January, 2020

Westminster last night and lop-sided parity.

Why are some unionists so opposed to the  new arrangements for checks on products coming from the UK and entering the north of Ireland? Because, they say, this will mean an economically united Ireland. And they are right, or mainly right at least. Ireland north and south will trade as though there was no border […]

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To the Moon by Randall Stephen Hall

To the Moon. 2020 By Randall Stephen Hall © I grew up in Belfast. None of my relations or my mum and dad were from Belfast. Yet this is where I grew up. My mother’s family mostly, were from North Antrim and quite probably Scotland. My father’s relations can be traced back to Cavan and […]

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Catherine Noone puts her foot in her face

Person 1: Who is this Catherine Noone? Person 2:  Catherine No one? Are  you trying to be funny? Person1:  Look, this is a conversation, not a written exchange. In writing you might mistake Noone for No One.  In a conversation such as this, it’s impossible. So – I repeat: who is this Catherine Noone? Person […]

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Irish Reunification: It’s Now or Never – by Donal Lavery

There’s an old quote from the Godfather films that “your enemies get strong on what you leave behind”, and I would agree with that generally speaking. We have a situation where Mr Johnston (God bless him – for this at least) has perhaps unintentionally “reunified” Ireland “economically” (in Jamie Bryson’s apparent view, given his legal […]

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Michael McDowell is what? How amazing…

Ranelagh Arts fest. Senate Debate, Sandford Park school. Ruairi Quinn, Michael McDowell, Eoghan Murphy TD, Noel Whelan. Chair: Dan O’Brien, Irish Times. Photo: Michael Foley. Michael McDowell is many things, but a shrinking violet is not one of them. A thick-skinned political bruiser would be nearer my assessment of him,  and a smart thick-skinned political […]

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Letter to the Irish Times by Niall Meehan

Commission to Investigate Child Abuse Irish Times letter today was published due to the intervention of Office of the Press Ombudsman. Niall Meehan Irish Times 28 January 2020 Commission to Investigate Child Abuse Sir, – Problems with the report of the 2009 Commission to Investigate Child Abuse (CICA, the “Ryan Report”) go beyond inflating numbers detained in […]

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On TV last night: winners and losers

Did you watch the leaders’ debate from Galway last night?  I stayed up for the full two hours and found it pretty engrossing. Mind you, I kept glancing at Twitter, where the comments on the debate were frequently scabrous and hilarious, and better than the telly. Among the Twitter comments were people running a  score […]

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A wind of change in the southern media?

It’s amazing how highly you start thinking about people who finally agree with you. This weekend produced comment by several sources that has given me a glow verging on smugness. I’ve frequently expressed my irritation with  the way the mainstream media approach Sinn Féin. In fact within the last week I’ve compared  it to the […]

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