Recently, I attended a meeting of the newly formed Erne Catchment area. This is what I learned. Some 280,000 tonnes of untreated waste are discharged into Upper and Lower Lough Erne on an annual basis, much of it through unmapped pipe work. The Lough Erne Trust is not functioning as it should be and […]
Author Jude Collins
THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH ABOUT SINN FEIN’S VOTE IN 1918 by Donal Kennedy (repeated 10 August 2023)
Some 14 years ago this letter was published in HISTORY IRELAND (May/June 2009 Volume 17.3) in response to a Book Review. Half a generation has since grown up unaware of the facts within it/and an older generation may have never known of them, The Custodians of the Decade of Remembrance, if they know […]
An open letter to Pat Cullen
Ms Cullen We are writing to you in connection with your public statement that the future of medical care in Ireland would be best served by a reunited Ireland. We find this kind of talk totally inappropriate, coming from a person who is the General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing. Had […]
Seven questions about PSNI data leak
If you’re a serving police officer in the PSNI , you’re probably not going to be too thrilled with today’s top story: the surname, rank, location and more of all PSNI people have been leaked online and sat online for hours, so that those interested could make notes. We could talk […]
PAT+ JUDE TALK ABOUT DR NOEL BROWNE AND HOW HE WAS DESTROYED – & HOW FORENSICS MEAN SLEEPLESS NIGHTS
Maybe you saw that RTÉ documentary about Dr Noel Browne and his famous Mother and Child scheme. It was a compassionate and enlightened scheme – looking after pregnant mothers and their children until the age of sixteen – but the Catholic Church of the time objected strongly and the Dublin politicians bent the […]
AMATEURS vs PROFESSIONALS by Donal Kennedy
AMATEURS vs PROFESSIONALS by Donal Kennedy I have been very busy recently and so many appalling things have been happening in the world at large not to mention in these neighbouring islands. So forgive me if the rambling piece below is too much of a reflection of states of chassis,As a sunshine […]
FROM S.O.B.s to the late BRIAN MURPHY O.S.B a BRILLIANT, TRUSTWORTHY HISTORIAN – by Donal Kennedy
On 21st May 2033, the day of Brian Murphy’s funeral at Glenstal Abbey, my BLOG was headedFATHER BRIAN MURPHY O.S.B. RIP.I think it is worth reading.The Irish Political Review is reprinting instalments from his archilve and Instalment 5 (August 2023) deals with, among other things the attempt to have the nation […]
SPUDS I LIKE , BUT NOT THOSE BLIGHTERS – by Donal Kennedy
My paternal grandmother Mary Ellen Murphy was the daughter of two Murphys.They were principals of the Boys’ and Girls’ Model Schools in Kilkenny andmy grandfather Patrick Kennedy who had been studying for the priesthoodwith the Holy Ghost Fathers (a French order) and spent some time in Pariswas asked to tutor Mary Ellen (apparently destined […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT ALL-ISLAND PLANS: A DISTRACTION FROM A BORDER POLL? ALSO: WHITHER THE DUP?
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has announced plans for a major rail initiative, which would mean that trains between major Irish cities would run at least every hour, and it would take in Tyrone, Fermanagh and Donegal. Meanwhile Drew Harris was a major figure in the RUC and then the PSNI, and now he’s Garda […]
What Katie did – and Vera didn’t
Creating a cohesive team must be a bruising experience. You’re faced with eleven or fifteen footballers, who wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t gifted and strong-willed. So naturally when it comes to laying out the strategy for the team, everyone must buy into the strategy otherwise it just won’t work. Take […]