So. You enjoying the coverage of the election campaign in Fermanagh/South Tyrone? Thanks to BBC and UTV reports, it’s now clear that Fermanagh/South Tyrone is stuck in the past. Almost daily references, verbal and visual, to the ‘dreary steeples’ and people mindlessly and tribally voting for orange or green. We still haven’t learnt, we’re told, […]
Tag Archives | Sinn Féin
Timothy Gaston: the kid stays out of the picture
Sometimes I don’t know whether to throw myself on the ground and roll around laughing, or make a fist and punch it through the nearest wall. On Wednesday night Timothy Gaston was elected deputy Mayor of the new supercouncil Mid and East Antrim. Timothy is a member of the TUV party. His fellow councillors politely lined […]
The media: they’ll do your thinking for you
How important would you say the media are? If you said ‘Very’ you were probably near the mark. ‘Extremely’ would also have qualified and so would ‘stupendously’. Think about it. Do you know Barack Obama? Robert Mugabe? David Cameron? Most people, even though they’ve never met or even glimpsed any of these men in the […]
How to be civilised
Sometimes it’s tempting to despair. You’ll find people who imagine you say things you didn’t, believe (or pretend to believe) you’ve written things you haven’t. People who, if you have a point of view different from theirs, just can’t make that leap towards engagement and discussion, stick instead with hostility and vitriol. But then, once […]
‘Cuts and Catholic education’ by Patrice Hardy
The possible closure of St Mary’s University College has sparked debate surrounding Catholic Education. I have read that faith based schools cause ‘segregation’ and are the ‘root of division’ here in the North. Catholic schools are inclusive to all. They are open to pupils of all religions and of none. They promote mutual respect, […]