Search Results for 'Westminster parliament'

I have been talking a lot recently about public or collective memory. The series of commemorations that began two years ago illustrates that while we may have different interpretations of the events that gave rise to the birth of our nation, it is clear that the happenings of 1919-1923 are firmly embedded in the collective conscience. We will never agree on the finer detail of the roles played by the principal protagonists involved in the Treaty negotiations of 1921.

When Mitchell Henry entered Westminster parliament in 1871 he went with hope in his heart and a mission to tell the British people the precarious circumstances of the Irish tenant farmer. In many ways he resembled Jefferson Smith in the Frank Cappa film ‘Mr Smith Goes to Washington’ where a naive, idealistic young man has plans to change America.* Mitchell Henry, a liberal, kindly man, had plans to be a voice for the Irish tenant farmer within, what he believed, was a paternalistic landlord system, but he walked into a political cauldron, waiting to explode.

Holidaying in Connemara just after the Millennium, I read one of those small grey boxes in the Rough Guide they use to give additional information about a specific location; in my case Ballynahinch Castle where I was having lunch. The description of a previous owner – Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin - was intriguing.

So here it is, the news that Galway city and county are lodged “within a province that from a spatial planning point of view, is full of low density housing, is totally reliant on private transport (the car) and which is in need of transforming to using rail and public transport” to become a “high density city and to support cycling and walking?”

I expect that many people were able to look at the debate between Senator Kamala Harris for the Democratic Party and Mike Pence, the vice-president, for the Republican Party. It was on TV the morning after the debate, when RTÉ ran it for an hour and a half.

When Mitchell Henry entered Westminster parliament in 1871 he went with hope in his heart and a mission to tell the British people the circumstances of the Irish tenant farmer. He reminds me of the Frank Cappa film Mr Smith Goes to Washington where a naive, idealistic young man has plans to change America.* Mitchell Henry, a liberal, kindly man, had however, walked into a political cauldron, waiting to explode.

The sight of the politicians gathering for their annual ‘think-ins’ is one of the signs the summer is over. As with the country as a whole, the Government has had a generally good summer with a post-referendum boost and generally strong economic performance to buoy it. However, the autumn will bring its challenges and it may not all be plain sailing.