Alex.Kane
@AlexKane221b
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Newspaper columnist and political commentator for BBC/UTV/RTE radio and TV. For commissions, events,speaking engagements etc: alexwriterkane1 @outlook .com
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Joined July 2012
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On Mother’s Day:My Mum, Adelaide. She rescued a mute, terrified, hide-in-the-corner 6-year old boy from an orphanage and gave him the infinite love, security and patience he needed to find himself and his voice. Never a day goes by when I don’t think of her and count my blessings
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Adelaide adopted a silent, scared 6-year old (described in orphanage report as ‘educationally sub-normal’) 60 years ago and gave him the time, love, patience and devotion to prove the report wrong. She was an extraordinary one-in-a-million woman. More important: she was my Mum :)
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My mum Adelaide. She saw a broken-winged, mute, terrified, 6-year-old orphan in her eye clinic and adopted him. Thanks to her love, patience and refusal to believe an assessment that I was educationally sub-normal, I got the chance to become what I am today. Happy and loved : )
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Very sensible decision by the Irish government to go into lockdown from 6pm tonight until the end of March. And since Coronavirus doesn’t give a damn about borders or identities it makes sense for NI to follow immediately.
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So, a five party Executive meets for 15 minutes then adjourns so that some ministers have more time to read the papers they need to agree to. Excuse my language, but what a pile of shite.
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I wasn’t sure I’d make it, but here I am:65
Adelaide and Sam, who adopted a mute, broken-winged boy in 1961 and taught him to chirrup and fly
Me, year after adoption
Kerri and the children:my rock and the best reasons for valuing life more than ever
I’m a very happy man :)
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50 years ago today was my last day of elocution lessons. I had been mute when I left the orphanage, aged 6, in 1961 and it took almost three years until I was speaking even very basic sentences. The rest, as they say, is history : )
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About 5/6 years ago someone made fun of my squint. I finally replied: ‘Thanks to the squint I met the woman(an orthoptist)who adopted me and gave me the love, security and home I had longed for. Now, just sod off you miserable loser.’ And do you know what? Yes, he blocked me!
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Mother’s Day: and the wonderful Adelaide, who rescued this terrified, silent, desperate-to-be-loved child from an orphanage for no other reason than she thought she could help him. She did. She never gave up. What and who I am today is entirely her handiwork. My Mum. Her boy : )
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Unlike many politicians I’ve known Robin Swann has never struck me as one who deliberately sought office—any office. History will make a final call when we look at how Covid was handled here: but it strikes me he had the right temperament to cope at the heart of a torn Executive
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December 1961, my first post-adoption Christmas. My wonderful Mum, Adelaide-and dad, Sam-had already given me the best gifts of all;their unconditional love for a ‘difficult’ boy and the life I have now. Best wishes to you all. I’m taking a few days off Twitter. My gift to you :)
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The irony of DUP non-attendance is that they're closer to the thinking of Vatican on key moral issues than any other party across Ireland.
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Listening to some people complaining about mask wearing and infringement of their freedoms. I’m old enough to remember when we held open our arms and handbags when we walked into shops and allowed ourselves to be searched. We did it for our collective safety.
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I have a squint, which I’ve had all my life. If I hadn’t had it I would never have met the orthoptist who rescued me from an orphanage 60 years ago. But hey, feel free to mock as much as you like you tosser.
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I always encourage civility and moderate language on my timeline. But no apologies for saying that this statement from the ‘New IRA’ is a pile of disgusting, disingenuous, deliberately hurtful, morally repugnant, brain-dead shite.
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I hope it’s not the last time I get to do this.For my late Mum, Adelaide, who I first met 60 years ago:took a mute, terrified, longing for hope 6-year-old from an orphanage and gave him the love, support, strength and supply of second chances he needed to have the life I have : )
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If it is true that COVID hits Protestants and Catholics differently I’m wondering if my atheism will be of any help to me.
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If I could pick a personal moment to take my children back in time to, it would be to when I was almost 8, still mute and mostly hiding in a corner; and let them see the unconditional love and support my adoptive parents gave me—allowing me to find a voice and reinvent myself : )
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Adelaide. She first saw me when I was six and somehow saw straight through to the terrified boy who needed rescued and loved. She loved me until the last pat of her hand on mine with her final breath. I got lucky. There’s rarely a day when I don’t stop and whisper, “Thanks Mum.”
