Major breakthrough in Northern Ireland crisis talks

It appears a major breakthrough has occurred at the talks in Northern Ireland between the Democratic Unionist Party and their government partners Sinn Fein.

The parties have been on the brink of ending their powersharing government unless agreement on two issues, policing and justice oversight, and how Orange parades are managed, are resolved.

British Secretary of State Shaun Woodward confirmed the new optimism. "We have made, across six very long days, I think, considerable progress," he stated. Talks are due to resume again on Monday.

Sinn Fein negotiator Conor Murphy said: "We are maybe getting somewhere now. We have progress made; we are hopeful that we can finish this fairly quickly.

"We are getting towards that point now where negotiations will end."

Democratic Unionist Edwin Poots said: "There is considerable advancement. What I said previously was that there would have to be certainty and clarity and there would appear to be greater certainty and clarity than was the case when I was speaking on Thursday night.

Irish foreign affairs minister Michael Martin praised the parties. He said: "They are engaging in a way that is purposeful and with determination to resolve the issues.

After an exhausting six days members of both parties and both the British and Irish governments emerged late Saturday gave the thumbs up to an imminent settlement. They have been locked away in Hillsborough Castle outside Belfast.

Earlier last week the British and Irish Prime Ministers joined the talks but could not bring about a resolution. It is expected they may come back to Belfast on Monday to be on hand for the new agreement if it reached.

Irish women should follow St. Brigid, not just St. Patrick

St. Brigid is the female equivalent of St. Patrick in Ireland, but there are no parades in her honor, and apart from the St. Brigid's Cross, her name is hardly known.

That really should change.

St. Brigid was a woman who was well ahead of her time. Born around 453, she was the daughter of a slave and a chieftain. Her feast day is celebrated on February 1.

She became one of the most-powerful women in Ireland. After refusing an arranged marriage, she went on to found many convents whose schools provided an education for thousands of young women who otherwise would have had none.

She was the lone female figure whose voice was heard in a male-dominated Church, but the stories of her good deeds and extraordinary acts ensured she was canonized well before most of her contemporaries.

She stands today as an example of an Irish woman who followed her heart and took on the powers-that-be in a male-dominated world. She was certainly a figure as extraordinary as Patrick himself.

Joe Kennedy regrets he didn't take on Scott Brown

Joe Kennedy is now regretting he did not run against Scott Brown for the Massachusetts senate seat held by his uncle Teddy Kennedy.

Kennedy was asked yesterday whether it was a mistake that he did not run
“The thought has crossed my mind,” Kennedy said. “Maybe that wasn’t the greatest decision I ever made.”

However he ruled out running against Brown in two years time "I cleared out of that (politics),” he said. “This is what I do now. I like what I do very much" he told the Boston Herald referring to his Citizens Energy Corporation that helps bring fuel to the poor in need.

Kennedy was said to be wary of running because of efforts to link him to Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez who supplies much of the oil for his Citizens Energy corporation.

Experts say he would have won easily. Philip Johnston, former head of the Democratic Party, said Kennedy would have been an easy victor.

“Joe would have won easily because he would have tapped into the populist anger that’s out there among voters,” Johnston said. “Joe is very much like his Dad, former Senator Robert F. Kennedy. They are fearless in taking on the establishment and that’s why he would have done so well.”In a recent poll Kennedy had a 62 per cent favorable rating.

Kennedy also told the Boston Herald that he wasn’t surprised that Martha Coakley was defeated.

“To be honest with you, I was surprised that (Brown’s) margin was as small as it was,” he said.

News / Kennedy family furious at Martha Coakley's poor Senate campaign / Click here
News / Now Patrick Kennedy seat is in trouble / Click here
News / IRA almost blew up Caroline Kennedy / Click here

J.D. Salinger's Irish mother and mistress

The late author of "Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger, had two great Irish influences in his life.

His mother, Miriam Jillick was Scottish and Irish Catholic, whose folks came over around the time of the Great Famine from Ireland and Scotland.

For much of his early life, Salinger thought his mother was Jewish, and it was not until after his bar mitzvah that he learned the truth.

Salinger was deeply influenced by his mother and disliked his father, Solomon Salinger, who was a meat importer. The young author soon gave up meat, perhaps as a slap at him, and refused to attend his funeral.

The second great influence was his lost love Oona O'Neill, daughter of the great Irish playwright Eugene O'Neill. Salinger began his retreat into a private world after she dumped him for Charlie Chaplin.

Obama says 'yes we can' to immigration reform

Barack Obama came out fighting last night in his State of the Union and made it clear that issues such as immigration reform are still very much on his agenda.

It was great to see the Commander in Chief recapture some of the fire and fury that brought him to the White House in the first place. For too long he has seemed a prisoner of the office, tentative, not bold, afraid to shake up the cosy consensus that passes for policy these days.

On immigration reform he was clear that he will pursue what has become one of the most contentious issues of his presidency. For tens of thousands of undocumented Irish his message was good news

He also knows that the huge Hispanic lobby has sat back quietly and allowed him to long finger the legislation but their patience is running out. A recent poll showed that 62 per cent of Hispanics, a key voting block for Obama, have urged him to introduce the immigration reform legislation that he has promised.

"If Obama breaks the one major promise he made to Latino voters -- to deliver comprehensive immigration reform -- this will make it tough for him to face the Latino community as he campaigns for re-election," wrote Rubin Navarette the influential columnist a few days ago. "And Democrats can't afford a sizable bloc of voters becoming so disillusioned with Obama's version of 'hope and change' that they don't turn out to help re-elect him."

Exactly. Obama is also fortunate that he has one of the best political operators around, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, leading the way on this legislation.

Schumer knows it has to have a bipartisan approach and that he needs to work across the aisle, which he has certainly committed to do.

He also knows average Americans have to feel like there is a correct balance between enforcement and legalization, a carrot-and-stick approach that will find that vital consensus and give the bill widespread support.

Obama has certainly now publicly committed to the Schumer model in the State of the Union. Hopefully legislation will now follow. Last night was a good start.

Peter Robinson fails test of leadership in Northern Ireland

Dublin : No matter how the two governments try and spin it the fact that Irish and British prime ministers Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown left the talks in Northern Ireland without reaching a deal is a huge setback.

Not fatal but a setback.

In the end the Democratic Unionist Party revealed their sectarian thinking that nationalists were not entitled to an even share of power, that concessions from Sinn Fein did not have to be matched by concessions from their side.

Sinn Fein signed up to accept a new police force in Northern Ireland. The DUP agreed if they did so that policing and justice would be handled in the Northern Ireland Assembly rather than in London.

That was three years ago at the St. Andrews Agreement and it was expected to be implemented three months later.

It never was because the DUP decided they wanted to grab the concession by Sinn Fein and pocket it.

So all the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put this particular Humpty Dumpty together again it seems.

There are still efforts underway to set up a schedule for the transferring of powers but it looks very likely that Peter Robinson has decided to wait past the British general election because he believes he will have a stronger hand with the Tories.

Robinson has proven an abject failure as a leader to date. His inability to bring his party in behind the agreement that saw them attain government is a crushing blow but hardly surprising.

The questions abut his wife's behavior and his own in knowing about dubious loans to her young lover but not reporting them may bring him down anyway.

That may well be a step in the right direction . Lead, follow or get out of the way Peter .

