KINGS OF DUPLICITY
So—the day has come and gone and to my knowledge no earth shattering events have occurred. Nothing has transpired that should make us re-evaluate the worth of a paltry handshake. The build up—at least the media led version—had us believe that this was the handshake that would eclipse all other handshakes.
Posted in Current Affairs
THE MESSAGE ON THE HILL
If you live in the west, north and south parts of Belfast there is a good chance you viewed with your own eyes the ‘Eriu is our Queen’ message placed on the Black Mountain. When I seen it my immediate thought was ‘who the …. is Eriu’? Ancient history is not my strongest point but I’m sure the majority of West Belfastwere saying the same. A friend of mine sent a brief resume of good old Eriu – an interesting story and one I would like to investigate further. But the real message wasn’t about who is their Queen, but rather it is who is not their Queen. Fair enough. Each to their own.
Posted in Current Affairs
ALL THE WORLD HATES UNIONISTS
Robin Aitken, a former BBC journalist has described Ulster’s unionists as one of the ‘despised tribes’, alongside eurosceptics, Christian fundamentalists and other ‘right wingers’. He believes we deserve this title because we are ‘outside the progressive concensus’! Of course, demonising us helps to define that consensus – it’s a win/win for the ‘Unionist bashers’.
Recently, two unionist figures issued statements which, initially, seemed to be another example of the type of thinking negatively associated with Unionism – we are sectarian, bigoted, Old Testament burn in hell type of guys who are intolerant of foreigners in general and republicans/ catholics/ nationalists in particular.
Posted in Current Affairs
WHAT A FARCE
Once again we have the republican movement acting like the great peace makers of this country and the ‘peace process’ over the question of whether Martin McGuiness will shake the hand of the Queen.I implore those who are reading this, do not be fooled by the republican P.R. machine which has been working on this situation for the past number of weeks or months.
Posted in Current Affairs
In his latest exclusive article for Long Kesh Insideout, former Blanket journalist and Radical Unionist political commentator, DR JOHN COULTER, assesses the threat which the violent vigilante group, Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD), could have on the Loyalist community.
Posted in Current Affairs
Out of the Quaqmire – William Mitchell
The current political DUP/Sinn Fein ‘carve up’ at Stormont seems to be considerably frustrating for us all. Decisions can’t be made and devolution can’t function properly whilst those who govern continue to appease each other with equal ‘slices of the cake’. We need look no further than the recent Girdwood fiasco. Although such behaviour is historically routine to the ordinary voter, we were promised so much more with the formation of the Executive Assembly and the Peace Process. Just recently, I was listening to some music and the words of this verse struck a chord with me.
Posted in Current Affairs
THIS WEEK IN THE PAPERS 9
I see our old friend Alex Maskey has been awarded an honorary degree by Lemoyne College, Syracuse, New York. He is now a ‘Doctor of Humane Letters’ – universities have the right to award these degrees to whoever they want but I can’t help but wonder about all the deserving people who have never been considered for these degrees – also Alex and his friends weren’t adverse to placing explosives in schools etc. – why would he be considered in the first place?
Posted in Current Affairs
Keep Politics Out of Sport? Tell That To The FAI.
The Republic of Ireland football team are due to play Italy in the European Championships on Sunday 18th June in Poznan. It is a game of huge importance for Italy but somewhat of a dead rubber for an Irish team who were completely outclassed in last night’s fixture with Spain. The date of the game against Italy is a significant one.
Posted in Current Affairs
The Long Awaited…………And Many Times Delayed….
Website Launch
Thursday 14th June seen the launch of the longkeshinsideout website. It was intended to be a small low key affair and invites were sent to around 50 people. Almost 70 people turned up at Farset for a presentation that lasted around an hour and a half. It was certainly encouraging to see such a good crowd and especially so to witness people from many different corners of Northern Ireland.
Posted in Current Affairs
WHAT PRICE A STORY?
I’ve always liked Sunday mornings – rise about 7, get washed, dressed and go down the stairs. Put the kettle on, then the radio – if it’s cold, put the heat on. Get the car keys and drive to the garage to get the Sunday papers. When I come back I pour out a cup of coffee and sit down to read the papers – Sunday World first, then the Sunday Life and then the Sunday Times – you need a few cups for the ‘Times’.
Posted in Current Affairs