Monthly Archives: September 2011

Viva Los San Patricios!

Posted on September 30, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

Interesting half hour documentary (English subtitles) on Gaelic language channel TG4 on Wednesday night. Los San Patricios, the regiment of largely Irish soldiers in Mexican Army 1846-48. A story that was largely unknown in Ireland until 1997 (the issue of … Continue reading →

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SDLP Leadership Candidates Hustings

Posted on September 29, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

A photograph from SDLP Leadership Hustings (Crescent Arts Centre, Belfast….22nd September 2011). Hosted by SDLP Youth.  Left to Right…..Seamas de Faoite (SDLP Youth Vice Chair), Alex Attwood MLA  West Belfast & Minister for Environment), Conall McDevitt MLA South Belfast, Daniel … Continue reading →

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Platform For Change Is Bad News For Conall McDevitt.

Posted on September 29, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

Platform For Change is a Norn Iron based pressure/lobby group which “is a voice for citizens of Norn Iron who believe that now is the time for a new politics focussed on the common good. It is the place for … Continue reading →

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Gusty Spence (UVF Terrorist) Dies Aged 78.

Posted on September 25, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

June 1966. I was 14 years old. It was still three years to the outbreak of the Troubles, although one man had been killed a few weeks prieviously.. On a Sunday morning, news started to spread around the Falls Road … Continue reading →

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Irish Journalism And Ethics (Please Dont Laugh!)

Posted on September 24, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

Angst-ridden Journalists are worked up about Martin McGuinness of Sinn Féin  standing for the Irish Presidential Election. The problem is that they dont like him very much because he might have some “Baggage”. Indeed he has admitted as much and … Continue reading →

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Gobshite-Gate.

Posted on September 22, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

The Great and the Good are in a tizzy because Carál Ni Chuilín (Sinn Féin) the Minister for Culture, Art and Leisure at Stormont has called (via Twitter) Michael McDowell, a former politician in the Republic a “gobshite”. Now there IS … Continue reading →

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“Twenty Politicians Under Forty”

Posted on September 22, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

Browsing thru the New Statesman’s latest edition in Easons today, I was struck by their list of Twenty British Politicians Under Forty. People to watch as they climb the political ladder. Looking at the same list in twenty years time … Continue reading →

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The Stoop Down Low Party?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

For some years now, the Social Democratic & Labour Party has been described by its enemies as The Stoop Down Low Party. Somewhere, allegedly in Derry, there is a man who was the very first to use an aerosol paint … Continue reading →

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I Would Vote For McGuinness But I Dont Want Him To Win

Posted on September 20, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

Journalists ill-disposed towards Sinn Féin have labelled the decision of Sinn Fein to run Martin McGuinness in the Irish Presidential Election as…….”audacious”. It is a neutral-sounding word but actually says more about their journalistic jaws dropping in surprise than it does … Continue reading →

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The SDLP And Re-Connecting With Its Own.

Posted on September 18, 2011 by fitzjameshorse

SDLP Leadership Candidates talk about rebuilding and re-connecting. To some extent its a cliché or at least a buzzword.. Two weeks ago I spoke to Patsy McGlone in the Long Gallery at Stormont. He was at the launch of “Líofa 2015”. … Continue reading →

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