I had almost a worm's-eye view of Bloody Sunday. I was working as a junior TV journalist covering a protest march through Derry on January 30, 1972, and like every other observer I was dumbfounded when the British Parachute Regiment opened fire on the protestors. I had just maneuvered my way over a low barricade of rubble when the shots rang out, and I flung myself on the … [Read more...] about Return to Derry
The Troubles
News from Ireland:
“H Blocks” to Close
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, 430 Republican and Loyalist prisoners jailed in the notorious "H blocks" have been released as the Maze Prison prepares to close. Only a handful remain who have been ruled ineligible for release because the organizations they belong to are not on the verifiable ceasefire list. These include members of the Continuity IRA, the Real … [Read more...] about News from Ireland:
“H Blocks” to Close
News from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
A feud between two Loyalist paramilitary groups has brought British troops back to the streets of Belfast. Fighting between the Ulster Defense Association (U.D.A.) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (U.V.F.) erupted in August after the U.D.A. organized a parade of uniformed and masked men carrying U.D.A. banners down the Shankill Road in military formation. This demonstration was … [Read more...] about News from Ireland: Loyalist Feud Erupts in N. Ireland
Hibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove it. ℘℘℘ June, 2000. A bus packed with American tourists pulls out of Newry and takes the road to South Armagh. On one side it passes a British army observation post, currently being dismantled. On the other, a large poster advertises the first Tommy Makem International Festival of Song, which is … [Read more...] about Hibernia: South Armagh
Hibernia: O’Neill Was
a Key Figure on North
New papers show influence with Reagan.
℘℘℘
Newly released files from the Reagan White House papers show that the Irish-American president was persuaded by a personal appeal by then House Speaker Thomas "Tip" O'Neill to intervene in the Northern Ireland issue.
The Boston Globe, which surveyed the files under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that following … [Read more...] about Hibernia: O’Neill Was
a Key Figure on North