INTRODUCING Dan ÓNéill AKA ODD BODKINS

Dan has granted Soñar permission to publish his ODD BODKINS cartoon strip.

ODD BODKINS ON Soñar. Vol. 2 No. 3







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© Dan ONeill

Hugh Daniel O'Neill

Thirty years ago Hugh Daniel O’Neill was described as, “an innovator, a creator and a professional troublemaker” in a Forward to a collection of Odd Bodkins.

For seven years his Odd Bodkins cartoons ran daily in The San Francisco Chronicle and in 350 other newspapers throughout the world. At its peak, the strip had a readership of fifty million.

When he was hired at age 21 —the youngest cartoonist ever hired by a national syndicate— he was given three simple rules: no religion, no politics and no sex in the strip. He did his best to comply — he kept sex out of Odd Bodkins.
http://www.danoneillcomics.com/
http://origsix.com/index.asp

IRA Leader Brendan Hughes Remembered

With the magnificent Cooley Mountains as a backdrop, family, friends, old comrades from D Company, and prison comrades, of IRA leader Brendan Hughes, gathered at his grave for the second annual commemoration in honour of the republican leader from the lower Falls, Belfast.



© Copyright Joe ÓNéill
Terry Hughes (Center) - Brother of Brendan Hughes


© Copyright Joe ÓNéill
Adrian McLoughlin
Construction-Forestry-Mining & Energy Union
of Australia


© Copyright Joe ÓNéill
Prison Comrades of Brendan Hughes
L-R Thomas Elliott, Anthony McIntyre, Gerard Hodges, & Richard ORawe

Expel Israeli Ambassador - Irish Nobel Laureate

(L - R) MLA Gerry McHugh, Mairéad Corrigan Maguire, MLA Dr Kieran Deeny
© Joe ÓNéill

(L - R) MLA Gerry McHugh, Martin McAllister, (Chair, Armagh Fianna Fáil Forum)
Senator Cecelia Keaveney, (Fianna Fáil) Mariéad Corrigan Maguire,
Padraig Murphy, (Chair, Fermanagh Fianna Fáil Forum)
MLA Dr Kieran Deeny
© Joe ÓNéill

(L - R) Senator Cecelia Keaveney, (Fianna Fáil)
Mairéad Corrigan Maguire
© Joe ÓNéill

Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairéad Maguire Corrigan, added her voice to the growing number of Irish citizens calling for the Irish government to expel the Israeli Ambassador to Ireland, Dr Zion Evrony.

Ms Corrigan was speaking yesterday in the Long Gallery of the Northern Ireland Assembly, at a meeting hosted by independent members of the Assembly, Gerry McHugh, and Dr Kieran Deeny.

Speaking to an audience of Assembly members, staffers, opponents of the Gaza blockade, and local press, Ms Corrigan reminded the audience that despite the fact that she and her fellow peace activists had been released, the humanitarian aid that was seized by Israeli armed forces, remained on board the peace flotilla vessels in the Israeli port of Ashdod. Personal property of the activists, including laptops, camera equipment, and other valuables worth thousands of Euros were also confiscated. She described the seizure of the Irish vessel in international waters an act of piracy by the State of Israel.

Ms Corrigan called for an independent inquiry into the killing of the Turkish humanitarian aid workers by Israeli commandos aboard the Turkish ship, the Mavi Mamara. She said that her feeling was that the inquiry set up by the Israeli government into the killings, would not be acceptable to the Turkish government and people. A former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Trimble, will serve on the Israeli inquiry team.

Ms Corrigan also called for the special trading status accorded to the state of Israel by the EU to be rescinded.

Gaza Blockade Protests At Belfast City Hall

As Irish peace activist and former Nobel Peace Laureate, Mairéad Corrigan Maguire, was taken into Israeli custody Saturday following the boarding of the Irish vessel Rachel Corrie by armed units of the Israeli Defence Forces, another equally famous Irish peace and justice campaigner, Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, was addressing a Gaza blockade protest at Belfast City Hall, that afternoon.

© Joe ÓNéill
The Irish ship, named in honour of the young American peace worker Rachel Corrie, who was killed by a bulldozer in Gaza while protesting the destruction of Palestine homes being demolished by the Israel government, was carrying humanitarian aid to the beleaguered citizens of Gaza.

© Joe ÓNéill
When the news broke of the killings of aid workers by the IDF last Monday, an impromptu meeting in support of Gaza blockage runners was held at Belfast City Hall at which President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, addressed protesters which included many members of Sinn Féin.

© Joe ÓNéill
Saturday's protest was also attended by prominent members of Sinn Féin, including, MEP Bairbre De Brún, and MLA Gerry Kelly. If the irony of the attendance of Sinn Féin politicians and supporters at the event was lost on them then the fiery Ms. McAliskey was quick to remind them of it. Addressing the meeting Ms. McAliskey reminded the protesters that under new legislation supported by Sinn Féin such meetings would be illegal.

© Joe ÓNéill

The ''Draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protest Bill'', published on April 20, by the First Minister, (Peter Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party) and Deputy First Minister, (Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin) would make it illegal for all gatherings involving 50 or more people, which take place in any ''public place'' without giving 37 working days notice to authorities. The legislation would also impose a £5,000 fine and 6 months in prison for violations of the act.

Civil libertarians, community groups, trade unions and others, have expressed outrage at the proposed legislation and have vowed to mount an aggressive campaign to oppose it.

A public rally against the bill will take place on Saturday, June 26, at the Art College Gardens Belfast, and March to Belfast City Hall. The meeting will be addressed by leading trade unionists, campaigners, and community activists.

Useful links:
Facebook Page: No To Public Assemblies Bill.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=104617472916202&ref=ts

Facebook Page: Viva Palestina!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=238347355199&ref=ts

Sadaka – The Ireland Palestine Alliance
http://www.sadaka.ie/