Irish Academic Press – förlag

From its earliest days, association football was seen not just as a contest between individuals and teams, but also between nations and peoples. The Irish national team was among the first in the world to participate in international competition in the early 1880s, but not everyone accepted it as a truly national entity. Sport in Ireland was disputed ground in a manner that was not the case elsewhere – even the term ‘football’ itself was a contested one. But soccer followers generally found no contradiction between their sporting and national loyalties, and the game found an important niche in Irish life, supported by many leading nationalists, from James Connolly to John Hume.

This book provides a unique window into the history of Ireland and Britain, with keen insights into the making of national, regional, sectarian, class and gender identities that crystallised around Irish soccer. Taking the story from the 1870s up to the present, it examines the domestic as well the international game in Ireland, North and South, and sets both in a richly detailed historical and cultural context. It also examines the experience of Irish communities in England and Scotland, and the ways in which the game affected their relationship with their host societies.

Carefully weaving together political, social, cultural and sporting history, No Foreign Game tells a story not just of division and conflict, but also one of solidarity and celebration, and in doing so it breaks new ground in the history of Irish sport.

Almost a century after his untimely death in 1922, this lively and insightful new assessment explores the man Michael Collins described as ‘father of us all’ and reclaims Arthur Griffith as the founder of both Sinn Féin and the Irish Free State.

Since his death when President of Dáil Éireann, Griffith’s role has often been misrepresented. Too radical for some, he was not militant enough for others. His legacy belongs to no single political party today. Colum Kenny argues that efforts to ‘other’ Griffith as ‘un-Irish’ raise uncomfortable questions about Irish identity.

A dedicated activist and intellectual, as well as a skilled editor and balladeer, Griffith knew what it meant to be poor. He encouraged women to get involved in the struggle for Irish independence, and, unusually for his time, distinguished between Oscar Wilde’s private life and his work. Griffith’s complex relationships with Maud Gonne, W.B. Yeats and James Joyce are revealed here in significant new ways.

The Enigma of Arthur Griffith brings the ‘father of us all’ into focus for a new generation.

When Maureen Sullivan was just twelve years old, she confided in her teacher that she was being physically and sexually abused by her stepfather. Never, in her darkest imaginings, could she have dreamt that she would be the one who would face harrowing punishment.

Within twenty-four hours, Maureen was taken from her home and her beloved grandmother, and sent to the Magdalene Laundry in New Ross, Co. Wexford, run by the Order of the Good Shepherd nuns. She was told that she would receive an education there, but instead she was immediately stripped of her meagre possessions and thrown into forced labour, washing clothes and scrubbing floors in inhumane and unrelenting conditions. Not allowed to speak, barely fed, and often going without water, the child was viciously beaten by the nuns for years, and hidden away in an underground tunnel when government inspectors came. No one must see how cruelly the nuns were treating her.

In the heart-breaking Girl in the Tunnel, Maureen bravely recounts her agonising journey from a monstrously violent home to the cold and brutal Magdalene laundry, and her desperate, gruelling fight for freedom and for justice.

One Bold Deed of Open Treason describes the astonishing journey by Roger Casement to Germany in 1914, via New York and Norway. Arriving into Berlin under a false identity, Casement entered a space of conspiracy and subterfuge. Through his vivid and gripping diary entries, a picture emerges of a man caught in the crossfire of international events and spiralling towards a tragic denouement.

In recording his daily thoughts, emotions and movements, Casement chronicles his despair at the conflict he witnessed, his hopeless mission to raise an Irish brigade and his attempts to promote the cause of Ireland in an escalating world crisis. With an expert editorial hand, Angus Mitchell provides clear context to Casement’s diaries, revealing his gruelling visit to the Western Front, the shocking interplay between the Easter Rising and the international theatre of the First World War, and the grand, sacrificial conclusion of his life.

