Phoebe Prince's mother, Anne O'Brien, breaks her silence- Emotional appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan -VIDEO

Phoebe Prince

It was heartbreaking to watch Anne O'Brien, Phoebe Prince's mother give her first TV interview on the CNN show Piers Morgan Tonight.

Dressed in black, she was clearly still deeply grieving for her 15-year-old daughter who was badly bullied and committed suicide in January 2010 after moving to Massachusetts from Ireland and attending school at South Hadley High.

At several points in the interview there were tears in her eyes and a hesitancy in her answers.

She retained a dignified presence but clearly the death of her daughter has changed her life forever.

As she has said about Phoebe “It is impossible to measure the impact of Phoebe’s death upon our lives, “There will be no more reading to Phoebe, no more hearing her lovely soprano voice.

“How do you measure a future that should have been rightfully hers? Phoebe was a beautiful, intelligent, gregarious daughter, with a kind heart, able to show compassion for others.

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She was also painfully honest.

Asked by Piers Morgan if she hoped that Phoebe's death changed anything she said;

"Ideally I'd like it to be that children treat each other in a more civilized fashion but I'm not too hopeful about that."

"I think to say oh yes, everything is going to be different to each other because of Phoebe is naive.

Last May, five former South Hadley High School students – Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins Sean Mulveyhill, Kyla Narey and Sharon Velazquez – were found guilty of misdemeanor counts in the Prince bullying case.

"It's - that level of aggression towards another human being is just beyond my understanding," she said.

"It was almost planned.

"It is astounding that there never was a stop mechanism..an internal stop mechanism for some of tese kids to say this is going too far.But I also think the culture in the school helped enable that."

However, she said that the new bullying legislation, known as Phoebe's law, which mandates that schools treat the issue far more seriously, will be her daughter's legacy.

She paid a moving tribute to former DA Elizabeth Scheibel who pursued the bullying charges and forced a trial for her role in that and the new Phoebe law.

But she had contempt for school authorities who allowed the bullying to continue.

School Superintendent Gus Sayer was especially responsible.

"It was very painful because you realize as a parent no matter what I did, no matter how many times I called the school, no matter how many people I might have spoken to there, that she didn't stand a chance there."

“The school personnel will never be held accountable,’’ she previously told the Boston Globe . “It’s unfair.’’

She also drew differences between the defendants and their reaction to Phoebe's death.

"All we ever wanted,’’ O’Brien has said is “For these kids to take ownership of what they did, and to show genuine remorse."

Some clearly did, some did not.

They can get on with their lives, but it is clear Anne O'Brien is stuck in a lonely devastating place.

By telling her story last night however, she once again helped children everywhere who are being bullied by coming forward and focusing on an issue that needs to be addressed.

She deserves great credit for her courage.




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What if John F.Kennedy had survived Dallas 1963?- New Stephen King time travel book poses question

JFK in Dallas 1963

What if John F.Kennedy had survived the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald's bullets in Dallas on November 22 1963?

It is a question that will haunt history forever but a fascinating new book by Stephen King takes a stab at what might have happened.

King's book 11/22/63 tells the story of a time traveller, Jake Epping, who is sent back in time to prevent the murder of Kennedy.

The theory is that Kennedy would have kept America out of Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved and the world would be a much better place.

No Kennedy assassination, no murder of RFK, no killing of Martin Luther King, no Black riots, etc,a kinder gentler America

It is fiction, of course,mixed with fact about the assassination and King portrays the world of Oswald, the communist sympathiser and of Dallas in 1963, with extraordinary insight .

It is 800 pages long but I found I could not put it down during the Thanksgiving weekend

Though Oswald was an avowed Cuban sympathiser he was also strangely mixed up with right wing groups, Russian expatriates and mafia types.

He was also just 22, a deeply weird guy who slept with his controlling mother until he was 11, lived in the Bronx for a time where he was diagnosed as having delusions of grandeur by a psychiatrist.