New York firefighter tests: Political correctness run amok

It is fact universally acknowledged that the New York City Fire Department is a strongly Irish institution. Look up the Fire Department dead on 9/11, and over half are Irish names.

There are still neighborhoods in New York where the Irish kids grow up dreaming of joining the Fire or Police Departments. It is a noble tradition, lasting back to the first time the Irish flooded to these shores.

Now comes a federal judge, Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, who ruled last week that the city has intentionally discriminated against black and minority applicants in Fire Department tests.

Garaufis said the high minority fail rate on the test was not a “one-time mistake or the product of benign neglect. It was a part of a pattern, practice and policy of intentional discrimination against black applicants that has deep historical antecedents and uniquely disabling effects.”

“Black and other minority firefighters have been severely underrepresented,” he said, calling it a “persistent stain on the Fire Department’s record.”

The judge found that the department continued to use an exam that consistently discriminated against minorities.

I seriously doubt if the men at the top of the New York Fire Department design tests to keep people out. It sounds like political correctness run amok to me.

Garaufis had previously ruled that the Fire Department used a test in 1999 and 2002 that had a discriminatory effect on black applicants.

But Newsday reported the following about the 1999 test:

"In the 1999 test, about 90 percent of white applicants had a passing score, but only 61.2 percent of black and 77 percent of Hispanic test-takers passed, according to the complaint."

That’s apparently a "1.0 standard deviation difference between whites and blacks, which is typical for most kinds of cognitive tests. It’s what we see nationally on the LSAT," according to one expert.

That is certainly not grounds for accusation of racial bias, is it? Is this political correctness run amok again?

It may seem so. After all, the NYFD has the greatest reputation in the world, and who cares what color the firefighter is who comes to save your life?

What you want to know is that he or she is able to do the lifesaving job, not the color of their skin.

That is what admission standards should be about -- competency, not race.

Pernell Roberts my childhood hero on Bonanza

Pernell Roberts helped shape my boyhood in Ireland. He died today taking part of that boyhood with him.

'Bonanaza' was the best show on television to a kid growing up in insular Ireland of the 1960s and 1970s. Cowboy movies and series were all the rage, 'Bat Masterson' The Rifleman' and above all 'Bonanza' about the Cartwright family and their struggles out west..

Pernell Roberts was Adam, the quiet, studious older one, the cool guy who calmed down his brother Hoss, and the young kid Little Joe. Ben Cartwright, the father,depended on him a lot and Adam was always a rock of sense.

I read Pernell Roberts was a Shakespearean actor, that he had real potential as a stage legend, but I only wanted to know about when the next episode of 'Bonanza' was on. To this day when I hear that familiar theme music and the western map in flames logo, I drop everything to watch.

The Cartwrights had lost their mother along the way, and old Ben was often lonely for her. Adam however, was the guy I liked best, that tall dark mysterious air he always carried about him.

Years later he played Trapper John M.D. but by then I had outgrown him, but as Adam Cartwright he seemed to be the coolest dude in the world, the guy to imitate with my friends when the cowboy games began.

Farewell Pernell. Hope the last roundup worked for you.

Unionists playing the Orange card in north talks

Both the British and Irish Prime Ministers will spend today in Belfast in an attempt to keep the Northern Ireland Assembly alive.

Both men flew there yesterday in order to prevent an all out collapse of the institutions set up after the Good Friday Agreement.

I don't envy them their task. The devolution of policing and justice powers has been delayed by three years because of Unionist intransigence. Though it is a power sharing executive, the DUP led by Peter Robinson have never really accepted the notion of equality.

Robinson wants the rights of the Orange Order to march through Catholic neighborhoods restored. Currently, an independent parades commission rules on each contentious parade, and the verdict is accepted.

While nationalists would give up that right, in order to placate unionism is very hard to see.

Last week a senior member of the Orange Order joined the DUP negotiating team, a clear sign that the Orange card was being played again.

Then the Tory Party in Britain hosted a conference of unionist parties to create a united front on the issue.

The latest opinion poll shows that Tory leader David Cameron would have a bare majority if he were elected in the next election in three months time . The unionist vote then becomes vital again.

It is dirty politics played the old fashioned way but Sinn Fein is having none of it. They are right and hopefully the two leaders, Cowen and Brown can find a way forward. Otherwise time has run out for the Orange Card for once and for all.

• News / British, Irish prime ministers in second day of Belfast talks / Click here
  
• News / Northern Ireland crisis as devolution talks verge on collapse / Click here
• News / Hillary Clinton in last ditch bid to save Irish peace talks / Click here
• News / Sinn Fein seek urgent talks with Peter Robinson / Click here

Bill O'Reilly far outshines one trick Glenn Beck in live show

The sold out show featuring Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck at the Westbury Music Fair on Long Island on Saturday night proved one thing above all others.

O'Reilly is a serious conservative commentator worth listening to while Glenn Beck is a one trick pony who knows how to rabble rouse and little else .

Beck has one note all night, hitting the 'elites' who run the country. Last time I looked Barack Obama was an African American born to a single mother who went on welfare for a time. He hardly started with a silver spoon in his mouth.

The world seems a very simple place for Beck,always black and white, good and bad, no confusing states of gray. Simpletons often believe that. O'Reilly has a far more nuanced view.

O'Reilly, for instance, is far more nuanced about the president " I don't have anything against Barack Obama he said . . . I think he's a smart guy who doesn't understand you."Fair enough.

Beck literally got on his knees to say 'Thank you Jesus' for the election of Scott Brown over Martha Coakley in Massachusetts. Wouldn't Jesus have more important things to do than worry over who won a senate race? Not according to Beck.

Newsday quoted Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committeeman, who was at the event with some Republican friends "I respect Bill O'Reilly for his independence and his intellect," said Zimmerman. He added, "I can't say the same for Beck, who is essentially a right-wing Atlantic City lounge act."

I can't disagree with that.

O'Reilly a local boy made good referred to the kind of blue collar kids he played with as a kid and their distrust of the 'pinheads' on both sides in Washington. The crowds loved it.

One of those pinheads is undoubtedly Bill Maher who appeared in the same venue last week. The crowd was double the size at the O'Reilly/Beck event. Perhaps that says where people's anger is directed right now.

News / Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity surpassed by Glenn Beck on top conservative list / Click here

Niall O'Dowd / Sarah Palin loses it on Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly / Click here

Lucy Lawless exploits sex and violence -- shock!

Is there anything worse than an actress seeking a television audience by deliberately hyping the sex and violence in the show she is promoting?

This is exactly what Lucy Lawless -- who is really Lucy Ryan, an Irish New Zealand actress, is trying to do to try and revive her stalled career. She's essentially been nobody since she played Xena the warrior princes a decade or so ago.

I'm sure she is one of these actresses we will see condemning violence against women and preaching love and acceptance for all living things. Yet, she's not afraid to use blood and gore to try and further her stalled career

“I think a lot of people are going to be shocked and they are going to shut off their televisions,” Lawless told the Boston Herald newspaper breathlessly talking about 'Spartacus, Blood and Sand' her new violence addled cable series.

She says she is afraid-- like hell -- people may turn off the program because of the violence -- but she can live with it -- how noble.

“And I absolutely encourage that because if they’re shocked by the first few episodes, it ain’t going to let up,” she said.

