BBC’s ‘Sunday Sequence’ had an interesting discussion this morning, about whether this needed to be a ‘brutal’ election (that was Arlene Foster’s word for it, even before it began). It was a thought-provoking discussion and I’ll come back to it in a minute, but let me first consider (beggin’ your pardon) Donald Trump. Gerry Adams […]
Author Jude Collins
Democracy by Joe McVeigh
For all our experience of elections and referendums here in the six counties there is still in some British and unionist quarters a great reluctance to accept the democratic will of the people. There is a reluctance to accept that in the north east of Ireland there are people living here like myself who have […]
Saturday pics of the week
Pics 1-3 are by John Patton (phototilly.eu) Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 “Pic 1 Heron – St Stephen’s Green Stephen’s Green is a pleasant stroll on a Sunday morning. Despite the developers and the connivance of Fianna Fail, it remains largely intact as a peaceful haven in the centre of a city which attracts […]
Sinn Féin and coalition with Fine Gael
There are few things that make us cry to heaven for vengeance more shriekingly than public hypocrites. No, let me rephrase that: holier-than thou hypocrites. At the time of writing the Fine Gael party is in an awful state. After Mary Lou McDonald intimated that Sinn Féin might be open to being a junior partner […]
‘George Galloway: The Man of the Decade’ by Donal Lavery
There are a number of political figures who I admire, for their oratory and for their respective visions, even though I haven’t always agreed with their views. While I agreed with Tony Benn on virtually anything, I disagreed with Enoch Powell on virtually everything, yet still found him a formidable intellectual force. Enoch Powell was […]
ONE MAN’S OPINION by Donal Kennedy
“Union has been imposed on Ireland by a combination of terror, torture, force, fraud and corruption. The instigators of the Union revived the fire of a dying rebellion. They set Protestant against Catholic and Catholic against Protestant. They stirred up internal discord, always with the object in mind of realising their plan of enslavement. While […]
Why we’re all suddenly interested in Tipperary
Distraction alert: the topic below may get you thinking of something else – anything else – than the Cash-for-Ash half-billion bonfire. Resist this and keep Arlene’s Big Burn at the back of your mind at all times. This morning I was on the Nolan Show talking about the fact that the Tipperary Peace Award committee […]
SONG IN NEED OF ATTENTION by Joe McVeigh
The Green Fields of Fermanagh by Joe McVeigh (To be revised. Help needed) The Green Fields of Fermanagh I Come all ye lads and lassies and listen to my song It’s about a strange phenomenon around the shores of Lough Erne. The weather’s getting warmer and the lake is nearly dry No one’s sure […]
The Bold Patriot Game: The Consistent Conscience of the Irish Republican’ by Donal Lavery
Senator Barry Goldwater once wrote an intriguing book summarising what he believed the psyche of the American conservative involved. While there are few parallels with Irish republicanism, it was reflective of the fact that our political beliefs reflect our individual morality in life. I draw no distinction between the two. So what makes up the […]
HELL, FIRE, HIGH WATER, PREDESTINATION , THE NASTY PARTY AND THE MAGINOT LINE by Donal Kennedy
Some years ago a friend of mine from Cavan showed me magazine or other publication from his native town. He pointed with glee at a piece with photograph demonstrating what he thought typical of its local paper The Anglo-Celt. A reporter had been detailed to interview a busker in the town centre and he dutifully followed his […]