An Phoblacht

An Phoblacht AN PHOBLACHT is published by Sinn Féin. It carries features, views and analysis of political, social and economic affairs in Ireland and around the world.

The original An Phoblacht was founded as the official organ of the Dungannon Clubs in Belfast in 1906 and its first edition was printed on 13 December 1906 under the English-language version of the title The Republic. A year later, the paper merged with a Dublin title called The Peasant, however the title An Phoblacht was again used from 1925 with Patrick Little (PJ Little) as editor and continued

until 1937 with a tumultuous history of internal splits and constant state oppression. Peadar O’Donnell took over as editor in April 1926 following a split in the Republican Movement. Frank Ryan also edited the paper for some time. Other contributors were Maurice Twomey, Seán MacBride, Frank Gallagher, Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Fr Michael O'Flanagan. The title appeared again in 1966 as the paper of a small IRA splinter group based in Cork. Its modern version emerged under Jimmy Steele immediately following the Sinn Féin split in January 1970 and supported the armed resistance of the Irish Republican Army and the political campaigns of Sinn Féin. In 1970, An Phoblacht was at first circulated only in the South with another republican paper also established the Six Counties in 1970, Republican News, under the editorship of veteran republican Jimmy Steel. Located at 2a Lower Kevin Street in Dublin’s south inner city, it moved to the northside of the capital, to Kevin Barry House, 44 Parnell Square, in August 1972 and remains there to this day. In October 1972, it became a fortnightly publication under the editorship of Éamonn Mac Thomáis and later went weekly. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s particularly, An Phoblacht and Republican News were vital information platforms for the republican struggle fighting not just against state oppression by the British Army and RUC in the North but state censorship of TV and radio in the South. An Phoblacht was regularly raided by the Special Branch in both states and its staff arrested and jailed. Delivery drivers and printers were targeted for harassment in bids to disrupt distribution. It had become clear in the 1970s that a single paper for the whole of Ireland was required to provide a clear and coherent line from the leadership and so, on 27 January 1979, the first issue of the merged publications, under the banner of An Phoblacht/Republican News, appeared under the editorship of Danny Morrison. In 2010, faced with a fast-changing media world, An Phoblacht also changed and moved to a monthly publication schedule with a new look, more pages and a more modern website.

Chris O’Donnell writes of his friend and comrade Volunteer Seán McIlvenna who died 40 years ago this month.
10/12/2024

Chris O’Donnell writes of his friend and comrade Volunteer Seán McIlvenna who died 40 years ago this month.

The 40th anniversary commemoration of Volunteer Seán McIlvenna will held on Sunday 15 December in Blackwatertown, County Armagh.

15th OCTOBER marked the 50th anniversary of the burning of Long Kesh camp in 1974 by republican POWs in protest at condi...
17/10/2024

15th OCTOBER marked the 50th anniversary of the burning of Long Kesh camp in 1974 by republican POWs in protest at conditions and ill-treatment. In an article originally published in the November 1994 issue of Captive Voice, a magazine produced by republican POWs, former prisoner JOE DOHERTY, from north Belfast, recalls that historic act of resistance by republicans among the 1,500 prisoners and internees.

The burning of Long Kesh:

15 OCTOBER marks the 50th anniversary of the burning of Long Kesh camp in 1974 by republican POWs in protest at conditions and ill-treatment. In an artic...

This book exposes the British Empire’s duplicity and betrayal of the Palestinian people, at the very time they were simi...
07/10/2024

This book exposes the British Empire’s duplicity and betrayal of the Palestinian people, at the very time they were similarly treating the Irish people.

Read more here:

Book Review by Mícheál Mac Donncha: ‘Policy of Deceit – Britain and Palestine 1914-1939’ by Peter Shambrook

30 years ago this week - the IRA cessation of 31 August 1994 that helped to change the course of Irish history.
29/08/2024

30 years ago this week - the IRA cessation of 31 August 1994 that helped to change the course of Irish history.

From midnight on Wednesday 31 August 1994 the Irish Republican Army commenced what it described as “a complete cessation of all military operations”. The...

“The best chapters are those that give a succinct but gripping account of the inquest hearings. Successive legal figures...
24/08/2024

“The best chapters are those that give a succinct but gripping account of the inquest hearings. Successive legal figures and Government ministers failed the families. It was a jury of citizens that vindicated them, something that should underline for everyone the importance of juries in the justice system.

‘The Last Disco - the Story of the Stardust Tragedy’ by Seán Murray, Christine Behan and Nicky Ryan. Published by Eriu.

05/08/2024

Our collective priority must be on promoting an inclusive, welcoming, multicultural society, with anti-sectarianism and anti-racism at its core. That is the message which must be heard and fearlessly delivered, not only in Antrim Town and Belfast, but throughout Ireland, north and south.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the heroic anti-apartheid strike by a group of young workers in Dunnes Stores, H...
18/07/2024

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the heroic anti-apartheid strike by a group of young workers in Dunnes Stores, Henry Street, Dublin. We re-publish here special features first published on the 20th anniversary.

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the heroic anti-apartheid strike by a group of young workers in Dunnes Stores, Henry Street, Dublin. We re-publis...

Hundreds of republicans from all over Ireland, including many former political prisoners, gathered on Thursday 13 June t...
14/06/2024

Hundreds of republicans from all over Ireland, including many former political prisoners, gathered on Thursday 13 June to lay Ella O’Dwyer to rest in her native County Tipperary. Among the mourners were Ella’s extended family and Sinn Féin representatives including Mary Lou McDonald and Gerry Adams. After requiem mass in the chapel of Curraguneen, Ella’s Tricolour-draped coffin was carried to the beautiful hillside graveyard with views across the rolling countryside. There her close friend and comrade Martina Anderson delivered a moving and powerful graveside oration.

Martina Anderson gave the funeral oration for Volunteer Ella O’Dwyer who died last week. Anderson described her friend and comrade as ‘a soldier, a revol...

In 2007, for a Christmas edition, An Phoblacht sat down with the late Ella O’Dwyer and Martina Anderson to capture their...
11/06/2024

In 2007, for a Christmas edition, An Phoblacht sat down with the late Ella O’Dwyer and Martina Anderson to capture their prison Christmas experiences. It is a great insight into the comradeship among prisoners at the time, and crucially into the wit and humour of Ella, who will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

In 2007, for a Christmas edition An Phoblacht sat down with Ella O’Dwyer and Martina Anderson to capture their prison Christmas experiences. It is a grea...

Martina Anderson writes movingly and with great insight on her late friend and comrade Ella O’Dwyer.
07/06/2024

Martina Anderson writes movingly and with great insight on her late friend and comrade Ella O’Dwyer.

Writer, journalist, political activist, IRA volunteer and former prisoner Ella O’Dwyer who died suddenly this week is remembered in a personal tribute by...

Michael Gaughan died 50 years ago as a result of brutal force feeding by British prison authorities while he was on hung...
31/05/2024

Michael Gaughan died 50 years ago as a result of brutal force feeding by British prison authorities while he was on hunger strike in Parkhurst Prison, England. Fuair sé bás ar son Saoirse mhuintir na hÉireann.

IN JUNE 1974, Ireland was in turmoil as the Troubles were in their fifth year. In the Six Counties, internment without trial was in force and the British...

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