“But for the people who have the stomach for it, this is a bloody good yarn.”

Lawless plays the character of Lucretia, who owns the slave Spartacus played by Andy Whitfield and her husband is played by John Hannah.

And here comes the sex tease.

“Really, I just feel like as long as it’s germane to the scene, it’s not offensive to me,” Lucy said of appearing topless and in explicit sex scenes. “If it is relevant and historically accurate, then artistically it makes sense. People in ancient Rome had completely different relationships to people and their bodies and sexuality and the law and religion.”

Spare me.

Review / Lucy Lawless lets it rip in 'Spartacus' / Click here

Rep. Patrick Murphy a disgrace to his Irish roots

Congressman Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania is a disgrace to his Irish roots. Yesterday he was one of just nine Democrats who voted to never allow 'amnesty' for undocumented persons in America.

Congressman Murphy should be ashamed of himself. He has joined the ranks of the anti immigrant lynch mob which seeks to ensure that immigrants are treated with hate and suspicion.

Back when Congressman Patrick Murphy's forefathers were trying to come to America there was an ignoramus group called the Know Nothings that, like Patrick Murphy now, wanted to seize the Irish and deport them in chains back to the old country. They hoisted signs like 'No Irish Need Apply' and portrayed us as apes and simians.

The Irish overcame all that discrimination and Patrick Murphy is a congressman today because of what his forefathers were able to achieve.

I'm sure they are turning over in their graves today at the idea of what their descendant has decided to do -- to join the ranks of the modern 'Know Nothings' and seek to inflame hatred and violence against immigrants. Some of them today , by the way, are from the same country that Congressman Patrick Murphy's people came from.

Not far from where this congressman's district is located is a place called Duffy's Cut where in 1832 an estimated 57 Irish laborers were found dead. Many had been murdered because locals feared they were spreading cholera. They were only six weeks in America.

Near Scranton, Congressman Patrick Murphy can find the graves of many of the Molly Maguires who were similarly murdered by mine bosses because they dared to revolt against sickening working conditions.

Congressman Patrick Murphy should know his history -- he is a former Marine who served in Iraq, and he should know that turning on the weakest and most vulnerable is not the Irish or the American way.

Except it is for Congressman Patrick Murphy, a man who has disgraced his roots and his history. Shame on him.

Tory leader Davd Cameron may destroy Irish peace process

News / Talks on verge of breakdown / Click here

If the talks break down in Northern Ireland this weekend blame the Conservative Party leader David Cameron.

Last week Cameron arranged a secret meeting with his party and the two Ulster Unionist parties in an effort to get some Orange votes in his corner if the next British election is close.

Cameron's move instantly aroused deep suspicions among nationalists who have seen this game before, where Unionist votes are traded for pro-unionist policies in Northern Ireland.

Cameron appears to be willing to put the North's fragile peace process at risk in order to find some grubby votes among unionism to bolster his number of seats in the next election.

He is playing with fire. There is a long and sad history of the Orange card in Northern Ireland politics. Successive Labor administrations have done an excellent job of maintaining relations with both sides in Northern Ireland and never appearing to tip too much one way or the other.
That is what is needed to put together a settlement which has survived all efforts to bring it down.

Now the DUP are strengthened in their belief that if they hold out against Sinn Fein and the devolving of justice and policing to Northern Ireland they will get a better deal under Cameron.

Instead Cameron may find his first order of business, if he is elected, to be a massive crisis in the Irish political process and possibly its disintegration.

Is a few Unionist votes really worth all that much to him? History would suggest the answer may be yes. It would be an act of the most awful political folly.

Bill Maher slams Obama and draws gasps from crowd

If you want to see how bad things may be for President Obama, consider Bill Maher's comments on the President at the Westbury Music Fair in Long Island last night.

I was present, and there were gasps and hisses when Maher made several cutting comments about Obama to the packed crowd who, no doubt, would have preferred to have Republicans roasted rather than their favorite President.

Maher seemed a little taken aback by the audience reaction, but pointed out that criticism of Obama was warranted in the current climate. He soon won the crowd over.

Maher was not about to let the audience have their comfort zone. He sneered at Obama's giveback to the banks, doing a wicked caricature of Obama handing the billions out to A.I.G. and Goldman Sachs. He was also deeply critical --and hilariously so -- of Obama's failure to press home his agenda like Dick Cheney and George Bush were able to do despite what the electorate thought.

When Bill Maher, the most liberal stand-up comedian in America, is attacking Obama, then the President should be concerned., When he is comparing him unfavorably to Dick Cheney, then he had better be REALLY concerned.

Like any good stand-up man, Maher was edgy and ahead of the crowd. But he clearly has a sense of the Zeitgeist like no other performer right now. What he is articulating is the shattering disappointment on the left that Obama has not delivered for them, and that Wall Street and the banks have made out like bandits while the middle class continues to suffer and health care heads south.

In a strange way, Maher and the Tea Party have much in common. On Saturday night at the same venue, I will be seeing Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. Strange to think they and Maher have much in common in believing that Obama has not measured up to the job so far. Who would have thunk it?

Revisiting 9/11 and the Twin Towers

It's a quiet street early in the morning where old ghosts meet, a few blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan . I happened to be there this morning, thinking back to the immensity of that awful day in September 2001.

How it changed us utterly , nothing will ever be the same again.It was when we first heard of Al Qaeda and Bin Laden and they have since never been far from our mental landscape.

Now the gaping block long hole in the street screams out to us to never forget what happened here.

It was the worst day of our lives, perhaps of our century. I stood where thousands died and buildings too tall to fall crashed, bringing so many of our beloved down with them.

Now there is the clickety clack clack of the subway and then quiet while the working day has not yet begun . I am glad to see the hole is not so empty anymore, that at last the rebuilding has begun. It has taken far too long, the terrorist act still mocks us every time we show up in this empty spot.

Next year it will be ten years since that awful day.Today, though, there are just memories, unbidden but flowing back where so many lost life. This is hallowed ground.

Was Ricky Gervais offensive with Colin Farrell drunkard jibe?

Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais is catching flak for his anti-Irish joke aimed at actor Colin Farrell as he prepared to make his entrance at Sunday night's ceremony. We had dozens of calls to our offices all this week complaining.

Gervais, sipping a beer on stage was certainly up for mischief."The great thing about the Golden Globes is that it crushes prejudice and stereotypes." he began. "A particular stereotype is that Irishmen are drunk, hairy hell raisers. Now please welcome Colin Farrell.

Farrell did not look too pleased with the mocking introduction but let's face it he has been called worse, the 'Lusty Leprechaun' among other names.

The British actor had earlier thrown the same accusation at Mel Gibson, whose mother comes from Ireland. 'I like a drink as much as the next man, unless the man in Mel Gibson' he said.
Now some Irish were obviously deeply insulted.Others less so. Gervais has a cutting edge humor not often seen over here.

But in this case I can't really blame him.Just look at Irish actors who have become famous. Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole , Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Colin Farrell in his heyday.
Yes, drunkards all and proud of it too.

Of course Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson would be the exceptions but the Hollywood drunk Irishman is a stereotype --not without reason I'm afraid. Gervais was only stating the obvious.

Is Scott Brown the new Barack Obama?

