On January 30, 1972 members of the British Army fired upon unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry, killing 14 people, 13 outright, and one who would die later from his wounds. The marchers, about 15,000 strong, had been protesting internment without trial, which was introduced in Northern Ireland in August 1971, and involved mass British army arrests of more than 340 people … [Read more...] about “Bloody Sunday:” James Nesbitt’s Personal Odyssey
The Troubles
1969: A Crazy Year for Irish America
It is fitting that the 1969 Nobel Prize for literature went to the Irish playwright and novelist Samuel Beckett. After all, in works such as Waiting for Godot and Endgame, Beckett alternated between tragedy and comedy, drama and farce. The same could be said about 1969. It has now been 40 years since that eventful year which gave us Woodstock, the moon landing, the Manson … [Read more...] about 1969: A Crazy Year for Irish America
The Pain and Beauty of Hunger
Declan O’Kelly discusses Steve McQueen’s film about Bobby Sands’ last days. Hunger is a movie about the last six weeks of Bobby Sands’ life. It is directed by Englishman Steve McQueen and stars Michael Fassbender in the lead role. Widely acclaimed, the film has won several awards, the most notable being the 2008 Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Bobby Sands died on … [Read more...] about The Pain and Beauty of Hunger
Omagh Bombing Case Collapses
By Frank Shouldice, Contributor
February / March 2008
February / March 2008
Belfast Crown Court acquitted Sean Hoey of all charges in connection with the 1998 Omagh bombing, which claimed the lives of 29 civilians. Hoey, a 38-year-old electrician from Jonesboro, Co. Armagh, was accused of 56 charges relating to the atrocity but Justice Reg Weir ruled that the forensic evidence gathered by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was unreliable. … [Read more...] about Omagh Bombing Case Collapses
Peace at last in Northern Ireland?
By Susan McKay, Contributor
June / July 2007
June / July 2007
Though political tensions linger, the Northern Ireland Assembly is up and running and both communities are working together for the future. The Reverend Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Féin, sat down together before the world’s media on March 26 to announce that they would form a power-sharing executive at … [Read more...] about Peace at last in Northern Ireland?