Dorothy Stopford Price was arguably the most instrumental individual in eradicating the TB epidemic within Ireland. She introduced BCG to its shores which, to this day, prevent children from catching tuberculosis. This illuminating biography uncovers the importance of her medical work and of occasionally controversial measures that placed her in opposition to one of the strongest voices in Ireland at the time the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid. Prior to her trials and successes with the TB epidemic, her medical career and social standing determined a fascinating life story: born within the Protestant Ascendancy to an Anglo-Irish family and a guest of the under-secretary to the British Administration during the Easter Rising, she soon crossed a stark divide, developing an ardent republican outlook that led to her appointment as medical officer to a West Cork Flying Column of the IRA during the War of Independence. Her determination never ceased and in 1921 she channelled her energies towards eradicating TB in Ireland; at a time when the Irish medical profession looked to the United Kingdom for leadership, she taught herself German to access scientific literature at the fore of medical developments. Anne MacLellan s biography accounts for this provocative and indomitable life of an Irish woman frequently caught at the epicentre of Irish affairs.

When we read a history we believe ourselves to be reading cold, hard, facts of the events that took place and how they occurred. But there is no real, truthful way to know the approach our historian has taken with the historical sources. This book deals with the uncertainty in writing history in the context of Irish history in particular. Regan argues in this book that the notion of elision, simply ignoring unhelpful evidence, threatens Irish history today. Regan believes that some historians have ignored unhelpful facts that perhaps do not further their point or perhaps contradict them altogether. Each chapter focuses on a period of Irish history that Regan believes to be inconsistent or incomplete in its facts. He asks the controversial questions about the period of history such as why do some historians deny or marginalise the British threat of war and re-conquest in 1922?, why do so many Irish historians describe Michael Collins as a constitutionalist or a democrat when the evidence argues otherwise? Was the Irish Civil War really fought between democrats defending the state, against dictators attempting its overthrow? Did the new state briefly experience a military-dictatorship under Collins in 1922? Thinking historically is not about learning history or accepting the past as it is presented to us it is, as Regan argues in his thought-provoking work, about developing the critical skills to interpret history for ourselves.

Revolutionary; statesman; polymath: Frank Aiken cuts a colossal figure in twentieth century Irish history. However, he remains a controversial figure regarded as a war criminal by some and a principled proponent of National liberation by others.

In this engaging biographical collection, contributors scrutinise Aiken s thoughts and actions at several critical junctures in modern Irish and world history, taking readers through the War of Independence, Civil War, the birth of the new state, the Second World War, the Cold War and the modern Northern Ireland Troubles. Divided into two sections Nationalist and Internationalist and based on an unrivalled breadth of testimony from academics, family members, rivals and colleagues, this study ultimately details the footprints Aiken left on the national and international political stage.

Aiken owed his early eminence to military rather than political leadership; he was commandant of the 4th Northern Division of the IRA during the War of Independence and was driven to undertake the most daring and spectacular feats of the Irish Civil War. He went on to become the Chief of Staff of the Anti-Treaty IRA but was expelled for backing de Valera s plan for a Republican government the beginnings of Fianna Fáil. Thereafter his instrumental role was to be political: a Minister for Defence, Finance, and External Affairs over the course of the following decades; he was to oversee much success and controversy in the burgeoning state. This biography represents the first deserving assessment of a monumental personality in 20th century Irish History.

Ireland’s Memorial Records, 1914-1918 contain the names of 49,435 enlisted men who were killed in the First World War. Commissioned in 1919 by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and published in 100 eight-volume sets, the Records are notable for stunning and elaborate page decorations by celebrated Irish illustrator Harry Clarke.

Drawing from published and unpublished sources, Marguerite Helmers’ ground-breaking study provides a fascinating insight into the work of Harry Clarke as an extraordinary war artist and examines the process that led to the Records being commissioned through to the eventual placement of the Records within the Irish National War Memorial at Islandbridge, Dublin. With Harry Clarke’s illustrations taking center stage in the story, the Records and their genesis are of vital importance to our understanding of how art and commemoration can come together in a powerful visual creation.

The renowned and highly influential architect, furniture-maker, interior designer and photographer Eileen Gray was born in Ireland and remained throughout her life an Irishwoman at heart. An elusive figure, her interior world has never before been observed as closely as in this ground-breaking study of her work, philosophy and inner circle of fellow artists.

Jennifer Goff expertly blends art history and biography to create a stunning ensemble, offering a clear beacon of light into truly understanding Gray - the woman and the professional. Gray was a self-taught polymath and her work was multi-functional, user-friendly, ready for mass production yet succinctly unique, and her designs show great technical virtuosity. Her expertise in lacquer work and carpet design, often overlooked, is given due attention in this book, as is her fascinating relationship with the architect Le Corbusier and many other compelling and complex relationships. The book also offers rare insights into Gray s early years as an artist.

