A funny kind of New Year’s resolution | CAPUCHIN GENEROSITY AT CHRISTMAS | BOOKS OF THE YEAR
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
It's past time to release Leonard Peltier | A New Year resolution for a Citizens’ Assembly
THIS Christmas take a moment to think about Leonard Peltier. Leonard was convicted in 1977 of the murder in 1975 of two FBI agents during a confrontation at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Two others who were charged with the murders were found not guilty by reason of self-defence. Peltier has always denied involvement in the two deaths. He has been in prison for almost 45 years. A New Year resolution for a Citizens’ Assembly: If you take as read the normal health warning that a...
26 Dec 202115min
The last number eleven up the Rock | Irish language project does young people proud |
The last number eleven up the Rock AT A cruinniú in Glór na Móna I noticed a pop-up advertising one of the projects Glór na Móna is pioneering. ‘Faoi Scáth an tSléibhe – Connecting People and Place in the Upper Springfield Area’ is a heritage project aimed at making local history vibrant and accessible. The pop-up contained a photo of the number eleven bus wending its way along the Whiterock Road. That brought back many happy memories. I used to work in the Duke of York pub in Commercial Cour...
19 Dec 202114min
The Treaty | The Dignity of Everyday Life | More questions than answers
The Treaty In the early hours of 6 December 1921 the Irish delegates taking part in the negotiations with the British government signed The Anglo Irish Treaty. Their decision reinforced the terms of the partitionist Government of Ireland Act passed in the British Parliament one year earlier. In the years since then the decision to sign The Treaty has been discussed, debated, argued over and been the subject of countless books and articles. For some it was a necessary decision in the face of t...
11 Dec 202113min
Six of The Best | Opinion Poll on Irish Unity | Standing with Palestinians
Six of The Best: I’m reading Colin Broderick’s ‘Thats That,’ an evocative account of growing up in Altnamuskin in Tyrone at the height of the conflict. Colin’s mother and her efforts to protect her brood are at the heart of this story. Opinion Poll on Irish Unity: Only a planned conversation, involving all of those who wish to participate, can hope to find solutions to these issues. One thing is for sure. We republicans are not about the south taking over the north or vice versa. We a...
5 Dec 202116min
Gaels call for Citizens Assembly | Gaels call for Citizens Assembly | An Irish National Health Service
Gaels call for Citizens Assembly In a powerful video message 12,000 Ulster Gaels are appealing to our fellow Gaels in Munster, Leinster and Connaught to sign and endorse a letter to An Taoiseach Micheál Martin asking the Irish government to take the lead in planning for Irish Unity by establishing an All-Island Citizens Assembly “reflecting the views of citizens North and South to achieve maximum consensus on a way forward” toward an “agreed shared Ireland.” Back of Boris Comhgairdheas to ...
28 Nov 202118min
Rewriting History | Ratcheting up the Brexit crisis | Unity Day of Action
Rewriting History "The first casualty when war comes is the truth” said US Senator Hiram Johnson in 1917. We know only too well from our own recent experience of reporting on the decades of conflict how true this is. However, it misses the equally important other side of the coin – the victor writes the history." Ratcheting up the Brexit crisis For now the DUP and Johnson still appear determined to create a real crisis with the EU. London has set a December deadline for a deal with th...
20 Nov 202116min
The Sunday World apologises | Eradicating Poverty | Lá breithe TG4 | Will they won’t they trigger Article 16?
The Sunday World apologises My case had to do with an article in the Sunday World in September 2015.. For me this was always about asserting my own integrity and I think the case succeeded in that. It is my intention to donate the proceeds of the settlement to good causes. These will include the Irish language sector, Green Cross, The Bobby Sands Trust, The Moore Street Preservation Trust, the homeless and other projects that I have a grá for. Eradicating Poverty In my view we will not erad...
14 Nov 202115min
