The Irish Post - April 22, 2023

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President Biden receives special poetic present

BY FIONA AUDLEY

A SPECIAL gift given to US President Joe Biden by Irish President Michael D Higgins during his state visit to Ireland has been revealed.

President Biden was a guest of President Higgins and wife Sabina during his four -day visit.

President Higgins presented Biden with an extra special gift, his office has confirmed.

He presented the US president with a vinyl copy of Patrick Kavanagh: Almost Everything…, a new album released by Claddagh Records in September 2023.

Originally released on Claddagh Records in 1964, the double album features the only recording of Patrick Kavanagh reading his most celebrated poems.

The second album also features Kavanagh’s poetry read by President Higgins, Bono, Hozier, Imelda May, Liam Neeson, Jessie Buckley, Aidan Gillen, Lisa McGee, Lisa Hannigan, Evanna Lynch, Sharon Corr, Kathleen Watkins, Christy Moore, Rachael Blackmore and Aisling Bea, all set to a music composition recorded by Cormac Butler.

Following its release last autumn, the double album reached No. 1 in the Irish Compilation Charts and is the first poetry album ever to top the Irish charts.

President Higgins also gave President Biden signed copies of Machnamh 100: Centenary Reflections volume 1, which brings together the Irish president’s first three Machnamh 100 seminars, as well as a book of the president’s speeches delivered in 2016 as part of the centenary commemorations for the 1916 Rising.

Followiing their meeting, President Biden planted an Irish oak tree in the grounds of Áras an Uachtaráin – following in the footsteps of Presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, before him, each of whom have previously planted a tree on the grounds.

CARDS & CULTURE

A new game from Co. Down

British visitor numbers to Ireland slow to recover

Figures show Ireland’s tourism has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with the British sector performing particularly sluggishly

Chairperson of ITIC. “There will be tourism towns up and down the country with a shortage of tourism beds and therefore with very little tourism activity.”

According to RTÉ, Failté Ireland has estimated that the reliance by the government on tourism beds to house refugees and asylum-seekers could cost the tourism economy €1.1bn this year.

There is also a continuing problem in the car rental sector, where issues relating to cost and supply remain.

According to ITIC, tourism is the largest indigenous industry in Ireland and an integral component of the export economy.

In 2019, a total of 9.68 million international visitors arrived in Ireland. In the same period, tourism employed 265,000 people nationwide.

BY MAL ROGERS

THE number of international visitors to Ireland in the first quarter of this year was down 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, before Covid. According to the figures, visitor numbers from Britain the biggest market, remain low.

According to figures from the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC), 1.7million people visited Ireland from overseas between January and the end of March.

The ITIC said that demand from North America is at the top of the tourism recovery rate. It is hoped that President Biden’s visit will help promote Ireland to the American market. The ‘Biden bounce”. The dollar remains

strong compared to the euro, and this has helped keep the American market buoyant and also means that US visitors on average spend more than many of their European counterparts.

The ITIC has pinpointed several contributing factors to the stubbornly low visitor numbers in other sectors. Accommodation is one of the main areas of concern. Over a third of tourism beds in regional areas around the country are now being used by the Irish government to accommodate Ukrainian refugees and international protection applicants.

“The number of tourism beds no longer available to the tourism economy is of great concern,” said Elaina Fitzgerald Kane,

Previously, ITIC announced that Ireland’s tourism sector could see a decline this year, stressing that it is unlikely to reach pre-pandemic levels until 2026.

“Downstream tourism businesses such as attractions, cultural experiences, inbound operators, restaurants and vintners will be the ones to suffer,” said Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, CEO of ITIC, speaking on RTÉ .

Meanwhile, the organisation says that its preliminary estimates of first quarter inbound tourism performance, published in association with AIB, suggest that both US and European markets are performing well.

However, the important British market is “soft” and long-haul markets are still lagging, it says.

In 2022, many hotels in Dublin anecdotally reported reduced bookings from Britain. No exact figures were available.

WILD ATLANTIC: The Cliffs of Moher Picture: Courtesy of Tourism Ireland

President Higgins leads tributes to Script guitarist Mark Sheehan

BY GERARD DONAGHY

IRISH President Michael D. Higgins has led the tributes to Mark Sheehan, guitarist with Irish band The Script, who died last week, aged 46.

In a brief statement the band revealed Sheehan had died in hospital earlier that day following a short illness.

Sheehan and bandmate Danny O’Donoghue worked as songwriters and producers in the US before returning to Dublin to form The Script in 2001 with drummer Glen Power.

The band’s six studio albums topped the charts in Ireland, with five of them reaching No. 1 in Britain.

They also topped the singles charts in both countries with their 2012 hit Hall of Fame, featuring Will.i.am.

President Higgins – who

hosted the band at his 2013 Glaoch event to celebrate the impact of Irish arts around theworld–praisedSheehan’scontribution to the music scene.

“All those who knew Mark Sheehan, and those millions more who enjoyed and appreciated his music, will have been deeply shocked to hear of his too-early death,” said the President.

He added: “Through their music, Mark and The Script have played an outstanding part in continuing and promoting this proud tradition of Irish musical success

Flatley determined to beat cancer diagnosis

across the world”

Fellow Irish band Kodaline also offered their condolences to Sheehan’s family, describing him as ‘a lovely man’.

“So sorry to hear the passing of Mark Sheehan!” they posted on Twitter.

“We had the great fortune of getting to spend time in his company over the years and [he] was always such a lovely man! Deepest condolences to his family and his The Script Brothers.”

Mikey Graham of Irish band Boyzone hailed Sheehan as a ‘young legend of music’.

“I can and do understand the pain Glen & Danny are feeling right now and also their families,” he said.

The band were due to play two dates in England in June before supporting Pink on the upcoming European leg of her tour.

MICHAEL Flatley (64) says he is determined to keep going after his diagnosis of an with an aggressive form of cancer, 20 years after his first battle with skin cancer.

In January he announced on Instagram “It’s not been an easy battle, to be honest with you. It’s been a tough fight, but I don’t give in easily and I’ve visualised myself already on the other side of that wall.”

Flatley told The Sunday Times last week: “I know that it’s going to be a tough task and it’s going to be a long fight, but that’s OK. I’m ready for it, and I thank God every day for the things that I do have.

“I’m confident in the end that I’ll be successful in getting past this.”

Flatley was in Chicago receiving an award at the Golden Gloves boxing competition, which he won as a middleweight in the 1970s

Flatley, a former Irish Post Award winner, was born into an Irish family in Chicago, but rose to fame when his Riverdance show performed during a short interval at the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1994.

A year later, it had been extended to a full-length show, which became a worldwide sensation, followed by his own stage show, Lord of the Dance, which also proved a hit across the globe.

Now based in Dublin, more recently Flatley expanded into the world of film. In 2018 he directed and starred in the spy movie Blackbird

Maritime memorabilia for auction in Wiltshire

BY MAL ROGERS

AN auction of Titanic, White Star and assorted transport maritime memorabilia will take place in Devizes, Wiltshire this Saturday, April 22.

Lots include a 19th century oak chest used at Harland and Wolff – which built the White Star liners, including RMS Titanic. Several watercolours are also up for auction including one of the Titanic in Co. Cork entitled Last Landfall Queenstown 1912 This is expected to go for something in the region of £150 - £200.

Also coming under the hammer is a large collection of Atlantic Daily Bulletins. These were issued daily on board, and included weather, activities and various other pieces of ship-related information. This lot is expected to go for between £80-£50.

The most important lot, and the one expected to go for the highest bid is a plan of the Titanic used in the inquiry into the sinking of the ship. This is often called ‘the Holy Grail’ of Titanic memorabilia.

Andrew Aldridge is widely regarded as the leading authority in the world in the valuation of Titanic artefacts. He is a specialist in the sale of

THIS WEEK they said...

“Lee Hurley Oswald.”

The nickname immediately given to the young camogie player who almost hit President Biden on the head with a sliotar.

“Speaker, Chair, Taoiseachs all, and I – Deputy Prime Minister, TDs, senators, people of Ireland: It’s so good to be back in Ireland. If you’ll forgive the poor attempt at Irish: Ta me sa bhaile. I’m at home.”

President Joe Biden’s opening remarks to the Oireachtas in Dublin.

“He hates the United Kingdom. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

Dame Arlene Foster, former First Minister, and former leader of the DUP speaking about President Biden.

“I was very surprised by that comment . The one word that you do not associate with Joe Biden is the word hate.”

Tánaiste Micheál Martin, commenting on Arlene Foster’s remarks.

“With Daithi’s Law you are helping others in your situation to get the life-changing help they need. It is a huge achievement. In your father’s words: ‘Exceptional things happen for exceptional people’. I agree with him that you are truly exceptional and so I am delighted to recognise your courage by naming you as the UK’s 2029th Point of Light.”

order that the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquiry could pinpoint activities on the boat after the ship’s collision with the iceberg. It was on display at Titanic Belfast for ten years, so millions of people have seen it. But now it’s up for auction and we’re expecting it to go for between £200,000 and £300,000.”

The (10m) cross-section plan was commissioned by the British Board of Trade to assist in the 36-day hearing. The inquiry was held in London by the British Wreck Commissioner on behalf of the British Board of Trade.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, speaking to transplant campaigner Dáithí Mac Gabhann.

“The very nature of historical investigations will mean a higher likelihood that old age may catch up with those affected, be they perpetrators, witnesses, victims, family members or those who simply lived through those times, before matters are concluded.”

Titanic collector’s items and has worked on the sales of numerous world record breaking objects from the single most expensive Titanic item at over £1m to the world’s most expensive biscuit at £15000. He told The Irish Post: “The Titanic plan is probably the most valuable piece of Titanic memorabilia now in existence. It was hand-drawn by one of the Harland and Wolff designers Cecil Allen in

The plan was almost thrown out when Cunard, which had amalgamated the White Star Line, had a clear out of its offices. However, according to Titanic Belfast, by chance, Norman Kerr, a bookseller specialising in transportation related subjects, was driving past in a taxi at the time and spotted what was going on and saved the plan, along with other Titanic memorabilia.

The plan was ultimately bought by a private collector in 2011 for £220,000, which was then a world record for Titanic memorabilia.

It has been on public display in Belfast since 2012 and is set to be sold on April 22.

Former Bedfordshire chief constable Jon Boutcher, who remains in charge of Operation Kenova which is investigating alleged activities and the role of the State, including MI5, during the Troubles. He confirmed that the death of Freddie Scappaticci, the man suspected of being Stakeknife the Army’s top agent within the IRA, could hamper his investigations.

Aldridge’s in Devizes is auctioning the ‘Holy Grail’ of Titanic memorabilia – the hand drawn plan used at the official inquiry in London

TITANIC EXPERT: Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge

Picture: Courtesy of Henry Aldridge & Son Ltd

PM honours young campaigner Dáithí

Rishi Sunak recognises work to change the North’s transplant laws

BY GERARD DONAGHY

YOUNG transplant campaigner Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who successfully fronted a campaign to change Northern Ireland’s transplant laws, has been honoured by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Dáithí and his family spearheaded a campaign to implement an opt-out donor system in the North.

Named in honour of the six-year-old from Belfast – who has been awaiting a heart transplant since January 2018 –Dáithí’s Law will come into effect from June 1.

Presenting Dáithí with a Points of Light award while in Belfast to meet US President Joe Biden, Mr Sunak described the youngster as ‘truly exceptional’.

“Every day I write a letter to thank someone for doing something remarkable for others,” wrote the Prime Minister in a special letter presented to Dáithí.

“Today is very special, because I get to thank you. The bravery and determination you have shown in campaigning to change the law on organ donation in Northern Ireland is truly inspiring.

“With Daithi’s Law you are helping others in your situation to get the life-changing help they need. It is a huge achievement.

“In your father’s words:

Survey says Brexit has made a united Ireland more likely

ACCORDING to a survey published last week, an increasing number of people in Northern Ireland expect there to be a united Ireland in 20 years time.

The results, from the annual Life and Times Survey has found a definite move in public opinion in the Six Counties towards a united Ireland. Since 1998, the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, carried out jointly by Queen’s University of Belfast and the Ulster University has recorded the attitudes, values and beliefs of local adults to a wide range of social policy issues. The latest survey has found that Brexit has been one of the elements in the movement of public opinion – Northern Ireland voted convincingly to stay in the EU, a vote that transcended the old political-religious divide in the region.

The latest finding, based on 1,405 people surveyed in late 2022, has found that 45 per cent of people believe Northern Ireland will no longer be in the UK 20 years from now.

Only 38 per cent still think Northern Ireland will still be part of the UK. An even higher percentage – 63 per cent, up 5 points from two years ago – thinks Brexit has made unification more likely, independent of any time frame.

The survey was based on what the interviewees believed would happen; not what they would like to happen.

‘Exceptional things happen for exceptional people’.

“I agree with him that you are truly exceptional and so I am delighted to recognise your courage by naming you as the UK’s 2029th Point of Light.

“The whole country is with you as you continue your treatment.”

The Points of Light awards are presented daily on behalf of the Prime Minister to outstanding individuals across Britain and Northern Ireland who inspire others. They were introduced in 2014 in partnership with the original American

programme that was established by US President George H. W. Bush in 1990.

Dáithí – who was joined by parents Mairtin and Seph and baby brother Cairbre at the Culloden Hotel just outside Belfast – was born in October 2016 with hypoplastic left Heart Syndrome, meaning only one side of his heart worked.

After several operations to correct the issue, it was felt his condition was too severe and in January 2018, his parents were told that a transplant was Dáithí’s only option.

Since then, Dáithí and his

supporters have campaigned to raise awareness of organ donation and lobbied for a change of law to a soft opt-out donor system.

Following the success of their campaign, all adults in Northern Ireland will be considered potential organ donors unless they choose to opt out or are in an excluded group.

Those excluded from deemed consent legislation are children under 18, people who lack the mental capacity to understand the change in law, visitors to Northern Ireland and temporary residents.

A majority of those surveyed still wanted to remain within the UK, although the gap between those willing to erase the border were a poll held tomorrow and those wishing to stay under British jurisdiction is tightening. In 2015, before Brexit, public support in Northern Ireland for a united country was just 14 per cent. That had now risen to 35 per cent,

According to the Politico website, which has crunched through the survey, the results also show that the unexpected trade outcome from the Brexit deal continues to nudge Northern Irish attitudes away from the union –not yet anywhere close to an Irish nationalist victory, but all moving in that direction.

Among key swing voters in any referendum – those who identify as neither British unionist nor Irish nationalist – the proportion of those saying Brexit has made them favor Irish unity has risen five points to 43 per cent in only the past year.

And on the key question of identity, those who consider themselves British and unionist has slid to a new low, Irish nationalist to a new high in this decades-old survey, which is conducted jointly by Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast.

Death of Freddie Scappaticci could frustrate Troubles enquiries

BY MAL ROGERS

FREDDIE Scappaticci, the man suspected of being Stakeknife the Army’s top agent within the IRA, died last week. Scappaticci, a former bricklayer, was the grandson of an Italian immigrant who came to Belfast in search of work.

Scappaticci, who was 77 always denied he was Stakeknife. But his death may now rob victims of the IRA of any justice according to the KRW Law, the firm representing some of the victims of the IRA.

Scappaticci left Northern Ireland in 2003 after media organisations alleged he had been working for the British army while head of the IRA’s internal security unit – usually called “the nutting squad”. This was the IRA unit who used uncompromising

tactics against anyone suspected of being an informer. The unit is accused of kidnap, torture and murder.

Former Bedfordshire chief constable Jon Boutcher, who remains in charge of Operation Kenova which is investigating alleged activities and the role of the State, including MI5, during the Troubles, confirmed Scappaticci’s death last week.

In 2016, the Police Service of Northern Ireland commissioned an investigation into Stakeknife’s activities led by Jon Boutcher.

Mr Boutcher said his team was “working through the implications” of Mr Scappaticci’s death in consultation with stakeholders, including victims and bereaved families.

“The very nature of historical investigations will mean a higher

likelihood that old age may catch up with those affected, be they perpetrators, witnesses, victims, family members or those who simply lived through those times, before matters are concluded,” Mr Boucher said.

He added that his team remained committed to “providing families with the truth of what happened to their loved ones” and pursuing criminal charges against several individuals.

KRW Law, which represents some victims of the IRA’s internal security unit, said in a statement that the news of Mr Scappaticci’s death would “frustrate many families” who had been waiting for the publication of the Operation Kenova report.

Their statement said: “We act on behalf of a number of families

of murder victims killed by PIRA Internal Security Unit [ISU] during The Conflict.

“All of the cases are linked directly or indirectly to the terrorist activities of Fred Scappaticci, the agent allegedly known as ‘Stakeknife’.

“Today Jon Boutcher who leads the inquiry into Scappaticci confirmed with us the central figure in his inquiry died last Thursday.

“The news will frustrate many families who have been waiting for over 6 years on the imminent publication of Mr Boutcher’s independent report known as Operation Kenova. Some initial feedback from clients suggests annoyance about the timing of the death coming as it does on the cusp of the Reports publication later in the summer.

“Not only that but the PPS have been deliberating on prosecution decisions in 33 cases referred by Kenova nearly 3 years ago. Clearly the death will have an impact on both the content of the report and whether or not criminal prosecutions go ahead...

“There is a significant volume of litigation ongoing all of which is linked to the deceased. That includes over 35 high court civil actions alleging collusion against him and State agencies together with judicial review challenges touching upon his status as a protected State intelligence asset.

