Mick Murphy, courtesy of The Bike Show from Resonance FM the legend goes a bit like this: he trained with weights made from stone, he made a living as a circus performer, on one stage in the 1958 Rás, after his bike had broken down, he stole an ordinary bicycle from a farmer and chased down the lea...

David Vitter, who has racked up nearly a billion frequent whore miles, is On The Defensive, as Democrats are criticizing him for his earlier botched attempt to smuggle a bomb in his sneaker on an airplane. [CNN Political Ticker] Despite rumors and, arguably, logic to the contrary, embattled RNC Chai...

Celtic Folkweave is a studio album by the duo Mick Hanly and Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, who were touring under the name "Munroe", although that name does not appear on the album. Recorded in 1974, it is a clear precursor for Ó'Domhnaill's subsequent work with The Bothy Band and Nightnoise. It includes...

The Real IRA's campaign seems to be directed as much against Sinn Fein as the British state. The latest attacks include not only the killing of a peeler, but also a (failed) pipe bomb attack on a Sinn Fein office. Gerry Adams argues that it is an outright attack on the 'peace process', and risks squ...

The holiday of Purim for me was once synonymous with debauchery, chaos and wilding. Obviously as I matured in the thirtysomething adult that I am today getting rip roaring drunk until I was unable to distinguish between good and evil became a less of a priority. I was thinking last night about my pr...

The unfeeling Sinn Fein statement on Sunday about the murders at the Massereene Barracks and the cold hard words from Gerry Adams on Monday's Today Programme will have distressed those who believed he had mellowed into a kindly statesman....

LOOK NOT AT A WOMAN LUSTFULLY On the wall of the dry cleaners opposite The Old Oak on Oliver Plunkett St. Cork. Shot during the pre-IBA09 photowalk. Related Posts No related posts...

Northern Irish politics is, as a rule, boring. Think about the material you have to work with. Between Martin McGuinness' lachrymose banalities and Peter Robinson's rigid bigotry (there is a great deal of both in Stormont), there is little room to be inspiring. The only occasional frisson is when on...

According to Napoleon, a leader is a dealer in hope. There are all the technical changes and tough cuts that have to be made at a time of recession, but more than anything else, a political leader needs to deliver hope to his or her people. Like every other commodity, there are different types of ho...

Friday 6 March IRELAND'S EYE - CHELTENHAM Today we will continue our ongoing search for value at the Festival where we look at the Christies Foxhunters Chase and the Fred Winter Novice Hurdle. The complexion of the Foxhunters market will change if the handicapper goes with the handicap system and/or...