RITA DI SANTO draws attention to a new film that features Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn, and their personal experience of media misrepresentation
Latest editorial
Irish Famine Memorial, Custom House Quay Dublin
JULIA TOPPIN recommends Patti Smith’s eloquent memoir that wrestles with the beauty and sorrow of a lifetime
MARJORIE MAYO welcomes an account of family life after Oscar Wilde, a cathartic exercise, written by his grandson
KEN COCKBURN guides us through a survey of Chekov’s early short fiction, and the groundwork it laid for his later masterpieces
ANDY HEDGECOCK revels in a hugely enjoyable but deadly serious examination of the 1930s, that is an indictment of our own era
The bard distills our hellish times into fiery words
THE POTATO famine in Ireland began in September 1846 and its consequences were so shattering that it is ingrained in the Irish psyche to this very day.
More than a million people died over the following few years, when hunger and disease became omnipresent. Up to a quarter of the population emigrated, mostly to North America.
Although potato blight was the direct cause of the crop failure of Ireland’s staple food, there was also a political dimension which exacerbated the tragedy.
Similar stories
LYNNE WALSH tells the story of the extraordinary race against time to ensure London’s memorial to the International Brigades got built – as activists gather next week to celebrate the monument’s 40th anniversary
From colonialism to the Troubles, the story of England’s first colony is one of exploitation, resistance, and solidarity — and one we should fight to ensure is told, writes teacher ROBERT POOLE
ROGER McKENZIE reflects on the enslavement, endurance and rebellion of Africans trafficked across the Atlantic and the untold sufferings of unknown ancestors