February, 2012

You can call him Al – or just misguided

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days. He has suggested “dealing with the past”  by issuing an amnesty for deaths in the Troubles. But the amnesty in each case would be conditional […]

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You can call him Al – or just misguided

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days. He has suggested “dealing with the past”  by issuing an amnesty for deaths in the Troubles. But the amnesty in each case would be conditional […]

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Barry and John: was your journey really necessary?

How important is the wrapping on a present? Or the print lay-out of your newspaper? Last night the BBC’s ‘Spotlight’  took Barry McElduff and John Laird to Edinburgh to learn more about the move towards Scottish independence. We got nice shots of the underbelly of a plane taking off, flowers,  Barry drinking from a glass and John […]

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Barry and John: was your journey really necessary?

How important is the wrapping on a present? Or the print lay-out of your newspaper? Last night the BBC’s ‘Spotlight’  took Barry McElduff and John Laird to Edinburgh to learn more about the move towards Scottish independence. We got nice shots of the underbelly of a plane taking off, flowers,  Barry drinking from a glass and John […]

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Willie Frazer: marching to the beat of a different drum

What is it with this marching thing? Is it restless legs syndrome? Ants in the pants? Or just good old-fashioned in-your-face-and-community coat-trailing? Willie Frazer and his FAIR group are intent on commemorating the appalling killing of workers at Kingsmill by having around seventeen bands march through the Whitecross area of Armagh, where sensitivities on both […]

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Willie Frazer: marching to the beat of a different drum

What is it with this marching thing? Is it restless legs syndrome? Ants in the pants? Or just good old-fashioned in-your-face-and-community coat-trailing? Willie Frazer and his FAIR group are intent on commemorating the appalling killing of workers at Kingsmill by having around seventeen bands march through the Whitecross area of Armagh, where sensitivities on both […]

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Can Celtic survive the Rangers meltdown?

I’m not sure if you can hear me over the yelps of delight at the melt-down of  Glasgow Rangers Football Club, but I’m sorry to see it happen. I SAID I’M SORRY TO SEE IT HAPPEN….Not because I’m very good at singing “The Billy Boys” or that it’ll feel kind of pointless to spew sectarian […]

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Can Celtic survive the Rangers meltdown?

I’m not sure if you can hear me over the yelps of delight at the melt-down of  Glasgow Rangers Football Club, but I’m sorry to see it happen. I SAID I’M SORRY TO SEE IT HAPPEN….Not because I’m very good at singing “The Billy Boys” or that it’ll feel kind of pointless to spew sectarian […]

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That Buncrana killing and two big lies

That was a shocking case in Buncrana, Co Donegal the other day, wasn’t it? A young 24-year-old, the father of two children, shot dead by a group called Republican Action Against Drugs. A Derry priest says that near to 40 people – including this young man –  have been driven out of Derry by the […]

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That Buncrana killing and two big lies

That was a shocking case in Buncrana, Co Donegal the other day, wasn’t it? A young 24-year-old, the father of two children, shot dead by a group called Republican Action Against Drugs. A Derry priest says that near to 40 people – including this young man –  have been driven out of Derry by the […]

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