The primary source material for this book is drawn from the Eileen Gray collection at the National Museum of Ireland and its wealth of documentation, correspondence, personal archives, photographs and oral history.

Jeremiah O Donovan Rossa died on 29th June 1915 at Staten Island, New York. On hearing of his death, Tom Clarke sent an urgent telegram from Dublin to John Devoy in New York, with the simple message: Send his body home at once . His funeral in Glasnevin Cemetery on 1st August that year was one of the largest political funerals in Irish history, and is now accepted as the precursor to the Easter Rising. Patrick Pearse famously declared at Rossa s graveside, The fools, the fools, the fools! They have left us our Fenian dead! And while Ireland holds these graves, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace! In this first and long-awaited biography of a hugely significant figure in Irish history, Shane Kenna examines the life of Jeremiah O Donovan Rossa. From modest origins in West Cork, he became passionately interested in national politics from an early age, and was later arrested for his republican activities. He then spent time in the toughest of British prisons, and was actually elected to the British House of Commons while still in prison. Exiled to the United States, he continued his involvement in republican organisations such as Clann Na Gael and set up the United Irishman newspaper. From the United States he organised, funded, and masterminded the Fenian dynamite campaign which was the first ever Irish bombing operation on British shores. O Donovan Rossa was a complex character who was both a family and a political man. This book tells his story from the earliest years to his death and funeral - a figure whose life work was dedicated to the establishment of an Irish Republic.

In Ireland''s Call BBC journalist Stephen Walker charts the fascinating stories of 40 Irishmen who swapped the sports field for the battlefield - household names who gave up their blossoming careers to volunteer for the Great War.

Using rare archive letters, memoirs and newspaper reports, this compelling book features the stories of sportsmen whose lives were tragically cut short in the mud of the Somme, the despair of Ypres and the heat of Gallipoli. It chronicles the remarkable achievements of Irish international footballers and rugby players, athletes, GAA stars, cricketers, hockey players and a record-breaking Irish champion golfer. A century on, their sacrifices and those of a generation of Irish sporting heroes, are finally and faithfully recorded in this unique and evocative account.

March 2011: Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have just formed a coalition government between Fine Gael and Labour. Ireland’s banks are broken, unemployment is heading for half a million, the public finances are in deficit, international lenders rate Ireland as ‘junk’ and the country is in an IMF bailout.

As Tánaiste in the new Coalition, Eamon Gilmore was at the heart of every major economic decision taken during his term, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was primarily responsible for restoring Ireland’s international reputation and trade connections.

In his extraordinary political memoir of these dramatic and turbulent times, Eamon Gilmore writes frankly about the political price the Labour Party has paid for some of their choices, reflects on the circumstances that led to his own resignation and assesses the prospects for Ireland’s continued recovery, including the risks which could yet blow Ireland’s economy off course.

At 7.20pm on 23rd May 2015, in the courtyard of Dublin Castle, Ireland truly became a nation of equals. Ireland Says Yes is the fast-paced narrative account of all the drama, excitement and highs and lows of the last 100 days of the extraordinary campaign for a Yes vote in the 2015 Marriage Equality Referendum.

Those who led the Yes Equality campaign tell the inside story of how the referendum was won, and how Ireland’s two principal gay and lesbian rights organisations put together the most effective and successful civic society campaign ever launched in Irish politics.

As well as a drama-packed chronological account of how the Yes campaign was executed, the book explores how social media mobilised a new generation of voters to the polls and how political parties, student unions and youth groups co-ordinated their efforts to deliver one of the most historic referendum results in Irish political history.

At 7.20pm on 23rd May 2015, in the courtyard of Dublin Castle, Ireland truly became a nation of equals. Ireland Says Yes is the fast-paced narrative account of all the drama, excitement and highs and lows of the last 100 days of the extraordinary campaign for a Yes vote in the 2015 Marriage Equality Referendum.

Those who led the Yes Equality campaign tell the inside story of how the referendum was won, and how Ireland’s two principal gay and lesbian rights organisations put together the most effective and successful civic society campaign ever launched in Irish politics.

