The Rusty Wire Service

When Martin McGuinness announced his candidacy for the Irish Presidential election on 16 September, while not altogether unexpected, the news was still received with alarm by many South of the Border.  Cuddly old politicians       On the one hand, you’ve got a presidential candidate who is a 24-carat game-changer. He has a gilt-edged international reputation as a peacemaker. He hobnobs in the White House and he’s shared power with Ian Paisley fer chrissake; together they even formed the unlikeliest political double act in Irish history, affectionately known as the Chuckle Brothers.  He’s been described by British Intelligence as officer material and he was flown to London for secret negotiations with the British Government when he was barely out of his teens.  In the course of a long and dangerous career, he’s been jailed, on the run and kept under surveillance. He’s also been one of the architects of the current peace in Ireland, fra...

The Irish Post used to be a London Irish institution and a campaigning newspaper which chronicled the vibrant life of a thriving community. Now it’s making headlines itself as closure beckons. A lot of blame has been heaped on the internet for the declining fortunes of the Post. Once people could get Irish news online, there was no need for them to buy a weekly paper which collated it. That’s an excuse that many publications have used since the world wide web came along and gave people a democratised and instantaneous alternative to the established media. But it’s pretty lame. Despite all predictions to the contrary, print is still very much with us. In fact, the choice of newsstand publications now available to the casual reader is frankly bewildering. People are still buying newspapers and magazines and the industry has adapted (admittedly often at huge cost to quality). Sure, some publications have failed but they have failed for clear reasons and in that regard, the Ir...