REMEMBRANCE by Donal Kennedy

  It’s 60 years this week since I came to work in London, 7 weeks before my 23rd  birthday.   English workmates two years  older than I had done National Service in the UK forces, and a great many of my older English colleagues had served in the Second World War, and later violent campaigns. […]

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Pinpricks in Amsterdam, genocide in Gaza

Which group of people is the most shameless in the world? Until recently I would have said the Netanyahu government in Israel.  Or maybe the sorry excuse for a human who’s heading into the White House. But now I’m beginning to think it’s those people who could, in their own small way, speak out  (and […]

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The Israeli Genocide in Gaza Continues by Joe McVeigh

  What is going on in Gaza is genocide. There is no other way to describe what the Israeli government with the support of the USA, the British and the EU is doing to the people of Gaza and to Palestinian citizens living in the West Bank. Every day innocent Palestinian people are murdered. President […]

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BOUNDERS AND BOUNDARY COMMISSIONS, by Donal Kennedy

  My BLOG here arises from AN IRISH DIARY piece by Ronan McGreevy “Geography and Destiny” on November 4th, Cormac Moore’s long chapter “The Convening of the Irish Boundary Commission” in the current November/December issue of HISTORYIRELAND.    It has long been clear that the prospect of a Commission was dangled before the Irish Delegates […]

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High Heels and Platforms by Randall Stephen Hall.

  One man remonstrates with another . . .(Read in the voice of Christy Moore.) “Hold your breathAnd mind your tongue.Put away the FacebookFor the day has just begun. Not another rant before breakfast?Surely not?Ah, come on now, steady yourself!It would be easier if you just took upPuffin’ on the fags again, friend.Come on man, […]

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CENSORSHIP: Part 1 by Donal Kennedy

                      Under the headline were photographs of the victorious party’s posters in Ennis which  Ennis which, if examined, take some of the gilt off its gingerbread.   They claimed they had questions to ask Eamon de Valera. But when he appeared in Ennis, to address […]

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Small Things Like These   by Joe McVeigh

I went to see the movie ‘Small Things like These’ which was released last week. The movie is based on a novel by Claire Keegan who is a brilliant writer and observer of real life in a small community. Her first novel ‘Foster’ was translated to film as ‘An Cailín Ciúin’ and  received a number of awards. […]

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Trump returns: 5 things to think about

  The world right now is stumbling around or sitting with its head in its hands, not knowing quite what to think. That’s the effect D J Trump’s election as American President has had on the world. Here are a few rallying-points that might make the pain more bearable.   We’ve been here before. Trump […]

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Taking Sides by Joe McVeigh

    The late Albert Nolan was a priest and theologian from South Africa who has written a lot about Christian responsibility to take sides in any conflict. He emerged as an activist during the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. He is one of my favourite writers and theologians because he writes from the […]

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