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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
After the Troubles: Liadan Ní Chuinn's phenomenal debut
Every One Still Here, t he first short story collection by Northern Irish writer Liadan Ní Chuinn, is something of a mystery. The name is a pseudonym and the book comes with no author photograph: all we are told is that they were born in 1998, the year of the Good Friday agreement. But, reading Ní Chuinn's work, one thing quickly becomes clear: this is a phenomenal debut. The opening story, We All Go , follows Jackie, a student stultified by both a claustrophobic home life and the anatomy classes they attend at university. Ní Chuinn's prose is austere and precise: a technician places a body's 'white fascia and curds of yellow fat' into a bowl, while the narrator feels queasy. It is a tale of disconnections – physical and emotional. Jackie's mother, seemingly, has no sympathy for her: the heaviness of one is inexpressible to the other. This pattern is repeated throughout. In Amalur, a young girl confides her pregnancy to a family friend, unable to tell anyone else. In Novena, a fraudulent fertility clinic leaves a Northern Irish town divided and reeling. In Mary , written in the second person, 'you' join a writing class after being made unemployed. Among the regular passengers on the bus to the class is a child named Mary, who the protagonist tries and fails to commit to paper. The tutor asks: 'Is she a character? Or is she a metaphor?' This is a post-Troubles world, in which trauma lingers in every interaction: rendering it in fiction is a fraught, complicated task. Ní Chuinn's scenes are filled with shattered glass, broken bones, cannulas, needles, desperate ambulance rides. By the final story, Daisy Hill , we are braced for terrible events. A character is slumped on the floor, and here is yet another uncle, brother or father to mourn. The collection's true force, however, is only revealed at the end. In a coda, Ní Chuinn records – in chilling, factual, present tense – the deaths of dozens of real people killed by British state forces. The painful scenes of Every One Still Here do not, as one character has it, recur by coincidence – they are the direct consequence of a political situation. This is heart-stopping writing, and I hope for more to come from the mysterious Ní Chuinn. Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn is published by Granta (£14.99). Order a copy from The Observer Shop for £13.49. Delivery charges may apply Photography by Olivier Martel for Getty Images
USA Today
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lynch: With Open returning to Royal Portrush, tales of redemption sweep aside reality
(Editor's note: The column originally ran in 2019, prior to the Open at Royal Portrush won by Shane Lowry.) Golf nourishes itself with low-hanging narratives, those saccharine, feel-good tales about lives redeemed or neighborhoods rejuvenated thanks to the royal and ancient game. Stories of golf as a power for good often hold a seed of truth that eventually reaps an acre of corn. Eighty-seven days from now, folks who peddle this kind of claptrap will have a field day as the 148th Open Championship kicks off at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. The parables are so predictable that they write themselves long before a single shot is struck. Golf as a unifying force in a bitterly divided land. Major-winning players from differing religious traditions in whose success warring neighbors found common cause. The mother of all majors as a richly deserved reward for the good people of this benighted little place who moved beyond conflict and toward reconciliation. It's an optimistic yarn as condescending as it is contrived. Since the intersection of golf and politics is usually fraught terrain, a redemptive slant on things has obvious appeal. With the Open cast as a post-conflict milestone, there's no need to untangle the internecine threads of Northern Irish politics. Focus on the future, not on the past! And if you wouldn't mind ignoring the present as well that would be super helpful, because it ain't ideal for marketing purposes. It seems ordained that the Open will be a success. It will be the largest sporting event ever held on either side of the border in Ireland. Tickets sold out last year, and the stunning Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush is superior to most other venues on the Open rota. Such a rousing triumph may make it necessary to explain why the tournament hasn't visited here since 1951. Hence the need to present Northern Ireland today as becalmed, forward-thinking and free of the shackles of its past. None of which is entirely true. It has been two decades since the Good Friday Agreement nominally ended the 30-year conflict euphemistically known as 'the Troubles.' Ours was a grubby, low-intensity war characterized more by doorstep shootings than artillery fire. It claimed more than 3,500 lives, a total that may seem relatively insignificant unless your loved ones number among them. The pace at which Northern Ireland fills its body bags has mercifully slowed, but it has not completely halted. The most recent victim was Lyra McKee. She was a 29-year-old journalist killed when a gunman from an IRA splinter group fired on police lines during a riot in the city of Derry, 35 miles west of Royal Portrush. I didn't know McKee, save a long-ago exchange of emails. Friends of mine did and considered her a formidable voice among her "ceasefire babies" peers. 'We were the Good Friday Agreement generation, destined not to witness the horrors of war but to reap the spoils of peace,' McKee once wrote. 'The spoils never seemed to reach us.' The Open Championship is a spoil, of sorts. Just as the Claret Jug will be held aloft by the champion golfer of the year, the Open itself will be brandished as a symbol of normalcy and progress by the very politicians whose stone-age squabbles have left Northern Ireland without a functioning government for years, whose intransigence and bigotry sent generations of Lyra McKees fleeing for airports and ferry terminals. Self-congratulatory back-slapping by elected blowhards is so familiar a part of professional golf that it won't really register with those who travel to Portrush. But it will be a galling spectacle for the people who must continue to live with increasing tribal tensions, sporadic violence and diminishing opportunities long after the Open caravan leaves town. There are plenty of people who deserve plaudits for bringing the Open to Northern Ireland. Like Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, whose successes and advocacy were key. And Wilma Erskine, the secretary of Royal Portrush, who fought this noble battle for more years than she cares to count. They ought to receive their due in July. But the Open shouldn't be a masquerade ball that presents Northern Irish society as something it is not. Much has undeniably improved in the 25 years since I emigrated, but not even the Open can obscure the melancholy reality that Northern Ireland remains a society hostage to those who are, in the memorable words of Belfast songwriter Paul Brady, "still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone."
