Eamonn McCann: A Night at the Opera

An evening at the Neapolitan Opera House has our columnist in raptures...

Eamonn McCann Reflects on 1977, the Year of Hot Press' Birth

What a difference 40 years makes. Our columnist looks back to 1977, a year of death and tragedy but illuminated by chinks of light, (such as the birth of Hot Press)

Eamonn McCann tackles Orange Disorder, the EU Commission, and the Fine Gael Leadership Race

Our columnist sets some Orange men right on the correct recitation of their ceremonial toast. Plus: the misplaced admiration for Jean-Claude Juncker and thoughts on the Fine Gael leadership race.

Eamonn McCann: To Protect and Self-Serve

The Templemore affair is just the latest in a long line of controversies to have rocked the Gardaí in recent times. When do we say enough is enough?

Why Do Liberals Suddenly Love Donald Trump?

When Donald Trump dropped bombs in Syria, the liberal media applauded. For some, at least, we expected better...

Eamonn McCann: Onwards and Upwards...

...Was the resounding message to our correspondent from supporters after recently losing his seat at Stormont. Plus reflections on the Tuam scandal.

Eamonn McCann: The Point the Media Missed About Martin McGuinness

Amidst the widespread coverage of Martin McGuinness’s funeral, its ideological significance was overlooked by virtually all commentators.

Eamonn McCann: What Trump Gets Right About The Media

The liberal elite is aghast at American’s Boor-in-Chief. But the President is on the money in criticising a hopelessly biased media establishment.

Eamonn McCann: The Chimes of Freedom

When more than four million women marched in the US, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump, it was a collective statement that they would resist the rotten terms of his presidency. Therein lies hope for the future...

Eamonn McCann: The North and Abortion

A recent case once again highlights NI's repressive abortion laws. Plus an inside view on the dramatic upheavals at Stormont.

Has Jools Lost His Touch?

Plus: the ugly side of the pro-Israel lobby has again reared its head, this time in the controversy surrounding a recent UCC debate.

Decree Will Rock You: Woman Priests in the Catholic Church

There's been dismay Pope Francis saying that there will never be women priests in the Catholic Church. But did he really say it?

What's Up, Doc?: A Glance into the Politics of Mental Health

The retention of the DSM by the American medical establishment has resulted in the continued persecution of transgender people.

20 Years Of Arsene Wenger At Arsenal

…That Arsene Wenger and his sidekick Bobo Primorac joined Arsenal, having pointed out the corruption in French football. Two decades later, they’re still keeping the dream alive.

Why Abortion Has Been Ignored In Northern Irish Politics

The complexities of the Good Friday Agreement mean abortion has been shamefully relegated to the sidelines in Northern Ireland.

Democracy Now? Eamonn McCann weighs in on the US Presidential Election

Wikileaks serves democracy better than the US presidential election.

As Brexit Descends, The Continental Divide Widens

Those looking for a re-run of the Brexit referendum have shown remarkable contempt for Leave voters.

Eamonn McCann Proves That There's Power in Numbers

Pro-choice campaigners have been spurred into action following a recent case in the North, and their reaction heralds a long overdue shift in thinking on abortion.

Front Lines: McCann On Hilary Clinton

Think a Clinton Presidency would wash all the ills of the world away? Think again...

Bananas: The End is Nigh

A virulent parasite may be about to decimate banana crops. But that is just one of many enormous challenges, which threaten life on earth as we know it...

People have the power

Pro-choice campaigners have been spurred into action following a recent case in the North, and their reaction heralds a long overdue shift in thinking on abortion.

Boris Johnson’s Great Rock ‘n Roll Swindle

Rock rebels everywhere should be appalled at the British establishment’s attempt to appropriate punk rock

How long must we sing this song? Eamonn McCann on the illegality of the abortion pill in Ireland

Using abortion pills could see you slung into prison for 14 years. How is this insane situation allowed to persist?

Ballot Boxing Clever: Is voting a worthwhile exercise? Eamonn McCann gets to the nub of the matter

It would be glib to suggest that we shouldn’t vote because it only encourages them. But there’s a kernel of truth there.

