Who is Catherine Seeley? Why she’s the young woman who had to leave her job in the Boys’ Model School in Belfast when it emerged she was a Sinn Féin member. You couldn’t have the like of that, so you couldn’t. Under threat from loyalists, she had to go. She’s also the young woman […]
May, 2015
LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS by Harry McAvinchey
Most of us have heard the Beatles song , “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”. from one of the most iconic albums of 20th century pop music ,”Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” .It’s variously described as a description of a child’s painting or a veiled reference to John Lennon’s use of the psychedelic […]
OMG – Stephen Nolan is an atheist!
Picture by alshpmcr It’s not often I feel sorry for Stephen Nolan – I more often feel sorrier for his interviewees – but I do this morning. Why is that, Virginia? He’s been forced to say he’s sorry when he shouldn’t have been. No, not because he’s fallen off the diet-waggon again. Not because he […]
LEND ME YOUR EARS by Harry McAvinchey
Maybe it’s an esoteric reflection on the quality of the comestible fare on offer in the burger joint or maybe the waitress was tardy in supplying the required “Big Mac” in greater haste .Who knows? Whatever it was that prompted one diner to bite out a piece of his fellow-diner’s ear in a […]
The McAleese presidency and the Orange Order
Picture by T C Loften It’s odd how complicated the world is. And the people in it. Take, if you will, events at Aras An Uachtarain during the presidency of President Mary McAleese. It’d be fair to say that she and her husband Martin transfomed relationships between the Orange Order and the Irish Presidency, wouldn’t it? Every […]
Cries of “Sectarianism!” and Grade A bunkum
We Irish have a huge capacity for self-deception. Tell us that our pubs are invariably friendly, music-laden places and we’ll agree vigorously. Tell us that we’re welcoming to outsiders, that we have hearts as big as all-outdoors, and we’ll nod like one of those soft toys in the back window of a car. But […]
Four things to think about in relation to Scot Nats
I’ve been thinking about the Scot Nats Party. It’s hard not to, since they’re receiving almost as much coverage in the English and Irish media as they no doubt are in the Scottish media. And there are a number of points that come home with paradoxical force. 1. The Scot Nats lost the referendum […]
MARVEL COMICS AS A CULTURAL PHENOMENON by Harry McAvinchey
Marvel Comics were a cultural phenomenon with an influence beyond their “kidstuff” origins. Believe it or not , the shadow they have cast has had a greater influence on society than many would ,at first glance ,care to imagine.When I discovered them as a a ten or eleven year old ,way back in 1962 or […]