An Phoblacht

An Phoblacht

An Phoblacht front page from June 2014
Type	Monthly political newspaper
Format	Tabloid
Publisher	Parnell Publications
Editor	John Hedges
Founded	13 December 1906 (original) January 1970 (current)
Political alignment	Irish republicanism Left-wing nationalism Democratic socialism
Language	English, Irish
Headquarters	Kevin Barry Memorial Hall, 44 Parnell Square West, Dublin 1, Ireland
Circulation	15,000
Website	anphoblacht.com

An Phoblacht (Irish pronunciation: [ənˠ ˈfˠɔbˠlˠəxt̪ˠ]; English: The Republic) is a monthly 32-page newspaper published by Sinn Féin in Ireland. Editorially the paper takes a left wing, Irish republican position and is generally supportive of the Northern Ireland peace process. Along with covering Irish political and trade union issues the newspaper also frequently features interviews with celebrities, musicians, artists, intellectuals and international activists. The paper sells an average of up to 15,000 copies every month. It was the first Irish paper to provide an edition online and currently has in excess of 100,000 website hits per week.

The original An Phoblacht was founded as the official organ of the Dungannon Clubs in Belfast in 1906 and its first edition was printed on 13 December 1906 under the English-language version of the title The Republic. In the first edition, Bulmer Hobson, one of the founders of the Dungannon Clubs, set out their aims:

"Ireland today claims her place among the free peoples of the Earth. She has never surrendered that claim, nor will ever she surrender it, and today forces are working in Ireland that will not be still until her claim is acknowledged and her voice heard in the councils of the nations."

A year later the paper merged with a Dublin title called The Peasant. However, the title An Phoblacht was again used from 1925 with Patrick Little (P.J Little) as editor and continued until 1937 with a tumultuous history of internal splits and constant state oppression. From 1925 into 1926 Seán Lemass wrote a number of articles advocating the engagement into politics prior to the establishment of Fianna Fáil. Peadar O'Donnell took over as editor in April 1926 following a split in the republican movement (Little became one of the founding members of Fianna Fáil).Frank Ryan also edited the paper for some time other contributors were Maurice Twomey, Seán MacBride, Frank Gallagher (who became the first editor of The Irish Press), Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington and Fr Michael O'Flanagan, were just some of the prominent contributors during this time.