“We have seen it before so many times previously with agents and informants dying before legal processes played out and robbing victims of some semblance of justice. Unfortunately, we may now be seeing that again.”

AWARD: Rishi Sunak presents six-year-old Dáithí Mac Gabhann with his Points of Light award Picture: Getty Images

estates and the university area of Belfast where he, at first, feels alien.

Sean is first struck by people not being nationalistic. He feels he knows something important about a woman because she uses the term ‘Northern Ireland’ rather than ‘the North’.

He is surprised to see young people dispassionately discussing the prospects of a united Ireland as if it is of no great concern to them.

He comes out of a family and neighbourhood where people, including his mother, have indulged the IRA and retain ambiguous feelings.

The legacy of the Troubles is apparently confused, a sense that the IRA and the cause should be respected, while the murderous individuals they know who were involved are to be held in contempt or pitied.

In one scene the coke-snorting drunk young people, throwing their own lives away, talk about the IRA men they know who are even lower down than themselves, lost in depression and addiction, struggling to live with the horror of what they have done.

There are other books that have explored this culture. I’m thinking of Henry McDonald’s Two Souls which has strong similarities.

But it is not fair to dismiss Magee’s book for just not being the first out of west Belfast.

Yes, there were many.

A harsh lesson from Belfast

MALACHIO’DOHERTY

THERE is a little controversy around a new Irish novelist.

Michael Magee’s Close to Home is the story of a lad from one of the bleak housing estates of west Belfast returning to an old circle of friends after getting a degree at Liverpool University.

The setting is Poleglass and Twinbrook, two big estates I used to know around the time Magee was born.

I did a dissertation for a masters degree on the joyriding culture there and the war between the young

hoodlums, the ‘hoods’ and the IRA which then was monitoring them and shooting them in the legs to restrain them.

I knew many of the joyriders and I knew the names of the men who were shooting them. My big thesis at the time was that many of the hoods were actually children of IRA families. I had a strong suspicion that one of the boys was kneecapped by his own father.

The controversy around Michael Magee’s novel follows on the

marketing approach which regards it as a breakthrough, the first time that an authentic voice has emerged from west Belfast.

This of course isn’t true.

There have been many writers from there and from the harsh working class Catholic culture. I would like to be thought of as one of them myself. I’m thinking also of Ann Devlin, Mary Costello, Henry McDonald, Richard O’Rawe, Martin Lynch, even back to James White and the coterie of science fiction

writers of the 1960s. Writers emerge everywhere.

But to give credit to Magee, he has captured the ‘hood’ scene, the young drug-addled skivers and wasters, and he has shown how the damage they do to themselves is a product of the damage that was done to them.

Sean, his main character, is at first too easily roped back into the party life which leads to jobs being lost, money being squandered and relationships strained.

He can see the excitement when one of the group resolves not to get drunk or snort coke and is won over by his mates and stays up all night squabbling and roaring and losing his job, He lets it happen to himself.

We know that he will ultimately pull himself together.

And that journey presents a contrast between the housing

I remember one night speaking to a couple of joyriders who were under threat from the IRA, expecting to be kneecapped. They were discussing whether or not to get drunk before being shot. A woman in the company was urging them not to because, she said, the painkillers they would need afterwards wouldn’t work. I don’t know if that is true or not

But it may well be the first out of Poleglass and the first that has such an intimate feel for the life there, the trauma and the nihilism, the tension between justifying the IRA and recognising the broken souls.

I remember one night speaking to a couple of joyriders who were under threat from the IRA, expecting to be kneecapped. They were discussing whether or not to get drunk before being shot. A woman in the company was urging them not to because, she said, the painkillers they would need afterwards wouldn’t work. I don’t know if that is true or not.

One of the boys laughed and said that he would drink his own blood and get a second hit from the alcohol in it.

They came across as ridiculously immature.

Two weeks later, the one who joked about drinking his own blood smashed a stolen car into a tree, killing himself and the lad beside him.

Of course the trauma infusing life there was not just a hangover from the troubles but also – and this is in the book – from sexual abuse. And when Sean is in trouble with the law, the punishment he has to take actually hinders his prospects for getting out of the estate and away from the company that is dragging him back. The story of how a young man might get trapped within a culture that has no faith in opportunity or change and prefers drunken abandon could have been from housing estates all over these islands. But it isn’t. It is from Belfast, and it has a real feel for the place.

n Malachi O’Doherty is one of Ireland’s leading political commentators and author of 11 books on the North of Ireland.

Michael Magee’s novel may not be the first to spell out the harsh realities of life for young people in west Belfast, but it has vivid authenticity on its side

PAST VIOLENCE: PSNI officers help escort a young woman past sectarian clashes in 2002 Picture: Getty Images

“Feels like I’m coming home”

PETER KELLY (left) travelled alongside the White House Press Corps across Ireland covering the historic visit. He sums up the momentous event...

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden

told Ireland’s leaders that “peace is precious, it still needs to be nurtured”, during his all-island landmark visit.

It was a repeated message as he toured the country, from political engagements in Belfast and Dublin to celebrating his Irish ancestry in counties Louth and Mayo last week.

The 46th US President touched down at Belfast’s RAF Aldergrove base in Air Force

One to be greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

It began a four-day trip that would take in formal engagements with Irish President Michael D Higgins, a parliamentary address in the Dáil, Dublin Castle networking banquet and a celebration at Belfast’s Ulster University of the North’s peace process

President Biden then travelled to Dundalk where he celebrated his familial links with Co. Louth.

never have dreamed that their grandsons would have been presidents of the United States,” mused President Biden.

In an earlier address to the Dáil in Dublin, he spoke of the vast historical and cultural ties between Ireland and America, and led the effort to restore the North’s institutions at Stormont in Belfast.

The President’s great-greatgrandfather Owen Finnegan departed nearby Carlingford in the 1840s to emigrate to America. His other great-grandparent was Edward Blewitt, who left the west coast town of Ballina in County Mayo in 1850 to emigrate to the US.

to America. His other emigrate to the US.

During his Dundalk speech, President Biden drew comparison with his former Democratic White House partner Barack Obama in their similar Irish ancestry. He said both men’s ancestors left Ireland around the same time. President

cratic White House partner same time. President

Obama’s great-greatgreat-grandfather

Falmouth Kearney

was from Moneygall in County Offaly, where Obama visited in 2011. “They would

in County Offaly, where Obama visited in 2011. “They would

“There are literally hundreds of American corporations that are ready to invest, but they are cautious because the institutions are not in place” he told the assembled audience of lawmakers including former Taoisigh

former

Bertie Ahern with Northern Ireland. The Director of the National Security Council travelling with

SPEAKING OUT: JOE BIDEN

Biden obviously is a very proud Irish-American, he is proud of those Irish roots, but he is also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK.”

Envoy to Northern Ireland, former Congressman Joe Kennedy III, grandson of Robert F Kennedy and grand nephew of former President John F Kennedy. President Biden’s visit has attracted criticism from some unionist figures, including former First Minister Arlene Foster who accused the former Delaware Senator of “being pro-Republic”, and “hating the UK”. However in more positive comments after the US leader’s Belfast speech, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson called the President’s words “measured” and welcomed his engagement with Northern Ireland. The Director of the National Security Council travelling with the White House entourage hit back, saying “President Biden obviously is a very proud Irish-American, he is proud of those Irish roots, but he is also a strong supporter of our bilateral partnership with the UK.”

his nationwide tour by visiting the Catholic shrine locals in the town of Ballina including former President Mary

One from Dublin back to his native state of Delaware.

Last Friday, Joe Biden completed his nationwide tour by visiting the Catholic shrine of Knock in County Mayo and meeting locals in the town of Ballina including former President Mary Robinson, before departing on Air Force One from Dublin back to his native state of Delaware.

MEET AND GREET: President Biden with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar Picture: Getty Images

President Higgins and President Biden Picture: Getty Images

Taoisigh

minutes with...

What are you up to?

FIONN: I’m in work I really hope my boss doesn’t notice I’m answering these questions instead of doing my job

OISÍN: Taking a break from studying uilleann pipe recording for college.

BASTIAAN: Chores, mundane household stuff.

ROB: Going for an overpriced coffee!

Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?

FIONN: In the Backseat by Arcade Fire, when the distorted guitar comes in at the first chorus.

OISÍN: Telephasic Workshop by Boards of Canada.

BASTIAAN: Alone Tonight by Above & Beyond.

ROB: The chorus of Bigger than Us by White Lies.

Which musician has most influenced you?

FIONN: James Kelly.

OISÍN: Josh Homme.

BASTIAAN: Bob Dylan.

ROB: Ben Howard.

Who would be in your ideal band?

FIONN: Yoshiko Ohara on vocals, Carlos Dengler on bass and Ben Koller on drums

OISÍN: Josh Homme, Ski Mask the Slump God, Dave Brubeck, Brad Wilk.

BASTIAAN: Vocals by Tom Smith, songwriting by Tuomas Holopainen and beats by Carbon Based Lifeforms.

ROB: Fionn, Oisín and Bastiaan. But I can’t help but notice they didn’t pick me. Pretty rude.

How did you get started in music?

FIONN: I started playing the violin when I was four. My mum claims that I asked for violin lessons, but that isn’t how I remember it.

OISÍN: I started cello lessons at age 8.

Fionn’s my older brother, and at 11 I asked him to teach me guitar. He said no, you’re learning bass and that was it. Haha!

BASTIAAN: It was expected from my parents when I turned six. My first choice was the violin.

ROB: Asking for a guitar when I was about 12 and trying to play Damien Rice and Oasis songs in my room.

Where are you from in Ireland, and what are your roots?

FIONN: I’m from south Dublin.

OISÍN: South Dublin, up the Teer.

BASTIAAN: I’m Belgian, but some people mistake me for a Kerryman because I’ve spent many nights talking to drunks working in bars around Killarney.

ROB: Not too far from Fionn and Oisín, South Dub.

What’s on your smartphone playlist at the minute?

FIONN: Rita Ora, Eric Prydz, Razihel and Tomcraft.

OISÍN: Blank Banshee - Gaia, Liam O’Flynn - self titled, Parcels - Day/Night

LATE NIGHT PHARMACY: Fionn, Oisín, Bastiaan, Rob

Have you a favourite line from a song?

FIONN: Listening to music for the lyrics is like watching blue movies for the plot.

OISÍN: “Fan the flames of love, a classy action suit to dance in.”

BASTIAAN

to know which way the wind blows.”

LATE Night Pharmacy are an alternative rock band from Dublin. They’ve just released a string of singles and EPs. The latest is Can’t Sleep Without Paracetamol The four band members answer our questions...

BASTIAAN: “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”

They’ve questions...

BASTIAAN: Tamino, Faithless, Oscar & The Wolf.

ROB: The Smiths, Fred Again, Talos, Bright Eyes.

Pantomime or opera?

FIONN: I’ve never been to the opera, so it’d have to be panto by default.

OISÍN: Whichever one doesn’t have any of the Jedwards in it.

BASTIAAN: Opera.

ROB: Jedward and the Giant Beanstalk, panto.

What is your favourite place in Ireland?

FIONN: Mullaghmore, Co Sligo, preferably in August so that it’s warm enough for swimming.

OISÍN: Three Rock Mountain.

BASTIAAN: Lough Leane in Killarney.

ROB: Glendalough.

What would be your motto?

FIONN: No matter how much you moisturise, you will never become moisture.

OISÍN: Big, dirty, stinkin’ bass.

BASTIAAN: Live without expectations.

ROB: You’ve gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette.

Which living person do you most admire?

FIONN: The psychiatrist Scott Siskind, who has influenced the way I think more than any other person.

OISÍN: Rachel Reilly off Countdown

BASTIAAN: My parents, for putting up with me for 18 years.

Who will act you when they make a film of your life?

FIONN: I get mistaken for Prince Harry a lot, so I guess he can have the job, given that podcasting doesn’t seem to be panning out for him too well.

OISÍN: Domhnall Gleeson, I pray.

BASTIAAN: Matthew Gray Gubler.

ROB: Frankie Muniz.

Bowie or Beyoncé?

FIONN: Bowie, although I can’t honestly say I’m a huge fan of either.

OISÍN: Bowie, no question.

BASTIAAN: Not a fan of either.

ROB: Bowie.

If you weren’t a musician what other job would you be really good at?

FIONN: Music critic, considering I spend half of my waking life complaining about bands I hate.

OISÍN: I really enjoy organising things, librarian maybe.

BASTIAAN: Customer service, I’m very good at pretending I care about people and their first world problems.

ROB: I’d love to work in a bank.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given this year?

FIONN: Don’t put your initials on any decision if you can help it.

OISÍN: Learn to code, still haven’t done it.

BASTIAAN: Don’t go to Coppers, it ain’t worth the tenner.

ROB: Lie on your CV.

ROB: “The club is the best place to find love and the bar is where I go.” Ed

ROB love and the bar is where I go.”

Sheeran

Sheeran

In terms of inanimate objects, what is your most precious possession?

is your most precious possession?

FIONN and gave me a tumar, which is like a

FIONN: My girlfriend is from Kyrgyzstan and gave me a tumar, which is like a Kyrgyz dreamcatcher It’s the last thing I look at before I go to sleep.

OISÍN: A necklace with the word grá in ogham on it.

BASTIAAN: Yuppienalle, IKEA’s keychain mobile phone holder, best 75 cents I’ve ever spent.

OISÍN ogham on it. BASTIAAN ever spent.

What’s the best thing about

What’s the best thing about where you live?

FIONN: It’s very close to the Phoenix Park, so if I ever get an irrepressible urge to look at a deer I can satisfy it very easily.

OISÍN: It’s on the foot of the Dublin mountains.

BASTIAAN: The restaurants, bars and live music around Rathmines.

ROB: The scenic Grand Canal.

...and the worst?

FIONN: The deer aren’t nearly as interested in me as I am in them.

OISÍN: Waves of drunk teenagers going to Longitude every year.

BASTIAAN: The rent.

ROB: The Viking splash tour goes by every 30 minutes.

What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?

FIONN: Just because gin looks like water, doesn’t mean there aren’t calories in it.

OISÍN: Not knowing what you’re doing can be fun and relaxing.

BASTIAAN: It’s ok to feel lost at times.

What gives you the greatest laugh?

FIONN: Shane Clifford.

OISÍN: The movie Top Secret

BASTIAAN: Tourists attempting to conquer Irish weather with umbrellas.

ROB: Kyle Mooney from Goodneighborstuff

What do you believe in?

FIONN: Superintelligent AI is a more pressing threat to the human race than climate change.

OISÍN: The value of a philosophy degree.

BASTIAAN: I believe good will always conquer evil, but never without a price.

ROB: I don’t know!

What do you consider the greatest work of art?

FIONN: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami is my favourite novel ever.

OISÍN: Queens of the Stone Age – …Like Clockwork

BASTIAAN: The Stages of Life by Caspar David Friedrich.

ROB: The Spire on O’Connell Street.

Who/what is the greatest love of your life?

FIONN: The Turkish Kebab House on Parnell Street.

OISÍN: Jerry Seinfeld.

BASTIAAN: My girlfriend (she’s watching me fill out these questions).

ROB: Pizza.

Late Night Pharmacy

The Corporation on the rack

The BBC – never a great friend to Ireland – is now suffering attacks from many different sides

BBC, Patrick Barwise and Peter York found that BBC usually bends towards the government of the day, more so when it is a Tory government.

Indeed, the Tories objection, beyond the ideological question, mentioned earlier, is difficult to fathom.

After all they have been in power for the best part of the past 100 years that the BBC has been around. They can hardly be said to have suffered due to biased coverage.

Despite all the slings and arrows, the BBC remains the most trusted source of news for the public. Some 44 per cent of the public look to the BBC for impartial news, next is ITN with 10 per cent. The best of the papers is The Guardian, with three per cent. The Corporation’s role during the Covid-19 pandemic underlined the importance of this role.

The Corporation has huge global reach and has a not insignificant role in projecting British values (or should that be propaganda) worldwide.

Neither, though, should anyone underestimate the powerful lobby that opposes the BBC. Led by the Murdoch press plus the Mail and Telegraph titles, there is constant onslaught against the Corporation. There is practically an industry, including many right wing think tanks, whose sole purpose is to attack the BBC.

THE BBC has been under fire over recent months, seemingly caught between a rock and the Tory government.

The question of impartiality surfaced over the tweet by presenter Gary Lineker condemning the government’s immigration legislation. The row escalated, as the highly paid sports presenter refused to back down. Lineker was then taken off Match of the Day, with his colleagues then acting in solidarity, refusing to appear either. The boycott included commentators, as well as pundits, resulting in a much shortened programme of just goal highlights going out.

The row has since been settled, with Lineker back on Match of the Day

The whole spat though was a real own goal by the BBC, bringing fierce criticism of chairman Richard Sharp, who had donated to the Conservative Party and facilitated an £800,000 loan for former prime minister Boris Johnson.

The impartiality of Director General Tim Davie was also questioned, given his previous record as a Conservative Party member and candidate for office.

Then, there is non-executive BBC board member, Robbie Gibb, the former director of communications for former prime minister Theresa May and brother of Tory MP Nick Gibb.

The question then seemed to be:

PAULDONOVAN

were the BBC cowering before a Tory government or had the Corporation been colonised by the Tories, given the make up of senior management?

The free market Tories do have ideological objections to the BBC, seeing it as one of the last remaining big nationalised industries.

