May, 2010

It’s odd the associations that fix themselves in your mind. Every May when I see those small yellow whin-bush flowers flaring on hillsides and by the road, I think of Brother Skehan.  He was my teacher in the Christian Brothers Primary School in Omagh and he encouraged us all to bring in flowers, for arrangement […]

It’s odd the associations that fix themselves in your mind. Every May when I see those small yellow whin-bush flowers flaring on hillsides and by the road, I think of Brother Skehan.  He was my teacher in the Christian Brothers Primary School in Omagh and he encouraged us all to bring in flowers, for arrangement […]

Well – isn’t it exciting?  One minute Nick Clegg looks like he’s going to fall into the arms of David Cameron, the next he’s heading for the manly embrace of, er, um,  A N Other. Alas poor Gordon, we didn’t have time to know him well. Ian Paisley figured that as a son of the […]

Well – isn’t it exciting?  One minute Nick Clegg looks like he’s going to fall into the arms of David Cameron, the next he’s heading for the manly embrace of, er, um,  A N Other. Alas poor Gordon, we didn’t have time to know him well. Ian Paisley figured that as a son of the […]

There is one hot topic bubbling beneath the surface of unionism this week, and that is, who’s going to replace Peter Robinson as DUP leader when, as inevitably he will, he steps/ is pushed down. It’s an important question because though the Robinson defeat in East Belfast was a catastrophe for the party and their […]

There is one hot topic bubbling beneath the surface of unionism this week, and that is, who’s going to replace Peter Robinson as DUP leader when, as inevitably he will, he steps/ is pushed down. It’s an important question because though the Robinson defeat in East Belfast was a catastrophe for the party and their […]

They’re going to close the philosophy department at Middlesex university.  It’s not making enough money, the head honchos figure.  The fact that, like hospitals or schools, universities aren’t in the business of making money doesn’t seem to have struck them.  To their credit,  eminent philosophers from all around the world, including Noam Chomsky, have petitioned […]

They’re going to close the philosophy department at Middlesex university.  It’s not making enough money, the head honchos figure.  The fact that, like hospitals or schools, universities aren’t in the business of making money doesn’t seem to have struck them.  To their credit,  eminent philosophers from all around the world, including Noam Chomsky, have petitioned […]

  OK, OK – I’m a lazy sod. Also very knackered after staying up all night AND getting up at 5.45 a.m. to go into BBC Radio Ulster. ( Q: Was my journey really necessary? Don’t ask.)  A few initial thoughts on the election. 1. The Alliance’s capture of East Belfast and Peter Robinson’s loss […]

  OK, OK – I’m a lazy sod. Also very knackered after staying up all night AND getting up at 5.45 a.m. to go into BBC Radio Ulster. ( Q: Was my journey really necessary? Don’t ask.)  A few initial thoughts on the election. 1. The Alliance’s capture of East Belfast and Peter Robinson’s loss […]