Rattlebag: An Interlude

Some succinct recollections about how some females were treated in the RUC, at the time a very patriarchal organisation. Also, to conclude a brief look at Irish right-wing groups and the maintenance of tribal hatreds. I may expand on the latter in a future episode. I have shifted the proposed episode about the Irish Language to an episode of its own as I have slightly more material and in mind of current political posturing and culture wars - the lies for your vote is on, or 'I'll give you a fistful of grievances and victimhood you didn't know you needed - I'll throw in some confirmation bias for free, too!   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans FrontièresUnicefPEN International

Details about some of the subjects I hope to discuss in the next Stray Bullets episode. Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

Some additional aspects following messages and a few conversations with ex- and still serving police colleagues.'[My father] did not show me how to be sociable. I ended up designing a covert life; I have to maintain a profile while being invisible.' John Cale Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

A look at how the Northern Irish proletariat continue to allow themselves to be exploited through the maintenance of the legacy of flags and fear.   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

I suppose the title should really read: 'Political Courage in Northern Ireland flaps in tatters from upon the lamppost that one of our un/elected demagogues attached it to before intimating a threat to anyone who dared remove it.'In the pipeline is a return to discussing asset handling and the 'nuances' of Special Branch as well as looking more in-depth at PIRA volunteer testimonials.      Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

A condensed episode considering how Catholics may fare in the Police Service of Northern Ireland. For more in-depth thoughts please see links below:They Had Their Loyalties: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI'A Black Man is better than a Fenian': Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IIBrief Preamble to Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IIIIsolation: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IVMinor Addendum for: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part IV'Say Nothing': Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part VSymbolic Dominance: Catholic Police Officers in the RIC, RUC and PSNI Part VI   Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

An additional, unplanned, episode originating from some surplus material (AKA thoughts) I had left over from prior episodes. In this episode I talk about the murder of Derek Wood and David Howes as well as the peace walls in Belfast.Medbh McGuckian: New Selected PoemsRow erupts over proposal to remove peace wall through Belfast parkClick here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

The concluding episode of Subtle Alchemies. Herein, I discuss the ideal / innocent victim / victim-perpetrator paradigm as well as looking at the cowardly murders of Edgar Graham and Sean Brown. Killed for who they were perceived to be representative of. Also, the murder of RUC officer Jonathan (Jon) Reid.An in-depth series of episodes revisiting subjects such as asset-handling, intelligence streams, RUC SB, MI5 et al, are planned for the new year. Works citedMcKittrick, D., Kelters, S., Feeney, B., Thornton, C., and  McVea, D., (eds), Lost Lives (updated and revised), Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh and London, 2007Orwell, G., Homage to Catalonia, Penguin Classic, 2000         Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

A somewhat disjointed episode, unplanned and unscripted. Nevertheless, I felt necessary, as such, to get me back into producing an episode following a sharp dip along my mental road. Anyway, in this episode I talk about some of our politicians jetting off to Israel, the Palestinian flag at Belfast City Hall, the film Black '47, victimhood as agency, cognitive dissonance and extreme sensibilities among a myriad of other things!In the next episode I will, finally, conclude my look at victims, collective memory and forgiveness in our post-conflict society.        Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International

In this episode I look at the construction of victimology in the context of Bloody Sunday as well as that of 'Soldier F'. Also, I consider Organisational Memory, Myth-Making, Blamelessness and Out Group / In Group dynamics. Cohen, S., States of Denial: Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2001Eveleigh, R., Peace-Keeping in a Democratic Society. The Lessons of Northern Ireland, C. Hurst and Company, London, 1978Halbwachs, M., On Collective Memory, University of Chicago Press, 1992Lundy, P. and McGovern M., The Politics of Memory in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland, Peace Review 13, 2001Morrissey, M. and Smyth, M., Northern Ireland after the Good Friday Agreement: Victims, Grievance and Blame, Pluto Press, London, 2002Sykes, G. M. and Matza, D., Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency, American Sociological Review 22, 1957  Click here if you’d like to send me a comment or question. Thank you.Support the showMédecins Sans Frontières Unicef PEN International