Archive | Fr Des RSS feed for this section
Andersonstown News January 30, 2012

A cool, fresh wind blows

It will be an interesting time ahead with – possibly – republicans courteously meeting Britain’s Queen and the Pope visiting Cuba. The more interesting of these is the Pope in Cuba.

Read More 0 Comments
Andersonstown News December 15, 2011

Joy blooms amidst pain

Christmas should be a happy time, but for many it can be too sad for words. Your unhappiness takes on an even darker colour when everyone else is practically commanded to be happy. The best wish we have for us all is, perhaps, a merry Christmas, hopefully a happy one, but certainly, no matter what happens, a peaceful one.

Read More 0 Comments
Andersonstown News December 8, 2011

United Europe gives us pause

We seem to be heading towards a United States of Europe. For some this seems a good idea, others see it as yet another mistake.European nations united under a central government, with centrally controlled tax laws, national parliaments which can make laws but only subject to an overall set of superior laws for the whole of the united states; much the same idea as that

Read More 0 Comments
Andersonstown News December 1, 2011

His ideas were revolutionary

People are shocked when you say Jesus Christ was one of the greatest revolutionaries the world ever knew. At Christmas we are all ringing bells and singing and, if we can manage the money, feasting. But that is not what he was about.

Read More 0 Comments
Andersonstown News November 1, 2011

A legal gift from Ireland

A NEW and thoroughgoing report on our courts and legal systems, and a lot of changes in them are long overdue. For those unfortunate enough to have to visit the courts, much of their indignation is about the length of time it takes to bring a person to trial

Read More 0 Comments
Online September 28, 2011

Another spin on the whirligig of history

The campaigns for the Presidency in Ireland are giving rise to interesting discussions. The most interesting is about Martin Mc Guinness, one of the candidates any country would be proud to have as President.

Read More 0 Comments
Columnists February 17, 2012

Terms of justice should not be left to victims

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days.

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

A time for great rejoicing?

GENERAL hilarity erupts in West Belfast, firstly at news that Rangers had applied to go into administration; secondly, at news that they had indeed gone into administration; and thirdly, that the inevitable 10-point docking had taken place.

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Why snack lovers are getting that old sinking feeling on this 100th anniversary

AWAY from the Occupied Six-Counties fry, another staple food of Noel ’n’ Alan was in the spotlight this week. In the research and development wing of Tandragee Castle, Tayto have…

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Chemical fly in the oinkment

A CORRESPONDENT – ‘Pig-Ignorant’ – texts the paper this week complaining about some bacon he bought for his Saturday morning fry-up. He’s unhappy first of all about the fact that the bacon had an irridiscent sheen when he removed it from the packaging

Andersonstown News February 16, 2012

Resilience a recurring theme, from Conamara to Ground Zero

That great hero of Conamara, Seán Ó Coisdealbha, was in the Cultúrlann on Saturday to launch his new poetry anthology Stadhan. A veteran troublemaker – in the best sense of the word – and the dynamo behind some of the best community ventures in the Gaeltacht,

Columnists February 15, 2012

Bitsa ramblings on travel – both time and otherwise

In the mid-90s I briefly took a break from playing Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 and worrying about who would win the musical face-off between Blur and Oasis to watch children’s television.