McCann: The Anti-Gop Consortium

Perhaps the most significant new thing to come our way in 2015 was the confirmation that Islam is no more a religion of peace than Christianity, Judaism, or any other organised system of superstitious belief.

Golden Years

Reflections on a time when no fees and decent grants made student life considerably easier.

Pope Francis: Salesman or Smiley Face of Liberal Catholicism?

Pope Francis is far from the progressive figure some influential media commentators would have you believe.

Casual Racism In Australia

It is weird to hear the routine contempt for Aboriginals in a country where people are generally so friendly and helpful...

Lower Insurance Premiums for Dope Heads

An article in the official magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries makes a splendid case as to how it should be so… Plus: (Sing it) There’s only one Joey Barton…

Verse Case Scenario

Why the public made the wrong choice in selecting the best Irish poem of the 20th century.

Gerry Adams' Naked Truth

Why did Gerry Adams tell the world about his passion for naked trampolining? Why can’t the West face up to its history of genocide? And why won’t our leaders force the Church to relax its death grip on our schools?

Paddy's Day: New York Parade Should Be Boycotted

The attempt by the Ancient Order of Homophobes to pretend that there is no such thing as an Irish gay is a grotesque embarrassment...

Beautiful Noise: Music and MLK

The essential role music played in spreading the message of Martin Luther King Jr. has been overlooked.

McCann: Nightmare Before Christmas

As the Israel-Palestine conflict rumbles on, there is precious little festive goodwill to be found in Bethlehem right now.

McCann: Street Fighting Man

How the legalisation of marijuana in states across America has vindicated one man’s lifelong struggle.

McCann: The Lesson Of Captain John

When our columnist put his money on Now What, he expected a better result. This setback, neo-liberalism and U2 are all on the agenda...

Foul Play: What's The Problem With Islam?

All religions are fundamentally insane. There is no reason to believe Islam per se is any better or worse than the others...

Front Lines: The Politics Of Mental Illness

Psychiatry has always had a taste for pathologising perfectly normal behaviour. After all, being gay was once listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Frontlines: Hillary Clinton: The Truth

A millionaire who bellyaches about being broke; an enthusiastic supporter of Israel’s ceaseless extermination of Palestinians; and a whole lot more besides. So why are so many self-proclaimed lefties and liberals still so determined to think highly of Hillary Clinton, hot favourite to be next President of the United States?

Frontlines: Time To Stop Listening to the Dopes

Marijuana is far less harmful than booze or cigarettes – that it remains criminalised is one of the true absurdities of modern Ireland

Frontlines: Murder Most Foul

Horrific crimes committed in the Republic continue to go unpunished. Meanwhile, Israel carries on doing as it has always done...

No Ordinary Joe

The Labour reshuffle was utterly underwhelming - apart from the demotion of Joe Costello, a brave man willing to champion unfashionable causes

McCann: In A Muddle Over The Middle East

Our columnist’s thoughts on the Israel/Palestine conflict have drawn ire from far afield – meanwhile, the Catholic Church continues to show greater interest in exorcising demons than dealing with the skeletons in its closet

Frontlines: Troubled Waters needs to build a bridge

The former Irish Times columnist is far from being the bigot some have portrayed him as - but in the age of facebook and twitter there's no hiding from the haters

Frontlines: The dark side of the force

The 'few bad apples' theory doesn't hold up when it comes to the gardai. Repeated scandals have demonstrated that the entire organisation has been compromised by corruption and indiscipline. And nothing is being done about it.

Frontlines: A Saint we can believe in

While Ireland goes overboard to pay tribute to St Paddy, Italy has struck upon a more mature way to honour its patron saint

Cricket, Colonoscopies & War Criminals

A routine health procedure sets our correspondent thinking about test cricket. Meanwhile, torturer and war criminal General McChrystal remains a free man...

McCann: Goodtime Charlie's got the blues

A dancing British royal, a charity worker, a slimy ex-Prime Minister and a bloodthirsty US general - which one of this quartet is currently incarcerated without trial? Go on, take a wild guess...

