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Books
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A poem for the day – Launching the Whaler Juan Peron
A Belfast epic, and one of my oldest poems, the opener of my first collection, Grub. The gist of the story was found in Moss & Hume’s Shipbuilders to the World: 125 Years of Harland and Wolff, Belfast, 1861-1986, which tells how Eva Peron was due to launch a huge whaling vessel in Belfast, built [...] read our review » -
Do Words Matter?: Book Review of Political Discourse and Conflict Resolution – Debating Peace in Northern Ireland
I share many of the concerns of Andy Pollak, whose recent post ‘My Response to the Slugger Begrudgers’ zeroed in on the ‘relentless flow of negativity’ of some Slugger commentators. Pollak’s post was largely concerned with the medium of the blog. Indeed, I think the anonymity of the online world encourages extreme discourse and allows [...] read our review »
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“You can see Newton’s mind at work…”
To add to the open access treasure trove at the Royal Society, Cambridge University Library is putting online some of its collection of books, maps, manuscripts and journals. We have called the first phase of our work on the Cambridge Digital Library the Foundations Project, which runs from mid-2010 to mid-2013 and has been made possible [...] read our review »
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Comment on Nollaig Shona Duit. Happy Christmas Belfast.
on 20 December 2011 at 2:14 pm
‘Yeah i had read that but that sign was on the go, open to correction, before An Culturlann was open.’
An Cultúrlann has been open since 1991. The signs only went up for the first time a few years back (can’t remember what year, but definitely post-’91)
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Comment on POTD – Bastardised scrawl
on 16 September 2011 at 3:31 pm
Apparently the worst that can happen to you is a torture similar to Waterboarding. It’s called ‘DavidFording’, where you are tied to a chair and forced to watch endless speeches by the leader of the party…
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Comment on POTD – Bastardised scrawl
on 16 September 2011 at 2:27 pm
CS, I am a long-standing member*, though only because I had the temerity to refuse a Tunnock’s Teacake at one of Stephen Farry’s little teas, and have been refused a chair ever since…
*Please insert ‘fnaar fnaar’ or ‘Ooh matron!’ jokes here.
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Comment on POTD – Bastardised scrawl
on 16 September 2011 at 12:03 pm
‘Someone mentioned snooker cues, which most Alliance traditionalists would, of course, regard as ghastly and uncouth.’
They’re fine if referred to as ‘Billiards Cues.’
Apparently the Alliance Cumann na mBan scored a blow recently, when they subjected an enemy to 2 hours of ‘pointedly not being spoken to’ at a tea and cake event.
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Comment on POTD – Corrected misspelling
on 15 September 2011 at 4:42 pm
My Da maintains the reason the IRA were given the name the ‘Provies’, was because nobody could figure out if the alternative should be ‘Provos’ or ‘Provoes’
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Comment on POTD – Corrected misspelling
on 15 September 2011 at 4:30 pm
And in Fallswater srteet for a few years there, someone started to paint – Conit…and underneath it – Continuoty IRA
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Comment on POTD – Corrected misspelling
on 15 September 2011 at 4:28 pm
King Street a few years ago – ‘stop punnishment beatings on Ormo Road’
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Comment on Protestant and Dissenter: the nonsense of Sinn Fein’s outreach
on 15 September 2011 at 2:02 pm
‘Who are the TUV? Are they still a party?’
A party of one
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Comment on Liofa 2015- what’s to lose?
on 6 September 2011 at 1:22 am
Quite a few ‘top level’ members speak Irish quite well, some pretty fluently. Bairbre de Brún taught through the medium of Irish, Barry Mcilduff speaks fluently, Paul Maskey and Pat Sheehan both speak it very well. Adam’s Irish has improved dramatically over the years to the point where he can conduct interviews in Irish and take part in debates in the Dáil in Irish.
But ye know what? Who cares? Doiminic Ó Brolcháin is also fluent. Gusty Spence got his Fáinne in jail. Plum Smyth also gained a Fáinne in jail. One of the PSNI officers at the launch today spoke to my colleague in Irish.
Irish isn’t the sole posession of Sinn Féin. They never claimed it was. Today’s event wasn’t SF taking ownership of the language. Caral ní Chuilin spoke about her own personal reasons for wanting to improve her Irish, ie. in order to catch up with her kids. She said it was a personal choice.
I have no doubt that the PSNI officers who were there, were there because their superiors approached them and asked them to sign up, however, I also have no doubt that many PSNI officers also volunteered for the programme, not just because, as Limerick pointed out, of the obvious benefits re promotion, but also because maybe this was their chance to learn, or improve their Irish.
This is a genuine opportunity to de-politicise the language, I think, and people like Basil McRea did themselves no harm whatsoever by attending the launch. It would be even better if he signed up himself, but it’s a completely voluntary thing, so it’s his choice.
As to iluvni’s question re PSNI officers attending in their own time: The project appears to utilise existing classes, rather than starting up new ones, which, as we all know, would cost more money, and that is one of the main gripes that ‘liberal’ anti-Irish language posters have, so I’m sure the officers concerned could find a wee ‘rang’ somewhere when they’re off-duty. Having said that, I see this as a very positive move by the PSNI, and I for one wouldn’t have any problem with them attending a class as part of their everyday duties.
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Comment on Liofa 2015- what’s to lose?
on 5 September 2011 at 5:43 pm
Just back from the launch of Líofa 2015. Very good. All credit to the staff and pupils of St. Dominic’s, who played beautifully and spoke extremely well.
Very well attended too. There wasn’t an empty seat. Also, it was good to see the likes of Basil McRea there.
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