There’s a letter in the Irish Times this morning by Dr Niall Comer, who lectures in Irish at the Ulster University. He’s also the president of Chonradh na Gaeilge, so it’s fair to assume he’s worth reading when he writes about an Irish Language Act here in the north. Dr Comer rejects Edwin Poots’s assertion, […]
Author Jude Collins
‘GALLOWS HUMOUR, going forward’ by Perkin Warbeck
The Unionist Times has been awishy wash with Gallows Humour of late. Which is possibly on account, by its own dismal prognostications, that it is soon known as (gulp) the late Unionst Times. Who was it first said – was it Rudyard Doyle, pechance? – –If you can keep your bleedin’ head When all […]
‘Bigotry Runs Deep’ by Joe McVeigh
The parades this year passed off peacefully, thanks mainly to the dignified response of the Nationalist communities in sensitive areas. The bonfires once again were provocative causing hurt to nationalists – as intended. They also caused considerable damage to property and to the ozone layer. The burning of an effigy of Martin McGuinness in […]
Kate Thompson: a victim but not a useful one
Why is it that some victims of the Troubles are household names and others aren’t? Everyone knows of the cruel death of Jean McConville; how many are equally familiar with the cruel death of Joan Connolly? For every victim whose case the media and politicians highlight, there are many others who are buried and ignored. Here’s […]
Saturday pics of the week
Pics 1-5 are by John Patton Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4 Pic 5 “Given that one of your Republican contributors derides Scotland’s right to self-determination, sensing little that sets it apart culturally or nationally from Berkshire or Essex, I shall choose my words with care. Highland Games are held across Scotland during […]
‘The Clock is Ticking’ by Joe McVeigh
Negotiations for British withdrawal from the EU have finished their first week without any clarity about what is going to happen in Ireland when Brexit comes into force in March 2019. In their Press Conference, both the EU and British negotiators used the same phrase: ‘the clock is ticking.’ Monsieur Barnier says that they are concerned to […]
BRITISH SPOOKS GAVE FRANCO A SIGNIFICANT LIFT by Donal Kennedy
Eighty one years ago this week Spain’s General Francisco Franco launched what he thought would be a lightening coup to overthrow the elected Republican Government. He was not fully trusted by the Government, who had posted him to the Canary Islands where he might do the State no harm. But Britain’s Secret Service, which […]
‘Missed opportunities’ by Eamonn MacDermott
In recent days the press and airwaves have been full of articles and programmes looking back at the 20th anniversary of the IRA’s ceasefire – the prelude to the Good Friday Agreement. Much store has been put on the events that followed the historic announcement of June 1997 which eventually led to the talks process […]
Irish Political Review. August 2014: Frank Aiken by Philip O’Connor
MI5-TCD character assassination debunked Trinity College Dublin is soon to be “re-branded” as “Trinity College, the University of Dublin”. While this might seem a little arrogant, apparently the name change is in part to facilitate “international students” seeking foreign study options on Google! Whatever its branding strategy, its Bank of Ireland Professor of Contemporary Irish History, member of its Board until […]
‘ Earnan de Blaghd and his service to the state’ by Donal Kennedy
There’s been a series of letters in the London TIMES recently for and against the teaching of Welsh in Wales. One letter from Dublin asserted that the Irish State had spent countless millions on the promotion of the Irish Language. Anyone conversant with the Irish State should know that its Department of Finance, inherited from […]
