citizen of nowhere

I’ve never been a great admirer of Opera as lived experience, the social ritual of dressing in dinner jacket and black tie like an oversized penguin, followed by a display of outlandish stop-go exaggerated gestures, bawling and screeching and that's just the audience! I love the sound of Opera, the human voice orchestrated with symphonic rhythms as a dramatic, tender or moving experience but the full immersive shock has usually been too much, for me. Happily I had no need to concern myself about such things when I was distracted by travelling and city life. If I wanted Opera, there was plenty to be heard on stereo, if I felt so inclined. These days I spend much more time in the country, in Wexford, a short drive from the Opera House. This made little impact on me during the years of pandemic lockdowns but this year the festival made a big splash announcing itself in unmistakable terms. Nobody in Wexford can regard themselves as properly civilised without at least a bluffer’s acqu

  I generally avoid hyperbole but I can scarcely find words to express the explosion of musical talent last weekend at Wells House in Wexford. Gloomy weather outdoors was banished as Dianne Marshall performed a morning programme of Harp music. Dianne, from Laois, is in complete control of the instrument, drawing out a vast range of sound, colour and even percussion. The programme surprised with everything from Bach to Faure, predominantly 20 th century music.   Anyone who has a chance to hear Dianne Marshall playing should do so. She is a truly gifted artist with a wonderful command of the concert harp. The evening concert was given by the Musici Ireland string quartet led by Beth McNinsh, playing viola. Ioana Petcu-Colan   played   1 st Violin and local girl Lynda O’Connor on 2 nd violin with Katie Tertell on cello. Most of the programme was modern music of sublime quality. Philip Glass’s Mishima “Closing” was a striking combination of evocative themes and strong recurring rhythm

  Global Brexitania leads the world in government incompetence, dishonesty & corruption. Prime Minister and world-beating liar Johnson lies to parliament, almost weekly, to a chorus of approval from CON MPs. The days when GB ministers were called to order by Speaker Bercow   are gone. His replacement, the supine Sir Lindsay Hoyle, is more Censor than Speaker, blocking opposition members who demand he set the record straight. He refuses to correct the relentless torrent of government lies, claiming it’s not his role to check facts but to control member’s behaviour. Telling lies repeatedly is acceptable behaviour in the eyes of Censor Hoyle, apparently.   Goebells’ nostrum; “A lie told often enough becomes the truth” is official UK government policy. Liar Johnson has a habit of proclaiming “the UK has the highest economic growth rate in the G7” to roars of approval from his backbenches. He makes this claim almost weekly but it’s seriously misleading. Growth can vary from one quarte

A UK-EU fisheries agreement must protect the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). It's easy to overlook the fact that Ireland has a marine border with the UK, not just a land frontier.  Michael Gove, a senior UK minister & joint chair of the committee for the Ireland Protocol, has said “we will ... extend control of our waters up to ... the median line between ... Britain and Ireland”. Gove’s statement means Irish vessels could be excluded by UK forces from fishing in Northern Ireland waters, where Irish vessels have always been free to go. The issue is most acute in Lough Foyle & Carlingford Lough, both bisected by the marine border.  Gove is a senior minister in London & one of the driving forces behind Britain’s exit from the EU. UK govt is enacting legislation to allow it to break international law & treaties, including the Withdrawal Agreement, negotiated in 2019, & the GFA. Gove published a document repudiating the GFA, in 2000, long after it was ratified by

Dr Mohsin Kamal is an experienced medical doctor, originally from Pakistan, working in Ireland for over 4 years as a hospital Paediatrician, along with many dedicated doctors and healthcare workers from numerous countries. Qualified & experienced medical professionals like Dr Kamal are desperately needed but they face obstacles because of rule changes which treat them like inexperienced novices, which is clearly wrong. Rule changes, in Ireland, require overseas personnel to go back and do Basic Specialist Training (BST) before they can progress, even after years of clinical practice, as if their experience & service count for nothing. The UK & other countries give experienced practitioners exemption from these requirements and offers training directly at advanced level for experienced & highly trained people like Dr Kamal. It doesn’t make sense to work as registrar for few years then to apply for Basic Training despite being seriously overqualified. This is was

