Do politicians know their arse from their elbow? Do the politicians know what they are supposed to be agreeing to ? The Stormont House Agreement that the Big Talks was all about ,just before Christmas, in Norneverland ,seems to be as oblique and as opaque as ever . They’ve argued the entire thing out […]
January, 2015
Jeffrey Donaldson: a real warrior
I enjoy Talkback, particularly since it’s been taken over by William Crawley. His most obvious quality is his intelligence, his next most obvious is his amiability, and I quite like his choice of music – it gives the programme a kind of musical boost. Anyway, yesterday I found myself on the programme discussing Winston Churchill. […]
BRAIN AND BRAWN by Harry McAvinchey
There’s something completely mad and unprecedented going on . You may or may not remember science fiction stories and comics where it was proposed that at some future time , given their evolutionary development already in such a relatively short span of time, that human beings would eventually, gradually grow ever bigger brains and […]
Last night in St Mary’s
Last evening, with the sleet sheeting down and the ground filled with damp squirrelling into your shoes, I made my way to St Mary’s University College…No, Virginia, I am not going to start arguing the case for the continuation of St Mary’s. I mention it only because it was the venue for the re-launch of […]
SNOW by Harry McAvinchey
It changes everything .Outside , overnight the mundane has been made ready for a chocolate -box photoshoot. The next thing you’ll know is that a wee robin will hop onto the fence and start preening for the camera. There he is as I write …right on cue , his orange puffed chest the only […]
President Higgins has been attacked!
The ‘attack’ that was made last week in Finglas on President Michael D Higgins and his limousine has been greeted with hostility on all sides, with the exception of the people who carried out the ‘attack’. (Why, by the way, when it happened last week, did it top the RTÉ News only last night?) Some […]
THE WAITING by Randall Stephen Hall
The Waiting. By Randall Stephen Hall. © Audio Link below. https://soundcloud.com/hugh-midden-speaks/the-waiting-6-5-12 This version varies slightly from the original audio version. You rarely see a cow Opening a gate on it’s own. They generally stand and wait Expectantly. You rarely see patients Operating on themselves. No. They wait too. We wait in […]
NO PEAS…!! by Harry McAvinchey
Vouchers for smokers? What’s that all about ? They’re talking about offering money…er…incentives to pregnant women to help them give up smoking.They want to offer shopping vouchers….They’ll be giving them paid holidays next to give up the booze. ! How did we get to this? I mean , how did we as a sentient species […]
Politics and TV: a toxic mixture
Politics and television: a marriage made in heaven, right? In fact if there wasn’t politics, television would have more holes in it than a fisherman’s net. Sunday Politics, The View, Question Time, Prime Time – not to mention the Six O’Clock News, Newsline 630, Channel 4 News, BBC 24, France 24 and how’s your father. […]
OUTLAWS AND IN-LAWS by Harry McAvinchey
There is much talk about yet another “On The Run” letter .Another story of jiggery -pokery behind the scenes. We’ll have to get used to this , because like many incidents that happened during the Troubles, we will never be given a conclusion to many of the various stories .Even very high profile killings […]