Harold Gracey has a point. Try to put yourself in his shoes for a moment. You are fast approaching your dotage, having grown up in a place where for so long the order of things seemed as though it were God-given and where for many years it remained virtually unchallenged. In the good old days of one-party rule, people knew their place; or if they didn't they were taught - as they had to be - often violently, but also in more abstruse ways via education, housing, employment, and through the social and political institutions. Free article

``Sure there is no housing in North Belfast. What there is needs to be refurbished. There are even outside toilets in the backs. Your average stay in hostel accommodation, waiting for housing, is two years. Imagine. Private landlords are buying up the housing and that's put rents up to £75 or £100 a week.'' Agnes Fraser works in welfare rights in Tar Isteach in the New Lodge area of Belfast, one of four North Belfast groups operating under the umbrella of Coiste na nIarchimí. ``Jobs? Well there are jobs, but the government has made it impossible to go to work. They refuse to pay relatives to mind the kids. You just can't afford to lose your benefits.'' Free article

As the Dublin government and Sinn Féin both kicked off their Nice Treaty campaigns this week, a crucial aspect of the Nice Treaty debate has emerged. It surrounds the question of what the Treaty is actually about! Free article

Is cosúil go bhfuil cúrsaí ag dul in olcas le linn do George W Bush a bheith i gcumhacht. Níl ach cúpla mí caite aige i bpost an Uachtaráin ach tá timpeallacht iontach contúirteach cruthaithe aige cheana féin. Anois, ba mhaith leis forbairt a dhéanamh in airm núicléacha. Free article