Profile of Stevie Coughlan

STEPHEN COUGHLAN, T.D., Mayor of Limerick has in the last few months emerged as the George Wallace of Irish politics-personifying a parochialism and prejudice hitherto unknown at a national level-at least in recent times. Furthermore, he has become the focal point of unrest in the Labour Party which has been deeply divided on urban/rural lines since the General Election.

The church in turmoil

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, in the relatively brief period of a decade, has totally changed its public liturgy, its education of priests and its pastoral organisation. It has even more significantly altered its theological understanding of itself.

Pogrom: Limerick 1904

THE POGROM of Limerick in 1904 was small by international standards. From 1880 to 1920 throughout Tsarist Russia hundreds of thousands of Jews were butchered, dispossessed and left impoverished, and Western Europe and the United States experienc~d an enormous influx of Jewish refugees.

Indo-China: US Spreads the war

DESPITE THE prospect of further American troop withdrawals from Vietnam, it seems clear that American involvement in the area will continue long beyond any settlement reached in Saigon. Recent events in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand underline the American need for strong, vehemently anti-communist regimes in IndoChinese capitals. And Thailand, rather than Vietnam, is the lynchpin to this policy.

A look at the Rev Ian Paisley

THE CHURCH of the Martyrs in Ravenhill Road, Belfast may possess some features of architectural interest. I didn't know, and cared less, as I tagged along at the end of the line of worshippers, endeavouring to look like a Protestant in need of spiritud guidance.

The Maoists

THE RECENT HYSTERICAL out­bursts about Maoism in Ireland suggest that an influential and large group of Chinese Communists are on the brink of a power take-over­leading to this country's ensnarement inside the bamboo enclave. A cooler appraisal of the strength of Maoism here suggests a less optimistic or pes­simistic (depending on your view­point) situation.

Fascism in Limerick

About six months ago a small group of Maoists decided to begin activities in the Shannon Industrial Estate. They came mainly from their strongest base in Trinity College. Their leader in Limerick, Arthur Allen, was formerly the Maoist Irish Student Movement's expert on the war in Vietnam. Like most Irish Maoists he comes from a wealthy background, his family owns the OdIum Company and are dis¬tinguished and wealthy Quakers. Obviously such a group were not an immediate threat to the "status quo" in Limerick. They took jobs in the Estate and gradually grew to about eight members.

Profile of Mrs. Lemass

Photographs show her always smiling, her eyes alive under the magnificent hats which appeared in so many pictures. The image is of warmth and easy friendliness.

Mrs. Kathleen Lemass has contributed immeasurably to her husband's happiness and peace of mind and thereby to his success in public life. Unintellectual and placid by temperament, she balances his drive and dedication.

"He was always very serious-minded," she remembers. "But I was fond of dancing and the gay life." She laughs. "But they say opposites attract, don't they? "

Sean Lemass: A Profile

Sean Lemass was the dominant personality of the Sixties. In december 1969, Nusight undertook a comprehensive and in-depth profile on the man and his career.

Religion in UCD

THERE have only been two significant surveys on the beliefs and cultic practices of Catholics in Dublin initiated in the last decade. The first was commissioned by Dr. John Charles McQuaid in a working-class housing estate. The findings of this report were repressed, it is said, because of the gloomy picture it painted of current religious practice among young working-class Dubliners. The second report was conceived and drawn up by Brian Power, C.C., who until mid-1968, was a highly popular Chaplain in U.C.D.

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