Ourselves Alone

Irish politics, particularly the Troubles.

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Sinn Fein getting a higher percent of the vote than any other party means nothing. The amount of people voting for Sinn Fein DECREASED this year. And those polls are only for the first preference. People gave first preference smaller Unionists parties like UKIP, PUP and TUV. But then the DUP still got a preference. Hence why they have far more seats. And the percent of people voting for Unionist/Loyalist parties increased. The splitting of the Unionist vote = / = Sinn Fein succeeding. Nice try.

That’s a long-winded way of saying, “Sinn Fein are the largest party in Ireland.”

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Sinn Fein Senator Kathryn Reilly addresses a gathering of the United European Left/Nordic Green Left, the grouping in the European Parliament to which Sinn Fein belongs.

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The cover of An Phoblacht's June issue sums it up.

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The funeral procession of Michael Gaughan in Kilburn, London. Gaughan, a Provisional IRA Volunteer, died on hunger strike on 3 June 1974 at the age of 24. Gaughan died of pneumonia after the tube used by prison officials to force-feed him punctured one of his lungs.

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"Here at journey's end I lie / in darkness buried deep ..."

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So, how was your weekend?

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For observers of A Certain Age, the fact of Sinn Fein winning the highest percentage of votes in the Six Counties and storming the polls in the 26 the way they have almost beggars belief. Trying to decide what it all means is made slightly easier by the panicked tweets of the reactionaries.

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Glad to see Niall O'Donnghaile won his seat in the end, although it was close. He's engaging on Twitter and usually has something interesting to say, unlike many politicians. Plus, he looks like a 14-year-old with gray hair, and that's something to be cherished.

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The elections seem to have gone well for Gerry and his party.

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Don't forget to vote.

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"Penalising the Clean."

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Patsy O'Hara of the Irish National Liberation Army and Ray McCreesh of the Irish Republican Army were born within two weeks of each other in February, 1957, and both died on 21 May 1981 on hunger strike.

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Some unfavorable reactions in West Belfast to the Boston College oral history project.

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The funeral of Maire Drumm, vice president of Provisional Sinn Fein, who was murdered in October 1976 while she lay in a hospital bed in Belfast by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association who were dressed as doctors.

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On the right is Maire Drumm, vice president of Provisional Sinn Fein, during a march in Belfast to protest British Army patrols in nationalist neighborhoods. Women in the neighborhoods would follow the so-called 'duck patrols' carrying hurley sticks on their shoulders. Drumm, who was active in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association before joining PSF, was assassinated as she lay in a hospital bed in October 1976 by a joint UDA-UVF squad.

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Cumann na mBan members affiliated with the Official IRA, 1971 or 1972.