Lá Féile Padráig Faoi Mhaise Daoibhse | Seachtain na Gaeilge | Jaz McCann's 6000 days
6000 DAYS. Jaz McCann writes very well. The reader is quickly drawn into his world. From the opening sentences of his Prologue Jaz paints the sights and sounds, the emotions, shocks, excitement, sadness, smells and the savage brutality and amazing horrors of his 6000 Days of incarceration, mostly in the H Blocks of Long Kesh. He also makes us witness to the incredible courage, vision, commitment, solidarity, idealism, generosity, quirkiness, anger, native contrariness, humour, comradeship and...
21 Mars 202122min
Up The Republic, She Raised The Battle Cry: Kathleen (Largey) Thompson
It is my great privilege to have met many fine women and men over the years. The Léargas series of books is a record of some of these I came to know or to know of along life’s journey. It is very personal to me. This week I published the latest of these. The seventh book in the series is titled; ‘Kathleen Thompson – Up The Republic, She Raised The Battle Cry’. It is a tribute to my good friend Kathleen Thompson and it includes a limited edition of one of her most popular CDs – Legion of the ...
14 Mars 202113min
March 1st 1981: A date to remember | The Belfast Hills
A date to remember Dates can evoke powerful memories for all of us. The birth or death of a loved one; a wedding; a new job; a joyous family occasion or a tragedy. Some memories can be so strong that it’s as if we are still there now. The smells, the noise, the fear, the joy, the sadness. March 1st, the date I pen these words, is one of those dates for me. Walking the Belfast Hills I have always enjoyed walking. Especially with a dog. Or dogs. As youngsters my brother Paddy, Joe Magee a...
6 Mars 202112min
Political Unionism and Operation Fear
So what are we to make of the threats by some Unionist leaders over the Irish Protocol? Do we ignore them? I think not. Even though we have heard all this all our lives it is too serious to ignore. Operation Fear needs challenged. Threats of violence or the use of violence by Unionists to get their own way have been a regular feature of Irish political life going back to the nineteenth century. Sectarian pogroms, the use of the “Orange Card” by unionist and Tory politicians, discrimi...
28 Feb 202111min
Fly Me To The Moon
Fly Me To The Moon. I downloaded a new album, Cheek to Cheek, by Tony Bennett and Lady GaGa. It is brilliant. I am a longtime fan of Mr Bennett and in more recent times, Lady GaGa. Tony Bennett is celebrated for his decades of singing hit songs. He has also been a life long activist, a dedicated pacifist and an advocate for social justice and a cleaner environment. He marched with Martin Luther King in the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights demonstration. He is also an acclaimed painte...
21 Feb 202112min
Brexit - A Child of the DUP and Anger at attack on victims and survivors
Brexit - A Child of the DUP. I have been watching the machinations of the DUP over the Article 16 carry on. T So, what’s it all about? For me it’s very simple. Brexit is a child of the DUP. The DUP were hell bound for Brexit. They disregarded all advice and suggestions from all quarters about the likely consequences. Now they complain. Very much like someone jumping into a lake and then complaining about being wet. So lets be clear. Who has the responsibility for the current...
14 Feb 202117min
Outrage at attack on Bookies families
On the 5th of February 1992, five people were brutally murdered, with a further seven injured in a massacre carried out by the UDA. Each year the relatives and friends and the local community hold a remembrance ceremony at the site of the attack. This year, in keeping with Covid restrictions only relatives attended. They wore masks and were socially distanced. Video footage of the event shows disturbing evidence of a heavy handed PSNI intervention. This resulted in relative...
6 Feb 202118min
Fra McCann's amazing life of struggle; Growing support for a border referendum; Me, Larry King and the SF broadcast ban
Fra McCann's amazing life of struggleI have known Fra McCann for almost 50 years. Even as he battles prostate cancer Fra continues to live his life as a republican activist – an MLA representing the people of the Falls, an area and a people he loves. Like many others it was the pogrom of August 1969 that changed Fra’s life. The barricades went up in Belfast and local people stepped forward to defend their community. Among them was a very young Fra. Several years later, aged 18, he...
31 Jan 202117min
