach is fiú an tairbhe an trioblóid. Ba phraiseach í an chríochdheighilt an chéad lá riamh, agus is i dtreise atá an fhianaise ag dul ó bhí an Breatimeacht ann.

Tá deis ar leith anois age muintir na hÉireann, áfach, athshamhlú ó bhonn a dhéanamh ar ár dtír agus ar ár sochaí trí chéile. Níl teora leis na féidearthachtaí a bhaineann léi. Ó thaobh cúrsaí teanga go cúrsaí tithíochta, ón gcóras sláinte go bláthú na Gaeltachta, d’fhéadfaimis todhchaí agus tír níos a fhearr a chruthú leis an deis ar leith seo atá romhainn. Níl an deis úd ag tír ar bith eile san Eoraip mar a sheasann cúrsaí.

Tréimhse ar leith staire is ea ár linnse, a chairde.

Tá 800 bliain de stair ag baint a buaice amach leis an bhféidearthacht ar Éirinn nódh, Éirinn Aontaithe. Aontas daoine a bheidh i gceist léi, agus beidh fáilte Uí Cheallaigh inti roimh gach saghas duine, cuma dubh, bán, riabhach, Gall nó Gael.

Bíodh na Gaeil go glórmhar agus go glórach i lár an aonaigh sna blianta beaga romhainn, mar sin. Glacaimis páirt sa phlé. Bímis uaillmhianach lenár n-éilimh. Cloímis le traidisiún réabhlóideach ár sinsear is ná ligimis na maidí le sruth. Múnlaímis Fódla nódh, le chéile, mar a mbeidh fáilte roim chách. �

Alt le cead ón suíomh Nós �� www.nos.ie

Lula returns as President of Brazil

BY CONOR FOLEY

Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva was elected President of Brazil on 30 October, beating the right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro by two million votes in the second round. The result was narrow – 50.9% to 49.1% -and the campaign was both dirty and violent.

Bolsonaro-supporting traffic police set up roadblocks in some states to make it to make it harder for Lula's supporters to get to the polls. Seven people were killed

America's largest democracy. Lula's Workers Party (PT) had first come to government two years beforehand, beating the more moderate Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB).

Lula was a former trade unionist and PT played a key role in mobilising the protests that brought down the dictatorship in the 1980s. It consisted of former guerrillas, liberation-theology Catholic laity, environmental campaigners, feminists, and the rural and urban poor. Jefferson alleged that he and a group of other Members of Parliament had been receiving monthly payments to vote for the government on some occasions.

in the months running up to the election. In an overall climate of fear and tension, Roberto Jefferson, a prominent political ally of Bolsonaro was arrested at the end of October after inciting hatred against members of Brazil's Supreme Court and then shooting at police officers and throwing grenades at them.

Ironically, it was Jefferson who, in 2005, first set in motion a train of events that are still destabilising South

The 'big monthly' (mensalão) scandal led to the sacking and imprisonment of Lula's chief of staff, José Dirceu, a former student leader who had been imprisoned under the dictatorship and freed when a group of his colleagues kidnapped the US Ambassador to Brazil. He was replaced by Dilma Rousseff, another former guerilla who had been imprisoned and tortured by the military regime. Dilma succeeded Lula to the presidency in 2010 when he stood down at the end of his constitutional time on a wave of massive popularity.

Brazil had prospered under Lula, who raised the minimum wage, introduced a rudimentary social welfare sys-

Brazil had prospered under Lula, who raised the minimum wage, introduced a rudimentary social welfare system – the family purse (Bolsa Familia) – and massively expanded access to higher and further education

tem – the family purse (Bolsa Familia) – and massively expanded access to higher and further education.

Maintaining a parliamentary majority became increasingly difficult however and PT resorted to stitching together coalitions by doling out ministries and state appointments to minor political parties in exchange for their support.

