Addressing MOSCOW NEWS 26 April 2006:- “The United States is placing its occupation troops in one country after another. This is the de facto situation in Bosnia for 9 years, in Kosovo and Afghanistan for 5 years each, in Iraq for 3 years so far, but it will be a long time there. […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT THE DUBLIN GOVERNMENT & THE NORTH, BOJO’S G’BYE, & WHAT EDWINA SAID ABOUT LIZ
Has the Dublin government been talking big about a ‘shared island’ but awol when it comes to action? Emma de Souza has an article in today’s Irish Times and she is, as they say, forensic concerning the failures to act. Did you catch Boris Johnson’s farewell speech in the House of Commons? Quite […]
THE TTU or EAMONN HOW WE MISS YOU
The Irish Times used to have a weekly column by the (very) left-wing journalist Eamonn McCann. When Eamonn was elected to the Assembly, the column was assigned to the Times’s tame unionist (TTU). He has a column in the IT this morning snappily titled ‘Irish Government is obsessed with Brexit Britain despite the risks this […]
Sammy ‘Heatwave’ Wilson – by Michael Lagan
Sammy Wilson is a controversial figure I’m sure you’ll agree and I’m unfortunate to have him representing me as an MP, not that he does. Even within his own constituency, his voters have wild and varied opinions of him. The more right-wing with controversial views they are, the more they seem to love him. […]
TIME TO TALK SENSE ABOUT 1922 – by Donal Kennedy
Once the electorate established Dail Eireann, the conspirational Irish Republican Brotherhood had no further justification for its existence. Arthur Griffith’s great contribution to Ireland was the establishment of Dail Eireann. The Dual Monarchy “resurrection of Hungary” idea was obsolete. Collins reverted to conspiracy. Griffith reverted to his original brainwave. The National Army- […]
‘Ireland’ and its defence forces
There’s a very interesting article in today’s Irish Times. The man’s name is Philip Quinlivan, and the articled is titled (in the IT sprawling headline style) “If we are not prepared to defend ourselves we should outsource our security. The writer used to be in the Irish army and has since left and is a […]
Dancing With the Shadows – by Michael Lagan
How can anyone in their right mind see collusion as an illusion? Some within Unionism see the mere thought of collusion as some kind of attempt to rewrite history. Some might prefer to label it fake news. However, if one is telling the truth or finding out the truth then surely it isn’t rewriting history […]
Ulster Unionism is a fantasised version of Britishness – by Carl Duffy
It goes without saying that the British have a horrific record in Ireland; ranging from the evils of Cromwell, an Gorta Mór and the undemocratic partition that gave birth to the bigoted statelet. Many apologists of British imperialism will argue that other empires were worse – which is sort of akin to the Khmer […]
Putting Putin in perspective
Most of us are fond of urging others to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before coming to a judgement about them. We don’t do it that much ourselves, but we quite like prescribing it for others. But that’s usually at the personal level. At the public or international level, we tone down some. […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT THE TORY LEADER DEBATES, THE COMING BORDER POLL, & A GLORIOUS WEEKEND OF SPORT
Were you impressed by Rishi, Kemi, Penny and the other Tory leader hopefuls to fill Bojo’s shoes? And what gives with the sudden cancellation of the Sky debate which was to have happened tonight? Alex Kane, the unionist commentator, has an article in today’s Irish Times in which he warns unionism that a border poll […]