The Northern Secretary John Reid announced recently that he considered the ceasefires of three loyalist groups to be over. The actions of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) were so blatant and persistent that they could no longer be ignored by politicians.
The move came mostly in response to the murder of Northern journalist Martin … [Read more...] about Loyalist Ceasefires
Declared Over
Politics
Loyalist Ceasefires
Aer Lingus Survival
Package Agreed by EU
Ireland's national airline, Aer Lingus, has been pulled back from the brink of bankruptcy by a deal hammered out between the Irish government and the European Union transport authorities at the eleventh hour. Aer Lingus suffered massive losses in the aftermath of the Twin Towers collapse, and was no longer considered to be commercially viable.
The semi-state body, partly owned … [Read more...] about Aer Lingus Survival
Package Agreed by EU
Protests at Catholic School
North Belfast, Oct. 23 – Loyalist protestors who have spent the last eight weeks blocking Catholic children from entering their school were threatened with legal action if they do not call off their protests. The governors of the Holy Cross School in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast announced they were going to the High Court if the stand-off continued. The protestors came … [Read more...] about Protests at Catholic School
Ireland’s National
Day of Mourning
Thousands of people queued for hours in front of the American Embassy in Ballsbridge, Dublin, waiting patiently to sign one of the many books of condolences to be presented to the U.S. government in the aftermath of September 11. At John F. Kennedy's ancestral home in Dunganstown, Co. Wexford, the U.S. flag flew at half-mast and the house was closed to visitors.
As it was on … [Read more...] about Ireland’s National
Day of Mourning
John F. Kennedy: An Appreciation
Young people today know John F. Kennedy primarily for being assassinated and for his presumed dalliance with Marilyn Monroe. And that's a shame, because he meant something far different to an entire generation of Americans, myself included, who were young forty years ago. When JFK was nominated for President in 1960, he was forty-three years old. He cut his hair to look older … [Read more...] about John F. Kennedy: An Appreciation