Author Jude Collins

The Church of England has got the wind up, or at least the Archbishop of Canterbury has. He’s got nervy, as have lots of Anglicans and other Christian faiths, because Aaqil Ahmed has been appointed head of religious broadcasting by the BBC. And of course now you know why – that name is a bit […]

A columnist from the Sun was on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC TV this morning. Her name is Jane Moore and she was leafing through the Sunday papers for Marr and noting the acres of space being devoted to the MPs’ expenses scandal. Ms Moore was in strong moral mode: ‘They’re all at it, […]

A columnist from the Sun was on the Andrew Marr Show on BBC TV this morning. Her name is Jane Moore and she was leafing through the Sunday papers for Marr and noting the acres of space being devoted to the MPs’ expenses scandal. Ms Moore was in strong moral mode: ‘They’re all at it, […]

I’ve just read an article by an Irish-American about the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Hillsborough, where she met the Irish rugby team. ‘English Queen should not set foot in Republic of Ireland’ the headline said. How refreshing – a commentator who isn’t saying it’s time in the name of reconciliation for HMQE2 to come […]

I’ve just read an article by an Irish-American about the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Hillsborough, where she met the Irish rugby team. ‘English Queen should not set foot in Republic of Ireland’ the headline said. How refreshing – a commentator who isn’t saying it’s time in the name of reconciliation for HMQE2 to come […]

It’s hard to know which takes the severest pummelling in life, the body or the brain. I was in Bantry in Co Cork at the weekend, competing…No, wrong word. Participating in the half-marathon. It was a hilly course, which made me very apprehensive, as I tend to start gasping after a hill, and once that […]

It’s hard to know which takes the severest pummelling in life, the body or the brain. I was in Bantry in Co Cork at the weekend, competing…No, wrong word. Participating in the half-marathon. It was a hilly course, which made me very apprehensive, as I tend to start gasping after a hill, and once that […]

On Monday nights since September we’ve been running a reading club at our house. There are eight of us but sometimes the number in attendance slips a few. There are just two men in the group – myself and John McAleer. He’s a former colleague of mine at UUJ and a very bright man. Anyway, […]

I remember an occasion over thirty years ago, in Newcastle upon Tyne, saying to the man I was drinking with that I figured all the things we do, including great art, are to help us forget that inside fifty, a hundred years we’ll be no more than a handful of dust. He seemed to find […]

I’m getting ready to run a half-marathon (no, please, please – you’ll frighten the horses with your applause) in Bantry at the beginning of next month. There are a lot of interesting aspects to doing this, including the recurring thought “Am I mad/stupid/consumed by a death-wish?”, but the one that struck me today was the […]