He was an unknown state senator when he decided to run for the U.S. Senate. He parlayed that run into national prominence, and later became President of the United States.

I'm talking about Barack Obama, but could I also be describing Scott Brown -- who came from obscurity to the greatest political upset in memory yesterday in Massachusetts?

The parallels are eerie. Both are charismatic good-looking men, both are lawyers, both started as outsiders in the party.

The Republican Party is not exactly weighed down with talent for 2012. Tired old faces like Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani abound. The party leadership seems frazzled and old. Mitch McConnell looks and talks like an undertaker, Michael Steele is too busy doing book deals. Most Americans don't even want Sarah Palin to run.

Now comes Scott Brown, who provides that electric spark that has been missing on the GOP side. He has one massive drawback, of course: He is pro-choice in a party that has demanded its' presidential candidates be pro-life.

There is something in the water in Massachusetts that makes their politicians national candidates. John F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Mitt Romney, John Kerry, Mike Dukakis, Paul Tsongas -- have all run for President.

Could Scott Brown be on the same path? Is he Obama Version 2, and could he face him in 2012?

This country is now in such a strange place politically that I definitely would not rule it out.

Kelly Fincham / Memo to Scott Brown: New poll shows Americans want immigration reform / Click here

Kennedy seat loss a disaster for Democrats - and me

This is the column wherein I eat my hat. I promised to do this if Martha Coakley was beaten, given that I thought no Democratic contender in a million years could ever lose Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts.

Hell, I thought the Boston Strangler could have won his seat if he ran as a Democrat.

Martha is probably the worst candidate for Senate office since that Irish guy who beat his wife ran against Barack Obama in Illinois for the senate seat. This is a woman who went to sleep after her primary victory, and whose campaign couldn't even spell the name of her own state right in advertisements. She thought Red Sox legend Curt Schilling was a Yankees fan. What could be a bigger insult than that?

Still, I thought she would win. Defeat sounded as absurd to me as if Jesse Helms had lost his seat down south to a Democrat a few years back. Somewhere in the great political blue yonder, Ted Kennedy, Tip O'Neill and John F. Kennedy are rubbing their eyes in disbelief, turning to old Joe Kennedy and saying "A Republican takes a Kennedy seat. Say it ain't so, Joe."

Back in 1994, I was on the campaign trail covering Teddy when he was running against Mitt Romney in what turned out to be a close race. I had never spent time with a politician like him. Everywhere we went he knew everybody from bellhops to bank mangers, from plumbers to small-town politicians.

It was a political education to me in how Massachusetts politics worked. It is retail politics first, and it's about humility, asking for every vote. As Tip O'Neill said you have to ask for that vote, even if it is your brother. Coakley clearly never learned that lesson. She even refused to campaign outside a Red Sox game and sneered at Brown for doing so.

A week is a long time in politics, 12 months an eternity. One year ago, President Obama swept into power in Washington and all was changed. If you said at the time that Ted Kennedy's seat would go Republican within the year, you would have been laughed off the stage. Obama had just won Massachusetts by 26 points.

Politics ain't beanbag, and Obama has learned a very tough lesson. The Republicans have not gone away, you know. In this year's version of deal or no deal, the voters in Massachusetts have clearly said "No Deal."

Now where's that pork-pie hat I had?

Kelly Fincham / Memo to Scott Brown: New poll shows Americans want immigration reform / Click here

Coakley may still eke out a victory say pollwatchers

The high turnout in Boston is encouraging Democratic operatives who believe that Martha Coakley is still in with a fighting chance of winning the special election to replace Ted Kennedy .
By noon over 15 per cent of the Boston electorate had voted, a number far higher than in the Democratic primary a few weeks back. Those numbers will surely benefit Coakley in the Democratic bastion.
However, Brown supporters were encouraged by the high poll numbers they say were happening in suburbs and rural communities which they believe will heavily favor Brown.
A low poll in Boston would certainly have cemented a defeat for Coakley but with the numbers high this still looks like a close race.
"I wouldn't call it just yet, said a veteran Democratic operative who spoke to Irishcentral.com "With the Boston vote Coakley is not out of this."

Brown defeats Coakley in Mass. Senate race, says betting company

Scott Brown looks like a winner in the Massachusetts senate race if the Intrade.com projections are anything to go by.

Intrade, the financial betting exchange coincidentally based in Dublin, reckons he has an 85 per cent chance of winning, up seven points just today.

That may well be an indicator from insiders working the exit polling that the race is trending heavily in his direction today and they are getting their money on.

As against that Coakley's percentage chance of winning on Intrade has dropped from 25 per cent to about 17 per cent.

Intrade has a long history of being right in these markets,including about Obama early on who they favored to win.

Somewhere Ted Kennedy may be about to turn in his grave.

Why Bill Clinton is the greatest ex-president

Bill Clinton is the best ex-president of the United States. Whatever you thought of him as president, you have to accept he has become one of the greatest humanitarians on earth.

Some may say Jimmy Carter, who won the Nobel Prize, is the greatest ex-prez, but I think Clinton wins it. He is simply a more inspirational figure.

Yesterday, as UN special envoy, Clinton met with the injured in Haiti and promised massive support. The sight of him helping the earthquake victims was at once compelling and uplifting. Here was American soft power at its best, along with the troops President Obama has sent and the joint work that former presidents George Bush and Clinton will undertake together for Haiti.

Kudos to to Bush the younger, who has taken his father's role alongside Clinton as a world ambassador for peace.

If you follow Clinton's work on AIDS in Africa, his efforts to curb childhood obesity here in America and his continued role as a troubleshooter in international conflicts, you cannot but be impressed.

His Clinton Foundation has become one of the world's great philanthropic organizations, with a turnover of $300 million last year.

We Irish know all about his peacemaking skills. Without him, there would have been no peace in Northern Ireland. It is as simple as that.

He has brought that skill to the world now, unencumbered by the strains of high office. He is proving a remarkable ambassador for our country, one who perhaps was more loved abroad during his time in office than he ever was at home.

He has used that fame, not to enrich himself -- which he could have done so easily -- but to help the less fortunate, the forgotten, the frail.

His visit to Haiti yesterday was very much in keeping with that spirit. He does us all proud.

Could Ireland need a U.S. bailout? The N.Y. Times thinks so

Does Ireland need U.S. help to overcome their current economic crisis? The New York Times lead editorial on Monday January 18 seems to think so.

Ireland was identified along with Greece as "teetering on the brink" of economic collapse by The Times editorial board. "unless the world's richest nations come to the rescue of weakened states, the global financial crisis might sprout another leg and stop the nascent recovery in its tracks."
The editorial points to what happened in Dubai, where the once rich Arab state was bailed out by neighbor Abu Dhabi to the tune of $10 billion dollars.

"Greece and Ireland are suffering from a hard landing from a decade of debt-fueled profligacy." The Times wrote.."Ireland's economy is expected to contract 7.5 per cent in 2009."
The Times suggests that "To begin with the more powerful countries of the European Union --like Germany-- must come to the rescue of their weaker neighbors, But other countries, including the United States and China must stand by to provide help."
That is pretty tough stuff for Ireland, to be included in the list of countries that will need international help.

The Irish government would doubtless deny that things have gotten so bad that a U.S-type Marshal plan is needed but it sure sends the wrong signal as the Irish try to recover from the devastating events of the past 18 months.

