Author Jude Collins

At its heart, football reflects politics because it represents nations — their identity, pride and history. Flags, anthems and national colours aren’t merely tradition; they’re symbols of collective memory and often unresolved tensions. That’s why a football match between the United States and Iran in the 1998 World Cup wasn’t just about goals — it […]

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Every time a GAA pitch gets planning permission in Belfast, somewhere a unionist eyebrow achieves escape velocity. It’s never just about grass. Or goalposts. Or whether the car park has adequate turning space for a Nissan Qashqai. No — it is always, solemnly, about “balance,” “shared space,” and the ominous spectre of cultural creep. A […]

Sir Keir Starmer once observed that there are “parts of England you wouldn’t know were English.” This was presented as a lament about social cohesion. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, meanwhile, declared that England is being “colonised by immigrants,” which was presented as a lament about everything. And thus we arrive at the Great British Tradition: two […]

For the British government, the damage is less about direct implication and more about proximity. Power, it turns out, travels in tight circles: financiers, ministers, royalty, philanthropists — all clinking glasses at the same charity galas. When one guest is revealed to have been running a global abuse ring, everyone else suddenly develops selective amnesia. […]

Prince William has touched down in Saudi Arabia, a kingdom of sweeping deserts, gleaming skyscrapers and, as the world was once grimly reminded, a troubling record when it comes to dissenting journalists. Diplomacy, like air miles, must be collected wherever available. There is something faintly surreal about a modern British prince touring a state synonymous […]

How much do I detest Peter Mandelson? Let me count the ways.A man whose best pal is Jeremy Epstein, who sucked up to Trump,  who helped create ‘New Labour’ (blesses self huriedly) – anyone of those three are enough to make the belly heave and the mouth yell for a bucket. However, we judge (or […]

    I never thought I would live to see a fascist government in the USA but that has happened with the arrival of DJ Trump and his band of right wing Zionists in the White House. I suppose I should not have been so naïve. I had innocently thought that the US was the […]

  I was listening to Nolan this morning, and I caught a conversation between Jim  Wells and a normal man. Jim was for sticking up for good old  sporty with ‘Man of the match’ or ‘Woman of the match’ , rather than any of this woke nonsense. Right, Jim. What we have we hold. Once […]

    SENATOR George Mitchell, late of this parish, has been among those name found in the Epstein files. A US-Ireland postgraduate scholarship scheme has hastily removed his name from their award. Were they right to erase him?   The South/RoI has been drenched in floods, with County Wexford reporting people whose livelihood has been […]