Jean McConville , the widowed, Belfast mother of nine children, was abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1972; she was secretly buried and her family waited over thirty years for an official ceremony. She is the best known of ‘The Disappeared’ and her death still causes
Read more →
The Scottish Photographic Federation used to host this gathering but for reasons, as yet not fully explained , it abandoned its commitment to audio-visual enthusiasts a couple of years back. Step forward doughty Bill Barr of Carstairs CC who almost single-handedly has managed to stage this annual event
Read more →
In the introduction to its coverage of Ladies’ Final Day at Wimbledon, the BBC asked about ten women tennis players to name their idols in the sport. It was surprising that only two people, nominated a Williams – Serena , who chose her sister, Venus, and Heather
Read more →
Even among senior, Labour figures, there is fairly widespread agreement that Britain’s intervention in Iraq has had dire consequences for the whole Middle East Region. George Bush’s ‘war on terrorism’ was justifiably seen by most Muslims as an attack on them and on their beliefs. The
Read more →
We have just spent a few gloriously sunny days in Eyemouth, an attractive, little fishing port in the SE of Scotland. It is Border country and traces of past wars are still visible. The topography of the landscape with its numerous little coves meant it was once
Read more →Theresa May has serious Tory leadership ambitions which were germinating long before Cameron intimated that this would be his final term as PM. Some saw the announcement as a clearing of the way for Boris and a shackle method of the London Mayor for the next few
Read more →
There’s a fairly bizarre letter in today’s Sunday Times from a resident of Penrith – Soonu Verghese; I am uncertain of the gender as these old, Cumbrian names are unfamiliar to me. For the purposes of this piece, we will assume it is a woman. She argues
Read more →The seeds of last Thursday’s decimation at the Polls of Scottish Labour were germinating long before the 2014 Referendum. Worried by the rise of the Nationalists in the Seventies, the late John Smith, one of Labour’s sharpest thinkers, saw critically limited devolution as the solution. His prodigy,
Read more →
For nearly one hundred years, the Constitution, has been the predominant issue in every election, fought in Northern Ireland, even at Council level, where there is a wearying, unionist pre-occupation with flags and emblems. The results of the Election in Scotland have ensured that independence has shot
Read more →
The Italian people were a race of emigrants, particularly through the early part of the Twentieth Century and in recent weeks the Nation and, particularly its Coast Guards, deserve Nobel Peace Prize nomination for their humanitarian work in rescuing desperate asylum seekers from the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in
Read more →