THE Columba Club in Coatbridge gave a warm welcome to Jim McVeigh for the launch of his recent publication Our Martin.

THIS month’s feature came about almost by accident. I was watching one of my all-time favourite bands on YouTube—punk rock icons The Clash—when I noticed something I’d seen many times before but suddenly looked at in a completely different light. There was Joe Strummer battering barre E on his well battle worn Fender Telecaster guitar and spitting out the words to Tommy Gun with all his anger and might… wearing an H-Block T-shirt in the video for The Clash’s 1978 single.

STUDENTS of modern Irish history are welcoming a new e-book series examining the history of Irish Republicanism, from the Border Campaign of the 1950s right up to the Belfast Agreement in 1998, using the personal accounts of those who were involved.