Belfast Emerges As An Oscar Contender

By Nathan Lerner | Film Critic After a year-long hiatus from live screenings, the Philadelphia Film Festival returned with a hybrid platform which offered both virtual and in-person options. On opening night of the festival, returning cinephiles were treated to… Continue Reading

The White House is Green Again

By Maurice Fitzpatrick The U.S. presidential election result represents a disaster for the British government. Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, Richie Neal, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have repeatedly stated that they will not grant passage to a U.K.… Continue Reading

“Dialogue is the only way forward:” an interview with the director and the star of Maze

by Brendan Clay Director Stephen Burke’s latest film adapts the true story of a large-scale IRA prison break in Northern Ireland in the 80s and stars Irish actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as real-life IRA member Larry Marley. Vaughan-Lawlor is a well… Continue Reading

Parade Grand Marshal Sister Mary Scullion—Champion of the Homeless

By Sabina Clarke The theme of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade is St. Patrick Bless Those Who Respond to the Call of the Needy and Sister Mary Scullion, R.S.M. the daughter of Irish immigrants lives this call every minute… Continue Reading

Ireland is Suddenly a Lonely Island

BREXIT - Illustration by Stormistrations

By Peter Makem Ireland is suddenly a lonely place. Old securities have been shattered since the people of the United Kingdom — specifically the people of England — voted to leave the European Union, voted Brexit, an abbreviation of British… Continue Reading

Senator George Mitchell—Gentle Persuasion—Crafting Peace Around the World

By Sabina Clarke I am on a transatlantic call with former Senator George Mitchell ensconced in the Meridian Piccadilly Hotel in London’s West End near Piccadilly Circus. I want to lapse into a leisurely conversation about The Troubles and his… Continue Reading

Northern Ireland Activist Receives Passion for Peace Award

Patricia Campbell, a psychiatric nurse from County Tyrone and the president of the Independent Workers Union in Ireland received the Passion for Peace award at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill on Sunday, March 22nd. Campbell, who began her… Continue Reading

Boston College Belfast Project…Doomed from the Start

by Sabina Clarke The Boston College Belfast Project’s ill-fated attempt to capture the stories of former Irish Republican Army, IRA, members and former Loyalist paramilitary members during the period in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles has been fraught with… Continue Reading

The Girl from Rathgar…Sinn Fein’s Rising Star

by Sabina Clarke With Northern Ireland once again front and center and the 15th congressional hearing on Northern Ireland just held  in March, a Sinn Fein delegation arrived in Washington, D. C. for a round of  follow-up talks regarding the… Continue Reading