Meeting up with Nationalist types can often be a bit of a ‘downer’. A recurring complaint is that mixed-race babies seem to be everywhere and white women have been brainwashed into chasing black men to the exclusion of men of their own race. I am notoriously positive and optimistic about things in general, but am I naive? Well, I’ve had some experience of online dating sites and I can state with confidence that by far…

By Fionn Westron: How many of you have been extremely curious to see the photos or hear stories of your ancestors, wondering if you looked or thought like them, how many have seen the uncanny resemblance of people going back generations? It is the same fundamental and most powerful human need/drive that adopted children have, into their adulthood. They need to know who their blood is, who they are. Irish-Americans come to Ireland all gooey-eyed,…

By Frederick Dixon: Alright, I confess, I’m a Downton Abbey addict. That cosy soap of life above and below stairs in the very different, but still recognisable, England of nearly a century ago is just what I need when I’m in the mood to blob out in front of the telly. Whether or not it’s a realistic portrayal of that life is another matter; no doubt my grandmothers, both of whom were in service before…