September, 2017

If you drive around the north of Ireland you’re sure to come across one of the signs: three words that test our notion of democracy. They are ‘FREE TONY TAYLOR’. Tony Taylor is in prison because the former Secretary of State Theresa Villiers thinks it’s a good idea that he should be. “His early release […]

Pics 1-3 are by John Patton    Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3   ” Pic 1 : Loch Ruskie Mooring Loch Ruskie is a small loch near to Aberfoyle in the Trossachs. It is stocked with rainbow trout by a fishing club. Wild, brown trout are also caught occasionally but returned to the water […]

Why have the media (and political parties) gone quiet on the RHI scandal? If you google it you’ll find most links are to articles written months ago. The Renewable Heating Scheme was without doubt a major factor in the collapse of the Executive. It involved a bewildering amount of money going down the Swannee – […]

The year 1912 has always been a difficult one for unionist politicians. On the one hand the Ulster Covenant has entered the sacred temple of unionism, with hundreds of thousands signing it and swearing to resist the rest of Britain which voted for them to be part of a united Ireland. A noble and courageous act […]

I have always loved gadgets. It’s clearly a sign that I’m emotionally immature, lacking in feeling for humankind, happier interacting with a lump of metal or plastic than with a human being. That’s probably why I have a blogsite: I talk to my screen rather than having to eyeball men and women. (And yes, Virginia, […]

I wonder how the early Christians responded to the man who would become St Paul. Initially, of course, they probably responded by putting as much distance as possible between him and them. But then as he showed he was indeed converted from his ways of persecution, was he still eyed warily? I ask because the […]

  Think of a word that describes Michelle O’Neill. (No, Virginia, blonde has been done already.) Calm? Strong? Fast-talking?  Mmm. Any of those perhaps. What about ‘triumphalist’?  Noooo….Can’t say it’s one I’d reach for. But according to one unionist commentator, Ben Lowry in the News Letter,  that’s what she is. In fact, she’s reached ‘new heights of […]

I remember Golda Meir. At the time she was the Israeli president, she was doubtless loved by many Israelis. And I remember Margaret Thatcher, who had her band of  devoted disciples. But circumstances drove both women into retirement, Golda declaring “It is beyond my strength to continue bearing this burden”,  Maggie with the tearful observation that […]

Pics 1-3 are by Antrim Lens   Pic 1 Pic 2   Pic 3 “Haven’t been out much of late with the camera but got these shots tonight and thought your followers might like them. Found this wild female Irish Barn owl this evening hunting along a country lane close to Lough Neagh.”

Is Leo Varadkar a modern, progressive politician or a smiling flash in lycra? For a time during the honeymoon period,  his party were congratulating themselves that they’d shown, in electing him leader, their blemish-free credentials in terms of racism and homophobia. Now it’s beginning to look as though the smiling doctor is as original as a […]