For a micro-group, there seemed to be an awful lot of them. Then again, the TV camera loves a crowded picture – it can even make attendance at a hockey match look big. But the balaclava-ed figure who spoke into the microphone in Derry yesterday was real enough. Representing the Real IRA, he said that […]
April, 2012
Derry and Milltown: starkly contrasting strategies
For a micro-group, there seemed to be an awful lot of them. Then again, the TV camera loves a crowded picture – it can even make attendance at a hockey match look big. But the balaclava-ed figure who spoke into the microphone in Derry yesterday was real enough. Representing the Real IRA, he said that […]
Easter 1916 – then and now (oh, and black and white as well)
I’ve recently been poring over the Irish newspaper accounts written in 1916, in response to the Easter Rising. You can probably guess what they boiled down to. They were agin it. Several of them lamented the damage done to the fine architecture of the city of Dublin. Others were in no doubt that the Rising […]
Easter 1916 – then and now (oh, and black and white as well)
I’ve recently been poring over the Irish newspaper accounts written in 1916, in response to the Easter Rising. You can probably guess what they boiled down to. They were agin it. Several of them lamented the damage done to the fine architecture of the city of Dublin. Others were in no doubt that the Rising […]
Unionists, the Irish language and all that
I’m looking forward to a talk near the end of the month by Robert McMillen. He’s the guy who writes the weekly cupla focal column in the VO and he’s going to be talking about the politicization of the Irish language. Wonderful. Because the last time I tried talking to a prominent Gaeilgeoir about this, […]
Unionists, the Irish language and all that
I’m looking forward to a talk near the end of the month by Robert McMillen. He’s the guy who writes the weekly cupla focal column in the VO and he’s going to be talking about the politicization of the Irish language. Wonderful. Because the last time I tried talking to a prominent Gaeilgeoir about this, […]
The school across the border’s not the same
You could have predicted it would come from John O’Dowd, couldn’t you? Besides being Education Minister, he’s one of the most energetic and articulate MLAs up in Stormont, so when he announced the other day that education departments on both sides of the border are looking at ways of sending children who live on one […]
The school across the border’s not the same
You could have predicted it would come from John O’Dowd, couldn’t you? Besides being Education Minister, he’s one of the most energetic and articulate MLAs up in Stormont, so when he announced the other day that education departments on both sides of the border are looking at ways of sending children who live on one […]
David Cameron’s plans for civil liberties: they’re for your own good.
“The innocent have nothing to fear”. That’s how the latest proposed violation of our privacy is being touted. Or maybe I should say “public proposed violation”. Because you may be sure you’re being watched and monitored in all you say and do without being told a thing about it. Take Google Earth. The first time […]
David Cameron’s plans for civil liberties: they’re for your own good.
“The innocent have nothing to fear”. That’s how the latest proposed violation of our privacy is being touted. Or maybe I should say “public proposed violation”. Because you may be sure you’re being watched and monitored in all you say and do without being told a thing about it. Take Google Earth. The first time […]