Most of the conspiracy theories arise because Oswald himself is such an insignificant figure who took down the most important man on earth. As King makes clear however, the evidence is overwhelming that he did just that acting on his own.

King does an amazing job pointing out just how much of a hothouse of hate on several different Dallas was on the eve of the Kennedy visit. There was deep racial tension, right wing and left wing feuding and a deep sense of America on the verge of a major breakdown.

All this is wonderfully drawn out and explained by King who also throws the reader a curve ball after (spoiler alert)..... the president's life is saved.

Instead of America the noble, it actually gets worse in a second Kennedy term, he is unable to drive through the civil rights legislation that Jonson was able to with his superior senate experience.

America collapses even worse than it actually did and saving Kennedy proves a disaster.

The book is a fascinating exercise in what might have been but will never be-- and more's the pity..

Why David Drumm's allegations ring true - Says Irish state knew far more about Anglo collapse than they let on

Former Anglo Irish banker, David Drumm

READ MORE: David Drumm: ‘There is a witch hunt ... I convince myself that this will pass’

Are the Irish in denial over what happened during their banking and economic crisis?

Yesterday we published an exclusive interview with David Drumm, former CEO of Anglo Irish Bank, which made clear Drumm's belief that at key moments in that crisis the entire leadership of the Irish state were in cahoots to prevent a collapse at any price.

That may well have involved highly dubious actions, including one where Anglo Irish Bank loaned some of its best customers tens of millions of dollars to buy the bank's own stock as it began a freefall.

Drumm claims that such actions were clearly agreed to and known about by the key figures in the Irish banking , government and bank regulation world.

It is a sensational claim, making it clear that in the midst of a crisis extraordinary and possibly extra legal decisions were being made.

He cites a recent affidavit from a top bank official which shows that a working group of many leaders in those fields were meeting daily and agreeing strategy as the economic collapse began.

As Drumm describes it, everyone was working together until the collapse became inevitable and then "the scattering began"

Drumm feels that he and Anglo Irish have taken the brunt of the hatred in Ireland for the economic collapse.

He says he is prepared to accept some of the blame but that many of the other key players have got off Scot free.

It will be interesting to see the impact of Drumm's words over the next few weeks.

He is currently in bankruptcy proceedings in Boston and may well have cause to call on some of the same people now denying any knowledge of what was happening as the Irish banking collapse began.

Those were deeply murky times as the banks began to collapse and a panicked government and Irish superstructure tried to prevent it.'What they did in the end, guaranteeing the banks has comeback to haunt the Irish taxpayer.

What David Drumm says has the ring of truth in my opinion, It will be very interesting to see where it leads.

READ MORE: David Drumm: ‘There is a witch hunt ... I convince myself that this will pass’

Tragic suicide of head of Irish Democrats Abroad ---- Recalling Kate Fitzgerald, a woman who shone so brightly

Kate Fitzgerald was a bright bubbly girl, just 25, a daughter of friends of mine who moved back to Ireland from California.

She was head of Irish Democrats Abroad and was doing a spectacular job with an organization that had had gone from strength to strength.

I spoke to the Irish Democrats Abroad a few years ago and well remember how well Kate managed the night, a vivacious and warm person who I was glad to see had everything in place, and delivered a great opening speech.

I met her dad Tom and her mother Sally that night after many years of not meeting with them.

They had settled back in Cork after Tom moved his family back home. His family and mine are next door neighbors in West Kerry for generations. I remember congratulating them on such a lovely young woman as Kate

Then just recently, an unbelievable tragedy struck.

Kate FitzGerald took her young life, only 25 years old, with a combination of pills and alcohol.

She took it after the Irish Times had agreed to accept a piece from her anonymously stating that she was recovering from a suicide attempt and outlining what was important when people were possibly suicidal.

Between the Times accepting it and it being published she had died.

The Times editor Peter Murtagh who took her piece has written a moving piece in The Irish Times about her death and the wonderful young woman he knew.

