Person: Shannon Co

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

columnists

Anticipation building around 1916 plans

We still don’t know what the government really intend to do to honour the 1916 centenary but Sinn Féin has announced it will be putting on a musical version of the 1916 Rising.

Voters have been taken for fools once again by this government

Perhaps Tom Cruise will affirm his Roscommon roots with a cameo role in the third series of the British TV sitcom, from Sky1, Moone Boy, due to be partly filmed on location in Boyle, Ireland, later in the year.

Tue, 09 Apr, 2013

Pinochet reminder

Ecuador is entitled to grant asylum to Julian Assange.

Wed, 22 Aug, 2012

A sobering thought: from Cowen to Katie

Only a couple of years ago, in the USA, it was a drink-swilling Taoiseach Brian Cowen being parodied on the Jay Leno Show; now it is the amazing and proud Irishwoman Katie Taylor being featured in the New York Times.

Mon, 13 Aug, 2012

Cupboard politicians

Whenever I have visitors from abroad and the discussion comes around to the crassness of certain politicians, I look up YouTube and show them Bertie’s “leering out of a cupboard” TV commercial for an English tabloid sold here, and my guests immediately go into embarrassed silence!

Sat, 23 Jun, 2012

Ming the Merciful

Normally he would be too readily available everywhere to comment about local government legislation and taxing matters but Deputy Luke Flanagan seems to have gone very quiet on fellow TD Mick Wallace.

Wed, 13 Jun, 2012

No Party the right option

I wonder if it’s time for a new political party to be formed?

Sat, 03 Mar, 2012

Doesn’t make cents

TAOISEACH Kenny says the new household charge is only €2 a week.

Mon, 19 Dec, 2011

A distinguished group?

READING the many signatures of former attorney generals on a letter to you makes me wonder what collective noun could be used to describe such a distinguished bunch.

Tue, 25 Oct, 2011

Lethal justice

IMAGINE if there was an Amanda Knox situation in the American legal system.

Thu, 06 Oct, 2011

The really mad people

DOES Gay Byrne not understand that it was the “mad people” in Fianna Fáil, PDs and Greens that did all the damage, not the suits in Brussels?

Fri, 12 Aug, 2011

Where is Bishop Magee?

ONCE it was: “Who shot JR?“

Tue, 19 Jul, 2011

Our celeb economists

DURING the tiger years we had celebrities aplenty.

Thu, 07 Apr, 2011

Red carpet treatment

THE Queen of England to visit Croke Park?

Tue, 05 Apr, 2011

Words for tribunal

THE 19th century French novelist Honoré de Balzac is quoted as saying “Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.”

Tue, 29 Mar, 2011

Dawn of a new era

DUBLIN’S Drumcondra mafia or northside gurriers as I preferred to call them have finally been cleared out, and as a bonus, no Greens today.

Mon, 28 Feb, 2011

Going double Dutch?

DOES Fine Gael’s reform of the HSE on the Dutch model mean two in a bed?

Tue, 08 Feb, 2011

Election kiss-off

HOW about a Valentine’s day general election and then we can kiss them all goodbye!

Wed, 26 Jan, 2011

Decommissioning

ENDA KENNY announced recently that he has ‘stood down’ the Fine Gael website.

Sat, 08 Jan, 2011

Why I’m backing Ivan

IVAN YATES should go back into politics. He Is now very much aware of how the real world works.

Fri, 07 Jan, 2011

Rubberbandits on song

THE writer Frank McCourt did far more damage to Limerick’s reputation than the Rubberbandits.

Mon, 27 Dec, 2010

Charity hypocrisy

EXPENSIVE full page advertisements by a charity organisation featuring either the logos or names of companies and individuals stating that they are not sending Christmas cards but instead donating the money is hypocrisy par excellence.

Fri, 24 Dec, 2010

Fade away

WILL the last Fianna Fáil TD to leave Dáil Éireann please switch off the Greens’ dim lightbulbs.

Wed, 24 Nov, 2010

No dignity

AFTER his performance in the latest television ad for the News of The World, is ex-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern aware of what “dignity of office” infers?

Wed, 06 Oct, 2010

Gloating media

THERE seems to be some glee at Seán FitzPatrick’s bankruptcy in the media and elsewhere.

Wed, 14 Jul, 2010

Housing iceberg

THE ludicrous attempt by estate agent ‘experts’ to promote an optimistic outlook for a greatly overblown housing market is akin to listening to people prattle on about the quality of the equipment on the bridge of the sinking Titanic.

Thu, 21 Feb, 2008

Man’s world, after all?

IF these were cases of male breast cancer, the machines and systems would have been sorted out years ago.

Fri, 09 Nov, 2007

Horses for courses

WAS Frank Dunlop’s horse any relation to Shergar?

Tue, 06 Nov, 2007

Performance clause

IF the Taoiseach, senior civil servants and other State officials wish to match their salaries with the private sector, then they should suffer the consequences of mismanagement just like their counterparts in the real world.

Sat, 27 Oct, 2007

Harps and crowns

THERE seems to be a campaign by certain individuals suggesting the replacement of our national flag with a design featuring a harp.

Sat, 06 Oct, 2007

Satire with a message

TG4’s and director Declan Recks’ The Running Mate is the most refreshing piece of television drama and satire I have seen in years.

Sat, 29 Sep, 2007

Late Late Show looks a bit like old times

THE nights are closing in and the Late Late Show is back in revitalised form.

Sat, 15 Sep, 2007

Stamp of disapproval

IN its feline cartoon series, An Post has left out the stamp which would have truly represented our nation today — the skinned cat.

Mon, 10 Sep, 2007

Airport to airbase

I SUPPOSE the Government can now concentrate on upgrading Shannon to a full-scale US military airbase.

Mon, 27 Aug, 2007

Changing times

NOW that the iconic Swiss army knife is going to be made in China, what will happen to the cuckoo clock?

Wed, 15 Aug, 2007

State of crisis

IF it is proven that a British government research laboratory was responsible for the foot and mouth outbreak, when can we expect an anthrax epidemic in the human population?

Thu, 09 Aug, 2007

Minority rule

I VOTED to get rid of a tiny, unrepresentative, extremist political party — the PDs — and had presumed it would not be joined by another — The Greens.

Fri, 15 Jun, 2007

Question of identity

COUNTIES are always associated with an individual’s birthplace, GAA team and a general sense of communal identity.

Mon, 28 May, 2007

Euro tunnel-vision

JOHN WATERS’ explanation for Ireland’s dismal Eurovision performance is akin to some years ago when the English were continually losing major international soccer games.

Tue, 15 May, 2007

Enough said

BERTIE’S furtive Sunday morning trip to the Phoenix Park says it all.

Fri, 04 May, 2007

Hidden agenda

ONCE again a teenage girl’s dilemma is being manipulated by adults who should know better.

Thu, 03 May, 2007

News from elsewhere

ONCE again the media is dominated by another self-induced American tragedy.

Mon, 23 Apr, 2007

Risk premium

I CAN understand paying an online premium for a select theatre seat —but for a seat on a vehicle that could plunge out of the air at any moment?

Thu, 05 Apr, 2007

Apply raffle rules to phone-in shows

PREMIUM rate’ (highway robbery) phone-in or text calls to TV or radio stations should require a promoter’s licence similar to those needed for the public selling of lottery or raffle tickets.

Fri, 30 Mar, 2007

Climate of the times

IRELAND beats Pakistan at cricket. God Save The Queen played in Croke Park.

Tue, 20 Mar, 2007