cúisle mo chroí

A message from the Bloody Sunday Families and wounded:
To our supporters everywhere
On 30th January 1972, a dark cloud descended upon this beautiful city. It stayed until last Tuesday, 15th June 2010 – over 38 years of a journey. It has now been lifted.
It has been a long journey from the beginning of the Bloody Sunday [...]

I came across a reference to the following prose poem in a book I read about lessons from the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is called “Unchopping a Tree” and was written by M.S. Merwin; the book described it as a metaphor for the healing of a nation. I like to think [...]

I had the pleasure of attending a discussion with graphic journalist Joe Sacco last night at the Brooklyn Public Library. It was both my first visit to the library and the first time I’ve heard Sacco talk about his work.
Footnotes in Gaza chronicles Sacco’s quest to uncover the truth about what happened [...]

From Relatives for Justice:
Speaking in response to the DUP’s motion concerning the re-definition of a victim of the conflict Relatives for Justice Chairperson Clara Reilly issued the following statement;
‘Jeffrey Donaldson, and the DUP, are pandering to a very small constituency of people bereaved that are not representative of the broader community of those affected by [...]

January 28th is the date set for the Eames/Bradley Consultative Group on the Past to release their highly anticipated recommendations on how best the north of Ireland might deal with the legacy of the conflict.  In today’s Belfast Telegraph, Brian Rowan shares the news that the CGP will be announcing a “Legacy Commission”–titled as such [...]

The following is a video taken by Relatives for Justice at yesterday’s British Army/Royal Irish Regiment March of Shame and the sectarian abuse and attack by unionists/loyalists on victims of British state violence during their peaceful counterdemonstration.  Towards the end of the video are short comments from Mark Thompson, Bairbre de Brún and Gerry Adams.  [...]

Just read an article in Max’s New Scientist (September 20-26, 2008) that he brought my attention to due to its mention of the Patten Commission and policing in the north of Ireland.  The article is called “Shoot but not to kill” and is by psychology and human behaviour journalist Michael Bond.
Bond’s article is a brief [...]

Earlier this week, I sent a letter to Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis to express my dismay upon hearing that his office sought advice from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) regarding crowd control.  This August 28 article in the Boston Globe states that the PSNI, well-versed in the art of crowd control from [...]

The following statement was just released by Relatives for Justice:
British paratrooper Lee Clegg was convicted of the 1990 murder of West Belfast teenager Karen Reilly, an incident that also claimed the life of Martin Peake and the wounding of a teenage girl -Markievitz Gorman - when a joint British army RUC patrol fired upon a [...]

The Boston Public Library at Copley Square is host to Relatives for Justice’s Remembering Quilt during the month of July.  I’ve seen sections of the quilt at their office in West Belfast, but have not yet had the opportunity to see the whole thing. I’m sure it is incredibly powerful.
For the quilt, relatives of victims [...]