Léargas

  JESUS WEPT. The recently released report of the  ‘Mother and Baby Homes Commission’  is a shameful record of the brutality, ill-treatment and abuse inflicted on generations of women and their children in these institutions. This punitive attitude to women and children predates partition but partition led to the creation of two conservative states on the island of Ireland.The new regime in the Free State institutionalised this attitude when it abdicated responsibility for addressing many of the social issues that the state should have been responsible for. It left these to the Catholic Church and the religious orders. Mother and Bay homes existed in the North also. The Executive has   put in place an Interdepartmental group   to investigate and make recommendations on Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene Laundries and historical clerical child abuse. This report   is   due in the next short while. It is of crucial importance that this report does not fall foul of the same mistakes tha

  Des Wilson – A Voice for the Poor and Oppressed by Joe McVeigh Fr. Joe McVeigh was a close friend and colleague of Des Wilson. It wasn’t just that both were priests. They both shared a passionate believe in justice and were committed to standing up for the rights of citizens against a British state apparatus which was oppressive and violent. Fr. Des died on the 5 th November 2019 aged 94. He lived a full life. A good life. And in the course of his years of service he helped thousands of people. During the dark years of war and violence he lived and worked in Ballymurphy and Springhill. With Joe McVeigh, Fr. Des established the Community for Social Justice. Its role was to highlight the real nature of violence in Ireland and to challenge the leaders of the Church. Fr. Des believed that the Church had a moral responsibility to stand against injustice and repression. As a tribute to his friend Fr. Joe has just published a thoughtful pamphlet - Des Wilson – A Voice for the Poor an

Stay Safe.  As the pandemic surges out of control the under investment in health services north and south on this island is obvious for everyone to see. The good news of the vaccine must be tempered with a resolve by all of us to follow the health advice and to minimise contact with others until the vaccine is administered. When we eventually put this horrible pandemic behind us we must also be resolved to ensure that a fully resourced and accessible public health service becomes a reality.    The Brexit Border An hour before midnight on New Year’s Eve the Brexit deal was finally done – sort of. Four and a half years after the Brexit referendum the little Englanders and the DUP party who campaigned for Brexit got their way. The British state left the EU, including the people of the North and of Scotland who voted to remain. Of course, it didn’t quite work out the way the DUP wanted. Instead of a  ‘United Kingdom’  waving goodbye to Europe they now have a deeply disunited king

  Bliain Úr Faoi  Mhaise Daoibhse. Chairde,  a very happy 2021 to you all. Here are ten personal things I want to do in this bright new year.  ·        Survive the pandemic. Stay alive and stay healthy. That means  following the health advice and  getting the vaccine as soon as I can. ·        Climb Errigal again. I used to  do  that regularly but the pandemic and travel restrictions intruded. Ewan McColl wrote  ‘ The Joy Of Living ’ , a very fine song when he realised that he could not hill walk or climb as he used to because of his age. I never really knew what he meant until my last ascent up Errigal. But as I panted slowly heavenwards I  discovered  the secret. Take your time. It ’ s not a race. So I will keep going upwards for as long and as slowly as I can. And as soon as possible in 2021. ·        Publish my new book of short stories. The Witness Tree has also fallen foul of the pandemic but hopefully mid summer will see O ’ Brien Press launching this collection. ·