This blog first appeared as a column in The Andersonstown News Among the recent wall-daubings in the Larne region, there was one which warned “No Economic United Ireland”. Before we look more closely at the implications of that statement, let’s look at the North-South economic relationship generally. In 2019., 35% of the North’s exports were to the South. Brexit would have caused massive disruption in […]
March, 2021
HUMAN LIFE MATTERS – BUT NOT TO BIRD-BRAINED NARCISSISTS by Donal Kennedy
Human life matters and human beings, Black and White, Mixed Race,, Male, Female, Jew and Gentile are equally responsible for its defence, and entitled to its enjoyment. Human beings have been defined as rational and moral beings. There is neither rationality nor morality in crowds gathering, purportedly “to make people safe in public space” during […]
Rosemary Nelson – 22 years On – by Joe McVeigh
PACEMAKER BELFAST On 15th March 1999, human rights lawyer, Rosemary Nelson, was assassinated by a pro-British death squad who planted a bomb under her car outside her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh. A group calling themselves The Red Hand Defenders claimed the bombing. Many questions were asked about how the death squad could get in and […]
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied! The case for the Craigavon Two – by Fra Hughes
By Fra Hughes I wrote the following article having attended the Appeal trial of John Paul Wotton and Brendan McConville at the Belfast Court of Appeal on 29/05/2014. As an independent journalist, I sat in court for the full hearing. I met with Gerard Conlon, a man himself wrongly incarcerated and convicted by the British […]
TV Review
This TV Review first appeared in the Andersonstown News Media event of the week for many in Britain and, I might add, many in Ireland, was That Interview – the one Oprah Winfrey conducted with Harry Windsor and his wife Meghan. There’s a temptation in these matters to take side. Either you think Prince Charles is a sensitive, misunderstood soul and his da […]
SINN FEIN’s ELECTION VICTORY IN 1918 – A SEMINAL EPISODE IN EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY by Donal Kennedy
Amongst the many excellent publications of the Aubane Historical Society is the Quarterly IRISH FOREIGN AFFAIRS. Its latest issue, now out leads with an article on the 1918 General Election when Sinn Fein won 73 of Ireland’s 105 seats, against the Unionists’ 26 seats and John Dillon’s Nationalist Party 6 seats, At the dissolution of […]
PAT + JUDE TALK ABOUT HARRY + MEGHAN (AGAIN), THE SOUTH’S VACCINE ROLL-OUT, AND RANGERS FC WHOOPING
Why did Ireland’s top rated Joe Duffy Show on RTE devote his entire show on Tuesday to the fallout from the programme? Why are Irish people interested? Has British colonialism left a lasting legacy of cap doffing? Meghan and Harry – what sort of hold do the British royal family have over not only the British people […]
CANON BIGGAR BEGGARS BELIEF by Donal Kennedy
A British scholar, an Anglican divine named Biggar has written in the IRISH TIMES for the instruction of our benighted compatriots who erroneously have underestimated the benign gifts of British Imperialists to our welfare, prosperity and culture. He asserts that the Imperialists fostered the Gaelic Revival because it occurred when Ireland was part of the […]
“CHINA’S NEW EMBASSY COULD BE A NEST OF SPIES” – HEADLINE IN THE TIMES. by Donal Kennedy The half-page Comment by Roger Boyes, who seems to be privy to much Intelligence (with a Capital “I”) appears today March 10th. He writes about the new London Embassy. Living in London the prospect doesn’t alarm me. But […]
McCann’s the Man who lost the bus by John Patton
Eamonn McCann is 78 today. On announcing his retirement from public service recently, he was showered with an extravagant exuberance of plaudits; it is time to provide some counterpoint to all this laudation and his birthday strikes me as the opportune moment. As first year students, we had worked a summer holiday in two separate […]