Such decisions will be far reaching and difficult. But you never lacked courage in the past. Your courage is now needed for the future.

In the past I have defended the right of the IRA to engage in armed struggle. I did so because there was no alternative for those who would not bend the knee, or turn a blind eye to oppression, or for those who wanted a national republic.

The Irish Republican Army has kept every commitment made by its leadership.

The way forward is by building political support for republican and democratic objectives across Ireland and by winning support for these goals internationally.

Besides, we had a large debt, contracted at home and abroad in our War of Independence; therefore the great power of taxation was conferred upon this Government.

Until democracy in effective enthusiastic action fills the vacuum created by the power of modern inventions, we may expect the fascists to increase in power after the war both in the United States and in the world.

Three years into the war, tens of thousands of American troops remain targets of a growing Iraqi insurgency.

When I was between the ages of five and nine, the soldiers of the Second World War wanted to have Betty Grable, but I wanted to be Betty Grable. She was the epitome of an alluring woman; she had it all as far as I was concerned.