The approach to attacking the BBC has been one of a thousand cuts.

So the licence fee was frozen and is now being phased out altogether. The cost of providing free licences for over-75s shifted from the government to the Corporation.

More cuts are being demanded.

But the big area of contention is not dramas like EastEnders and Happy Valley, or nature programmes like Springwatch and David Attenborough’s documentaries, but news.

The BBC’s journalism and news coverage has always been contentious, with politicians.

Most will remember the big battles with the Blair Labour government over the Iraq war, the dodgy dossier and the death of scientist David Kelly.

That saw director general Greg

Dyke and chair of the BBC, Gavyn Davies both having to resign, following the Hutton inquiry.

The relationship with government has always been a tense one, never more so than on the subject of Ireland.

The BBC played a key role over the years in the Troubles in upholding and reinforcing the British Government’s propaganda model of the warring tribes, with the British army in the middle trying to keep the peace. The idea that the army was also a combatant in the conflict rarely came into the lexicon.

That is not to say that the BBC has not had some outstanding individual journalists, who have done fine work.

Peter Taylor is one such individual. He recently made the documentary: MI5 and the IRA –Operation Chiffon about the role of an MI5 operative in ensuring there was a peace process.

There are those in the BBC who measure impartiality in news coverage according to the amount of offence that can be caused to all sides. So, if republicans, loyalists and the security forces are all angered by something in the Northern Ireland conflict context, then the coverage must be about right.

A similar approach applies to politicians, so if Tories, Labour and the rest are unhappy about the news, they must be getting it about right.

In their book The War Against the

The Corporation is at a difficult time in its long history. Under attack from many sides, it often seems to lack a backbone when it comes to putting up resistance.

The recent Lineker episode was a case in point, with many of the ill-judged decisions coming at the behest of right wing newspapers, who over a short period could not get the story off their front pages.

Lineker had plenty of support himself. So the spineless approach of senior BBC management probably alienated all sides.

Moving forward, the BBC cannot afford many more such debacles. The sharks are circling.

What the BBC needs to do is draw on the massive support it has among the public. Maybe more actively mobilise that support sometimes. Remember all those popular programmes across genres that attract millions every day.

It also needs to be aware of its inherent tendency in news to lean toward the right, in the name of impartiality.

Recognise that right wing Tory governments have been no friends of the Corporation over the years. Maybe, also recognise a number of Tory cuckoos in the BBC’s senior management nest.

When all is said and done the BBC does contribute much to the life and culture of this country. It would be a poorer place without it – balanced or not.

There are those in the BBC who measure impartiality in news coverage according to the amount of offence that can be caused to all sides

NEWS SLANT: British troops in Belfast 1974 – usually portrayed by the BBC as honest brokers Picture: George Garrigues via Wikimedia

FAMOUS LOGO: The official coat of arms of the BBC Picture: Public domain

Is Sinn Féin poised for an electoral victory?

I’M NOT a betting man – a fool and his money are soon parted and all that – but if I was, it seems worth a punt that Sinn Féin will enter government at the next Irish general election.

A recent poll for the Sunday Times had them on 37 per cent of the vote, a record for the party.

In contrast, Fine Gael crashed from 23 per cent in February to just 15 per cent –their worst performance ever – while Fianna Fáil were on 21 per cent.

So, if you add their combined figures of FF-FG, they are still a point behind Sinn Féin.

Satisfaction with their government is also plummeting, down from 41 per cent in February to 34 per cent now, the lowest level since the government was formed in 2020.

What makes Sinn Féin’s rise feel like a safe bet is that this has been pretty much the picture since the last general election in February 2020.

Then, you will recall, Sinn Féin topped the poll in terms of votes, winning 24.6 per cent, but due to standing insufficient candidates, they were pipped in the number of seats by Fianna Fáil, 38-37.

Hence the clammy embrace

Come on, Arlene... A period of silence would be welcome

‘A PERIOD of silence on your part would be most welcome,’ the post-war Labour prime minister Clement Atlee once suggested to an interfering colleague.

An elegant put-down and a similar entreaty to ‘close her pie-hole’ should now be made to Arlene Foster.

Sorry, ‘Lady’ Arlene as she now is, elevated to the House of Lords after her own colleagues deposed her as leader of the Democratic Unionists and First Minister of Northern Ireland back in 2021.

She now plies her wares as a talking head on GB News (full disclosure: I also pop up there from time to time) making less-than-diplomatic interventions on the issues of the day (her, not me), which are then reported in the Irish media.

She was at it during President Biden’s recent trip to Ireland.

‘He hates the United Kingdom, there is no doubt about that,’ Foster told the broadcaster. He was ‘pro-republican and pro-nationalist,’ she added.

Not content with that embarrassing salvo, she dutifully followed-up with the frankly bizarre observation that the armour-plated presidential limousine – ‘The Beast’ -didn’t display the British flag while Biden was in Belfast, although the Irish tricolour was present for the southern leg of his trip.

(Possibly something to do with the fact his trip to Belfast was not a state visit while his trip to the Republic was?)

Either way, the US President is entitled to fly whatever flags he chooses and it ill-behoves Foster to stick her oar into proceedings.

Invariably, her effusions have a bitter tenor.

The plain truth is that Arlene Foster is yesterday’s woman.

KEVINMEAGHER

replace Martin, which might rupture the coalition and precipitate an earlier election.

Now, you would be a fool to believe that the polls can’t change – they often do, and sure-fire predictions a year or more out from an election can quickly turn to ash.

But not always.

The former British prime minister, James Callaghan, predicting his Labour government would lose the 1979 general election, noted that a ‘sea change’ had taken place in public opinion.

all parts of Ireland, all age groups and all income brackets were backing them.

There’s a yearning for change in Irish society – a feeling that the new-found wealth of the country is not evenly shared – and that the old parties, in hock to big money, just don’t appear to hear it.

Still, there are those in Fianna Fáil who would much prefer to work with Sinn Féin than Fine Gael.

The problem is that Sinn Féin might not need them.

There is an emerging possibility that the Shinners could patch together an administration with the smaller left-wing parties and, for the first time in the history of the state, keep both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out of government.

Massively over-promoted, she had neither the political sophistication, nor administrative abilities for top-level politics.

Her five years leading the DUP saw her sit as First Minister for just two of them.

For the remaining three years, the assembly and executive were mothballed, following Martin McGuinness’s resignation as deputy First Minister in sheer frustration at her arrogance and unwillingness to enter into the spirit of power-sharing.

During the 2017 assembly election, she infamously summed-up her view of nationalists, rejecting calls for an Irish Language Act by remarking that, ‘if you feed a crocodile it will keep coming back and looking for more.’

It helped rally Sinn Fein’s vote, with the party finishing just a single seat behind the DUP.

Like many unionists, Arlene doesn’t understand that for Northern Ireland to continue to exist, it needs the acquiescence of a large number of passive nationalists.

Unfortunately, her sour and peevish remarks, intemperate language and ill-considered observations, simply galvanises nationalists to want to cut their losses and vote for Irish unity.

On second thoughts, long may she continue.

between FF and FG, propped up by the Greens.

Assuming this coalition lasts the course until January 2025, they have little over 18 months to turn things around.

So far, there are few signs of that happening.

There has been no electoral honeymoon for Leo Varadkar, taking over as Taoiseach from Micheál Martin last December.

Meanwhile, a growing number Fianna Fáil backbenchers seem to want to

Once, every 30 years or so he believed, “there is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of”.

Something similar is happening in Irish politics.

All the brickbats hurled at Sinn Féin by the Irish media appear to have little effect. Mary-Lou McDonald leads a new generation of republicans that are distanced from the Troubles.

A poll from 2019 showed that their electoral support now runs deep. Voters from

Again, the Sunday Times poll showed that if you tot-up the combined vote shares for the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and Aontu, you get 18 per cent.

Add that to Sinn Féin’s 37 per cent and you get 55 per cent.

As I say, one poll does not guarantee a result, and adding-up a theoretical majority is, well theoretical.

But interesting times, nevertheless.

There’s a yearning for change in Irish society – a feeling that the new-found wealth of the country is not evenly shared – and that the old parties, in hock to big money, just don’t appear to hear it

LEADERS: Sinn Féin’s President Mary Lou McDonald with Michelle O’Neill, First Minister designate in the North Picture: Getty Images

GARRULOUS: Arlene Foster Picture: Getty Images

Top of the pubs

A Limerick man’s pub is crowned best pub in London by Time Out

BY GERARD DONAGHY

A PUB owned by Limerick man Bryan Fitzsimons has been crowned the best in London by prestigious hospitality guide Time Out

Skehan’s Free House in Nunhead, Southwark, topped Time Out’s 2023 list of the English capital’s best watering holes, with the reviewers hailing it as ‘a place of legend’.

The venue, one of the few remaining independent, family-run pubs in South London, is owned by Bryan Fitzsimons from Foyne, Co. Limerick.

Speaking to The Irish Post following the release of the Time Out list, Mr Fitzsimons said: “It’s amazing to be named number one pub in London.”

After an exhaustive search, Time Out managed to whittle the capital’s 3,500 pubs down to their favourite 50.

South London dominated the list, with Skehan’s coming in at no. 1. Praising the diversity of its clientele and range of entertainment, judges hailed Skehan’s as ‘a proper Irish pub’.

“A place of legend in Nunhead,

Schoolwear that is good for the planet and kind on the purse

BY CATRIONA GRAY

LIAM Charlton-Killen, who moved back to Co. Down from Manchester after becoming a father to two adopted children, has launched a new business based at his Crossgar smallholding.

The new venture marks a change in direction and one that was prompted by his relocation as well as his experiences as a parent.

Since Liam became a parent seven years ago, when he and his husband adopted their son, he realised that he asks a lot of questions ranging from where the material was sourced to, of course, how much it cost.

Liam found it difficult getting answers to his questions, and sometimes getting no response at all. So he decided to set up a shop himself, and Ethical Schoolwear was born. “It’s for people who are trying to do the right thing for the planet, the people who make school uniforms, the kids who wear it and the grown-ups who pay for it.”

Ethical Schoolwear is an

Liam Charlton-Killen

online shop, offering plain and embroidered school uniform, and only sells items that have been produced by B Corp certified suppliers. B Corp Certification means that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency across a wide range of parameters supply chain practices to input materials. Ethical Schoolwear has also pledged to plant a tree for each sale, and the trees can be named by the customers.

Having grown up surrounded by the fields and woodland of Co. Down, Liam is a self-confessed nature lover which has been boosted by his children’s desire

to look after the planet. Liam plans to increase the amount of wild land by creating more woodland and native hedgerows to act as nature highways.

He said, “I hope that by creating an oasis for wildlife, as well as a carbon sink to absorb CO2, that our small efforts can make a lasting difference

“Each tree will absorb nearly a ton of CO2 in its lifetime. Customers will have the option to name their tree and I will post the planting on social media so that they can explain to their kids the positive impact their uniform is having on the environment.”

Liam is already in talks with more Northern Irish schools whose headteachers are keen to offer the choice of ethical schoolwear to their parents.

In 2020, he and his husband moved from Manchester to rural County Down – where Liam grew up. The main reason for the move was their daughter’s chronic lung disease. Which since the move hasn’t been an issue.

www.ethicalschoolwear.co.uk

It’s family-run and independent, a rare thing these days in London, and attracts everyone from OAPs to local bands, chic fashion students and troupes of cheerful lads

this towering corner pub is as fun as it is friendly,” wrote Time Out

“It’s family-run and independent, a rare thing these days in London, and attracts everyone from OAPs to local bands, chic fashion students and troupes of cheerful lads.

“There’s karaoke, folk-music nights and terrific Thai food too. What more could you want? Perfect Guinness? Well, this is a proper Irish pub, so you’re in luck.”

Mr Fitzsimons said there was no secret to his success, attributing the pub’s popularity to a combination of authentic Irish hospitality and matching the high standards set by pubs in Ireland.

Belfast

“We don’t think we are doing anything different than any other pub back in Ireland, that’s how high the standard is back home, especially Limerick,” he said. “Skehan’s isn’t just a business, it’s our home – all we do is look after it like someone would look after their home.”

As well as their lauded Thai restaurant, Skehan’s also offers a generous Sunday roast and hosts a burger night on Tuesdays.

A Sunday folk session is one of four weekly live music events at the venue, while all major sports, including GAA, are televised.

The pub is located at 1 Kitto Road in Nunhead, five minutes’ walk from Nunhead Station, which is just 20 minutes by train from London Victoria and London Bridge.

Mr Fitzsimons’ family also own the Faltering Fullback pub in Finsbury Park, which ranked at no. 25 and was described by Time Out as ‘one of the best self-professed Irish pubs in London’.

Other Irish boozers to make the list include the Blythe Hill Tavern in Forest Hill, which ranked at no. 7, Stoke Newington’s The Auld Shillelagh at no. 16 and the Churchill Arms in Kensington at no. 18.

Irishman James Keogh took over the Churchill Arms when compatriot Gerry O’Brien retired from the historic venue in 2017.

boss of major British

business conglomerate sacked

BY MAL ROGERS

TONY Danker, the Belfast-born boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has been sacked, sending shock waves through one of Britain’s biggest and most influential business groups.

Tony Danker, who was born into Belfast’s Jewish community, stepped aside last month after the CBI hired law firm Fox Williams to investigate several complaints about him. According to the BBC, these included a complaint from a female employee in January and complaints from other members of staff which surfaced in March.

Mr Danker, who was paid £376,000 by the CBI in 2021, was dismissed with immediate effect.

Mr Danker tweeted last week: “I recognise the intense publicity the CBI has suffered following the revelations of awful events that occurred before my time in office. I was appalled to learn about them for the first time last week.

“I was nevertheless shocked to learn this morning that I had been dismissed from the CBI, instead of being invited to put my position forward as was originally confirmed. Many of the allegations against me have been distorted, but I recognise that I unintentionally made a number of

colleagues feel uncomfortable and I am truly sorry about that. I want to wish my former CBI colleagues every success.”

Three other CBI employees have also been suspended “pending further investigation into a number of ongoing allegations”, a spokesperson for the CBI said.

According to the BBC the CBI is also liaising with the police.

Mr Danker became director-general of the CBI in November 2020.

He was born in in Belfast in 1971 and educated at school in the city. He then went to Manchester University and worked for the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord Jonathan Sacks, from 1994 to 1996.

He is a member of the community in Belfast which also produced a former president of Israel, Chaim Herzog.

THE HEIGHT OF HOSPITALITY: Skehan’s owner, Limerick native Bryan Fitzsimons, with his wife Kasia and daughter Yagoda Picture: Courtesy of Skehan’s Free House

MEETING: Tony Danker and Boris Johnson

Picture: Getty Images

Compensation for footpath injuries mounting up

THE Irish Examiner reports that Cork County Council has confirmed that €5.6milion was paid out in compensation related to injuries sustained on pavements and footpaths over the past four years.

These related to 233 claims made between 2019 and 2022. The figures were released in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by Labour Party TD’s Sean Sherlock’s office.

“This is an extraordinary amount of money paid out by the council and underlines the need to ensure that our

footpaths are in a safe and proper state. If we want people to walk more, we have to ensure the footpaths are there. We need a back-to-

CORK

basics approach,” the Cork East TD said.

It was revealed last year that almost €150million had been paid out by local authorities across the country in relation to injuries sustained on footpaths.

According to various solicitors’ websites, claims are

PSNI look into masked Easter Sunday parade

made in relation to footpath sustained injuries because of various factors such as incorrectly laid slabs, potholes, kerbs that are too high, and misaligned or raised kerbs.

Campaigners have also warned about the danger arising from illegal parking by cars and other vehicles.

Earlier this year, residents and businesses of Little Island in Cork, which has around 18,000 people living, working, and visiting the area every day, warned that the state of the footpaths is a major source of concern locally.

Turfed out very elegantly at charity fashion show

AN outfit titled Come On, Baby, Light My Fire – a dress made of turf ties – won a recent charity fashion show held at the Sneem Hotel, reports The Kerryman Vivienne Gleeson modelled the dress at the Fashion and Junk Couture event, attended by almost

KERRY

400 people, in aid of Derrynane Inshore Rescue and the Sneem and Caherdaniel rowing clubs.

Shops from around the South Kerry district, and beyond, had their wares

modelled on the night, but it was Vivienne’s dress that took top prize. The dress was made with the help of her sister Aileen O’Donoghue, and together they had the bright idea of a green dress, with dyed briquette ties forming the fabric of the outfit.

Councillor: ‘Refugee numbers a concern’

A MASKED colour party which led an Easter Parade in Belfast is under investigation.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the parade took place along the Falls Road in Belfast on Easter Sunday.

BELFAST

The PSNI have confirmed that they are reviewing the involvement of masked marchers who were at the head of the Irish Republican Socialist Party parade on the Falls Road.

Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said: “Police has been and continue to be present at a series of notified parades across Northern Ireland on Sunday, April 9.

“The vast majority of the parades were lawful and passed off without incident.

“There was however a masked colour party at the head of the Irish Republican Socialist Party parade on the Falls Road in Belfast.

“Police issued warnings to participants and using evidencegathering resources obtained footage which will now be reviewed as part of an investigation into potential offences under the Terrorism Act 2000.”

A CLAREMORRIS-based councillor has claimed that the arrival of more refugees in the town will cause ‘uproar’ and said that the county has taken its share, reports the Mayo News

At the April meeting, Mayo County Council heard that since the Russian invasion almost 3,000 Ukrainians have settled in Mayo.

