Saturday 18 May 2013
WHEN did the last person in receipt of an American Civil War pension die? Bear in mind that the American Civil War ended in 1865. The answer to the question is 2001. The recipient was the widow of a civil war veteran. He was very old when she married him in the 1920s and she was very young. She inherited his veterans' pension after he died.
JOHN McGuinness, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, has long been happy to be portrayed as the Steve Silvermint of Irish politics: the cool, clean hero tackling waste, excess, mismanagement and inefficiency in the public sector; a straight talker who pulled no punches and avoided no toes that required stepping on.
You know what, I'm sick of it. I'm just bloody sick of it. No, I'm not referring to the bankers who drove us to ruin. Or the voracious speculators who gambled against the house and now want us to cover their losses.
AS Croke Park II gets a reboot, with optimism advancing gingerly that a deal might be struck, here is a question that perplexes me: who is safeguarding the taxpayers' interests?
EU Fishery policy has been aptly described as the "apportioning of misery". The experts believe that two-thirds of EU waters are over-fished, too many boats chase too few fish, and the industry is in retreat, with huge job losses in fishery intensive economies like Spain.
ABOUT 10 years ago, I shared a radio studio on the late-lamented Sam Smyth programme with Mary Hanafin when she was a junior minister responsible for children – a brief that encompassed the departments of Education, Justice and Social Protection.
The news that Michael O'Leary will stay at the helm of Ryanair for another five years has provoked a predictable response in some circles – a bizarrely ungrateful mixture of scorn and contempt for both the man and his incredible aviation success story.
LIFE is short. Tragically for some, life is far too short. Donal Walsh only got 16 years on this earth, but the impact he made in this short space of time was phenomenal.
Abortion is once more back at its rightful place of destroying the national conversation and Irish politicians are worried that they are faced with the ultimate ecclesiastical red card – excommunication from the Catholic Church, if they vote for the proposed Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.
AFTER so much controversy about the rights of the unborn, it was timely to see the body politic turn its attention to born children this week. Not for the first time, the plight of children in trouble with the law and in need of detention or protection rose to the top of the agenda. This time it was Ms Justice Ann Ryan who made it her business and ours to point out that she had nowhere to place juveniles in need of detention and rehabilitation following sentence.
THE space elevator is a science-fiction standard. Like teleporters, laser guns and green-skinned ladies with a twinkle in their eyes, space elevators are part of the sci-fi cannon.
KEVIN McAleer's three-part series Our Friends in the North finished on RTE last Monday. The films followed the personal journey of the famous Tyrone stand-up comic, who comes from a Catholic nationalist background, to find out more about the culture and traditions of his near neighbours, the Ulster-Scots Presbyterians. It was one of the best things I have seen on television for some time.
IT'S not all bad news. Sometimes, it's like the country is on a downward spiral into permanent stagnation. But, occasionally there's some really good news. For instance, have you heard that Goldman Sachs, the controversial cabal of international bankers, is pulling out of the International Financial Services Centre? Reliable sources say Goldman Sachs doesn't want to do business in this country anymore. Whoopee!
THE smell of pork is in the air – that most delicious of dishes when politicians hand out cash to those they hope will assist them, or those who frighten them most.
I RARELY meet bank directors these days. David Duffy, the 10- grand-a-week boss at AIB refuses to return my calls. I spot distant Bank of Ireland directors, like Richie Boucher, high on the platform at their AGMs.
Royal watchers are in a bit of a frenzy over Queen Elizabeth's future. Might she be planning to abdicate?
How do you close the yawning educational gap between middle-class children and children from less well-off backgrounds? Several news items this week focused attention on the question.
Okay, I think this is my stop, I'll think I'll get off here. You can include me out. I'm referring, of course, to the latest tech-glasses – just the latest in a seemingly relentless attempt by new media to utterly eradicate any sense of privacy we might have once had.
Moral crusaders must maintain impeccable standards or risk being outed as sanctimonious phoneys – and nothing damages a cause like hypocrisy. This is neither canon nor criminal law, but the law of common sense.
It is being called a very English revolution. In a country known for its awkward shyness and disdain for continental-style exuberance, the political establishment is unnerved by an eccentric populist party composed of real ale drinkers in red trousers.
SO the Government has decided it definitely wants to cut child benefit but it needs somebody to blame. But who could this villain possibly be?
Science is supposed to be impeccably objective, but it turns out that one of its most famous practitioners, Lord Winston, is prejudiced. The doctor, academic and TV presenter admits discriminating against people with first-class degrees.
Was Alex Ferguson a great leader? The statistics speak for themselves, as does the knighthood, as do the accolades pouring in thick and fast from the great and the good of the game. Was all of that down to his leadership? It certainly seems so.
Jesus, I didn't even know she was a fan.
When it comes to golf and, indeed, Rory McIlroy, I operate a system of benign indifference – if there is nothing else on the telly I'd probably watch them, but that would be the extent of it.
The 'pro-life' groups – they stand head and shoulders above the rest of us. And that's because they cherish life. We know they cherish life because they tell us so. All the time. And the fact that they cherish life makes them morally superior to the rest of us. So, naturally, their views matter more to politicians than the views of those of us who – in the eyes of some – don't cherish life quite as much.
Ah, the good old law of unintended consequences pops up again. Who would have thought that Irish jobs could be affected by the passage at Westminster last week of the Defamation Act?
THANK you, Taoiseach, for walking the line. For showing yourself to be a democrat who accepts the will of the people and for reminding your backbenchers about their duty as legislators.
WHY bother paying for health insurance? That will be the reaction of many people.
IT struck me as odd the first time. Now it has become one of the most commonly asked questions, and doesn't seem odd at all. "Why do we want to leave the bailout?" is the question.
Anyone else remember the days when, if people went to work, paid their dues and didn't break the law, they were left in peace by the State to get on with their lives? Free to make plans, manage their finances and maybe even put something by for a rainy day?
KEVIN Myers makes a very selective cull of Jim Larkin's long and stormy career to character-assassinate him and present a picture that is as unjustified as the 'union cult of Larkin' he seeks more legitimately to question.
ACCORDING to Stalin's interpreter, in 1944, when the Allies were carving up the soon to be post-Nazi world, the Soviet leader responded to Churchill's concern about the fate of Polish Catholics in a Soviet sphere.
Spring is nearly here and the weather was lovely at the weekend.
So what do the critics say on the movie?
The highs and lows of living in Australia
Tips on making the most of your garden, whatever the weather
Bressie on revisiting his sporting past
Hi °C | Lo °C 