HEATHER AND THE RELIC Sammy McIlwaine’s sister looked a lot like him – same fair hair, freckled face, slightly bulging blue eyes. The difference was that where Sammy’s teeth were crooked, Heather’s were neat. And where Sammy’s shoulders were square and knocked you against walls when you walked beside him, Heather’s were smooth and plump […]
May, 2020
QUEEN’S REGULATIONS, BIG BOYS’ RULES and SERVING THE QUEEN’S PLEASURE by Donal Kennedy
In my recent BLOG “TRADITION, LONG ESTABLISHED PRACTICE AND SEEKING THE QUEEN’S PLEASURE I described the strict order required to have British Army units and personnel permitted to partake in non traditional or unaccustomed activities. High up in the pecking order is a Major General, and above him the Silver Stick in Waiting […]
Don’t blame the teachers by John Patton
The Tory Government’s catastrophic mishandling of COVID-19 has caused an unacceptably gross number of deaths; to date nearly 200 of them are NHS and Care workers ; the BBC Panorama programme and the Sunday Times have exposed how unprepared the Government was for the pandemic; when the facts became public, they lied about the amount […]
Lockdown and learning: get it while you can
This blog first appeared in the Andersonstown News So – how’s your lock-down going? Assuming you’re not one of those brave men and women who are out there working as shop assistants, check-out people, food-supply drivers, health workers of all kinds. The rest of us are at home, on our own or with our partner or with our family. And it has […]
Colm Gildernew on the history of gerrymander
An Phoblacht Gerrymandering – Boundary Commission Op-Ed 09.09.2018, Colm Gildernew. “Gerrymandering; The act of altering political boundaries to give an unfair advantage to one political party or people” (Collins English Dictionary online 09.09.2018; https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gerrymandering) “Gerrymander; Manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favour one party or class”. (Oxford English Dictionaries online 09.09.2018 https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gerrymander) In 1812 […]
Colm Gildernew and electoral boundaries
This is from a Zoom chat earlier today with Colm Gildernew MLA regarding planned changes in the electoral boundaries. It is a story that could leave you feeling that not much has changed… Bainigi sult as…Enloy
Pat + Jude + It Sez in the Papers
This is a Zoom chat I had with Pat McArt earlier today. We were aiming to create an ‘It says in the papers’ slot, by choosing a few items that were drawing headlines in newspapers or on websites, and talking about them. We’ve consciously tried to keep the number of items and the length of […]
The Irish protocol: let’s just trust the British, OK lads?
So should we be throwing our greasy caps at the moon in delight or howling in despair at the same moon, in response to the British paper yesterday on what’s become known as the Protocol (where do they get these clunky titles?) ? Maybe a bit of both. On the positive side, Michael Gove has […]
Michael McDowell can count?
Ranelagh Arts fest. Senate Debate, Sandford Park school. Ruairi Quinn, Michael McDowell, Eoghan Murphy TD, Noel Whelan. Chair: Dan O’Brien, Irish Times. Photo: Michael Foley. Fintan O’Toole may not be my favourite journalist but he does write well and in a piece in the Irish Times he rips into a fellow-columnist, one Michael McDowell. McDowell, you probably […]
ARE ALL IRISH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES FIT FOR PURPOSE? by Donal Kennedy
In my BLOG “STRIKING ATTTITUDES “(May13) I quoted an ex-Minister for Education, Gemma Hussey whose ignorance of and contempt for Irish history, culture and sentiment were the most striking components of a galaxy-embracing ignorance which served neither the Glory of God, nor the Honour of Ireland, to which the electorate dedicated our Constitution when they enacted it. […]