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Against Remembrance – Seminar & Book by David Rieff
Is the best way to overcome the legacy of conflict simply to forget about it? Author and journalist David Rieff spoke on this subject last week in a seminar at the Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) at Trinity College Dublin. Rieff has recently written a book titled, Against Remembrance (published in Ireland by Liffey [...] read our review »
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Eamon Nancarrow’s misadventures in Rock…
It’s the quiet ones you have to watch, they say. When I last saw Eamonn Namcarrow, back in the mid 1980s he was a congenial, good-natured and highly sociable young lad. The next time was 26 years later, in Lavery’s Gin Palace in Bradbury Place. He’d just brought out his first book, Holywood Star about [...] read our review »
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Propaganda of Peace: Media and culture during the peace process
Extract from Greg McLaughlin and Stephen Baker: The Propaganda of Peace: The Role of Media and Culture in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Bristol: Intellect Books. 2010. Political opponents Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness were confirmed as First Minister and Deputy First Minister of a new executive in May 2007, closing yet another chapter in [...] read our review »
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Comment on Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore calls for delivery on Northern Ireland Bill of Rights
on 21 April 2012 at 5:24 pm
Afraid I’ve to agree with FJH on this, they’re worthless, I’ve addressed certain commissioners, in their building, on the need, or not, for protection of social and economic rights, that was 10 years ago, we’re still waiting.
That said, and this is not an opener for more politico-badminton, a former Official IRA addressing the Unionist party is to be welcomed, I’d hope other parties here will invite members from the other legislature in Ireland to provide input and advices.
Yes, Alliance are, per their constitution, a Unionist party.
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Comment on Sinn Fein’s idea of rapprochement “is a brick-cold exercise in reinvention, re-positioning and re-writing of the past”
on 20 April 2012 at 9:08 am
HG, if you’re still about, you have me wholly wrong, SF, a bunch of disingenuous gits, are nothing to me, facts though, remain facts.
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Comment on Sinn Fein’s idea of rapprochement “is a brick-cold exercise in reinvention, re-positioning and re-writing of the past”
on 19 April 2012 at 11:47 pm
I’ll try, next time I’m in town HG, but, things change, when I left school Alex Maskey was being rather roughly ‘protected’ exiting the old White Linen Hall as the only SF Councillor, now the Mayor of Belfast is SF.
Some friendly advice, don’t listen to the ‘most catholics will vote to retain the (other) union argument, it’s not the real world.
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Comment on Sinn Fein’s idea of rapprochement “is a brick-cold exercise in reinvention, re-positioning and re-writing of the past”
on 19 April 2012 at 11:33 pm
HG, an oldie but goodie, Britain is not any part of Ireland.
As to Alex, he introduced himself, not as British nor a UK citizen, rather a Unionist Republican, make of that what you must but, he was certainly not adverse to the inevitable
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Comment on Sinn Fein’s idea of rapprochement “is a brick-cold exercise in reinvention, re-positioning and re-writing of the past”
on 19 April 2012 at 10:24 pm
I find it strange Alex Kane does not recognize the fact Ireland will, per the GFA 1, remain divided for the foreseeable future, when re-unification becomes the reality, Britain will ‘shake the dust from their sandals’ and gladly leave us to it but the devolved arrangement will remain in situ ’til the formerly unionist minority feel sufficiently comfortable to ally with their government in Kildare St., East-West will become enhanced to facilitate this desire for attachment to their ‘old sod’.
During the meanwhile the pro-British minority will instead present politicians in Kildare St. where they will be of such numbers I think they could control government, and it’s policy, for a long time, in coalition with their pro-British colleagues in Fine Gael and ILP. rather than the small number of strangely dour types they currently send to dingey offices and dark corners in the palace of Westminster where they’re largely ignored.
Technically, and Constitutionally the former Unionists are bound to accept the new arrangement, the poor record of harassment and physical brutality of the RUC will be easily matched in the case of their engaging in violence by na Gardaí, only thugs in blue uniform and, if necessary, the UN will be called in.
I spoke with Alex about 20 months and he then appeared considerable more amenable to the idea of re-unification, provided guarantees on culture and tradition would be provided, strangely, he’s flipped this thinking.
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Comment on For Nationalists Only: What’s great about living in the United Kingdom?
on 19 April 2012 at 1:44 pm
Billy, thanks, ‘nail on head’ and goes deeper than sliced spud, what about cadbury chocolate? Would we be left with the fatty muck enjoyed in Strabane or the more luxurious coca enriched type in Lifford?
With the attendant health risks? So again, there’s nothing better being confined in the UK than the potential for equity and freedom in re-unification.
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Comment on Clinkers, Rivets and Flatcaps: Celebrating Titanic and the Men Who Built Her.
on 18 April 2012 at 4:39 pm
Malcom,
http://www.materialstoday.com/view/1618/what-really-sank-the-titanic/
http://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/09/25/the-secret-of-how-the-titanic-sunk
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1392&doc_id=209441&dfpPParams=bid_27,aid_209441&dfpLayout=blog
Sorry Malcom but, the evidence, countering contemporaneous enquiries is there for reading, if you care to look, it appears celebration of the building of this floating disaster in Belfast is second only to the fact it’s building there was also the cause of it’s sinking.
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Comment on For Nationalists Only: What’s great about living in the United Kingdom?
on 18 April 2012 at 2:26 pm
A lot on the NHS, granted a good institution but, it is paid for through yet higher taxes, the VHI/Quinn etc. private system is as cheap and frankly better.
Multi-culturalism, we’ve had for 800 years and look where that got us.
Still, in 2012, being twice as likely to be unemployed as my Protestant neighbors, I am sorry but my answer would be nothing, again, this ‘gentle persuasion’ technique of the BBC and other middle Unionists seems a tad suspicious to me, roll on the census results, next year, 18+ months after Britain and the rest of Ireland
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Comment on Clinkers, Rivets and Flatcaps: Celebrating Titanic and the Men Who Built Her.
on 17 April 2012 at 5:27 pm
Joe, genuinely nothing pedantic there, simply questioning what the second city was capital of?
It is a good piece and clearly well researched albeit missing the key point, that it was those very rivets, poorly manufactured in the shipyard which caused her to sink, not the alleged 100 yd gash.
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Comment on Clinkers, Rivets and Flatcaps: Celebrating Titanic and the Men Who Built Her.
on 16 April 2012 at 1:17 pm
Have to ask but, ‘Belfast in the early twentieth century was a city defined by shipbuilding. Of the approximately 250,000 people who lived in and around the capital,’
in 1912, what was Belfast the capital of?
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