Claremorris-based councillor Tom Connolly, told the meeting: “There are over 300 in Claremorris and there will be another 112 when the modular homes are up and running. If there is any more there will be uproar, there is no question about it. We have taken our share and so have other parts of the county,” he told the meeting. “I am not opposed to people coming but at least let the

public representatives be informed with what’s going on. I have got phone calls from different parts of the country where the same bulldozing is going on.”

The issue of the Ukrainian refugee situation in the county was raised during a discussion on housing by Fianna Fáil councillor Damien Ryan, who complained that councillors in the Ballinrobe region were not being consulted on the matter.

He told the meeting that he appreciated that the council has obligations but felt that counties like Mayo were taking in more than their share and this may result in hassle and upheaval in local communities.

MAYO

MALROGERS Hard news the easy

COMMENT&OPINION

way

Upholding moral standards

had found no way of contacting them. Further, as they had the sheet music, no local musicians could be co-opted in at the last minute.

The concert was duly cancelled just before the arrival of Ms Mansfield. Nonetheless, hundreds turned out for her arrival at the Mount Brandon Hotel.

RTÉ conducted a few vox pops in the area, finding a variety of opinion. One local said: “It doesn’t seem right to my mind bringing an exponent of sex to a Catholic town.” But others felt it was a storm in a teacup.

The show didn’t go ahead, and Jayne Mansfield and her entourage returned to America.

Sadly, Jayne Mansfield died in a car crash three weeks later in her home state of Louisiana – along with her manager Sam Brody and her driver Ronnie Harrison. They had been travelling to an early morning television interview in New Orleans when their car ploughed into the back of a slow-moving truck on Highway 90. She was 34.

Going with the floe

JOHN Naughton from Ballina, Co. Mayo, is an academic, journalist and author. His online presence at https:// memex.naughtons.org/ is exceptionally good. and I can firmly recommend it.

He recently posed the question of why upmarket watchmakers are obsessed by making their wares waterproof. Omega’s latest Seamaster Planet Ocean 6000m Ultra Deep Master Chronometer Men’s Watch costs £11,400. Are there that many divers who can afford such deep sea bling?

Mind you, all this seaworthiness of timepieces can have surprising outcomes.

I once went on a trip to Svalbard, way north of the Arctic Circle. There, if you fall into the water, you probably don’t have much more than 10 minutes to live.

So when we left the comfort of our mother ship to venture across the ocean on a rib, huge precautions were taken. Although the temperature was a comfortable two to three degrees, the wind was vicious. But with three pairs of socks, five layers of pullovers and coat, two pairs of trousers, waterproof boots and Arctic fur hat, it could seem mild enough.

THIS week in April is an important time for anniversaries.

Just over a thousand years ago on April 23, 1014, the Battle of Clontarf took place. The simplified version is that the Danes were defeated, although Brian Boru was killed. Rather more recently, on April 24 1916, The Easter Rising began, and Ireland’s long march to freedom was crystallised in earnest.

A date which probably won’t be celebrated with, one suspects, any degree of enthusiasm concerns the actress Jayne Mansfield and her non-appearance in Tralee, Co. Kerry.

The incident, which happened in April 1967, gives a fascinating glimpse of how Ireland largely regarded the ‘Swinging Sixties’ –and indeed how powerful the Catholic Church was back then.

Jayne Mansfield, born in New Orleans, had been a major Hollywood box office draw in the 1950s and early 1960s, but by the end of the decade her star was beginning to wane. She returned to performing a cabaret act that toured successfully across Europe and the US.

In 1967, Jayne was booked to appear at the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee, Co. Kerry.

However, the Bishop of Kerry,

Dr Denis Moynihan, was aghast at the idea. A letter was sent to all Catholic churches in the diocese requesting that parishioners not attend the show. The letter labelled the American actress a “goddess of lust” and “a possible corrupting influence”.

On a Sunday morning, April 23, 1967, a statement was read at all masses in Killarney: “Our attention has been drawn to an entertainment in Tralee tonight. The bishop requests you do not attend.”

Monsignor Lane, Dean of Kerry and parish priest of Tralee, also weighed in. “A woman is brought here to give a show for which she is being paid £1,000,” he stated. “This woman boasts that her New York critics said of her ‘she sold sex better than any performer in the world’.

“I appeal to the men and women, to the boys and girls of Tralee, to dissociate themselves from this attempt to besmirch the name of our town for the sake of filthy gain.”

There were real fears that Ms Mansfield’s appearance might somehow tarnish the image of the Rose of Tralee, due to begin its preliminaries in a few weeks time.

The hotel held out for some time, but the weight of the Church

was too much. On the Sunday morning a notice appeared outside the venue saying: “Owing to the controvercy [sic] caused by the appearance of Miss Jane [sic] Mansfield the management of Mount Brandon Hotel have decided to cancel her appearance.”

However, on RTÉ television, the general manager Billy Clifford of the Mount Brandon Hotel told RTÉ reporter Bill O’Herlihy, a different story. He explained that Jayne Mansfield was “a top class singer and entertainer of international renown”. Jayne’s management had sent the hotel the sheet music required for the show, which the manager had forwarded to “a backing band in Dublin”. Sadly, the band, along with the sheet music, had got lost on its way from Dublin to Tralee, and try as they might, the hotel

In 2011, forty four years after the Tralee incident, an echo of the affair unfolded in a field in Co. Down.

Pop star Rihanna got her marching orders after a farmer objected to her peeling off her clothes while filming a video on his land.

Alan Graham, 61, pulled up in his tractor and told the sexy singer to cover up and later claimed: “Her behaviour was inappropriate.”

Rihanna was recording a video for We Found Love in a muddy field near Bangor, Co. Down –ahead of three sell-out shows at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena this weekend.

Rihanna stripped to a bikini after removing a long checked dress. But the sight became too much for Farmer Graham’s Christian beliefs and he asked the filming to stop.

Mr Graham, a member of the Free Presbyterian Church and a member of the DUP was adamant that the filming had to stop

Whether he knew anything about the Jayne Mansfield affair four decades before and a few hundred miles to the south is not known. But this column suspects he probably wouldn’t have been amused by the irony of his upholding of values prevalent in Catholic Ireland in the 1950s.

Before getting underway we had to have our “man overboard” drill. I’m proud to say I was appointed Chief Pointer. If someone fell overboard, it was my sole job to keep pointing at the unfortunate person in the water. I even had an Assistant Pointer, in case I fell in as well, while pointing. I’m delighted to report that our duties were redundant during the entire trip.

As it happens, my Assistant Pointer, a fellow journalist on the trip had just been given, for his birthday, an expensive watch. This was waterproof, shatterpoof and had a battery that would keep time for a thousand years. At least that’s what the accompanying leaflet said. Into the bargain the watch was programmed to play digitally ‘Happy Birthday’ every time the owner’s birthday came round. Sadly, just as my friend was boarding the mother ship from the rib, the watch got caught on the gangway railing, broke its strap, and sank slowly to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean.

Still it’s nice to think that fifty fathoms under the pack-ice of Svalbard, every September 9 the marine life is treated to a rendition of Happy Birthday To You.

By the way, if you’re up that way and fall into the sea, you might look out for it.

ROYAL WELCOME: Queen Elizabeth welcomes Jayne Mansfield to the 1957 Royal Film Performance; Right: Rhianna, who caused alarm in Co. Down Pictures: Getty Images

The voice of the Irish in Britain since 1970

A sea change in Northern opinion

THE annual Life and Times Survey carried out jointly by Queen’s University of Belfast and the Ulster University has found that public opinion in the North has moved perceptibly towards a united Ireland.

The survey found that Brexit was a contributing factor to the sea change. In the EU referendum Northern Ireland voted solidly to remain – this support, over 55 per cent – meant that backing for the EU transcended the traditional religious-political divide.

Brexit was the law of unintended consequences writ large. It was meant to finally settle the infighting among the Tory party, but it ended up with ever more bitter divisions and three prime ministers in a year.

And it was meant to unite a very fractured Britain, but in fact could finally lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom. The latest poll in the North shows that a united Ireland is no longer wishful thinking – it could be a very realistic possibility.

The author Lionel Shriver, who lived in Belfast for 12 years, said in her novel Ordinary Decent Criminals: “After Britain implemented partition, the border between Northern Ireland and the 26 Counties was understood to be temporary. Britain intended to sort out this bollix later, much in the way that people who dress in a hurry will put a safety pin in a torn shirt and intend to sew the seam properly when they have time. They never have time. Ireland is still put together by a safety pin.”

Brexit has perhaps, finally, forced the situation to the point where that safety pin will be removed and the required repairs to the torn shirt at last completed.

Dáithí given a well-deserved award

THE six-year-old campaigner Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who successfully fronted a campaign to change Northern Ireland’s transplant laws, was last week honoured by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak while he was in Belfast.

Prime Minister Sunak described the youngster as ‘truly exceptional’, and he couldn’t have been more correct. Young Daithi gave rise to what is known as Daithi’s Law. This new legislation, which will come into effect on June 1, means that Northern Ireland’s system of organ donation will change from an opt-in, elective system, to an opt-out system.

As organ and tissue donation and transplantation saves and transforms hundreds of lives each year, the new law will help more people save more lives by making it easier for those who support organ donation to say ‘yes’ to donation.

Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who helped bring about this radical change in healthcare and the law is to be hugely congratulated for his efforts.

RTÉ’s long wave shutdown

THE closure of RTÉ’s long wave service with only two weeks’ notice should be utterly condemned. The timing is particularly ironic, given this month’s focus on diaspora ties.

The new Media Bill 2023, published in the UK in March, allows RTÉ to fulfil its commitment to broadcast on DAB+ in Britain. So the move to close down RTÉ on the long wave should be delayed until that new service is set up.

It seems perverse that in the week before the Global Irish Civic Forum at Dublin Castle, whose main aim is to re-engage and develop meaningful relationship with the Irish diaspora; to help shape a new strategy and improve communications and feed into diaspora policy development – the national broadcaster is literally switching off the main communication link on radio between the Irish elderly in the UK and Ireland. And at the very time the President of the United States is making the keynote speech of his trip to Ireland

The legislation being introduced in Britain will allow RTÉ and other Irish broadcasters to transmit into Britain using DAB. This would fulfil a key commitment to the Irish abroad that arose out of a consultative group in 2017. This would allow people who may have had trouble accessing the internet or other services to use an

inexpensive digital radio, similar to conventional radio.

Research into the listenership conducted after RTÉ began the shutdown found that many would have trouble transitioning to online listening and it also found that “for the majority of respondents, longwave was seen as a ‘lifeline’ to Ireland – helping them ‘maintain a sense of Irishness’ and to keep up with events ‘back home’.

Advocates have written to a number of politicians to appeal them to intervene, including Catherine Martin, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

A petition campaign has been started at https://www.change.

org/SaveRTELW252Now

Richard Logue (Dublin-born campaigner on diaspora rights, Irish housing and infrastructure)

London

Community strength through dance

So RTÉ is finally ending its long wave service this month.

No politician in Ireland gives a fig about the Irish in Britain.

Last month, I attended my first McKeefry Irish Music Festival in Bournemouth and had a great time there.

Dancing non-stop all weekend. It is one way for us all to band together and I have already

booked for the next two in September and March.

Apparently there is still a minister for the diaspora but does anyone know who she or he is? Or do we not care?

Eddie Walsh Nottingham

Shame on Irish national radio

RTÉ appears to be celebrating its centenary broadcasting by cutting off the long wave radio. Disenfranchising the Irish community from an affordable way to pick this service up, not the expensive alternatives. Ireland receives many UK broadcast services, but RTÉ can’t provide a scrap of radio overspill service in exchange. Shame on them and their political masters.

Michael Guckian London

Irish American support for dubious causes

I READ a statistic which should chill anyone that thinks we should give votes to the diaspora, which would of course have to include those in America with one Irish grand parent. Catholic America, specifically white Catholic America, supported Donald Trump in large numbers in 2016 and 2020. Many of these, of course, will have been Irish-American.

According to various exit polls he won between 47 per cent and 49 per cent of the Catholic vote in 2020.

And yet according to some correspondents in your letters page we should give the vote to these people!

A similar disturbing situation developed during the terrible years of the Troubles. Irish Americans contributed enormous sums to various organisations that were widely suspected (in Ireland, Britain and America) of donating funds to the Provisional IRA. Such support for the IRA was wildly out of step with the electorate in the Republic (and of course in Northern Ireland and Britain too). But the people of the Republic were probably just as horrified at this turn of events as the British.

So there we have it – the precious diaspora (or at least significant parts of it) are fit to support Trump on one hand, or a terrorist organisation on the other.

It’s really time for those advocating any vote for the Irish diaspora to think again.

B. McIlwain London

NATO and neutrality

I THINK Noel Murtagh (The Irish Post, Letters, April 15) was entirely right about Ireland joining NATO.

Last week, while in Ireland and espousing all things Irish, President Biden spoke with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar about the war in Ukraine. I don’t know if he asked Taoiseach Varadkar to increase Ireland’s contribution to the war effort, but if he did, he was probably out of luck. By percentage of GDP, Dublin has the lowest defence spend of all 27 EU members – just 0.3 per cent.

A 2021 Irish government Commission on the Defence Forces concluded that Ireland cannot “meaningfully defend” its own territory.

I suppose it’s just as well we have a very special relationship with America. Because if any invasion force comes calling, they’re going to find Ireland very easy pickings.

Mr Murtagh couldn’t be more correct. It’s time for Ireland to get real. We’re now in a different world. Ireland needs to arm itself, join NATO and help defend the very rights that were so hard fought for and which finally gave us independence 100 years ago. But just because we became independent doesn’t mean that we abrogated all responsibility to other nations.

One way of remedying that would be to join NATO.

Connie Paul

Vol. 53. No. 16.

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SHARON NÍ CHONCHUIR

Fadhb an t-easpa dídine in Éirinn an lae inniu

As Gaeilge

NÍL aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin. Is seanfhocal seana chaite é seo a úsáideann daoine go minic agus iad ag filleadh abhaile tar éis dóibh a bheith as baile le tamall.

In Éirinn an lá inniu, b’fhéidir go bhfuil gá againn le seanfhocal nua. Rud éigin cosúil le: is fearr aon tinteán ná tinteán ar bith. Mar is eol do mhadraí an bhaile, tá fadhb ollmhór le easpa dídine againn sa tír seo faoi láthair agus tá ana chuid daoine gan tinteán dá gcuid féin dá bharr. Ní h-iad seo na gnáth daoine a shamhlófá le bheith gan dídean ach an oiread. Ní daoine le fadhb drugaí iad. Ní daoine atá ag streachailt le fadhbanna meabhairshláinte.

Is gnáth daoine cosúil liomsa agus leatsa iad. Daoine go bhfuil postanna acu. Daoine go bhfuil leanaí acu. Seo h-iad na daoine atá gan dídean in Éirinn an lae inniu.

De réir na figiúirí is déanaí, tá 11,742 duine i gcóiríocht éigeandála sa tír seo i láthair na h-uaire. Sin daoine atá ag marachtaint i lóistín sealadach mar nach bhfuil aon lóistín eile ar fáil dóibh. Áiríotar

3,373 leanbh ina measc.

Cé gur figiúir ard é seo, ní léiríonn sé an fhadhb ina iomláine. Mar tá go leor daoine eile nach bhfuil lóistín buan acu agus go bhfuil an baol ann go ndíbreofar iad. Tá aithne pearsanta agamsa ar ana chuid daoine mar seo, baill do mo chlann féin ina measc.

Theastaigh ó dhuine dár ngarghaolta bogadh abhaile go Corca Dhuibhne i mí na Samhna. Dúramar leí go bhféadfadh sí, a fhear céile agus a mac fanacht linne go dtí go bhfuaireadar tig ar chíos. Bhíodar linn go tús mí Feabhra. B’shin beagnach trí mhí agus i rith an tréimhse sin, níor tháinig ach aon tig amháin ar an margadh.

The housing problem in Ireland today

Díbreofar iad san sara fada agus cad a thárlóidh dóibh siúd go léir nuair a dhíbreofar iad? Is cinnte go mbeidh níos mó ná duine amháin i gceist i bhformhór dos na fógraí seo. Tóg cás mo gharghaol mar shampla. Tá cúigear acu siúd i gceist. Níl go leor lóistín ar fáil dóibh seo go léir. Eisíodh 1,839 fógra i mBaile Átha Cliaith amháin agus is cinnte go dteastóidh ón chuid is mó dos na daoine san fanacht i mBaile Átha Cliaith mar gurb ann atá a bpost agus a gcairde. Ach faoi láthair, de réir an suíomh www.daft.ie, níl ach 578 lóistín ar fáil i mBaile Átha Cliaith agus tá formhór de ana dhaor. Ní mór an méid teaghlaigh atá ábalta €2,000 sa mhí a chaitheamh ar chíos.

Cad ina thaobh nach mbogann siad amach as an gcathair, a chloisim sibh ag rá. Tá an scéal chomh h-olc céanna lasmuigh do Bhaile Átha Cliaith. Níl ach 22 lóistín ar fáil i gContae Chiarraí ina h-iomláine, contae inar eisíodh 120 fógra díshealbhaithe.

Beidh na míonna atá romhainn deacair d’ana chuid daoine agus ní cheart go mbeadh sé amhlaidh. Ní fadhb nua í an fhadhb seo. Tá daoine ag gearán faoi le blianta anois agus in ionad don rialtas feabhas a chur ar an scéal, is in olcas atá sé ag dul.

