Author Archives: fitzjameshorse

Grave Matters

Posted on November 17, 2025 by fitzjameshorse

There are three graves in Milltown. My fathers family. My grandfather died in April 1959. He had just bought my First Communion suit and did not live to see me wear it. He is buried in an unmarked grave, the … Continue reading →

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The Falls Road…Is It Now Middle Class?

Posted on November 15, 2025 by fitzjameshorse

Yesterday I went into Belfast. Christmas Shoplifting. Ooops that was a slip of the tongue. Christmas SHOPPING. November and December are strange times for us. My wife says after every Christmas that next year she will not “do all this … Continue reading →

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Learning Irish: Doing It for Catherine

Posted on November 13, 2025 by fitzjameshorse

This post might contain spelling mistakes and grammar errors but pass no remarks. As the tshirts say “briste” (broken or bad) Irish is better than “cliste” (clever or perfect) English. So I have decided to learn Irish…..again…. or if you … Continue reading →

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New Beginnings?

Posted on November 12, 2025 by fitzjameshorse

Seems like a day that is almost historic. Catherine Connolly is our new President and it seems accidental. The Left agreed on a candidate. Fine Gael had a poor candidate. Fianna Fáil totally messed up to the point where their … Continue reading →

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Joe Biden: You Disappointed Me

Posted on December 4, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

Back in 2008, I wrote that I could not offer the three traditional cheers for Barack Obama. A historic moment and all that…but the reality is that any American President will act in the interests of the United States of … Continue reading →

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Assisted Dying

Posted on December 1, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

The British Parliament has passed a Bill to allow for “assisted dying”. The phrase “assisted dying” was unknown twenty years ago. We might have heard “mercy killing” or “euthenasia”. It is a softer phrase. We talk about the “right to … Continue reading →

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The Norn Iron Executive

Posted on November 30, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

I have been asked by a reader in USA to give the current make up of the Norn Iron Executive and Assembly. Elected in May 2022, there are 90 MLAs from 18 constituencies (5 MLAs in each constituency). The Assembly … Continue reading →

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Kneecap

Posted on November 29, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

I am hardly a fan of “rap music”. Kneecap is a rap group led by DJ Provái. People might say that the name (a reference to the brutality of “kneecapping”…the punishment shooting of anti social elements by (mostly) republican paramilitaries) … Continue reading →

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It Wasn’t Supposed To Be Like This

Posted on November 29, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

There are two things that can be said about the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The first thing is that it has worked out better than we all thought. The second is that it has worked out worse than we … Continue reading →

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Here I Go Again…Again

Posted on October 21, 2024 by fitzjameshorse

Once again, I am trying to get this blog going again. Basically “Keeping An Eye on the Czar of Russia” started as a joke in 2011. There is something about blogging that is as pretentious as a Victorian newspaper editor … Continue reading →

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