Homosexuality will protect us from natural disaster

We're not kidding. We have scientifically proved beyond doubt that one hurricane is no match for a thousand lesbians. Read on...

Other Voices

McCann: Rocking in the Free World

A folk-rock band has offered a compelling take on the writings of James Connolly

The Poppy is an emblem of imperialist slaughter

How long before people get it into their heads that the Poppy has nothing to do with peace?

McCann: Bad Hairdryer Day

Forget the hype, listen to the reviews – Fergie’s tell-all tells us very little new indeed

Burn After Reed-Ing

Behind his grumpy exterior, Lou Reed knew a life-time of pain – much of it dating back to his teenage ‘treatment’ for sexual ‘deviancy’

The Hypocrisy of Poppy Day

The annual riot of craw-thumping jingoism that is British Poppy Season is upon us. Is this really the best way to celebrate the tragedy of World War I?

Keeping It In The Family

The gulf between Ireland’s Gaelic past and Britain’s Royal present isn’t as yawning as you might imagine

McCann: The End Of The World Is Nigh

Why those who deny the reality of global warming must be exposed at every turn — and why those who say ‘there’s nothing we can do about it’ are completely wrong.

McCann: The Fraud Squad

America has always been happy to go to war on trumped-up grounds. It is something we should keep in mind as the Syrian crisis lurches ever onwards

Ireland Should Take A Cannabis Leaf Out Of Uruguay's Book

The State has taken over the production and distribution of the plant, which sounds like a very good idea...

Stendhal Festival

Derry As UK City of Culture: Why No Darkness At The Edge Of Town?

It’s wonderful that Derry has been named UK City of Culture. But it’s a shame that the event doesn’t have more of an edge – the better to convey a sense of the ‘real’ city.

McCann: On Mickey Harte

Joe Brolly’s outburst against Sean Cavanagh has once again thrown a light on Mickey Harte’s use of his exalted status in the GAA...

McCann: Nasty Habits

Evil nuns, Rod Stewart, Glasgowbury and phallic entanglement are but a few of the topics on our man’s mind this fortnight....

To Protect And To Splurge

PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott continues to fritter away public money on unnecessary security operations...

Where ‘Pro-life’ Logic Leads

A conservative commentator has tried to tease out what he regards as the absurdity of the government’s proposed, very limited abortion legislation - but only highlighted the contradictions of the anti-choice movement...

No Thanks to Mickey Harte

A Derry woman was brutally raped and dumped in the street. So why did so called ‘pro-lifer’ Mickey Harte speak strongly in favour of the attacker?...

American Horror Story

Everybody’s favourite trendy US President is slaughtering innocent men, women and children in other people’s countries — and people who jumped up and down raging about Nixon, Reagan and Bush are staying oddly silent about it...

Confucian Reigns

A visit by the Dalai Lama sews chaos and chagrin up north.

McCann: The Power Of Numbers

We like to believe in destiny and the power of the human spirit. But in the end everything just comes down to pluses and minuses, ones and zeroes – as a fascinating study by an Irish writer demonstrates...

How Elvis Made Ireland Shake, Rattle & Roll

Everything you ever wanted to know about Elvis’ role in the making of modern Ireland but were too shy to ask. Plus stuff you really didn’t know...

Stick It Up Your Junta

The new Pope has not fully answered questions about what he did or didn’t do during the Argentine dictatorship – but that isn’t to say it’s not too late for him to find redemption. For that, actions rather than words are required...

British Cardinal A Victim Of Catholic Hypocrisy

One of Britain’s most senior clerics has had to resign after accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards other priests. Given the litany of child abuse in the Church, isn’t that a bit rich?

Seeing Sense In The War On Drugs

A small developing nation is the latest to point out the futility of trying to ban substances that are readily available to millions...

Pro-Lifers And The Death Of Common Sense

An American scandal gives us a chilling insight into the twisted logic of the self-styled ‘pro-life’ lobby.

