There was a glut of voices on the radio the other day, each eager to comment on ‘The Estate’, a TV fly-on-the-wall documentary about Ballysally housing estate near Coleraine. Some callers claimed it left out all the good stuff, some said it was plain depressing, some that it was good because it allowed disadvantaged people […]
February, 2012
Gissajob? Um…what Quarter do you live in?
There was a glut of voices on the radio the other day, each eager to comment on ‘The Estate’, a TV fly-on-the-wall documentary about Ballysally housing estate near Coleraine. Some callers claimed it left out all the good stuff, some said it was plain depressing, some that it was good because it allowed disadvantaged people […]
What David said about Peter – is he half-right?
All political careers end in failure, we’re told, but there’s failure and then again there’s failure. Having led his party to the slaughter-house run by the DUP, David Trimble peeled away at the last minute and ended up in the House of Lords. He even was tipped at one point for a post in David […]
What David said about Peter – is he half-right?
All political careers end in failure, we’re told, but there’s failure and then again there’s failure. Having led his party to the slaughter-house run by the DUP, David Trimble peeled away at the last minute and ended up in the House of Lords. He even was tipped at one point for a post in David […]
England’s call – no, not for you, ‘Arry
No, don’t laugh. It could have happened to a bishop. When England hired Fabio Capello, they thought he was just the man – great record of working with successful football teams, a no-nonsense guy who’d bash some sense into inflated English footballers’ heads. Oh dear. Four years and £24 million later, it turns out he […]
England’s call – no, not for you, ‘Arry
No, don’t laugh. It could have happened to a bishop. When England hired Fabio Capello, they thought he was just the man – great record of working with successful football teams, a no-nonsense guy who’d bash some sense into inflated English footballers’ heads. Oh dear. Four years and £24 million later, it turns out he […]
The day Winston Churchill said the wrong thing
The relationship of Ulster unionists to Britain and its leaders is a fascinating one – enough there, as the psychiatrist in Fawlty Towers remarked, for a whole conference. Take Winston Churchill. Great British leader, told off de Valera good and proper for sitting out the Second World War, had a father Randolph who told the […]
The day Winston Churchill said the wrong thing
The relationship of Ulster unionists to Britain and its leaders is a fascinating one – enough there, as the psychiatrist in Fawlty Towers remarked, for a whole conference. Take Winston Churchill. Great British leader, told off de Valera good and proper for sitting out the Second World War, had a father Randolph who told the […]
Ian Paisley in hospital – so how do you feel?
It’s a funny old thing, identity. Who are you? Are you the primary school child who got bullied or had a toilet problem? Maybe you’re the young stud or sexy thing who turned heads? Or the middle-aged pontificator, or the ageing reactionary, or the bewildered figure in the old people’s home? They could all be […]
Ian Paisley in hospital – so how do you feel?
It’s a funny old thing, identity. Who are you? Are you the primary school child who got bullied or had a toilet problem? Maybe you’re the young stud or sexy thing who turned heads? Or the middle-aged pontificator, or the ageing reactionary, or the bewildered figure in the old people’s home? They could all be […]