Only Our Rivers Run Free!

.......at 3am on Monday 9th August 1971 thousands of British soldiers raided homes in nationalist homes across the 6 counties, 340 men were arrested, brought to interrogation centre's and eventually to Long Kesh, internment had begun!

.......the Truce of 1921 left Ireland divided, civil war in the 26 counties, sectarian slaughter in the 6; what did we learn from history in 1971 when ‘armed struggle' returned to the streets!

Truce to Turmoil

........2019-21 has been the years of the Pandemic-COVID!But throughout history events have shaped the world, we look back and marvel at how the world developed ?

.......the birth of the ‘NI' statelet in 1921, born in violence it has been a dysfunctional society for a century, a cesspit of sectarian bigotry and hatred, it has run its course!

........Rangers football club are an institution imbedded in sectarian bigotry. A few weeks ago they won the league title for first time in a decade and 20,000 celebrated in the Centre of Glasgow, it turned into an orgy of sectarian bigotry, drunkenness, violence & hatred, there is no place for it in 2021!

.......'Phil the Greek' passed recently, born in Corfu to Greek royalty he became a large part of the British monarchy, we look at this archaic form of life in the 21st century!

........40 yrs ago on the 5th May Bobby Sands died on hunger strike, he was 27. His death changed everything, hie election as MP propelled the republican movement into electoral intervention which in 2021 sees SF as the largest political in Ireland, in Govt in the 6 counties and soon to be in power in the Republic! Bobby Sands RIP

The Tuam baby home scandal, a stain on our past! Also a tale of a brother I never knew who died at 2 before I was born!

........the darling of Belfast and Glasgow, Charlie Tully was a football genius with both Belfast Celtic and Glasgow Celtic! In barren times for Celtic in the 50's Tully lit up the field with his play and became a Celtic icon!!

.....on the 2nd January'71, 80,000 went to a Rangers v Celtic game at Ibrox, 66 wouldn't come home! On stairway 13 an unparalleled disaster took place as the fans exited the stadium, 66 men, youths and one girl were crushed on the steps, a horrific day for football!!

......it was 72 hrs that shocked the football world! 12 of the richest clubs in Europe threatened to create a Super League, invitation only, a closed shop, financed by American bank JP Morgan to the tune of 3bn, but the football world rejected it and the idea collapsed .......but for how long??

......in November a golf society was formed in Dunfanaghy, it was christened ‘the Muckish Ramblers' and began a 20+ year adventure around the golf courses of Donegal, Tyrone, Derry, Sligo, Cavan, Scotland, Spain and the Algarve! It was a special time in our lives, and so many friendships and memories made which last a lifetime. It definitely wasn't a ‘good walk spoiled'!

Ireland 32 England 18! There's nothing like beating England at anything, from soccer to showjumping, boxing to badminton, and definitely racing to rugby!

.......23 years of peace since the GFA and then a week of rioting, burning, petrol bombs and apathy! Loyalism hits out at an evolving situation in the EU, UK, Republic and the 6 counties, the union is finished, a referendum on unity is a decade away, loyalism needs to sit down with nationalists and plan a new future for our children!

.......it's a slow news day but a major story is developing as word comes that an American hedge fund PLC are investing $30m to create a new golf resort in the bog at Glenveagh, as I said a slow news day on April 1st, 2021!

Claire Byrne hosted a first ever discussion on Irish Unity recently, Mary Lou, Leo, An Taoiseach, John Briton, Naomi Long, Gregory Campbell & Joe Brolly! As the 6 counties face up to a nationalist majority for the first time in the recent census, the debate on unity has begun!

The virus and lockdown has deprived us of many things but not being able to head to Gran Canaria or Malta has been the worst for us!

Charley Brady writes for an American publication, a former journo with the Indo, he now enjoys the quiet life in Oranmore!

.......during his imprisonment after Nuremberg Albert Speer to keep sane planned a route around Europe, in his mind! During COVID I planned something similar around Ireland, it was some journey!

.......on 28th Aug ‘72 Johnny Burns and I were linked for life by an incident during the conflict, it led to years in Long Kesh & memories, we hadn't met for many yrs but last week word came he had the virus and a few days later he died! Goodbye old friend!

........back in 1977, 20 of us headed to the Salmon Leap to party, drink Mundies and sing, it was 3 weeks of hedonistic mayhem Termon style, great memories, 43 years ago!

........2020 will never be forgotten, Corona or COVID-19 has brought reality to our world, what is important now, it's not wealth but life! Old people dying in their thousands, isolation, social distancing, no football, no golf, it's a different world!

.........it's been there millions of years but in the 1970's I started making shapes in it, the Bog! The turf had to be worked for the winter fuel, a hard slog but great when you bring it home! ‘Would you know a good turf??

.........Easter 1970, ‘honeymoon is over! British troops clash with republican youths and things will never be the same again.

