November, 2014

How to respond when your opinion poll bites you

I see where a man called E F Fanning has a letter in today’s Irish Times, complaining about the Irish media habit of throwing everything but the kitchen sink and Michael D Higgins at Sinn Féin. I promised myself  I’d do a thorough trawl of the newspaper coverage of the Shinners but after a while I […]

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HALLOWEEN by Harry McAvinchey

Halloween . The Eve of all Hallows.That time of the year when we gather to laugh loudly in the face of death: cock a snook of ridicule at our collective fears of the great unknown.It is upon us on the mildest October I can remember . The days of face-painting my girls’ faces and helping […]

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Civilized people and mouth-foamers

I was walking along the Lisburn Road yesterday morning when I heard my name called. It was a heavily-bearded young man who clearly knew me but I couldn’t think who he was. He identified himself – Brian John Spencer – and I then remembered him as the man who sat in front of me during […]

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I’d never say “I told you so”, but…

There’ s a theory among people in the media and PR that, if you make your claim about someone first, that’s what matters. It’s of little or no importance what people may say in defence of themselves – the public will remember your initial allegation and forget the rest. Maybe that’s what made a recording I listened […]

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