January, 2012

It’s a striking fact and a source of pride to some:  the number of Irish comics  who make it big in Britain. It’s been that way for decades at least: Frank Carson, Dave Allen, Jimmy Cricket,  Dermot Morgan, Dara O Briain, Brendan O’Carroll – and, of course that old perennial, Sir Terry Wogan. They’ve all […]

It’s a striking fact and a source of pride to some:  the number of Irish comics  who make it big in Britain. It’s been that way for decades at least: Frank Carson, Dave Allen, Jimmy Cricket,  Dermot Morgan, Dara O Briain, Brendan O’Carroll – and, of course that old perennial, Sir Terry Wogan. They’ve all […]

Sometimes  what people avoid saying is as important or more important than what they do say. A topical example: those Irishmen from the south of Ireland who died fighting in the First World War. For decades there was little public talk of them. The spotlight between 1914 and 1918 shone steadily on the memory of […]

Sometimes  what people avoid saying is as important or more important than what they do say. A topical example: those Irishmen from the south of Ireland who died fighting in the First World War. For decades there was little public talk of them. The spotlight between 1914 and 1918 shone steadily on the memory of […]

Having confidently stated a blog or two back that predictions are a waste of time, let me contradict myself: on one issue this year there will be lots of predictions. I’m talking sectarian head-counting here. It’s started this morning in The Irish Times . There’s a detailed article by Gerry Moriarty talking about the rising […]

Having confidently stated a blog or two back that predictions are a waste of time, let me contradict myself: on one issue this year there will be lots of predictions. I’m talking sectarian head-counting here. It’s started this morning in The Irish Times . There’s a detailed article by Gerry Moriarty talking about the rising […]

When he sang at the inauguration of one-term US President Jimmy Carter,  Paul Simon had the chutzpah to choose his song ‘American Tune’, which includes the lines “I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered/I don’t have a friend who feels at ease./I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered/Or driven to its […]

When he sang at the inauguration of one-term US President Jimmy Carter,  Paul Simon had the chutzpah to choose his song ‘American Tune’, which includes the lines “I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered/I don’t have a friend who feels at ease./I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered/Or driven to its […]

New Year predictions? I’ll give you New Year predictions. Back in the early 1970s, republicans would sometimes encourage each other with a posting in a local newspaper declaring “On to 1973 – the year of Victory!” Or 1974 or 1975.  Those who survived learnt that it hadn’t happened. Those who didn’t survive didn’t know it […]

New Year predictions? I’ll give you New Year predictions. Back in the early 1970s, republicans would sometimes encourage each other with a posting in a local newspaper declaring “On to 1973 – the year of Victory!” Or 1974 or 1975.  Those who survived learnt that it hadn’t happened. Those who didn’t survive didn’t know it […]