Candles mean different things to different folk; women like smelly ones, or those in fancy colours with sparkles, glitter and wee mysterious speckles on the surface. Some of us light candles in churches, perhaps particularly abroad on holidays or pilgrimage, in special or hallowed places when we
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It was established Unionist policy to deprive Derry and the North West of economic development since it might possibly provide employment for people opposed to their rule and population growth would imperil the gerrymander operating with impunity in Derry. Unfortunately, and the denial of expansion of Magee University is a notable case, there are still clear signs that the old, Unionist protocols are intact and embedded in the thinking of those with power.
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‘The ancient Irish bodhran was invented sometime in the fifties’. Well, so Francesco Turrisi , onstage with Rhiannon Giddens, told a capacity Usher Hall audience in a bitterly cold, Edinburgh last night. It was only one line from the humorous badinage between the pair on carbon dating
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The intent of BBC Scotland’s programme to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the recent ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland was embedded in the title, ‘The War Next Door’. At a superficial level, there was an attempt to provide a semblance of balance with the early inclusion of an
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Thanks to Jude Collins for permission to copy this homily from http://www.judecollins.com A phobal Dé agus a chairde go léir, Tá muid bronach inniú. Tá ár gcara Des imithe ar shlí na Fírinne. It’s a fitting way to describe the death of our friend – a man
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Willie Clarke was a miner and he manifested all of the great qualities which mark apart that breed of workers. He was hewn from the rocks that he crushed from the moment of his descent to the grim coalface as a child. Miners learn interdependency in one
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A Shared Home Place – Seamus Mallon Bond Street was a Protestant and Loyalist heartland which celebrated its historical totems with vigour. Growing up in the Waterside area of Derry, I can share and empathise with Seamus Mallon’s memories of his childhood. Our neighbours and the majority
Read more →GENTLE ON MY MIND Ever since I became bionic there’s been a constant need to stare at my feet as I walk; I’ve tripped over invisible cigarette packets, skited inexorably down the shiny paving stones of Alloa High Street praying for a wall to bring me to
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I wrote this a year ago after Sorcha arrived on the fifteenth of June, a few days after her mother, Jen’s birthday. June is a busy month as my elder brother, James, as well as grandchildren, Leo and Lilly Ann were all born in that month. Neill,
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One day towards the end of lunch, a large, noisy party arrived in the dining room. Thankfully, they occupied two tables which were not mine. However, I was pressed into service when their designated waitress came to tell me that they wished to be looked after by a Gaeilge speaker. Their leader was a rough looking, large Dubliner who had clearly had a few aperitifs and was nursing a pint of the black stuff. As they finished lunch and expressed appreciation for my attentiveness, the big fella said to me,
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