Netanyahu is a war criminal- but is he also a conviction politician? Does he have a vision for Israel, as distinct from a desire to save his own skin? Robert F Kennedy Jr has fired his deputy and recruited a man called Jim O’Neill (no,seriously)who knows as much about medicine as RFK Jr himself. […]
August, 2025
TheConversation that dare not speak its name
In North(east)ern Ireland, we pride ourselves on talking. We talk in shops, in taxis, at funerals, and in long winding queues outside the chippy. We talk so much that it often seems the talking is the real end, not any agreement that might follow. Yet there is one subject that still, somehow, brings on […]
PAT+JUDE TALK TO NIALL MURPHY ABOUT IRELAND’S FUTURE
Pat and I were very happy and grateful to have Niall Murphy as a guest interviewee today. As most people know, Niall is the Secretary of the group Ireland’s Future. We covered a range of points relating to a border poll. Here’s the interview for you to look at, and on Friday Pat and I […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT GAZA HOSPITAL BOMBING, DUBLIN GOV FED UP WITH TRIPLE LOCK, & PROF B O’LEARY & UI
Today, Israel bombed another Gaza hospital. In fact it bombed it twice, the second time killing several doctors and journalists. Is there nowhere or no institution or state that’ll stand up and denounce Israel and take action? A man called Richard Wolff was on Youtube – he’s probably still there. He’s American, and he was […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT CORBYN’S NEW PARTY, JOHNNY LOGAN & THE. ARAS, & USEFUL DEAD BODIES
What about that new political party that Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana are forming? Corbyn has said he’s getting some 500 people a minute wanting to know more about it. It’s called ‘Your Party’ but that might be just a provisional name. The thing is, can Your Party replace the governing (and promise-breaking ) Labour […]
A Concerning Lack of Political Consequences – by Carl Duffy
In a thriving democracy with an engaged electorate, politicians always need to be mindful of their actions, otherwise they face the possibility of electoral defeat. In Ireland, I’m particularly concerned not only with what some politicians can get away with, but how their political career can sometimes thrive afterwards. One can accept that there’ll […]
Tralee and the nation’s blood pressure
I didn’t stick around long enough last night to see Katelyn Cummins crowned as this year’s Rose of Tralee. At least one newspaper is hailing the fact that as an apprentice electrician, she breaks away from the usual I’m-not-dumb-I-have-a-Master’s and am the way to getting my Ph D. All that was an effort to emphasise […]
A Concerning Lack of Public Consequences – by Carl Duffy
In a thriving democracy with an engaged electorate, politicians always need to be mindful of their actions, otherwise they face the possibility of electoral defeat. In Ireland, I’m particularly concerned not only with what some politicians can get away with, but how their political career can sometimes thrive afterwards. One can accept […]
Heather Humphries and sweating
There used to be a semi-joke told in Derry, about the young man who approached a young lady and asked if she would dance with him. Her reply was succinct:”Take me sister – Ah’m sweatin’ ” Heather Humphries may appreciate that one for two reasons. In the first place, we’re told, she’s from the northern […]
Fintan explains the language of politics. Gee, thanks Fintan
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Fintan O’Toole is in possession of the biggest brain in Ireland. At regular intervals, that jumbo-size intellect is seen in his Irish Times columns, explaining to us how to understand the world that would otherwise bother and bewilder us. There’s a prime example in today’s Irish Times. It’s […]