In the piece she wrote for him she referred to an earlier attempt and how friends had dissuaded her and she sought help and was admitted to hospital.

“I signed a form with an unknown level of alcohol and pills in my system,” she wrote. “For all intents and purposes, my admission was voluntary. In reality I was too mortified not to follow the wishes of my seemingly put-upon friends, not to survive for the sake of my job, and far too blinded by the smoke and mirrors of depression and self-inflicted harm to realize what I was doing.”

“I write in the hope that this grabs someone, anyone, and makes them think twice about what they may lose by not asking the question. Seek guidance. Seek insight. For when you ask a question – a true question – only then can you receive an answer. And answers.”

In school Kate was bullied, mainly because she stood out with her American accent. Despite that she went on to a highly successful career in public relations and latterly as head of Democrats Abroad where she became a familiar media figure.

As Murtagh wrote: "But the very qualities that made Kate special might also have marked her out in a manner not to her advantage. The bright kid with the American accent was bullied.

“She was tough,” says Sally, “but not as tough as we thought. She had her own style. She stood out. She was single-minded, knew what she was about, what she wanted.”

“She loved the adrenalin of being head of Democrats Abroad,” says her mother Sally. “She was so stylish; she was in PR, she knew how to present herself,” says Tom.

But under the surface all was not well.

Tom says: “I think she felt in over her head. I think she was unable to cope with the value system that often exists in journalism and PR. She was hooked on the adrenalin of power, the pressure, the deadlines – but, you know, it was all too much for her.”

On her Facebook page there was a host of well wishers, distraught by the news “Such a loss of a beautiful, smart and inspirational girl. In even a short time, she made a huge impact,” wrote Laura.

“Kate was a truly radiant personality. The world is a lesser place without her,” wrote Pat Lewis.

“I feel so incredibly privileged to have known Kate, to have tried to be as knowledgeable and as passionate and as damn good a dancer as she was,” wrote Alan.

Kate’s ashes were scattered at Sea Ranch, a holiday resort in Sonoma County, in Northern California, a place she knew and loved. “She’s there now with the whales and California sea lions,” says Tom.

And we have an abiding memory of a wonderful girl, whose life ended all too soon and so tragically.

May she rest in peace.

Potato is dying out in Ireland reports New York Times ---Pasta the new potato as busy parents prepare it quicker

The potato, the humble spud formerly and Irish favorite

Never thought I'd see the day but ....the potato is dying out in Ireland as pasta takes over according to The New York Times.

My father and his generation are surely turning in their grave.

My Dad was a spud specialist, a man who could tell with one bite what part of Ireland a potato came form and what kind it was.

It was the Irish equivalent of a French wine connoisseur, and he was noted for it.

He was not alone, for most of the last century before new-fangled food like pasta came in the spud was the common denominator a in every Irish household rich or poor.

Now it seems the spud is on its way out --along with the pub, the Catholic religion etc.

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These are distressing times!

Irish families in the modern world are preparing pasta which takes about ten minutes rather than potatoes which take far longer the newspaper reports.

The paper quotes Bord Bia the Irish food marketing board as stating that potato consumption has dropped 25 per cent in Ireland.

“We believe that, emotionally, most Irish consumers still love to eat their potatoes, but several key issues negatively impact on their consumption,” the board said
Irish mostly believe potatoes are fattening which is also a myth but the Atkins diet has remained very popular and that forbids potatoes.

“In terms of overall nutrition and including vitamin C, the potato is head and shoulders above pasta and rice,” said, a Paula Mee a Dublin dietician “But pasta will often win out, particularly when you’re busy. I don’t know any child who doesn’t eat it. The packaging is more colorful, you don’t have to peel it, and it’s quick and fast to prepare.”

“There is a legacy attached to the potato, and it obviously isn’t a happy one,” she said. “It is in our DNA to regard the potato as a peasant food linked to a past we would obviously all rather leave behind us.”

