Too good to be true?

Denis Bradley is a nice man. Any time I’ve met him he’s been pleasant,  anyone who knows him speaks highly of his integrity. So it’s with some reluctance that I say he was talking tripe in the VO this morning. The subject of his column was political selflessness. Only twice in his life, he said, […]

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Too good to be true?

Denis Bradley is a nice man. Any time I’ve met him he’s been pleasant,  anyone who knows him speaks highly of his integrity. So it’s with some reluctance that I say he was talking tripe in the VO this morning. The subject of his column was political selflessness. Only twice in his life, he said, […]

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Cometh the hour, cometh the man

It’s unfair to make judgements about people on the basis of their looks, I know that; but if we didn’t, 50% of comedy would evaporate. What would Buster Keaton be without that deadpan look, Ken Dodd be without those teeth, Fr Jack be without that face and those eyes? So when I saw Edward Stevenson […]

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Cometh the hour, cometh the man

It’s unfair to make judgements about people on the basis of their looks, I know that; but if we didn’t, 50% of comedy would evaporate. What would Buster Keaton be without that deadpan look, Ken Dodd be without those teeth, Fr Jack be without that face and those eyes? So when I saw Edward Stevenson […]

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What a thing to say!

“Whatever you say, say nothing” – that’s the watchword of a lot of people here. Don’t turn over any stones if you don’t want to confront something yucky-squiggly,  and don’t open your gob if you’d rather not provoke attack. The man who’s replacing Gerry Adams in West Belfast,  former hunger-striker Pat Sheehan, has chosen to […]

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What a thing to say!

“Whatever you say, say nothing” – that’s the watchword of a lot of people here. Don’t turn over any stones if you don’t want to confront something yucky-squiggly,  and don’t open your gob if you’d rather not provoke attack. The man who’s replacing Gerry Adams in West Belfast,  former hunger-striker Pat Sheehan, has chosen to […]

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Off with his head!

I was at a social occasion a few days ago and a man I’d describe as a northern nationalist was talking. His theme was Brian Cowen, and the way he talked it sounded as though Brian Cowen, single-handed, had brought the twenty-six counties to its knees. I murmured something about world-wide recession, lies told by […]

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Off with his head!

I was at a social occasion a few days ago and a man I’d describe as a northern nationalist was talking. His theme was Brian Cowen, and the way he talked it sounded as though Brian Cowen, single-handed, had brought the twenty-six counties to its knees. I murmured something about world-wide recession, lies told by […]

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Honours from the Empire

I think it’s lovely that Queen Elizabeth distributes her Honours in late December. It’s a point in the year when all of us feel a bit down, and while of course we can’t all receive an Honour from Her Majesty, we can warm our hands in the reflected glow that comes when someone we know […]

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Honours from the Empire

I think it’s lovely that Queen Elizabeth distributes her Honours in late December. It’s a point in the year when all of us feel a bit down, and while of course we can’t all receive an Honour from Her Majesty, we can warm our hands in the reflected glow that comes when someone we know […]

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