The Dublin government is taking the British government to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  in an attempt to thwart Britain’s Legacy Bill, which aims to stop all inquiries into violent events during the Troubles. But if they were successful, does anybody believe that the IRA or the UDA, not to mention the British armed forces, would come clean about the violence they meted out? Or is the Dublin government keen to look as though it’s actually concerned about anything that happened in the North?

Michael McDowell is a failed politician and an active columnist in The Irish Times, but even he has been sickened by the treatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces. He compares captured Palestinian men to the film of Jewish people being lined up by the Nazis for extermination. For once, I agree with Michael.

Finally, will Donald Trump, should he win the next presidential election – and right now he’s very much ahead of Joe Biden, according to opinion polls-  emerge as a full-blown dictator? Pat is convinced he will. I’m not quite so sure.

Give yourself a Yuletide treat – join us, why don’t you….