Vicky Leahy, a lecturer and single mother said spuds simply didn’t cut it any.
“To state the obvious, spuds take half an hour to prepare, while pasta takes 10 minutes and rice slightly longer,” she said. “But it’s deeper than that. Potatoes personify the Ireland of my father’s generation, where meat and two vegetables were on the table at 6 o’clock every single night. That’s what I associate them with, but we’ve all traveled and we’ve moved on.”

Liam Glennon, president of the Irish Potato Federation, said potatoes have a poor image.

“We have to tackle the ‘poor relation syndrome’ where potatoes are associated with the pre-Celtic Tiger times,” he said, referring to Ireland’s decade-long economic boom that began in the mid-1990s. “I would hope we are not in terminal decline — and I don’t believe we are. Because potatoes are so strongly associated with Ireland, such a scenario would be unthinkable.”
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People to be thankful for this Thanksgiving - people who brighten our lives

Irish actress and Hollywood legend Maureen O'Hara 

Here is my annual list of those who have brightened my life this past year. As always, it is so easy to be negative, especially in the media world, which is why Thanksgiving gives us that precious opportunity to say a few words of praise, especially for those older leaders who have led the way for a younger generation.

Top of my list is Maureen O’Hara, the great Irish screen star who just seems to get stronger with age.

She celebrated her 91st birthday with the announcement of a major film school in her name in Co. Cork.  As the years go by The Quiet Man gets more iconic than ever. Many more years of good health Maureen.

Then there’s Pete Hamill, still the greatest chronicler of Irish America. His autobiography A Drinking Life is the best exposition of our culture, warts and wonderful traits combined. Great to see him working on yet another book and on the lecture circuit too.

Gabriel Byrne is giving back in spades. The actor and Irish cultural ambassador is helping fund the new Irish Arts Center and working tirelessly as Ireland’s arts ambassador to bring top notch shows and productions to America.

Liam Neeson, despite the most awful tragedy, the loss of his wife Natasha Richardson after a ski accident two years ago, continues to work to help Irish causes.

Ciaran O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore of the Irish Repertory Theater do so much to keep Irish drama alive in New York City.

The late Tom Kennedy of the American Ireland Fund was the very definition of an Irish gentleman who sadly passed away recently.

Mary Higgins Clark made such a magnificent grand marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Parade last year and who continues to defy Father Time with a new bestseller every year.

Don Keough is the man who brought the Notre Dame campus to Ireland and created the incredible Irish Institute at Notre Dame. He has come back from a bout of ill health with all guns blazing -- look for him in Dublin in September when Notre Dame play there.

Dr. Kevin Cahill almost single-handedly saved the American Irish Historical Society in New York.  It is America’s most prestigious Irish location, and he has ensured that it has a very bright future.

Denis Kelleher, a board member who was a huge part of retaining that wonderful American Irish Historical Society building.

Father Joe O’Hare is the former president of Fordham University. If the rest of the Catholic Church were like him there would be millions of converts.

We all take pace for granted the work Senator George Mitchell in our beloved Ireland. Without Mitchell the peace process would never have happened.

President Bill Clinton is still revved up and willing to help Ireland. He is going to host an economic conference to help the old country in 2012. We are lucky to have him in our corner.

Adrian Flannelly and Aine Sheridan are Irish American stalwarts. For over 40 years the Adrian Flannelly radio show has been a beacon for visitors from Ireland and Irish America alike. Long may it prosper.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Newt Gingrich shows real leadership and wins latest Republican debate

Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich revealed a compassionate conservative side in the Republican presidential debate last night that could well propel him to the nomination.

While the rest of the field seem frozen in clichés and well worn extreme formulas, Gingrich stepped up to the plate with a compassionate defense of immigration that could well resound with thinking Republicans.

Gingrich is not ready as Romney is to play the platitudes game.

Everyone suspects that the inner Romney is somehow far less right wing than he is appearing in these debates.

