Kieran Beville

  Silence Then and Now What Gaza Reveals About Who We Really Are   By Kieran Beville Have you ever truly stopped to wonder what choices you might have made as an adult living in Nazi Germany between 1936 and 1945? Would you have stood against a monstrous ideology rooted in hate, violence, and dehumanisation? Would you have dared to speak up, knowing that your dissent could cost you your freedom—or even your life? Or would fear, apathy, or the comfort of your own position have kept you quiet? Would you have pleaded ignorance, claiming you didn’t know what was happening? Would you have shrugged and said, “I’m not political,” or told yourself that the Nazi regime was simply too powerful to challenge? It’s a question that haunts us because it strips us of comforting illusions. We like to imagine ourselves as brave, principled, and moral—people who would have risked something to do what’s right. But history is rarely shaped by what we imagine we would do. It is shaped by wh...

Silen ce of the Righteous They were not beasts with blood upon their hands but teachers, shopkeepers, and fathers’ sons who watched the cattle cars roll down the tracks yet stirred no limb to halt the steel of death. Some feared the knock that echoed in the dark some learned to swallow lies as daily bread some let the swelling fever of the crowd replace the quiet whisper of the soul. A race of racists, yes—but worse than that a nation lulled by myths of chosen blood who measured worth by twisted lines of code etched deep in skull and skin, decreed by hate. We boast we would have braved that poisoned time we say we’d rise against the tyrant’s shout we claim we’d tear the banners from the square but history teaches harsh truths to us. Most hearts beat dull beneath the weight of fear most eyes grow blind when terror stalks the street and silence blooms, as easy as a sigh. Yet now the tanks roll once again in view the drones ignite the night in Gaza’s sky and chi...

  Cuckoo Nation   It came not with a song, but with a cry— A feathered stranger, bold in foreign air. No nest it built, no hatchling of its own. Yet still it laid its future in the straw Of those who'd sung beneath that olive sky.   The cuckoo waits until the host is gone Then drops its egg where others ought to grow. Its birth begins with murder: one by one The native young are cast beyond the rim Their lives a price for foreign life to thrive. So too, this state was born in fire and flight With walls of myth to mask the storm of blood.   In Gaza, smoke becomes the infant's breath. The streets are graves before the names are known. The tanks roll through where orchards used to bloom The drones erase what time and toil have built. They say it's war—but children are the dead. They say defence—but rubble tells the tale. A genocide unfolds in daily light Disguised as right, as law, as self-defence.   And in the West Bank hills, the ...

  The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Cars The Green Lie Few Media Outlets Dare to Tell By Kieran Beville   Electric vehicles (EVs) have become the darlings of climate policy and corporate sustainability goals. Governments promote them with subsidies, car manufacturers tout them as the future, and the media rarely questions the seemingly noble narrative: that switching from petrol/diesel to electric cars will solve the climate crisis. But scratch beneath the surface of this “green revolution,” and a much more complicated picture emerges—one that many news outlets avoid, largely due to a financial ecosystem tied to EV advertising (newspapers/radio/TV), lobbying, and corporate sponsorships. At the heart of the issue lies an uncomfortable reality: the transition to electric vehicles relies on a global supply chain built on environmental destruction, exploitative labour, and geopolitical instability. The Mining Behind the Machines – A Dirty Secret...

  The Delusion of Greatness They say it once was great—this shining land A beacon on the hill, pure and divine. But blood has soaked its soil from birth to now And smoke still rises from the buried past. No greatness lies in shattered tribal bones In treaties broken like a drunkard’s oath In trails of tears that haunt the ancient woods— Where once the eagle soared and spirits sang.   The land was taken not with grace or law But fire and steel, disease and sharpened greed. The nations here before almost erased— They were destroyed with purpose, plan, and pride. And still the myth endures—a false refrain— That conquest bore some noble higher cause.   Yet greatness never rides on slavery’s back Nor grows from children’s cries in iron chains. The auction block, the lash, the branded flesh— These are not stones fit for liberty’s shrine. In cotton fields beneath the southern sun Where breath was priced and freedom just a dream A nat...

  Limerick Writers – Shaping Our Identity By Kieran Beville When we consider the literary contributions of writers from Limerick, a city often overshadowed in the pantheon of Irish literary notables by Dublin, Cork and Belfast, we can be rightly proud. Limerick’s unique socio-cultural and historical landscape has influenced the voices that emerge from the region. Writers, including Frank McCourt, Kate O'Brien, and contemporary voices like Donal Ryan are bright stars in the literary firmament. If we focus the lens on themes such as memory, marginalisation, emigration, religion, and class, then Limerick literature offers a distinct narrative. Literary voices from Limerick provide invaluable insights into the unique socio-political, religious, and economic conditions of the city. We might well ask how the city of Limerick has shaped the literary voices of its native writers and how its writers have shaped the cultural identity of the city. In what ways do Limerick writers ...

  THE NAKBA NEVER ENDED Memory, resistance, and the enduring trauma of Palestinian displacement By Kieran Beville In Gaza today, the sky is filled not just with smoke, but with memory. Memory of homes erased. Memory of stories carried across generations. And memory of a catastrophe that never truly ended. As the death toll surpasses 50,000 Palestinians—most of them non-combatants, many of them women and children—the world watches a tragedy unfold that is both current and historical. The ongoing assault on Gaza is not merely a response to the horrific acts of Hamas on October 7, 2023. It is part of a long continuum that began in 1948 with the Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” when over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes during the creation of the state of Israel. Today, in refugee camps and shattered neighbourhoods, Palestinians are not just mourning the dead. They are mourning the continuity of a t...

  Poetry in the Present Tense The Many Voices of Contemporary Verse By Kieran Beville   I n today’s literary landscape, poetry is experiencing both a renaissance and a reckoning. Far from the ivory towers of tradition, it now thrives on social media feeds, open mic stages, and experimental corners of the internet. But with this expansion comes a question: what, exactly, is poetry in the 21st century? Contemporary poets are operating in a highly diverse field, shaped by competing styles, audiences, and philosophies. The resulting registers—postmodern, surreal, academic, performative, digital, experimental, and pop-cultural—offer a strikingly pluralistic view of what poetry can be. Each register reflects a different set of priorities, and each has both devoted followers and sharp critics. Ivory Towers and Masters in Creative Writing The academic register still holds considerable sway. Shaped by Master Degree programmes and literary journals, thi...