February, 2019

Nine days after the King’s Own Scottish Borders shot dead four unarmed Dubliners and wounded about forty more on Bachelor’s Walk, John Redmond, without consulting either party colleagues or the Irish electorate  presumed to commit Ireland to war on Britain’s behalf against Germany and the Hapsburg Empire, in alliance with Serbia, whose agents had murdered […]

 Normally Brexit is a topic that’s unlikely to tickle your funny-bone. It may well involve the loss of thousands of jobs, the tanking of the pound, farmers out of business, increased food prices and decreased food quality, social division, political antagonism and family shouting-matches.  But The Irish Times has a Brexit report this morning that […]

I was told this story by a reliable source within hours of its occurrence but bound to secrecy at the time. But thirty eight years have passed and I think if ever a truth and reconciliation body is established, it would make a good footnote, not to mention reflection on the claim that Ulster is […]

Do you remember that woman in England who, when a TV reporter told her an election had been called, cried out “Not another one!”, her voice a wail of frustration? By rights there should be a  lot of people turning on their radios or reading their newspapers and seeing acres of commentary and reporting on […]

                                        Last week, among the multitudes with an exactitude of the same  attitude who self-invited theyselves to the legendary Weekend Party  of  The West Brit Egg Head  at West Egg,  the spotlight was turned  on a bockety […]

In the face of a hard Brexit and the ensuing economic firestorms, we’ve tended to forget that there are other things in life besides money. (Yes, Virginia, money makes the mare go, I know that, am anything but denying it.)  When the civil rights movement was in full swing, it demanded an end to discrimination […]

Two parties had a get-together this weekend:  the Green Party and the SDLP (in separate places, of course).  When it was put to Clare Bailey of the Greens that her party was very very small and nobody cared much what it thought or said or did, she came back with a good line: “I’ve always […]

Donogh O’Malley 1968 There are flaws in mainstream Irish liberalism. One such is that, holding an aversion to the Fianna Fail political tradition, liberals tend to downplay its achievements. This can be seen in the way the story of the Industrial Schools is told. In the 1960s various Fianna Fail Ministers collaborated to expose the […]

Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pics 1-3 are by Perkin Warbeck PEN   and  OINK (or, YEAR of the HOGmanay) Green ‘top’ dogs over from the Bog  Still smorting in their Dort dialogue On the Royal Mile Twill bring a smile If this turns out to be Stuart Hogg.

OK, your starter for 10:  what British politician said this: “I think we should stay inside the EU…In a stand-off between Britain and the EU, 44% of our exports  is more important to us than 8% of the EU’s exports is to them…The case to remain a member of the European Union is strong.” Anybody? […]