Celebrating St. Patrick and the GFA

This week Uachtarán Shinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald and Leas Uachtarán Michelle O’Neill will be in the USA for the St. Patrick’s Day events. St. Patrick’s Day or week is regular part of the annual calendar for the Irish diaspora everywhere but especially in the USA.

Mary Lou and Michelle and Conor Murphy will engage in an extensive round of diplomatic talks with senior political leaders on Capitol Hill. They will brief them on the current situation and attend events with business leaders to promote investment. They will also meet with representatives of Irish America without whom none of this would be possible.Surrender. 

40 Songs. One Story.

I have just finished reading Bono’s book, Surrender. It is a good read and the U2 singer is a very good writer. He knows how to tell a story. But perhaps we should not be surprised at this. Bono has penned a long string of very good songs.

This is an impressive  book. Made up of forty short stories. Each based on a U2 song. But it works well also as unit, as a narrative. I like autobiographies. If they are written well. And this one is. It is particularly insightful about the origins of U2, Bono’s relationships with the other band members and with Paul McGuinness their former manager. So too about the influence of other lifelong friends. And his youthful religious experiences.

This island will be as one by Gerry Kelly

As part of my reflection on the Good Friday Agreement I have asked comrades who were part of that process to write about their memories. Last week it was Bairbre de Brún. This week it is Gerry Kelly:

I was released from prison in 1989, after serving a total of 16 years in various jails and jurisdictions. I joined Sinn Fein on release and was, soon after, part of the discussions that were going on at that time in pursuit of a peaceful way forward. An intermittent line of communication between Sinn Fein and the British government had existed over many years and had become active again.