Ba cheart go mbeadh dídean ag gach aon duine i dtír forbartha cosúil le Éireann ach níl. Léiríonn sé seo go bhfuil rud éigin bunúsach mícheart sa tslí ina bhfuilimid ag bainistiú ár gcuid airgid agus ár gcuid achmhainní mar thír. Nílimid á dháileadh i slí atá cothrom agus cóir. Caithfear é seo a réiteach agus a réiteach go tapaidh. Muna dtuigeann an rialtas é seo, ní fada eile go bhfanfaidh siad i gcumhacht.

As Béarla

THERE’S no place like home. This is one of the most frequently quoted proverbs in the Irish language, with people often uttering it when they return home from a long journey. However, with the way things stand in today’s Ireland, we may be in need of a new proverb. Something along the lines of: ‘any home is better than none’.

As you probably know, there’s a huge problem in Ireland at the moment regarding a shortage of housing and a lot of people are without homes of their own as a result. These aren’t the usual types of people that you would associate with homelessness either. They aren’t people with drug problems. Nor are they struggling with their mental health.

They are people like you and me. The typical homeless person you’ll find in Ireland today has a job. They may even have children.

According to the latest figures, 11,742 people are currently living in emergency accommodation in Ireland. These people are living in temporary shelters because there are no other forms of accommodation available to them. They include 3,373 children.

Even though this is a shockingly high number, it doesn’t represent the whole picture. Because there are plenty of others out there whose accommodation is not secure and who are consequently living in fear of eviction. I know lots of people living like this, including some close family members.

One of those family members wanted to move back to West Kerry last November. We offered to put her, her husband and their son up until they found a house to rent. They

ended up staying with us until the start of February. That was almost three months, during which time one house became available on the local rental market.

Another close family member has been renting a house for the past five or six years. She, her husband and their three children live in it together. Towards the end of last year, they were served with an eviction notice informing them that they would have to move out in six months’ time. That six months is almost up, and they still haven’t found anywhere else to live. They started looking for a house to rent to or buy as soon as they were served with that eviction notice but nothing at all has been available.

Cases like this are set to increase in the short term. There has been an eviction ban in place since the pandemic, but the government has recently voted to end that ban. According to official figures, landlords have issued more than 4,700 eviction notices in the past three months and the people affected will soon be evicted.

What will happen when they are?

There is bound to be more than one person affected by most of those notices. Take the case of my relative for example. There are five of them. There simply isn’t enough accommodation available to house them all. A total of 1,839 eviction notices have been issued in Dublin alone and it’s expected that most of those people will want to remain in Dublin because that’s where their work and their friends are. But according to www. daft.ie, which lists rental properties available nationwide, there are only 578 rentals on offer in all of Dublin and most of that is very expensive. Not many families could afford to spend €2,000 a month on rent.

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Tá tig ar chíos ag garghaol eile de mo chuid le cúig nó sé de bhlianta. Tá sí, a fear céile agus a dtriúr leanbh ann. I dtreo deireadh na bliana anuraidh, tugadh fógra díshealbhaithe dóibh a dúirt leo go mbeadh orthu an tig a fhágaint i gceann sé mhí. Tá an sé mhí san beagnach thart agus níl aon tig acu fós. Thosnaíodar ag lorg tí le tógaint ar chíos nó tig le ceannach chomh luath agus a fuaireadar an fógra díshealbhaithe ach níl aon rud in aon chor ar fáil.

Táthar ag rá gur in olcas a rachaidh an fhadhb seo sa ghearrthéarma. Bhí cosc ar dhaoine a dhíbirt as a dtithe ó thús na paindéime ach tá an rialtas tar éis deireadh a chur leis an gcosc san. De réir na figiúirí oifigiúla, tá tiarnaí talún tar éis níos mó ná 4,700 fógra díshealbhaithe a eisiúint le trí mhí anuas.

Why don’t these people move out of the city, I hear you ask. The story is just as bad outside of Dublin. For example, Daft lists 22 rental properties in County Kerry, a county in which 120 eviction notices have been issued.

The months ahead will be difficult ones for many people, and this should not be the case. This isn’t a new problem. People have been complaining about it for years and instead of the government working to make things better, things appear to have got worse.

Every single person living in a developed country like Ireland ought to be able to put a roof above their heads but that’s not the case in the Ireland of today. This shows that something has gone fundamentally wrong in the way we have managed our country’s finances and resources. They aren’t being shared in a way that’s equitable and fair.

This needs to be sorted and it needs to be sorted fast. If our government doesn’t understand this, they won’t remain in power for much longer.

This month, Sharon asks why a developed country like Ireland can’t put a roof over all its citizens’ heads

PROPERTY DILEMMA: Houses for sale, but not many for rent Picture: RollingNews.ie

How to become a saint

had to be worked. Miracles are needed, unless you die as a martyr to the faith. Sad though it seems, this is a guaranteed path to sainthood.

The Vatican has now codified these clarifications into a new guide in the hope that it will streamline the process. The instructions range from identifying possible miracles to making sure these miracles are recorded using modern technology.

For Mother Flanagan there is even an email address: “In the event of graces granted through the intercession contact econ.09@brigidine. org” her cause says.

Whatever your claims to sainthood, they will be rigorously put to the test. Defending your cause will be ‘the Postulator’, plus your witnesses. The position of Devil’s Advocate, who in former times would rigorously deny your claim, was largely dispensed with in 1983. Today it is the Postulator himself who can say, “No, she never did this miracle. She was just a con artist.” Even John Paul II will have to go through this strict canonisation process.

IN March, Pope Francis declared a priest, three religious sisters, and two laywomen as venerable, moving them each a step closer to canonisation.

‘Venerable’ is the title given to a candidate for sainthood whose ‘cause’ has not yet reached the beatification

stage. In other words, they’re on their way to sainthood, but several hurdles have to be negotiated before the ultimate honour is bestowed.

One of these candidates for veneration named by Pope Francis is Mother Mary Catherine (Caterina) Flanagan born in London in

1892 to Irish parents. Should she become a saint, she will be the first to have emerged from our community, the Irish in Britain. Unfortunately, very few of us will be around to witness this honour – the whole process can take a century or more.

A date with history

What happened on this day...

1967 – A local parish priest loudly condemns the appearance of Jayne Mansfield at the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee, and the concert is duly cancelled. Sadly, Jayne dies three weeks later in a car accident.

Sunday, April 23:

1014 – The Battle of Clontarf

1916 – The Easter Rising begins.

Monday, April 24:

Pope Benedict XVI didn’t make it any easier... Miracles are needed, unless you die as a martyr to the faith. Sad though it seems, this is a guaranteed path to sainthood

most successful mangers in Scottish football history, he guides Celtic to 30 major trophies in 43 years.

Tuesday, April 25:

1784 – Death of Nano Nagle, “God’s Beggar”, founder of the Order of the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Wednesday, April 26:

1895 – The trial of Oscar Wilde for gross indecency begins at the Old Bailey

Thursday, April 27:

Mother Flanagan’s claim to sanctity is down to her exemplary religious life after becoming a member of the Bridgettine community.

But it won’t be an easy path, and Pope Benedict XVI didn’t make it any easier.

Just before he retired the German pope said in a letter to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (the board in charge of sainthoods) that, basically, living a good life wasn’t enough – miracles

The Battle of Clontarf

If all goes well an official from the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of Saints will eventually decide to recommend you for beatification. You then become ‘venerable’ and if further progress is made, and no skeletons emerge from the cupboard, you become ‘blessed’. Sainthood then follows on, although not too swiftly. The whole process can take well over a hundred years to complete.

You’ll need the patience of a saint.

THE Vikings arrived at the end of the 8th century, plundering Ireland on a regular basis. By 830AD they had begun to colonise the country, and within a hundred years ruled a swathe of land encompassing Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick in the south and as far as the Ulster border in the North.

But local opposition galvanised, and by 1000 AD or thereabouts Brian Boru was established as undisputed Ard Rí, or High King.

But a Leinster-Viking opposition arose. At the Battle of Clontarf (April 23, 1014) Brian’s forces convincingly defeated the combined Leinster-Viking army in a fierce battle, but Brian himself was killed.

However, Clontarf marked an end to the Viking tyranny over most of the island, although not totally extinguishing their presence.

Saturday, April 22:

1927 – Shamrock Rovers player Bob Fulham scores Ireland’s first international goal, against Italy.

1861 – William Ford, who crossed the Atlantic from Ireland by steerage, marries fellow country woman Mary O’Hern. Their son Henry Ford pioneered the mass manufacturing of the car.

1868 – Birth of Willie Patrick Maley, from Newry, Co. Down. One of the

1904 – Cecil Day-Lewis, poet, novelist, critic, and Ireland’s poet laureate from 1968 to 1972, is born in Ballintogher, Co. Sligo. His son Daniel Day-Lewis becomes an actor.

Friday, April 28:

1936 – The Daíl introduces a bill awarding pensions to the Connaught Rangers who mutinied in India in 1920.

Today few visible signs remain of the Vikings’ 150-year tyranny; neither architecture, nor artwork, nor pagan gods, nor language, nor culture have left any trace in Ireland. The most that can be said is that the Norsemen founded Dublin and a handful of other coastal settlements.

After the Vikings left Ireland the country slumbered on more or less peacefully for some 150 years, unaware of the shock they would soon experience from new invaders — this time from the east.

MAL ROGERS considers the career structure that could lead you to sanctity

SAINTLY: Pope Francis and cardinals leaving the Sistine Chapel

NOT WELCOME IN KERRY: Jayne Mansfield and her husband Mickey Hargitay in 1964

Picture: Getty Images

A-Z OF COUNTRY MUSIC

Mal Rogers’ affectionate guide Page 18

A poetic appraisal of The Good Friday Agreement

(O’Neill, O’Donnell, and Maguire) having lost both the Nine Years’ War and the Battle of Kinsale left Ireland in 1607. Their intention was to persuade Felipe 3rd of Spain to send another armada in support of their cause. Their mission was hopeless as Felipe had signed a peace treaty with James I only three years previously (The Treaty of London 1604)

The absence of the Gaelic Chieftains gave James the golden opportunity to prevent Spain using Ireland as a backdoor to attack England and he did this by deliberately ethnically cleansing six counties of Ulster (Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanagh, Derry/Coleraine, Donegal and Cavan)

The Plantation of Ulster began in 1610. Parcels of land belonging to the native Irish were granted to English Protestants and Scottish Presbyterians (Undertakers).

Protestants dominated Ulster politics until the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, heralding the beginning of the Troubles.

Today’s Protestants and Catholics are the descendants of the planters and native Irish of the 17th century and their aspirations and cultures remain quite different..

FERGUS O’CONNOR, originally from Gortin, Co. Tyrone, is a retired ENT consultant surgeon from Bury. A past treasurer of the Manchester Irish Education Group, he held the position for 25 years. Fergus has researched the life of Sir William Wilde, a Dublin Ear surgeon and father of Oscar, and is a renowned expert on the Wildes. Fergus O’Connor is also a gifted poet, having been widely published. Here, he has returned to two poems written about the Good Friday Agreement, and the circumstances that made it necessary.

ON April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was signed by the UK government, the government of Ireland and all Northern Ireland parties except the DUP. It was a diplomatic miracle in that there were no winners or losers, and all sections of the community were given hope for the future. It has resulted in 25 years of peace in Northern Ireland.

The Good Friday Agreement, however, made no difference to the mistrust between the two communities as manifested by flag waving of union jack and tricolour,

marching season, housing segregation, political murals, etc.

The bitterness has been present for over four hundred years ever since the Gaelic chieftains of Ulster,

The first poem Two Minds think Alike is deliberately simplistic in that it demonstrates the hatred and bigotry which is held by a small section of Northern Ireland community.

In the second poem The Ceasefire of the Mind I acknowledge the success of the Good Friday Agreement in that there has been over 25 years of non-violence, although sadly paramilitary murders still occur,

In the second part of the poem, I recognise that a large section of the community mistrust each other although they keep their feeling to themselves.

On meeting a stranger, they quickly find out in a few questions which side of the sectarian divide they belong.

It has been said the Irish remember their history too much and the English too little.

It is important to remember our history, but we must never allow it to destroy our future.

I hope that sometime in the future we will witness the ceasefire of the mind.

Two minds think alike

I’m Bob Williamson

I’m Sean McCann

You can tell by my name

What a fine man I am

I love orange

I love green

I hate the Pope

I hate the Queen

I went to the Academy

I went to the nuns

I hate YOUR guns

I dig with the left foot I dig with the right

WE’LL win this glorious fight

I’m a good Catholic

I’m a good Prod

I don’t believe in YOUR God

I’m a republican I’m very loyal YOU live on the other side of the Foyle?

I have a right to be here This is MY land YOU don’t understand Drape MY coffin in green white and gold

And MINE in red, white and blue

We’ll continue our fight in heaven above

For I’m ALWAYS right never YOU

Ceasefire of the Mind

Battle weary Belfast

Basks in an uneasy peace

Children play safely now In once so violent streets

The bullet and the bomb have gone

But in the heads of the people

The battle rages on and on True peace will only come With the ceasefire Of the mind.

Fergus O’Connor

Fergus O’Connor

ON PARADE: Anti-internment League marchers in west Belfast Picture: Getty Images

CHARTING THE PLANTATION: Map of the land seized by London companies. The original copy of this map – along with others dating from 1622 – is held by Lambeth Palace Library

Irish radio in your area...

BEDFORDSHIRE

 Jim Carway presents Luton Irish Live on Diverse 102.8FM and online every Tuesday evening 6-8pm. Contact Jim on 07977 063233.

BRADFORD

 Joe Sheeran presents Echoes of Ireland on Bradford Community Broadcasting 106.6FM every Sunday at noon. The programme is repeated on Mondays at 9am and Wednesdays at noon and is online at www.bcbradio.co.uk.

BRIGHTON

 Brighton and Hove weekly Irish radio airs live on Mondays from 8pm on Radio Reverb, 97.2 FM, DAB and online.

COVENTRY

 Hands Across the Waters on Hillz FM. Broadcasting live every Monday and Thursday 1pm-2pm and the best of Irish & Country every Sunday 1pm-2pm. You can tune in locally on 98.6fm or catch us online at www.hillzfm.co.uk

 Join The Four Country Road Show with Colm Nugent and Michael Gallagher every Tuesday 9-10pm and Sunday 2-4pm. Broadcasting live in Coventry from the studios of Radio Plus 101.5fm and online around the world on www.radioplus.org.uk playing the very best in Irish and Country music, news, guests and more.

GLASGOW

 Celtic Music Radio on 1530AM and www.celticmusicradio.net

featuring Paddy Callaghan’s Trad with Pad every Tuesday from 6-7pm.

HERTFORDSHIRE

 Radio Verulam 92.6FM and online at www.radioverulam.com

featuring The Emerald Hour with Kathy Weston, Lydia El-Khouri and Shane every Thursday from 7-8pm, and John Devine’s Traditional Irish Music Show, featuring Joe Giltrap, every Monday from 7-9pm (available on the website for seven days after broadcast)

 John Devine, Monday evenings from 7-9pm on Radio Verulam in West Hertfordshire 92.6FM or through the internet at www. radioverulam.com. Facebook www.facebook.com/rvirishmusic.

LONDON/SOUTH-EAST

 Johnny Jameson hosts Ireland’s Eye on Resonance 104.4FM every third Wednesday of every month, 8-9pm and repeated the following morning at 10pm.

 Emily Horgan, Pippa T and Róisín O Rourke broadcasting What’s the Craic? every Tuesday from 7-8pm on West London’s ONFM 101.4.

 Johno’s Irish Hour, ONFM 101.4, every Saturday morning from 10-11am with presenter John O’Sullivan. Anything and everything Irish including traditional Irish music, news and sport.

MANCHESTER

 Out and About in Manchester with Martin Logan, Wednesdays 7-9pm on 96.9FM.

 The Irish Connection Show with John Lowry on Wythenshawe 97.2FM, Saturday from 10am to noon. www.wfmradio.org.

MIDLANDS

 Bob Brolly’s Irish Show, Sundays 4-7pm on BBC Radio WM 95.6FM and DAB Radio.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE

 Jim Bennett, Fiona Clelland and Tommy McClements present NE1 Irish from 5-7pm every Wednesday on 102.5FM or www.ne1fm.net. Text NE1 + message to 60300. Contact 0191 261 0384.

OXFORD/BERKSHIRE

 BBC Radio Oxford/BBC Radio Berkshire hosts Henry Wymbs’ Irish Eye, Sundays from 2pm on 95.4FM | 104.1FM.

ONLINE

 Gerry Byrne’s Irish Radio: www.irishradio.org 24/7 non-stop Irish Music. Live weekdays 1-3pm; Saturdays & Sundays 11am-1pm. Podcasts uploaded to website immediately after shows are transmitted. Requests welcome to: gerry@irishradio.org. For music, arts, charity sector, commerce and current affairs interviews search YouTube Irish Radio with Gerry Byrne.

 Mid West Radio, the home of Irish music, chat, news, culture and gossip 24 hours a day! www.midwestradio.ie

 RTÉ Radio operates four primary national stations — RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta — and seven exclusively digital stations — RTÉ Radio 1 Xtra, RTÉ Choice, RTÉ Pulse, RTÉ Chill, RTÉ Gold, RTÉ 2XM and RTÉ Junior, available online.

