Paul Doyle lines up the usual suspects that attempt to give cover to Church crimes and skewers them as rightous cretins infesting our media. During the recent European Elections the Catholic Democrats’ Theresa Heaney stood dead-eyed and Dana-esque on Vincent Browne; a relic of antiquity on whom the irony of having a hard-on for chastity is lost. Today, most people reject Heaney’s ilk, their views and the horrendous human toll those views have … Read More
All’s loud on the Christian Front
In the 1930s a number of religious anti-communist organisations emerged in Irish society. Donal Fallon profiles the Irish Christian Front, a short lived but influential body. In recent months there has been major debate on the role of religious organisations in public life and discourse, though there is nothing new about conservative Catholic organisations attempting to influence decision makers here. If there was a monster under the bed for … Read More
The Septic Tank Full Of Secrets
In 1925, Galway County Council appealed to the Bon Secours sisters to open a nursing home for mothers and babies. Fifty years later two boys stumbled upon a mass grave. Between 1925 and 1961 St.Mary’s Mother and Baby Home, Tuam, operated under the care of the congregation of Bon Secours. Reports now emerging about the ‘Home’ are what we have come to expect when dealing with institutions of the Catholic … Read More
They Called It Acieed.
Rashers Tierney chats to Piers Sanderson. He’s the director of a documentary about the early 1990’s Blackburn rave scene that saw a generation find wholly new uses for warehouses in the hard hit North of England. The presence of Thatcherism hangs heavy in your trailer for your doc. Tell me what life up north was like under her Iron fist? Was rave a political response in a sense or more … Read More
#rabbleEye: Man On Bridge
In issue 8 we look at Dublin’s newest photography project – ManonBridge is crowd sourcing decades of one photographer’s lost work. Martin Ryan bought a couple of unwanted cameras for a quid at O’Reilly’s Auctions. He realised there was a film jammed in one of them and after two days he managed to recover it. “I developed them and faint images started appearing. How do you describe something that’s been … Read More
The Ombudsman’s False Teeth.
An Garda Siochana and GSOC. They don’t like each other, right? You would expect this type of relationship between the police and a body tasked to tackling police abuses and corruption. Immediately after allegations of GSOC’s surveillance surfaced, teeth were bared, fur flew and blood was drawn. Mark Malone takes stock of the scrap. The commissioner and Alan Shatter both came out with statements riddled with half truths. But after … Read More
From Jaffa to Balata: Searching For The Displaced.
Why the relationship between the ancient city of Jaffa and Balata refugee camp in Nablus is a chapter in the Palestinian tragedy.
Cables, Cowards and Contraception
Oireachtas Retort has been digging in wikileaks and takes a look at the McGee case as seen from the US Embassy in 1973. Most people are familar with the tale of the condom train or how the Virgin Megastore started selling rubber johnnies on behalf of the Irish Family Planning Association in 1990. But what about the young woman who bravely stood up and went about kicking stultified social policing … Read More
#rabbleComp: Remembering the Lock Out.
Our old muckers in Dublin Community TV are holding their heads high despite recent blows and hobnobbing it up at the JDIFF this week. Just as the commemorations of 1913 fade away, The Inquiry lands on the silver screen. It’s a costume drama based on the Askwith Inquiry into the disturbances of the Lock Out. It’s real battle of the titans theatrical stuff, with the captains of industry pitted against Larkin’s … Read More
Remember The Stardust
33 years later, are there new hope of answers in the Stardust tragedy? Ronan Lynch examines the evidence. Gardaí in Coolock are investigating allegations that witnesses to the Stardust Tribunal deliberately misled the inquiry. The investigation follows a complaint by researcher Geraldine Foy, who has been working on behalf of the victims’ families for the last ten years. The original Tribunal report had glaring inconsistencies that required the Tribunal to … Read More