SÉAMUS AHEARNE: PEOPLE IN THE NEWS AT PRESENT

Jeremy Archer has died. An infamous British politician. A very successful novelist. A man who reinvented himself frequently. A conman and fraudster whose wife Mary was described by Judge Caulfield in his summing up to the Jury, on the unlikelihood of Jeremy, wandering, given the wonder of this woman: “Has she elegance? Has she fragrance? Would she have, without the strain of this trial, radiance?” Some ten years after that Litigation – Jeremy was found to have committed Perjury, and was sentenced to 4 years in Jail. He was an extraordinary character. He lived a life of fantasy and made it very lucrative. He wasn’t just a lovable rogue or a chancer. He had panache!

The Donald: Does his story (Archer’s) remind you of someone else? I think of the Donald. ‘Truth’ is whatever seems useful to Trump today, or at this moment. He too is highly successful as a business man. He makes money, and does it more so since becoming President. He hasn’t reached jail as yet, but probably should be incarcerated. His interference in the Election. His behaviour on January 7^th preceding the Capital Riots. His conviction on business deals. His behaviour with women. But he still goes on. The idiocy of Trump continues. The new book by Jacob Weisberg: Profiles in Cowardice – A Study of Greed and Collusion in the Trump Era rants at those who have enabled him to survive and thrive. It is difficult to believe that if Donald J Trump presented himself to an Interview Board for any job, that he would be acceptable. Any job whatsoever. But he was and is! Unlike Jeremy, he doesn’t have panache!

Poor Keir Starmer was scoffed at and derided for appointing Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the US without ‘due diligence.’ The association of Peter with Epstein was toxic. And that photo in his Dressing Gown at the home of Epstein. (Of course, Peter, like everyone else – saw nothing.) However, an argument can be made that Mandelson was needed as Ambassador to deal with the mercurial character that is Trump. A phrase used previously about Mandelson was ‘the prince of darkness.’ It summed up his ability to manipulate the news and to be the best possible spin doctor. Wasn’t that needed with Trump? Who could have done it better? Or who could have been as devious and twisted as Trump himself? The ‘holier than thou’ brigade showed much moral outrage eventually at the appointment. I thought politics was ‘the art of the possible.’ (Otto von Bismarck).

Christa Pike murdered Colleen Slemmer in 1995 when she was 18. She has been on Death Row since 1996, when she was found guilty and sentenced to death. She is now 50. That execution failed in Tennessee. She is now on ‘Life-saving medical care’ in hospital. That is surely ironic. She is supposedly handcuffed and shackled to the bed. There is something obscene that the State waited 30 years before they attempted to kill her and then botched it. Sister Helen Prejean has something to say about it all. The phrase catches it too well: ‘Dead Man Walking.’ Or in this case: ‘Dead Woman Walking.’ (Much of what goes on in America is worrying.)

Dame Esther Rantzen died on Thursday the 30^th September. She was 86. She was well known for her work on TV and her involvement in many social issues. Her farewell letter to her fans had these words: ‘Sadly all good things come to an end, as they say. So I particularly wanted to say goodbye, and to thank you so much. Perhaps I will see you eventually on the other side, I hope so.” Her family said that she was ‘our sunshine’ and had such a capacity for joy. She was a promoter and supporter for Assisted Dying.

Kim Leadbeater was a sister of Jo Cox MP who was murdered. Kim Leadbeater introduced the Bill for Assisted Dying in 2024 in The House of Commons. It eventually ran out of time through the work of the Peers. It was then reintroduced by Lauren Edwards in 2026 but got voted down in the House. In Ireland, Gino Kenny had sponsored a Bill – Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in 2024. (I don’t know where that Bill is now, and I haven’t heard much about it.)

The Drumcree parade continues to be disputed by the Garvaghy Road residents. It is beyond belief after all the deaths and all the suffering that this could again be allowed to surface as a problem. When will people ever learn? That the only way forward is talk. Is respect. Is compromise. Is kindness. Is acceptance of history. Is some learning of what has occurred, and a humble search for a new shared way. It is utter despair for everyone in Northern Ireland, and for all thinking human beings, that this should come to such an impasse. I have used the phrase previously – it reeks of psychological constipation. This is the murder and death of hope. ‘Where have all the flowers gone? ‘ ‘When will they ever learn?’ (Pete Seeger).

Seamus Ahearne osa

10^th October 2026.