Fifty years or so ago, W.A.W.A. was a mantra often heard on the lips of exasperated Ex-Pats in Nigeria, including Pats who were Ex-Pats at the time there. Examples of when one might hear said mantra: Like when one has just settled down of an evening to read a copy of ‘Mister Johnson’, by Joyce […]
January, 2017
Twenty-nine years ago: The Irish Times speaks out
Joe McVeigh’s comment on this editorial from The Irish Times just twenty-nine years ago: ‘Our statement was published in the IT on the same day. I cannot find it -but I think it is not the issue. We were both priests ministering in the north and dealing with violence every day. We felt it was our […]
‘Tony Benn & Sinn Fein: Common Priorities, Common Struggles’ by Donal Lavery
A few years ago, I was working in the Civil Service and can remember when I and my colleagues received the news of Tony Benn’s passing from this world to the next. Sitting next to many trade unionists, we were actually very emotional and I walked home to clear my head with tears running down […]
Enda’s Big Day Out: should he stay or should he go?
So will he, won’t he? At present Enda Kenny is standing firm: he’s going to Washington on Paddy’s Day. A word of consolation if you’re one of the many who oppose him travelling to meet the lesser yellow-headed President Crazy: past words are no indicator of future action. Why would Enda go? I mean, he’s […]
‘Enough is Enough’ by David Steenson
There comes a point in everyone’s life when you say “enough is enough”. It can come at anytime, usually after a period of stress or personal strain when you are at your wits end and can take no more. I am a young man of 30 years (maybe not that young) but what that means […]
TRUMP’S DREAM COMES TRUE
What fun it is going to be in these coming years …… As the new Fascist Dictator of the World In Chains sat down like some bloated cartoon pig ,straight out of Looney Tunes ,as voiced by Mel Blanc, his tiny deep set eyes and tight arse-hole of a moue, peeking rat-like from amid the […]
‘Sinn Fein & Fine Gael: Unlikely Bedfellows?’ by Donal Lavery
Some of the establishment news media in the Free State have been reporting whispers of a potential government between two unlikely bedfellows, the Shinners and the Blue-Shirts. Indeed, the Fine Gael chief whip, Regina Doherty, has voiced her support for such a move recently. Let’s explore the possibility of that in some candid detail, as […]
‘Brokenshire Peddling “alternative facts” On The Past’ by Mark Thompson
Mark Thompson is By RFJ Director ( https://relativesforjustice.com/) Since taking up office James Brokenshire and the NIO have deliberately fostered an environment in which the victims of British state violence have been insulted, vilified and their experiences diminished. These now regular assaults have added insult to injury as families simply seek truth and accountability; decades after their […]
NEWSPAPER OF RECORD KEEPS MUM? by Colin Coyle
REGARDED as Ireland’s most “right-on” newspaper, The Irish Times has fallen foul of equality legislation. It has been censured at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for discriminating against a sub-editor who was paid less after she returned from maternity leave. In a ruling published this month, The Irish Times is found to have discriminated against […]