THE days when an oil rush brought Irish Catholics flocking to work in the shale mines and oil refineries of West Lothian (above), are being recalled thanks to the establishment of a Shale Trail, linking Livingston with West Calder.

THE Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond TD, recently published the Irish Government’s new Diaspora Strategy.

Neither Here Nor There Written by CG Docherty Published by Levenford Publishing Price: £12.99 WHEN studying local history and creating family trees has never been so popular, it is often said ‘you have to know where you came from in order to know where you are going.’ Some questions people ask regularly here in Scotland: “Who do you think you are?” Are you somebody? “Who were your parents?” “Where did they work?” What is really surprising is that so many people haven’t a clue

I FIRST listened to The Pogues in late 1984 on a bootleg cassette