Back in 1989 I moved with my wife and young family to Whitehead. We moved for a number of reasons. We needed more space. At the time I was working mainly as a freelance illustrator, producing pictures, for advertising. I still illustrate, but not in that particular field. When we moved away from North Belfast and the big […]
October, 2014
RTÉ’s ‘The Week in Politics’: what was discussed (and what wasn’t)
I’ve just come from watching The Week in Politics on RTÉ. Over a period of some twenty-five minutes, Caoimhghín O Caolain TD (Sinn Féin) was questioned by the presenter and a Fianna Fail TD and a Labour TD about the Maria Cahill case. He made two linked points which I believe are central to the matter. […]
Tomorrow’s Sunday
I had an email yesterday from a journalist, asking me to contact him. When I did he explained he wanted to do an article on the Mairia Cahill case and that no Sinn Féin people were available. Would I oblige with my answer to some questions? I pointed out that I’d given my view several […]
Prime Time last night and the case of the emperor’s thumb
I was on RTÉ’s Prime Time last night. It was of course about the Mairia Cahill case and it was what you might call a learning experience. Miriam O’Callaghan seemed focused on whether I found the story of Ms Cahill’s account of her meeting with Gerry Adams ‘credible’. In my view, that line of questioning […]
LARNE’S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE by Harry McAvinchey
I had to watch the programme “True North” about the town of Larne on the i- Player. I missed it on live television but it appears to have stirred up some controversy so I watched it to see what had annoyed some of its citizens. I also watched “Human Universe ” about the possibility of […]
Something’s happening in Scotland. And maybe Ireland.
Is something happening in Scotland? In Ireland? The historian Roy Foster believes there is, at least in Scotland. In his new book Vivid Faces (a phrase from Yeats’s famous poem ‘Easter 1916’), he argues that something profound has happened in the build-up to and the aftermath of the Scottish referendum. Despite the fact that their […]
MAD WEATHER by Harry McAvinchey
It’s totally mad . Here we are almost nearing the end of October and it’s still as mild as it was in August . In fact, the sky is clearer and much less gloomy and depressing than it was in August past. It’s getting a little wilder though but the wind is still warm. I […]
DON’T SHOOT , IT’S ONLY ME by Harry McAvinchey
“Don’t Shoot , It’s Only Me” is the title of a hardback book of Bob Hope musings on comedy and history , published in 1990. My father and mother were never gulled by celebrity nor were they remotely materialistic, but they lived through the dawn of the cinema and were every bit in thrall to […]
The price of marching
I wonder how many people read the Letters page in our newspapers. I’d guess that quite a few do. Their reasons may be many but one must surely be that they’ll find in the Letters page comment that has a ring of authenticity – that has the smell of the sheep about it, as Pope Francis so memorably put it. (No, the Pope was actually talking metaphorically, Virginia, and about Catholic priests, not writers to the Editor.) An example is in today’s Irish Times. The letter-writer, not from Dublin 4 but from Dublin 16, addresses the question of parades here. You’ll know by now that DUP policy is shaped by the Orange Order, so it’s a very important group the letter-writer is concerning herself with. She looks at parades here through a financial lens. How can we get out from under the vast expenditure that the Twaddell camp, for instance, is costing the tax-payer. Her suggested answer? Tickets. Like all good ideas, it’s blindingly obvious once it’s said. There would be a small charge – about the price of a cinema ticket – for each marcher and each banner, and the proceeds would go to the policing costs and to a charity nominated by the residents of the area affected by the march. The cost of the ticket would be adjusted each year, to match with the cost of policing the march and the level of welcome shown by the local residents. I call that illuminating and original thinking. For many Orangemen, their marches are an enjoyable day out, with sandwiches, beer and ice-cream readily available. Anyone who accepts the basics of logic would surely agree that the marchers should pay the enrance fee for the policing of this fun day out. And that the cost would rise or fall depending on the degree to which the marchers are welcome in the area where they have chosen to march. No ticket, no dance. Brilliant.
Reflections on the Scottish referendum
A friend of mine has sent me these. I think they make vivid and interesting reading – Jude. AFTER THE REFERENDUM Polling day, which we’d waited for in a fervour, was odd and quiet. Mist pressed at the windows. I felt convalescent and washed out, and fair enough, for the last ten days I’d been […]