"Irish people didn't get me out of jail. It was English people who got me out of jail." – Paul Hill I don't remember Bloody Sunday. I don't remember seeing footage on TV or being shocked by the carnage that left thirteen people dead and a fourteenth who would die later from wounds. How do I explain this? The Ireland I grew up in largely ignored the North. It … [Read more...] about The First Word: Something to Remember
June July 2001 Issue
For the Defense
If political power can be judged by how an individual influences society and changes its laws, then there's an arguable case for British defense lawyer Michael Mansfield being one of the most powerful figures on the British stage today. The list of trials and inquiries in which he has played a major role reads like a legal history of the last 20 years, including … [Read more...] about For the Defense
All About Colin
In a street café in Prague's Old Town, 24-year-old Colin Farrell is having a coffee with Bruce Willis. It's a few days before they face up as adversaries in Hart's War, a war drama that Gregory Hoblitt, who also directed Primal Fear and Frequency, is shooting on location in the wooded hills outside the Czech capital. The former Communist bloc country is now a little Hollywood, … [Read more...] about All About Colin
Real IRA Informer in Protective Custody
A former leading figure in the Irish American dissident republican community is in protective custody after it was revealed that he had been working as a double agent for years. According to Irish and British news accounts, David Rupert, 49, a trucker from Illinois, infiltrated the Real IRA, the republican splinter group opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, gaining access … [Read more...] about Real IRA Informer in Protective Custody
Paddy Clancy Memorial Scholarship
Applications for the Paddy Clancy Memorial Scholarships are invited from students in Ireland and North America. The $1,500 scholarships are available to students interested in studying folk song, sean nós and the traditional ballad. North American students may apply the scholarship towards study at the Irish World Music Center at the University of Limerick, while Irish students … [Read more...] about Paddy Clancy Memorial Scholarship