At the St Patrick's Day events in Washington, TV viewers saw a mysterious figure in a large black hat and cape alongside Robert McCartney of the UK Unionist Party. Free article

Sa bhliain 1975 foilsíodh cnuasach filíochta le Michael Hartnett inar fhógair sé go gcloífeadh sé le Gaeilge feasta mar mheán liteartha. Farewell to English be theideal don chnuasach sin. Tá an frása ceanann céanna le léamh i sainleabhar duine de mhórsmaointeoirí na hAfraice, Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Free article

The Dublin government is trying to keep a stranglehold on Credit Unions Free article

It was always going to be difficult for Donegal hurlers in Division 3. With only two or three clubs and an odd Garda doing Mad Cow duty ``on the Bowerder'' to pick from, life was never going to be easy. Most of Donegal seem to be too busy following Celtic and Daniel O'Donnell to bother with the caman. Free article

The statement this week from a group of influential senior garda officers, calling for the extradition of political activists into British custody and adding the twenty-six counties to the beat of the RUC, is a logical development and shows how the reactionary garda leadership has taken on a political momentum of its own, embarrassing even its political masters in government. Free article

Reading the Irish Landscape The Ex-Isle of Erin Free article

By far and away my televisual highlight of the week (and at least one irate phone call will result from my saying so) was the three-part Arena special on BBC2, Busby, Stein and Shankly - The Football Men, which began on Good Friday evening and ended on Easter Sunday. Written and presented by Sunday Times sportswriter Hugh McIlvanney, who was friendly with all three men, this was soccer, personal and social history rolled into one, a powerful and moving portrait of three great leaders of men, the forces that shaped them and the individuals and teams they themselves shaped. Free article

''I'm not going to take the view that people are guilty simply because unsubstantiated views are laid against them.''
That was John Major on 1 April at an election press conference. What a hypocrite.

He was defending Neil Hamilton, one of his MPs who was afraid to sue when the Guardian called him a liar and a cheat. The evidence against him is hardly ``unsubstantiated''. He has... Free article

The week in quotes... Free article

This weeks news in brief... Free article