In 2012, an investigation into the activities of a money launderer revealed a widespread network of corruption in which businessmen and politicians were receiving kickbacks for inflated payments. Most of Brazil's political parties were implicated in the scheme, but the judge

ed over a record destruction of the Amazon rain forest and a serious deterioration of the public finances.

His populist, macho right-wing message has clearly resonated though with a larger Brazilian audience than many believed existed. Since the return of democracy, Brazil had been mainly governed by the centre-left, PT and PSDB.

Lula chose a prominent PSDB leader as his vice-presidential candidate in this election and reached out to other prominent 'centrist' politicians such Marina Silva and Simone Tebet. Nevertheless, Bolsonaro's vote was much higher in the first round of voting than anyone had predicted. Right-wing Bolsonarist candidates polled well in the elections of the State Governor positions and also now have a large political block in the new parliament. Lula will need all his skills as a diplomat and negotiator to put together a governing coalition.

leading the investigation, Sergio Moro, focused increasingly on PT and Lula himself.

Brazil was now mired in recession and the corruption investigation established a causal connection between the two in the minds of many Brazilians. Moro's legal tactics were extremely dubious and some commentators dubbed his strategy as that of lawfare, an overtly political attack on the elected government by judicial means.

Lula was imprisoned, although the cases against him were all subsequently overturned and Moro's investigations also contributed to the impeachment of Dilma, who was removed from the presidency two years into her second mandate. Bolsonaro appointed Moro as his first Minister for Justice, although the two subsequently fell out.

Bolsonaro disastrously mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic which killed almost 700,000 Brazilians. He presid-

In Lula’s presidential victory speech, he reached out to all Brazilians – including those who voted for his opponent. Bolsonaro has yet to concede that he actually lost and there is a strong possibility that his supporters may mimic Trump’s actions after his own defeat.

Bolsonaro faces his own investigations into corruption and ties with right-wing militia groups and he will lose legal immunity when he steps down from office. He has strong support amongst rank-and-file members of the police and armed forces and so the possibility of violent confrontation remains high.

Lula is trading on extremely high international good will however, and other world leaders were quick to congratulate him and pledge support to his plans for environmental protection. �

Conor Foley is a Visiting Professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and has worked on legal reform, human rights and protection issues in over 30 conflict zones

Bolsonaro disastrously mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic which killed almost 700,000 Brazilians. He presided over a record destruction of the Amazon rain forest and a serious deterioration of the public finances

• Roberto Jefferson, a prominent Bolsonaro ally, was arrested after inciting hatred, shooting at police officers and throwing grenades

• Bolsonaro disastrously mishandled COVID, presided over the destruction of the Amazon rain forest and the deterioration of public finances

• Lula reached out to prominent 'centrist' politicians such Marina Silva and Simone Tebet

The long road for women’s equality in Irish sport

GAA and soccer player LAURA CARROLL celebrates the achievement of the women’s national soccer team in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. She also tells the story of the many challenges faced by women players along this journey from the margins to the centre of Irish sport, and highlights what still needs to be done for equality in sport

Have you ever been to a men’s soccer match? Plenty of diving. Plenty of fisticuffs. Plenty of fans causing needless havoc.

Have you ever been to a women’s soccer match? None of this diving craic. Players respecting their opponents. Rarely a scrap between the teams. Courteous spectators.

In October 2022, the Irish women’s national soccer team (WNT) finally reached the dreamland, by qualifying for the first major tournament in their history. Many of the squad would have played in underage European championships, even some of them reaching the FIFA Under 17 Women’s World Cup quarterfinal in 2010. But the underage successes over the last decade never translated to the senior ranks. Until now. Not without many hardships along the way though.

Women in Ireland were first granted the vote in 1918, and even then not on equal terms with men. Married women were first permitted to work in the public sector in 1973 when the marriage bar was lifted.

The first Ladies Gaelic Football All-Ireland Final took place in 1974, nearly a century after the first men’s football All-Ireland Final. An Irish women’s international soccer team was not established until 1973, despite the FAI being founded in 1921.