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60 years ago today I first saw the woman who would become my Mum a year later when she adopted me. She was an orthoptist and if I hadn’t had a squint I wouldn’t have met her. Wish she’d lived long enough to see photographs like this. Wish the kids had got the chance to know her.
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Those criticising Jimmy Nesbitt for speaking at the Ireland’s Future conference yesterday should listen to his contribution. It was both thoughtful and instructive and touched bases and places that should be of interest to everyone who describes themselves as unionist.
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Please, please, please don’t allow vaccine distribution in NI to be dependent on an agreement by the Executive.
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Loyalist arms cache in east Belfast. Bomb attack on police on Strabane. Suspect device at Derry police station this morning. I wish all the people behind this would just F off: we have enough other socio/economic problems to deal without their feral behaviour
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This time last week I said I was taking the weekend off. And then Steve Aiken resigned and I had to work. This time I’m taking the weekend off, but getting drunk so that I won’t give a toss if anyone resigns. Goodnight all.
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By any yardstick of measurement Karen Bradley is the worst SoS NI has had.
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It’s not often I get really, really pissed off, but the complete bollocks over the transfer tests (which the GL/AQE and Dept. Of Ed have had months to sort out) is one of those occasions.
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Many of you will know of the epically wonderful Wink through my writing and photographs. He died today (almost 17). Never just ‘the cat’. And never ever a pet. But a friend and much loved member of our family : )
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The more I’ve reflected over the last few weeks the more I’ve realised how much I love my life. It’s a little bit sad that it took this sort of crisis to make me realise a very simple truth: I’m a man with a great deal to be happy about. And that’s a comforting thought right now
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This is part of a piece I wrote about Noah Donohoe on June 29, 2020. Yet here we are, over two years later, and the Secretary of State is clearly blocking the flow of information about what happened to him. Why? And who suggested that it be one of his first acts in his new role?
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The confirmation of a new First Minister requires SF support so, at this point, ratification can’t be taken as a Givan. (I’ve been waiting two weeks to do that line. It sounded funnier in my head).
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Father’s Day: This is Sam. A decent, gentle, modest man of integrity who (along with the wonderful Adelaide) adopted me in 1961 and became the role model for my own approach to fatherhood. I wish the children had met him. He would have been an epically mischievous grandfather :)
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It seems the Executive has now pushed the next meeting back for a couple of hours. Given the sheer volume of piss they’re taking it might be better to reconvene in a toilet.
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Today in the Assembly there will be a lot of tributes to David Trimble. The best possible tribute, though, would be to find a collectively agreed way to make the institutions work and prove that we are, in fact, capable of governing in the best interests of everyone here
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I hope 2021 will be a kinder, gentler, less stressful year for all of you. Thank you for putting up with my wittering from the hammock during some of my own very dark days. Most of you I’ve never met, but you’d probably be surprised to realise how helpful to me you were :)
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Still get occasional online jibe about my squint. If I hadn't had one I'd never have met the wonderful woman who adopted me. So there : )
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In the often difficult journey from the orphanage to the happiness of being a much older dad with a wonderful family, I’ve learned the truth of Eden Ahbez’s words: ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return’.My favourite photos from our holiday
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I quite like the idea of Robin Swann taking on Paisley at the next general election. Then Ian and Van might discover how dangerous he actually is.
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Absolutely awful performance from Boris Johnson today. The monumental uselessness of the man is almost terrifying to behold.
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60 years ago, in July 1961 I was adopted: and 21 years ago today-her birthday-I met
@KerriDunn
The two best things that have ever happened in my life : )
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I love Ian Paisley’s faux outrage about ‘that crowd in Stormont’ when, for 3 years, a crowd in the ERG and Conservative party pulled enough wool over his eyes to stuff a couple of sofas.
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Lyra McKee contacted me out of the blue a few years ago-she was in her early 20s-for advice and steer about a book she was writing. We kept in touch. I have known/written about too many of my own generation killed by terrorists. Now this.Murder solves nothing in NI. It never has.
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Quite how attacking the PSNI and scaring the shit out of a bus driver and his passengers is supposed to make the case for the Union (and NI’s place in the UK), let alone influence the politicians who need influenced right now, is entirely beyond me.
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Someone sent me an email on my Twitter account to scold me for being ‘far too light-hearted’ in my approach to Covid-19. As an older Dad with young children I’m as worried as everyone else-and have written about those worries in columns-but humour remains my bedrock for survival.
