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Gubu River
The acronym GUBU, standing for grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented, refers to a strange series of incidents in Ireland in the summer of 1982 which culminated in a double-murderer, Malcolm MacArthur, being apprehended in the home of the Attorney General, Patrick Connolly. The words were paraphrased from a comment by then Taoiseach Charles Haughey, who called it "a bizarre happening, an unprecedented situation, a grotesque situation, an almost unbelievable mischance". The corresponding acronym was coined by Conor Cruise O'Brien, and both it and the phrase are still occasionally used in Irish political discourse to describe other notorious scandals. In January 2011 some ministerial resignations from the Government were described by its opponent Michael Noonan as "... bizarre, grotesque and to some extent unbelievable." Background The murderer, Malcolm Edward MacArthur, born 17 April 1945, was a well-known eccentric character in Dublin social circles and never held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of the island) and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdomcovering the remaining sixth). It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the List of islands of the British Isles, second-largest island of the British Isles, the List of European islands by area, third-largest in Europe, and the List of islands by area, twentieth-largest in the world. As of 2022, the Irish population analysis, population of the entire island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland, ranking it the List of European islands by population, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenix Park
The Phoenix Park () is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tree-lined avenues, and since the 17th century has been home to a herd of wild fallow deer. The Irish Government is lobbying UNESCO to have the park designated as a World Heritage Site. History The park's name is derived from the Irish ''fhionnuisce'', meaning clear or still water. After the Norman invasion of Ireland, Normans conquered Dublin and its hinterland in the 12th century, Hugh Tyrrel, 1st Baron of Castleknock (barony), Castleknock, granted a large area of land, including what now comprises the Phoenix Park, to the Knights Hospitaller. They established an abbey at Kilmainham on the site now occupied by Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The knights lost their lands in 1537 following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII of England. Eighty years later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acronyms
An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each word in all caps with no punctuation. For some, an initialism or alphabetism connotes this general meaning, and an ''acronym'' is a subset with a narrower definition; an acronym is pronounced as a word rather than as a sequence of letters. In this sense, ''NASA'' () is an acronym, but ''United States, USA'' () is not. The broader sense of ''acronym'', ignoring pronunciation, is its original meaning and in common use. . Dictionary and style-guide editors dispute whether the term ''acronym'' can be legitimately applied to abbreviations which are not pronounced as words, and they do not agree on acronym space (punctuation), spacing, letter case, casing, and punctuation. The phrase that the acronym stands for is called its . The of an acron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Phone Tapping Scandal
On 18 December 1982, ''Irish Times'' security correspondent Peter Murtagh broke the news that the telephone of Bruce Arnold and Geraldine Kennedy had been tapped officially with warrants signed by former Minister for Justice Seán Doherty. This was revealed after the November 1982 elections which the outgoing government had lost. Incoming Minister for Justice Michael Noonan ordered an investigation and on 20 January 1983 announced findings that the previous Fianna Fáil government had authorised illegal phone tapping of the journalists Geraldine Kennedy, Bruce Arnold and Vincent Browne. Seán Doherty signed warrants for the taps while Minister for Justice. Normally phone tapping was used to investigate serious crime or threats to the security of the state but the reverse happened in this case, Minister Noonan announced. History Tapping The phone tapping warrants were initiated by Séan Doherty in discussion with Deputy Garda Commissioner Joseph Ainsworth. The phone of Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading newspaper. It is considered a newspaper of record for Ireland. Though formed as a Protestant Irish nationalist paper, within two decades and under new owners, it became a supporter of unionism in Ireland. In the 21st century, it presents itself politically as "liberal and progressive", as well as being centre-right on economic issues. The editorship of the newspaper from 1859 until 1986 was controlled by the Anglo-Irish Protestant minority, only gaining its first nominal Irish Catholic editor 127 years into its existence. The paper's notable columnists have included writer and arts commentator Fintan O'Toole and satirist Miriam Lord. The late Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald was once a columnist. Michael O'Regan was the Leinster Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Book Of Evidence
''The Book of Evidence'' is a 1989 novel by John Banville. Many of the characters in ''The Book of Evidence'' appear in the 1993 sequel ''Ghosts''. The book is narrated by Freddie Montgomery, a 38-year-old scientist who murders a servant girl during an attempt to steal a painting from a neighbour. Freddie is an aimless drifter, and though he is a perceptive observer of himself and his surroundings, he is largely amoral. Plot Freddie Montgomery is the unreliable narrator who tells his life story and recounts the events leading up to his arrest for the murder of a servant girl in one of Ireland's " big houses". A cultured but louche Anglo-Irish scientist who has been living abroad for many years, Freddie returns to his ancestral home seeking money after falling foul of a gangster in the Mediterranean. Shocked to discover that his mother has sold the family's collection of paintings, Freddie attempts to recover them. This leads to a tragic series of events culminating in Freddie's k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Banville
