February, 2019

The late Flann O’Brien, a.k.a. “Myles na Gcopaleen,,” ,was a Divil for strong Beverages. But he had no stomach at all for Sir William Beveridge, the British Civil Servant whose 1942 Report largely inspired  Britain’s Welfare State. In one of his less funny Irish Times column he attacked it. I don’t know whether O’Brien’s reactionary […]

  Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJLtNM1FQI0 In 1997-1998 I was visiting the newly completed Waterfront Hall. I wandered into the central concert hall. A big circular space. I noticed a man leaning up against the edge of a railing, taking a look as well. We stood for a while just looking at the space and all its potential. […]

By Randall Stephen Hall  Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJLtNM1FQI0 In 1997-1998 I was visiting the newly completed Waterfront Hall. I wandered into the central concert hall. A big circular space. I noticed a man leaning up against the edge of a railing, taking a look as well. We stood for a while just looking at the space and […]

Eoghan Harris told us (Sunday Independent, 17 February 2019), not for the first time, that he made An Tost Fadafor RTE in 2012. The Irish language TV documentarypresented Cannon George Salter’s memory of his father’s alleged expulsion by the IRA from West Cork in April 1922, three years before the Cannon was born. Modesty prevents Mr Harris from noting that RTE upheld two complaints I made about […]

The Finucane family astonish me. Inflicted with the brutal killing of their husband and father as they sat at a family meal, denied the truth at every turn for thirty years, they have persevered with an inner resolve that I can only stand back from and admire. That’s why yesterday I was happy to hear […]

I never was aware of Jim Ratcliffe’s existence until a few minutes ago and would believe that he has never been aware of mine. The Guardian reports – He’s Britain’s rchest man.That he’s an influential Brexiteer.That various EU countries have done deals with his companies that will make him much richer however the cookies crumble. That […]

Outside my window as I type I can hear the birds giving full-throated approval to the sun that’s climbing and doing its best to pretend this is Spring. But I’m happy to take simulation if I can’t have the real thing.  So in the spirit of post-Winter, here’s a laugh. In the Ukraine there is […]

In June 2016, the English people made two mistakes: they voted to leave the EU and they did so with no idea as to what leaving would involve. Inside the next ten years – less if there is a hard Brexit and a hard border in Ireland – there will be a border poll. We […]

 The dulcet tones of Dinah Shore flotated over the much-anticipated and lately-postponed  sporty Weekend at the West Egg Mansion of the West Brit Egg Head in DUPlin.. –Make the World Go Away   Get it off  my shoulder….. Despite Dinah’s surname, she in fact hailed from land-locked Tennessee and later in her life, after a […]

  There is a picture today in the online version of The Observer.   It shows Jeremy Corbyn peeping out of a dark doorway, looking furtive. The headline is “Brexit/ Corbyn told: change course before it’s too late” You don’t need to read the story to know where The Observer’s sympathies lie.  The newspaper and […]