Kneecap have apologised for having said “Kill your local MP’, as being hurtful to the loved ones of two British MPs who were murdered. It was the decent thing to do but it wasn’t the logical thing to do – as they are aware themselves. KNEECAP STATEMENT ‘They want you to believe words are more […]
Author Jude Collins
Farewell to a friend
I disagree with President Michael D Higgins on a number of issues, but I found myself completely in agreement with him when he recently told Tommie Tiernan that he found himself going to too many funerals of good friends. I was at one such today – down in Newtownbutler, on the NEI side of the […]
Canada votes today – by Gabriel McCaffrey
It seems to be looking good for a Liberal majority in the Canadian Federal election on polling day, Monday April 28th, with polls indicating a win for new (but as yet, never elected) Prime Minister, and Irish Canadian, Mark Carney. His opponent, Pierre Polievre has watched a huge initial advantage and lead collapse […]
Kneecap: a band with balls
There has always been a part of me that wants to make rude gestures and shout abuse at the many self-satisified, pompous people who see themselves ‘decent people’ – or maybe even superior people. Kneecap have spoken out for me and us all. They‘ve looked at the vicious cruelty of Gaza, they’ve asked who’s to […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT DOING BUSINESS WITH ISRAEL, TRUMP AND THE BRAIN DRAIN, AND TRUMP THE CAR SALESMAN
The Occupied Territories Bill, to end the Republic of Ireland’s trade connections with Israeli firms, remains on a shelf somewhere. Why is it that Senator Frances Black has been trying for years to get this passed and has been blocked? Trump is in a trade war with China. Ironically, other countries such as Canada and […]
Pope Francis and the clerical Church – by Joe McVeigh
Pope Francis challenged the clerical church in a way that will have a lasting effect on the way the Church understands itself and its mission in society. The clerical church is the kind of Church we have known in Ireland since the mid- 1800s. It was the kind of church that prevailed throughout Europe. It […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT THE DEATH ( & LIFE) OF POPE FRANCIS, HIS VISITOR J D VANCE, & CHANGES SINCE 1937
A few hours ago, Pope Francis died. Did you like him? Did you worry that he didn’t come out and denounce some things, and didn’t create other things? Why did some people – Catholics, what’s more – detest him and wish for the day he’d be gone? One of the last people to whom he […]
Canada votes – by Gabriel McCaffrey
This Canadian federal election is more consequential than any federal election I have seen in 37 years here. I voted yesterday in advance voting and the line-ups were longer than I’ve ever experienced here. The Polievre led Conservative party has been in campaign mode for well over two years. We have been inundated with […]
Those pesky foreigners – by Michael Lagan
Historically, both NEI and the South have been thought of more in terms of emigration rather than immigration, with large numbers of Irish people from both the North and the South migrating to the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries in search of better economic opportunities. The impact of an Gorta Mor, our […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT GOOD FRIDAY GLOOM, S. COLLINS & NO UI HERE, A SONG FOR MICHAEL D, & FUTURE -FEAR
And so we come to Good Friday. Do you remember this day as a sunlit, happy one? Or a day when shops were shut and religious ceremonies were gloomy and even scary? Stephen Collins has another anti-UI article in today’s Irish Times, in which he urges Irish people to stop talking about a border poll […]
