The Starry Plough (newspaper)

The Starry Plough (Irish: An Camchéachta) is the official magazine (formerly newspaper) of the Irish Republican Socialist Party. It states on its website: "The Starry Plough is the only paper that stands firmly against British rule and for the destruction of capitalism in Ireland."[1] The paper also focuses on socialist solidarity issues around the world.

History

The name of the paper is taken from the flag of the same name. The decision to use the name Starry Plough was inspired by a newspaper produced by Official Sinn Féin in Derry City in the early 1970s.[2] Produced by the local branch of Official Sinn Fein in Derry, it was edited by Jackie Ward (who went on to edit The United Irishman[3] and Joe Sweeney (who sided with the IRSP following the split with the Officials). The suggestion for the IRSP newspaper was made by Derry members to the IRSP Ard Comhairle in early 1975. The Irish translation An Camchéachta was provided by Mairin Bean Ui Chionnaith, an Irish-language scholar and republican.

The first edition of the new (IRSP) Starry Plough was published in April 1975 under the editorship of Mick Ahern. It included details of the first IRSP public meeting (Dublin, 12 February), an editorial on the IRSP, an interview with Seamus Costello, Easter Rising commemoraton notices and a statement from the National Executive of the IRSP.[4]

Subsequent editors included Osgur Breatnach, James Daly, Mary Reid, Seamus Ruddy and (again) Mick Ahern. Important contributors have included Bernadette McAliskey, Tom Hayes, Ite Ni Chionnaith, Eamonn McCann, Niall Lenoach, Redmond O'Hanlon, Gery Lawless, Siobhan Molloy, and London SWP cartoonist Phil Evans.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Starry Plough - An Camchéachta
  2. ↑ "The Starry Plough (Derry)". Irish Left Archive. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party, Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, ISBN 1-84488-120-2
  4. ↑ "The Starry Plough". Irish Republican Socialist Party. April 1975. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Freedom Struggle, Vol. 1, No. 1". Irish Left Archive. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.