June, 2013

As the demi-gods prepare to swoop amongst us from the skies, this excerpt from a letter in today’s Irish Times: “ In the longer term, the summit will bring worldwide attention to this beautiful corner of north west Ireland and will undoubtedly lead to it becoming an ever more popular international tourism destination.” Now where […]

As the demi-gods prepare to swoop amongst us from the skies, this excerpt from a letter in today’s Irish Times: “ In the longer term, the summit will bring worldwide attention to this beautiful corner of north west Ireland and will undoubtedly lead to it becoming an ever more popular international tourism destination.” Now where […]

Peter Robinson was on the telly last night,  emphasising how economics  (i.e., the money from Britain) was tied to our Shared Future. Makes  sense, I suppose. You’re more likely to look kindly on your neighbour if both of you aren’t scrabbling to survive. So the thing is, where would we be without British money, eh? […]

Peter Robinson was on the telly last night,  emphasising how economics  (i.e., the money from Britain) was tied to our Shared Future. Makes  sense, I suppose. You’re more likely to look kindly on your neighbour if both of you aren’t scrabbling to survive. So the thing is, where would we be without British money, eh? […]

I was walking along a street near Belfast yesterday and some schoolboys passed me on their way home. “The one I want to see is Obama!” one of them shouted, the way schoolboys do. And sure why wouldn’t he? Isn’t Obama the most powerful man on earth? And isn’t he a breakthrough – the first […]

I was walking along a street near Belfast yesterday and some schoolboys passed me on their way home. “The one I want to see is Obama!” one of them shouted, the way schoolboys do. And sure why wouldn’t he? Isn’t Obama the most powerful man on earth? And isn’t he a breakthrough – the first […]

George Bernard Shaw had a word or two to say about book censorship: “Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.” That hasn’t prevented the CCEA obediently following the promptings of Mike Nesbitt and his party that the teaching guide with the Carnegie-Medal-winning  novel Bog Child  […]

George Bernard Shaw had a word or two to say about book censorship: “Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.” That hasn’t prevented the CCEA obediently following the promptings of Mike Nesbitt and his party that the teaching guide with the Carnegie-Medal-winning  novel Bog Child  […]

I see my old friend Nelson McCausland is in the news again.  Nelson is a man of great moral integrity, which means he’s always alert to any case where people may be falling short of the high standards he himself observes. In case you’re raising your eyebrows at that, let me remind you that when […]

I see my old friend Nelson McCausland is in the news again.  Nelson is a man of great moral integrity, which means he’s always alert to any case where people may be falling short of the high standards he himself observes. In case you’re raising your eyebrows at that, let me remind you that when […]