As well as a drama-packed chronological account of how the Yes campaign was executed, the book explores how social media mobilised a new generation of voters to the polls and how political parties, student unions and youth groups co-ordinated their efforts to deliver one of the most historic referendum results in Irish political history.

This is the first comprehensive analysis of how Sinn Féin has transformed itself from ‘political wing’ of the Republican movement to a mainstream force in Irish politics. In this book by one of Ireland’s leading political journalists, Deaglán de Bréadún provides an incisive account of how the party has arrived at a position, in the space of one generation, where it is in power north of the border and knocking on the door of government in the south.

Despite recent controversies and scandals arising from alleged sexual abuse by republican activists, and the violent legacies of the Troubles, the party has maintained its popularity. The outsiders have now become insiders in the political game. How did this dramatic transformation come about?

Based on detailed research as well as interviews with a wide range of figures inside Sinn Féin and across the Irish political spectrum, Deaglán de Bréadún unveils a fascinating and indispensable analysis of a party that has come in from the cold. The book also draws on the author’s experiences covering the Northern Ireland peace process as well as politics in the Republic for many years, to reveal the most fascinating and unmissable political story of 2015.

March 2011: Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore have just formed a coalition government between Fine Gael and Labour. Ireland’s banks are broken, unemployment is heading for half a million, the public finances are in deficit, international lenders rate Ireland as ‘junk’ and the country is in an IMF bailout.

As Tánaiste in the new Coalition, Eamon Gilmore was at the heart of every major economic decision taken during his term, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was primarily responsible for restoring Ireland’s international reputation and trade connections.

In his extraordinary political memoir of these dramatic and turbulent times, Eamon Gilmore writes frankly about the political price the Labour Party has paid for some of their choices, reflects on the circumstances that led to his own resignation and assesses the prospects for Ireland’s continued recovery, including the risks which could yet blow Ireland’s economy off course.

One Bold Deed of Open Treason describes the astonishing journey by Roger Casement to Germany in 1914, via New York and Norway. Arriving into Berlin under a false identity, Casement entered a space of conspiracy and subterfuge. Through his vivid and gripping diary entries, a picture emerges of a man caught in the crossfire of international events and spiralling towards a tragic denouement.

In recording his daily thoughts, emotions and movements, Casement chronicles his despair at the conflict he witnessed, his hopeless mission to raise an Irish brigade and his attempts to promote the cause of Ireland in an escalating world crisis. With an expert editorial hand, Angus Mitchell provides clear context to Casement’s diaries, revealing his gruelling visit to the Western Front, the shocking interplay between the Easter Rising and the international theatre of the First World War, and the grand, sacrificial conclusion of his life.

This is the first complete history of the Curragh Camp, from its foundation in 1855 to the present day, under both British and Irish occupation. Dan Harvey, a military historian and an experienced senior officer, presents a compelling and fascinating narrative of the camp’s many evocative eras and episodes. This unique establishment has been key in shaping Irish history while being shaped in turn by the great national and international conflicts that it was founded to respond to: the Crimean War, the Boer War, the Great War, the Easter Rising and War of Independence are all accounted for under the banner of the British Army. The first tricolour hoisted overhead of the camp signalled no change to its level of service as the Curragh’s forces were quickly embroiled in the Irish Civil War, later oversaw the years of the modern Troubles, and forged an international role with the Irish Defence Forces.

These grand narratives are interlaced with smaller yet significant tales that personalise the institution and lend vitality to the many facets that keep service, work, and a livelihood in check on world-renowned plains once covered by ‘St. Brigid’s cloak’. Prince Edward’s royal visit and training, and the ‘Wrens’ less welcome visits to the soldiers after dark – everyday and extraordinary matters are described to give the most authoritative history, compelling and meticulously written, of a camp inextricable to Ireland for over one hundred and fifty years

Countess Constance Markievicz - one of the most remarkable women in Irish history - was a revolutionary, a socialist and a feminist, as well as an artist and writer. A natural leader, "Madame," as she was known to thousands of Dubliners, took an active part in the 1916 Rising and was one of the few leaders to escape execution. Instead, she spent an arduous year in an English prison, surrounded by murderers, prostitutes and thieves. Later, during another stretch in prison, she would make history as the first woman elected to the British Houses of Parliament, and momentous event that is due to receive widespread commemoration at the time of its centenary in December 2018. Lindie Naughton''s compelling biography sheds light on all facets of Markievicz''s life - her privileged upbringing in County Sligo, her adventures as an art student in London and Paris, her marriage to an improbable Polish count, her political education, her several prison terms, and her emergence as one of the pivotal figures in early 20th century Britain and Ireland. Constance Markievicz, a woman with a huge heart, battled all her adult life to establish an Irish republic based on co-operation and equality for all. Her message is as relevant today as it was a century ago.

