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John Bradley

John Bradley

The Mayo News

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OPINION: Masters of War or Defenders of Peace?

OPINION: Masters of War or Defenders of Peace?

Unlike in many other countries, we seldom see uniformed military personnel walking our streets or on public transport. We have a kind of ‘hidden’...

yesterday 9

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Is there anyone in charge here?

OPINION: Is there anyone in charge here?

Some years ago I was on car parking duty in Murrisk very early in the dark morning of Reek Sunday. The weather was dreadful: heavy rain and gale force...

23.02.2025 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Weather warnings and future dilemmas for Mayo and the West

There had been rough weather in the preceding days, but a calm had arrived and the currachs were launched to fish a few kilometres offshore. Groups of...

06.02.2025 20

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Tracing rural Ireland’s woes to the Congested Districts Board’s dissolution

Concern about the decline of rural Ireland didn’t start in the 1950s. Today’s neglect of the northwest region had origins in the colonial period...

23.01.2025 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: The threat posed by Trump’s policies is real, but our economy is stronger now

It took a while for the significance of Donald Trump’s victory on November 5 to sink in here. Countries such as Ukraine and the UK made pre-emptive...

10.01.2025 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

Rural thoughts from the centre

THE Irish Times recently contained a curious column written by Michael McDowell, former leader of the Progressive Democrats (PDs), former Tánaiste...

25.12.2024 30

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: What did we vote for?

Political process in Ireland is rather different from most other EU countries. The biggest difference is that among the main political parties,...

12.12.2024 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Clew Bay Bike Trail hopes blighted by dishonesty, arrogance and poisonous debate

I was canvassed last week by an aspirant TD from one of the government parties. Our cottage is on the slopes of Croagh Patrick, close to the exit...

27.11.2024 4

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Spare us the egregious buck-passing, please

On October 27, The Guardian newspaper featured an article under the heading ‘Simon Harris says lack of infrastructure could become a ‘drag’ on...

14.11.2024 2

The Mayo News

John Bradley

Reflections on themes and preoccupations

As I approach my one hundredth fortnightly column for The Mayo News, I have begun to reflect on how writing this column has accompanied a gradual...

01.11.2024 6

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: The Government must face a reckoning for its mishandling of our money

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is not a compelling or exciting read. Published every year, the CAG provides independent...

20.10.2024 30

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Centralised Ireland — a policy of divide and ignore

In most democracies, election campaigns are an opportunity for conflicting views of how a society ought to be run to be debated vigorously and...

05.10.2024 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Investigation of disasters in Ireland and UK deeply flawed, from pyrite to Grenfell

Reading about upcoming TV programmes, I happened on this description of a documentary called ‘10 Mistakes That Sank The Titanic’: “This intriguing...

19.09.2024 2

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Politics, power and peaceful transitions

Irish general elections have become rather dull affairs. It was very different in 1932, the first election in the Irish Free State, when the anti-...

05.09.2024 5

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Our airports must be connected to our railway network

On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright flew the first powered aeroplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On Sunday, June 15, 1919, Alcock and Brown...

24.08.2024 10

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Book culture alive and thriving in Mayo

I’VE been an avid reader all my life. As children, growing up in Dublin in the 1950s, we bought comics in the local shops and borrowed books from...

09.08.2024 6

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: The power of iconic images

The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, and the dramatic images that emerged from it,...

26.07.2024 5

The Mayo News

John Bradley

OPINION: Why our national politicians lose sight of regional concerns

In a country ruled from the centre, power resides at the centre. Ambitious politicians may start their careers in the provinces, but the centre...

10.07.2024 1

The Mayo News

John Bradley