‘Irish Bishops Want Stable Government’ by Joe McVeigh I read this headline in the English Tablet magazine (14th Dec 2024). It was the Irish Catholic bishops’ response to the 2024 Election in the 26 counties. This headline says a lot about the politics of the Irish Catholic hierarchy. They always favour more […]
Limitations.By Randall Stephen Hall
An early draft.There are limitationsAs to how Irish I can be.Not just me, but for many northerners.Many others who stand beside me.We carry much the same baggageAnd experience it in our bones.I am not aloneFor we have drunk the waterThe isotope and the Irish signature.Your bones will not leave a recordOf your denomination in years […]
PAT+JUDE TALK ABOUT NOLAN & A FOOTBALL PITCH, TRUMP &TARIFFS, , & BEATING SMALL BOYS (FOR KICKS?)
Did you watch Nolan on TV t’other night?He was talking about Lisneal College, which got a £710,000 football pitch – without even asking, it’s alleged – following a meeting with Education minister Paul Givan and some others. What’s that smell I’m getting? And there were tears shed and at least one rude word uttered (watch […]
Conor and Micheál
The man formerly known as Conor Murphy and now as Senator Conor Murphy lost no time in exercising his role in the Seanad as an injector of energy into the reunited Ireland debate. Micheál Martin, he noted recently, had blown a chance to further his ambitions for a united Ireland, when he failed to […]
Whose side are the Churches on -the Rich and powerful or the Poor and Oppressed? – by Joe McVeigh
by Joe McVeigh Like many Irish people who lived through the second half of the 21st century, I know about State violence. We in the Catholic/Nationalist community in the north were on the receiving end of State violence in all its forms here in the 6 counties. The State forces were well paid and well equipped […]
Oh Lord, keep the status quo, would you?
I detest the question “Would you or would you not vote for a united Ireland tomorrow?”. For the very good reason that you’d be trying pin a border poll tail on a UI donkey in a pitch-black cellar. There is, however , one area where a reunited Ireland is heartily disliked: Fianna Fail and Fine […]
Paddy’s day and that broth of a boy, Donald Trump
It’s started already: should Irish politicians make the annual St Patrick’s Day pilgrimage to the White House, given that the present occupant of said White House is Donald J Trump? Maybe start by asking why have so many Irish politicians gone to the US – loads of places besides Washington – every year? Because of […]
Who hasn’t Heard of Ederney? by Joe McVeigh
Ederney is the name of a townland and a small village in north Fermanagh. It is my native place. I was born and reared there and I have a huge affection for the place and the people. I was always told that the origin of the name was an Irish word ‘Eadarnaidh’ […]
The ambush at Cloneen
The way the British army saw it, these four men were rebels, just returning from attacking an RUC police barracks. They and the nationalist community needed to get it into their heads: if it was violence they wanted we, the British army, would give them violence. And so Kevin Barry O’Donnell, 21, Sean O’Farrell, […]
Dorothy Day (1897-1980) by Joe McVeigh
Dorothy Day is a woman I greatly admire. She died in New York city in November 1980. She was well- known in Catholic circles in the USA. She is not so well known outside the USA but she is much admired for her commitment to justice, to serving the homeless and to bringing about a peaceful […]