March, 2026

              RSH.The Daffodils.By Randall Stephen Hall.Plus Free track, THE BOATYARDListen to _9 THE BOATYARD By Randall Stephen Hall by Randall Stephen Hall on #SoundCloudhttps://on.soundcloud.com/uhRgjqhxE8jp8iKxQXTHE DAFFODILSThe daffodils are comingAnd things are looking up.Donald’s in his heavenAnd things are getting rough.Kristi’s gotten crispy.She’s fried and turned to toast.We are lookin’ up […]

The arrival of Mark Carney on the international stage as a voice of economic and geopolitical sobriety has been widely welcomed. Few figures combine such credibility in finance with a clear-eyed understanding of the shifting global order. His emphasis on strengthening ties between countries like Canada, India, and Australia is particularly encouraging. These are large […]

Imagine the global reaction if Vladimir Putin had woken up one morning, dispatched commandos into Ukraine, kidnapped Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife from Kyiv, and then—just to round off the afternoon—launched a heavy bombardment of Poland. The response would be instantaneous and volcanic. Emergency meetings at the United Nations would run so late diplomats would […]

Electronic tagging for offenders is one of those ideas that sounds so sensible you wonder why it hasn’t happened already—rather like seatbelts, online banking, or remembering where you parked the car. In fact, Ireland’s justice system has been “about to introduce it” for so long that the technology itself is probably starting to feel self-conscious. […]

Electronic tagging for offenders is one of those ideas that sounds so sensible you wonder why it hasn’t happened already—rather like seatbelts, online banking, or remembering where you parked the car. In fact, Ireland’s justice system has been “about to introduce it” for so long that the technology itself is probably starting to feel self-conscious. […]

George Monbiot got it right about Donald Trump’s attack on Iran for a simple reason: he looked past the noise and asked the one question that matters in war—why? His answer was brutal in its clarity: “The real reason for this attack is spectacle.”  That diagnosis has aged well in the space of about five […]

In theory, the PSNI is the most balanced police force on the island. In practice, it still struggles to recruit Catholics in numbers that match the demography of NEI. Only about one in five applicants comes from a Catholic background. Which raises an awkward question: if the police are for everyone, why do so many people politely […]

THEATRE OF THE ABSURD IN GLASGOW AND WASHINGTON  By John Patton     THEATRE OF THE ABSURD IN GLASGOW AND WASHINGTON   By John Patton on 05/03/2026  A much appreciated birthday gift from my son, saw us both at a new production of “Waiting For Godot” at the recently refurbished, Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre. The curtain rose on […]

  There is something exquisitely Belfast about the idea of the BBC  wanting to help curate Belfast City Council ls grand narrative project, Belfast Stories. After all, who better to shape “the story of the city” than the state broadcaster of the state many in the city once spent several decades arguing about? The BBC, […]

Once upon a time, in the grand theatre of global power, two middle-aged men decided their résumés needed a bit more territorial flair. On the eastern front, Putin launched a war against Ukraine, brushing off international norms like confetti at a wedding — a sovereign state be damned. Meanwhile, on the other side of the […]