Seán Hartnett grew up in Cork in the 1970s where he observed the worst of the northern Troubles with fascination. Despite his family s strong republican ties and his own attempt to join the IRA, Hartnett shocked family and friends when he changed allegiance and joined the British Armed Forces.

In 2001 Hartnett returns to his native Ireland, but this time as a member of the British Army s most secretive covert counter-terrorist unit in Northern Ireland, Joint Communications Unit Northern Ireland aka JCU-NI, the FRU, 14 Intelligence Company, or simply The Det . For the next three years Hartnett is directly involved in some of the highest profile events of that period, from the arrest of John Hannan for the bombing of the BBC in London, to the tragic murder of David Caldwell; the prevention of the murder of Johnny ''Mad Dog'' Adair and some of the biggest blunders by British Intelligence in the history of the Troubles, including the true story behind the murders of Corporals Howes and Wood at an IRA funeral in 1988.

Charlie One , the call sign for the most wanted targets of British Intelligence operations in NI, documents the journey of an Irish Republican serving in Britain s most secretive counter-terrorism unit. Filled with roller coaster emotions and explosive revelations of British Intelligence covert capabilities and operations, Charlie One provides a truly unique, detailed and unbiased account of the secret war fought on the streets of Northern Ireland.

The start of the Irish Civil War was signalled by the artillery bombardment of the Four Courts in Dublin on 28 June 1922. A week later, the Four Courts was gutted and O’Connell Street a smouldering ruin, but the anti-Treaty IRA was driven from the city. Most accounts of the fighting in Dublin end there.

The Civil War in Dublin reveals the complete, shocking story of Ireland’s capital during the ten-month guerrilla war that followed – a ruthless and bitter cycle of execution, outrage and revenge. The strategy of the anti-Treaty forces, often ignored or dismissed in previous histories, is brought to the fore.

Out of the Ashes is the definitive history of the Provisional Irish Republican movement, from its formation at the outset of the modern Troubles up to and after its official disarmament in 2005. Robert White, a prolific observer of IRA and Sinn Féin activities, has amassed an incomparable body of interview material from leading members over a thirty-year period. In this defining study, the interviewees provide extraordinary insights into the complex motivations that provoked their support for armed struggle, their eventual reform, and the mind-set of today’s ‘dissidents’ who refuse to lay down their arms.

Those interviewed stem from every stage of the Provisionals’ history, from founding figures such as Seán Mac Stiofáin, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and Joe Cahill to the new generation that replaced them: Martin McGuinness, Danny Morrison, and Brendan Hughes among others. Out of the Ashes is a pioneering history that breaks new ground in defining how the Provisionals operated, caused worldwide condemnation, and were transformed by constitutional politics.

The Proclamation of the Irish Republic is the most significant document in Irish history. The credo contained therein, to cherish ‘all of the children of the nation equally’, has come to define its seven signatories, marking a common bond in their life’s work. Their memory intensely moulded by their political activities, history can forget the diverse background from which these seven men came—family histories that touched upon twenty counties and economic environments ranging from extreme poverty to privilege.

The Family Histories of the Seven Signatories is an indepensible genealogical history that uncovers the disparate lives that came together through the will for Irish independence. Thomas Clarke and James Connolly were born in England and Scotland respectively, their families having emigrated in the years after the Great Famine, an experience shared by many generations of Irish people before and since. Thomas McDonagh and Patrick Pearse had immediate English forebears. The signatories’ pasts from before they were born were an essential component in determining their ideas – each firmly their own – of an Irish republic. Their extended histories, fully disclosed within the pages of this book, are a riveting realisation of the complexities that defined nineteenth century Ireland and the lives of the seven signatories whose pasts reveal the many-faceted draw towards rebellion.

