January, 2025

  A classmate of mine in Rockwell from 1957 to 1959, Philip MacAllister, from Donabate I had forgotten for 35 years, had joined the Holy Ghost Fathers and had laboured heroically in Africa for decades before being martyred, with others in Sierra Leone in March 1994. Philip had Gaelicised his name to Felim while the […]

    In my recent BLOG – “Teachers, Pupils and Parents” (January 4th 2025) I recalled how the universally loved Thady O’Connor, a Holy Ghost Father, was a life-long friend of Eamon de Valera. I quoted my Mother’s advice “Show me your companions and I’ll tell you what you are.” More evidence of the stature […]

  In my BLOG I met a traveller from a Distant Land  I recalled how the man himself a distinguished journalist, diplomat and statesman, recalled having lunch with Eamon de Valera at Arus an Uachtarain. A Moslem, he had been taught by Irish Priests in Calcutta  under the Raj and both of his daughters were Convent  educated, […]

Bono, the lead singer of U2, is a polarizing figure. Here are five reasons some people might dislike him: 1.Perceived Hypocrisy: Critics often highlight Bono’s advocacy for social justice and environmental causes while pointing to U2’s use of tax havens to minimize their own taxes. This perceived double standard undermines his activism for many. 2.Overbearing […]

    Ted Howell dedicated his adult life to the reunification of Ireland. When the news of the death of Ted Howell was confirmed, there was genuine sadness among the former members of the Irish Government delegation who took part in the Good Friday negotiations and subsequent interactions with Sinn Féin. Ted was especially well […]

    Joyce’s story “THE DEAD” has been hailed by many giants of Literature as the greatest short story in the English language. Joyce was born in 1872 the year in which men sharing his surname and speaking and understanding only Irish were sentenced to death in Ireland following a trial conducted in English (without […]

    Did the Soviet Union or Russia since its time ever dishonour a treaty or other agreement?   Did England, or the UK ever honour one in the past 500 years.   It seems that Maxim Litvinov who handled Soviet Foreign Policy from 1929 to1939 was an extremely “good egg” whose commitment to peace […]

        THE LITTLE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF CURRENT ENGLISH first published in 1930, 6th Edition 1986 reprinted 1988 tells its readers that:-   A SEMITE  IS A MEMBER OF ANY RACES SUPPOSEDLY DESCENDED FROM SHEM, INCLUDING JEWS AND ARABS.   It’s said that the past is another country and many scholars can be […]

Your beliefs My beliefs. Do we wear them like a coat From childhood? Do they grow with us As we stretch to the trees? Lively bright children In separate playgrounds.   Can beliefs  Be like a disease? Are your beliefs Why you hate me? Finally I see. Finally I see.   The beliefs I was […]

            I quote Britain’s SUNDAY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR of 29th December 2024. The Sunday Times.   We live in Quare Times indeed.   In the West regimes show their strength by jailing journalists or plotting their murder. It’s a practice over a century old. In 1915 the knighted former diplomat Roger […]