“Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman Giving all your love to just one man You’ll have bad times, and he’ll have good times Doin’ things that you don’t understand” By Tammy Wynette So Arlene Foster , our esteemed First minister , is a victim then. She’s one of the million of us who had […]
January, 2017
‘Twelve Years A Slave’ by Joe McVeigh
I watched the film ‘Twelve Years a Slave’ on TV last night or should I say I watched as much of it as I could. It is a shocking film especially the scenes where the slaves were beaten. It is a disturbing film as it dramatises very starkly the cruel life of the slaves –men […]
‘ Minister for Transport Must Explain Flight from Shannon to NATO Air Base in Southern Turkey’ by Shannonwatch
Shannonwatch, 2nd January 2017 Shannonwatch calls on the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross to explain why a plane operating on behalf of the US military was permitted to fly from Shannon Airport to Incirlik Air Base in Southern Turkey and back on Friday December 30th. The air base which is close […]
NO SWEARING by John Patton
(John Patton blogs at phototilly.eu) Sajid Javid has proposed that all holders of public office should take an oath of allegiance to British values. What those values are, or represent, is not specifically defined but some ribald suggestions have surfaced on the internet from warm pints of bitter to mushy peas. Given that Javid is […]
The RHI affair: what should happen, what might happen and the long-term consequences
Despite valiant efforts to muddy the waters with talk of misogyny and Arlene Foster’s control of the RHI scheme being fault-free, most of us have a firm grip on what the Cash-for-Ashes scheme involved and who it involved. It was set up under DUP MLA Arlene Foster, the less-than-good work was continued by DUP MLA […]
One article and one definition: who would have thunk either?
Two interesting snippets I’ve been directed to. First is by Michael McDowell – no, no, put down that baseball bat. Read the piece. The time has come to speak a little “Truth to Power” – to Samantha Power The second is this definition of ‘misogyny’. I like it.
FIRE IN THE HOLD
There was a programme on Channel 4 recently about a possible contributory factor to the sinking and demise of the “Titanic”. The nub of the theory is that when it set out on its ill-fated voyage , the damage was already done deep down in the ship’s innards. A coal fire, glowing progressively below decks […]
HEROES ALL? by Donal Kennedy
In 1940 German forces overran France. But they did not outrun the British Expeditionary Force nor those French Forces who accompanied them across the Channel to England. Neither those French forces remaining in France, nor those who had fled to England, nor the former British Expeditionary Force were in any condition to put up […]
Put Candidly: Who Should Lead Sinn Fein? by Donal Lavery
There is a hypothesis in this world that leaders are born and not made. But the Irish people, through all their struggles and toils, have always been able to produce a proverbial “man of the moment” when required. Whatever you think of their politics, Michael Collins, DeValera and Sean Lemass were all authoritative figures who […]
Arlene Foster this morning: protesting too much?
The IRA tried to kill her father. Misogynists hate her because she’s a woman. People are suggesting that what happened should be examined by a public inquiry but she’s done nothing wrong. Sinn Féin think that she, the leader of unionism, will roll over, but that’s not going to happen. The lady doth protest too […]