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Robin Swann’s warning that they’re preparing for a worst case scenario of 9000 deaths will hopefully be a warning to those bloody idiots in queues and elsewhere who either don’t understand or don’t care about self-isolation and social distancing.
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Really sorry to hear the dreadful news that the Boris Bridge won’t be built. I don’t know if I’ll ever get over it : )
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Fabulous. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. And truly, truly wonderful.
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Having observed/commented on politics here for over 30 years I can’t think of a Secretary of State or NIO minister so lacking in authority, strategic nous, knowledge, respect, political ability, diplomacy, self-awareness or even bog-standard common sense as SoS Karen Bradley.
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I would like the ERG to have explained why the Windsor Framework, which they dismembered today, is so much worse than the NI Protocol which they voted for in 2019/2020
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In the great scheme of things it’s minor news, but after 21 years and 6 editors I’m stepping down from my
@News_Letter
column. The paper opened many doors for me (my first published piece was in August 1979) and I’ll always be grateful. But I’ll still be writing elsewhere : )
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First time in lockdown in which I’ve had a real down day: depressed, tired and worried. That said, I’m lucky to be surrounded by my family, so I can only imagine how bad some days can be for those who are alone right now. Stay safe everyone and count your blessings where you can.
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I really do hope I’ll be spared the sight and sound of Michelle O’Neill—in her role as DFM and rule-maker—lecturing the rest of us on how we should behave when we’re outside and close to other people.
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I hope the SoS doesn’t call a snap election this evening. I’m not studio-ready
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Father’s Day:My Dad Sam. A kind, wonderfully patient man who took a difficult six-year-old from an orphanage and rose to every challenge I threw at him. The only Dad I ever knew. The only Dad I would ever have wanted. I wish he’d lived to meet
@KerriDunn
and his grandchildren : )
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No apologies for the language but P & O have acted like complete shits today.
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Even if we don't win the Guinness record for no government, surely Karen Bradley must be a contender for 228 days of doing sod all as SoS?
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Those who argue that NI has been turned into an ‘EU colony’ by the Windsor Framework ignore the fact that whopping majorities in both the Commons and the Lords (the Sovereign Parliament of the UK, in other words) have endorsed that status. That’s the real problem for unionism.
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I really do hope I live long enough (and, sadly, time probably isn’t on my side) to see unionism enter an election without assorted fears and dreads and manages to promote a positive message rather than the usual mix of Lundy-spotting and outrage.
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A police officer living and working in his own community. Integrated into his own community. Sharing his passion for sport with children and parents from all backgrounds. Yet there are people with hatred so steeped into blood and bone they believe trying to kill him is justified
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One who hasn't a government to lead and one who can't lead the government she has.
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21 days of believing he was in charge. 21 days of imagining himself as holding all the reins of power. 21 days of planning how to shape the party in his own image. I wonder how Paisley Jnr is feeling right now.
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Edwina Currie on air all morning dismissing the Johnson story as ‘trivial.’ So trivial, in fact, she’s on every show going to tell us how trivial it is.
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The primary problem Boris Johnson faces when he meets NI parties (and maybe some interest groups) tomorrow is that none of them trust him.
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I never thought the moment would come. But the DUP at tonight’s meeting is making the UUP under David Trimble look like a model of harmony, unity, control and sanity.
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Spoke to a unionist/loyalist friend last night who suggested, “a returned, chastened Johnson could be very good for unionism.” NO, HE WOULDN’T. HE DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN HIMSELF AND THE NEXT CHAPTERS OF HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
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Is there anything more fun than trampolining in your back-garden in the unexpected snow on a January afternoon : )
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If the immediate return of the DUP and UUP to Stormont means ‘implementing’ the subjugation of the union, then surely the DUP should also withdraw MPs and Peers from Westminster, the co-author and existing implementer of said subjugation? Why is it ok to sit in one but not other?
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I woke up after a solid 12 hours sleep to the sound of my 2-year-old son laughing and throwing things around. And I just smiled and thought to myself, ‘You’re a really lucky man, Alex.’ And I am : )
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Years ago a guy came up to me in a supermarket and went into a full-on effing and blinding rant about how useless my column was. Met him down another aisle a few minutes later: “Sorry mate, my wife says you’re not Brian Feeney. You should wear a wig.” Brian loved the story : )
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To my Mum,Adelaide:she took a mute, terrified 6-year-old from an orphanage and gave him confidence, security, love, a new life, and a voice.
