Author Harry McAvinchey

There was a programme on Channel 4 recently about a possible contributory factor to the sinking and demise of the “Titanic”. The nub of the theory is that when it set out on its ill-fated voyage , the damage was already done deep down in the ship’s innards. A coal fire, glowing progressively below decks […]

Captain Paranoid , in the shape of the unreconstructed and irredeemably humourless UKIP leader in Norneverland, Ireland, David McNarry …..has recently popped up once again with a rant about republican agitation over Brexit creating a constitutional crisis for unionists.Nothing else is causing a crisis within unionism ,apparently .The “Cash for Ash” multi-million pound scandal has […]

Sinn Fein have seemingly sided with the Opposition parties in walking out on First Minister ,Arlene Foster of the DUP as she launched out on a personal speech , hoping to exonorate herself before she got down to the business of getting that Christmas bird into the oven. She obviously wanted to offload all that […]

“The first minister does not take her instructions from Sinn Féin, but from the electorate.” That was the statement issued after Martin McGuinness advised his coalition partner First Minister Arlene Foster ,that it might be the most advised option given that she was the entire focus of the “Cash for Ash “scandal and that remaining […]

A week is a long time in politics. We all know that .What about a year, then? I was taking a peek at something I wrote this time last year and at that time the talk was of how and why Nigel Dodds decided not to become the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party […]

“With God on our side” The first real glimmer of the terror about to be unleashed across the land was when some school-friends arrived back to classes traumatised by scenes they’d experienced during the student Peoples Democracy march at Burntollet Bridge in the winter of 1969 . It had seemed barbaric to them. I was […]

An oddly mild day in the first week of December. Inside the good wife has arrived home with a “real” ,netted Christmas tree which must mean that Christmas is on the way and preparations are afoot for the arrival of Mr Claus.The Golden Grand Daughter and her entourage are expected to arrive for the festivities, […]

Some would say that the following passage of overblown , yet conceptually concise chest-beating ,is the very foundation -stone of “terrorism” in Ireland. From the early years of the 20th century ,It invokes God,subjection and blind obedience to an ethos which licenced those who believe it to solemnly pursue violence.. “BEING CONVINCED in our consciences […]

I just switched on the radio in time to hear a woman speaking about the “law is the law” and if the evidence is there it applies across the board. Has Steven Nolan got the first Minister Arlene Foster into the studio?, I wondered .On tuning in further, I realised it was actually Jamie Bryson […]

Me..? Sport..? Not much interested , I’m afraid. That is probably a minority opinion, but then most of my opinions are minority opinions anyway, so I’m hardly going to worry about that , am I? I’m the kind of guy who enjoys Tom Waits’ harder- edged later” hit -that engine -block-hard -with -a-big -stick and-see […]