For a while, I’ve been toying with an column idea. Call it The Raised Eyebrow. Part Flat Earth News, part questioning conventional wisdom. Last week, an editor agreed to a column. Depending on how it worked out, more might follow. …
Category Archive: 200 Words
Gerard Cunningham writes 200 Words at a time. Sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical, whatever is going on around the place.
Jan
29
Ripped from the headlines
BBC News carries a story about a ‘Jack the Ripper manuscript‘, discovered in a museum two years ago and about to be published in book form. But the ‘confession’ as described in the article sets off several alarm bells, not …
Jan
29
A torrent of words
I write. As a freelance, I hold copyright on those words. “Ireland’s SOPA” wants to protect those words. But copyright already protects them. My words have been pirated a few times. The first time, articles were cut and pasted wholesale …
Jan
21
Banging on the same old drum
The average industrial wage is a moveable feast. Last year David Cullinane told me he took home €530 a week. Pearse Doherty takes home €540 a week at present. That’s the thing with averages. They change over time. How Sinn …
Jan
20
Pearse Doherty and the Average Industrial Wage
Sitting in my inbox for a while now has been a letter from SIPO, along with various records of politicians’ expenses, all revolving around the issue of Sinn Fein and the “average industrial wage”. On Friday, Pearse Doherty published a …
Jan
17
Poll positions
Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone writes about a phone poll of local councillors attitudes: “Two-thirds of Councillors from the two Government parties would support changes to the Croke Park Agreement, according to this survey carried out by my office. A …
Jan
08
Flying by the seat of your pants
Last week, the Sunday Independent front page carried a Ryanair story. Michael O’Leary addressed a conference on innovation, the newspaper reported, where he outlined how the European Commission invited him to Brussels, but refused to pay for his flight because …
Dec
07
Roll call
Kieran Allen. Michael Clifford. Karl Deeter. John Drennan. Diarmuid Ferriter. Fergus Finlay. Maureen Gaffney. Constantin Gurgdiev. Eoghan Harris. Eddie Hobbs. Gemma Hussey. Pat Leahy. Tina Leonard. Diarmaid McDermott. Sean McDonagh. Michael McDowell. Harry McGee. Tom McGurk. Joseph O’Connor. Mary-Louise O’Donnell. …
Dec
04
Street value
Hang around the courts for a while, as many journalists do, and you begin to notice some odd patterns. Consider these snippets from a google search of reports on drugs convictions, for example: “16.43 grammes of cocaine valued at €1150″ …
Nov
27
A thought on the Occupy movement
At a crucial point in V for Vendetta, as the populace, wearing now-iconic Guy masks, march on Parliament, a stand-off develops between citizens and soldiers. It is resolved when the soldiers refuse to fire. It’s not the first time I’ve …