Susan Boyle and what really happened at the airport

After writing about the Heathrow Airport incident involving Susan Boyle yesterday, I have been inundated with requests from fans to tell the real truth about the incident.

Well, here it is from a devoted Susan Boyle fan, who has been able to get a report from an actual passenger who witnessed it all.

She writes; "Niall, we received this comment from a BA passenger who was present during the "incident" at the airport: Here is what actually happened...

Someone said they'd like to see Susan sing live. She jumped up and said "okay" and started singing. A bunch of people started singing with her. They were all, including Susan, laughing. Some arrogant SOB said something to Susan, she told him she could sing if she wanted (in no uncertain terms), and yes, grabbed the mop and started putting on a show - standing in front of the person who complained. She clearly did it to get it his face, since he was apparently quite rude. She then said "Oh, excuse me, sir, let me shine your shoes, told everyone what she thought of them and dusted his shoes with the mop.

The BA passenger complained to security, who then sat her down and sat there until she left for her flight, when she told everyone in the corridor that she'd escaped, and "there's a serious lack of funny bones around here."

That's very much Susan Boyle. Exactly who she is. She's quirky, unusual and has a huge, very Scottish, sense of humor. There are quite a few people who don't get it. I really think she doesn't care one bit if they do.

Isn't it nice how the British newspaper the Sun twisted it?"

So all this didn't happen because Susan "couldn't cope" or because she was "boiling over." She was just plain angry! Susan has had enough bullying and rudeness over the years, and she's not going to take it anymore. I don't blame her one bit!

Just thought you'd like to know what really happened from an eyewitness.

There you have it, folks. This person has a great source and I fully believe their account.

Ted Kennedy death may cost Obama the White House

How ironic that Ted Kennedy, the man who played a huge role in delivering Barack Obama to the White House, may be about to take a possible second term away from him.

There is no doubt that if Democrats lose the Kennedy seat in Massachusetts in the special election on Tuesday, that Barack Obama's road to re-election suddenly looks like Hamburger Hill. He will be fighting for his political life for the rest of his term.

Ted Kennedy's death seemed little cause for concern at the time, and a Democratic successor seemed a certainty. Now, it may be the hinge of history that unhinges a second Obama term.

The importance of what is at stake is evident from the fact that Bill Clinton and Obama have now found it necessary to go to Massachusetts to campaign for Martha Coakley, which shows this race is tighter than a tic.

If Martha Coakley loses, then health care is almost certainly dead in the water, as well as a raft of changes Obama was anxious to bring about. Much of his domestic agenda, including issues like immigration reform, will be in ruins.

The word will go forth that Democrats are an endangered species, that the electorate is sick and tired of big spending, and that it is not a time for big government, but small incremental changes.

That will all come about if Coakley loses. The irony is Kennedy's seat must have been considered the safest of all on the Democratic checklist.

His death and Coakley's insipid campaign has opened up a nightmare scenario for Obama, in which a second term becomes a massive struggle

Kennedy giveth, and now he may be about to take it away.

Yes, folks, Rush Limbaugh is a bigot

I'm always wary when people tell me to consider the context of inflammatory remarks when they are trying to defend someone. I got lots of those comments yesterday after my blog on Rush Limbaugh's opinions about why relief money shouldn't be sent to Haiti, and how I didn't understand the context, and Rush wasn't really a racist.

Oh, I understand the context, all right. This is the guy who referred to our president as the "magic Negro," who questioned black quarterback Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles as a "media creation" and had to resign from ESPN as a result, who recently referred to "Negroes" serving drinks to Senator Edward Kennedy, and who said about Haiti "You can't even pick up a prostitute down there without genuine fear of AIDS."

He's also the guy the NFL decided was too racist to hold team ownership in the NFL. Now there are his latest comments on how we should not help Haiti. Hilariously, he once notes he was there on a cruise ship -- as if this gives him some insight.

If it quacks like a duck, folks, chances are that it is.

On Martin Luther King Day on Monday, let's do ourselves a favor and turn the spigot for this bigot off.

Jimmy Fallon the big winner in Conan O'Brien/Jay Leno fight

The big winner in the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien stand off is the Irish guy at NBC.

No, not Conan, Jimmy Fallon.

While the two bull elephants fight, Jimmy Fallon has avoided being the trampled grass. Indeed, he looks like he may soon  be leading the herd.

Leno has dispatched O'Brien, probably to Fox,  but Fallon will fall into the 12.30 slot with no one between him and Leno for the future of NBC late night.

Conan O'Brien was the obvious obstacle now that has been removed. In addition, Leno is over 60 and now has a tarnished reputation after chasing O'Brien from the set. 

Fallon at 35 can bide his time. There is an old Irish expression that the ' quiet pig gets to eat the meal' in other words when others are squealing and grunting he gets on with it.

That could be Jimmy Fallon to a T. He is young, he understands the power of the multimedia platform in a way O'Brien or Leno never could. He has mastered twitter and finding new ways to connect with his increasing audience. He is the face of the future, now O'Brien and certainly not Leno.  He must be quietly smiling these days.

He has refused to take sides in the bull fight but he may well end up being the matador who slays them both.

  

Polls are wrong; Coakley will easily win Kennedy seat in Mass.

The pundits are trying to say that Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley will lose the race against Republican Scott Brown on Tuesday.

I'll eat my hat if she does.

Some polls are showing Brown ahead but when you analyze them the fault line becomes clear. They over sample independents.

This is a special election remember when only the hardest of the hard core come out to vote. Independents are notorious for staying home.If this was a broader national election then Coakley would be in trouble.

The hard core Democratic vote however, will turn out as they always do in the Kennedy state.They are not about to let a Republican take over the late Ted's seat.

Coakley has run a horrible campaign, completely underestimating the violent mood of change out there and her opponent.

Yet she will still win easily in my opinion because the core vote is what will count.

I have a nice Irish cap that might be delicious with salt and onions if I'm wrong!

Rush Limbaugh can't sink any lower than Haiti hate speech

The heartrending scenes from Haiti, where up to 100,000 may be dead, have failed to move the flinty heart of right wing radio host Rush Limbaugh.

He told his listeners today not to donate to Haiti because the crisis was being used by President Obama.

Sure, in the same way the Holocaust was used by Jews so they could get a sympathetic hearing ever after.

Limbaugh has crossed a line of fundamental decency here, one that I'm sure will haunt him for ever more.

Haiti is suffering its own version of a Holocaust, with 3 million of its people touched by the tragedy of the worst earthquake in over 200 years.

Limbaugh used the dreadful aftermath to score a cheap political point against the President.

He has disgraced himself and the conservative movement that looks to him as their champion.

Such callousness in the face of human suffering has not been seen since the time of Hitler, when millions approving as Jews were led to the gas chambers.

Rush might have liked like to have strutted his stuff back then, too, and demand that no one help the Jews either because many of them were too liberal for their own good.

I hope the cries and screams of the dying carry on the wind from Haiti and disturb your sleep, Rush.

You have disgraced yourself utterly.

Does Iris Robinson affair prove women no different than men?

What is striking about the Iris Robinson affair is how sordid it is.

We are used to powerful males -- such as Bill Clinton and Silvio Berlusconi and John Edwards, to name a few -- who become embroiled in nasty little flings which end up in grief and bawdy headlines.