.......2020 and Coronavirus-COVID-19! The world is facing the biggest Pandemic since 1918 and the Spanish Flu! I relate the story of old Ned Billy who lived through 1918 and survive until his 90's!

.........a two part article, the first half about the political stalemate and the politico's who rake it in? Secondly the lives of Harry Gregg & Jimmy Greaves!

........soccer in the UK is big business, Irish supporters flood across the channel to follow their teams, ManU, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City but none moreso than Celtic, the Irish club in Britain!

........the 2020 election is over and FF & FG Scramble to hold on to power at the expense of the Shinners? When everyone else fails there's always the Army Council to fall back on for Loe & Mi-Hole???

.........the 2020 election changed Irish Politics for good, SF became the leading Party and although FF & FG won't share power it's only a matter of time until a new alignment brings the old show down!

..........the build up to Election 2020, FF & FG won't sleep with Mary Lou metaphorically of course but Eamonn Ryan might? TV debates, Social Media, Google Analytics, a very modern election!

.......FF & FG refuse to jump into bed with Mary Lou casting the Shinners as outcasts yet their historical lineage dates back to the Civil War, their modern words stink of hypocrisy?

........1970, 50 yrs ago, the Beatles, Joe Cocker, Army in Belfast, Vietnam, Apollo13, Nell McCafferty, Brazil & Pele, and I was 16 at a party and Little Ole Wine Drinker Me was in vogue!!

.......in Jan 2019 Charlie Flanagan announced the Govt wanted to commemorate the RIC, ‘the eyes & ears of the British Govt', he got his answer from the people swiftly, ‘no way' and had to cancel!

.........the greatest football club ever in Ireland only existed for 58 yrs, Belfast Celtic left football in 1948 after their players were attacked at Windsor by sectarian thugs and would never play again! Their history lives on!

..........the Celtic Tiger imploded, so did Rangers, Donegal won Sam, Spain the World Cup, wee Eddie & Harry passed on as did my beloved Oisin, Trump & Boris elected & Mary Lou takes over from big Gerry!

..........Brexit, Boris leads Britain to collapse, Scotland will leave & Irish Unity on the agenda, meanwhile politicians fill their greedy hands with filthy lucre!!

........events in Aug ‘69 led to the formation of the Provisional IRA and onward to 30 yrs of armed struggle, History was written for a new generation!

......in 2019 we formed a Book Club in Renville Village, it's quite a collection of ‘Wordsworth's', this is a look at the Books we've read during the year from Wounded Knee to Eleanor Oliphant & many more!

.......In 1918 the last British general election held in Ireland SF won 73 Seats and declared an Irish Republic & set up the 1st Dail, 100 yrs later the British are in disarray over Brexit and the election could pave the way for Scottish independence & Irish Unity??

........November 2019 ten Bogies & Fogey's went to Malta for a golf break, it was a great few days in the winter sun, at the same time the richest guy on the island was trying to leave in his yacht with millions, a suspect in the murder of a journalist who exposed corruption??

.......winner of ten Captains Prizes, James Brogan is a Golfing Legend! Now in his 80's he uses a golf club like a great violinist plays or a ballet dancer glides across the floor, wee James he was some golfer & friend!

.......Lazio visited Paradise, they brought a form of fascism with their Ultras, it's not a pretty sight in 2020, but Celtic supporters let them know what they thought, Lazio, Vaffancuco - Fcuk off Lazio!

......on the 15 Th October 1974, 2000 IRA prisoners burned Long Kesh to the ground then fought the British Army for 6 hrs the next day, helicopters dropped CR gas, an illegal substance, today 120 men who were there have died of cancer related illness???

.........the Irish rugby team play the All Blacks, they have the iconic Haka, we have ‘ Ireland's Call' instead of Amhran na bhfainn, it's ridiculous, the only country not to play the anthem???

.......1845-1850 and the greatest catastrophe to hit our shores, the so called famine created by an ineptitude by the British Govt who took food out of the country while 1 million starved & 1 million migrated, a human disaster!

........one night in the summer of ‘88 the legend that was Georgie Best arrived at the Mountain Bar, in a pub of legendary characters Georgie fitted right in! A special guy, the greatest footballer of a generation!

......one of the iconic sports commentators Joe Brolly, All Ireland winner, Barrister, TV pundit, & grumpy old man, with Pat Spillane & Colm O'Rourke he brought the Sunday Game alive!

Phil Coulter on the LLS talked about being offered a gong from the Queen which he refused, an archaic system which Irish people should reject but many don't, Martin O'Neill for one??

........Termon GAA club are a major part of the community, they cater for the youth of the area and bring them through to adulthood in a positive manner, CLG Sn Tearmann - More than a football Club!

.......the All Ireland final, 82,300, it's a special day, the Dubs going for 5 in a row, the Kerry revival, Ulster takes a back seat after great success since 2000, Mayo perennial bridesmaids, Galway returning, its part of what we are !