I see my old chum and gambling opponent Eoghan Harris is an unhappy man. Not that he ever was one for making with the happy face, but in today’s Sindo he’s really cross. It has to do with the easy ride he believes was given to Albert Reynolds at his funeral (Albert’s, not Eoghan’s). There was […]
August, 2014
Public beheading is “deeply medieval”. Oh really?
“What we see happening with Isis, the Islamic State, this is deeply medieval – we should not, in our societies, if we have Europeans going and behaving like this in other countries, they should be arrested when they come back and in my view, go through due process.” That’s Prof Brigid Laffan speaking at the […]
GEORGE ,WILLIE AND A LOT OF CODOLOGY by Harry McAvinchey
Oh dear…It’s looking like our old self-publicist and all round sanctimonious busybody,public jester and poltroon to the kings and queens of our unionist inclined neighbours…the one and the only ….Willie Frazer, is about to do some gaol-time in the near future at the behest of George Galloway’s solicitor. Gorgeous George is in the process […]
On being poor: a study from the University of Ulster
You sometimes hear people talk about the peace dividend. English reporters will do features in which they comment on the Waterfront Hall, the new apartment blocks overlooking the river, the bustling Europa Hotel, the Grand Opera House – Belfast, they say, is a transformed city. Well yeah, if you stick around the places above. All […]
WHEN SUMMER COMES SLINKING TO A WEARY END by Harry McAvinchey
Well, here we are with summer slinking to a weary end. There wasn’t a lot to remember of this one really .It started well, looked as though it might be a classic like last year, but fizzled to a dead , damp conclusion with precious few warm, sunny days. On the streets they only got […]
Health is sick
Picture this. You don’t turn up for work on Monday. The boss assumes you’re sick and waits until Tuesday for you to reappear or contact him/her. No luck. Wednesday s/he’s hopping mad and phones you. “It’s OK – don’t worry” you tell him/her. “Things are a bit muddled at home right now so I won’t […]
Ebola: it scares the life out of you, right?
There are two articles about Ebola in the Belfast Telegraph this morning. The first is headed ‘Ebola has the upper hand, says US expert’ and the other is headed ‘Ebola Briton gets experimental drug’. The first article quotes Dr Tom Frieden, director of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention: ‘Lots of hard work […]
Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling square up (Part Two)
One thing last night’s TV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling disproved was the old Nixon-sweat theory. You remember how, in the 1960 US presidential campaign, (ask your granny, Virginia) John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon debated on television. Nixon lost, many commentators claimed, because he developed a film of sweat on his upper […]
SONG FOR THE DISAPPEARED by Randall Stephen Hall
I wrote these words as far back as 2009. It was a hard thing to write and record. It took my emotions for a drive around dark corners and up to a place where tears could not help but come. It has taken me a long time to work out how to play it in […]
What does John O’Dowd know about education?
Is John O’Dowd a successful Minister of Education? It depends on who you ask. If you ask the DUP, for instance, you’ll be told he’s useless. They’ll wonder aloud how Mr O’Dowd, who has few if any academic qualifications, whom some unionist commentators refer to as ‘the former baker’ – how can such a man […]