Father of, well, many of us.
“The IPCC is partly a scientific organisation, partly a political organisation”. That was what Richard Tol, a convening lead author of the 5th review of climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told Michael Shellenberger when he interviewed him for his recently released book, Apocalypse Never. In 2010, Tol was assigned to the team to draft the […]
Anyone who loves Dickens’ novels will always be curious to learn more about his life. They ponder: what lies behind the extraordinary universe that sprang from one man’s mind? Where did he find the sources of his inspiration? Indeed, what kind of man was he? A.N. Wilson does not disappoint. A writer who has published […]
As in most countries, a large proportion of coronavirus deaths in France are taking place in nursing homes. Of 32,000 deaths in France, about 14,000 were in nursing homes. Confirmed cases and deaths are rising again for the first time in months. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted this week that “our elders, more fragile, are more […]
“If there was an election tomorrow, who would be your preferred choice of Taoiseach? VOTE in our Poll below and leave your comments here and on social media.
ON THIS DAY: 25 SEPTEMBER 1917: Thomas Ashe died from force feeding during a hunger strike in Mountjoy Prison Thomas Patrick Ashe, Tomás Pádraig Ághas was a member of the Gaelic League, the Gaelic Athletic Association, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and a founding member of the Irish Volunteers which he joined in November 1913. […]
Mayo agent, Captain Charles Boycott, was sent to a ‘moral Coventry.’ He described his plight in a letter to The Times: “…people collect in crowds upon my farm and order off all my workmen. The shopkeepers have been warned to stop all supplies to my house. My farm is public property, I can get no […]
On the night of September 23rd, 1846, the German Astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle confirmed the discovery of the planet Neptune, which had been predicted by the French Mathematician Urban le Verrier, based on nothing but numbers. It was one of the great triumphs of 19th century science. Le Verrier discovered Neptune – which cannot be […]
Eight months into this pandemic, we sometimes seem to be no nearer to knowing what’s going on than we were at the beginning. Lockdowns vs. no lockdowns; masks vs. no masks; hydroxychloroquine vs. remdesivir; opening schools vs. closing schools, etc., etc. Every day, top-level experts express significantly divergent viewpoints on each of these questions. One […]
Today, the 22nd September, marks the 100th anniversary of the Rineen Ambush, which took place at Rineen Cross, halfway between Miltown Malbay and Lahinch in 1920. The Volunteers in Co Clare had been active since 1917 and by the time of the ambush they had forced the RIC to abandon most of their rural barracks […]
On September 21st 1601 the Spanish landed in Kinsale Co Cork with some 4,000 men, took the town and awaited the arrival of the Gaelic chiefs from Ulster. With a fleet of twenty-eight, they occupied the port at Kinsale under the maestro de campo general, Don Juan del Águila. The ships were to be brought […]
“The town of Balbriggan they’ve burned to the ground While bullets Like hailstones were whizzing around; And women left homeless by this evil clan. They’ve waged war on the children, the bold Black and Tan.” (From the ‘Bold Black and Tans, Irish Songs of Resistance, Galvin, 1950) The sack of the north Dublin town […]