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
‘He was a towering figure': Senior SDLP figure Tommy Gallagher dies at 82
Tommy Gallagher (centre) with Margaret Ritchie and Alasdair McDonnell before the funeral of John Hume in 2020. SDLP leader Claire Hanna has led tributes after the death of former MLA and Good Friday Agreement negotiator Tommy Gallagher. Mr Gallagher, described as a 'towering figure' in local politics, passed away aged 82. He was MLA for Fermanagh-South Tyrone from 1998 to 2011 and was also a local councillor. Ms Hanna said: 'Tommy Gallagher was a towering figure in Fermanagh and a constant force for good in his native Belleek. 'He leaves behind a lasting legacy not only in politics, but as a teacher, a GAA player and coach and someone who always worked for the betterment of his local community. 'His loss will be felt far across the political spectrum, such is the esteem he was held in by colleagues from all parties. 'He will also be warmly remembered for the difference he made to the lives of the young people he taught and those he coached and played alongside over many years. 'Tommy got involved in the SDLP and politics at a very difficult time and he was rightly proud of the role he played as part of the SDLP team leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. 'He did his part to deliver peace on this island and build a better future for our young people.' Born on August 17 1942, in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, Mr Gallagher entered politics in the early 1970s after attending Queen's University and becoming a teacher at St Mary's High School in Brollagh. He joined the SDLP at its formation, spurred on by a wish to improve his local community. Tommy Gallagher (centre) with Margaret Ritchie and Alasdair McDonnell before the funeral of John Hume in 2020. The Open at Royal Portrush: What happened in 2019 He was elected to Fermanagh District Council in 1989, and would prioritise local development, infrastructure issues, electrification of rural roads and improvements to local roads. In April 1998, Mr Gallagher played a crucial role as a SDLP negotiator during the peace talks which led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. In June that year, he was elected to the newly formed Assembly, representing Fermanagh-South Tyrone in 1998, before his retirement in 2011. He was also the party spokesperson for education and health. After his retirement from the Assembly, he would remain an active member of his community. In 2018, Mr Gallagher sustained serious injuries in a car crash. He suffered bone damage, and his ribcage was badly affected, and was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, where he required extensive treatment during three weeks in hospital.
Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
‘He was a towering figure': Senior SDLP figure dies at 82
Mr Gallagher, described as a 'towering figure' in Fermanagh, passed away at the age of 82. Hailed as an educator and community advocate as well as a politician, he was well known for his dedication to improve both rural neglect and communities in west Fermanagh. Ms Hanna said: 'Tommy Gallagher was a towering figure in Fermanagh and a constant force for good in his native Belleek. 'He leaves behind a lasting legacy not only in politics, but as a teacher, a GAA player and coach and someone who always worked for the betterment of his local community. 'His loss will be felt far across the political spectrum, such is the esteem he was held in by colleagues from all parties. 'He will also be warmly remembered for the difference he made to the lives of the young people he taught and those he coached and played alongside over many years. 'Tommy got involved in the SDLP and politics at a very difficult time and he was rightly proud of the role he played as part of the SDLP team leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. 'He did his part to deliver peace on this island and build a better future for our young people. 'On behalf of the SDLP I'd like to extend my deepest sympathies to his wife Eileen, their children and the entire family circle.' Born on August 17 1942, in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, Mr Gallagher entered politics in the early 1970s after attending Queen's University and becoming a teacher at St Mary's High School in Brollagh. He joined the SDLP in its formation, spurred on by a wish to improve his local community. He was elected to Fermanagh District Council in 1989, and would prioritise local development, infrastructure issues, electrification of rural roads and improvements to local roads. In April 1998, Mr Gallagher played a crucial role as a SDLP negotiator during the peace talks which led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. In June that year, he was elected to the newly formed Assembly, representing Fermanagh-South Tyrone in 1998, before his retirement in 2011. He was also the party spokesperson for Education and Health. After his retirement from the Assembly, he would remain an active member of his community.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Tommy Gallagher: SDLP politician dies at the age of 82
Tributes have been paid to the former SDLP assembly member Tommy Gallagher who has died at the age of 82.A prominent figure in the early years of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Gallagher, played a significant role as part of the SDLP's negotiating team in the lead-up to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.A teacher for almost 30 years at St Mary's High School, Brollagh, near Enniskillen, he entered politics in the early 1970s, becoming a founding member of the was first elected as a councillor in 1989 and went on to represent Fermanagh and South Tyrone in the Northern Ireland Assembly between 1998 until his retirement in 2011. 'A constant force for good' The SDLP leader and MP for South Belfast, Claire Hanna, described him as "a towering figure" in Fermanagh and "a constant force for good" in his native Belleek."He leaves behind a lasting legacy not only in politics, but as a teacher, a GAA player and coach and someone who always worked for the betterment of his local community," Hanna said."His loss will be felt far across the political spectrum, such is the esteem he was held in by colleagues from all parties." She said the SDLP stalwart would be warmly remembered for the difference he made to the lives of the young people he taught and those he coached and played alongside over many years."Tommy got involved in the SDLP and politics at a very difficult time and he was rightly proud of the role he played as part of the SDLP team leading up to the Good Friday Agreement. "He did his part to deliver peace on this island and build a better future for our young people."
