Some news today just seems to jar and shock me into a little perspective, especially when seen side by side.Firstly, it appears that Irish and Spurs soccer captain Robbie Keane has fulfilled his lifelong dream of playing for Liverpool FC. This dream comes with a four year contract on just over 100,000 euro PER WEEK.My lifelong dream is to have a job doing anything that pays 100 large ones weekly for ninety minutes work. Seems like Robbie got my lifelong dream as well as his own."Feel the size of me walleh, Claudine?'Meanwhile, back in the reality that is existence for the vast majority of people on the planet, soaring global food prices have now become so high that not only is there another famine in Ethiopia, but in Haiti people have resorted to eating MUD.Yes, mud. Baked earth. Because...
A big shout out to the lads behind www.chatsoccer.eu, a new online news service and chat forum for everyone with an interest in Irish soccer, from the Eircom league to Keano's Sund-Ireland, from the FAI's shenanigans to the grass roots junior game.If footie's your thing, then this site is going to be of interest, I reckon.Already chatsoccer has shown its credentials by beating the mainstream media pack to the developments on the international manager story, so clearly 'going forward' (as some might say!) it's the site to check out for the insider knowledge on all things Irish football related.Now, if only they can organise a sub-section on the Irish League, my life will be complete!...
The DUP’s appointment of Edwin Poots as the minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure from next month has raised some eyebrows. The biggest issue facing the culture Department is the location of the new national stadium for Northern Ireland.
Mr Poots’ position on this is quite clear. Like virtually every other big capital investment that has been proposed, Poots wants the stadium to be located in the Maze, in his constituency. He was even Chair of a development group tasked with making this happen. There have been rumours of a dirty deal between Sinn Fein and the DUP to ensure this happens, as the Shinners want a memorial to the hunger strikers to also be a part of the Maze development.
Where all this is leading has the potential to be quite worrying, not least for Sinn...
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The British Government continued its new development policy towards Northern Ireland - subtitled “we don’t give a f*ck what you think, we’ll do what we like”- by releasing plans for the national stadium at the Maze.
“There is no Plan B, its this or nothing,” droned a faceless New Labour minister, eyeing a helicopter back to civilisation. As the NIO clearly couldn’t be bothered to write a speech different from the one his colleagues have been delivering about the political situation and the Assembly, hacks at the unveiling had to listen to the same old rhetoric about there being no other way and nonsense about renewal and regeneration and conflict resolution.
Officials at the Northern Ireland Office confirmed that no one had warned the...
No matter who or where you are, over the next 6 weeks it’ll be difficult to avoid the “greatest show on earth”, the World Cup.
World Cups have always presented a problem to people in our country, irrespective of whether they think that country consists of 6 or 32 counties. There’s the problem of watching an event which is overwhelmingly watched and contested by Roman Catholics, never mind the tricky moral dilemma of watching a British sport which has always allowed members of the security forces to take part.
Yet with all the hype and media interest its hard not to get involved. So how can you stay true to your narrow-minded hate-filled philosophy, yet still enjoy the football? Never fear, for the BelfastBlogger.com Sectarian Guide to the World Cup is...
Linfield FC have decided to transfer list ageing international star Park Windsor.
Windsor has been terminal decline recently. Age and rule changes, prohibiting many of his renowned skills, has made it impossible to live up to previous past performances. This was highlighted graphically in yesterdays Irish Cup final when, despite live TV coverage, the aging ground was unable to produce a decent riot between fans of Linfield and Glentoran.
Windsor has also disappointed recently in international football. Although there has been occasional flashes of the old Windsor atmosphere, particularly when Neil Lennon has played, it is commonly held that sectarian chanting has gone downhill during Northern Ireland matches. Edicts from football busybodies like FIFA means that this...