April, 2017

Imagine you’ve entered a polling booth to answer the question: “What’s your political choice on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland”: I opt for Northern Ireland to maintain its status quo of being a constituent part of the United Kingdom be governed by the UK and RoI under a new centre-ground joint sovereignty agreement become […]

One of my parents was a Personal Assistant to the late Mr Paschal O’Hare, an excellent solicitor and former Assemblyman who left the SDLP over their pro-Brit leanings. Mr O’Hare, like Patrick Finucane and others, spent a lifetime arguing with Orange/RBP men in Judge’s robes in what can only be described as a rotten perversion […]

Text reads: To: Adel Atieh Deputy Head of EU Mission Mission of the State of Palestine to the EU   From: Danny Morrison Secretary Bobby Sands Trust Belfast, Ireland On behalf of the Bobby Sands Trust I would like to send our full support to those on hunger strike and to their families at this […]

I was talking to two friends the other day, one a nationalist, the other a republican. The subject of a border poll came up and both agreed that it would make no sense, since there is no way it would be won by those who favour a reunited Ireland. In that they’re in agreement with […]

DRAFT LETTER WRITTEN  7 FEBRUARY 2017 BUT NOT FORWARDED Am I the only one appalled by the sight of men wearing military or marine headgear attempting to influence judges, juries or Government Ministers. It’s.a British tradition so far as I can see? The late Garret Fitzgerald, a darling of the British media, remarked  in his […]

[This article is from The Irish Times] The Protestants behind Irish independence A history of the little-known people who defied political consensus in their churches Frank MacGabhann A middle-class afffair: Molly and Erskine Childers aboard the Asgard around 1910; below left: Kathleen Lynn. main PHOTOGRAPH: HULTON/GETTY This timely book deals with the involvement of Protestants […]

I don’t know how many of you have had emails in praise of “BIG AL” the British Marine Sergeant whose murder conviction was overturned on the grounds of post traumatic stress disorder, essentially the same grounds that saved Captain Bowen Colthurst’s neck from the hangman in 1916.  Both cases are  typical in of British justice […]

Pics 1-4  are by John Patton (more of John’s splendid photographs on www.phototilly.eu)   Pic 1   Pic 2 Pic 3   Pic 4 “Pic 1-3 We have ha a blast of winter here this week with very cold winds, snow in the Highlands and frost warnings for gardeners, among whom I do not count. Driving […]

If you’re like me you’re pretty ignorant about French politics, but you’ll know one name for sure: Marine Le Pen, the hard-right candidate in the French presidential election. But since Monday of this week, you’ve probably made note of another French politician – Emmanuel Macron. Both Le Pen and Macron have succeeded in fighting their […]

“In any struggle throughout this world, you often find that the people who have the least are usually willing to give the most.” – Nelson Mandela On the island of Ireland, we have a relatively successful peace process which, despite all its setbacks, has brought previously unimaginable economic and social benefits to the nationalist and […]