I don’t spend every evening at a function mixing with an eclectic collection including Sir Hugh Orde the President of APCO, Sir Ian Blair, Lord David Ramsbottom, the good and the great and well, me! However the Longford Trust which was set up to continue the work of the late Lord Longford in promoting prison [...]
One of the great unrequited (almost) love stories in literature is of the poet William Butler Yeats and Maud Gonne McBride. In 1889, Yeats met Maud Gonne, then a 23-year-old heiress and ardent Nationalist. Gonne was eighteen months younger than Yeats and later claimed she met the poet as a “paint-stained art student.” Gonne had [...]
After France won their World Cup qualifier last Wednesday at the Stade de Fraud with Thierry Henry’s handball the cry went up around France’s former Republican ally “Liberté, égalité, fraternité et replay!”
But it’s all over for Ireland in World Cup 2010. FIFA has refused a replay against France so the country will now have to [...]
Feelings are running high in Ireland after the country failed to qualify for World Cup 2010 in South Africa. The only topic of discussion in Ireland today is the French Hand job! Merde!! Ireland suffered the cruelest of World Cup exits as France went through with a goal with a goal which should have been [...]
Rarely can there be a group as worthy of support as this (The Tayto appreciation society on Facebook) - I had to join as in an increasingly transient world the continuity and happiness provided by Tayto is important!
My life and Tayto have crossed on two occasions, both in a previous life as a VAT inspector [...]
Hallowe’en seems to have grown around the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, marking the end of the light half of the year and the beginning of the dark half. All Hallows’ Eve, has over the years moved from the Celtic Festival of Samhain to trick-or-treat. Samhain was the time of the final harvest of the [...]
It is not just in the UK that politicians have been found to have had their snouts firmly in the expenses trough. More details about expenses incurred by Irish Politician John O ‘Donoghue have been disclosed this morning as the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker of the Irish Parliament) gives in to mounting public pressure and outrage [...]
In the bad old days before Gerry Adams Gang aka Gerry and the Peacemakers discovered Peace, Love and Understanding one of the more disreputable aspects of the IRA (In Ireland these things are relative) was the euphemistically named “Fundraising Activities.” Indeed these crypt-fascists masquerading as Republicans were the greatest beneficiaries of Partition running numerous rackets [...]
“Tis a brave man who first eat an oyster!” so said my townsman Jonathan Swift Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin and I’m in a position to verify many still feel this way for Oysters are like Marmite, you either love them or hate them!
It’s the luck of the Irish to have the world’s finest [...]
Last week in Shannon, Saturday morning was spent catching up with JET-FM in its new location in a retail unit in Shannon Town Centre. Community Radio is an important voluntary movement in Ireland and a real community builder – One of the more successful stations which has led on promoting local issues and exploring the [...]