William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W. B. Yeats and Henry James are the two real influences on his work. Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2003 Nonino#Winners, International Nonino Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Princess of Asturias Awards, Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Italy made him a ' of the Order of the Star of Italy, Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. He is a former member of Aosdána, having voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer. Banville was born and gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark O'Connell (writer)
Mark O'Connell (born 23 June 1979) is an Irish author and journalist. His debut book, '' To Be a Machine'', was published in 2017, followed by '' Notes from an Apocalypse'' in 2020. His third book, ''A Thread of Violence'', was published in 2023. He has written for publications including ''The New Yorker'', ''The New York Times Magazine'', ''The New York Review of Books'', and ''The Guardian''. He is also the author of the Kindle Single ''Epic Fail: Bad Art, Viral Fame, and the History of the Worst Thing Ever'' (Byliner/The Millions), as well as an academic study of the novels of John Banville. Education and personal life O'Connell was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1979, and grew up there. His father worked as a pharmacist. O'Connell has an older brother and a younger sister. He studied English at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), completed a PhD on the novels of John Banville, and graduated in 2011. He lives in Dublin. Major works In 2017, O'Connell published '' To Be a Machine' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelton Abbey Prison
Shelton Abbey () on the north bank of the River Avoca, Avoca near Arklow County Wicklow, is a penal institution operated by the Irish Prison Service (IPS). Shelton Abbey was the ancestral seat of the Earl of Wicklow, Earls of Wicklow until 1951 when financial difficulties forced William Howard, 8th Earl of Wicklow to sell the estate to the Irish State. History In 1636, John Howard married Dorothea Hassels. They had one son together, Dr. Ralph Howard. Following John's death, Dorothea married her cousin Robert Hassells, owner of Shelton Abbey. They had no children, and Ralph inherited the estate. In 1770, Dr. Howard's grandson, also named Ralph, converted the existing building on the estate into a two-storey redbrick building of 11 Bay (architecture), bays. In 1776, Ralph was elevated to the peerage of Ireland, being made Baron Clonmore of Clonmore Castle. On 23 June 1785, he was further elevated in the peerage and became the first viscount of Wicklow. After his death, his w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RTÉ News
RTÉ News and Current Affairs (), also known simply as RTÉ News (''Nuacht RTÉ''), is the national news service provided by Irish public broadcaster (RTÉ). Its services include local, national, European and international news, investigative journalism and current affairs programming for RTÉ television, radio, online, podcasts, on-demand and for independent Irish language public broadcaster TG4. It is the largest and most popular news source in Ireland – with 77% of the Irish public regarding it as their main source of Irish and international news. It broadcasts in English language, English, Irish language, Irish and Irish Sign Language. The organisation is also a source of commentary on current affairs. The division is based at the RTÉ Television Centre in Donnybrook, Dublin, Donnybrook, Dublin; however, the station also operates regional bureaux across Ireland and the world. History Early history On 1 January 1926, 2RN, Ireland's first radio station, began broadcasting. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minister For Justice, Home Affairs And Migration
The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has overall responsibility for law and order in Ireland. The current Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is Jim O'Callaghan, TD. He is assisted by two Ministers of State: * Niall Collins, TD – Minister of State for International law, law reform and youth justice * Colm Brophy, TD – Minister of State for Migration History From 1919 until 1924 the position was known as the Minister for Home Affairs. In 1997, the functions of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform were transferred to this Minister, and it was renamed as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a title which it retained until 2010. The minister held the title of Minister for Justice and Equality from 2011 to 2020. As of 2020, the position is known as Minister fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael McDowell (politician)
Michael McDowell (born 1 May 1951) is an Irish Independent politician (Ireland), independent politician and barrister. Active in Irish politics since the 1980s, he currently serves in Seanad Éireann as a senator for the National University of Ireland (constituency), National University constituency. A grandson of Irish revolutionary Eoin MacNeill, McDowell was educated at Gonzaga College and studied law at University College Dublin and King's Inns. He began practicing as a barrister in 1974, becoming a senior counsel in 1987. Initially a member of Fine Gael, he co-founded the Progressive Democrats in the mid-1980s and was elected three times as a Teachta Dála, TD for the Dublin South-East (Dáil constituency), Dublin South-East constituency, serving in the 25th Dáil (1987–1989), the 27th Dáil (1992–1997), and the 29th Dáil (2002–2007). He served as Attorney General of Ireland from 1999 to 2002 and as Minister for Justice (Ireland), Minister for Justice, Equality and La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
