One of the most effective, and oldest, ways to gather a tribe around your cause has been in strong evidence over the last decade or so. It is a technique that has been in use for centuries but appears to me to have really put down roots in politics and society over the last few… Continue reading Them and us-one of the most powerful tools of tribe building and persuasion
Category: Society
Teacher Enoch Burke, Mountjoy prison, conscience, and the majesty of the law
A secondary school teacher in Wilson’s Hospital, Co. Westmeath, was jailed yesterday by the High Court. He is in Mountjoy prison as I write this and will be released if and when he purges his contempt of court, or the High Court makes some further order. The case is due back before the High Court… Continue reading Teacher Enoch Burke, Mountjoy prison, conscience, and the majesty of the law
The fragility of human life
What a weekend it has been to be brutally reminded of the fragility of human life. Jack De Bromhead, Christy Cawley, Chelsea Cawley, Lisa Cash all lost their lives this weekend in tragic, unexpected circumstances. All of them were children, save for Lisa Cash who was technically an adult having reached the age of 18… Continue reading The fragility of human life
How long have you lived here?
A friend contacted me recently about his child’s unpleasant, uncomfortable experience on her first day in secondary school. An experience that reduced her to tears. When she told the teacher, by way of a class introduction, that she was from a small village not far from the school the teacher asked her something to the… Continue reading How long have you lived here?
Enoch Burke and Wilson’s Hospital School-is there a lesson for all of us?
The High Court made an order yesterday for the arrest of a secondary school teacher, Enoch Burke. Burke has been a secondary school teacher for a number of years in Wilson’s Hospital school in Westmeath. He disagrees with the school’s policy regarding transgenderism and with the decision of the school to address a pupil with… Continue reading Enoch Burke and Wilson’s Hospital School-is there a lesson for all of us?
Another embarrassment for the GAA
It’s happened again. When Galway and Armagh commenced to batter the heads off each other on live television earlier this year at the end of their match in Croke Park I wrote something to the effect that I was embarrassed to be a GAA man. It is now reported widely in the media, and a… Continue reading Another embarrassment for the GAA
Crime and punishment in Cork City Gaol
I paid an extremely pleasant, educational visit to Cork City Gaol yesterday. I did not expect to be provoked to thinking about the role of crime and punishment in Irish, or any, society. But I was as a consequence of a few pieces of information I picked up on my quick tour. The first fact… Continue reading Crime and punishment in Cork City Gaol
2 places well worth a visit in Cork
We are just back from an overnight stay in Cork. We stayed with one of our daughters and her boyfriend and they brought us on two fantastic little tours in the space of 24 hours. Firstly, to St. Finbarr’s Cathedral and secondly to Cork City Gaol. Both of these tours were well worth the time… Continue reading 2 places well worth a visit in Cork
The pig gets nothing
I have previously observed the good sense in adopting a strategy of ignoring dumb, ignorant, insulting, untrue, offensive comments on social media platforms. Especially on pages that I have control of-for example on my YouTube channel or one of my Facebook pages. Here is an example of the type of deluded, tedious, tin foil hat… Continue reading The pig gets nothing
My biggest issue with Robert Troy
Robert Troy resigned yesterday as a minister in the government due to the clamour that had built up around his property interests. He had admitted a number of failures on his part in relation to his rental properties, most of which were administrative in nature. He had, as he admitted himself, failed to ‘give the… Continue reading My biggest issue with Robert Troy