From 1973, the WNT would continue to tick away for decades, playing in the shadows of their male counterparts. It would take a 2017 strike for them to gain the recognition that they deserved.

The squad demanded better treatment from the FAI after it was revealed that they were not on equal match fees to the men’s team, and many having to take annual or unpaid leave for camps and matches, without reimbursement.

Most notably, the team disclosed that they were sharing

tracksuits with underage teams when travelling to and from away matches, having to change in airport toilets. The boycott threat was lifted when agreement on improvements was reached.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the Irish WNT would not have qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals had they not spoken out in 2017. This qualification has created a whole new fan base, both male and female.

As a child growing up in the noughties, my sporting idols were Roy Keane, Brian O’Driscoll, Padraic Joyce.

The WNT would continue to tick away for decades, playing in the shadows of their male counterparts. It would take a 2017 strike for them to gain the recognition that they deserved

Sportswomen’s names were not part of my vocabulary, nor any of my peers. It was men’s sport that was displayed on television. It was men’s sport that was fully professional while women’s sport retained an amateur status.

It was men’s games that were filling out stadiums. It was men’s friendly games that were being advertised, while the equivalent women’s team were playing cup final matches in front of a handful of spectators. Rarely would one of these spectators be someone other than a family member or friend of one of the players.

There are several corporations and campaigns in Ireland who have been a massive support and advocate for

women’s sport in recent years. Most notably, the Federation of Irish Sport’s 20x20 campaign, along with Lidl and TG4 sponsorships.

Nowadays, with a big thanks to the above-named corporations and campaigns, there are many female sporting heroes that young girls and boys can look up to and aspire to be. Young kids know these female sport stars names. You have Katie McCabe, Ciara Mageean, Katie Taylor, Cora Staunton, Hannah Tyrell, Ellen Keane and Rachel Blackmore, all thriving in their respective elite sporting careers.

They are full time professional athletes. They are shown on television, in the pubs, on billboards, even painted on electricity boxes around Ireland. On my daily commute to work in Dublin City, I pass a primary school located near to the home of Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington. A banner displaying “Can See, Can Be” proudly flies at the entrance.

The 20x20 campaign launched in 2018 aimed to create a cultural shift in the perception of women’s sport in Ireland. The aim was to boost media coverage, attendance at female sporting events and female sport participation by 20% by the year 2020. Its slogan “Can’t See, Can’t Be” and iconic 20x20 logo would be projected all over Ireland and has certainly improved media coverage, attendance and participation in female sport across the country since its launch.

Back in 2016, Lidl released the ‘Ladyball’ advert - a guerrilla ad campaign that would spark a conversation across the nation. The pink ball was marketed as “a soft touch for a woman’s grip” and designed for “a lady’s game”.

People were outraged, and rightly so, that a massive corporation was advertising this. In this day and age! It turned out to be all in good faith. The following week, Lidl revealed that this controversial advert was to announce their newly-formed partnership with the LGFA that continues to this day, and ladies football has never looked back.

They have pumped money into club football and county football. All Ireland Finals in Croke Park have reached record attendances year-on-year. You can see it is not just family members supporting the female sports players anymore.

As Meath LGFA defended their Senior Football crown this year, it was great to see teenage boys supporting their

county women. The massive crowd of 46,000 went way beyond just being brothers / fathers / cousins / friends / classmates / neighbours of one of the players. They were cheering on their county.

Elsewhere, TG4 coverage and support of women’s sport in Ireland has been nothing short of exemplary. They have broadcast ladies’ football for years. More recently, they have begun showing highlights of the AFLW in Australia, which boasts a host of Irish sports stars.

Last year, they announced that they would begin to broadcast some Women’s National League (WNL) games, the female equivalent of the League of Ireland. They boasted large audiences, and this season announced the broadcasting of even more games. This year saw the WNL in its most exciting form yet. With two games to go, there were four teams that could win the title. Could you name a more competitive league in the world?

