Andrée Murphy hails from Dublin but has lived in Belfast since 1994.
She is the Deputy Director of Relatives for Justice, a national victim support NGO which provides advocacy and therapeutic support for the bereaved and injured of the conflict. Holding a Masters Degree in international human rights law, Andrée's particular expertise and research on women affected by conflict trauma has seen her provide evidence to the United Nations in Geneva and to Congressional hearings in the US.
Andrée is a columnist for Belfast Media Group and is a regular contributor to broadcast media, providing political analysis and commentary.
WHAT is the BBC’s exit strategy in the scenario for a united Ireland? That was always a fair question.
WHAT is 'good character'? In my hall I have the 'graduation' photo of my daughter as she left Naíscoil na bhFál, a part of the now proud tradition of Gaeilgeoirí in West Belfast. The Cumann Iar Scoile located in the Naíscoil was a fundamental part of her childhood, with acting, sports and especially art promoted alongside care, love and respect. It was a foundation for life.
BELLAGHY'S St Mary’s church holds the graves of a Nobel Laureate for literature, two young men who died on hunger strike and the GAA club chairperson murdered when locking the gates after training on a beautiful May evening, who has become the talisman for post-Good Friday Agreement truth and justice.
THE past ten years have given us two overriding messages on this island: 1. Britain will always act selfishly and in its own island’s strategic interest with Ireland, North and South, an afterthought, if a thought at all. 2. Even when partitionists look South and ignore this part of their country, the North is part of Ireland’s collective future.
LEGACY has now become a constitutional crisis, and the writing has been on the wall for some time. It has already destroyed confidence in local policing. It has threatened the functioning of the courts. It is now threatening the fabric of peace agreements since the Good Friday Agreement itself.
THE extent of collusion as a policy of the British state is a matter of extensive and repeated public attention and evidenced, proven fact.
In a changing Ireland, the passing of Pope Francis is giving pause to many to reflect on the island’s relationship with the Catholic Church. With his death occurring on Easter Monday there was perhaps more concentrated attention to questions of his ministry, his version of the church and his impact.
ON our island as we debate our shared future it sometimes feels like we are awfully judgemental with each other, before we begin to listen to what we all have to say.
THE joint statement from human rights officials at the United Nations on the dire situation in Gaza may well form part of the epitaph of international human rights.
IN 2017 then Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced in Philadelphia that the Irish government would work towards a referendum to extend Presidential voting rights to Irish passport holders across the globe. It was a bold move that gained widespread support from many who saw the value of giving the citizens of the North and the international Irish diaspora a meaningful stake in the future of Ireland.
ENDING violence against women and girls is a strategic priority on both sides of the border. Against the backdrop of increasing reporting of domestic and gender-based violence, this strategic approach is welcome. And the stakes couldn’t be higher.
THE joint decision of Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill not to attend the White House St Patrick’s Day celebrations was the correct one. As we face into the international storm that is coming, with US abdication of domestic and international law, this decision will stand the test of time.
"ABEL Alarms." If you grew up in Dublin in the 1970s and 80s you know the glamour that phrase conjures on a cold St Patrick’s Day.
IT'S impossible to believe that it is March. For some this is the month of everlasting nightmare with the end of the financial year. Accountants and civil servants face into the annual Armageddon of making figures and balance sheets work while the rest of humanity prepare for Easter, Passover, Ramadan and… St Patrick’s Day. Indeed, not enough thoughts and prayers are with those who keep the home fires of the tax year burning at this stressful time of the year. Their quiet, dedicated number crunching deserves far more thanks than we ever proffer our nerdy dependables.
IT was a freezing cold day, with that February rain and sleet. My first son was six weeks old, lying in his moses basket beside the blazing fire and the eldest daughter, turned four, was just home from nursery. The door knocked and in he came. “Buíochas le Dia!” He threw off his soaking coat and hat on to the sofa beside the four-year-old, and moved his head with his beautiful white curly hair toward the fireplace. “Would you have any tea in the pot? Anything at all."