June, 2021

  RANDALL STEPHEN HALL A new album. Release Date 21.6.21 With Nick Scott/Bass, Liam Bradley/Drums and Percussion and Johnny McCullough on Keyboards. Track 1. Kick up the Dust https://soundcloud.com/randall-stephen-hall/kick-up-the-dust An adventure in Irish Folk, fused with Gospel, Americana, Rhythm and Blues and World Music. The unfettered Stephen Stiofán lets his imagination roam freely across 13 […]

 Readers of my blogs will be aware that Sir Andrew Gilchrist, when Ambassador to Ireland, was instrumental in making THE IRISH TIMES responsible to a secretive oath- bound “TRUST” dedicated to serve British state interests.. And that a few years earlier Sir Andrew, when Ambassador to Indonesia was the grisly Eminence/Excellency behind the slaughter of at […]

There’s been a lot of naming and nominating in recent days. From sunny California comes the enormously important news that Prince Harry’s wife Meghan has given birth to a girl who will be called Lilibet  Diana. The Diana bit you get immediately – it’s in honour of Harry’s dead mother. She was either accidentally killed […]

I received a Facebook message yesterday from a ‘young lady’ who had happened upon one of my comments on a Bel Tel piece.  The subject? An NI Protocol protest parade led by Loyalist paramilitaries. The comment from me in question was one in which I stated “Loyalism supports terrorism, it’s literally that simple.” The ‘young […]

Members of the loyalist community protesting the trade border between Northern Ireland and Britain.Paulo Nunes dos Santos for The New York Times More than two decades after Northern Ireland’s bloody 30-year guerrilla war, Brexit has inflamed sectarian passions to a degree unseen in years, posing a threat to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  that ended decades of sectarian […]

Doug Beattie attended that display of balaclaved men in Portadown the other day. Is this a coming together of political unionism and loyalist  paramilitarism? And did Doug sound like Alex Ferguson when he said  he didn’t see any balaclavas? Colum Eastwood says he’s convinced there’ll be a united Ireland in his  lifetime. Colum is 38 – so might we have to wait another 50 years? Pat is irate with the crowds in Dublin who are congregating and  creating public disorder. Is he right? Or just another old fogy who  hates and envies young people, especially when they’re having a bit of a party? And Brandon Lewis has nominated Trevor Ringland as a ‘special envoy’ to the US. Is this an attempt to present a new, gentler image of  unionism? And if so, will it work? Press the button. You know you want to…

It wasn’t so long ago that Unionists including Doug Beattie were frothing at the mouth over a funeral. Oh how they waxed lyrical about how people in black trousers and white shirts were IRA members and were a reflection of Republicanism and the short distance it had come in building peace. I wear black trousers […]

I wonder how much Trevor Ringland is being paid in his latest incarnation as ‘special envoy’ to the US. He’s been appointed by British Secretary of State Brandon Lewis “with the aim of strengthening ties between the two nations”. He’ll  work with US firms and investors to build on established links and support NI’s long-term […]

This review first appeared in The Andersonstown News If the title THE ROAD TO PARTITION (BBC ONE) sounds familiar, that’s because it has echoes of The Road to Perdition, a book and a movie about a mob enforcer and his son. And as I expect you know the word ‘perdition’ means ‘complete and utter ruin’. You say partition, I say perdition, let’s […]

With G7 leaders approving plans to force internet giants such as Facebook, Google, Amazon and Microsoft to pay more tax, it can only be a positive outcome for those countries with sources quoting a tax rate of 15%. To date, these companies and other major corporations only paid taxes in countries where they had an […]