TG4 broadcast two matches from these last two rounds of games including what would be the decider between the 1st and 2nd placed teams. On the final day, with Peamount now out of the title race with

Sportswomen’s names were not part of my vocabulary, nor any of my peers. It was men’s sport that was displayed on televisions

• (clockwise) Katie McCabe, Ciara Mageean, Katie Taylor, Cora Staunton, Hannah Tyrell, Ellen Keane, Rachel Blackmore and Kellie Harrington

53 points, it fell to Shelbourne (1st - 57 points), Wexford Youths (2nd - 56 points) And (!!) Athlone Town (3rd - 55 points). Just two points separated 1st and 3rd place, with an array of permutations floating about social media sites to decipher who could win and how on the final day of the season. In the end, it was Shelbourne who were crowned winners, defending their 2021 league title from the previous year.

I play ladies Gaelic football for Salthill/Knocknacarra in Galway. Last weekend, our Junior Ladies football team were in a Connacht semi-final, our Intermediate Camogie team were in a county final and our Senior Men’s footballers were in a county final.

A big day for the club across the codes. Some members from each of these three teams were brought into some

All-Ireland medal that first year at U12s. We were the first team in the prestigious Salthill Devon club to win an AllIreland title, either male or female.

I went on to win two more All-Ireland medals with the club, and an abundance of All-Ireland runners up medals and local league titles. I played alongside current and past international players.

The looming WNL came two or three years too late for our team. By the time a team in Galway was able to obtain a licence to enter the national league, our star players had headed off to college elsewhere.

local (incidentally girls-only) primary schools the week before. The kids waved Salthill flags and chanted “SKGAA” aloud. In front of these young girls, the male MC proceeded to highlight the senior men’s football final as “the biggest game of the weekend”.

Imagine that! Despite this, it is the ladies football team only who prevailed from their respective knockout games as winners, and we advanced to a Connacht final. Only for the fact that the men’s football team have been knocked out of the Championship could we expect a bit more support now. And now we are the Connacht champions!

Am I jealous of the young sports fans of Ireland today? Absolutely. I have been a female in sport my whole life. I began with soccer, playing with the local boys’ team in Salthill Devon at eight, until I was forced to withdraw due to my gender at 13.

I joined the Salthill Devon girls’ team at 10 and won an

When the WNL was first established, we didn’t have access to supports such as nutritionists and data analysts that the league boasts now. I played a season with Castlebar Celtic and then joined Galway WFC for their debut year in the WNL in 2013, before the ever-present-amongst-femaleplayers cruciate ligament decided to give way in the first 20 minutes of Galway WFC’s first ever match.

I was a late bloomer to the GAA scene, not joining my local Salthill/Knocknacarra GAA club until I was 11. We won a county title in my first full year, and we would go on to win county titles every year until I was 16. We won the county U14 Féile alongside our U14 boys’ team in 2008 and we both ventured up to Cavan to represent the club in the national Féile competition. We got pipped in the semi-final stage to the eventual Kerry winners in the A division. From that 2008 Féile squad of 30+ girls, just 2 of were playing in the Connacht Final.

That’s a drop-out rate of 93% in 14 years. A handful of us would keep at it for many years after the Féile, but being a city team, many girls went off playing other sports or more commonly, quit sport altogether. It was the 2010s, girls did not see women playing sport on television. It wasn’t the norm for women to play sport. Can’t see, can’t be.

Women in sport have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. We have reached a point now where we need men to start loudly advocating for women’s sport and not stand idly by.

Young boys are beginning to support their local women’s teams. But it is young men and parents of young children that really need to start supporting their local women’s teams, and demanding equality and recognition for female players. We need everyone’s support. For women. For women in sport. For women in sport in Ireland. �

Laura Carroll is a Dublin based tax advisor currently playing soccer for St Patrick’s CYFC in the EWFL

On my daily commute to work in Dublin City, I pass a primary school located near to the home of Olympic gold medalist Kellie Harrington. A banner displaying “Can See, Can Be” proudly flies at the entrance

• St Patrick's CYFC, Premier 1

• Salthill/Knocknacarra, Junior A

Croílár na Gluaiseachta

LE OISÍN Ó SÍOCHÁIN

Agus barr an chnoic bainte amach againn, ligeamar osna mór faoisimh asainn agus sinn báite inár gcuid allais. Tar éis m’anáil a tharraingt cúpla babhta, do chas mé timpeall agus chaitheas tamall ag féachaint ar an éacht a bhí bainte amach againn.