The overwhelming sense is of someone inauthentic and the Republic grassroots are correct in perceiving that.

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Gingrich on the other hand, whether the issue is social security reform or immigration, is prepared to step up to the plate with real proposals.

That’s called leadership and it’s why Gingrich has suddenly burst to the front of the pack in the Republican field.

His answers on immigration was sincere and to the point.

Despite the well-worn clichés you cannot deport 11 million undocumented from the US.

It would take a federal government operation that would use up billions if not trillions trying to achieve it.

Gingrich’s solution is to allow those with deep roots in the country to stay here and to take all other cases on a case-by-case basis.

It is nuanced policy that reflects the reality of the situation out there.

It was also brave at a time of deep anti-immigrant sentiment in the GOP for Gingrich to speak out on the issue.

The others immediately rounded on him, but unlike Perry who appears a straw man, Gingrich has real intellectual heft, which was shown on this occasion.

I’m beginning to think he might just win the GOP nomination.

Here's a clip from the debate:



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John F Kennedy shot 48 years ago today - a defining moment for a kid in Ireland - VIDEO

John F Kennedy and his wife Jackie O

I was 10 years old sitting in front of a television in my home town of Drogheda in Ireland. The program on RTE, the Irish national station was called 'Air Power' about America's military might and the importance of the latest kind of fighter planes.

It was November 22nd 1963, 48 years ago today.

A world away John F.Kennedy had already made that fatal turn past Dealey Plaza in Dallas to his appointment with death.

A few moments later the TV screen went blank and a long silence followed.

After about five minutes the scene switched to RTE's newsroom.

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A newsreader, Charles Mitchell, the Walter Cronkite of his day, came on. He was usually so unruffled and calm and yet ,on this occasion he looked agitated and ill at ease.

He read a brief statement from United Press International that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas.

The screen went blank again

I fetched ny father and mother and soon my brothers and sisters joined us.

We sat looking at the screen, by now showing footage from President Kennedy's recent visit to Ireland, a week of incredible pride for my nation.

Then we switched to BBC and a teary eyed newsreader announced that Kennedy was dead.

To say we were stunned was an understatement.

How could that vibrant brilliant young shining star be quenched so suddenly?

In the long days that followed we felt our innocence had died along with John F.Kennedy.

His brief period in power seemed more like an Irish Aisling, the dream poems where lovers conjured up visions of those they lost and loved.

Even to this day he holds a place in our memories, he has influenced every leader since, he has become the political icon of our time.

Years later I visited Dealey Plaza and the book repository where he had been shot from. It seemed so banal, so small, so anonymous for what monstrous deed had been committed there.

But to a ten year old all those years ago, he represented the first intimation of mortality.

As Shakespeare wrote;

"In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire."

Here's some of the live feed of the news from November 22nd 1963:

Bill Clinton's warning about Irish economic prospects -- says country needs to forgive mortgage debt much quicker

Bill Clinton

Former president Bill Clinton worries that Ireland will take too long to recover from its economic difficulties and that it needs to institute emergency measures such as mortgage relief far quicker.

I met the former president at a small midtown charity event last night in New York and Ireland was very much on his mind.

As always he stopped to chat when he meets a small Irish group and his affection and indeed love for the country is very evident.

He had to be dragged away as always when speaking to Irish issues which clearly energize him.

He remarked that Prime Minister Enda Kenny may not have been completely pleased with his advice during his recent visit to Ireland where he was the keynote speaker at the Irish Diaspora conference.

He pointed out that historically, the best way to move on from a recession was to start over and forgive debt as quickly as possible.

That was not the formula being followed in Europe at the present time and he believes that Ireland as well needed to learn that lesson.

Studying the history of previous recessions is the great teacher in these circumstances he suggested.

And that history was clear, that where debt relief was allowed, the recovery comes far quicker he pointed out.

It was sage advice from a former president who most Americans would pick in heartbeat to re-occupy the Oval Office if they got the chance.

