Jim Fitzpatrick signed Limited Print of Elizabeth O’Farrell | Health and Care in a New Ireland | An Act of International Piracy

Jim Fitzpatrick signed Limited Print of Elizabeth O’Farrell Regular readers of this column will know that I wholeheartedly support the efforts of the Moore St. Preservation Trust to preserve the 1916 Moore St. Battlefield site in Dublin that is under threat from the developers wrecking ball. This week the Trust - a not for profit organisation led by Relatives of the Signatories of the 1916 Proclamation – will launch a new limited edition signed print of Elizabeth O’Farrell by the renowned Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick. One hundred prints will be available from Thursday evening at €150 as part of the fundraising efforts of the Trust to raise much needed funds in support of its alternative plan for a cultural and historical quarter in the Moore Street battlefield site. Health and Care in a New IrelandLast month the European Movement in Ireland –Amárach Research – reported that a majority of people in both parts of the island were in favour of a united Ireland within the EU. The figures were 67% in favour in the North and 62% in favour in the South.Last week the Life and Times Survey, which is conducted by Queens University, reported that the gap between those who support the union with Britain and those who favour Irish Unity, has halved in the last year. In 2021 the gap was 23 points. In 2023 that had halved to 12 points. This year it has halved again to 5 points.An Act of International PiracyIn an act of international piracy Israeli forces hijacked the humanitarian aid vessel the Madleen in international waters as it was making its way to the Gaza Strip with much needed humanitarian aid for the beleaguered community. The Madleen is part of the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition and it had a crew of 12 including environmental activist activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan MEP. The Israel action is part of its strategy to control the public narrative around events in the Palestinian occupied territories, particularly Gaza, where millions face starvation.In the Gaza Strip and the west Bank the daily slaughter of innocents by the Israeli regime’s murder squads continues unimpeded. So too does the deliberate targeting of the health service which has been all but obliterated by Israel’s genocidal military campaign. The objective is clearly to remove sll Palestinians from Gaza.