Archive for the blog Category

The Scottish Education Secretary, Michael Russell, MSP, yesterday  addressed  the AGM of the  Educational Institute of Scotland.  He is a man impermeable to doubt, possessing a rhetorical style that suggests he learned compound verbs on his mother’s knee before he learned to walk. However, in the presence

I have held an Irish passport for all of my adult life, although I have not lived there since 1971. Ireland shaped me and  I hope that  I remain today essentially an Irish person, albeit one  probably  modified by the cultural influence of other countries where I

  Language researchers at Glasgow University have discovered that people have a dual linguistic identity. They talk informally to friends and family in one way but affect  a more posh voice for the telephone and in the workplace. They conclude that the phenomenon occurs because people want

  In 1960 the halls of residence were my accommodation during the first year I spent as a student in Belfast.    We were the first cohort   in a brand new building which was inviting, well furnished and provided all  meals at no cost to our families. How times

  … The arrival of the giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, at Edinburgh Zoo in November 2011 capped a magnificent year for the SNP in Scotland. Underlining its importance, First Minister, Alex Salmond, said it symbolised Scotland’s ever growing relationship with the People’s Republic of