August, 2023

                Maybe you saw that RTÉ documentary about Dr Noel Browne and his famous Mother and Child scheme. It was a compassionate and enlightened scheme – looking after pregnant mothers and their children until the age of sixteen – but the Catholic Church of the time objected strongly and the Dublin politicians bent the […]

AMATEURS vs PROFESSIONALS by Donal Kennedy       I have been very busy recently and so many appalling things have been happening in the world at large not to mention in these neighbouring islands. So forgive me if the rambling piece below is too much of a reflection of states of chassis,As a sunshine […]

        On 21st May 2033,  the day of  Brian Murphy’s funeral at Glenstal Abbey, my BLOG was headedFATHER BRIAN MURPHY O.S.B. RIP.I think it is worth reading.The Irish Political Review is reprinting instalments from his archilve and Instalment 5 (August 2023) deals with, among other things the attempt to have the nation […]

  My paternal grandmother Mary Ellen Murphy was the daughter of two Murphys.They were principals of the Boys’ and Girls’ Model Schools in Kilkenny andmy grandfather Patrick Kennedy who had been studying for the priesthoodwith the Holy Ghost Fathers (a French order) and spent some time in Pariswas asked to tutor Mary Ellen (apparently destined […]

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has announced plans for a major rail initiative, which would mean that trains between major Irish cities would run at least every hour, and it would take in Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal. Meanwhile Drew Harris was a major figure in the RUC and then the PSNI, and now he’s Garda […]

   Creating a cohesive team must be a bruising experience.  You’re faced with eleven or fifteen footballers, who wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t gifted and strong-willed. So naturally when it comes to laying out the strategy for the team, everyone must buy into the strategy otherwise it just won’t work.   Take […]