Clinton is continuing to help Ireland.

In 2012 he will host an economic summit to bring together multinational business leaders to talk about investment there.

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His message will be clear. If companies are locating subsidiaries overseas, Ireland should be on top of the list

The Clinton era is looking better and better in the rear view mirror as we survey the economic morass today.

Little wonder his new book 'Back to Work' is getting rave reviews.

Here is what The New York Times said.

"It’s a lucid one-man rebuttal of the Tea Party’s anti-government agenda. A series of shrewd talking points for Democrats trying to hold on to the White House and battling for control of Congress in the midst of a sour economy and growing voter discontent. A self-serving reminder of the prosperity the country enjoyed during Mr. Clinton’s tenure in the White House, meant to burnish his legacy. And a practical set of proposals — some borrowed and some new, some innovative and some highly sketchy — for restoring economic growth and creating jobs."

As usual in a crisis it seems Bill Clinton is talking the most sense.

Clearing Zuccotti Park least bad option for Bloomberg and top cop Ray Kelly - But Occupy Wall Street won't go away you know

Protesters stand-up to cops at OWS

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly was damned if he did and damned if he didn't clear Zuccotti Park where the Occupy Wall Street protesters had been gathered for almost two months now.

In the event the city decided to move when the news of a shutdown of Wall Street was due for Thursday this week, disrupting the financial center with a day long carnival.

In addition business owners and communities who lived near the park had reached breaking point with the protesters,claiming lost sales and incessant noise all night long from the camp.
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Even the protesters themselves had reached the point where they were uncertain what to do next. A harsh winter looms and there were increasing tales of robberies and mentally ill mixing with the groups.

There was no easy solution and Kelly and his boss Michael Bloomberg had clearly wrestled with the right course of action for weeks now.

A police captain referred to health and safety hazards when announcing the park would be cleared

Closing down the camp must have seemed like the best of a list of bad options.

But is is by no means clear that is how it will turn out.

The Occupy Wall Street group struck a huge chord, not just across the nation but across the world .

They changed the political dynamic, forcing attention on those who through greed cratered the economy yet got away scot free while the 99 per cent of ordinary folk continue to suffer in the deep recession.

In real terms the occupiers can claim victory for changing the mindset where the Tea Party were seen as the only motivated, activist group on the political landscape.

There is now a solid counterweight to their argument that the only culprit for the financial mess was government mishandling.

This debate will play out all the way through the 2012 elections.

The clearing of Zuccotti Park is just the latest chapter to unfold.

But it will not be the last.

A good news story, an Irish newspaper that would not die --The Irish Post rises again from the ashes in London

London: A few months back the Irish Post, the voice of the Irish in Britain, seemed doomed.

The Irish-based Examiner group had decided to pull the plug claiming substantial losses and it looked like the end for the flagship of the Irish community throughout Britain.


The widespread view was that the Examiner Group, beset by losses in its Irish publications. had just decided that the British paper was not worth the candle.

They did so in a stunning 48 hour period, telling staff the publication had ceased publishing and the newspaper was no more.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to the wake.

The community rallied to its newspaper and refused to let it die.

Jennie McShannon head of The Federation of Irish Societies stated the Post could not be allowed to close. it was “more than a business – it was an institution”“The Irish Post has been our strength, our core. It has bound the community together and provided a much-needed focus.”

Then the staff of the Irish Post, instead of taking the closure lying down hit back, saying they believed the newspaper was still solvent and profitable and had been abandoned by its owners because their attention was elsewhere, on their troubled Irish properties.

They mounted a 'Save the Irish Post' campaign which soon drew a massive following. They worked tirelessly to seek out new investors who would save the title. They took to the Internet and the corridors of power.

The Post had stood with the Irish community during the dark days of The Troubles when bombs in Britain made it hazardous to be Irish. Miscarriages of justice like the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four and others were carried out when innocent Irishmen and women were jailed for horrific bombings that IRA units had carried out.

