Samuel Thompson

Fairness and Fear in the alternate universe of the Orange Order…

Samuel Thompson on March 25, 2016, 7:00 am

| Readers 4921

I’ve heard some bizarre things on the Nolan show but the recent interview with Drew Nelson, Grand Secretary of the Orange Order, has got to be in the top five. The discussion centered round a recent Orange Order report, ‘Fairness and Fear’ that outlined the horrors Protestants face in the workplace. As an atheist I object to being called a Protestant’ but I suppose I could be termed part of the wider PUL community the Orange Order frequently claims to …

This time next year we could have Trump in the White House, Boris in Downing Street and be on our way out of the EU…

Samuel Thompson on March 17, 2016, 9:56 am

| Readers 1368

Closer to home, the border could be reinvigorated providing a bonanza for ‘good’ Republicans to make fortunes out of fuel-smuggling and dumping toxic waste, while not-so good Republicans will celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising by blowing up as many people as possible. Some of these nightmare scenarios may be the result of self-inflicted wounds. In America, Trump has made racism respectable again. He gets an endorsement from a Kl Klux Klan leader and goes UP (yes, up) in …

Unionists should be careful what they wish for with a Brexit…

Samuel Thompson on February 23, 2016, 7:19 am

| Readers 4957

So it’s official. Turkeys do vote for an early Christmas. Without even waiting to see what David Cameron brought back from Brussels, the DUP and TUV nailed their colours to the Brexit mast. Both explain their position primarily in monetary terms – the UK pays far more into the EU than it gets back, so we’d be better off out of it. The tax payers of England of course could say that about the UK in general and Northern Ireland …

From giant rats to Noel Thompson: A Spotlight on democracy…

Samuel Thompson on February 19, 2016, 7:00 am

| Readers 958

SPOTLIGHT ON SPOTLIGHT – The view from an audience member at the recording of Tuesday evening’s Spotlight debate. And a close encounter with two large rats on the way home!

A wry view of the US presidential candidates….

Samuel Thompson on January 16, 2016, 8:20 pm

| Readers 1205

It seems to have been going on for ever but the truth is, it hasn’t even started yet. I am of course, referring to the greatest political show on earth, the US presidential election. This year’s crop of hopefuls contains demonstrates once again the diversity of America’s millionaire class. In addition to middle-aged white guys, there is an African-American, a Jew, a Latino and a Canadian, who is also a Latino. Why there is even a woman. Let’s take a …

From Bannisters To The Iron Harvest. 1916 and all that…

Samuel Thompson on January 3, 2016, 7:00 am

| Readers 1368

I saw an unusual tweet a few weeks ago. Someone had posted a picture of a bannister. That seemed strange until I read the caption and discovered the bannister was in a house where James Connolly had once lived. The tweeter expressed pleasure, perhaps awe, at sliding his hand along an object his hero had once used and it got me thinking about our relationship with the past and how objects and places and can make it come to life …

The review of the review. A punter’s view of the Slugger end of year review show…

Samuel Thompson on December 15, 2015, 7:14 pm

| Readers 918

It had been a while, maybe four or five years, since I was in Hill Street after dark and what a pleasant surprise it was; bustling bars and restaurants, some totally new to me, casting a warm glow and friendly noise onto the cobbled street. I pulled my collar over to fight off the drizzle and saw the dark empty yard of a bar/restaurant specializing in al fresco drinking and dining. Smoking ban or not, it probably wasn’t the soundest …