Dear Arlene, I hope this finds you well and that you’re not suffering excessively from the current heat…Yes of course I’m talking about the weather. I have taken the liberty of writing to you because I’m fearful you may be about to set out on a path that can only end in disillusionment and […]
June, 2018
Swift’s ‘Modest Proposal’ – has it anything to say to us today?
I’m putting up a link to this famous essay by Swift, partly because I’ve always loved it and partly because it’s possible some may draw comparisons with our recent abortion referendum and the various views put forward there. The thing I like most about Swift’s essay is the dispassionate way he puts forward what […]
A Dissenting Letter to the Irish Post by Donal Kennedy
Sir, Your front page (June 2) shows an ecstatic young woman riding on the shoulders of a young man wearing a “Repeal” T-Shirt in the middle of a smiling and applauding crowd. The picture was one of many similar illustrations beamed from Ireland. On the same page Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the “Repeal” vote as […]
Let’s not allow the Brexit elephant to sit on top of everything else
Since the UK referendum, Brexit has been the elephant in the room which forces its presence on everyone, rather than the elephant everyone ignores. In fact, the danger has been that this elephant will smother all other features of the room, regardless of their importance. Example No 1. There is another referendum which we haven’t […]
Paul oozes over my breakfast
There are few voices I find more breakfast-ruining than that of Paul Givan. It’s a sweet voice, so sweet it slides from left ear to right (Be quiet, Virginia), then out and drizzles over my Rice Krispies, staining everything it touches. I know I should have more respect for the unique voice of each […]