November, 2015

    Here is a recent Song/Film/Poem called “SILENT VALLEYS”. It looks at an early aspect of history here in Northern Ireland that we have yet to come to terms with or be informed by. For if we marked this moment in 1603, and its devastation, then that would, in some way, be another big […]

There are all sorts of sound reasons. Both parents are working, the aged parent is too heavy to lift were they to fall, they’re in the grip of Alzheimer’s and could wander off in the middle of the night God knows where.   I accept all these reasons and have sympathy for the feelings of helplessness and […]

The militarisation of Irish society, precipitated by Unionist leaders Edward Carson and James Craig, during the ill-fated Home Rule Crisis, triggered “events that would have appalled them.”Professor Michael Laffan believes that “without Carson and Craig, there would have been no Easter Rising.” The establishment of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in January 1913 to militarily […]

(Published in THE IRISH POLITICAL REVIEW APRIL 2015)    “The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads to England”      quipped Dr Samuel Johnson, a Tory. These days any Commons  prospect for a Scots Tory entails  their forsaking Scotland and standing for an English seat, preferably in such leafy and loot-laden constituencies […]

Projections about what the electorate will do and who they’ll vote for is a risky business and one where commentators can easily get bitten on the bum. That doesn’t stop a lot of them, of course; many of them have not just necks but nether parts as well of finest brass.  However,  a more promising […]

Apparenty these are the words that Ruth Patterson , the ex-DUP councillor uttered some short time ago when she lost out in a hoped-for and , to her , expected promotion to Emma Pengelly in the party. It would have meant a rise in both finances and position of worth in the party.Sadly , that […]

(Originally published in Irish Political Review January 2015)      The history of punk is long and mercenary. Shakespeare used the word as a synonym for whore and when Bob Geldof arrived in Britain he  announced  his ambition to get rich, famous and laid. Great artists have reaped such rewards incidentally but enriched civilisation with their […]

What does “moving backwards” mean? Spike Milligan used to sing a song called “I’m walking backwards for Christmas,” and although it sounded daft, we knew what he meant. Nigel Dodds said at the weekend that the DUP must not move backwards because that would return it to an age when it was “powerless and impotent”. […]

Jeremy Corbyn had barely pulled clear of the congratulatory hug from rivals for the leadership of the Labour Party before they began plunging knives into his back. Part of their attack has been that he’s too ‘socialist’ – can’t have that in the Labour Party – but lately they’ve been excoriating him for his belief […]