 Alan O’Leary of Copperplate presents two hours of Irish traditional and folk music every Sunday at 8-9.30pm (repeated Wednesday 8-90pm) on www.liveireland.com — 24/7 live Irish trad and folk. It can also be heard 24/7 on Mixcloud, Soundcloud and Podomatic.

 All Folked Up – a folk show with an Irish influence – is broadcast on the third Thursday of the month on sarumradio.com at 7pm.

 Irish Country Music Radio (Limerick) – Broadcasting live and recorded programmes 24 hours a day covering a broad spectrum of Irish music: www.irishcountrymusicradio.com.

THE IRISH IN THE UK TV SHOW www.theirishintheuktv.com

Join Martin each week as he meets the community around the UK with an Irish connection

Every Thursday evening at 7.30pm

Repeated Sat at 8.30pm and Tues at 1pm

Sky 186 Freesat 161

Martin Logan 07808 573142 martinloganmanchester@gmail.com

Sponsored by

A-Z of country music

A — Accordion

The accordion is the perfect instrument for country music — it’s brash and versatile, perfect for a raucous singalong, but it can be mournful and mellow too. Never mind that some call it a bagpipe with pleats, it’s played in America north and south, a mainstay for Tex Mex, cajun, zydeco, and muriaci in Mexico. It arrived in America, of course, from people trying to make a new life in America. The principal carriers were the Irish, the Scots, the Germans, the Jews and the Italians. They all wanted a better life, but not one without their accordions.

B — Bridie Gallagher

Bridie from Donegal, is acknowledged as Ireland’s first real pop star, and certainly the first country and Irish megastar. Her first big hit was A Mother’s Love’s a Blessing written by Thomas Keenan from Cork. He also penned another of Bridie’s huge hits The Boys From the County Armagh. Bridie holds the record for the largest number of people in attendance in the Albert Hall London, with over 7,500 people, a record that was never equalled as the venue went on to become an all-seater. Bridie Gallagher’s life, from a poor rural background in Donegal, where she was one of ten children, to singing superstardom, could be the plot of a Hollywood movie. Or a country song.

Country and Irish found a ready home in the Midlands of Ireland and in south Ulster from Tyrone to Cavan. But its true spiritual home was among the Irish community in Britain, in the great dancehalls of London – the Galtymore, the Hibernian, the Forum.

DONEGAL SUPERSTAR: Daniel O’Donnell

Picture: RollingNews.ie

D — Duelling Banjos

The theme music from the film Deliverance brought the banjo to the attention of the wider world. The five string banjo is a truly cosmopolitan affair. It probably first came to America from Africa, where a rudimentary form of the instrument was known as the banjar. It was subsequently used in the various cultures of the Southern States – bluegrass, country, blues, jazz and

Originally the instrument had four strings but probably received a fifth string from Irish settlers in the Appalachian or Ozark regions, in an atavistic effort to recapture the droning sound of the fiddle or the pipes the immigrants had left back home in

OUT AND ABOUT MANCHESTER RADIO SHOW

96.9 ALL FM Wednesday, 7-9PM with MARTIN LOGAN

T: 0161 248 6767 | M: 07706 682622

E: outandaboutmanchesterradio@yahoo.co.uk

The banjo is one of the main instruments of bluegrass, although the name was bestowed on it by a mandolin player. Songwriter Bill Monroe’s band, the Bluegrass Boys gave the genre its name, and its players, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt, gave bluegrass its distinctive sound. You can hear them, by the way, in the soundtrack of Bonnie

Country music has its roots in emigration — mainly from Irish and Scottish music, but with influences from other parts of the Old World as well.

A young Bridie Gallagher playing the accordion Picture: Courtesy of the Gallagher family

With five country music legends having been honoured by An Post with stamps issued in tribute to them, MAL ROGERS presents an affectionate guide to all things country, culled from decades of listening to bands and performers from Finsbury Park to the swamplands of Louisiana

F — Folk music

Country in its many forms — from Appalachian music to Zyedeco is basically the folk music of America. Country music has its roots in many genres – but mainly springs from music brought to America by the Old World’s unhappy campers. It is the folk music of working class Americans, who blended Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional English ballads, cowboy songs, popular songs of the era and various traditions from European immigrants into a sinuous musical form of Americana.

G — Gibson

Gibson guitars and mandolins are the required instrument for any self-respecting country artist. No other guitar, the experts say, is up to the pin sharp navigation that is required of an instrument journeying through all the changes of time and rhythm in country music. Everyone from Bill Monroe to Jimmie Rodgers, favoured the Gibson.

H — Hot diggerty and Cliona Hagan

Cliona Hagan from Ballinderry in Co. Tyrone is another of the An Post honorees. With qualifications in music from Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Edinburgh Cliona could have called herself The Two Degrees. But whatever her name she has proceeded to carve out a huge following.

I — Interpretative dance

Line-dancing is the ultimate interpretative dance. Forget that meme “dance as if no one is watching”. This is where you can dance and be sure that everyone is watching. It’s basically a chorus line where everybody, no matter if they move like a grand piano without any castors, can enjoy themselves. Everybody can do the big numbers like the Cha Cha Slide, the Electric Slide, and Cupid Shuffle. Altogether no, “Take your pardners and away we go. . .”

J — Joe Dolan

Probably of all the showband / country and Irish artists, Joe Dolan was possessed of a voice that was the equal of the likes of Tom Jones, Julio Iglesias, Demi Roussos. He was certainly way ahead of almost all his contemporaries in the Irish showband circuit, and most of his peers in the rock and folk world.

The answer to why he didn’t achieve more fame, of course, is elusive, but probably is focused on Ireland’s relative isolation, in musical terms, until late in the 20th century. Not only were recording studios in Ireland in their infancy, as were filming facilities — communications back then were very limited. It was phone or letter, and that’s probably not the way to international recognition. One of Joe Dolan’s hits was Make Me an Island, and he truly lived on one that was disconnected from mainstream entertainment until this century. Irony kicked in – this isolation helped foster homegrown country and Irish music, but confined its musicians to obscurity.

K — Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo, Michigan, is where the archetypal country guitar the Gibson was made from 1902 until 1984. It’s still a hallowed name in the annals of country music.

L — Larry Cunningham

Larry Cunningham from Longford can lay claim to having helped ‘invent’ country and Irish music. One of the leading figures of the showband scene in the 1960s and 1970s, Cunningham broke into the British charts with Tribute to Jim Reeves in 1964, the first time an Irish artist had done such a thing. He was

unusual in the Irish and country scene at that time insofar as he wrote quite a lot of his material himself.

M — Big Tom McBride

The king of country and Irish music, Big Tom was another Ulster country singer – from Monaghan – who dominated the genre. But it was in London that he began his musical career, one that made him both rich and famous. It’s a mark of country music – and indeed blues music – that a singer’s size is often commented upon: Little Willie Littlefied, Big Bill Broonzy, Big Tom McBride. But it’s only big or small that seems to count. It’s never Medium-Sized Daniel O’Donnell or ModeratelyProportioned Mick Flavin. Which seems a little unfair.

N — Nathan Carter

Nathan Tyrone Carter was born in Liverpool to a family with Co. Down and Liverpool Irish roots. He moved back home to Donegal, and now lives in Fermanagh. The perfect family tree, and name, for a country singer. You can hear all those influences in his voice. He is one of the innovators in country and Irish music, writing much of his own material.

O — Daniel O’Donnell

An utter phenomenon from Donegal, Daniel O’Donnell has made it into Guinness World Records for a number of achievements. Not least is his record as of 2022 of having had an album in the Official Albums Chart in Britain each year for the last 34 years. He began his career playing his sister Margot’s band. But his charismatic stage presence soon took him on a solo career, and he seadily built up a huge fanbase in Ireland, Britai, Australia and the US. His appeal had a wide range — the former Irish State Pathologist Marie Cassidy, from Glasgow, once revealed that she listened to Daniel O’Donnell CDs when she was doing autopsies.

P — Elvis Presley

Elvis was the man who combined the great traditions of the south — country music, blues and gospel, and came up with rock & roll. He started out as a rockabilly artist, and played hillbilly music he heard on the radio, mostly broadcast from Nashville. From these country roots he eventually became one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century.

Q — Queen of Country, Philomena Begley

Philomena is one of the five Irish country artists paid tribute to by An Post. Awards and honours are nothing new to the woman from

Co. Tyrone, including an unexpected one — making it into a Shane MacGowan song.

In A Pair of Brown Eyes, Shane sings: “While Ray and Philomena sang / Of my elusive dream / I saw the streams, the rolling hills . . .” Ray is Ray Lynam.

R — Rockabilly

Rockabilly, which emerged around the 1950s, is when country music began to merge into rock and roll. It blends the sounds of country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to “classic” early rock and roll. It can also, to an extent, be viewed as mix of bluegrass with rock and roll.[

S — Steel guitar

The wail of the steel guitar, particularly the pedal steel, is one of the distinctive sounds of country music, and a notoriously difficult instrument to play. This Heath Robinson of an instrument comes with keys and pedals and levers which allow the performer to play varied and complex music.

T —Tennessee

Tennessee is the spiritual home of country music. Nashville is the capital of country, and home of the Grand Ole Opry — a weekly country music stage concert that began in 1925.

U — the USA

But you don’t have to be born in the USA to love country music. Today it has a global reach, its appeal as great in Japan as it is back home in the Southern States

W — Western music

Western music is the country and hillbilly music of the folks who settled and worked throughout the Western US and Western Canada. It celebrates the life of the cowboy on the open ranges, the Rocky Mountains, and the prairies and grasslands of the North West. This image of the cowboy or frontiersman was highly fanciful, and helped to build up the romantic myth of the Wild West.

Western music is a seminal branch of country music directly related to old Irish, Scottish, and English folk ballads, and also to the rhythms of the border Mexican

X — X Factor

Surprisingly enough no country singer or country act has ever won X-Factor, either in these islands or America.

Y —Yeah yeah

Elvis Presley was possibly from Scots Irish stock, perhaps even with an Ulster heritage. It has been postulated that ‘Presley’ may even be a misconstruction of the word ‘Paisley’. So while he was singing “My baby says yeah”, underneath his breath he might have been muttering “But Ulster says No.”

So often the bugbear of list writers, in country music Z is easy. Z is for zydeco, an exhilarating form of music from Louisiana that evolved in the southwest of the state by French Creole speakers. It blends country, blues, rhythm and R&B, and has African America and Native American influences. It is also influenced by Cajun music (and vice versa), and both forms contribute to one of the most intriguing musical profiles of any

famous. It’s a mark of country

Cliona Hagan Picture: RollingNews.ie

Ireland seen through the eyes of a keen observer

Fintan O’Toole’s book We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland, just published in paperback, explores the roots of the conflict in Ireland and

in the North.

JUSTIN CHAPMAN reports in the wake of President Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland

armed campaign of the IRA.

O’Toole writes that the eruption of violence in Northern Ireland was “both sudden and slow. On the one hand, very few people expected it. On the other hand, there was the slow burn of “50 years of neglect, apathy and misunderstanding. Nobody thought in 1968 that this was going to go on for 30 years. But it also felt like it could’ve gone on for another 30. It was self-generating.”

The seed that led to the Troubles was the partition of the

I think there will be a referendum on Irish unity in Northern Ireland within the next 10 years. My worry is that we’re not ready for it yet

six counties in Northern Ireland from the rest of Ireland dating back to the 1920s.

SEEDS OF CONFLICT British soldiers on standby at a civil rights march in Newry, Co. Down in 1972 Picture: Getty Images

JOURNALIST Fintan O’Toole

points out in We Don’t Know

Ourselves: A Personal History of Modern Ireland that the Good Friday Agreement enshrined national selfdetermination, largely put an end to the armed conflict in the North, and recognised sovereignty and citizenship as a matter of free choice for those living in Northern Ireland.

In his book, O’Toole weaves his personal story into the fabric of Ireland’s history and culture, from his birth in 1958 to the present day, including mass emigration, nationalism, the Troubles, Brexit and more.

Leading into the Troubles, Ireland experienced decades of mass emigration. O’Toole write that three out of five children growing up in Ireland in the 1950s were destined to leave the island. This reporter’s grandparents, who left Ireland that decade in their 20s and landed in Pasadena,

never saw their parents again.

“It really was tragic for a lot of families, that they were broken up by mass emigration,” O’Toole said. “The promise was that if we only had our own state, this mass migration would stop, we would be able to do things for ourselves and make life better. And here people were voting with their feet against the viability of an independent Ireland.”

The government opened the country up to foreign capital, beginning a  long economic transformation from an agricultural economy to a globalised one.

Up in Northern Ireland, however, trouble was brewing. The Catholic minority there rebelled against civil rights abuses by the UK and Protestant majority, resulting in civil unrest and the

Partition “made it possible for [Ireland] to be an ethnic and religious monolith” and lack “the pluralism you need to have a modern democracy,”

O’Toole said. “What was left was just an overwhelmingly and, frankly, stultifyingly Catholic country. How do you preserve this idea of being the most Catholic country in the world? By punishing women, in particular. So you had a sexual puritanism, which even by the standards of the time was extreme.”

Institutionally, it became rotten.”  Ireland has gone through a transformation socially, politically and economically in a relatively short period of time. Divorce was legalised in 1995, same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018, which is quite remarkable when you consider the stranglehold the Catholic Church had on Irish politics and culture not too long ago. “These were markers of a profoundly changed society,” O’Toole believes..

Leaning into its diaspora in the United States and elsewhere, Ireland has developed its Global Ireland brand.

O’Toole, also a professor at Princeton University, said it’s moving to see how many people in the United States claim and are proud of their Irish heritage. “It’s important to them, it’s part of their own identity and it doesn’t make them not American,” he said.

O’Toole, 65, said that while he never thought he’d see Irish reunification in his lifetime, his thinking has shifted in recent years.

“I’m not so sure about that anymore,” he said. “I think there will be a referendum on Irish unity in Northern Ireland within the next 10 years. My worry is that we’re not ready for it yet. We still have quite a lot of work to do. I would much rather we have reconciliation before unity, rather than unifying with a still very divided population.”

He explained that Brexit has made Irish unity more likely, because being in the EU kept Catholics in Northern Ireland reasonably satisfied. A majority of Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU, so Brexit has alienated the Catholic population again.

O’Toole pointed out in his book that Irish people considered the Republic free and the North unfree, but for women who couldn’t buy contraceptives or get abortions in the Republic, the UK was freer.

Today, O’Toole said, the Catholic Church in Ireland is “a hugely diminished institution. The real damage it did was entirely self-inflicted through that appalling handling of all these child abuse scandals.

being the most Catholic particular. out said, these

“The irony is this was a situation brought about by people who are unionists, not by Irish nationalists,” he said. “This misconceived unionist project actually did more harm to the UK and Northern Ireland’s place within it than the IRA managed to do through 30 years of violence.”

 Justin Chapman is an award-winning journalist,  author, actor, and politician. He writes for Alta Journal,  Huffington Post, LA Weekly, and many other publications.

implications of the peace deal that ended the Troubles

May bank holiday fun at the Baldock Fleadh

THE Baldock Fleadh in north Herts will be held on the bank holiday, Monday, May 1.

It is now 14 years since the first fleadh was held there, transforming it market town into an Irish market town complete with traditional music and dance for one afternoon only.

The festival continues to attract musicians, singers and lovers of traditional Irish music from all over the southeast.

Organiser Brian Burke said: “This year we are hoping the local council will agree to fly the flag over the High Street to complete the temporary transformation.”

The town centre will feature sessions all afternoon in the Cock and White Lion

There will be a singers’ stage outside Luna café. Brian Burke said: “The local coffee shop is holding a singers stage in honour of the lovely Dorrie Randall of Dublin and Baldock who sang at every opportunity. Sadly she passed away last year, so we will be remembering her and honouring her.“

The Maria Grant school of dancing will perform at all venues from in what has become a much loved event for locals and people from further afield over the years The fleadh begins at noon and continues till 9pm on Monday, May 1.

ROOTS FESTIVAL IN HOWTH

FÉILE Binn Éadair 2023 is a free music festival in the fishing village of Howth, Co. Dublin running fromMay 19-21. The festival showcases the best in Irish roots and traditional music. The festival features 27 free gigs and sessions across six venues around the village and hill of Howth. Headlining the festival is Iarla Ó Lionáird with Cormac McCarthy in a candlelit concert in St. Mary’s church at the gates of Howth Castle. This is a wonderfully atmospheric venue for twice grammy-nominated artist Iarla

Today Ó Lionáird, a sean nós singer, is probably best known as the lead singer with Irish/American supergroup The Gloaming but his groundbreaking work to date encompasses much more including a spell with the Afro Celt Sound System.

Also headlining is folk singer Daoirí Farrell who can boast numerous honours from BBC Radio

2 Folk Awards to ALSR Celtic Music accolades.

The venues include The Summit Inn, McNeills, The Bloody Stream, The Harbour Bar, Findlaters, The Waterside and O’Connells.

Some of the venues have created outdoor spaces for summer gigs while others will create them for the festival. The Summit Inn will have the Tramline Stage, an outdoor performance space facing across a green area on top of Howth Hill. O’Connells will have the East Pier Stage, an outdoor performance space facing The East Pier. The Bloody Stream has the well known Phil Lynott Stage in their tented beer garden. The Harbour Bar has the Garden Stage, an intimate outdoor performance space in their covered beer garden.