Perhaps with a woman as the aggressor -- and the title "Celtic Cougar" describes Mrs. Robinson to a T -- things would be different?

Eh no, not exactly. Even with the woman making the moves, the sordid nature of this latest scandal if anything surpasses anything that Bill, Silvio and Johnny were up to.

They at least were not judgmental about their fellow humans who found themselves pursuing sex lives as gays or whatever. Robinson's holier than thou musings about gays were vicious and close to hate speech.

Robinson was also skirting the pedophilia range. Her lover was 19, barely over the age of consent, and she had known him since he was nine. He was the son of someone she had also been sleeping with, according to newspaper accounts, and she tried to bully him to return money she said he owed him. The poor lad had to fake testicular cancer to get away from her.

So there is no great existential lesson here, Madame Bovary moments here, no greater purpose -- just a sordid little affair that collapsed with tears all around.

As the aggrieved spouse, Peter Robinson hardly matched Hillary Clinton's dignity, but he did put up a brave face. Like Hillary, he will stand by his spouse by all accounts -- provided there are no more revelations.

I wouldn't bet on that.

Irish connections run very deep to Haiti

Connections between Ireland and Haiti are incredibly strong. Many of the Irish relief agencies such as Concern and Goal provide the bulk of the humanitarian services to the country and they have a long and honorable record of helping the poverty stricken Caribbean country.

Many Irish American supporters of Concern and Goal have spent considerable time working in Haiti and their prayers will be with the people now and any Irish volunteers who have been caught up in the horrific aftermath.

Irish billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien has invested more in Haiti through Digicell, his mobile phone company, than anywhere else in the world. In addition to creating the phone network singlehandedly, he has also donated massive amounts to the country to fight the incredible poverty there.

In October of last last over 250 Irish volunteers commenced a major house building operation on the island. They were led by George Hook, the well known Irish radio personality who broke down in tears as he described the horrific conditions they endured.

Just recently a new organization "The Soul of Haiti Foundation" was established in Dublin by over 80 business leaders. The aim of the group was to improve economic and social conditions in the country. A group from Haiti came to Ireland soon after the launch of the group and met with leading politicians to discuss what Ireland could do. No doubt that help is needed now more than ever.

• News / Denis O'Brien pledges $5m to Haiti / Click here
  
  
• Amy Andrews / Olivia Wilde in Twitter video appeal / Click here
  
  
• News / Concern launches major appeal / Click here
  
  

Six of 10 richest people in Ireland are bankrupt

"THE PROPERTY developer Bernard McNamara, believed up to recently to be one of the wealthiest people in the State, is 'no longer a person of significant net worth,' the High Court was told yesterday."

Think about that paragraph from The Irish Times for a second - one of the richest men in Ireland, a billionaire by any standards for over a decade, is suddenly broke .

It reinforced what a leading financial figure in Ireland had told me recently: 'Six of the 10 richest men in Ireland are completely broke," he said. McNamara was obviously one of them.

McNamara was in the property business in the same way Coca Cola are in the soft drinks business. You could not go anywhere in Ireland without running into a McNamara building site sign. He was the local Trump without the ego.

I met him on a few occasions and must say he seemed a decent man who had given to many charities from what I heard and was well liked by his peers.

But now he is broke, very likely deep in negative equity.

He has many companions on whatever the opposite of the gravy train is - try the broom train as in one clean sweep they have all been wiped out .

It is hard winter in Ireland, the weather is cruel and the economy is still faltering.

The Finance Minister Brian Lenihan is battling cancer which just might be an image for the country at large.

For his sake and the country's lets hope he is successful.

Robinson resigns 'temporarily' but he is unlikely to come back

Blink and you will miss the latest astonishing revelations in Northern Ireland's politics. Today, it was First Minister Peter Robinson announcing his temporary resignation for six weeks allowing his environment minister Arlene Foster to take over.
All that is legal under the existing laws of the Northern Ireland Assembly but the DUP have cleverly kicked the can down the road on the vital subject of the placing of police and justice powers under the framework of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
In six weeks time we will be six weeks closer to the British general election in June which is the real goal here for the DUP. They want to make it to that election and not to allow the TUV, the Traditional Unionist Voice party ,eat away at their vote share.The TUV led by DUP dissident Jim Allister is seeking to end the power sharing government .
The latest move puts Sinn Fein in a tough bind. They were close to quitting because Robinson would not move on the devolution of policing .This latest crisis makes it almost impossible for them to quit now and they will have to see it out.
Meanwhile I doubt Robinson will be back. The political damage within his notoriously conservative party of his wife's racy revelations seems far too much. I expect his deputy Nigel Dodds to take over .

You know you're in trouble when ...the Iris Robinson, Bill Clinton and Harry Reid edition

You know you're in trouble when..

You are quoted attacking Hillary Clinton for allowing her marriage to continue after the Monica Lewinsky affair and your name is Iris Robinson....

You are the Irish Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and your country is falling apart in the 2010 ice age and you are quoted in the Sunday Independent speaking from the airport in Malta, temperature 90 degrees,where you have spent the last week on vacation. And you are saying that you were always in control of the situation.....

You are the Democratic candidate for Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts and the two latest polls show you behind against an unknown Republican opponent. Martha Coakley had assumed the race was over after winning the Democratic primary -- big mistake.....

You are Harry Reid the senate majority leader and a new book quotes you as referring to Barack Obama as a 'light skinned' negro....

You are Bill Clinton and in the same book you are quoted as making a derisive comment to Ted Kennedy that Obama would have fetched the coffee a few years ago.

Can women really propose on Leap Year in Ireland?

The new Amy Adams movie called 'Leap Year' deals with a woman who can ask a man to marry her on February 29th in a leap year. But where does this tradition come from and is there any truth to the movie's premise?

Yes actually. It is said the tradition began in 5th century Ireland when St. Bridget bitterly complained to St. Patrick that women had to wait far too long for men to propose. The legend says St. Patrick decreed the women could propose on this one day in February during the leap year. I'm sure the women were thrilled.

The tradition was then taken to Scotland by Irish monks. Back in 1288, the Scots passed a law that allowed women to propose marriage to the man of their dreams in a Leap Year. The law also stated that any man who declined the proposal in a leap year would have to pay a fine. The fine could range from a kiss to payment for a silk dress or a pair of gloves.
There is also precedent in English law. February 29th was ignored and had no legal status. People believed that traditions would also have no status on that day and that it was possible to have women propose thereby altering an unfair custom that only let men propose marriage.
In the United States, some people refer to February 29th as Sadie Hawkins Day with women allegedly having the right the right to run after unmarried men to propose.

Sadie Hawkins was a female character in the Al Capp comic strip Li'l Abner.

Mrs. Robinson is a hall of fame hypocrite

Here's to you Mrs Robinson. In the annals of political hypocrisy Iris Robinson should be in the Hall of Fame. The wife of Northern Ireland's First Minster is an elected MP herself. The news on Thursday that she had an affair with a 19-year-old and concealed her relationship when getting him business grants has hit like a thunderbolt

Robinson deserves all the odium she will get. She has harangued homosexuals on the ills of their ways and adopted a high moral tone that always resonated with her bible thumping supporters. Yet, there are persistent reports that one of her own close relatives is gay.

