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Pádraic Fiacc The first book I wrote was Falls Memories.  Brandon Books led by the late Steve Mac Donagh was my publisher. I asked Steve if we could  include drawings by Michael McKernon. I didn’t know Michael but I was familiar with his fine line drawings.  Steve indulged me, Michael obliged and Falls Memories was produced, enhanced by his artistry.  That was decades ago. In 1990. I came across Michael again recently talking on a radio show about the unpublished poems of Pádraic Fiacc and the book which Michael and Fiona Gault have produced of Pádraic’s work. I have long been interested in Pádraics poetry. He is one of Belfast’s almost forgotten poets. Born Pádraic Joseph O Connor he took on the name Fiacc in adulthood.  I met him ages ago at a Féile An Phobail event in the Falls Library. I found him humorous and self deprecating. He had an American twang to his speech which added to his delivery of poetic verse and observations about life, the world and Irelan...

A Great Showcase for Unity The SSE Arena in Belfast was buzzing with positivity last Saturday as several thousand people participated in one of the largest public discussions held recently on constitutional change and the potential for Irish Unity. Over ten thousand more joined online. The organisers did a remarkable job in bringing together a first class panel of academics, political leaders, artists, economists, protestant voices, comedians, trade unionists and Gaels. Their success can be measured in part by the fact that the audience remained interested and engaged for over four hours. I was delighted to be there. It was a great event with lots of positive takeaways. There was also keen interest in whether former Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar would repeat the comments he made on unity in his interview in the Belfast Telegraph that morning. In that publication the former Taoiseach said that Irish Unity must become a “political objective and not just an aspiration” for the next Irish ...

  Candidatitis I first published this article in 2007 and then, slightly amended in 2016, 2022 and last year’s local government elections in the North. There are four elections across the island within the next 5 weeks. So I thought this would be a good time to republish Candidatitis again, slightly amended once more. It is my tribute to the majority of candidates who won’t get elected. Good luck to them all. Good luck especially to Sinn Féin’s candidates. I hope we have a great result. That’s all in the gift of the electorate. So I thank all the voters as well as all the candidates. Opinion polls have become an integral part of every election campaign. Every newspaper and every broadcast outlet tries to second guess the electorate by commissioning polls. And then their columnists or pundits spend a huge amount of time analysing the poll they just commissioned. So do many candidates. And their supporters. This can lead to mood changes and other character changing tendencies...

 270524 Irish Unity makes economic sense   Last month a report by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) caught the headlines with the claim that   Irish Unity could cost the South up to €20 billion annually. The analysis was quickly challenged by other economists and last week those with different opinions had their opportunity to address the Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. Professor John Doyle of Dublin City University was joined by Seamus McGuinness a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and by Dr. Adele Bergin who is also an Associate Research Professor at the ESRI. Professor Doyle told the Committee that the IIEA report  “is wildly inaccurate as the report contained significant errors and is based entirely on unreasonable assumptions. Consequently the figures report not just the worst case scenario but they are completely wrong.”  He estimated tha...