October, 2016

  I listened to a most interesting interview on RTE radio on Sunday morning with the poet Brendan Kennelly. Miriam O’Callaghan interviewed Brendan on the occasion of his 80th birthday and to mark his return to live in his native Kerry. Brendan is one of my favourite poets and people. I met him only once on Westmoreland […]

This morning (10 October) Relatives for Justice met the British government representative for the North, Secretary of State (SoS) James Brokenshire MP, at Stormont House. The meeting was at the request of the SoS as part of his wider process of hearing from organisations and families about dealing with the past following the failure to […]

The 1936 rout of Sir Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirted Fascist thugs, who, 5,000 strong, intended to march through Whitechapel, a poor, largely Jewish and Irish part of London’s East End, was commemorated by thousands of people of numerous ethnic origins   London on Sunday  9th October. Behind Trade Union, Labour Party, Communist and other Left Wing Banners, […]

There are two traditional schools of thought – OK, two blinkered positions – about the reunification of Ireland. The first of these argues that reunification is the Holy Grail, and that when you’re seeking the Holy Grail, you don’t get into long discussions about what a Grail is or what shape it should take in […]

Just in case you haven’t caught my posting of this on Facebook or Twitter, here’s this gem by Fascinating Aida….Funny and deadly.

I’m temperamentally lazy, and hiding in a corner with a book as a child was a way of dodging unwelcome duties or shutting myself away from sibling quarrels. My elder brother and sister were 6 and 5 years older respectively, and my younger sister and brother 4 and 5 years younger than I was. Thus I […]

A letter sent to the IRISH POST  Irishmen in the British Forces in the First World War were fulfilling the august destiny prophesied for  Irish males under Home Rule by John Redmond in a speech he made to a British audience in London on St.Patrick’s Day 1913 which seems to have escaped the notice of […]

  Some say leaders are born and not made. Whatever the origins of their talent, they are individuals who, put simply, can inspire and motivate others to do things. When we think of the acclaimed ‘Natural Born Leaders’, images spring to mind of Mandela, Julius Caesar, Kennedy, Churchill and even, closer to home, Mr. Collins […]

In the wake of my recently-introduced comments changes,  I’d advise all of those commenting (and guest blog writers) to check the About Me section.  You’ll find there that if you choose to land yourself in the dock, you’ll be going there without me…

The Fine Gael Finance Minister, Michael Noonan, looked well on TV last night. Over recent months, he’s been showing his age and then some – an eye  rheumy and inflamed, skin blotchy, shoulders slumped. Clearly a man feeling the weight of juggling the south’s finances. But last night he looked well. Maybe it was the quality […]