August, 2013

Say ‘Bushmills’ and what do you think? Whiskey, of course. Black Bush and all that.  Irish whiskey, what’s more. Been going for centuries. But Bushmills is well known for something more than whiskey. Something that leaves a sourer taste in the mouth. It’s called bigotry. There was a good instance of it recently. But bear […]

I was watching Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany the other night, and the commentator remarked on the leadership qualities he brought to the Man City team. It seemed an obviously valid remark. Kompany is a big guy who takes his football very seriously and never stops driving to overcome obstacles, impose his will on the game. […]

The thing is, stuff keeps happening all the time. It doesn’t have to happen on the same day, although that’s a considerable help if you’re trying to bury a bad-news story. But simply the never-ending procession of events can blur or even erase what at the time seemed a massive issue.  For example. Heard much […]

Bridge-building. That’s a popular term in modern-day parlance. Mary McAleese announced her presidency as one which would engage in bridge – building and it is Sinn Féin’s declared policy to build bridges of confidence between former adversaries. As Mahatma Ghandi said when he was asked what he thought of Christianity, it would be a good […]

Unionists never have been happy about the idea of a peace centre  on the site of the old Long Kesh/Maze prison. I remember years ago, when the late David Ervine, a man considered by most an open-minded unionist, was asked what should be done with the old prison. His immediate reply: ‘Flatten it’. Jim Allister […]

I went along to Conway Mill last Saturday night, to hear George Galloway. He spoke at Queen’s University some years back with force and eloquence for nearly two hours on the subject of the Iraq invasion, a small figure prowling the stage without notes, full of anger and eloquence. In Conway Mill he stayed put […]

Maybe what we have here is a case of the Peter Principle? This term refers to the belief that people get promoted in organisations until they reach a position where they’re essentially incompetent and then they stop being promoted. It makes sense. If  somebody was such hot bananas, they’d be promoted again.  But none of […]

With the airwaves full of the news of Peter Robinson’s transAtlantic U-turn regarding development of the Long Kesh/Maze site, it’s tempting to write about the appalling quality of unionist leadership.   But there are things that are more important than the various gyrations of the DUP, some things more important than parades, some things more […]

My input to the Nolan Show which was originally to be yesterday was in fact today. I was on with Tom Elliott, former leader of the UUP, and the debate was probably useless, if you define ‘useful’ as something that moves us forward.  I remember Robert Ballagh the famous painter once saying that there are […]

My input to the Nolan Show which was originally to be yesterday was in fact today. I was on with Tom Elliott, former leader of the UUP, and the debate was probably useless, if you define ‘useful’ as something that moves us forward.  I remember Robert Ballagh the famous painter once saying that there are […]