Léargas

In May RTE broadcast a ‘Prime Time Investigates’ programme ‘Mission to Prey’ which identified a number of Catholic priests alleging they were abusers. Subsequently the state broadcaster apologised when it emerged that false accusations were made in the programme against Fr. Kevin Reynolds. It paid substantial damages to him. Within days of the libel action being settled the Cabinet met, discussed the issue and ordered an inquiry by the Broadcasting Authority. A speedy response to a serious issue. Less speedy has been the response by successive governments to the allegations of an appalling litany of sexual abuse against patients which occurred in Our Lady of Lourdes hospital over three decades beginning in the early 1970s. Bernadette Sullivan, a former nurse, exposed the scandal almost 20 years ago. She then established in 2008 the support and advocacy organisation, Dignity 4 Patients. Dignity 4 Patients is patient-centred organisation, which delivers support and advocacy services to p...

Since it came to power last February the Fine Gael/Labour government has blamed every bad decision, every u-turn in pre-election promises on the last government. Everything is Fianna Fáil’s fault. It is a fact that the current economic mess in the south is primarily a result of the bad policies of the last coalition government, but this government has chosen to implement the same austerity strategy. Last week it produced its medium-term fiscal report which sets out its financial outlook for the next four years. It cleared up one important issue would the cuts to the budget be €3.6 billion or €4 billion? They opted for €3.8 billion. It also revealed that government predictions of a 2.5% growth next year have now been revised downwards to 1.6%. Spending cuts will make up €2.2 billion. This includes a €750 million reduction in capital spending which is the equivalent of at least 7,500 jobs lost. New taxation measures will see increases in VAT (up from 21% to 23%), excise duties, carbon ta...

Me and your man were in a taxi. On our way to the airport in Boston. ‘You Irish?’ the taxi driver asked. ‘Yep’ we told him. ‘So am I’ he said ‘You look like that guy Gerry Adams,’ he said. ’You know he can’t get into this country. It’s a disgrace’. Your man looked at me. The taxi driver looked in his mirror at the two of us. ‘You probably get this all the time,’ he continued. ‘But the resemblance is amazing He is my President. I tell all my customers that. Especially the Brits. They have a nerve. Keeping him out. Our government needs to take a stand.’ ‘What’s your name?’ I asked. ‘Bob’ he replied. ‘I love the Irish. Jimmy Cagney! I love Gerry Adams and Jimmy Cagney. Saw a great movie. All about the IRA. Shake Hands With The Devil. Saw it years ago. Jimmy Cagney made great movies. Forget about Sinatra and the Chairman of the Board and all that Italian bullshit. The Irish ran Hollywood. Jimmy Cagney and Spencer Tracey. And Maureen O Hara and Johnny O Wayne. They were real stars!’ ‘John...

The Ballymurphy Massacre campaign has taken a huge toll on the families involved. This blog has watched through countless meetings with Irish government Ministers and British Secretaries of State, and many others, family members of those killed recount time after time the heartbreak and trauma they have lived with every day for over 40 years. It doesn’t get easier in the telling and it doesn’t get easier listening to. The wounds are raw. The emotional upset is deep and distressing. The tears are real and painful. The decision of the north’s Attorney General to reopen 10 of the 11 Ballymurphy cases is a landmark judgement which gives hope back to those families that their long journey toward truth and justice may now succeed. It also vindicates the importance of having policing and justice powers transferred from London to Belfast. The Ballymurphy story begins 40 years ago in August 1971. Internment was introduced by the Unionist regime at Stormont with the backing of the British govern...

“Nice to see you two gentlemen again.” Mike was our friendly conductor on the express train on Friday morning as we travelled from New York to Boston. His family roots are in Dungannon and Pomeroy. He’s a Tyrone man and proud of it. As he introduced himself he flicked back his coat to reveal a small radio with its aerial wrapped in green, white and orange. Coming out of the New York Times on Thursday morning after a meeting with its editorial board I was stopped by 0ne of the maintenance staff. He is a native of Blackrock in County Louth. They are just two of the millions who make up the Irish diaspora in the USA and many millions more scattered across the globe, who are proud of their Irish roots and heritage. It’s the one solitary advantage of being recognised. I meet the Irish everywhere. On trains and planes, in streets and hotels, in New York and London, and Perth and Jerusalem, and Capetown. Every townland and parish the length and breadth of Ireland has a son or daughter in the...

OCHON OCHON. ‘You should have used your considerable influence to get us tickets for the MTV Music Awards!’ ‘What?’ ‘Tickets. For Lady Gaga.’ ‘Tickets? What do you mean tickets?’ ‘I mean tickets. Tickets. To see Lady Gaga. I missed seeing her because you didn’t make the effort.’ ‘You wanted to see Lady Gaga?’ ‘Yup. I like Lady Gaga. But you left it too late for tickets.’ ‘What do you mean? I left it too late? You never bought a ticket for anything in your life’. ‘I won’t even ignore that. I always pay my way. But it was in Belfast. I’m stuck in Dublin with you most of the time so it’s not my fault that I cudn’t get a ticket.’ ‘You left it a bit late. It’s Monday. The gig was last night.’ ‘I asked you a month ago. Don’t you remember? We were in the City Hall. No problem! That’s what you told me. No problem. That’s what you said. My friend the Mayor will sort us out. Gan Fabh. That’s your exact words’. ‘When was that?’ ‘The day we bumped into Tom Hartley in the City Hall and he was showi...

So the countdown is at an end. Today the Irish Government will stand by and watch as Anglo Irish Bank hands one billion dollars, or over €700 million of Irish tax payers’ money, over to an anonymous bondholder. By the end of January that amount will have risen to €2 billion. It is doing this exactly one week to the day after Enda Kenny agreed to a 50% discount on Greek sovereign debt at a European conference during which the Irish Government did not even have the nerve to raise the issue of the mammoth Irish debt burden. The sequence of events that have led to this transfer of Irish citizens’ money illustrates the absurdity of the policies being pursued by this Government. The next budget will take place at the beginning of December. It will be the fifth austerity budget. The Fine Gael/Labour Government plans to take around €4 billion out of the economy through flat tax increases and swingeing cuts. The Government PR machine is in full flow to ready the public for the adverse impact th...