Not for nothing was she known as the Wicked Witch of the North and received brickbats from human rights groups her anti-gay comments

Now it turns out she has feet of clay - - that she seduced a 19-year-old and got grants for him to start a small business from the very council she sat on without revealing her relationship to him. Worse, she demanded the money back from him and when she didn't get it they broke up and she tried to commit suicide.

I'd almost feel sorry for her except for her utter hypocrisy. She comes from a long line of holier than thou swindlers the Jimmy Swaggerts, the Ted Haggards, the Catholic priest pedophiles, who lectured and moralized while breaking all just laws themselves. Peter Robinson was never a man I warmed to but I feel sorry for him today. He married a hellion. Here's to you Mr. Robinson and God help you too.

Boston Globe shows its Northern Ireland bias with attack on Gerry Adams

The Boston Globe was notorious during The Troubles for getting the Northern Ireland story wrong. For years they were influenced by British diplomats and local Irish American 'experts' such as Padraig O'Malley, who wrote a book proclaiming the conflict unsolvable and essentially blaming the IRA.

Read the Boston Globe column / Click here

The Globe was way too lace curtain Irish to ever understand the real dynamics at work in Northern Ireland. It was always easier fro them to pin blame on those great unwashed republicans.

Even though peace has now become a reality, thanks in large part to those same Republicans, they continue to beat the old anti-Sinn Fein drum.

The latest attack is written by one Thomas Gagen, whose name has escaped us as a writer and expert on The Troubles up to now. He is apparently a member of the Boston Globe editorial board - which figures.

This latest article has to do with recent revelations about Gerry Adams and sexual abuse accusations against his brother and his father.

"In 1987 his niece Aine Tyrell told him that her father had sexually abused her from 1978, when she was 4, to 1983. Adams’s cover-up of the allegations against his brother calls into question his political future,” writes Gagen.

Adams did not "cover up" the allegations. He confronted his brother soon after he became aware of them - something Gagen refuses to mention.

Gagen also claims that Adams "did not go to the police in 1987," when Tyrell told him.

Go to the police? The hated RUC? When Aine Tyrell herself went they were more interested in turning her into an informer. As Gerry Moriarty reported in the Irish Times: "Áine’s mother said the RUC seemed 'more interested in recruiting her as an informer than dealing with Áine’s abusing father.'”

Gagen conveniently leaves that out.

The Boston Globe then attempts to throw Gerry Adams in with the Bishops, who covered up sex abuse in the south. “Adams kept quiet about his brother to protect the institution and cause he served, and like the bishops, he should face the consequences."

Not true. Adams did not keep quiet. Unlike the Bishops he confronted his brother and given that he could not go to the police, it was as much as he could do at the time.

Gagen ends his piece with hype of Ed Moloney's new book called "Voices from the Grave," which will appear next year. This will rehash a lot of old incidents from The Troubles. Moloney is an Adams critic and the book will be seen as such by Republicans. It is unlikely to have any impact. Gagen never refers to Moloney's reputation in this regard of course.

He suggests at the end of his article that Adams leave Sinn Fein and attend to his family. Maybe Gagen is the guy that should think of a new career with this kind of utterly biased journalism.

James Joyce, the dinner, The Dead

I spent last night back in Ireland on January 4th 1904 to be exact. We were in a nice Georgian house on Dublins' south side and we had lots of company and intrigue to keep us happy.

Actually I was at the annual "The Dead" dinner  hosted by Irish Consul General Niall Burgess at his magnificent apartment in New York.Other guests included actors Gabriel Byrne and Jim Norton and writer Colum McCann who recently won the National Book Award .

"The Dead" is among  the greatest of all short stories written by James Joyce.It recounts the events on that night in 1904 at a post Christmas party in the home of elderly relatives of the main character Gabriel Conroy, who many believe  was based on Joyce himself. Some say it is Joyce as he might have been if he stayed in Ireland, a slightly fussy schoolteacher with writing aspirations.

The theme running through the short story is how the dead continue to influence the living, even though they are long gone.The closing passage as Gabriel looks out over the snow and contemplates his mortality is among the finest in literature.

The menu last night was the same as was served in Joyce's story and the conversation was lively and fun. A tenor sang  'The Lass of Aughrim" which is also sung in the short story --and in the movie made by  legend John Huston -- you can get it on DVD.

Get it if you can. Niall Burgess has created a tradition unlike any other Irish one in America with his annual Joyce dinner. It was hard to step back into the 21st century immediately after. A wonderful night was had by all 

Let's draft Susan Boyle to perform at the 2010 Grammys!

Every day it seems another high-profile name is added to the list of stars performing at the Grammys on Jan. 31.

Just look at the names already: The Dave Matthews Band, Green Day, Lady Gaga, P!nk, the Zac Brown Band, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Antebellum, Maxwell, and Taylor Swift.

Who's missing? Who do you think?

Susan Boyle of course!

Yes, I know her album is not eligible for an award in 2010 but that's not the point.

This surely wouldn't be the first time a performer at the Grammys has not actually been up for an award.

It's the biggest night of the year for music and the biggest star of music for 2009 should be there.

There's been so much talk about people wanting to do duets with her that this is their chance to do that on a global stage.

Let's draft Susan Boyle to perform at the 2010 Grammys.

Senator Chris Dodd will be sorely missed by the Irish

The retirement of Senator Chris Dodd comes as a major shock. He was one of the best friends the Irish ever had in the Senate and he will be sorely missed. I knew he was facing an uphill battle in Connecticut but last time we spoke he was in fighting form.

Chris is that rare bird,a politician who keeps his feet on the ground. Recently I was flying back to Ireland and was surprised to discover Chris sitting back in coach with us , contentedly reading a book, clearly relishing his anonymity. So many other politicians would have demanded first class and all the perks but that was not Chris's way.

He loved Ireland,especially his house in Connemara and he loved to go there in the winter season when he could read his books and take long walks. Ironically the house was one of the reasons he was making negative headlines recently because of allegations he did not pay market price .

He played a great role in the Irish peace process and was always a shoulder to lean on when we needed help on strategy and tactics with the Clinton White House.

He has a young family and a beautiful wife and I'm sure his recent brush with prostate cancer also focused him on what was really important in life.

I'm sure too, he deeply misses his soul mate Ted Kennedy too -- the two were often inseparable. Good luck with everything Chris.

What a stupid move to ban Kathy Griffin from CNN

By Niall O'Dowd
Banning Kathy Griffin from CNN because of her potty mouth is an insane exercise in censorship.
At a time when TV movies and crime series are ever more violent Griffin is being blanked because she dared to drop the f- bomb on air during a New Year's special.
I have news for America. if you go to Britain or Ireland don't turn on your TV screen because the F-word is uttered quite frequently -- though the cop shows tend to be far less violent.
Which is better for our kids? Some swearing that could easily have been bleeped out by time delay or rape, mayhem, murder on our TV screen nightly?
We had Kathy Griffin at one of our events in Irish America Magazine a few years back.She was hilarious --and profane. Nobody objected. As it turns out her mother's family are from the same town in Ireland my family grew up in. She has been to Ireland and loves it there.
I know she won't have been surprised if she turned her TV on over there. We need to grow up over here too. Bad language is not violent, mayhem on our TV screens alas, most definitely is.

