April, 2021

The  Irish Times has several interesting and linked features this morning. The most eye-catching, I thought, was that relating to Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire.  He looks about 21 years of age but is probably in his thirties, and is the SF education guy. It seems there was, um, a misunderstanding between RTÉ’s Liveline […]

With the question of Irish unity coming barrelling down the proverbial tracks like a runaway train, gaining unstoppable speed, one would think political Unionism would be preparing its base for that inevitable question on that ballot paper.  Many more think they should be offering up arguments to everyone in the North on why we would […]

Mainstream political Unionism has failed working-class and grassroots Loyalism.  Not only that, but Loyalist paramilitaries, the so-called protectors of Loyalist communities have also let them down.  Since 1998, millions upon millions of pounds have been poured into Loyalist areas and indeed Republican and Nationalist areas.  One of the big differences being, while millions of pounds […]

The rioting that has been occurring in different loyalist ( aka working-class unionist) areas over the past week – were the rioters inspired by the words of unionist politicians? Surely not, since unionist politicians have urged them to STOP rioting…. In the Irish Times, a former colleague of Pat’s has written, over the past week, […]

In the past week, we have heard calls for the PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne to resign over how the Bobby Storey funeral was handled.  Words used to describe his input into the funeral were along the lines of “facilitated” and “negotiated with Sinn Fein” and “terrorist” and “two-tier policing”.  Simon Byrne hit back by […]

This blog first appeared as a column in The Andersonstown News When I close my eyes and murmur “Alex Salmond!”, a figure lumbers into my mind’s eye. It’s an overweight, bloody-but-unbowed figure, topped by a balding head and eyes that look as though they’ve been to hell and back. When I  lower my eyelids and whisper “Jeffrey Donaldson!” I get a very different picture. This […]

Well, it’s getting to that time of year again when flags become the object of much contention in the North…and I specify the North.  Until recently you would be lucky to find a Union flag in England other than those flying from government and state buildings at certain times of the year.  However, recently the […]

This TV Review first appeared in The Andersonstown News I tend to resist TV programmes lasting more than an hour. Have I got 60 minutes or more to spend sitting gawking at something I’m less than mildly interested in?  But I do make exceptions, and BLACK P0WER IN BRITAIN (BBC2) was one of them. The documentary looked at the sad story of black […]

THE TIMES has been publishing, at least since 2014, daily extracts from its editions of one hundred years previously. Last year it republished a damning report on the behaviour and character of Sir Michael O’Dwyer as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, as murderous a blackguard as ever drew breath. O’Dwyer was shot dead in London […]

I Sinn Fein’s connections to the Provisional IRA are no secret and they have never attempted to deny that connection.  Indeed many of its members and politicians are past members of the republican group, served jail time for their actions, and have spoken openly about their mindset and thinking behind their membership of that group.  […]