Full Lineup: Iarla Ó Lionáird with Cormac McCarthy - Bog Bodies

- Daoirí Farrell - The Legend of Luke Kelly Dubliner - Sin A Deir SíSaltaire - Noiníní - The Beermats

- Niamh Parsons & Siobhan MooreManglam PI - Flog The Dog - The Crooked Jacks - The Bogs - Leo Rickard - DJ Danny Deepo - Billy Treacy & The Scope - Green Waves

- The Macs - Tradify - Strings & Things - The Dead Irish - EachtraThe Dublin Rovers - Howth Chamber Orchestra - Derek Copley - Folk AlleyCeltic Breeze - Trad Session Trail. In addition there will be musical boat trips around Ireland’s Eye with Howth uilleann piper Leo Rickard each afternoon. Leo will also be giving a piping workshop.

 organised by Paul Byrne of In Tua Nua for Howth Tourism. https:// feilebinneadair. com/

The late Dorrie Randall with Brian Burke in 2022

A seisún going at full throttle in Baldock Picture: John Devine

Ladies of the dance at last year’s Baldock festival

Bog Bodies

Eachtra

The festival is Iarla Ó Lionáird and Cormac McCarthy

Leo Rickard

Moya Sands, from the famous Sands family of Rostrevor, Co. Down has launched a new card game which is focused on Irish heritage

THE Barcelona-based company Happy Clan, founded by Moya Sands, is launching a new card game called Happy Families – Exploring Ireland that aims to teach families about Ireland’s rich culture, beautiful natural landscapes and mythological heritage in an engaging way.

The game is based on the idea that children learn and retain information better when they are having fun.

Happy Families – Exploring Ireland card game is a traditional game with a cultural twist that sharpens observation, memory skills and winning ways.

The goal is to collect all the cards in a “family” and as many families as possible. Each card represents one of the seven “families” of Irish heritage: Cities, Landmarks, Food, Music, Traditions, Mythology and Symbols.

The cards are deceptively simple, but they open the door to the world of Irish mythology, folklore, and adventure. Each card provides secret truths and ancient cures for the future. Included in the game is an information booklet that provides more details and knowledge about

SUDOKU

Moya Sands pictured with her card game (also right) – in the background is Carlingford Lough and the Cooley Mountains

each card, making it a great way to impress family and friends with newfound knowledge of the island of Ireland.

“As a mother of two small kids, I wanted to combine my cultural and

CROSSWORD

No.

educational background with a yearning to teach my family about Ireland in an amusing and entertaining way,” Moya said. “I believe that this game will not only be fun for families, but also an educational tool that allows them to learn about the heritage of the island of Ireland in a unique and interactive way.”

In addition to her passion for Irish culture and education, Moya also has a deep connection to the music of County Down. As the daughter of legendary folk and peace activist Tommy Sands, she spent many years touring the world with her father, sharing the music of Ireland

Clues Across

1. Might one cause a row staring at this place in Co. Dublin? (10)

6. A debenture or strong connection. (4)

10. Material made from flax. (5)

11. Cold treats. (3-6)

12. Might Carr hug one in this plain? (7)

15. Proof of absence from the scene of a crime. (5)

17. The entrance to a mine. (4)

18. Medieval instrument of torture.

(4)

19. Five break up a hole to make a wretched dwelling. (5)

21. Destruction, mayhem. (7)

23. The Southern border has a grass-like plant. (5)

24. Scrutinise Central Tuscany. (4)

25. Acorns, perhaps. (4)

26. A hill or a horse. (5)

28. Use it when washing your hair.

(7)

Clues Down

1. Strong wind. (4)

2. Disclaimed. (9)

3. More 21 down ending to the main meal. (5)

4. This object is confused by night. (5)

5. Unwanted plant. (4)

7. Creature related to the giraffe. (5)

8. Making whiskey. (10)

9. Inhale and exhale. (7)

13. Song from the heart of Marian. (4)

14. Reins, tack. (7)

16. One who manufactures clothes. (10)

20. The winner, to Mr Botham, is so dated. (9)

21. I leave the broken clarinet, being in the middle. (7)

22. Artist who might have been into Yoga. (4)

27. Excessive, uncalled-for. (5)

with audiences around the globe. However, during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Moya found herself missing her homeland and wanted a way to connect her children to her roots. When she couldn’t find any suitable games about the area, she decided to create her own. Happy Families – Exploring Ireland card game is a result of that desire to connect her family to her homeland and to share the beauty of Ireland’s culture and heritage with others.

Happy Clan’s “Happy Families –Exploring Ireland” is being launched next month on May 15, but is available for pre-order on the company’s website:

33. One who holds a person for ransom. (9)

34. Gullible way to open a vein. (5)

35. Natural coral formation. (4)

36. A thousand take to the waterway in Venice or Ireland. (5,5)

29. The bird takes a brave person North. (5)

30. Uncommonly euphoric. (5)

31. Goading attachment to a cowboy’s boot. (4)

No.

The rich language of the countryside

Vet and author AUSTIN DONNELLY looks at the colloquial phrases for farm animal ailments in Ireland

IT seems there are a whole range of terms and phrases in Ireland for common farm animal conditions.

For a start if your ewe is yeaning, in Wicklow or Wexford specifically, that would mean she is giving birth. In Co. Tyrone if one of your bullocks was a bit of a pyne, that would indicate he’s a poor-doer or suffering ill thrift. If your cow had a prolapse of the uterus after calving, in the west she could be said to have her vessel out whilst in many other areas it would be her calf bed out. Here we look at some more fascinating phrases.

In many parts of Ulster, if your cow had a red, hot and swollen udder, you might call your vet and ask them to come and treat her felon, for this is the local term for mastitis: an infection of the mammary gland. In Donegal and Tyrone you might alternatively be reporting that this same cow has a case of weed, while in Leinster and Munster it would be, she has start.

If your calf was suffering from a chest infection or cough, whether she had a draw, a blow or had a chill would very much depend on what part of Ireland you are in

While in the counties closer to Dublin she would have blast. In Galway, the poor cow would be said to be blown or blown-up. In Co. Tipperary she’d have cruds and in Co. Cork gargot. It was difficult to ascertain if having two or more cases at the same time on a farm in Ulster would constitute a felony, but you never know!

If your calf was suffering from a chest infection or cough, whether she had a draw, a blow or had a chill

would very much depend on what part of Ireland you are in. The same calf would have an impression in Co. Sligo, would be lifting in Donegal, suffering founder in Derry and Tyrone and have a case of catarrh in Co. Galway.

If you farm in a low land area and in the summer your cow starts passing red water, she may need treatment for Babesiosis: a blood infection carried by ticks. Whilst red water is actually the most common name for this condition throughout Ireland, it’s interchangeable with Murrain. In Connaught they say red murrain / blood murrain, in Tipperary it’s murns, while in Ulster it’s murll, merle or mure.

Many will have heard of scour, a widely used term for diarrhoea, frequently seen in calves, foals and lambs. While there are many variations of the term skitter used for this condition throughout Ireland, in counties Kildare and Dublin, farmers say the animal is suffering flux and in Co. Tyrone it’s gut murrl.

It follows then that the opposite of this condition; constipation has a few colloquial names too. The widely used term is dry murrain and in county Tyrone, we hear of dry mure.

In the summer a farmer may find a few of his cattle with sore, teary eyes. Pink eye is the phrase commonly used to describe this infection carried between beasts by flies. In mid Ulster it’s known as forest disease, in Co. Galway it’s pearl eye and they say the beast has one eye cold in Leinster.

Cattle grazing the first flush of spring grass are at risk of developing grass tetany. This can cause them to have tremors and can prove fatal. Farmers will leave ‘lick’ buckets or blocks out in the grazing pastures to help prevent this. In many parts of Ireland this condition is also knows as the staggers and locally in Co. Westmeath it is termed the starts.

If your cow developed unsightly growths or warts on her skin, in

many areas of Ireland she would be said to have a case of angle berries. In Co. Galway this condition is also known as strawberry foot. Similarly, if she developed circular patches of hair loss around her eyes or face, she could be suffering from the fungal infection known widely as ringworm. In counties Laoise & Offaly they call this condition tethers or tetters. In Co. Dublin it’s scruff, scurvy in Co. Galway and poc in Co. Tipperary.

Thanks to all the farmers and vets who contributed to this article.

 Austin Donnelly is the author of a memoir on his international work as a veterinarian, Whiskers, Feathers & Fur: Veterinary Tales All details of how to get a copy are available at https:// austindonnellywrites.wordpress. com/whiskers-feathers-and-furveterinary-tales/ on Austin’s blog.

TAKING A DIP: Grazing in Tipperary

TRAVEL

Edited by Mal Rogers

A place for sea dreamers and stargazers

“AND she cradles you softly like a warm gentle breeze. And wins your heart over with a feeling of peace.” These words by Cape Breton singer/ songwriter, the late Rita MacNeil in her hit She’s Called Nova Scotia describe my home perfectly. It’s a natural gem made for sea dreamers, stargazers, beachcombers, culture keepers, heritage explorers, foodies, music and art lovers and adventure seekers.

Holidaying in Nova Scotia feeds the soul as there is beauty around every bend. Our seacoast, forests, fields, rivers, lakes, and trails offer charm, mystery, skylines as spectacular as the sea herself with dawns and dusks that etch into memories. Historic inns, hotel chains, motels, campgrounds and Airbnbs suit every preference. At seaside cottages such as White Point Beach Resort’s, southwest Nova Scotia, the sound of the ocean lulls you to sleep and in summer wild roses greet you, yet you can fall in love with winter

KIMBERLY DICKSON

there. Glamping is the latest trend where you can enjoy luxury but be one with nature. The Quarter Deck Resort, overlooking Summerville Beach, is also top notch with both restaurants presenting lush cuisine and striking seascapes.

Cape Breton’s magnificent Cabot Trail and Peggy’s Cove are iconic. The trail’s pristine beauty, where sea and sky meet, is reminiscent of both Scotland and Ireland

Nova Scotia is the ancestral land of Mi’kmaq First Nation people. Celtic, Acadian French and African Nova Scotians represent settler heritages and a growing diversity enriches our cultural fabric. Our harbourside capital, Halifax is home to a vibrant music, arts, and

theatre scene with a downtown woven with heritage architecture and eclectic restaurants. Folk artist Maude Lewis is the pride and joy of the Nova Scotia Art Gallery, Halifax. Her tiny house now sits in the gallery and there is a replica in Digby, also known for their scallops. Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy’s captivating art has stirring messages found at his new studio in Millbrook.

Nova Scotia’s alluring beaches are endless. Melmerby, Northumberland Shore, has the warmest waters north of the Carolinas with golden dunes, sandbars and sunsets of soft pinks. Fifteen minutes from the Merb is New Glasgow. A farmers market, a downtown with Scottish architecture, unique shops, cafes, and a scenic trail that runs along a river, kayaking, boat tours and lunch by the river all await you. The market has the best of NS: the catch of the day, strawberries, blueberries, maple syrup, honey, local vegetables, and wildflowers. There are baked goods to die for, such as Mrs MacGregor’s shortbreads and

Writer and photographer

reports on the beauty of her homeland of Nova Scotia, a culturally rich area on the eastern coast of Canada

VANTAGE POINT: Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse from the Swissair Memorial

millionaire squares and David’s lemon curd filling and yogurt bread. LeSoap offers pretty bath fizzies and soaps with creative scents. Vandy’s Creations are hand sewn, cloth or cork leather purses of impeccable craftsmanship, some with handpainted designs. Martin Ceramic and Carey Allan create pottery magic. Martin’s style has an ethereal elegance while Allan’s is earthy and grounded. There are jewellery designers, wood carvers, musicians, chocolatiers; Syrian, Korean, and Indian food, as well as East Coast chowders. The Dock, an Irish pub with a riverview patio, is like stepping into Ireland, with its “craic” and every Friday there are delicious fishcakes. In early August, The Jubilee features top Canadian musical talent outdoors for three sultry summer nights.

Pictou, the birthplace of New Scotland is only a 15-minute drive and home to a replica of the Ship Hector, which landed in 1773 with 189 passengers, the first direct Scottish migration. This harbour town is home to Tabitha + Co, mindfully made leather bags,

featured in

you’ve been searching for and the Chowder House’s lemon pie is like your mom’s. The ice cream stand from the local creamery is worth the visit to NS with old style ice cream made with local berries, maple syrup and lavender. I dream of the lemon shortbread scoop. Sara Bonnyman Studio will amaze you with pottery creations that incorporate sea themes and beach glass. Just down the road is Fox Harbour, a five-star golf resort, and the singing sands of Blue Sea Beach.

Vogue, galleries and shops as well as deCoste Centre for Arts & Creativity. The Green Thumb just minutes away specializes in local and has the best baking and makings for a perfect picnic on Green Hill Look-off.

River John and Tatamagouche, Sunrise Trail, boast Seafoam Lavender and the Lismore Sheep Farm. You will find lavender lotions, teas, soap, oils within a mystical purple setting that includes dragonflies dancing over ponds like faeries. The sheep farm offers quality woollen products plus the sheep themselves. Off the beaten path, the Earltown store is a throwback to yesterday’s general store with candy and a bakery. Don’t leave without a “Fat Archie” cookie or you will regret it forever.

Tatamagouche’s main street is lined with flowers, eateries, and shops and has a fabulous market and exquisite art gallery. The Train Station Inn offers the lobster roll

Cape Breton’s magnificent Cabot Trail and Peggy’s Cove are iconic. The trail’s pristine beauty, where sea and sky meet, is reminiscent of both Scotland and Ireland. In autumn the hills are ablaze with crimson and gold. The island hosts Celtic Colours Festival in October, featuring home grown and world class talent. Peggy’s Cove, 30 minutes from Halifax, offers ocean spray pounding the magnificent grey rocks and picturesque, working fishing craft. Its stately lighthouse is a beacon as the rugged cove reflects the magnificence and wrath of the sea. While watching boats sail by, you can eat fresh lobster at the Sou’Wester. Other favourite lighthouses include Sandy Point, Shelburne where you can walk out to it at low tide and the Cape George lighthouse along the “mini Cabot Trail”.

by, you can eat fresh lobster at the Sou’Wester. Other favourite lighthouses include Sandy Point, Shelburne where you can walk out George lighthouse along the “mini Cabot Trail”.

land Games in North America.

Not far is Arisaig Provincial Park which has a waterfall, beach and fossils to explore. An enchanting university town, nearby Antigonish offers unique restaurants, Festival Antigonish Theatre and the oldest High-

Not far is Arisaig Provinwaterfall, beach and fossils to explore. An enchanting university town, nearby Antigonish offers unique restaurants, Festival Antigonish Theatre and the oldest High-

If you visit in spring, don’t miss the Annapolis Valley’s annual apple blossom festival or its picturesque towns. Lunenburg, home of Canada’s Bluenose II schooner, is an UNESCO heritage site with breathtaking architecture, dining, art and sea faring experiences.

Other spectacular beaches include Inverness, Cape Breton; Lawrencetown, Eastern Shore and Carter’s, South Shore. Inverness’ waves caress golden grains of sand that stretch forever. There are red cliffs as well as fjords that are fertile

ground for sea glass. It is home to the world class Cabot Links golf course where golfers play atop panoramic ocean views. Lawrencetown Beach, just outside Dartmouth, is a surfing destination and Carter’s is paradise. There are great places to eat in the Inverness area, such as Route 19 and Glendora Inn & Distillery, and The Dancing Goat cafe in Margaree. The Goat’s homemade brunch including the lemon dream bar is divine as are the fish and chips at Glendora. Coconut curry chicken as well as the haddock and hot ginger cake with caramel sauce at Route 19

restaurant and brewery are glorious. Nearby is Mabou’s Red Shoe Pub, run by siblings of the musical Rankin Family – a ceilidh could break out at any minute.

My summer list includes sailing on the Bluenose, whale watching, a Bay of Fundy fossil tour on horseback and star gazing at The Acadian Skies & Mi’kmaq Lands, on the Yarmouth/Acadian Shores.

Nova Scotia gives rise to people who are warm, kind, steadfast, entrepreneurial, creative and welcoming. Living and visiting here makes doers and dreamers of us all.

TAKE A SIGHTSEEING BREAK: The Train Station Inn at Tatamagouche

British

FOSSIL HUNTING: Kimberly at Arisaig Park

Tenth

James Elliott

10 years since he joined Mum in Heaven.

Missed always by his family and friends.

In loving memory of

Patrick Joseph MADDEN

of Handsworth, Birmingham and formerly of Maree, Oranmore, Co. Galway. Passed away peacefully at Ashleigh House care home on the 19th of March, 2023.

In heaven now with his brother Tommy and sister Christina.

The funeral will take place on Wednesday, 3rd of May at St Agustine’s Church, Avenue Road, Birmingham B21 8ED at 12 noon. Place of committal: Sandwell Valley Crematorium, Newton Road, Forge Lane, West Bromwich B71 2SX at 1.00 pm.

Beloved brother to John, James, Michael, John and sister Esther. And beloved uncle to his nephews and nieces. Family flowers only, please. Donations, if desired, can be placed into the collection at the church, or passed on via the funeral directors. All monies received will go to Church funds.

B. Movers

ADVERTISING DISCLAIMER

While every care is taken to check advertisements, we would advise readers to try as far as possible to assure themselves that offers are of a bona fide nature before parting with money.

Neither The Irish Post or its employees can be held responsible for the failure of advertisers to meet any of their responsibilities.

