August, 2021

The Paralympics – are we patronising people who compete? Is it possible to equate/compare different disabilities and make for a level playing field? In a recent opinion poll, the DUP were showing as fourth most popular party. Have they really fallen so low so quickly? And will it translate into fewer seats for them, come […]

BUT originally published in the online IRISH DEMOCRAT in September 2005 under the pseudonym “Pangloss” “ISN’T THIS A FORTUNATE GENERATION? No longer need we live in ignorance of how our fellow men, women and children live, or die. Twenty-four hour radio, television and internet. Billions of mobile phones, Newspaper chains and multimedia empires dedicated to giving us news […]

Sir, Fintan O’Toole’s column on the unacknowledged ‘disaster’ Sinn Fein supposedly imposed on the Irish people is based on a twin conceit. The first is that those younger than him know nothing about and are uninterested in the 1968 – 97 northern conflict. The second is that older folk like him, who lived through it, […]

This blog first appeared as a column in the Andersonstown News In 1838, a 20,000-strong British army marched into Kabul. They installed Shah Shuja as an Afghan puppet leader. The Afghans, not surprisingly, hated the invaders, and in 1841 insurrection broke out. In the winter of 1842 the British began to withdraw. The cold weather took its toll; then as the British reached a mountain […]

This blog is by a school friend who sincerely wishes his native land well and has lived in Switzerland for the most of his life  This morning BBC Radio 6 Cos reports that Sir Donaldson calledon the Taoiseach to make statements on the Brexit protocol forNorn Irn, to stoke up Sir Donaldson’s polemic. I hope Micheálhas enough sense […]

This blog first appeared as a TV Review in the Andersonstown News Were you watching Mayo v Dublin Gaelic Football All-Ireland semi-final? Or maybe ‘Where were you watching’, rather than ‘Were you watching’ – both RTÉ TWO and Sky Sports carried the game live last Sunday.  Nice, that the national broadcaster should for once allow us to view a national game, rather than bow down to […]

Reducing your Carbon Footprint -Small Changes Add Up Reduce your carbon footprint and save money at the same time LOW COST TIPS: -Draught excluders around windows and doors could save between £20-30 per year also saving 650lbs of carbon dioxide (CO2) -Insulate your home and save £120 per year. -Switch off – don’t leave appliances […]

You probably remember the sunny uplands that Boris Johnson said would be the fruit of Brexit. Well, if we’re to believe the Daily Mail  and other organs, there is a crisis in supply chains to supermarkets because there are not nearly enough lorry-drivers to get produce from A to B, and people are being urged […]

This blog first appeared as a column in the Andersonstown News As surely as the evenings grow darker and we will soon feel the need to reach for our sweater, so does this time of year bring the agony and the ecstasy of ‘A’ Level results. This year they’ve relied entirely on the teacher’s assessment, and the air is thick with solemn talk of ‘grade […]

If it wasn’t so tragic it’d be funny. Finally, after twenty long years, the Americans decide it wasn’t a good idea to remain as permanent invaders of Afghanistan. The response to this decision has shown up the delusion several countries appear to be labouring under.  Here are five things deserving of at least a minute’s […]