Two names will always stand out as the architects of the Peace process in Ireland. That peace process began some time in the mid-1980s and led to the cessation of armed action by the IRA, the British and the pro-Union Loyalists in 1994-96. The cessations of armed conflict led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 […]
November, 2021
Republicans win Virginia election
Have you heard the news from Virginia? (No, not you, Virginia – the state I mean.) Even at a distance of several thousand miles, it’s enough to make you feel faintly ill. In the race for governor of Virginia, the favourite Terry McAuliffe, who’d been a close ally of Obama and Biden, lost yesterday to […]
Comings and goings in Glasgow: blah blah blah
I came across an article recently outlining the nature and benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy. That’s a treatment of mental illness which encourages people to look at their negative perception of things and try to work to develop more rational, positive attitudes. It doesn’t involve medication and it’s said to be surprisingly effective. I’m working […]
PAT + JUDE TALK ABOUT COP26, THE UK-FRANCE FISHING WAR, THE BURNING OF A BUS, & A NEED FOR TEACHERS
Cop26 is underway in Glasgow. Will there be a meeting of minds? There’d better be – the future of the planet is at stake. And even with this doom-laden background, the British are conducting a fish-war with the French. The Tory minister Liz Truss has given the French 48 hours to ‘back down’. It’s […]
TV Review: THE VIEW and that Armagh service…
This TV review first appeared in The Andersonstown News Sometimes Colum Eastwood reminds me of Billy Bunter, the fat owl of Greyfriars school. You’ll remember Billy’s protestations of innocence – “It wasn’t me that scoffed that cake from your tuck-box which tasted really nice.” So Colum, emerging from the Armagh service, told THE VIEW (BBC ONE): “That was no celebration of partition.” Right, […]