Second paragraph of third chapter: Martial law was restricted to the south-west to keep Dublin open for those, in Sturgis's jokey phrase, 'as wants to negotiate'. A few on both sides seem to have wanted to. They found a new intermediary in Patrick Joseph Clune, Archbishop of Perth, a man with some experience of the war — he had been visiting his native Clare at the time of the Rineen ambush and the reprisals that followed it, and his nephew had died in Dublin Castle along with McKee and Clancy on Bloody Sunday. Shortly after the Kilmichael ambush he was ...
It's my personal view, albeit a controversial one, that Dawn French was the worst thing that ever happened to Parish Councils. That changed in February, when a meeting of an obscure Parish Council in Cheshire went viral. I noted that not all Parish Councils are like that, whilst Ruth Bright reminded us that all levels of government have their share of unpleasantness. Who would have thought that the County Officer of an Association of Local Councils would become a celebrity? But Jackie Weaver rode the wave of publicity and did more to publicise the sector than anyone could have dreamed ...
Will we ever tire of mocking Liz Truss, her over-weening ambition and her attempts to ingratiate herself with Tory backwoodsmen as part of her manouevring to replace 'dead-man-walking' Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. I am betting that we won't, at least not until she succeeds to the top job, when it will cease to be funny at all. The latest faux pas fron our Foreign Secretary is her vow to bring back pint-sized champagne bottles after Brexit as part of a review of "hangover" EU laws that can be removed. According to the Mirror, a Government source said: "Pint-sized bottles were ...
Sat, 13:24: O Christmas Tree https://t.co/pxYEqAIpMs
Another year, another step;a relentless year, restless and unresolvedand haunted by my intimate companion,whether in lockdown or hesitantly opened:the great black hound that dare not say its name<<baying snuffling coursing>> implacably pursuing its personal obsession –a staging post to entropy – perfection
"Deregulation is a euphemism for destroying the capacity of the state to protect us from chancers, conmen and criminals." So writes George Monbiot in and article in the Guardian, 24/12/2021. A hundred Conservative MPs, under the pretext of libertarianism, have opposed their own government over the matter of regulation to protect us all from the dangers of COVID pandemic. Now that the scientists suspect that, if we catch the new Omicron variant, we are 40% les likely to land in hospital than if we catch the Delta variant, supporters of the 100 applaud their "chief chancer" for "getting it right" ...
Households in the UK will pay a whopping £100 million more than they did last year for their energy - and that's only during the seven days between Christmas and New Year. New analysis by the Liberal Democrats shows that due to the increase in the energy price cap UK households face dramatically higher bills this Christmas with more rises to follow next year. Worse, if you add the extra £3.75 a week for the whole year, families will be paying an extra £195 a year. Yet there's even worse to come as energy bills are to increase again this ...
