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Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly

The Irish News

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So how do the current crop of politicians match up?

I read that Taoiseach Simon Harris came into this world in October 1986. To put this in perspective, I started working with the late Seamus Mallon MP...

monday 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

We need to protect our children from those wedded to failed past

Easter is supposed to be a time of renewal. It’s also a time of hope. But as a writer I didn’t feel joyous this Easter. Whilst staying in a hotel...

07.04.2024 20

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

The monstrosity of it all. The brutality, the pointlessness, and the ghosts

“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”, wrote the author L P Hartley. Those words came to mind whilst watching the BBC...

01.04.2024 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Farewell Leo, you were a decent taoiseach but not a great one

Alas, poor Leo... who, unlike Yorick, no-one really seemed to know too well. The taoiseach surprised nearly everyone by announcing his resignation....

25.03.2024 6

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Reconciliation should come before a border poll if we are to have an Ireland that is better, not bitter

Martin Luther King didn’t just inspire generations of Americans with his non-violent campaign for civil rights, he also inspired many Irish people...

18.03.2024 20

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Disturbing questions remain about dirty war

Seven years on and at a cost of some £40 million, the interim report of Operation Kenova has finally landed. Its content is explosive but not...

11.03.2024 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

As with Gaza, the victims and survivors of our Troubles deserve truth and justice

Reading the front page of this paper on Friday was disheartening in every sense. The current plight of the people of Gaza should weigh heavily on the...

04.03.2024 5

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Caring about sharing is the way to build a consensus for unity

The recent announcement by the Irish government to literally pump hundreds of millions of euros into the north is making good on the promise by...

27.02.2024 9

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Before asking us to cut our cloth, why doesn’t the British government give NI enough to cover the essentials?

The Labour Party has just won two stunning victories in seats previously held by Tories with considerable safe majorities. The top issues were the...

19.02.2024 9

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

A Biden-Trump rematch will be a painful watch

Last week on the Jubilee Line, a young man offered me his seat. I politely declined but thought, there, it’s happened – I have become old....

12.02.2024 6

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Wry commentary can’t take away from Michelle O’Neill’s big moment

So Stormont is back. No doubt readers are on edge, holding back pent-up emotion and nervous with excitement. But then again, maybe not. On the plus...

05.02.2024 9

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

The Tories are out of steam, out of ideas and out of their minds - and will soon be out of office

Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, must often ponder why he bothered seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party. After another week...

29.01.2024 7

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Power-sharing is only way forward for unionism

At the time of writing the DUP leadership are having a date with destiny. The outcome matters little, as the die is well and truly cast. Northern...

22.01.2024 6

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Where's the human heart in middle of so much conflict?

Amidst the annual Christmas book hoard, I was given The Power of the Powerless by Vaclav Havel – poet, author, playwright, dissident, statesman,...

16.01.2024 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Police action over Bloody Sunday walk defies belief

At the time of writing, two pieces of news have broken. The first is almost incredulous. It’s reported that the PSNI has forwarded a file on seven...

08.01.2024 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Linfield mightn’t be playing hurling at Croke Park yet but things can only get better - can’t they?

Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh and welcome to 2024. Over 500 years ago, the French astrologer and physician. Michel de Nostredame, better known as...

03.01.2024 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Enjoy Christmas and take it for what it is

Shush... It’s almost Christmas. Maybe it’s an age thing but as the last autumn leaves desperately cling to the trees another year seems to rush...

19.12.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Joe Brolly's right – Conor McGregor is a moron

You know it’s panto season when the attention-seeking cage fighter, Conor McGregor, wants to be president of Ireland. Oh yes, he does... And...

14.12.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Joe Brolly is right – Conor McGregor is a moron

You know it's panto season when the attention-seeking cage fighter, Conor McGregor, wants to be president of Ireland.

11.12.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Joe Brolly is right – Conor McGregor is a moron

You know it's panto season when the attention-seeking cage fighter, Conor McGregor, wants to be president of Ireland.

11.12.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Time to end unionist self-harm and test Harold McCusker's hypothesis...

The former Alliance leader, John Alderdice, is a considered and thoughtful politician.

04.12.2023 5

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Time to end unionist self-harm and test Harold McCusker's hypothesis...

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

04.12.2023 8

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

The Liffey cried as Dublin went up in flames

As I sit on the Enterprise with my earphones plugged into RTÉ's Claire Byrne show, my mind is bombarded with an apocalyptic and dystopian...

27.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: The Liffey cried as Dublin went up in flames

As I sit on the Enterprise with my earphones plugged into RTÉ's Claire Byrne show, my mind is bombarded with an apocalyptic and dystopian...

27.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Time for UVF and UDA to leave the stage – and without a single cent - Tom Kelly

LAST week the UVF leadership issued a diktat at Remembrance Sunday events that anyone involved with drug dealing could no longer “operate under...

20.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

It's clear that 'whataboutery' is all too alive

IT was interesting to listen to a band member of Kneecap explain their lyrics and merchandising on Good Morning Ulster last week.

13.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: It's clear that 'whataboutery' is all too alive

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

13.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: As war rages in Gaza, it's time for politicians to take risks for peace

The late Cardinal Ó Fiaich was maligned by sections of the British and, indeed, Irish media.

08.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

As war rages in Gaza, it's time for politicians to take risks for peace

The late Cardinal Ó Fiaich was maligned by sections of the British and, indeed, Irish media.

06.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: When Stormont returns, the SDLP needs to up its game as the official opposition if it wants to survive

THE mood music is slowly changing.

01.11.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

When Stormont returns, the SDLP needs to up its game as the official opposition if it wants to survive

THE mood music is slowly changing.

30.10.2023 20

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Jeffrey Donaldson needs to emulate Peter Robinson, not Jim Molyneaux

ON BBC 's Question Time last Thursday, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris-Heaton Harris, said he “enjoyed” his...

23.10.2023 30

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Jeffrey Donaldson needs to emulate Peter Robinson, not Jim Molyneaux

ON BBC 's Question Time last Thursday, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris-Heaton Harris, said he “enjoyed” his meetings over the...

23.10.2023 5

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

No side without blame for intolerable grief in Middle East

At the time of writing, a French school teacher has been murdered in the city of Arras, some four and a half thousand kilometres from the...

15.10.2023 8

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: No side without blame for intolerable grief in Middle East

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

15.10.2023 7

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: The tide is out for these out-of-touch Tories

The former Labour MP and socialist firebrand Dennis Skinner was known for his acid tongue.

10.10.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Joint authority between London and Dublin is next step for this basket case known as NI

A media friend told me about one of his greatest nightmares during a live outside broadcast.

02.10.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Joint authority between London and Dublin is next step for this basket case known as NI

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

02.10.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Irish migration experience shows we are bound by humanity, not divided by difference

Whoever spray-painted “Local houses an (sic) shops only” on the premises of Ahmad Alkhamran was not “mindless'.

25.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Irish migration experience shows we are bound by humanity, not divided by difference

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

25.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: Time for leadership from DUP

Former British Prime Minister Theresa May didn't get much right as a politician.

18.09.2023 30

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Time for leadership from DUP

Former British Prime Minister Theresa May didn't get much right as a politician.

18.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly: British government's Troubles amnesty carved on the heartache of victims and their families

On Thursday past, I went to the Lyric to watch a rather amazing dramatisation, The Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary.

11.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

British government's Troubles amnesty carved on the heartache of victims and their families

On Thursday past, I went to the Lyric to watch a rather amazing dramatisation, The Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary.

10.09.2023 7

The Irish News

Tom Kelly

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