When I worked with teachers, one of the great problems in developing their abilities was the pace of life in schools. When you were scrabbling to fill out yet another form, make contact with little Johnny’s mother and get lessons prepared for next week or even next Monday, it was difficult to find time to […]
August, 2020
Prince Andrew & Belfast’s Youth: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? by Donal Lavery
“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts.. perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” – John Steinbeck “Put not your trust in Princes.” – Psalm 146:3-5, The Holy Bible Before I begin I must state that I actually do not dislike the Queen and think she has done many positive things, as well as leading […]
Are there different levels of guilt?
On 8 November 1987, a bomb went off in Enniskillen, killing ten civilians and one policeman attending a Remembrance Sunday event. The IRA said it was their bomb but the intended target had been British soldiers parading to the memorial. On 23 October 1993, a bomb went off in a fish shop in Belfast’s Shankill […]
TIMES PRESENT, TIMES PAST – RESTORATION OF ORDER by Donal Kennedy
THE TIMES of London each day reproduces a piece from issue of a century ago. It has been doing this since at least 2014 and has revealed what it thought, or intended its readers to think a century ago. Changes of fashion and technology, wars, insurrections, revolutions. Occasionally the paper criticised British outrages, such as […]
DIALOGUE vs DIATRIBE by Donal Kennedy
John Hume, a man of courage and conviction recognised both qualities in Republicans and chose dialogue with Sinn Fein. Hume was already a big man, but he exposed most “respectable” nationalist and “respectable” Cathoilc spokesmen/women, North and South in Ireland, as pygmies, and some merely as pigs. I remember Bishop Cahal Daly saying he wanted […]
John Hume: landmark figure in Irish peace accord – by John Patton
Pioneer of the Irish Credit Union Movement, Member of Parliament at Stormont, Westminster and the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Nobel Laureate, winner of the International Gandhi and Martin Luther King Peace prizes, Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory The Great (KCSG) Born: January 18th, 1937 Died: August 3rd, 2020 _____________________________________________________ Poverty shaped much […]
John Hume and response to his death
They’re at it already. John Hume won’t be buried until tomorrow, but the opportunists are seizing his death to take a swing at their opponents. Gregory Campbell led the field. “He could be very prickly”, Gregory allowed when asked about Hume, “but then I’m sure he’d say the same about me.” (See what he did […]
Jude and Dr Federica Ferlanti talk about modern-day China
Dr Ferlanti is an academic from the University of Cardiff. She very kindly allowed me to eat into her time on holiday to talk about the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, and what part nationalism plays in both areas.
Pat and Jude Zoom-chat about…John Hume
ily It’s an odd thing about writing and talking: if you feel engaged with the topic, have strong feelings about it, the writing and talking comes very easy; whereas if it’s something you really have little interest in, it’s like stabbing a vein to draw ink for your pen. So my Zoom-chat with Pat today was an easy number: John Hume bestrode Irish politics like a Colossus for many years. For many, he epitomised what was best in Irish politics. As editor of the Derry Journal in the 1980s, Pat knew John Hume well, and I met him a couple of times myself. But watch the Zoom-chat, watch the Zoom-chat…
John Hume: a man for all seasons
I’ve just heard Chris Buckler talking with Gerry Adams about John Hume and his opposition to violence. As is to be expected from Raidio Uladh/Radio Ulster, Buckler did all he could to contrast John Hume as peacemaker with Gerry Adams as man of violence. Adams pointed out that at that time, Sinn Féin were ostracized […]