October, 2022

THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN’S C.P. SCOTT ON THE SIGNING OF THE ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT IN LONDON 1921 by Donal Kennedy

    “Came up to London 2nd December…at Hammond’s * urgent request who reported the situation almost desperate and was anxious for me to see Lloyd George. Hobhouse** concurring. Met Laski*** and Hammond at Euston and talked while Hammond had lunch. Laski reported conversation  with Churchill in which Churchill was full of threats of John Bull […]

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PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT THE DUP ELECTION, PUTIN’S LONG SPEECH, THE SOUTH AND REFUGEES, & HARRY THE SPARE

Oh no! Not another one? Yep, another election is headed our way in our dear stateen, courtesy of the DUP. You’ve heard of the dam-busters? And the Ghostbusters? Meet the DUP – the protocol busters. To quote Doug Beattie regarding the next number of weeks: “It should be fun”. Did you catch Vlad Putin’s long […]

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REVIEW OF ‘THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN’ by John Patton

  McDonagh has enjoyed signiicant success in the theatre and those skills illuminate   the script and direction; actors require characters who are multi-dimensional and lines which have meaning and are contextually appropriate; music, set and costume are important dramatic forces in a production. These requirements are well fulfilled in the film; each of the cast […]

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MORE MUSING ON CIVIL WAR LEADERS by Donal Kennedy

≈   The only legitimate Government in Ireland from January 1919 was Dail Eireann and the electorate renewed its authority in 1921. Local Government elections for County Councils, Municipalities and smaller councils in 1920 resulted in the vast majority supporting the Republic. The Irish Republican Brotherhood previous to the establishment of Dail Eireann, was of […]

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Twas’ the Night Before Election… – by Michael Lagan

To say Northern Irish Unionism is in a bit of a pickle is an understatement of the most epic proportions.  Friday morning, one minute after midnight the Secretary of State for this little mess of a place may call a general election because one party refuses to sit in the Executive, essentially paralysing its decision-making […]

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MUSINGS ON LEADERS OF THE “CIVIL WAR” – by Donal Kennedy

    On 21st January 1919  the Inaugural Meeting of Dail Eireann had a small attendance.  Every candidate elected in Ireland the month before was invited. The 26 Unionists and the 6 “Nationalists” elected boycotted the National Parliament and 37 of the 73 Republicans were in British jails- many accused of a “German” plot which might […]

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