Tory Covid19 soundbite BS, translated Totally committed; Couldn’t care less Working flat out; Calm down dear, it’s only a virus Working relentlessly; Chillaxing Tireless efforts; Chillaxing in Mustique Top priority; Not my department Test, test, test; Rest, rest, rest Ramping up; Yeaaah, what’s the problem? 250,000 tests a month; In your dreams Support the NHS; Flog it Mild symptoms; Dodging awkward questions Bail-out; Taxpayers’ cash for Tory tax-dodgers BBC journalist; Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha... Secretary of State; Useless, clueless turd

Politics & government in UK & USA are dominated by people who’re skilled in the arts of communication, persuasion & distraction & little else. Persuasion skills are useful when campaigning for election, to persuade voters to think a certain way & vote for certain policies. Persuaders have had a good run, convincing people to vote for Brexit, Trump & the CONservatives. Trouble sets in when the persuaders have to engage with reality, assuming responsibility for events in the real world, confronted with tricky facts and unpredictable risks. Distraction techniques can’t obscure reality forever. Covid19 pays no attention to anonymous briefings, slogans or meaningless announcements. It must be confronted quickly and credibly by capable leaders grappling with complex issues & the messy details of real life. Trump, Johnson & their camp followers can’t conjure up slick answers for the Covid19 virus, nor for the tricky details of Brexit trade agreements & te

The Covid19 pandemic is the 2nd major crisis in 12 years. Many businesses & people have just about recovered from the financial crash of 2008. Another major panic, so soon after the last encounter with disaster, forces a rethink of priorities in all aspects of life. The financial crisis of 2008 was followed by a “top down” tsunami of money issued by central banks, for capital markets, bondholders & institutions. This largesse was deliberately targeted away from ordinary people, for fear of undermining incentives for work & enterprise. The benefits of the wall of money were supposed to trickle down to the population from increased spending & investment by holders of financial & asset wealth. In practice there is a limit to how much of everyday goods & services anyone can consume. Wealthy asset-owners splashed their cash on classic cars, art-works & real estate. The value of expensive assets rose to stratospheric levels while workers, citizens & small

Brexit is a contest between a majoritarian system of government, in which a simple majority can enact any law, regardless of the impact on individual citizens’ rights, and a constitutional system in which the fundamental rights of citizens can only be changed through broadly-based consent. The lack of robust constitutional defence for citizens’ rights is a recurring theme in various legal challenges in the UK courts since 2016. English courts have delivered a consistent view that Parliament is the sovereign power. It alone can decide on whatever course of action it likes and anyone whose rights are threatened or diminished has little choice but to accept this, or move elsewhere. Most modern democracies, including the USA and the EU states, have written constitutions, defining citizens’ rights and the limits of government power. The UK’s unwritten constitution imposes few limits on government action. EU law offered a proxy for constitutional stability, during the years of UK members

Extract from a work in progress, © Copyright, follow @j_g_fitzgerald on TW for further extracts; 1 The vision Great change begins with small events, signs and omens of seemingly little significance. Later, when people recall the turning points, patterns appear in hindsight. Obscure words and trivial happenings acquire meaning and are elevated in memory. People who may have attracted little attention in their own time are revealed as authors of a new, uncharted future. Kathleen Daly paused in the elevated stone entrance of a church. She pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped into the dark interior. A shaft of light swung into the deep silence. A hint of incense lingered, like disturbed spirits, in the air. An old man stood with his head bowed, praying in front of a statue of Saint Anthony, illuminated by candles flickering on a wax-encrusted stand. Two elderly women knelt with their heads bowed, clasping rosary beads, whispering sibilant prayers. Kathleen wasn’t especially dev

Citizens of EU states are threatened by a loss of lawful rights and liberty under the flawed Withdrawal Agreement. EU citizens who live in the UK must now apply to stay in their own homes, with an uncertain future. Citizens in Northern Ireland will lose their fundamental rights under EU law and will soon face barriers and restrictions on their freedom to do business and live where they chose. UK citizens living in the EU face the loss of healthcare and new rules concerning income and eligibility for residence in their homes. Millions of citizens made significant life choices, within EU and national laws, but they are now threatened with serious and, in some cases, life-threatening disruption. UK government ministers have stated they want to use EU citizens as “bargaining chips”, for leverage in future negotiations. The UK government plans to diverge from EU law. UK courts will be free to make judgments eroding citizens’ rights, with no right of appeal to the European Court of Justice