And Flowers Grew up Through the Concrete | A Real Peace Settlement Needed | Gearóid Ó Cairealláind |
Léargas: A Podcast by Gerry AdamsShow Notes
And Flowers Grew up Through the Concrete is Laurence McKeown’s second prison memoir. Big Laurny, is a very fine writer. This latest book is an account of his journey through imprisonment, hunger strike, brutality and growing self-awareness. It is beautifully written and unashamedly honest in its emotion. Laurence is one of those gifted republican POWs who spent years – decades in some cases – in British prisons and who have written about their experience. Together they have generated a...
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Up the Murph My mother was allocated a house in Ballymurphy in the mid 50’s. It was 11 Divismore Park, at the corner of Glenalina road. At around the same time, Maureen McKee was allocated a house in the same street, 20 Divismore Park. It was just across the street from us. Maureen and Josie ‘Boxer’ McKee had fourteen children. Rosie, Josie, Seamus, Packie, Ned, Martin, Cookie, Anthony, Chick, Delores, Bernie, Maureen, Maggie and Tessie. Big families were the norm in those days, there were 13...
AN OPEN LETTER TO MY ORANGE NEIGHBOURS A Chairde, Now that the British Secretary of State - recently landed among us – has banned the Portadown Lodge march on Garvaghy Road all of us should take time for a quiet reflection. Time also to be thankful that the stand-off was peaceful. You and the people of Garvaghy Road deserve credit for that. All thinking people want to see our society moving beyond the sectarian hatred that has cursed us for so long. Division in our country was created and is ...
No Pasarán- They Shall not Pass Sunday’s rally on the Garvaghy Road was amazing, wonderful. Over many years of activism, I have attended countless rallies but Sunday was special. It lifted the spirits of the thousands who were there. From the speakers, to the musicians, to the thousands standing and applauding, and to the many more watching on social media, the overwhelming message and focus of the rally was about the future. A better future. A different future. A new future in which the righ...
Garvaghy Road – No Going Back. As I write this column the situation on the Garvaghy Road is no closer to resolution. The Orange Order wants to walk through a nationalist community. The residents say no. Outside of political unionism there has been widespread anger and shock at the decision of the Parades Commission to make a determination to facilitate that march. In July the Commission had said no to a march. What changed? If it was wrong for the Orange to march in July, or for the las...
Micheál bottled it As Fianna Fáil this year marks its 100th birthday, where does it stand on the issue of Irish Unity? According to its Constitution, Fianna Fáil’s first aim is; “To secure in peace and agreement the unity of Ireland and its people.” Very worthy but has the party in or out of government during the last century actually done anything to achieve it? Currently, while the conversation on unity is daily taking place An Taoiseach Micheál Martin is seen by many as the greatest impedi...