The issue of integrated education in Northern Ireland has been given new impetus by recent political developments; the appointment of Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness as education minister and the devolution of powers to the local Assembly. He has yet to make any firm pronouncements but it is clear that increasing demand for integrated schools will … Read more
The unemployment is acute. Starvation is facing thousands of people. The official Labour Movement has deserted the people for the fleshpots of the empire. The Free State Government’s attitude towards striking postal workers makes clear what its attitude towards workers generally will be. Thus wrote Liam Mellows, IRA director of purchases, from his prison cell … Read more
Parish missions were a universal feature of Irish Catholic church life until the mid-1960s. The mission usually lasted for two or sometimes three weeks. The daily rhythm of the mission consisted of early morning Mass with a short practical instruction, the principal mission service in the evening with a full sermon lasting about three-quarters of … Read more
New Year’s Eve 1961 may not immediately spring to mind as a significant date in the history of the Ireland. As a phenomenon that has provoked endless debate, argument and discussion ever since, the start of television broadcasting from Dublin on that date was most definitely significant. Loved or hated, television cannot be ignored. Controversy … Read more
For a long time Irish nationalism was seen primarily in terms of political movements, and there has been a tendency to identify with mass movements rather than elites. Recent theories which emphasise how educational and social obstacles to upward mobility for minorities in a professional society encourage nationalist movements has revived interest in the Catholic … Read more