Foetal Attractions

Time to pick apart the absurdities and contradictions of the ‘pro-life’ debate

Beyond Belief

Spare a thought for all those downtrodden true believers, whose medieval view of the universe is, so we are told, under attack from all corners in modern Ireland.

Telling it like it is

The truth about Jesus and abortion: why the savior was pro choice

FIGHT THE POWER

Four years into Barack Obama’s presidency, the USA remains remarkably similar to the way it was pre-2008. Remember where you read it first?

THE POPE’S IMPRIMATUR FOR LIES AND COVER-UPS

When the Bishop of Clonfert John Kirby failed to tell the truth about sex abuse cover-ups, he did so with the benediction of Pope Benedict...

They Haven't Gone Away, You Know

DUP gay-phobia is reaching out into Europe through the aegis of the self-styled Caleban.

Rebel Pride

Triple All-Ireland winning hurler, the openly gay Donal Og Cusack, gave a mighty address at the recent Derry Pride, drawing parallels between the gay-rights struggle and the fight against institutionalised sectarian discrimination in Norn Iron..

One Size Tall

In relation to covering up child sex abuse, other religions are just as culpable as the Roman Catholic Church.

Pride Is Great, But Where's The Anger?

Gay Pride is a celebration of sexual diversity – but it is important not to forget the need for a clenched fist

Bothered By The God Botherers

It’s not enough that they believe in an imaginary deity. They want the rest of us to as well...

Stupidity reigns in Derry drugs campaign

The PSNI have begun to compete with Republican Action Against Drugs in the stupidity and ignorance of their ani-drugs raids. Plus: simpering about the Queen...

True Bro-mance

She’s a busy actor with a Hollywood career of long-standing. So how did Bronagh Gallagher find the time to record a cracking new solo record?

Murder In An Irish Town

In September 1988, John Gallagher drove to Lifford, collected a rifle from behind the wardrobe in his father’s bedroom and headed for Sligo, where he murdered his ex-girlfriend Anne Gillespie, and her mother Annie. When the case came to court John Gallagher pleaded – and was found – guilty but insane and he was remanded to the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum. In July 2000, Gallagher successfully escaped from Dundrum and absconded to England, before returning to Northern Ireland, where he was able to live freely, because of the unique absence of an extradition treaty for people in his position. Earlier this month, in a bizarre twist, apparently in the hope of taking advantage of a bequest from his father, Gallagher turned up at the Central Mental Hospital and handed himself in. It’s open to him to apply to the Health Review Board for release on the grounds that he does not now suffer from a mental illness. The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has already acknowledged the possibility that he might be released within a matter of weeks. But as far back as 1991, in a special investigation carried out for Hot Press, Eamonn McCann questioned the original verdict of the court – and whether Gallagher was ever ‘insane’ within the meaning intended by the act. In the light of the growing controversy about the case, we reprint here in full the extraordinary story as it was originally published in Hot Press.

The Crucifixion of Joey Barton

The hate directed at the QPR player tells us all we need to know about the hypocrisy of the media in Britain and Ireland.

Remembering Eileen Flynn

In 1982, she was sacked from the school in County Wexford where she taught. Irish politicians have colluded since then in protecting religious-based discrimination on the statute books.

The ghouls in RAAD are still at it

Some people may tell you that the violence in the North is over. But Republican Action Against Drugs are continuing their vicious campaign...

Cartoon world

The joys of Doonesbury, Family Guy and Jules Feiffer

The Real Evil Within

The venal, rotten truth about Irish politics has been exposed for the world to see – but what about the far more serious crimes perpetuated against children by the Catholic church? How can those who were party to such outrages continue to go unpunished?

What's The Problem With Gay Marriage

Plus: the Champions League is decadent and depraved...

How Drugs Hysteria Helps Paramailitaries

The demonisation of drug-taking gives self-appointed vigilante groups impunity to execute those they accuse of dabbling in the trade.

Tart of Gold

She was a chav icon and slapper pin-up, but, oh, how we will miss Corrie’s Becky McDonald.