January, 2023

HOLY DAYS, UNHOLY DAYS AND TUCKING IN FOR THE FEAST OF ST BRIGID – by Donal Kennedy

  Though the Catholic Bishops of Ireland collectively supported the British appointed Provisional Government of 1922, and acquiesced in its murder of its Republican prisoners, that irregular junta, stuffed full of pietistic Catholics, chose not to  follow the normal European practice of giving workers a day’s break from work so that they were free to […]

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ERRANT KNIGHTS? – by Donal Kennedy

I watched an old programme last night where Michael  Portillo’s train took him to Romania and its capital Bucharest.It showed a massive monumental block of flats, no uglier than the Victor Emmanuel monument in Rome, where many acres of handsome streets had been cleared of their residents at a few hours’ notice and flattened by […]

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Getting to know you

  The Irish Times this morning continues reporting bits of the survey it’s done regarding Irish politics and a united Ireland.The paper emphasise the impartiality of the research, with 1,000  people in the north and 1,000 people  in the south questioned, and in addition  focus group discussion. Today’s report tells the reader how much (or […]

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Immigration – by Carl Duffy

  I strongly dislike our apparent inability to have a sensible and balanced discussion around immigration without accusations of far-right, bigoted or racist being hurled towards anyone even mildly critical of our current approach. Whilst I am sympathetic towards anyone looking to escape hardship – such as economic struggles or political oppression – this does […]

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POLAND: VILLAIN, VICTIM, OR BOTH? by Donal Kennedy

          I write of the Polish State established when “British and French  bayonets rescued Poland  from the bondage of a century and a half” in 1920.   I quote Winston Churchill’s speech in the British House of Commons on October 5 1938 following Poland joining Nazi Germany in grabbing territory from […]

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Ho Chi Minh, Allende,Castro,Che Guevara, Hugo Chavez: there is a name missing from this list – can you guess who it is?  – by Fra Hughes

When people in the west look for inspirational figures who fought imperialism, they often turn to Ho Chi Minh who fought the American military industrial complex in Vietnam. They often turn to Allende another great resistance fighter, assassinated for his attempts to defy western hegemony in Chile. Castro and Guevara are revered in Cuba for […]

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