June, 2011

Booze and the Twelfth – inextricably linked?

It’s good to hear the PSNI plan this year to crack down on public consumption of alcohol at Twelfth of July parades, to confiscate it, to make arrests; good too to hear that the Orange Order supports this stance. But what did you expect them to say – we’ll go soft on drinking and look […]

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Booze and the Twelfth – inextricably linked?

It’s good to hear the PSNI plan this year to crack down on public consumption of alcohol at Twelfth of July parades, to confiscate it, to make arrests; good too to hear that the Orange Order supports this stance. But what did you expect them to say – we’ll go soft on drinking and look […]

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Those revolting Greeks

The Greeks, it seems, are revolting.  Out on 48-hour strike, clogging the streets, waving placards, ATTACKING POLICE. But hold on, they’re not all like that,  these are a minority who’ve spoilt it for all the rest…No, sorry, that’s what you say  when you’re a headmaster ticking off pupils. No, this is a minority that is […]

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Those revolting Greeks

The Greeks, it seems, are revolting.  Out on 48-hour strike, clogging the streets, waving placards, ATTACKING POLICE. But hold on, they’re not all like that,  these are a minority who’ve spoilt it for all the rest…No, sorry, that’s what you say  when you’re a headmaster ticking off pupils. No, this is a minority that is […]

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In praise of curvature

“A bridge going from nowhere to nowhere” was one caustic comment I heard from a Derryman over the weekend. He was referring to the Peace Bridge that was opened by Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny in attendance. In contrast to that, I heard some other Derry people say it was a […]

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In praise of curvature

“A bridge going from nowhere to nowhere” was one caustic comment I heard from a Derryman over the weekend. He was referring to the Peace Bridge that was opened by Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny in attendance. In contrast to that, I heard some other Derry people say it was a […]

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Conflict, reminders and don’t tell me what to do

A few years back, a man living a few streets away and myself had an unfortunate difference of opinion. It ended with a punch-up in which I’m afraid I came off second-best. One minute we’re exchanging loud words, the next he’s knocking the stuffing out of me. Even worse, since that time four years ago, […]

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Sin and the curious case of Fr Kit Cunningham

Fr Kit Cunningham Sin’s a funny thing. Back in the 1950s there was really only one sin – sex, in thought as well as in deed. We knew that sex was the only sin because the Catholic Church told us so. It was the one you heard preached against and the one you knew for […]

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Sin and the curious case of Fr Kit Cunningham

Fr Kit Cunningham Sin’s a funny thing. Back in the 1950s there was really only one sin – sex, in thought as well as in deed. We knew that sex was the only sin because the Catholic Church told us so. It was the one you heard preached against and the one you knew for […]

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