Charles Haughey maintained one of the most controversial and brilliant careers in the history of Irish politics, but for every stage in his mounting success there was one issue that complicated, and almost devastated, his ambitions to lead Irish politics: Northern Ireland. In ‘A Failed Political Entity’ Stephen Kelly uncovers the complex motives that underlie Haughey’s fervent attitude towards the political and sectarian violence that was raging across the border.

Early in Haughey’s governmental career he took a hard line against the IRA, leading many to think he was antipathetic towards the situation in Northern Ireland. Then, in one of the most defining scandals in the history of modern Ireland – The Arms Crisis of 1970 – he was accused of attempting to supply northern nationalists with guns and ammunitions. Whilst his role in this murky affair almost ended his political career, the question of Northern Ireland was ever-binding and would deftly serve to bring Haughey back to power as taoiseach in 1979.

Through recent access to an astonishing array of classified documents and extensive interviews, Stephen Kelly confronts every controversy, examining the genesis of Haughey’s attitude to Northern Ireland; allegations that Haughey played a key part in the formation of the Provisional IRA; the Haughey–Thatcher relationship; and Haughey’s leading hand in the early stages of the fledgling Northern Ireland peace process.

UVF: Behind the Mask is the gripping new history of the Ulster Volunteer Force from its post-1965 incarnation to the present day. Aaron Edwards blends rigorous research with unprecedented access to leading members of the UVF to unearth the startling inner-workings of one of the world’s oldest and most ruthless paramilitary groups.

Through interviews with high-profile UVF leaders, such as Billy Mitchell, David Ervine, Billy Wright, Billy Hutchinson and Gary Haggarty, as well as their loyalist rivals including Johnny Adair, Edwards reveals the grisly details behind their sadistic torture and murder techniques and their litany of high-profile atrocities: McGurk’s Bar, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Miami Showband massacre and the Shankill Butchers’ serial-killing spree, amongst others. Edwards’ life and career has led him to the centre of the UVF’s long, dark underbelly; in this defining work he offers a comprehensive and authoritative study of an armed group that continues to play a pivotal role in Northern Irish society.

Sisters of the Revolutionaries focuses on the lives of Margaret and Mary Brigid Pearse, whose brothers, Patrick and Willie, were executed for their role in the Easter Rising and have been commemorated as martyrs ever since. Comparatively little is known about the two sisters, despite their considerable talents and their efforts to uphold the image of their brothers’ legacies.

Margaret was an Irish language activist, politician and educator, working with Patrick in founding St Enda’s School in Dublin and taking it into her own hands following his execution. Mary Brigid was a musician and author of short stories and children’s fiction. The sisters’ successes were divergent, however, and their deep affection for their brothers never extended towards each other.

Teresa and Mary Louise O’Donnell provide a fascinating insight into the lives of Margaret and Mary Brigid, illuminating the many joys of their upbringing, their personal trials following the Rising, and the poignant disintegration of their own relationship later in life. This book reveals the previously unknown importance of the Pearse sisters’ contributions and the formidability of their characters.

Into Action is the story of the Irish Defence Forces’ role as international peacekeepers since 1960. While primarily posted to uphold the transition towards peace in overseas conflicts, they have at times inevitably been forced to fight back against often aggressive opposition. Dan Harvey’s fascinating and accessible history follows the major military incidents in the peacekeepers’ sixty-year campaign, from Niemba, the Siege at Jadotville, and Elizabethville in the Congo to At-Tiri in Lebanon, and Durbol in Syria. These are to name just a few of the military engagements that involved supreme bravery on behalf of the Irish Defence Forces and, at times, ended in terrible tragedy.

Dan Harvey’s detailed account of the military operations they were involved in reveal the defence forces’ effective responses to crisis and conflict; how they stood firm during ethnically-motivated rioting in Gracancia or intervened in the midst of a clash between Chadian government forces and rebel attackers, and how the Irish nation was halted into mourning in November 1960 by news that nine soldiers of the 33rd Irish Battalion had been killed by Baluba warriors near Niemba in the Congo.

These are the deeds and tragedies that have come to define Ireland’s role in international peacekeeping. Into Action reveals the true story of this role and the immense courage that have underlined its operations from the beginning.