Smith Bagley, Washington Irish philanthropist dies

Smith Bagley, 74, a very prominent member of the American Ireland Fund has died. He was heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune and married to Elizabeth Frawley Bagley who is very active in Irish American circles and was President Clinton's ambassador to Portugal.
The Washington Post reported that he died Jan. 2 at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda of complications from a stroke he suffered Christmas Eve while vacationing in St. Simons Island.
He and his wife, Elizabeth Bagley were fixtures at Irish social events in Washington D.C. and both strongly supported the American Ireland Fund.
Elizabeth Bagley had previously worked for Senator Edward Kennedy and handled the Irish issue for him. The couple were particularly close to John Hume, former leader of the SDLP party in Northern Ireland and Nobel Peace Prize winner
"He was much more than a fundraiser," Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee told the Washington Post . "Smith had more ideas than anyone else in the party. He always had a positive attitude and was great on strategic advice." "He was so generous, always in good humor and full of positive energy."

Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Elizabeth Frawley Bagley of Washington; a son from his first marriage, Walker Bagley of Lexington, Ky.; three children from his second marriage, Nancy Reynolds Bagley and Nicole Ladmer Bagley, both of Washington, and Brett Dylan Bagley of New York; two children from his third marriage, Vaughan Elizabeth Bagley and Conor Reynolds Bagley, both of Washington; a sister, Susan Bagley Bloom of Vancouver, Canada; and five grandchildren.

Van Morrison and a magical day in belfast

Whether or not Van Morrison has fathered a baby with Gigi Lee his reputation is still stellar.

I met him once. I was in a Belfast hotel near where critical talks on the Northern Irish peace process were going on in 2002 . I saw a man sitting in the restaurant as I was being seated and thought he looked an awful lot like Van Morrison. Of course it was him and it took me back to a magical day in 1995 when President Clinton visited Belfast.

Van the Man was there to blast out his magical anthem 'There'll be Days Like This' when Clinton stepped onto the stage at the Belfast City Hall in what he later described as one of the greatest days of his presidency.

For miles around over 500,000 people Catholic and Protestants cheered his name to the echo.

Van's song was just right for the occasion and it was the beginning of a wonderful day.

As a result I'll always associate Van Morrison with that amazing day for peace in Ireland.

Susan Boyle: The record-breaker

The meteoric rise to stardom enjoyed by Susan Boyle has been as impressive as it has been unbelievable, but one of our eagle-eyed Subo watchers, Suzanne Plourde, sent me in the following list of achievements that left me breathless.

With kudos to Suzanne for compiling such a list, I have decided to share her Susan record breakers with you all:

-"Britain's Got Talent" runner-up Susan Boyle made history by releasing the best-selling debut album - since records began.

-"I Dreamed a Dream "is now the first album ever to debut at No. 1 and stay there for five weeks in a row - since Billboard started keeping score in the 1950s.

She is the first artist in the 53-year history of the chart to have a debut album open No. 1 and stay in that position for the following four weeks, surpassing Lauryn Hill and Ashanti, whose albums held for three.

-Within a week of her original audition, Boyle's Wikipedia page was viewed more than 66 million times - an online record.

-Susan Boyle Tops Amazon Chart With November Release

By the time of its official release, "I Dreamed a Dream" had also become the biggest pre-order in the history of the Amazon.com music store, outselling Whitney Houston and the Beatles on the best-sellers list and, according to Columbia, broken pre-sales records on QVC and Barnes & Noble online.

-Susan Boyle Special breaks TV Guide Network ratings records

TV Guide Network's exclusive broadcast of "I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story" became the No.1 rated special in the network's history.
It achieved a triple digit audience increase (up 404 percent).

-Susan Boyle's 'Wild Horses' takes 'America's Got Talent' away
The 'Britain's Got Talent' runner up nearly steals the show from 'AGT' winner.

-Susan Boyle interview trumps President Obama's prime time address
No one — not even the president of the United States — can stop worldwide singing sensation Susan Boyle.

-Susan Boyle Tops YouTube's 2009 Videos Watched More Than 120 Million Times
Susan Boyle's audition video has been viewed worldwide over 300 million times according to visible measures (303,236,071)

-Top Twitter Trends Of 2009 - Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle, Adam Lambert

-Susan Boyle in online MTV News 'Top Ten Of The Year'.

-Susan Boyle becomes a Harper's Bazaar magazine 'Cover Girl' in September of 2009.
(Harper's Bazaar is a well-known American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Considered to be the style resource for "the well-dressed woman and the well-dressed mind".)

-Sales Records-

WEEK 1:
Susan Boyle's debut smashes U.S. chart records
Susan has set the high mark for a chart debut in 2009 at 701,000, the highest debut ever for a female solo artist on the Billboard 200 in the SoundScan era.
"I Dreamed a Dream" has the biggest debut of 2009, beating Eminem's Relapse (608,000), the previous record was held by Ashanti's self-titled 2002 debut, which sold 503,000 in its first week.
Even with the top 12 albums all selling over 100,000 copies for the best retail weekend of the year to date, Boyle's feat easily outstripped the more modest numbers put up by four other eagerly anticipated potential holiday blockbusters (Adam Lambert, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Shakira).

WEEK 2:
Susan Boyle's "Dream" holds On To Billboard #1
"I Dreamed a Dream," easily holds onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart, 527000 copies in its second week, breaking another U.S. record.
Since its release last week, Boyle's album has sold almost three million copies worldwide and hit the #1 spot in Australia, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand.

WEEK 3:
Susan Boyle tops chart for third week
The British reality-TV show contestant sold 582,000 copies of "I Dreamed a Dream" during the week ended December 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
So far, her debut album has sold 1.8 million copies and is racing after Taylor Swift's "Fearless," currently the top selling album of 2009 with 2.7 million.

WEEK 4:
Susan Boyle tops Album sales for fourth week
Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" held onto the #1 spot on the Billboard albums sales chart for a fourth consecutive week
Boyle’s collection posted a 14% sales increase over last week, logging 661,000 copies (up 14 per cent) heading into the final days before Christmas, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
That puts the album’s four-week total at 2.4 million, ahead of Michael Jackson’s “Number Ones” and behind only Taylor Swift’s “Fearless” on the list of the biggest-selling albums of 2009.

WEEK 5:
Susan Boyle tops Billboard for fifth week, with Mary J. Blige at #2
SuBo has sold nearly 3 million albums so far, almost matching Taylor Swift's Fearless total.
Boyle has been on such a run that her totals in just under a month and a half almost equal the 2009 figures for the year's sales champ, Taylor Swift's "Fearless."
Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" holds at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a fifth consecutive week, selling another 510,000 copies.
"Dream" has sold more than half a million copies in each of its first five weeks of release -- something only four albums have done since SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.

*note - this is only a partial list.
Susan Boyle has broken so many records in such a short time, it is nearly impossible to keep up with.
Therefore I would wager that she is not a 'flash-in-the-pan'.

Why she is being treated as a second-class citizen of pop music is beyond me.

Let the record speak for itself.
NZ: 9x Platinum
AUS: 8x Platinum
UK: 5x Platinum
US: 2x Platinum
CAN: 3x Platinum

Worldwide: ~5 Million Sales in ~6 weeks.

Top that.

Told you folks, Suzanne sent in some list. Don't be shy in sending in your favorite Subo findings!