Arlene Foster was on The Andrew Marr TV show this morning, dressed in eye-catching red, explaining why the DUP is a force for good in the universe. Her major message was that our NEN mustn’t be treated or categorized any differently from the rest of the UK. That’s her “red line” – the NEN must […]
May, 2018
Review of ‘Martin McGuinness:The Man I Knew’ by Donal Kennedy
Martin McGuinness – The Man I Knew Compiled by Jude Collins Mercier Press p/b £14.99 Twentyseven witnesses from each side of the Atlantic, of the Irish Sea, Britain’s Border in Ireland, spanning also political, denominational social and cultural divides contributed to this compilation. They included Senator George Mitchell and Congressman Peter King […]
An experience in a book store
Two things: one an account of an interesting interaction I had this morning, the other an appeal to readers. First, the interaction. My book of interviews Martin McGuinness: The Man I Knew , as many of you know, was launched in Derry, Belfast and Dublin in the week of McGuinness’s anniversary. In all three cases it […]
Carefully chosen victims from the conflict
Few people can be unaware that Arlene Foster’s father, an RUC officer, was attacked by the IRA in 1979. She has frequently told how her father, a policeman, was shot as he went to check on farm animals and was wounded in the head. Alert rockets were fired to summon help. Mr Kelly survived for […]
For West Tyrone Sinn Féin, glad confident morning; for Barry McElduff…
When she was asked about Barry McElduff and the Kingsmill loaf affair, West Tyrone’s new Sinn Féin MP Orfhlaith Begley said that “there were lessons to be learned.” I call that a discreet answer. Barry McElduff has been the ghost at this political feast, but he has chosen to take a seat at the side […]
How can unionism road-block the drive towards Irish unity?
There is a term once used to describe this state which has fallen into disuse. When I was a child, you’d hear it regularly on Radio Eireann , and the local nationalist newspaper wouldn’t have dreamt of using ‘the north of Ireland’, let alone ‘Northern Ireland’. That term was’ the Six Counties’ (usually capitalized). Maybe it’s been largely […]
Kathy Sheridan on Alfie Evans and repeal of the Eighth
The case of the baby Alfie Evans is an interesting one. Essentially it involved a clash between the wishes of the parents and the wishes of the state and the medical profession. Alfie’s parents wanted to keep him on life support, the state and the doctors didn’t. It appears that the state and doctors […]
John and Leo and the I-word
Sometimes, when a person suffers a great loss or disappointment, the effect is not just temporary. It alters how they see themselves and the world from that point on. Neil Kinnock, for example, declared himself a political failure for not having defeated the Tories when he was Labour leader. Hillary Clinton is still reeling from […]