KILLED BY A SILENT KILLER (Part Two) KEVIN MITCHELL I first met Kevin Mitchell in Craobh Sheáin Uí Dhubhláin in Bishop Street; I was there to meet with other Gaelic speakers and extend my knowledge of the language. Kevin was there to learn Irish as he had
Read more →Asbestos was widely used as a building material, particularly in the roof and ceiling areas of buildings in the latter part of the last century. In the 80s , medical science established a conclusive link between its dust and an incurable, chronic lung disease , now known
Read more →In his last book, ‘Miles Away’, Nick Edmunds , narrated a plot set firmly in the 1970s and happening in his native Scotland. With his second, recently published novel, ‘Ragged Island’, the scene shifts to the broader landscape of the Americas and jumps forward in time to
Read more →Back online today after a very lengthy absence. Why? Some years ago I ran into a technical problem backstage on the dashboard ; I was unable to resolve it and my web builder had moved on to other things. A long story short- at my daughter’s recent
Read more →
As a trade unionist , I attended several meetings with representatives of the Inspectorate and the Government Department, including Ministers. Assurances were always given that inspections were conducted in a positive , supportive ethos. Frequently, this did not match the experience of schools.
Read more →
The Camera Club has resumed in blended form – attendance for some and Zoom connection for the rest. I viewed online a first class presentation by Ken Lindsay of Eastwood last night. While interaction with other members has gone, there are bonuses – no travel and home comfort.
Read more →
I now understand that Clive headed, with undisguised brutality, the group which plundered the Indian Sub-Continent. The echoes of Empire which surfaced in the EU Referendum carefully selected a picture of a benign regime where indigenous peoples were extras. We were fed a distorted and highly abridged version of reality. My primary school teacher, if he knew, failed to point out that Wolfe had perfected the bayonet technique during service in Ireland where he helped to subdue restless natives. Scots will be aware that he also saw service with Cumberland at Culloden. Had I known those facts then, I would have better understood why the British Empire was coloured red on our classroom World map.
Read more →
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
Read more →
Derry provides the perfect microcosm for the shortcomings of the Northern Ireland Government; for the first forty years of its existence in the new state, a Nationalist majority, through political gerrymander, was governed by a Unionist minority. Its hinterland was County Donegal and, in the original concept for temporary partition in 1914, it along with Fermanagh and Tyrone would have been part of the new Irish Free State. Tory support for the UVF and Unionism ensured that the Walled City and its links to Orange Iconography remained within the Loyalist fold
Read more →
The European Union is the best example in the history of the world of conflict resolution” – John Hume in the European Parliament, 4th of May 2004
Read more →