Listen | My Big Toe

We must listen to each otherEfforts by the British government and the unionist parties to stymie the conversation on future constitutional change has actually brought a greater focus on the growing momentum around the upcoming unity referendum.  The criticism of An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar by the British Secretary of State and a range of unionist voices for daring to suggest that a United Ireland will happen in his lifetime is the latest example of unionist and Tory efforts to delegitimize the goal of Irish Unity.My Big ToeJim Donnelly is a Springhallion. His mother, May Donnelly, was one of the indomitable warrior women from the Upper Springfield who faced down hordes of British soldiers and RUC officers for decades while also combatting poverty and discrimination and rearing a good family. These mighty women are to be found in communities everywhere. The local ones are too many to name but I remember them all and I am grateful for their friendship and protection and comradeship. And I am always uplifted by the tenacity and good humour of these working class heroines, mostly mothers of large families, including Mrs Donnelly.Tom Dunn – the Peasant PatriotWell done to the people of Rostrevor who last week invited former President Mary McAleese to unveil a bronze statue to Tom Dunn – the Peasant Patriot - a local hedge school master and United Irish leader who taught ‘The Rights of Man’ by Tom Paine and the writings of Wolfe Tone to local patriots.