It was a time of anti-Irish sentiment everywhere, where almost every comedian used Irish jokes as his staple. The Irish Post, under founder Brendan Mac Lua stood up for its community and provided the vital backbone that kept the community flourishing.


So much was at stake for the Irish community when the Post closed. According to Martin Collins, parliamentary officer for the Federation who I met for dinner here in London this weekend, the combined pressure had an immediate impact.

He himself helped rally 75 members of parliament to the cause , a clear indication of how influential the newspaper had become even in government and political circles in Britain.

"We knew the pressure was on to save the newspaper, the very lifeblood of our community," he said. " We threw everything at it."

It was a race against time. The sudden decision to shutter the newspaper had meant that each passing week made it ever more vital to get the title back on the street.

It is the story you have read about a hundred times in this new era of publishing where cutbacks and closures are the rule.

But the Irish Post beat the odds.

An investor was found, a newspaper was saved.

As I passed through Euston Station the other day I went to the newsstand and witnessed a miracle, the second issue of the Irish Post, large and lovely on the newsstand.

It is the newspaper that would not die and sure, there may be tough days ahead , but a community has spoken out and a great newspaper has been saved.

The Irish Post became a story in itself for a brief period for all the wrong reasons.

Now that has been precisely reversed.

Long may it prosper.

Time has come for daytime flights from US to Ireland - Would boost tourist numbers at a critical time

Tourists outside Old Jameson distillery

London: It is time for a daytime flight from the US to Ireland.

I am more convinced than ever after this trip to London.

I boarded a British Airways plane at 8.30 in New York on Wednesday morning and arrived here in London at 8 p.m local time.

I had time to have dinner, meet a friend and get a full night's sleep and woke this morning feeling refreshed and ready for the world.

Usually when I am flying to Ireland and I have to fly overnight and end up feeling bedraggled and worse for wear for at least a couple of days.
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At least I don't have to go through what many families have to do, sitting around hotel lobbies, sometimes with young kids, waiting for the room check-in time which can often be around 2.p.m.

The flights mostly arrive in around 6.a.m so the hapless family may be at least five or six hours waiting around.

There is no good reason in the world why day-time flights to Ireland cannot happen.

I have heard every argument from crew rosters to plane positioning to hotel rosters but the truth is that the consumer is being overlooked here.

I also think it would do wonders for travel to Ireland with people arriving at a much more civilized hour and getting access to hotel rooms right away.

It is the kind of issue that gets raised every few years but little gets done.

Ye,t at a time when tourism has become a huge factor in the recovery of the Irish economy, it is worth revisiting again

It is so obvious that it would help numbers coming to Ireland immediately.

Whatever airline tries it will benefit greatly I believe

I am certainly all for it -- what do you think?

Shock closure of Irish Embassy in Vatican Announced -- Further evidence of deep problems between Ireland and Holy See

Plaque outside the Irish Embassy in the Vatcian

The closure of their embassy at the Vatican by the Irish government is a startling move.

While they couched it in terms of it saving money, the fact is that the Vatican posting, in particular, was considered one of the most high prestige posts in the world.

It is easy to see why. The Papal Nuncio, the Holy See Ambassador in Dublin, was always considered dean of the diplomatic corps there and given extra respect and access.

It would have been inconceivable a few years ago that Ireland would turn its back on its Vatican outpost.

It is a measure of how sadly diminished the Catholic Church is in Ireland that a government now feels enabled to take this step.

Eamon De Valera even enshrined the church's special position in the Irish constitution.

Years ago such a move would have resulted in a belt of the crozier sufficient to put the government back in line very quickly.

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There will be no such threat this time.

The Vatican has previously withdrawn their Nuncio in Dublin, Giuseppe Leanza, after the Irish government had criticized them over the sex abuse scandals.


New Prime Minster Enda Kenny quickly made his mark when he accused the Vatican of taking part in the cover up over abusive priests.

He was applauded by a scandal weary nation for doing so.

