Channel 4
“They can take whatever they can, but Northern Ireland is still going to be British whether they like it or not”
Tweet Not much to say by way of introduction that Becky Rowan does not say eloquently for herself… Other than at base, we have the politics of cultural contention… more »
Richard III, history and the pressing needs of a modern university…
Tweet I don’t know if you watched it, but C4 had a documentary on the uncovering of Richard III last night. R3, it seems, may have been more significant as a fictional character in Shakespeare than as an significant monarch in the history of the English state. A mere punctuation between prolonged civil war (as [...] more »
IPC to scrutinise future media deals with the US and other ‘under-performing’ Paralympic nations…
Tweet Okay, so there’ve been pages now written on how great the Paralympics were in #London2012. But to give praise where it is undoubtedly due, it was probably Beijing that first raised the bar and the status of the Paralympic games to, if not equal status, then a great deal closer to the Olympics than [...] more »
In praise of the Paralympics… and Channel 4
Tweet I won’t deny that sitting down to watch the Paralympics is, at first, an uncomfortable experience… We are seeing a range of disability that in the normal run of public life are generally kept well out of the public gaze… It’s odd seeing the Chinese backstroke swimmer holding on to a towel in her [...] more »
War crimes: caught on camera?
Tweet Jon Snow says it is “one of the most important” stories he has ever reported. It may not be on TV until 11.05 pm, yet the screening tonight of Channel 4’s Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields (trailer here) has not exactly gone unnoticed. The programme was shown to the United Nations Human Rights Council at [...] more »
Service not available in Northern Ireland
Tweet Channel 4’s decision not to broadcast the Marie Stopes ‘Are you late?’ TV advert in Northern Ireland raises questions about what information it is criminal to distribute here. The Chief Executive of Marie Stopes International told the Guardian that ‘the advertising of abortion facilities, their contact numbers or addresses is against the law in [...] more »
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Books
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What Ireland did right (and what it needs to do)…
Tweet It is difficult to believe now that one country recently sent 19 delegations to Ireland to study how well our economy was managed. The revelation that our model of economic management featured positively in political and economic discussion in countries including Estonia, Greece and Scotland may also come as a surprise. As we survey [...] read our review »
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O’Toole’s New Republic – unfinished business or just a dream?
Tweet More as a trailer than a review – as it’s out on Thursday– I draw attention to Fintan O’Toole’s latest polemic “Enough is Enough – how to build a new Republic“. Fintan has been promoting the book vigorously on this side of the water, on Radio 4’s Start the Week and here at greater [...] read our review »
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Learning from 1798?: Northern Ireland’s Upcoming Decade of Commemorations
Tweet Last year, the Lilliput Press released a new extended edition of Tom Dunne’s Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize winning book, Rebellions: Memoir, Memory and 1798. First published in 2004, Dunne’s book provoked considerable controversy with its critique of the ‘commemorationist’ history that Dunne believed dominated the 1998 commemorations of the 1798 Rebellion. The book blasted the [...] read our review »
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