Dúlra’s garden is like the surface of the moon. It’s an abandoned, windswept desert. Yesterday three feeders were packed full of scrumptious food, an irresistible seed mix was as usual scattered generously on the path and a couple of heels of bread thrown onto the lawn along with a few over-ripe apples for good […]
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The nasty party
SO, look. I am a strong supporter of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process generally. I know it requires compromise and challenge. God knows we all in the republican community get that. We gave up Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution in favour of a process where Irish citizenship was unqualified […]
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Kevin Barry was just a lad of eighteen summers
Ardoyne singer Jim Sherrie was taking a break and enjoying a bit of fresh air. Tony Strong was also outside enjoying a smoke from his crooked pipe (he’s a devoted pipe smoker as well as being an authority on ballad singing). Earlier he had commented on Sherrie’s singing style. In particular he was impressed […]
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Why Halloween doesn’t smell like it did
IT’S all pumpkins these days, isn’t it? Pumpkins piled on top of each other on bales of hay at the front door; pumpkins artfully placed in shop window displays; candlelit pumpkins carved intricately and gruesomely. Squinter’s old enough to remember when nobody knew what a pumpkin was. Or perhaps the odd swot might have […]
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Wedding bells at the conference
WHY did Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP, go to the Ulster Unionist Party’s conference last Saturday? “To show that he is well disposed towards the UUP” you might say. Mmm. But wouldn’t the UUP already know that? After all, they’ve been “working” in the same building on a daily basis, so it’d be […]
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Darren’s cross an inspiration
I WORK in the field of ‘legacy’. That has meant engaging with the effects of negative and pernicious policies of death and destruction in the context of conflict. While we sometimes appreciate the incredible resilience of those affected by our conflict and the enormous contribution they make to our society, the concept of legacy […]
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