Os mo chomhair amach bhí farraige thiubh de bhratacha ag séideadh sa ghaoth bhog Bhascach, bratach bhródúil na hÉireann ina measc. Trí mhíle duine óg, trí mhíle gníomhaí, trí mhíle Bascach ag siúl na drúchta go moc ar maidin, ag mairseáil ar son a saoirse, le Gaeil, Catalóinigh, Gailísigh agus dreamanna eile réabhlóideacha ina dteannta. Agus mé ag féachaint ar an íomhá chumhachtach, ildaite seo, ag déanamh mo mhachnaimh, tháinig Bascach fir aníos i m’aice, agus ‘siad na focail a dúirt sé agus an bheirt againn ag féachaint ar an slua ná: “Sin croílár na Gluaiseachta.”

An Turas

Mí Aibreáin a bhí ann, agus bhí mé féin agus Róisín Nic Liam, beirt bhall d’Ógra Shinn Féin, tar éis aghaidh a thabhairt ar Thír na mBascach d’fhéile mhór Gazte Martxa. Tar éis oíche a chaitheamh ag siúl thart ar shráideanna caola Bilbo, le stair ‘gus scéalta ag úscadh ó gach aon chearn is clúid, chuamar soir chuig na sléibhte, áit a dtarlódh mairseáil ollmhór trí lá.

Chaitheamar ár gcuid ama ag comhrá is cadráil le Bascaigh óga. Bhí mórán cosúlachtaí eadrainn. Bhíomar go léir, geall leis, ar comhaois. Bhíomar inár mbaill de pháirtithe réabhlóideacha a bhfuil sé mar chuspóir acu saoirse a dtíre a bhaint amach agus sochaí chóir, chomhionann a thógáil. Tógadh sinn le scéalta mar gheall ar thréimhsí an chur faoi chois, ó ré Chromaill go ré Franco agus réanna eile nach iad. Is léir go raibh cosúlachtaí idir ár ngluaiseachtaí chomh maith - tháin-

ig deireadh le feachtas armtha na mBascach thart faoi deich mbliana tar éis Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta, mar shampla. Ach ba léir chomh maith nárbh ionann sinn. Cad go díreach a bhí á rá ag Eneko nuair a ghlaoigh sé ‘croílár na Gluaiseachta’ ar an radharc croíúil sin de ghlúin óg an tsléibhe?

An Teanga

In Éirinn, agus i nGluaiseacht na Poblachta Éireann, níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil ról lárnach ag an dteanga náisiúnta inár bpolaitíocht, agus in oidhreacht ár ngluaiseachta. Is de bharr iarrachtaí Shinn Féin agus dreamanna eile a bhfuil reachtaíocht teangan ó thuaidh don chéad uair, agus is sinne a sheasann an fód don Ghaelainn ó dheas i gcoinne neamhshuim na bunaíochta polaitiúla. Is polasaí an-tábhachtach í an Ghaelainn dúinn.

Ach ní polasaí í an Bhascais dos na Bascaigh. ‘Sí an Bhascais teanga oibre, laethúil na gluaiseachta náisiúnaí ansan, agus ar na rudaí is mó a thugas fé deara is sinn ag siúl is ag caint is ag foghlaim ónár gcomrádaithe Bascacha ná nach cuid dá streachailt í an Bhascais, ach gurb í an Bhascais bun agus barr a streachailte. Is Bascais a bhí á labhairt ag an ndream óg eatarthu féin, is i mBascais a bhí an ceol ar éist siad leis, is Bascais a bhí le clos ó éirí na gréine go héirí na gealaí. Is ina dteanga féin a dhéanann siad a machnamh, is ina dteanga féin a shamhlaíonn siad todhchaí nua dá dtír. ‘Sí an Bhascais an glae a cheanglaíonn a gcumasc réabhlóideach. An dó sin a bhí an ráiteas rúndiamhair sin ag tagairt?

