April, 2025

 Sometimes it’s better to confess. When you do, it can feel as though a huge boulder of responsibility, of blame has been removed from your shoulders. Unfortunately, politicians don’t do this. When’s the last time you heard a politician sigh and confess that he and his party had made a complete Horlicks of the whole […]

  Has anyone ever, towards the end of a heated argument, urged you to go fuck yourself? It’s a relatively common experience  – or maybe I get into arguments with too many salty-tongued people.  But while it’s a fairly vigorous insult, I’d suggest it’s never been taken seriously. Why not? Because In physical terms it […]

  Last night was a long tense one here in Canada for political people. Especially for the two main candidates for Prime Minister, Mark Carney, and Pierre Polievre. Carney had been parachuted into my own riding (constituency) as he needed a safe Liberal seat to gain a presence and a mandate in the parliament. The […]

Kneecap have apologised for having said “Kill your local MP’,  as being hurtful to the loved ones of two British MPs who were murdered. It was the decent thing to do but it wasn’t the logical thing to do – as they are aware themselves. KNEECAP STATEMENT  ‘They want you to believe words are more […]

I disagree with President Michael D Higgins on a number of issues, but I found myself completely in agreement with him when he recently told Tommie Tiernan that he found himself going to too many funerals of good friends. I was at one such today – down in Newtownbutler, on the NEI side of the […]

  It seems to be looking good for a Liberal majority in the Canadian Federal election on polling day, Monday April 28th, with polls indicating a win for new (but as yet, never elected) Prime Minister, and Irish Canadian, Mark Carney.   His opponent, Pierre Polievre has watched a huge initial advantage and lead collapse […]

 There has always been a part of me that wants to make rude gestures and shout abuse at the many self-satisified, pompous people who see themselves ‘decent people’  – or maybe even superior people. Kneecap have spoken out for me and us all. They‘ve looked at the vicious cruelty of Gaza, they’ve asked who’s to […]

The Occupied Territories Bill, to end the Republic of Ireland’s trade connections with Israeli firms, remains on a shelf somewhere. Why is it that Senator Frances Black has been trying for years to get this passed and has been blocked? Trump is in a trade war with China. Ironically, other countries such as Canada and […]

Pope Francis challenged the clerical church in a way that will have a lasting effect on the way the Church understands itself and its mission in society. The clerical church is the kind of Church we have known in Ireland since the mid- 1800s. It was the kind of church that prevailed throughout Europe. It […]

A few hours ago, Pope Francis died. Did you like him? Did you worry that he didn’t come out and denounce some things, and didn’t create other things? Why did some people – Catholics, what’s more – detest him and wish for the day he’d be gone? One of the last people to whom he […]