Terrorism has horrific consequences. Among these consequences, and frequently not adverted to, are lack of respect for the truth, the undermining of the rule of law and the obstruction of justice. In this remarkable study the author, who has specialised in criminal law in England, Wales and Ireland since 1966, details how consequences such as…

Our economies may be in recovery, but they are far from healthy, warns Bill Emmott, who writes with the authority and assurance of a former editor-in-chief of The Economist. He believes that the most insidious of the ‘enemies that lie within’ is the swollen, still largely unregulated financial services sector, that was responsible for the…

For many years, Kenny’s Bookshop has been one of the features of Galway City.  Des Kenny describes here the beginnings of that mecca for bibliophiles – now only run on-line. Maureen Canning and Des Kenny met for the first time when she was attending University College, Galway.  Within a few years they married and opened…

The release of Dunkirk has been the focus for mixed reviews and divided opinions. Christopher Nolan’s movie with its clean-shaven, well-washed, un-muddied British  soldiers retreating with their weapons still in hand, though loved by critics, has been derided by veterans of WWII as a travesty. To see Dunkirk merely as an “heroic retreat” is to…

Nick Page is the author of some 70 popular books in the area of religion, written from a quirky Protestant point of view. This is suggested by his subtitle: “Commemorating 500 years of Popes, Protestants, reformers, radicals and other assorted irritants”. He begins by pointing out that the first historian of the Reformation, a servant…

Máire Ní Aogáin According to a saying attributed to Jim Larkin, “Christ is crucified every day on the streets of Dublin”.  This little book transfers this metaphor to the DART stations, linking these to the Stations of the Cross. The bilingual text draws on literature from each language to provide contemporary context for the Stations…

Joe Carroll Irish troops have been involved in United Nations peacekeeping missions for 60 years at a cost of 86 lives. It is an honourable record and the author,  a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Defence Forces, has played his part. In his new book  he writes about the Irish role in these missions and …

Rebuilding Confirmation by Christopher Wesley (Maria Press, $US 10.95PRP) This important little book is subtitled: ‘Because we need more than another graduation’. This will arouse echoes in the mind of pastors and parents, for there is certainly a great confusion it seems among Catholics about what Confirmation is. Rites of passage are very important, and Irish…

Felix M. Larkin The Fourth Estate: Journalism in Twentieth-Century Ireland By Mark O’Brien (Manchester University , £80) This book is about “the conditions under which journalism was practised” in Ireland in the 20th Century, with a focus on “how centres of power related to journalists” – to quote the author, Mark O’Brien, lecturer in journalism history…

The Hopkins Festival will be opened tomorrow by the British Ambassador, H.E. Robin Barnett in Newbridge College Theatre, Co. Kildare (at 7.30pm). Directed by poet Desmond Egan, who founded it 30 years ago, it celebrates the life and work of the Jesuit poet Gerald Manley Hopkins, now recognised as one of the great literary figures…