An Talamh

‘Sé a dúirt Séamas Ó Conghaile tráth ná gur “réasúnta ár gcuid éileamh: níl uainn ach an Domhan.” ‘Sé a dhearbhaigh Forógra

na hÉireann ar dhílse na hÉireann”. ‘Sé a deir na heolaithe linn inniu ná go bhfuil comhshaol na tíre seo, chomh maith le haeráid agus timpeallacht an phlainéid féin, ar an dé deiridh. Tá córais nádúrtha na n-ainmhithe agus na bplandaí ag fulaingt, agus tá flaitheas an dúlra fé ionsaí. Is léir dúinne gurb é meascán nimhneach an chaipitleachais, an mheoin choilínigh agus an nualiobrálachais is cúis leis seo, ach an féidir linn a rá go hionraic go bhfuilimid, mar ghluaiseacht náisiún na hÉire-

ann, ag déanamh ár ndíchill dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim eiseach seo?

Nuair a cheistíos duine d’eagrathóirí an mhórshiúil Bhascaigh cad ina thaobh a n-eagraíonn siad an t-imeacht sin, ‘sé an freagra a fuaireas ná go bhfuil sé tábhachtach dóibh bheith i measc na sléibhte, fé scáth na gcrann agus i dteagmháil leis an bhfiantás, chun coinsiasacht a chothú ar ríthábhacht an nádúir óna dtagaimid agus ar a mbraithimid. Thugas fé deara

• Fhéile mhór Gazte Martxa

freisin gur chuir siad an-bhéim ar earraí inathúsáidte a úsáid, agus ar chúrsaí athchúrsála.

Is líne thosaigh eile í seo sa chath ar son a náisiúin: an nádúr agus an comhshaol agus an talamh óna n-eascraíonn a dtír a chosaint uathusan gur mian leo í a scrios. B’fhéidir gurb é an tírdhreach fisiciúil a bhí á lua ag Eneko agus é ag caint ar chroílár na Gluaiseachta.

An Óige

Sa tír seo, is léir don dall go bhfuil an ghlúin óg ina dúiseacht, agus go bhfuil fonn dosháraithe ionainn d’Éirinn níos fearr, d’Éirinn níos cothroime, agus d’Éirinn aontaithe. Deir na pobalbhreitheanna gur i Sinn Féin atá an óige ag cur a cuid muiníne, mar gur sinne an páirtí leis an bhfís is uaillmhianaí agus is dóchasaí do mhuintir uile na hÉireann. Laistigh de Shinn Féin, cén ról atá ag an nglúin óg? An bhfuil ár ndóthain á dhéanamh againn ar mhaithe leis an bpáirtí, agus an bhfuil a dhóthain á dhéanamh ag an bpáirtí ar mhaith linne? An dlúthchuid sinne de Ghluaiseacht na Poblachta in Éirinn? An mbeimis in ann trí mhíle duine óg a mhealladh chun siúil ar feadh trí lá ar shléibhte Chorca Dhuibhne nó Bheanna Beola?

