Advertise
-
Books
-
Kevin Myers’ ‘Watching the Door’: Book Review
This reads as if a mad picaresque tale. Myers as first a reporter for RTÉ and then as a freelance journalist with no real experience, finds himself wandering into savagery as he hastens north as the Troubles explode. A soldier dies next to him; he witnesses an IRA ambush; he sees children shot to death [...] read our review »
-
“It was a trivial problem that… occurs every year”
Just your average family gathering at Christmas, with a bit of an argument about the seating cleaning arrangements… Scuffles have broken out between rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian clerics over a turf war in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity. Bemused tourists looked on as about 100 priests fought with brooms while cleaning the [...] read our review » -
Total Politics: Top 20 NI Blogs…
Fair play to Iain, he managed to get over 2,200 people voting in his poll for the top Northern Irish blogs this year… We (just, I imagine) retained our top spot, with Splintered coming straight in at number 2, no doubt his pet subject du jour will have garnered him a lot of fans… I’ve [...] read our review »
-
Comment on David Ford: “as minister my decision has to be bound by the best professional advice I can be given.”
on 4 August 2011 at 4:03 pm
ford is doing a pontius pilot routine: nothing is his fault, responsibility or call – all decisions are in the hands of anonymous bureaucrats whom he calls advisers and commissioners, and he is powerless to actually do anything himself. despite the fact that he is the justice minister!
if a justice minister can’t act, what’s the purpose of having one?
Go to comment
Comment on Life Sentence Review Commission deny Brendan Lillis release
on 26 July 2011 at 11:22 pm
brendan lillis has no affiliation to any political party or organisation; he is not a rallying point for dissent nor a threat to anybody.
he is a man who has no party political support structure with a well financed pr machine to support him; he is a small man, a man of no property and an abandoned man.
his continued imprisonment is a travesty of justice; he is bed-ridden and immobile. had brendan lillis been a property developer millionaire our political leaders would be tripping over themselves to get him out.
Go to comment
Comment on “We on the outside finessed…”
on 10 January 2011 at 9:54 pm
“..SF have conferred quasi-sainthood on the hunger strikers.”
the hunger strikers haven’t conferred sainthood on sinn fein.
but you are correct, discovering the truth could bring down the edifice, probably won’t, but it could. they will continue to search out wiggle room and keep blaming everybody from richard o rawe to the dirty brits to god knows who else; but it is coming to near the end of the road for their lies.
Go to comment
Comment on “We on the outside finessed…”
on 10 January 2011 at 9:36 pm
the only decent thing to do now is put this issue to bed once and for all with full disclosure of all contacts, details of offers and replies to those offers.
the crumbling wall of denials and about-turns from the adams camp since richard o rawe published banketmen leaves them looking rather mendacious and untrustworthy.
time for the tell-all story and to hell with adams’ happy ending narrative. there is no happy ending.
Go to comment
Comment on Supporting criminality
on 22 August 2010 at 10:36 pm
tom mc elwee’s moral compass sustained him through a long, lonely death of sacrifice.
the rantings of a failed racist politician hold no moral equivalence to the commitment of those who can endure for what they believe.
Go to comment
Comment on Protest cancelled as prison agreement reached
on 13 August 2010 at 9:38 pm
they are not all of the dissident variety of republicanism. most undoubtedly are affiliated to one or other dissident grouping but there are also people affiliated to the irish republican socialist movement who are on complete ceasefire and have decommissioned. additionally there are the men convicted of the bobby tohill case and they are most certainly not of the dissident variety of republicanism.
i am happy that this particular episode is over and hope the prison settles down to a quiet place where prisoners are no longer abused.
Go to comment
Comment on “This story could end very badly indeed”
on 21 July 2010 at 11:04 am
The good old days are gone. Time for old dogs and young pups to learn new tricks.
how true.
the current republican prisoners are a forgotten generation of prisoners; their tactical approach does as much to isolate them from public opinion as a hostile media.
but their politics/lack of politics are not the issue; the issue is a prison system which is reminiscent of that which prevailed in the h-blocks.
the whole situation in maghaberry could disappear quite rapidly without any loss of face on either side if/when the prison administration sit down in good faith at a face-to-face meeting with the prisoners.
a humane prison regime is not a political nor a religious demand, it is a human rights demand.
Go to comment
Comment on The King Is Dead…
on 15 July 2010 at 2:59 pm
i thought it was the dissidents who bussed outsiders in? is storey from ardoyne or was he bussed in?
Go to comment
Comment on Patriotism today in Ireland
on 5 July 2010 at 9:50 pm
patriotism neeeds redefinition for the 21st century; the old insular national sovereignty of the past doesn’t work in an increasingly interdependent world.
but patriotism needs to have at its core the welfare of the people; the working man and woman should not be penalised so severely over the greed of the bankers and the wealthy elite.
unfortunately, political trends in ireland appear to be more driven towards jumping into bed with the bankers and wealthy elite rather than challenging their corrupt practices. while the rest of us are being told how we must tighten the belt to pay, the bosses and chief executives are raking in the usual exorbitant bonuses and salaries.
Go to comment
Comment on Fancy a conspiracy theory? Take your pick
on 22 June 2010 at 12:25 pm
some of the people named on the list have no connection with politics or organisations of any sort.
Go to comment