Journalist, author, broadcaster
On the 30th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands, the hunger striker is still regarded as a hero of republicanism, says Peter Geoghegan. (From the Irish Examiner, May 5, 2011). THIS tendentious analysis of the death, and life, of Bobby Sands appeared in the Guardian on May 6, 1981. The previous day the Belfast […]
Interview with Barack Obama’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng, from the Irish Examiner back in April. LIKE many American presidents before him, Barack Obama never knowingly plays down his Irish roots. On his whistle-stop Irish tour next month, Obama will pay a long overdue visit to Moneygall, the picturesque Offaly village that his great-great-great grandfather, shoemaker Fulmuth […]
Iceland after the kreppa. My long-form piece from Sunday Business Post, May 22, 2011. ‘Sometimes it doesn’t feel like there’s been a crash here at all.” Heather Millard, an English documentary filmmaker living in Reykjavik, is chatting tome over coffee in a trendy bar in the Icelandic capital’s achingly hip 101neighbourhood. ‘‘Yes, incomes are lower […]
Like Z-list celebrities, volcanoes are often more infamous than famous. Vesuvius, Krakatoa, Etna: all owe their household name status to the destructive force of their periodic eruptions. Last year, another, more difficult to pronounce name entered the pantheon of volcanic infamy – Eyjafjallajökull. The Eyjafjallajökull glacier, in south-west Iceland, had been dormant for some 200 […]
Which way now? The neoliberals who created the bubble are resurgent, but many Icelanders want to move away from finance. My analysis from the Guardian’s Comment is Free. Even before the final result was in, the tenor of national and international reaction to the Icelandic public’s latest rejection of a deal for Icesave was crystal […]
In MANY respects, a lengthy legal battle over the Icelandic public’s latest rejection of a deal for Icesave is the least of the country’s worries. Finance minister Steingrímur Sigfússon was at pains to stress yesterday that the “no” vote will not affect Iceland’s application to join the EU. But the result has placed a huge […]
By Peter Geoghegan in Reykjavik Public opinion in Iceland is split over a deal to repay the British government £2.35 billion for losses incurred following the failure of online bank Icesave. Icelanders will vote on the issue in a referendum on Saturday, with opinion polls suggesting the result is too close to call. A recent […]
THE fatal attack in Omagh was deeply shocking but, in its own way, all too predictable. The chief constable of the PSNI, Matt Baggott, has spent much of the last year warning of the threat dissident republicans pose to his officers – much to the chagrin of many in Stormont, most notably Sinn Fein. Indeed, […]
My review of New Irish Short Stories, edited by Joseph O’Connor from the Sunday Business Post. Last February, Irish novelist Julian Gough was at the centre of a literary spate about the state of contemporary Irish fiction. In comments published on his personal blog, and later picked up by the Guardian online, the Berlin-based writer […]
IF ONLY every day was as easy for Enda Kenny, as, on a bright lunchtime in Dublin, the Fine Gael leader was elected Taoiseach. Last weekend’s ratification of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition pact paved the way for Kenny’s day in the sun, but even in victory there were signs that it will not be all […]