Cúis amháin, b’fhéidir, a bhfuil glúin óg Thír na mBascach níos gníomhaí sa pholaitíocht (agus níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil) ná mar atá in Éirinn ná go bhfuil cur faoi chois ó na póilíní agus na húdaráis fós beo sna tíortha atá fé smacht ag Stát na Spáinne. Insíodh scéalta dúinn mar gheall ar chairde a chaith seal i bpríosún toisc gur cuireadh graifítí ‘treascrach’ in airde, nó ábhar polaitiúil mídhleathach a iompar. Agus sinn ag tiomáint chuig cathair mhór do lá idirnáisiúnta na mBascach, chuir faireachas na bpóilíní agus an Guardia Civil ionadh orm. Mar is eol dúinn féin anseo, nuair a bhíonn an stát dian

ar fhéiniúlacht náisiúnta, nó ar ghluaiseachtaí polaitiúla, éiríonn an ghlúin óg amach ina choinne sin. Ní ghlacaimid go humhal leis an leatrom. Is dá bharr san go príomha, dar liomsa, a bhfuil an-choinsiasacht pholaitiúil ag Bascaigh óga. Ní mór d’aon tír, sinn féin san áireamh, atá ag maireachtaint i ré na síochána, bheith ar an airdeall nach múchann an easpa leatroim an splanc réabhlóideach atá ionainn. Ní mór dúinn bheith cúramach nach n-éirímid compordach leis an status quo, leis an saol mar atá, le bheith inár n-íochtaráin nuair is cóir do chosmhuintir na tíre bheith inár n-uachtaráin! Is léir go bhfuil splanc réabhlóideach na mBascach óg ag lonrú, mar lóchrann dóchais agus inspioráide d’óige na cruinne móire. An don splanc céanna a bhí an Bascach ag tagairt agus é ag labhairt faoi chroílár na Gluaiseachta?

Cad atá le foghlaim?

Níl amhras ar bith ach go bhfuil ag éirí go hanrathúil le Sinn Féin in Éirinn. Tá an comhrá fé athaontacht na tíre i mbéal an phobail, táimid ar leac dorais an rialtais ó dheas, agus diaidh ar ndiaidh táimid ag druidim i dtreo buaic scéal na hÉireann. Agus sinn insan tréimhse chorraitheach, thábhachtach seo, ní mór dúinn bheith i gcónaí ag féachaint orainn féin, ag athbhreithniú, ag ullmhú sinn féin don am atá ag teacht.

Tá dualgas orainn níos mó a dhéanamh chun an Ghaelainn a chur chun cinn sa pháirtí féin, chun go mbeidh sí mar phríomhtheanga labhartha ár ngluaiseachta sna blianta amach romhainn. Is gá dúinn bheith mar cheannródaithe na troda i gcoinne chliseadh sistéimeach an chaipitleachais, atá ag déanamh dochair as cuimse dár dtimpeallacht. Agus, gan amhras ar bith, ní mór dúinn seasamh na hóige a fheabhsú sa pháirtí, ag cruthú spásanna don óige chun a cuid smaointe, tuairimí agus fís don todhchaí a phlé. Mhúineamar mórán dár gcomrádaithe Bascacha mar gheall ar thaithí agus cheachtanna na hÉireann, agus is iadsan na ceachtanna is suntasaí a bhí le foghlaim ónár seal leis na Bascaigh.

Ag filleadh ar an gcnoc ...

Agus mé ag féachaint ar an íomhá chumhachtach, ildaite seo, ag déanamh mo mhachnaimh, tháinig Bascach fir aníos i m’aice, agus ‘siad na focail a dúirt sé agus an bheirt againn ag féachaint ar an slua ná: “Sin croílár na Gluaiseachta.”

Ní dúirt mé focal ar feadh nóiméid. Chas mé chuige, a shúile ag féachaint ar bhratacha a náisiúin, a chluasa ag éisteacht le teanga a náisiúin agus a chosa ag seasamh ar thalamh a náisiúin, é i dteannta óige a naisiúin. Bratacha a thíre.

Focail a theangan. Mothú a thimpeallachta. Comhluadar a chomrádaithe.

