Terence MacSwiney was a hugely courageous man. On this day exactly 100 years ago, he died after 74 days on hunger strike. There was an RTÉ documentary on him last week; today so far I’ve heard two tributes on RTÉ radio – by John Bowman and by a Sunday Miscellany contributor – to this great […]
Author Jude Collins
The UK: things fall apart
This blog first appeared as a column in the Andersonstown News. You may not have noticed but Glasgow Rangers beat Glasgow Celtic last weekend. For many people reading this, that pebble of information will produce a little bruise in the heart. Glasgow Rangers supporters, after all, are the ones waving the union jack, cursing the IRA and bawling the Famine song. Are these people unionists? […]
PAT + JUDE TALK ABOUT THE DAIL BAR, MICHEÁL MARTIN’S SHARED IRELAND AND CRUCIFIXES IN STATE SCHOOLS
Has Micheál Martin found his inner republican? He’s putting up €500 million towards the A5, a bridge at Narrow Water and the development of the Ulster Canal. What is going on? Should the TDs’ bar in the Dail be closed, like other pubs in the south? Or do TDs deserve a drop of the craytur, given how hard they work? Finally, there’s talk of taking away the crucifixes and other symbols of Catholicism from schools in the south. Is this an effort to erase the past, anti-Catholicism or an attempt to have schools reflect the current population in the south? Have a gleek and see if we’re talking 95% or 100% guff…
Micheál pushes a border poll to the back of the bus
I’ve searched it from cover to cover, but no mention to be found. I speak, Virginia, of the Good Friday Agreement, and the one thing I cannot locate is that the unionist population in the north must be in agreement/reconciled/given a veto, before a border poll is called. What you do find is that a […]
A PEELER CALLED SEAN IN 1920? FAKE FICTION GONE MAD! by Donal Kennedy
THE IRISH REACHING OUT BOOK CLUB is a new publication. It has just emailed me a list of new books. The one that arrested my attention and earned my derision is called “PEELER” and is set in West Cork in November 1920 and its central charaacter is Acting Detective Sergeant Sean O’Keefe of the RIC. […]
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY – AND TOMOROW? FROM MAHATMA GANDHI by Donal Kennedy
” I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind. ,,,, I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the […]
JAMES USSHER – THE DUBLIN SCHOLAR WHO CALCULATED THE EARTH’S AGE AT 6,000 YEARS
I picked up “Treasures of the Library of Trinity College Dublin” some years ago and only opened it a few weeks ago. It was written by George Otto Simms (1910-1995), a Dubliner who amongst other distinctions became Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin and later of Armagh, was an authOrity on the Book of Kells […]
With Boris Johnson, anything goes
Those who count these things tell us that Donald Trump has told more than 22,000 lies since being made President of the US. Despite that fact, a huge number of people still think he should be re-elected. They even agree with him on his self-assessment: he’s the greatest president the US has ever had. But […]
WHAT PRINCIPLES GUIDE US NOW? by Donal Kennedy
Eighty-three years ago Irish voters free to do so enacted a liberal democratic constitution which guaranteed freedom of, and freedom from religion. It recorded the statistical fact that the Roman Catholic Church was the guardian of the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens. The great majority of the minority of citizens NOT […]
The dangers of staring at Edwin
I glimpsed a headline on TV recently which said something like “Is this Edwin Poots’s crocodile moment?” The reference, of course, was to Arlene Foster’s disastrous comment going into a general election a few years back, where she said republicans were like crocodiles. It seriously damaged the DUP in that election and gave nationalists and […]