“CUIMHNIGH AR LUIMNEACH!” were probably the last words heard by the uncomprehending crack troops of King George II’s Coldstream Guards on 11th May 1745 before perishing on the thrusting bayonets of Irish Brigadesmen in the service of King Louis XV of France. Some might even have heard “CUIMHNIGH AR LUIMNEACH AGUS AR FHEALL NA SASANAIGH” […]
July, 2017
Wimbledon: a British TV institution
The Brits are hard to beat when it comes to making an event a national treasure. Time and television help too : the Dimblebys are as valued for their many TV years as they are for their expertise. The same applies to the programme that’s dominating our screens these days: Wimbledon. The BBC’s been televising Wimbledon […]
‘Bonfires are Culture’ by John O’Neill
Are bonfires a cultural activity? That seems to be the persistent defence offered by unionists. Annually, at least half a million pounds is spent cleaning up the mess created by the Eleventh night bonfires. That is on top of the cost of the emergency services, as the PSNI and Ambulance Service tend to be busy, […]
‘The price of a bung’ by Kieran Cairns
On The Marr show (2/7/17) Michael Gove, one of the Conservatives Brexit negotiators, described the £1bn deal with the Democratic Unionist Party as good for the whole of Britain because it keeps the Conservatives in power. Mr Gove went on to say that the £1bn payment was nowhere near a bung as suggested by many media […]
Stormont: au revoir or goodbye?
‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’: I’ve always wondered about that statement. A decade or more ago, Martin McGuinness was the Minister for Education and had declared an end to the Eleven Plus examination, which split children neatly into approximately one-third who were the Smart Ones and two-thirds who were the Stupid Ones. I wrote […]
SATURDAY PICS OF THE WEEK
Pics 1-3 are by John Patton Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 “River Tay is the longest in Scotland and one of the biggest on the UK mainland. It rises in the Western Highlands at Ben Lu, flows through Perth and is tidal to its emergence on the Firth of Tay, south of […]
THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT by Perkin Warbeck
The Newt is the graveyard shift who continues to dig. What with his Southern Yune colleagues on The Unionist Times from Hugh ‘Boo Hoo’ Linehan and the gloomy, doom-laden Editor (whoever he or she might be this week – call him or her, Mistress/ Master Revolving-D’or for the nonce) forecasting the near-imminent demise of […]
‘Stormont Crisis: Both DUP and British Government have much to reflect upon’ by Declan Kearney
Martin McGuinness resigned as Joint First Minister on 9th January due to serious allegations of financial corruption associated with the DUP at the heart of government in the north of Ireland and a denial of rights and equality. That reality continues to overshadow the political process and therefore the Assembly and Executive continue to […]
Blogs: next you know this is what happens…
http://www.thejournal.ie/regina-doherty-garda-complaint-blogger-3482139-Jul2017/?utm_source=shortlink
IRISH TIMES LETTERS AND THE NOTION OF A NATION
In Henry V, Shakespeare has a minor Irish character ask a number of angry questions: “What ish my nation? Ish a villain, and a bastard, and a knave, and a rascal? What ish my nation? Who talks of my nation?” We’ve been asking the same kind of question in the intervening five hundred years and […]