Author Harry McAvinchey

We were haggling and tussling recently …and possibly still are, about our nation state,our strange sense of identity in Ireland, our part of the little island ,the whole landmass and possibly even the whole worldwide Irish diaspora that stretches across the planet. That is one huge rambling cloud of assorted “Irish” humanity . Some elements […]

It is that bit about a First Minister representing everyone in Norneverland where the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Ireland , constantly falls down and it’s where Arlene Foster , its current new leader,has already stumbled. If you represent every one of the people of the state , you have to do just that little […]

  I see this there’s a whole new survey directed soley at me ,just in time to start the new year on the right foot. The UK government has finally tracked me down and found me huddled in a dimly -lit corner, sipping my third glass of Malbec by candlelight.Their officials have grabbed me by […]

If you are looking through your window just now, shaking your head at the relentless gloomy greyish rain and wondering when it will ever stop falling, all I can say is that they are suffering a similar fate across the water in Liverpool. It may be a degree or two milder but the skies have […]

Has the world gone mad? Am I missing something ? Maybe it’s just my age. Let me explain. Daughter Number Two and Son-In -Law bought me some fine new headphones for Christmas. They’d obviously gotten fed up watching me plugged into my computer replete with a set of cute little pink earphones that I’d inherited […]

I implied last time that miracles, of a sort, were a possibility ….You know, that if politics can be suspended for Christmas and our world keeps right on spinning, then anything is possible. Yes, I believe some kinds of miracles can and do occur all the time.Maybe not the kind of miracles you might wish […]

Do you believe in miracles? My two and a half year old Golden Granddaughter does, in no uncertain terms.Her parents , my daughter and son-in-law, recently sent a letter to Santa Claus for her because her handwriting with a crayon isn’t just up to par yet .They might have included one of her drawings for […]

I’m a sucker for television series such as “Game Of Thrones”. As anyone who has ever enjoyed “the Sopranos” , “Deadwood” or “Fargo” knows, really good television will grab you within the first twenty minutes and thereon hold you in the palm of its hand right up to the time when it turns into the […]

I have been tussling with this one for a while now.It has been pointed out to me in passing ,that anyone born after 1998 in Northern Ireland {“the Six Counties”} and whose parents have never bought an Irish passport at any time in their lives, will not be able to hold said passport at any […]

Ever since I was invited to try out Microsoft’s spanking new system and duly installed a free copy of Windows 10 in a ten -hour upgrade from Windows 8, this old computer deck has been acting like that spread-eagled supermarket child , alternately holding its breath until near- perdition and and then exhaling in a […]