Chas mé ar ais arís agus thuigeas. Thuigeas cad a bhí i gceist le croílár na Gluaiseachta. Ní an naisiúnachas amháin. Ní an teanga amháin. Ní an timpeallacht amháin. Ní an óige amháin. Ach iad go léir aontaithe in aon chumasc amháin. An cumasc réabhlóideach san, an cumasc a bhí le brath agus le feiscint sa radharc sin, sa radharc gan sarú de bhuaic na réabhlóide ar bhuaic an chnoic. Chreideas ar an nóimeád san is gach nóiméad ó shin gur sinne an ghlúin, glúin na nGael óg is na mBascach óg, a shamlóidh, agus a chífidh, agus a chruthóidh, éirí na Gealaí lenár linn, tríd an gcumasc réabhlóideach sin ar a nglaoimis Croílár na Gluaiseachta. �

Gníomhaí in Ógra Shinn Féin is ea Oisín Ó Síocháin

Remembering key events such as the end of the Civil War in 1923, the election of Gerry Adams as West Belfast MP and Sinn Féin President in 1983 and the Great Escape from the H-Blocks in that same year

RESISTANCE CALENDAR 2023

POBLACHTÁNACH 2023

Your specialist bookshop stocks a wide range of gifts and products relating to Ireland's struggle for freedom

Christmas books

BY ROBBIE SMYTH

It is wholly untrue that republicans are difficult to buy Christmas presents for. And yes, there was the incident where your significant other thought it would be funny to buy you Boris Johnson’s 2007 ‘The Dream of Rome’ or Philip Ryan and Niall O’Connor’s 2018 Leo Varadkar biography. That was definitely a Christmas present fail.

So, to avoid faux pas like these, An Phoblacht has brought together the best of potential Christmas reading this year. It has been a great year for republican books. Let’s start with the newly published tomes.

Gerry Adams ‘Black Mountain and Other Stories’ came our way late in 2021, and Sinn Féin’s online bookshop has signed copies. In 2022, Adams, together with Richard McAuley, published ‘The Armagh

Women’, which tells the story of women republican prisoners held at the gaol. The book also includes a Christy Moore CD titled ‘On the Bridge’.

Sile Darragh’s ‘John Lennon’s Dead’ was republished this year. It is a rare, first hand account of the horrific conditions, ill treatment, and comradeship of the republican prisoners. It includes a new foreword by Rita O’Hare, who was held in Armagh and Limerick prisons.

A number of ex-prisoners have published books including Gerry Kelly’s ‘Playing My Part’, Danny Morrison’s ‘Then the Walls Came Down’. There is also a new edition of ‘Hunger Strike’, which is edited by Morrison. The book has a series of reflections on the 1981 hunger strikes and includes new contributions where “well-known novelists and poets, former

Leabhair Nollag

prisoners and activists reflect upon the deaths of the ten republican hunger strikers which proved a turning point in relations between Britain and Ireland”.

There is also Jim McCann’s ‘And the Gates Flew Open’, an account of the 1974 burning of Long Kesh. and ‘Surfing into Life on a Bathboard’ by Jake MacSiacias. Eoghan MacCormaic has ‘On the Blanket – an A to Z of Prison Resistance’ and ‘Pluid - Scéal na mBlocanna H 1976-81’, and don’t forget former hunger striker Laurence McKeown’s ‘Time Shadows’.

One of the unexpected but great publications of 2022 is Maire Comerford’s revolutionary memoir ‘On Dangerous Ground’. Edited by Hilary Duffy, it is a seminal account of the Irish revolution.

Also brilliant is Sinéad McCoole’s ‘No Ordinary Women’. And well worth a read is ‘Cathal BrughaAn Indomitable Spirit’ by Daithí Ó Corráin & Gerard Hanley. ‘Curious Journey’ by Timothy O’Grady and Kenneth Griffith tells the story of nine republican veterans who “talk about their struggle and the tortuous complexities of a post-Treaty divided Ireland”.

Last word to the twin tomes ‘Leitrim and Longford’s Republican Story 1900 to 2000’ by Cormac Ó Súilleabháin and Seán Ó Súilleabháin respectively. These forensic accounts of revolution are well worth a read, though you would need to be high up on the nice list to deserve these. �

If Ireland were really to be free, it must be owned by the Irish people