Well – here it is – Der Tag, as the Germans term it. The Day. By the end of today, Theresa May’s (and the EU’s) withdrawal deal will either have been accepted and passed by the British House of Commons, or it’ll have blown up on the launch-pad, leaving a number of badly-injured crew-members, including […]
Author Jude Collins
LAPTOP BITES BULLDOG (24) by Perkin Warbeck
The Sean O Rourke Show on RTE Radio 1 has coup de graced itself again ! And this time, last Friday, surely did it box all the thicks ! Consider the following: While poor old SOR was unavailable, possibly due to his having to nurse his own curse o’God sore talking head, his seat […]
How dare you not let me draw you
‘24 Hours in A & E’ is a fairly interesting TV show, which watches and listens to real people being rushed into hospital and getting emergency treatment. It’s on Channel 4. On Channel 5, they have ‘GPs: Behind Closed Doors’ which as the name suggests, lets the viewer see what happens in various medical centres […]
Two visits and critical reaction
If you visit a place, does that mean you approve of that place? That’s the assumption on which two critical stories today are built. The first concerns An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who apparently has checked out a male-only site during his visit to northern Ethiopia. Leo left the females in his entourage at the gate, […]
ON REPRESENTATION AND MISREPRESENTATION – OF THE PEOPLE AND THE FACTS by Donal Kennedy
In 1906 John Redmond’s party secured 82 Parliamentary seats. Only 5 of them had been contested and 77 of them had been uncontested. More votes in Ireland were given to Unionists than to Redmond’s Party. Unionists were not short of funds nor rich friends in comparison to Redmond’s Party. Some questions might be asked:- Why […]
Paddy Ashdown and Ireland
Irish Times Letters 8 Jan 2019 Sir, – In the obituary of Paddy Ashdown (January 5th, 2019) it is stated that, “he was once required to arrest the Catholic civil rights activist and future fellow MP John Hume on the streets of Belfast”. How absolving – “was once required”. How inaccurate – “streets of Belfast”. The facts […]
Saturday pics of the week
Pics 1 and 2 are by Perkin Warbeck Pic 1 Pic 2 CÉAD MÍLE MALTA chuig LOS MEXICANOS Malta welcomes dogs of all breeds, sizes and sounds. Including bite-sized chihuahuas of which at least umpteen would be needed to make up […]
What are you worth?
The new year coaxes us to reflect. We look back at what’s gone, we ponder (or in 2019, fear) what the future holds in its fist. We sometimes wonder what it’s all about, or why things are the way they are. So try pondering this. In 1995 Queen Elizabeth wrote a letter. Of course she […]
Food for thought by Antaine de Brún
Why do the British know so little about Irish history? The question is posed in History Today Vol 69 Issue 1 2019. Perhaps some answers may be found in the following statements: “Divided countries are not successful countries.” Chancellor of the Exchequer 5 December 2018 “The northern Ireland backstop shows the predatory nature of the […]
Good to see you. Come in, come in.
Cead mile fáilte. Ireland of the welcomes. If you’re Irish, come into the parlour. It’s really good to be part of a warm-hearted people, isn’t it? But hold. What’s this I see in the papers this morning? On the border between Leitrim and Roscommon, there’s a hotel called the Shannon Key West Hotel. Actually they’d […]