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Books
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Patrick McGinley’s ‘That Unearthly Valley: A Donegal Childhood’: Book Review
Tweet In Bogmail and Foggage, Patrick McGinley sent up the Irish (could he or it be otherwise?) murder mystery genre. He scooped dollops of encyclopaedic wit and mordant satire into these entertainments. A later saga proved more somber and meditative, the Black and Tan War ending as The Lost Soldier’s Song, while The Trick of [...] read our review »
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Stay out of Libya: counterinsurgency doesn’t work
Tweet A moment of some significance in journalism perhaps, as the New York Times reviews the current talked about book, The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan by Bing West. The author is no bleeding heart but a former assistant Defense Secretary from the Reagan era who stomped his way round the [...] read our review »
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“Good Friday. The death of Irish Republicanism” by Anthony McIntyre: a review
Tweet This was a book that I first reviewed at the same time as “Unionism Decayed” back in 2008. Like Vance’s work, it is the author’s portrayal of a defeated political movement or ideal and as a Unionist it was instructional to read an interpretation of the immediate post-Agreement period from the other side of the [...] read our review »
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Comment on Giant’s Causeway dispute heightens
on 25 May 2013 at 1:56 am
Funny how Alex Attwood condemns plastic bag usage as bad for the environment and slaps a tax on them. And yet has no problems with developers tearing apart the natural landscape with diggers and what not to help the development of an elitist sport and past time.
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Comment on “They’ve had the time, they’ve had the money, they’ve had the opportunity…”
on 22 April 2013 at 2:02 pm
The whole Ponzi based Capitalist system is going to come crashing down soon enough so there’s not much point bemoaning the education and political system now.
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Comment on Bedroom Tax aimed at the poor in London and SE will cost more in Northern reland
on 5 April 2013 at 8:28 pm
If the bedroom tax is really about ensuring that people’s housing needs are best matched to their circumstances then it will also have to affect people who don’t claim housing benefit.
A single person or a couple with no children living in a housing executive home who don’t claim housing benefit but happily rent a 3 or 4 bedroom house will be just as guilty of depriving a family of a home according to the current rhetoric. Surely then for the sake of fairness should their rent not increase by 25% to balance it out?
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Comment on Why is the BBC ghettoising NI regional outputs?
on 29 March 2013 at 8:25 pm
Regional output? You could have fooled me. 9 times out of 10 any so called regional programme is of a Belfast bent. Ok if you’re a Belfast resident, but as non Belfast residents like myself are expected to pay the licence fee more programmes from outside the comfort zone would be welcome.
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Comment on On McIlroy: “Let me rephrase that . . . Can I . . . actually I’ll just repeat the question”
on 23 January 2013 at 5:01 pm
He’s a typical wishy washy golfer. I just wish he’d make his mind up and spare us the dramatics.
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Comment on Do Unionist councils need to learn the ‘trick’ of using nationalist mayors as a majoritarian cover?
on 19 January 2013 at 12:24 am
ayeYerMa
“why then does BBC additionally continue to act as a vehicle for promotion of a foreign nationalism on a daily basis?”
Well perhaps you didn’t see the census figures that were released a while ago.
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Comment on McCausland to downsize the Housing Executive to a small strategic body?
on 9 January 2013 at 4:02 pm
Ah I see the old Belfast Centric issue has raised it’s head again. There may be enough 1 bedroom properties in Belfast but what about the rest of the North? And would Belfast residents accept a 4 bedroom house in Newry whilst the Newry resident goes the other way?
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Comment on McCausland to downsize the Housing Executive to a small strategic body?
on 9 January 2013 at 3:27 pm
You could also ask how they are going to cope with the forthcoming under occupancy penalty. Are there enough 1 bedroom properties for people who can’t afford the reduction in their Housing Benefit?
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Comment on The Unionist Forum: What is it?
on 18 December 2012 at 11:38 pm
The Unionist forum another self pitying, hand wringing the world is against us whinge fest. But sure if it achieves the objective of yet more peace money being pumped into Loyalist estates to appease the ‘legitimate concerns of the Unionist community’ then it’ll be worth it I’m sure.
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Comment on SDLP old guard reject Newry party support for McCreesh playground
on 13 December 2012 at 11:45 pm
As a Newry resident I have to say that this play park name issue should have being handled a lot more sensitively than what has transpired. In saying that however I feel that a lot of Unionist commentators are being disingenuous with their comments in a bid to gain political capital.
The play park is situated very close to Barcroft Park, a staunchly Nationalist area. Even if the park had being given in their eyes a non offensive name would they really want to go there with their kids? The park itself consists of only a few swings a slide and a roundabout all set in tarmac. It’s quite pathetic actually when compared to modern play areas and highlights the discrepancy in investment in towns and cities outside Belfast.
Perhaps NMDC could try to counter the bad publicity by building a modern up to date play area close to the city centre and giving it a boring generic name.
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