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The best way to find a soul mate. Call 0208 088 3813 to find out more. www.friends1st.co.uk

Threats to referee after Celtic v Rangers match

Abuse directed at referee Kevin Clancy in the wake of a disputed decision at Old Firm game is being investigated by Police Scotland

BY GERARD DONAGHY

THREATS and abuse directed at referee Kevin Clancy and his family following a recent Celtic v Rangers match have been referred to Police Scotland by the Scottish Football Association (SFA).

Celtic won the Scottish Premiership clash 3-2, during which Rangers had a goal disallowed by Clancy with the score at 0-0, a decision that was upheld by VAR.

Following a statement by the SFA, the Ibrox club said it condemned ‘any abuse of match officials’ but added that it was ‘astonished’ the organisation backed Clancy over his decision to chalk off the Columbian striker’s goal.

The SFA said last week that it had referred a ‘significant volume of threatening and abusive emails’ to Police Scotland.

It said the abuse followed the publication online of Clancy’s personal and professional contact details

We are all passionate about our game, but targeted, personal abuse of referees cannot be tolerated. The club can confirm the Scottish FA has responded with regards to the disallowed Alfredo Morelos goal, with the response claiming the correct decision was taken

following the match which took place mid-April.

It has since offered its full support to the referee following the ‘series of unacceptable messages being sent via email and phone’.

“The nature of the messages goes way beyond criticism of

performance and perceived decision-making – some are potentially criminal in nature and include threats and abuse towards Kevin and his family,” said Ian Maxwell, Chief Executive of the SFA.

“We have referred the correspondence to the police and condemn this behaviour in the strongest possible terms, as well as the posting of a referee’s personal details online with the sole purpose of causing distress.

“Football is our national game. It improves and saves lives. Without referees, there is no game, and while decisions will always be debated with or without the use of VAR, we cannot allow a situation to develop where a referee’s privacy and safety, and those of his family, are compromised.

“We all have a responsibility to protect our game and those essential to it.”

The SFA statement added that its Referee Operations team had responded to a request from Rangers to

explain the decision to disallow Morelos’ goal.

Responding to the SFA statement, Rangers condemned the abuse of match officials but appeared to disagree with the decision to back Clancy over the Morelos decision. “Rangers condemns in the strongest terms any abuse of match officials,” said a statement from the Ibrox club. “We are all passionate about our game, but targeted, personal abuse of referees cannot be tolerated. The club

can confirm the Scottish FA has responded with regards to the disallowed Alfredo Morelos goal, with the response claiming the correct decision was taken. The club is astonished by this, especially given most observers, including former referees and former players, could see no issue with the goal standing.

“This comes following a weekend in England where PGMOL have offered an apology to Brighton and Hove

Albion for the non-award of a penalty in their match with Tottenham Hotspur, alongside a pledge to review the incident.

“While an apology does not alter the outcome of a match, such responsibility and openness would be welcome in Scotland.”

Clancy did not take charge of a game last weekend, with the SFA putting the referee instead be on VAR duty at St Johnstone’s Premiership game at Livingston.

Irish-British bid to host major soccer tournament

BY CONOR O’DONOGHUE

THE Republic of Ireland and the UK last week submitted their final bid to host UEFA Euro 2028.

A statement from the footballing associations of Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland read: “We are delighted that our Government Partners are fully committed to hosting UEFA Euro 2028. They have signed the relevant tournament guarantees and will ensure the event is fully supported.

“This will create a welcoming, exciting, and safe football experience that players and fans will enjoy in every city and every game. We will work with our Governments to ensure there is a strong legacy investment from hosting the tournament.

“We share and support UEFA’s plan that hosting UEFA EURO

2028 is a significant opportunity to transform football development and generate meaningful economic, environmental, and social benefits.”

Initially, fourteen stadia were selected as part of the joint bid, but that list has been cut to ten to meet UEFA’s submission deadline.

London’s Wembley Stadium, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, Belfast’s Casement Park, and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium have all been included as submitted stadia for the event.

Ireland’s other big stadium, Croke Park, did not make the list despite the GAA allowing the use of the ground for the tournament.

FAI CEO Jonathan Hill said Aviva Stadium was selected ahead of Croke Park due to a limit of one stadium per city rule.

But this rule did not apply to London.

“In all major bid processes, you start with a shortlist of stadia, and this is whittled down to a final agreed list in order to give the bid the best chance of success and reflects the streamlined nature of the tournament,” he said.

“This bid started with 14 stadia, and we now have our agreed final 10 which have been submitted. The bid, with the exception of London, is based on a ‘one city, one stadium’ principle and together we believe the list offers an array of superb stadia from across the UK and Ireland,” said Hill, who added the tournament would be worth approximately €240million to the Irish economy.

“This will only support our plans to grow the game and

will act as a catalyst as we seek to finance infrastructure across all levels of Irish football, from grassroots to League of Ireland.

“Our hope is to welcome football fans from Europe and across the world to Dublin for a number of great games in 2028, and that is a really exciting prospect for all of us.”

The bid has also been welcomed by Republic of Ireland

captain Seamus Coleman and his counterparts from the other nations, Harry Kane (Eng), Steven Davis (NI), Andy Robertson (Sco), and Aaron Ramsey (Wal).

Turkey is also bidding to host the tournament in a separate bid.

A decision to host the event is expected in either September or October.

The proposed host cities and 10 stadia across the five partner associations are (gross capacity order):

1. LONDON – Wembley Stadium (90,652)

2. CARDIFF – National Stadium of Wales (73,952)

3. LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (62,322)

4. MANCHESTER – City of Manchester Stadium (61,000)

5. LIVERPOOL – Everton Stadium (52,679)

6. NEWCASTLE – St James’ Park (52,305)

7. BIRMINGHAM – Villa Park (52,190)

8. GLASGOW – Hampden Park (52,032)

9. DUBLIN – Dublin Aviva (51,711)

10. BELFAST – Casement Park (34,500)

THREATENED: Referee Kevin Clancy in action at the Celtic v Rangers clash Picture:Getty Images

GAA SPORT

scoresheet with a Maher brace off set pieces and a score from play by substitute Keating.

Lory Meagher Cup, Round 1  WARWICKSHIRE  3-15  (24) CAVAN                    0-22  (22)

BY ANTHONY MCLAUGHLIN AT PÁIRC NA HÉIREANN, BIRMINGHAM

WELL, talk about being put through the wringer! Just when it looked as though Cavan were going to break Warwickshire hearts, Jack Grealish ended a fouryear winning drought in dramatic fashion.

Leading by seven at half-time last Saturday at Páirc na hÉireann, Warwickshire battled gamely to keep the National League 3B Champions at bay until Canice Maher dropped an equalising free

over the bar with the clock moving into added-time. Step forward Grealish, the Oranmore/Maree man launching a free from inside his own half that somehow nestled into the back of the Cavan net with half of hurling humanity piling in for a vital touch. Despite a point from Sean Keating in quick reply, Warwickshire held firm to record a vital Championship win ahead of a trip to Longford this Sunday.

By a country mile, this was Warwickshire’s best performance of the season. With John Collins returning to the side abetted by the impressive Dan Ryan who took up midfield duties alongside Grealish, the home side made the most of their opportunities while Cavan squandered

countless opportunities as Paddy Hands remained utterly defiant between the Warwickshire sticks.

Grealish’s teasing free early on ended up in the back of Darren Sheridan’s net before Luke Hands skilfully converted three side line cuts over the bar. Maher was Cavan’s chief scoring outlet with six first-half points (three frees) but shortly after a long range point from Niall Eames the St Gabriel’s man forced the ball through to Hands who drilled a shot past Sheridan for a second Warwickshire goal.

Facing into the wind in the second-half, Cavan needed to cut out the wides that dogged them in the opening thirty-five and they started to make in-roads on the

Although the home side were reliant on frees in the second-half, they kept their lead intact through Grealish and Hands – the latter denied a third Warwickshire goal by a brave Sheridan save at pointblank range. With time ticking on Cavan were wrestling momentum but while Maher was sending over scores Paddy Hands was steadfast in keeping the green flags at bay as he denied Diarmuid Carney twice before Keating somehow swept wide when a goal looked certain.

As legs tired, Warwickshire desperately fought to maintain their advantage. Yet five late Maher frees eventually told as Cavan drew level before Grealish sent the home support into raptures with the winner. The celebrations on the final

whistle were well merited, Warwickshire’s drought consigned to the history books ahead of trips to Longford and Monaghan.

Teams:

Grealish stuns Cavan for defiant Warks CARROLL STEERS LANCS TO IMPRESSIVE VICTORY

Lory Meagher Cup, Round 1

LANCASHIRE        3-21  (30)

LONGFORD           2-17  (23)

BY ANTHONY MCLAUGHLIN

AT PÁIRC NA HÉIREANN, BIRMINGHAM

LANCASHIRE’S ambition to return to Croke Park for the first time since 2019 took a promising step in the right direction last Saturday, a seven-point victory over Longford an excellent start to their Lory Meagher Cup campaign.

Successive goals from Ray McCormack and Darragh Carroll propelled Lancashire into a seven-point lead come the interval, one they maintained throughout a stop-start second period. More importantly, the manner of the victory for Liam Knocker’s side should give them confidence ahead of a tricky match away to Leitrim on Saturday.

For when Longford asked questions of Lancashire in the latter stages of the second- half, the team in black at Páirc na hÉireann always had an answer. They were ahead early on after Eoghan Clifford and Shane Madden both landed a brace of scores, Cathal Mullane and Liam Browne striking at the other end for the visitors. Yet Longford were to be undone by two long balls into Pat Burke’s goalmouth, McCormack and then Carroll lashing home beyond the Longford goalkeeper in quick succession.

Forced into three first-half substitutions, Longford needed to find a reaction to stem the tide and half-forward Mullane did his utmost to provide it with two successive points from open play but when Ronan Sheahan found himself through on goal he couldn’t convert beyond Wolfe Tones goalkeeper Pa Coates. Lancashire were happy to mix it up in the middle of the park, taking more points

from distance through Finn Henry and Conor Madden before going long to find Carroll who narrowly blazed an effort over the Burke’s crossbar. Again Lancashire went looked for Carroll and the Fullen Gaels man almost bagged his second goal again but for a brave point-blank save by Burke.

Mullane picked up immediately from the restart to bring Longford back to six but successive frees from Robin Spencer stretched the Lancashire advantage. The visitors were proving a more tricky customer in this second period as they grinded it out in midfield and reduced the arrears via another Mullane point (free) before Lancashire made a hash of

clearing their lines to gift Longford their opening goal.

With Mullane striking sweetly off the set piece and Buckley backing him up with an excellent score from open play, Longford were gradually bringing themselves into contention. Yet Lancashire’s ability to snuff out danger proved the difference maker, scores coming from Eoghan Kelly and Cormac Kenny amongst a number that kept a useful lead intact. With time beginning to run down Lancashire struck the clincher, full-forward Carroll making no mistake to lash a closerange shot beyond Burke and establish a ninepoint gap as the visitors got caught under the high ball once more.

WARWICKSHIRE: P Hands; J O’Connor, J Collins, C Shalvey; M Keane, N Eames (0-1), M Holland; D Ryan, J Grealish (2-6, 6f); A Hanley, P Crehan, O Coffey; K Murphy (0-3), L Hands (1-5, 2f), P McMahon.

Subs: I Dwyer (for Coffey 35); D King (for McMahon 62)

CAVAN: D Sheridan; S Briody, D Crudden, C Kelly; J Barry, C Sheanon, E Shalvey; D Mulligan, C Carney (0-1); T Leonard (0-4), C Maher (0-14, 9f, 1 ’65), C Sheanon; R Delaney, D Carney, C Gargan.

Subs: M Moffett (0-1, for C Carney 28); S Keating (0-2, for Gargan 40); A Sheridan (for Kelly 60).

Referee: C. Daly (Kildare)

Longford rallied late on, a leaping Dan Crossan latched onto a high ball to sweep to the back of the Lancashire net only to be ruled out for a square ball before Reuben Murray eventually forced the ball over Coates’ goal line for his side’s second major of the half. Yet Lancashire remained comfortable, Eamonn Kearns and finally Carroll rubberstamping an opening round victory ahead of road trips to both Leitrim and Cavan – if Knocker’s charges can take something from those two games, those bright lights of the Jones’ Road may just flicker on their horizon.

Over at Markievicz Park, London’s hurlers were undone late on by Sligo in their Christy Ring Cup opener. Joe McHugh’s goal in the closing minutes proving decisive as London were defeated by 2-20 to 1-20, Kevin McMullan’s side hosting Meath this Sunday at McGovern Park in their next game (throw-in set for 1pm).

Teams:

LANCASHIRE: P Coates; A Morgan, C McCormick, P Shine; F Henry (0-2), S Nugent (0-1), C Kenny (0-1); E Clifford (0-4), S Madden (0-3); R McCormack (1-0), C Madden (0-1), E Kelly (0-1); R Spencer (0-4, 4f), D Carroll (2-3), D Burke.

Subs: C O’Shea (for Burke 44); L Burns (for Morgan 49); E Kearns (0-1, for Kelly 56); R Walsh (for Kenny 63); B Slattery (for Shine 66).

LONGFORD: P. Burke; J Casey, K Murray, I Dolan; A Quinn, E Allen, E Tully; C Flynn, P Lynam (0-3, 1f); R Sheahan, C Mullane (0-9, 3f), R Maher; L Browne (0-3), M Savage, M Hawes.

Subs: R Murray (1-0, for Maher 22); D Crossan (for Hawes 28); D Buckley (0-2, for Sheahan 31); P McNally (for Savage 46); D Regan (for Dolan 60).

Referee: K. Brady (Louth)

STEMMING THE FLOW: Lancashire’s Eoghan Clifford is fouled in midfield

THREATS TO REFEREE AT OLD FIRM GAME

Abuse following contested decision investigated by Police Scotland Page 26

Vera Pauw talks up Ireland’s prospects

The outlook is looking good for the Irish women’s international soccer side, ahead of their first World Cup this summer

IRELAND head coach Vera Pauw believes that the Ireland women’s team has made considerable progress ahead of their first World Cup this summer.

In Missouri, Ireland suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to the United States for the second time in four days, with Alana Cook scoring a long-range strike in the first half. Ireland goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan managed to get her fingertips to the ball but could not prevent it from crossing the line.

Despite their defeat, Ireland showed determination but couldn’t find an equaliser during the game.

Pauw admits that playing against the world champions has given her team invaluable experience before their debut tournament in July.

“I think in this camp we’ve made

huge progress,” she said. “In the way we play, we’re more confident going forward. We’re pretty set defensively; I think we needed to work in the attack, but we can take positive from both games.

“I’m disappointed in the 1-0 loss, I think we had some good chances and didn’t allow them a lot. Every game, we bring our best game ever, and I’m so proud of that. We step up and step up, and we’ve made significant progress here,” Pauw told RTÉ after the game.

“I’ve said before the camp that we need this kind of resistance because without resistance, you cannot push yourself. If this is 100 per cent, you cannot push yourself, and today it was 120 per cent compared to last week.

“They are ranked number one, and it hurts so much to lose like this because

how many chances did, they actually get? Maybe two dangerous situations, that was it in the whole game, against the number one team in the world.

“We have had many dangerous situations, and we’re just not there yet, but that will come, the aggression in front of the goal will come. We’ve got the whole of June, and we will be ready for Australia.”

Ireland has two more friendlies before leaving for the World Cup.

They will face France on June 6 and Zambia on June 22 at the Tallaght Stadium in Dublin.

Vera Pauw’s side will then head to the World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

The Girls in Green will face co-hosts Australia, Nigeria, and Canada in their group.

Probe over alleged racial abuse at Wexford v Tipperary match

BY CONOR O’DONOGHUE

THE county chairperson of Wexford, Micheál Martin, has stated that a full investigation is underway into the alleged racist abuse suffered by Lee Chin, the Wexford captain. The incident happened during an inter-county challenge match against Tipperary in Carrick-on-Suir.

The match ended prematurely due to the alleged abuse directed at Chin by a spectator.

A video of the incident went viral – players can be seen confronting the person responsible.

Both inter-county teams

released a statement condemning the abuse of Chin. A Tipperary statement read: “The Tipperary senior hurlers played Wexford this afternoon in a senior hurling challenge hosted by the Carrick Swan club.

“Unfortunately, as the game entered the closing stages, a member of the public who is not connected to either Tipperary GAA or the Carrick Swan club, made racial comments which were directed at a member of the Wexford team.

“Tipperary GAA wish to state quite clearly that this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and has absolutely no place at our

games or in our society.

“Tipperary GAA, along with the senior hurling management, players and the Carrick Swan GAA club, do not condone this kind of behaviour and wish to distance ourselves from any such comments.

The GPA added: “The Gaelic Players’ Association want to express our absolute support for, and solidarity with, our fellow player Lee Chin.

“There is no place for the racist abuse Lee suffered in a game yesterday.

“Not alone is there no place for this sort of behaviour in our games, but it also needs to be called out for

what it is in all parts of society.

“We now put our trust in the administrators in both Wexford and Tipperary to investigate the incident and deal with the individual responsible accordingly.”

At the most recent Congress, an anti-racism rule was instituted that where any act, deed, word or gesture of a racist nature, a 48-week suspension would ensue.

Repeat offenders would then be subjected to 96-week bans.

Several players from the past and present have condemned the abuse aimed at Chin.

VICTIM: Wexford captain Lee Chin Picture: Getty Images

OPTIMISTIC: Vera Pauw Picture: Getty Images