Those abuse cases have sucked the fight out of the church.

A recent survey conducted by a religious group showed that 50 percent of the Irish people no longer trusted the church.

That is an incredible number for a church that once had over 90 per cent mass attendance and the ear of every major politician.

The closure of the embassy is another extraordinary step in the evolving relationship between Dublin and the Vatican.

The Holy See will not be pleased at this move, signaling as it inevitably does a lessening of their influence in Ireland.

It will be interesting to see their response.

Owen Patterson- a different kind of Northern Ireland secretary

Owen Paterson

Owen Paterson recently took part in a 1,000-mile horse race across Mongolia.

It is hardly the resume item you would expect to see on a Northern Ireland secretary’s bio, but Paterson, 55, is hardly the conventional type of politician.

He rarely beats about the bush even when on the defensive, which his government was last month after it announced that it would not hold a new public inquiry into the Pat Finucane murder back in 1989.

Finucane’s widow Geraldine essentially stormed out after British Prime Minister David Cameron said no to the public inquiry into a murder for which the order, many believe, came from the very top of the British government back in 1989.

Over breakfast in Manhattan last week, Paterson says he accepts the finding of earlier tribunals that there was collusion -- a chilling admission in itself when you think about it -- but says a new public inquiry would not clear up the matter.

He points out that many of the original actors have now died, and that a lengthy but incomplete public inquiry would not necessarily help bring about the truth.

Instead his government has proposed that Sir Desmond de Silva QC, highly praised for his pursuance of UN war crime prosecutions in Sierra Leone, "carry out an independent review to produce a full public account of any state involvement -- the army, the (then) Royal Ulster Constabulary, the security service or other U.K. government body.”
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The Finucane family finds this unsatisfactory. Paterson says he is sorry, but that is what his government will do.

He points out that good faith has been established by the Saville Inquiry, widely praised for its finding on Bloody Sunday, and that his government is keen as anyone to put the murky past behind them in Northern Ireland.

Bottom line, however, is we can hardly expect the full truth anytime soon on how high up the Finucane murder order came from.

Paterson is refreshingly blunt for a politician, and greatly favors a bigger focus on economic issues in Northern Ireland and the future role he may play.

He notes the fact that 70% of the Northern Irish workforce is dependent on government for their jobs.  It is an insane figure, and Paterson has made no bones about making his own strong feelings on the topic known.

Paterson says that corporation tax reduction in the North, such as the rate that applies in the Irish Republic, is a key aim in order to attract more investment.

He had recently saved the bacon of the vital U.S. air link from Belfast to Newark after Continental threatened to pull out.

 Continental were set to withdraw because of high passenger taxes, but Paterson persuaded his friend George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, to cut a special deal.

“Continental were quite clear on the air passenger -- as long as it stayed at £60 it was costing them millions every year. They made it clear they couldn’t go on indefinitely absorbing the costs of the flight,” Paterson said.

Paterson succeeded in cutting it to  £12, thereby preserving a vital link.

He is also not afraid to take on politicians’ pay. Paterson also wants to confront what he calls “double jobbing” by some politicians who hold seats in both Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

He told the Conservative Party conference, "I don't believe anybody can be a full-time MP and a full-time Assembly Member, and so I will give you this commitment today -- by agreement if possible, but by law if necessary -- we will end double-jobbing."

On the dissident IRA threat, Paterson points out that they continue to have very little popular support. Their latest bombings in Derry, apparently aimed at the fact that the city won the U.K. City of Culture award for 2013, brought out citizens on the street protesting against the dissidents.

"It is quite extraordinary when you think how that city is coming together united behind the City of Culture coming along soon, that this tiny number of unrepresented people can do such a crazily reckless thing,” Paterson said.

He has put together another package of $300 million to tackle the continuing dissident threat.

Paterson knows there is much work to be done before Northern Ireland can truly be a normal society, but his ability to take on some sacred cows just might move that process along.