April and Easter, freedom and death
THE WAY THINGS ARE
For Cyprus, Ireland and Palestine, Easter and April carry ongoing significance, their history still a living thing because of unresolved political issues. Cypriots and Christian Palestinians ...
Articles
When the welcome turns sour
THE WAY THINGS ARE
It was bound to happen. Some predicted severe water shortages in the region, particularly affecting lives and lands in Africa and the Middle East, would cause ...
Flashers and ‘sporting’ cruelties
THE WAY THINGS ARE
On March 7, just before International Women’s Day, the BBC’s Today programme interviewed three young women who had been flashed. That shock intrusion frighteningly elicited ...
Youth: ganging up and exclusion
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Exclusion: youngsters can be inordinately cruel to each other, causing mental agony particularly for teens also coping with changes to their bodies. When stealth bullying turns ...
Children of the stones
THE WAY THINGS ARE
The ability of our species, present and prehistoric, to endure whatever the elements or other people inflict on us, and survive tragedies such as the earthquakes ...
Cyprus/Ireland: questions of unity and equality
THE WAY THINGS ARE
My two islands have much in common. A reputation for hospitality and friendliness, a history of British occupation, civil strife, emigration, a brain and labour drain ...
The steal deal: Elgin, lobbyists
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Obvious thievery makes headlines every day. Then there’s historical thievery where old, lax ways enabled procurement of indigenous cultural artefacts by other countries for their ...
New year, but what’s new, ladies?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
For many the answer to that question is not much. Here we have free speech and expression, but inequalities still exist. Girls in Afghanistan can’t ...
Death in the time of life
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Breath leaves our bodies and that of other warm-blooded species, taking warmth with it. Death is cold.
A breeze ruffles the grey feathers of a pigeon ...
Joni, Cyprus and the ‘ra’
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Back in the Sixties, the immaculate voice of singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell drew fans to her in droves. Her songs were smart, beautiful and relevant. Recently, she ...
Watchers come in all shapes and sizes
THE WAY THINGS ARE
The word ‘watch’ is as versatile as the cliched egg. On Netflix, The Watchers centres on a family new to town who find that people who ...
Guest recipes with Colette Ioannidou
An Irish take on Halloween
When I used to bake for my family, there was a book by Darina Allen I relied on for special Irish days, The Festive food ...
Ghosts and writers love Halloween
THE WAY THINGS ARE
The storm cracked across the sky like a brutal artillery barrage just as the Adventure Club group had decided to make camp by the lake. The ...
Democracy: illusion or farce?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
The ancient Greek demokratia/polis system was an exclusive gents’-entitlement club, participatory and self-governing. Demokratia joins demos (people) and kratos (power). At the same time, ...
When teen angst turns fatal
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Molly Russell, an apparently happy teen, killed herself and an investigation into her death seeks answers because her grieving, bewildered father wants them, and accountability. Some ...
Fake footballer and identikit president
THE WAY THINGS ARE
We don’t let our memories, senses and instincts serve us well if we willfully smother them. Natural mental functions, evolved over millennia, can be submerged ...
Eight years of solid companionship gone in a flash
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
THE WAY THINGS ARE
Death is the most certain thing in life, everything dies. And the hideous variety of ways by which death gathers its dues ...
You’re in the army now!
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
During the 80s one of the most popular programmes on CyBC radio was Request Time with John Vickers in English and Vicky ...
Children in the USA, death by abortion or guns?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
The governing coterie of Boris Johnson has repeatedly side-stepped political propriety under his lack of leadership. Their list of misdemeanors grew until ...
CyBC’s first lady of English news
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
She had been on my mind, so I messaged my former boss at CyBC’s English language department, respected journalist and author ...
James Joyce: Genius or moral sink of filth?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
The Irish haven’t always been, still aren’t, good at appreciating their talent. Strangers with clout seem to fare better in ...
A cruel world
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
There are few who can describe human remains with the eloquence of Irish Nobel poet Seamus Heaney. Grauballe Man is too long ...
Spirits and dreamtimes
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
I know religious people who aren’t spiritual and spiritual people who spurn organised religion. Many ancient myths and beliefs tell of ...
Progress, really or a hare and tortoise race?
THE WAY THINGS ARE
By Colette NiReamonn Ioannidou
All round us, human progress is rapidly evolving. Still, the rich get richer, and the poor get ever poorer when a mix ...