Search Results for 'Politics of the United Kingdom'

“Politicians are all the same“ is a very common refrain these days, and although it may disturb the more idealistic candidates and their canvassers, it has more than a grain of truth. The two governments that have reigned throughout the Irish economic meltdown have pursued the same policies, making the people pay for a crisis that was none of their doing.

The threat of another famine in 1879, within living memory of the horror and catastrophe of the Great Famine some 29 years earlier, brought renewed terror to the vulnerable tenant farmers in the west of Ireland. This time it was not just the humble potato, but severe weather conditions which devastated crops and feed stuffs over a three year period. Farm incomes dropped dramatically, landlords fussed that rents would not be paid. Whereas some landlords were patient, others warned that evictions would follow if rents were not paid on time.

The continued unrest, murders, and large-scale protests as the Land War careered dangerously through the Irish countryside, led at last to some reform. William Gladstone’s Second Land Act of 1881 proposed broad concessions to the tenant farmer. But Parnell, the very effective leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, was not satisfied. He said that tenants were still vulnerable to rent arrears and poverty resulting from poor harvests. He urged that the Act either accommodate these concerns, or be rejected.

Two men charged in connection with the seizure of €100,000 worth of drugs at a Ballinasloe grow house at the weekend have been remanded in custody to appear before Harristown District Court tomorrow.

In any war propaganda is a useful weapon. In World War II both the Allies, and the combined Axis powers used broadcasting, leaflet dropping, false information contained in dead men’s briefcases, diaries, fake military manoeuvres, or through clever counter espionage, to discourage and demoralise the enemy. There were many spectacular successes; but the one that really annoyed the British was the voice of William Joyce, broadcasting almost nightly from Reichssender Hamburg radio. He became known as Lord Haw Haw, a much hated figure.

One hundred years ago, a series of dramatic events caused turmoil in Ireland, and made rebellion practically inevitable.

Youth work and volunteering will come under the spotlight when the No Name Club honours its adult volunteers at a special celebration tomorrow, Saturday June 30.

BERNADETTE: NOTES On A Political Journey, Lelia Doolan’s documentary on Bernadette Devlin (McAliskey), will be screened in Indreabhán next week.

On December 7 1941 Japan launched a devastating surprise attack on the US naval base of Pearl Harbour. America declared war on Japan, and Germany declared war on the United States four days later. This was no longer just a war in Europe. It had leapt onto the worldwide stage