Without a vision …

The BBC’s Fergal Keane recently filed a report from South Africa where he recalls how few people, in the closing days of Apartheid, had much hope for the country, most expecting it to be torn apart by a bloody race war. No one imagined that within a decade, South...

Where have all the young men gone

Note: This post originally appeared on www.eamonmallie.com and is reproduced with the author’s permission Many in the educated liberal classes view the Armed Forces with ambivalence. They are necessary for national security but war is evil and its consequences...

Faith, Art and Community

In April of this year the Australian novelist Carrie Tiffany won the Stella prize for female writers and promptly shared a hefty chunk of her prize money with the remaining five shortlisted authors. Tiffany claimed it felt fantastic to share her winnings. She said it...

“Care home concerns …”

This headline about a supported living scheme for people with learning disability and challenging behaviour in a local newspaper recently drew my attention. Apparently a resident’s clothes were ripped causing injury to his/her neck and an inspection found that...

What did Mrs Thatcher ever do for us?

‘She saved the country’. This was just some of the hyperbole evoked by David Cameron following the passing of Margaret Thatcher last month. Well I’m sorry, Mr Cameron, I must have missed that! Mrs Thatcher is largely remembered in Northern Ireland for her misjudged...

Horsegate – My Confession

The horseburger scandal started in Ireland and as a meat-eating Irishman I need to confess that I am at least partly responsible. The drama unfolded when the Food Safety Authority of Ireland tested a range of ready meals and beefburgers from a number of supermarkets....