Slugger O'Toole

Cooley Distillery, Ireland’s last remaining independent whiskey maker, has signed a deal to supply a Michael Collins-branded Irish whiskey to Sidney Frank Importing, a US drinks distributor, according to the Sunday Times. Cooley expects to supply 50,000 cases of whiskey to the company in year one of the deal, quite ambitious given that 550,000 cases of Irish whiskey are sold in America each year. It would make the company Cooley’s biggest customer. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily …

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More culture, and I know the subs req is a drag.. but the Irish Times has John Banville’s recollection of the day.. Booker day, and “of getting through it without anaesthetising oneself with enormous, near-fatal injections of alcohol. Last time I was shortlisted, I was tipsy by 10 in the morning – thanks to free champagne on the morning flight from Dublin, for in those days Aer Lingus was still an airline – and footless by four in the afternoon.” …

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A Saturday morning cultural treat. The Guardian prints 2 poems by Seamus Heaney from a new collection, a limited edition of 300 copies, published by Clutag Press. Powerful compact poetry. Anyone got an inside track with Clutag Press? Anyone?? Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

I met Garrett FitzGerald in Dublin airport on Thursday. Rarely short of a word or two he was unusually quiet, pre-occupied, perhaps, with a talk he was to give this weekend to the Irish Association on Northern Ireland in 2020. A tall order! Whatever he went on to say about the future, he shared his take on Irish history (subs needed) this morning with readers of the Irish Times. Here’s a few highlights: To the citizens of the Republic, Northerners …

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Interesting reflection from Andersonstown News editor Robin Livingstone on last weekend’s Northern Ireland Wales match. He notes that all sports codes are in competition for new players and that, as things stand, few Catholics are making their way to Windsor Park. He argues that making Windsor Park a warm place for Catholics should be an important objective for Northern Ireland matches, for the most pragmatic of reasons: With the largest percentage of young people in Europe and a population that’s …

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The recent announcement of a GAA game for the Sony Playstation2 has raised the issue of players’ control of the rights to their image for sponsorship purposes, with two prominent members of the Gaelic Players Association [GPA] critical of the GAA Board’s absence of consultation with those featured in the game. The GPA have also just released the first large-scale survey, by UCD, of players’ attitudes and note that 70% of senior inter-county players favour a move to professional, or …

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Brian Walker acknowledges that both the DUP and Sinn Fein have made poll position in Northern Irish politics, but wonders whether they are not frittering away their leadership positions by not striking out for a clear future. Of Sinn Fein he says: Whatever happened to Sinn Fein detaching itself completely from the IRA? Last week saw Gerry Adams firmly impaled on the hook of Slab Murphy. He will stay there at least until the IMC lets him off it, whether …

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This attempt at having a poke at good people of Belfast arrived in my inbox, the first time I’ve received any attempted jokes about life in Northern Ireland. Not particularly funny and it contains the stock prejudices but what’s going on that more and more people are actually circulating this stuff? Subject: Belfast Earthquake! At 0945 yesterday morning a major earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale epicentered on greater Belfast. The earthquake decimated the area, causing an estimated £30 …

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The Irish Times highlights the sixth annual Overseas Conference of the Confederation of European Councillors[subs req. love the url – Ed] which began on Wednesday 12th October in Berlin.. previous venues include Brussels, Gibraltar, Prague and Slovakia.. except, as the Confederation website says, “The Confederation of European Councillors is the partnership body that comprises of over 2100 councillors of various political persuasions from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland” The programme of events during the three day Conference presents …

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So, the UUP leader Reg Empey has threatened to boycott the NI Policing Board should Secretary of State, Peter Hain, appoint two independent members to the positions which would otherwise be taken by Sinn Féin representatives, arguing that “This is a crisis in the making, we will not serve on a quango.”. Hmm.. there are some problems with that statement, and potentially with any attempt to replace SF appointees with independents. The first one being, technically, it’s already a quango. …

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Brian Feeney tells Unionists that they must emulate the process that the British Conservatives are now beginning to contemplate – focusing on the future rather than the past. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Which Polyhedral Are You? I am a d4. Shrewd, petty and evil. Bwahahahaha [*evil laugh*] Hey at least it’s one of the Platonic solids! NB Scrupulously scientific – knowledge of dice not required. To elaborate slightly – You are a four-sided die, a d4. Otherwise known as a tetrahedron, a “Caltrop”, or (to a lesser degree) “Ol’ Pointy”. This crap bores you, so I’ll get to the point. Others tend to see you as petty, conniving, manipulative, argumentative, defensive, greedy, …

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The (new) Broom sees similarities between voices at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

According to United Irelander, You’ve got to hide your love away.. and he seems to be correct.. although, personally, I prefer – Where Has the Love Gone? Update The answer is nowhere, it would seem. Move along. Nothing to see here. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.

Professor Stephen Howe looks at music within Loyalism and notes firstly its absence from mainstream music channels, contrasting it strongly with music espousing Republican sentiments and values, which have on occasions found expression in some popular music. Indeed he notes it has only been the subject of one serious intellectual study, the findings from which were decidedly hostile. Previously: simultaneous progress and retreat Bill Rolston notes this hybridity, recognising that “loyalist songs come in a range of styles: from folk, …

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Father Alec Reid (one of the two churchmen who oversaw the dismantling of the IRA’s armoury) has gotten himself into a spot of bother with his comparison of Unionists to Nazis remark. He has apologised for making the remarks in a heated exchange with members of an audience in Fitzroy Presbyterian Church. It’s clear Father Reid is not a politician and that he made the remarks in the heat of an argument. But someone really ought to have warned him …

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I could note the announcement that the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature has gone to Harold Pinter [extracts from the citation here] in the honest way of Hugh at Most Sincerely Folks, or the humorously-literary way of Chris Bertram at Crooked Timber, or the self-confessed-obvious-joke way of David T at Harry’s Place or in the one-upset-short-of-a-hat-trick-this-week way of Sinéad at Sigla.. but I’ll just note his comments at his 75th birthday celebration at the Gate theatre in Dublin last weekend …

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The Policing Board, to be reconstituted in April, is said to be seeking an urgent report from the chief constable after a High Court judgement which could cost the public £1 million. That’s in contrast with the criminal investigation into alleged corruption which the Belfast High Court judge in the breach of contract case had called for. The call came in a ruling in favour of NI Sheet Metal Works Ltd. after the Belfast-based company, whose managing director, Jim Kirkpatrick, …

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Confirmation from the Gardai that the money seized in Cork came from the Northern Bank robbery. Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy told a cross border police seminar yesterday that he was convinced they have provable evidence that there is a connection. Hugh Orde had already stated the same back in early June, and the Taoiseach as early as March. Conroy: “I’m satisfied at this stage of the investigation that we will show that the money recovered during Operation Phoenix is part …

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This week on Hearts and Minds, “not for the first time, a leading nationalist has compared the Unionist treatment of Catholics to the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Like President McAleese before him, Father Alec Reid has apologized, but unionists are unconvinced”. Slugger O'TooleA general account used for the daily threads and other things.