When I was in my early teens at St Columb’s College in Derry, we read a book called The Invisible Man. It was by H G Wells, I think, and it told the story of a man who discovers the magic of being unseen. Alas, it proved to have more disadvantages than advantages – cars […]
August, 2015
NOSTALGIA FOR THAT OLD CONFLICT by Harry McAvinchey
The manner and speed in which the new “IRA Regeneration” has come to a head begs a lot of questions.You might call it a feeding frenzy by the opponents of Sinn Fein . They want so much to believe in the existence of any bete noire that will somehow stop the rise of political […]
An Invitation
You are Invited to the Gasyard Féile sponsored ‘Uncomfortable Conversations’ in the Clooney Hall, Bonds Hill entrance, Waterside, Derry at 7.30 pm, Wednesday, 26 August 2015 Panelists: Sinn Féin National Chairperson, Declan Kearney, PSNI Chief Constable, George Hamilton WAVE Trauma Centre, Co-ordinator, Alan McBride Former Victims Commissioner, Patricia McBride Chair: Catherine Pollock
A pair of slappers
I’ve come across two stories about guns over the past twenty-four hours. Of course in one sense the finger-pointing about the IRA and its existence/non-existence has at its heart the possibility that guns are out there and can be used to deadly effect. But these two stories are slightly different from that. Thanks to the […]
IS CREATIVE AMBIGUITY REALLY FOOLISHNESS OR MAYBE INSANITY? by Harry McAvinchey
Is the Chief Constable sane? Let us tease this one out .I would dearly love to understand the logic of a man who has stood before the television cameras and stated that on one hand the IRA is a banned organisation and on the other hand it is now only like some” Old Boys Society” […]
‘Gerry Anderson. Medicine Man’ by Randall Stephen Hall
Gerry Anderson. Medicine Man. By Randall Stephen Hall © You Tube video Link: https://youtu.be/bcigFc-pQ8A If it doesn’t click just cut and paste it into your browser. Thanks. *Black Box photo by Joe Cohen G I watched Gerry’s documentary about Derry, last Thursday night on the anniversary of his death. I enjoyed the […]
Reading and scribbling
Picture by Jon S I got a free copy of the Irish Times this morning, and for a variety of reasons I had – uncharacteristically – a lot of time on my hands, I read it. When I was a student in UCD in the 1960s, the more pretentious students could be identified by the […]
Radio Ga-Ga
People sometimes complain that the south of Ireland ignores the north, sees it as not just a different state but a different country which has nothing to do with the southern state, is a distraction to the economic recovery of the south. Not so this morning. This morning, for roughly the first fifteen minutes of […]
Curious and Curiouser
Picture by Sion Fullana Curious: So do they exist still or not? Curiouser: Well…Yes and No. Curious: That’s a help. Curiouser: As an organisation, it’s fair to say they’ve left, quit the stage, gone… Curious: I feel a But coming on. Curiouser: But at the same time they haven’t gone away, you know. Some former […]
‘Refugees: Home Truths from Abroad’ by M Collider
Of course I am afflicted by the suffering the refugees go through and it is shameful and evil, but the poor are always with us – and tyrannical régimes as well. I often see in the Geneva region MiddleEast Beasts and fat Africans with limousines full of wives – flashy – wealthy. MiddleEast and Africa are wealthy […]