April, 2016

I hadn’t realised Phoenix was as sharp and insightful as it appears to be. Raise your hand if this page told you something you didn’t know? Right – I  thought as much… 20160408 Phoenix Cork Univ Press withdraw Britain’s Algeria-1

John Patton blogs at http://phototilly.eu/ A belated PR exercise is in full swing this morning to assure parents that everything is being done to accommodate their children, following the forced closure of 17 PFI built schools in Edinburgh. Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide education for all pupils, aged 5-15 years, within their boundaries. […]

A recent court case in Belfast has caused not merely disquiet but orchestrated uproar in the media. Speaking for myself, I’d be less upset if I were given a suspended sentence of three months’ imprisonment than if I was to be told that my life was to be arbitrarily terminated and my body chucked in a […]

Given the history and nature of the state we live in, it’s not surprising that every so often we run into contradictions and absurdities that take the breath away. Calling this state ‘Ulster’ or ‘The Province’ is one. Referring to it as ‘this wee country’ is another. Implying that soccer players from the north who […]

(John Patton blogs at http://phototilly.eu/ ) After the inclement weather over the past couple of weeks, many parents will today welcome the end of the school holidays. For many, an anxious few weeks lie ahead as their children prepare to sit Highers at the end of this month. However, the greatest disruption will be in Edinburgh where […]

An evening with . . . Randall Stephen Hall  and the lively band.   * If you and a friend would like to be on the guest list just let me know. A launch celebrating a new album of 17 songs. Venue. The Black Box, Belfast. Thursday 26th of May 2016. Doors open 8.00pm. Show […]

Dear Jude I came across your site by accident. I must say I am so thankful to see that there are still some fearless commentators who stand up for the values I was brought up with. I had almost despaired when reading the noxious imperialist lies produced by the IT and the Indo day after […]

Did you laugh when you heard about it? I confess I did, just a little bit. The thought of a deeply religious man like the Archbishop of Canterbury finding out that his mother had been having a bit of how’s-your-father with a man other than her husband when the Archbishop was conceived, must have prompted […]

  “The Dear knows”, as my late mother would say…. that it’s a dunderheaded uselessness to even give it any time or thought at all.The “Dear” being some transcendent overseer of all human foibles on earth….a sort of cosmic Shakespeare, tasked to write and manipulate the stories and pull the strings of soft-headed commonfolk. That’s […]

    Is Ireland on the precipice of a paradigm-altering shift in politics, or are we simply witnessing grand scale pontification? Since conception, Fianna Fail has been almost permanently in charge with Fine Gael the permanent opposition, occasionally let loose to instil its own brand of corruption in the Dail and on the state. Enda […]