If you’re a unionist, you may or may not think that things are on their way to hell in a handcart, with nationalists/republicans gaining on all fronts while unionists’ culture and sensibilities are being dulled into numbness. And if you’re a nationalist/republican? Well, there are two views you can take. One, that those favouring justice […]
April, 2013
Fifteen years on: republican progress?
If you’re a unionist, you may or may not think that things are on their way to hell in a handcart, with nationalists/republicans gaining on all fronts while unionists’ culture and sensibilities are being dulled into numbness. And if you’re a nationalist/republican? Well, there are two views you can take. One, that those favouring justice […]
Farewell, Baroness Thatcher
I know people who have (and wear) ‘I still hate Thatcher’ t-shirts. I haven’t one myself but I always understood what they meant. What baffles me are the people who think she was a great leader. She replaced a crippled Britain with one where greed and selfishness were dominant. Remember ‘Loadsamoney’? You got it. She […]
Farewell, Baroness Thatcher
I know people who have (and wear) ‘I still hate Thatcher’ t-shirts. I haven’t one myself but I always understood what they meant. What baffles me are the people who think she was a great leader. She replaced a crippled Britain with one where greed and selfishness were dominant. Remember ‘Loadsamoney’? You got it. She […]
Mother Britain sings mum
I’ve some reservations about raising the question of the financial benefits to be derived from the ending of partition in Ireland. Not because I don’t believe they’re there, but because I believe other arguments are stronger, like the right of the Irish people, rather than their next-door neighbour, to decide how Ireland is ruled, regardless […]
Mother Britain sings mum
I’ve some reservations about raising the question of the financial benefits to be derived from the ending of partition in Ireland. Not because I don’t believe they’re there, but because I believe other arguments are stronger, like the right of the Irish people, rather than their next-door neighbour, to decide how Ireland is ruled, regardless […]
Tale of an Admiral (maybe)
Understanding the past is a tricky business . A recent commenter (is that the word?) to my blog on Patrick Pearse mentioned Ruth Dudley Edwards’s book on Pearse. I haven’t read it so I can’t be certain as to what it says. But I could guess by looking at Ruthie’s track record, notably her admiring […]
Tale of an Admiral (maybe)
Understanding the past is a tricky business . A recent commenter (is that the word?) to my blog on Patrick Pearse mentioned Ruth Dudley Edwards’s book on Pearse. I haven’t read it so I can’t be certain as to what it says. But I could guess by looking at Ruthie’s track record, notably her admiring […]
Was Pearse mad?
Among the tens of thousands of words spoken during interviews for my book Whose Past Is It Anyway?, those of Ian Paisley Jr are among the most memorable – particularly his thoughts on the Easter Rising. “I’m an avid student of history, so I’ve absolutely no difficulty in exploring the Easter Rising further. As I […]
Was Pearse mad?
Among the tens of thousands of words spoken during interviews for my book Whose Past Is It Anyway?, those of Ian Paisley Jr are among the most memorable – particularly his thoughts on the Easter Rising. “I’m an avid student of history, so I’ve absolutely no difficulty in exploring the Easter Rising further. As I […]