June, 2015

That McGuinness – what a nerve, eh?

  On the train coming out of London on Sunday evening, I met two young women who had been at the mass demonstration against austerity. Their praise for the speakers at the rally focused mainly on Jeremy Corbyn, but they were also very happy with Martin McGuinness’s contribution and what he had to say. They […]

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Let’s talk sex: seven questions

Last night I did a brief interview with Paul Clarke on UTV and  came away (as I often do from broadcasts) feeling deeply dissatisfied with my contribution. And as so often happens, it wasn’t what I said that left me banging my head on the steering wheel, it was what I hadn’t said. The topic […]

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WHEN YOU’RE UP A GUMTREE by Harry McAvinchey

“You’re not half-wise…Do you know that?” That was the good wife , standing about  fifteen feet away , car -door opened,  askance as she studied the inherent madness of her husband. She probably thought I was about to break my foolish neck. It should be said that there is never a dull moment in my […]

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‘Calling the pilot’ by Randall Stephen Hall

  Calling the pilot. By Randall Stephen Hall. ©   https://soundcloud.com/randall-stephen-hall/calling-the-pilot-2009-demo If the audio link doesn’t click, just cut and paste it into your web browser. Thanks.   Here is one for father’s day.   My father died, in 1981 from heart problems. My last visual memory of him is lying with an air mask […]

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It’s a long way from Cork to Waterloo

Photo by ‘EDV’ There was a letter in the Sindo today. In it the writer, from Cork,  notes that Sinn Féin want the public to forget their violent deeds of the past. Unfortunately, he says, the people appear intent on doing just that. “The short-term memory syndrome shows itself starkly in Irish political life when […]

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Gerry explains the facts of an Orange summer to Mervyn

Picture by dunraven                         Picture by Sinn Fein There was one particularly significant moment in the exchanges between Mervyn Gibson, Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order,  and Gerry Kelly on The View last night. Mervyn was explaining how lamentable it is that residents can’t accept […]

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A tale of two young groups

  Picture by Sinn Fein Two sets of young people, both the victims of circumstances.  There were those young Irish people In Berkeley, California, out on a J1 visa, who lost their lives or were seriously injured in that ghastly balcony collapse earlier in the week. There are few flights as awful as that which […]

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