What I experienced living in the north of Ireland from 1970 until 1994 was a reign of terror carried out, with British government approval, by the UDR, the RUC and the British army and their allies in loyalist murder gangs. These were the real terrorists in Ireland and they were well trained in the art […]
May, 2017
‘B.G. and the BEE GEES’ by Perkin Warbeck
At first glance one might fancy that the names of Dame Margaret Rutherford and Tony Benn do not belong in the one sentence, even a suspended one. Not because both had greatness trust upon them while being great already, but on account of the factoid that whereas the great actress added a Dame as […]
The Disappeared
As I write this, it looks likely that the remains of Seamus Ruddy, one of the “disappeared”, have been found in northern France. His family certainly appear to believe that his body has been located. They were on television last evening, their reactions that now-familiar mix of sorrow and delight. There is a unique sadness […]
‘Is it a sin to vote Tory?’ by John Patton
Those few remaining Church goers in Scotland may have find some additional challenges to face tomorrow morning. As well as the polite smiles exchanged between worshippers, covert glances will seek to answer the question – did they vote Tory? It was a secret ballot and only those unhinged extroverts in the Davidson mould will reveal choices, made […]
‘The Duke’s in the News’ by Joe McVeigh
I often switch on the 10 o’ clock news to see what’s going on in the big bad world. This last while there have been a lot of stories about President Trump and his shenanigans. Recently, for a change, the headline story was that the Duke of Edinburgh had stood down! Imagine this is the […]
A tale of two Derrymen
Two Derrymen spoke out boldly last week. The first was James McClean, who did an interview with Football Focus which received a surprising amount of admiring comment. I say surprising, not because the interview didn’t deserve attention, but because McClean has had a PR mountain to climb. Predictably, the interview focused on McClean’s opting to […]
Saturday pics of the week
Pics 1-3 are by John Patton (www.phototilly.eu) Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 “My wife and I spent a long weekend in Derry and Donegal last week and the pictures are associated with that too brief sojourn. We were attending the wedding of my oldest sister’s granddaughter in Derry. Pic 3 is the […]
‘Paul Maskey & Gerry Carroll: The Brawl Over Brexit’ by Donal Lavery
After reading Paul’s analysis in the Irish News on how Gerry Carroll is taking the people of West Belfast for a “short-cut” over his new -found love of the EU, I really had to have a good chuckle at what happened next. People Before Profit released a statement, planted about social media as if it […]
‘What was Fintan talking about and was it a nice thing to say?’
OK – your starter for 10. Who or what was Fintan O’Toole talking about when he said this in a recent article: ‘We have to be careful about this, however.”? Was it a) A decision about men peeling off their tops in hot weather. b) Prince Philip’s decision to cut back on “working” 110 days per […]
‘Fermanagh/South Tyrone’ by Joe McVeigh
“Then came the Great War. Every institution in the world was strained. Great empires have been overturned. The whole map of Europe has been changed. The positions of countries have been violently altered. The modes of thought of men, the whole outlook on affairs, the grouping of parties all have encountered violent and tremendous […]