Donald Trump has many faults, but one that upsets many people is his habit of lying. He’s accused of sexual bullying, even rape by a whole series of women, and his response is, they’re making it up. He says Theresa May didn’t take the advice he gave her, which would have meant a successful Brexit, […]
July, 2018
Orange Order thinking: has it paralysed the rest of us?
Well, that’s it for another year. The marching. Except, of course, for all the other marches there will be between now and Christmas. If you’re like me, you’ll have the melancholy privilege of remembering some of the resolutions read aloud by bowler-hatted men at Twelfth gatherings before the Troubles. You know, when there were no […]
Irish history and reasons to be servile by Antaine de Brún
The title of Duke of Sussex was conferred upon Prince Frederick the sixth son of King George III on 24 November 1801. Prince Augustus Frederick married Lady Augusta Murray in 1793 and secondly Lady Cecilia Gore on 2 May 1831. Both marriages were in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772 thus the couple’s children were illegitimate. Not […]
LET NOTHING YOU DISMAY? THE TIMES COMES CLEAN: CARRINGTON WAS A SCOUNDREL! by Donal Kennedy
The Times of London, over two pages and ten columns recalled the life and times of Peter Carington (with but one “r”, known to the world as the 6th Baron Carrington (with two). Its Obituarist no doubt likes to demonstrate that he knows a Lord’s “Rs” from his elbow. An improvement on the Obituarist of John […]
The Big Game, the Eleventh Night and the Twelfth
The Big Game, the Eleventh Night and the Twelfth: two of the three have now passed and have left a bitter taste in a lot of mouths. In the case of the Big Game, you could see it coming. It was a truth universally acknowledged that the England team got to the semi-finals because they […]
La na bhFiann by Donal Kennedy
Today, 11 July used be celebrated by Ireland’s Defence Forces as Fenian’s Day with a Holiday to commemorate the first truce between Irish and British forces since the Treaty of Limerick. For, on 11 July 1921 the British sued for peace with the forces of the democratically established Irish Republic. I don’t know whether the […]
Six things every fire-worshipper should keep in mind
Control your pyro urges and try to struggle against premature incineration. Every year we see bonfires that just can’t hold back and shoot their contents into the sky in helpless flames. This can be disappointing for other parties. Hold back until tonight. Make sure you’ve got the grant before you stick up […]
THE RAF – A TERRORIST ORGANISATION? by Donal Kennedy
The British historian AJP Taylor held that Britain’s Royal Air Force was established as a terrorist force and that its inspiration was an MP called Pemberton Billings. Lord French, when Lord Lieutenant in Ireland favoured that role to frighten the unarmed voters. It was used to “police” the North West frontier of India, and particularly Iraq, […]
To lose one Cabinet minister is unfortunate, to lose two looks like carelessness
As Oscar Wilde almost said, to lose one Cabinet minister is unfortunate, to lose two looks like carelessness. We were still drawing our breath at the exit over Brexit by David Davis, when word arrived that Boris Johnson had taken his ball and gone home as well. It looked as if the British government was […]
MAGIC MOMENTS, SENIOR MOMENTS by Donal Kennedy
Early last October my wife and I made our leisurely way back through France after three weeks in southern Provence. Eight years ago my wife towed our caravan to its site there. All the way from London over six days. Her planning was as meticulous as that for Operation Overlord and its execution faultless. Perhaps I […]