May 2025
Library in eye of new border controls
It’s a library, but not as we know it. The Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits in both the United States and Canada. A black line on the floor denotes the international boundary. Sitting reading at a desk, you can plant your feet in Canada, but the rest of you will be in the United States. Quirky, eh?
New border restrictions have stirred up controversy in Vermont and Quebec. Decades of free, unfettered access without having to go through cumbersome border controls are coming to an end. From October, Canadian bibliophiles can only enter the venerable Victorian-style building from their own side or go through a security checkpoint, Passport in hand, on the US side.
President Trump’s border control rules have killed off the age-old honour arrangement that made for seamless access.
This sedate, sleepy part of the world is hardly a rat run for illegal migrants, people traffickers or smugglers. The good members of Haskell Free Library and Opera House never thought they would be caught up in an international squabble. Maybe like proposed 50% tariffs on EU goods, Mr Trump will grant a stay or reprieve to avoid any more nonsense on the border.
If he needs a hand to get it sorted, he can always call on the denizens of south Armagh for some helpful advice and guidance.
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Ship at the door
Johan Helberg didn’t know what had happened. He was sound asleep when a container ship ran aground near his front door in Norway.
Just a few feet to the right, and the NCL Salten would have demolished Johan’s home. A concerned neighbour tried without success to rouse Johan from his deep, deep slumber. It was only when he ‘phoned him that the good-humoured ‘Rip Van Winkle’ was alerted to a near-catastrophe. At the shoreline, Johan took in this towering hulk of steel but appeared unflustered, unperturbed. Taking it all in his stride as if it was an everyday occurrence.
Anyway, the ship has been re-floated and a sailor on watch charged with alleged ‘negligent navigation.’
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Sectarianism ‘disease’
Ugly, downright ugly. It’s still not eradicated and if what happened in north Belfast is anything to go by, we’re some way off taking sectarianism out of our society.
Attacks on new homes occupied by young families cannot be tolerated. It is outrageous. The bigoted thugs who profess one Christian tradition but have probably not seen the inside of any church since they were christened, deserve to be ostracised and brought before the courts.
They offer nothing to building a new, inclusive society. Families forced to move out is bad enough. These bully boys hold fast to an outdated view that this or that estate is their ‘territory’, only suitable for their ‘sort’ and not the other ‘sort’.
This view is self-defeating and poisonous. A stretched police service does what it can but ultimately it will be good old-fashioned people power that will eliminate the ‘disease’ of sectarianism that sadly continues to grab headlines.
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A stiff hit
It hasn’t been a good run for taxpayers who ran to the rescue of beleaguered banks caught in the grip of meltdown.
We’re told the loss incurred in rescuing Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could be over £10 bn. In anyone’s language, that’s a stiff hit.
It’s a milestone that the Chancellor will acknowledge but instead of rushing to pop any corks in celebration, the liquid on offer in Government offices will more likely be stale cider.
The taxpayers’ stake has fallen below 1% which is down from over 80% in the years following the £45 billion bailout.
Maybe we should be thankful instead of bemoaning being presented with such a colossal bill.
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Give me the cheeseboard
It has its roots in a heathen festival but is a 200 yards dash down a steep slope to win an 8 lb wheel of Double Gloucester cheese.
Just like the cheese itself, the ground for this year’s cheese-rolling race down Cooper’s Hill in Gloucestershire was hard and several who slid, crashed and tumbled down the near-vertical course ended up in need of medical attention.
For me, I’ll stick to the safer option of the cheeseboard washed down with a nice glass of vintage port.
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The ‘almost-war’ and a new Pope
What a few weeks for breaking news at breakneck speed.
The neighbouring nuclear powers of India and Pakistan went at it with conventional weapons after 26 people were murdered in Indian-administered Kashmir. Thankfully, this latest conflict - dubbed an ‘almost-war’ - lasted just four days before a ceasefire was negotiated.
From the vast Indian subcontinent, attention switched to the smallest state in the world, Vatican City.
An admired Pope died and Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became the first successor to Peter to hail from the United States. Under the rules, he had to secure a two-thirds majority of an electorate of 133 cardinals to get him across the line. Four ballots were held during the highly secretive concave.
Pope Leo XIV follows baseball and, according to his brother, Louis, enjoyed ‘playing priest’ as a child growing up in Chicago. President Trump wasted no time trying to get into the Pope’s good books. A couple days after his inauguration Mass, The Donald hosted Louis, who is a pro-Trump Navy veteran, in the Oval Office.
Maybe after eyeing up Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada, the President is weighing up acquiring the compact 121 acres of Vatican City, prime real estate in the heart of Rome. With this guy, rule nothing out.
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Deals and recognition
Keir Starmer and his merry band have been extolling a trio of trade deals. Agreements with India, the United States and a Brexit re-set deal with the EU should turbo-charge the UK economy, or so the Government hopes.
Quite what that means for Northern Ireland hasn’t been spelled out by our devolved administration. One reason for that may lie in the fact that the granular detail of the deals has yet to be unpicked.
A boost for local aerospace and defence firms seems likely. As with most agreements, there has been some give and take. The fishing industry, for example, is far from happy with the EU arrangement.
One area worth keeping an eye on concerns mutual recognition of professional qualifications for the likes of accountants, doctors, lawyers and architects.
Getting a deal across the line that would allow UK firms to move staff between the UK and the EU remains challenging. In effect, it would make it easier for UK firms to compete for business in Europe.
The EU is sluggish on giving recognition to UK professional qualifications but remains committed to ‘dedicated dialogues’. There’s no timeframe or deadline for the completion of said ‘dialogues’.
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Gaza and Ukraine
The madness of what’s happening in Gaza and the Ukraine continues with no let-up. Thousands are being killed, many more injured. Lives are ruined. We see desperate food shortages. Efforts to broker a cessation or ceasefire have so far failed.
Israeli and Russian firepower is relentless, indiscriminate and remorseless.
President Putin and Prime Minister Netanyahu seem deaf to the consequences of their actions.
Maybe now, President Trump, who lacerated President Zelensky, bizarrely blaming him for the war with Russia, will re-think his stance. An apology to the stout-hearted Ukrainian would be progress.
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Bit of a flap
Pigeons are causing a bit of a flap down Galway City way.
The city edition of the ‘Connacht Tribune’ brought us a story about how roof repairs on Council-owned flats are stalled because the birdies are nesting in the architrave.
Work has been put back for months because pigeons are protected birds. They simply cannot be disturbed until September 1st. Only then will the Council ‘review’ the matter.
Until then, elderly residents in the city centre complex will have to put up with all the early-morning cooing and comings and goings of the flock.
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And finally….
If you’re heading down south for a bit of a break, then fill up and stock up before you cross the border.
Diesel and petrol are cheaper but you’ll really see a difference when you hit the office for essential supplies. For example, a four-pack of Carlsberg is more than £4 cheaper in Northern Ireland.
Two reasons for the widening gap are increases in Excise Duty and the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in the Republic of Ireland. The DRS means you pay a refundable deposit and then get your money back when you bring your empty container to a designated collection point. It also encourages consumers to do more re-cycling.
Clearly, it’s good news for forecourts and off-licences on the northern side. You may see some traffic congestion and queues as outlets work to meet the expected spike in demand.
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