We Must be Talking

Armageddon  Gerry OShea End-of-time scenarios are part of the Judeo-Christian narrative. Evangelical Christians expect a final showdown, a great battle between the godly forces of righteousness and the multitude of the damned representing the world’s depravities with Satan himself slouching around prompting rebellion and promoting hatred and pillage. The prophet Daniel who lived a few hundred years before Christ is deemed to have foreseen the massive destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD as an absolutely horrendous event. Some of the early Christian writers felt that only the Latin language could adequately convey the enormity of his vision: abominatio desolationis stans in loco sancto – abomination of desolation standing in the holy place is the rather pallid English translation. In later centuries - right up to the present - Daniel’s fierce words are used by some theologians and preachers to predict impending disasters that can only be understood in payoff terms where sinners would get t

  The 2023 All-Ireland Football Final          Gerry OShea Monaghan and Derry had nearly all the support of unconnected football followers in their recent semi-final clashes with Dublin and Kerry. Outsiders knocking at the door will always have neutrals cheering for them. The Monaghan men acquitted themselves well but they had no answer to the late blitzkrieg of scores by Fenton, McCaffrey, Mannion and Rock. In the other semi-final the Kerry road to victory was very different with a much closer result after an enthralling game revealing high-level footballing skills by both sides. The Derry forwards were buzzing in the first half and kicking wonderful points from distance, leaving them ahead by three points at the break. The second-half introduction of Stephen O’Brien was a pivotal move by Jack O’Connor, the Kerry manager. He accounted for two vital turnovers as well as kicking a fine point and winning a dubious free which led to another. Still, Derry was ahead by two points with