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Bliss to hold and hug our beautiful boy:Indy (Independence)Atticus Kane-Dunn. 2 delighted sisters and happy Mum
@KerriDunn
Life is good : )
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One of my very favourite photographs of Indy and me from four years ago today. Both clearly knackered.
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Summer has arrived in east Belfast: there are barber queues everywhere. (Oh, come on. You knew I wasn’t going to let that one go)
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Why did the Orange chicken cross the road?
Because its feathers and four feathers have been doing it for hundreds of years.
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To my Mum, Adelaide: Adopted me at 6, gave me hope, a new life, unconditional love and as many second chances as I needed. Extraordinary : )
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My daughter Lilah—13–knows my love of cows. I had never seen one until the morning after my adoption,aged almost 6,when I was woken by mooing and knew then that I was in a new and better world. She painted this as my Christmas present, along with Sherlock, another great love : )
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Bloody pointless waffle from Johnson. He might as well have put his new dog on the podium and allowed it to bark a few times.
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One of the ironies of Brexit is that it seems to have turned many unionists/loyalists into born-again fans of the Good Friday Agreement.
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Boris Johnson’s I’m-not-standing-statement. What a torrent of sanctimonious pish.
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I make no apology for a rerun of the favourite line I’ve written in the last few weeks: The DUP’s ongoing civil war is like ‘a Netflix epic for belligerent fundamentalists: Game of Thrans, if you like.’
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I’ve loved walking Lilah to school from nursery to P7 (she always hated the first day photos). The chats there and back were wonderful: and my singing and dancing usually speeded her up if we were running late. She’ll probably never know the sheer joy those walks brought me : )
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A nod of gratitude to the staff in shops who are having a very difficult time at the moment. Talked to a couple today who described the pressure as ‘almost unbearable’ and the attitude/behaviour of some customers as ‘frightening.’ We’re all in this together. Help each other : )
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When you hear Ian Paisley Jnr use things like: don’t be a child, playground, don’t be silly, man etc during an interview then you know he’s uncomfortable.
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Arlene Foster's manifesto launch speech is one of the most uninspiring, insular, self-serving and negative I've heard from a unionist leader
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I’m very pleased to hear that the Kincora building has finally been green-lighted for demolition. I’ve had to pass it for years and I’ve shuddered each time.
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Today NI feels even more like a 'place apart' when it comes to equality on socio/moral rights. The DUP must take note.
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So, Jeffrey Donaldson says he will stay in the Commons until the protocol is resolved. Is that because he wants to be in hearing distance when Johnson delivers yet another oven-ready porkie? Which he will.
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The DUP cut a deal with Theresa May. They supported Johnson. They were keen on Truss.
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In all fairness to
@LeoVaradkar
he pitched his address well and hit all the right targets. Probably the most difficult speech he will ever give.
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A senior unionist summed up Varadkar for me: “He sent me up the wall during high points of Brexit. But, do you know something, he was sticking up for his case a lot better than May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak were doing for unionism”.
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Maybe somebody could produce an algorithm to coldly, clinically, measure the ability of ministers, departments, input organisations and oversight bodies?
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This is me-aged six-60 years ago and my first post-adoption Christmas. Best early gift of all,of course,my Mum,the wonderful Adelaide. Dropping out for a few days now. I wish you all the best possible Christmas, whatever your circumstances.Stay safe, strong and well :)
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It is surprising how many people today are telling me that my identity—the core of my political/constitutional understanding of who I am—won’t disappear in a united Ireland. It will: because the place and citizenship I identity with, will be gone.
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Saoradh’s statement after the murder of Lyra McKee. Wow! Complete, utter, adding-deliberate-insult-to-deliberate-murder bollocks. Nobody ‘accidentally’ kills if they deliberately lift, load, aim and fire a weapon towards other human beings.
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When there is an explosive device on someone’s property then anyone who lives there or has legitimate access to the property is a potential target. So the ‘New’ IRA’s statement that a three-year-old was not a target is just nonsense.
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While I really do wish that Boris Johnson would summon up the integrity to resign (or, failing that, be abducted by aliens), I can’t think of a single one of the likely contenders I’d want to see in No 10. It’s really very depressing
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President Trump is probably right. If we all had a medical team available to us 24/7 and an entire hospital wing standing by when we required it, we’d have nothing to be scared of. Apart from him, obviously.
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