December, 2016

  Imagine the DUP did a deal with Apple, to allow it keep 6000 employees in Ballymena. Corporation tax is at 12.5% but they allowed Apple to incorporate 2 companies in Northern Ireland without having to specify an address and allowing them not to declare any activities not involving physical involvement in Northern Ireland. Not […]

  or, The OVERLOOKED   WHISKEY: It was the week before Christmas when all the through the city, every creature was stirring, especially those on the finance committee. That was the Christmas on the cusp of the 90s when one entered the Royal Dublin Hotel on O’Connell Street. In the middle of the crowded lobby […]

One of my heroes, Cardinal Arns of Sao Paolo Archdiocese, died on14 Dec. He inspired many to become involved in the Church’s ministry to the poor and to work for justice and truth in Brazil. Arns was born Sept. 14, 1921, in Criciuma, Brazil. In 1945, he was ordained a priest and served in Petropolis. He was ordained a […]

Some years ago, various Irish writers were invited for their considered judgement on the 1916 Rising. Fintan O’Toole’s point of depatrure and point of arrival was Fintan O’Toole and his recollection of its Silver Jubilee in 1966 when he was eight years old. A reader coming fresh to the supposed topic would have learned nothing […]

There’s an article in The Guardian this morning (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/dec/19/how-tv-news-failed-to-keep-up-in-2016 ) about the way that TV news has become relegated to second place with an awful lot of people under fifty. The article bemoans the fact that if you’re one of the many getting your news from social media like Facebook and Twitter, you’re getting it […]

Sinn Fein have seemingly sided with the Opposition parties in walking out on First Minister ,Arlene Foster of the DUP as she launched out on a personal speech , hoping to exonorate herself before she got down to the business of getting that Christmas bird into the oven. She obviously wanted to offload all that […]

This is for guest bloggers and those who comment. A number of examples of offensive remarks have been drawn to my attention – sometimes I notice them myself. I’ve changed the system so that people can put their comments up without my vetting them first, which means I’m depending on people to engage in civilized […]

We all know someone who has or have personally experienced the suffering that accompanies mental illness. I remember at school you would see people who always wore the cuffs of their jumper down to hide the signs of evident self-harm – it was heartbreaking to encounter. I’m a bit on the creative side of things, […]

I am so glad I went public on the personal abuse I received last week from a man in the parish. I have received a good deal of positive feedback. It has given me the strength to refuse to accept any kind of abuse in the future. I refuse to be part of any kind […]

Recent BLOGS of mine referred to parliamentary and local government election in Ireland, focussing on the General Election in 1918 and Local Elections in 1920, both of which returned majorities of candidates who had run on a Republican Separatist Manifesto, I’m unaware of any references in recent years to the Local Elections of 1920 – […]