Special Episode - Onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla

Standing up to Bullies. Some politicians rarely, if ever see the irony in the words they use. Take Boris Johnson. He is currently using the dispute between the Ukraine and Russia to distract attention from the Downing Street Party-gate scandal. As more and more voices within his own party are questioning his leadership credentials Johnson is busy presenting himself as a leader on the world stage standing up for the rights of others. And so we get: “We won’t accept a world in which...

20 Feb 202217min

Ormeau Road collusion exposed Collusion between British intelligence, the RUC, UDR, British Army and Loyalist paramilitary organisations is a fact of life here. This is indisputable. A succession of reports have confirmed the extent to which loyalist death squads operated under the patronage of the British state. Growing Older I have a sore back. I hurt it decades ago playing handball against a chap twenty years younger than me. It soon got better but every so often it comes back to troubl...

13 Feb 202216min

Reflections on Bloody Sunday. Somehow human beings, including this columnist, put more stead in twenty year anniversaries than in nineteen year ones. So in the case of Bloody Sunday 50 years seems more important than forty nine. Why this is so is worthy of some research beyond at this point my capacity. But fifty years it is since that fateful day. In less than 30 minutes it was all over. The shooting began at 4.10pm. When it ended 13 men and boys were dead. Another was to d...

6 Feb 202216min

Save Moore Street - Buy a raffle ticket for an original 1914 Mauser rifle Last Saturday hundreds of people took part in a Save Moore Street rally in Dublin. The rally was called at short notice by the Moore Street Preservation Trust in response to the decision by Dublin City planners to green light the redevelopment plans by the UK based developer Hammerson for Moore Street and its environs. Remembering Clyde Bellecourt - Thunder Before the Storm The drum beat and the chant echoed acro...

30 Jan 202217min

Condolences are not enough I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Ashling Murphy. The spontaneous public outpouring of grief at her murder underlines the frustration and anger that exists at the habitual reports of violence against women. Condolences are not enough. Men, and I include myself in this, need to take responsibility for ensuring that every woman has the right to be safe and that there is zero tolerance of male violence against women. Our friend and Si...

23 Jan 202216min

Sectarianism must be ended:Sectarianism is a legacy of our colonial past. We have the opportunity to confine it to the dustbin of history.CAN DOGS THINK? ‘Can dogs think? Is that what you asked me?’ Your man snapped at me in exasperation. ‘What kind of stupid question is that to ask anyone? Are you winding me up again?’

16 Jan 202215min

OUR old pal Tom Hartley is a fine singer. He and I have been known to duet together. Back in the day in C Wing in Belfast Prison on the Crumlin Road, his dulcet tones echoed around the landings like a bird in flight while my rich baritone kept close harmony. Our sonorous grace notes soared and dipped in perfect tune. Even now, decades later, men locked in the loneliness of their cells at that time, recalling nowadays how they were transfixed by the magical quality of our voices, ...

9 Jan 202219min

A funny kind of New Year’s resolution: NEW Year resolutions and I are old friends. Usually I muse at the end of the old year about what I need to commit myself to for new year’s arrival. This year the pandemic cuts down the options. Going to the gym isn't on. Taking up senior hurling or football? Same problem. Stopping the drink? Maybe? But seeing as I am fairly sober most of the time it would be going too far not to have a wee deoch every so often. For medicinal purposes. CAPUCHIN GE...

2 Jan 202214min