My Music Albums of the Year January 2nd 2025 Gerry Hassan   Back by popular demand (from a few folk who like me love their music). Divided into three main sections: new, compilations and box sets, and older issues I have turned to for the first time. And a few minus and positive points about releases to round things up.   NEW ALBUMS  

1. Fine Art, Kneecap

The breakout musical sensation of 2024; a trio from West Belfast singing songs about the concerns of young people, drugs and the importance of the Irish language. All done with humour,

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Get Ready for the Age of Disruption Coming to Scotland! Sunday National, December 29th 2024 Gerry Hassan Politics everywhere across the West is shaped by failure, exhaustion and unpopularity in the mainstream - and increasingly by anger and rage amongst voters. Both Scotland and the UK are no exception. Labour’s election victory with 34% of the vote was the smallest in history for a party winning an overall parliamentary majority. Since then it has been downhill all the way with a government showing a lack of sure-footedness and political acumen on issue after issue, and with no sense of how

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Books of the Year: Politics, History, Culture and Ideas Bella Caledonia, December 24 2024  Gerry Hassan   As Christmas approaches and people have bought their presents here is my review of my books of the year. Perfect for all those post-Christmas and New Year presents, book tokens and people who you forgot about and know you shouldn’t have! Nearly every book listed below was published in 2024 but there a couple of exceptions published in 2022 and 2023 which I only got around to this year – and which I think are very relevant! Corrine Fowler, Our Island Stories:

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Labour, the Starmer Project, the Battle for Britain and Our Collective Future Gerry Hassan Sunday National, 24 November 2024  We are nearly five months into this Labour government - elected after 14 years of Tory government mired in scandal, division and failure which the public were desperate to see the back of. Why then does it already feel as if this government is running to stand still, barely able to articulate what its vision, and nervous about the kind of Britain it wants to bring about? What consequences does this have for challenging the status quo; for healing a broken

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