Search Results for 'Syria'

IN 1967 Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. Before the occupation, there were 139 villages. Following the occupation, 130,000 Syrians were forced from their homes. Today only five villages remain.

It was reading Owen Barfield’s History in English Words many years ago that first made me realise words are like the artefacts – the shards of shattered pottery, the unearthed house foundations, or the elaborate tombs filled with grave goods - the archaeologist uses to reconstruct the past. Or, as Barfield put it:

At the United Nation’s desert outpost in Smara, Western Sahara, there is one native English-speaker, one Irish person, and one woman; Captain Aine Flynn of Athlone.

Middle Eastern visitors to next year’s Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Galway will be treated to a sneak preview of what’s on offer in the city.

MARCH 20, 2003, the day on which the United States launched its fateful invasion of Iraq, an invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein but convulsed the country in violence and political instability.

Today is St George’s Day, when the Anglican, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, and the Eastern Catholic churches commemorate the Syrian saint who famously killed a hideous, fire breathing, dragon.

There were many raised eyebrows at the decision to award President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, not least the president himself who said it was “surprising” and that he did not “deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who’ve been honoured by this prize”.

COMING NEXT week to the Town Hall is Jane’s Hero which relates the remarkable and at times hair-raising experiences of Galway’s Lt Col Eamon Colclough during his service overseas with the UN.