Archive: 2008 (14)
- Dec 17
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All men are meant to have beards ...
On a holiday, a man takes a notion not to shave for a week or two, and suddenly his friends and family notice that there is something of the buccaneer about him, and though he would hardly want to be seen spending hours in front of the mirror, remarking on how much he now looks like Charles Stewart
Posted Dec 17, 2008
- Dec 05
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Wee Rosie Hughes...
Wave is a support group for the bereaved of the Troubles and they are holding a carol service in Belfast on December 9, before a Christmas tree with 3,700 lights, to represent the dead. They invited me to their rehearsal last week.
Posted Dec 05, 2008
- Nov 25
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Whose Mary?
An Anglican and a Roman Catholic Bishop met at the Church of Ireland Chaplaincy in Belfast to discuss which of their churches had a better understanding of the Virgin Mary.
Posted Nov 25, 2008
- Oct 17
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Hunger
I was at the premier of Steve McQueen’s film Hunger last night. It is a shocking and powerful movie about the suicide of IRA man Bobby Sands by hunger strike in the Maze Prison in 1981 and the brutalising of prisoners and prison warders in the protest for political status. A masterpiece.
Posted Oct 17, 2008
- Sep 07
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Cardinal Brady and The Orange Order
The Catholic Church and the Orange Order are historical enemies in Ireland, but now they are inching towards some kind of wary amity. Cardinal Sean Brady has welcomed the efforts Orangemen have made to make new friends. But it will be slow progress.
Posted Sep 07, 2008
- Aug 08
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Lord Bew on Burntollet
Paul Bew came under some flak in the blogs for comments at the John Hewitt Summer School in which he likened the famous Burntollet March to the ‘spark that lit the prairie fire’ ie, started the Northern Ireland Troubles. I interviewed him about this for Sunday Sequence. Here is the uncut interview.
Posted Aug 08, 2008
- Jul 03
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An Anglican Bishop at the Clonard Novena
Belfast’s Clonard Novena every June is a huge spiritual pull in the Catholic community. This year – and this sort of thing is news in a divided city – Church of Ireland Bishop Harold Miller, addressed the congregation.
Posted Jul 03, 2008
- Jun 30
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Healing Service in Belfast
A Belfast Pentecostalist claims that his nightly services feature many miraculous healings. I went along and recorded parts of one service for the BBC.
Posted Jun 30, 2008