Author Jude Collins

      Asbestos  was widely used as a building material, particularly in the roof and ceiling areas  of buildings in the latter part of the last century.  In the 80s , medical science established  a conclusive link between its dust and an incurable,  chronic lung disease , now known as asbestosis. Those most at […]

Ah, Jamie Bryson. NEI’’s very own political performance artist, a man so committed to public discourse that he bravely refuses to let things like qualifications, consensus, or coherence get in the way. But wait—before you roll your eyes and scroll on, consider this: perhaps we should be grateful that Jamie Bryson walks among us. No, […]

SH. On Fenian Street.  As Gaeilge.By Randall Stephen Hall.To celebrate the Publishing of the 6th edition, ofTHE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY Story BookNow in its 29th year of DiscoverySo there we were, Ann and I back in 2008. Unpacking our Skoda on Fenian Street, to deliver books and a multi-lingual DVD  about the Giant’s Causeway, to AIS, […]

Can Jim McVeigh’s book match my (stunningly good) book about Martin McGuinness published some six year ago? It’s said to show human side of Martin…Been there, done that Emma Little Pengelly spend nearly £1,000 on a two-day trip to Wimbledon; Michelle O’Neill went to Croker to watch Kerry v Tyrone. Does the contrast tell you […]

Plus the song, “The Wee Wee Man.” See link below . . .   As a six year old child In North Belfast, on the site of a rath I awoke, to find a wee man Half on and half off In my imagination. He didn’t call me a Prod or a Brit For we […]

Fintan O’Toole’s  column in today’s Irish Times serves up a familiar dish: Ireland in the 1980s was grim, grey, and economically hollowed out—but thank God we had theatre. It’s an elegant reflection, soaked in sentiment, and yet reads like a misty-eyed TED Talk for the already converted. Yes, Druid Theatre lit a few flames, but […]

Why do we put ourselves through such unnecessary agony? We watch Donegal at Croke Park yesterday, and it leaves us sick as a parrot. We watch the Lionesses win in Switzerland and we feel- yep – sick as parrots again. Are we mad?   Alan Johnson was once in the Labour cabinet. He wrote a […]

    I happened to be in Galway on the Twelfth and so I took myself to the Townhall theatre to see the world premiere of the new documentary ‘Gerry Adams –a Ballymurphy Man’.  It was being shown as part of the Galway Film Festival. Already at 3pm the crowds were gathering outside sheltering from the […]

Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy on Gaza is a brutal, unconscionable affront to humanity, international law, and the very concept of moral leadership. Under his direction, the Israeli government has unleashed a campaign of collective punishment against an already suffering civilian population, turning Gaza into a graveyard and a ruin. What we are witnessing is not the […]

OK – The wait is over. Later today,  I’ll be rolling out an interview I did with Wallace Thompson, the former co-founder of the DUP. And the topic? How he feels about a border poll.  Look out for it after 2.00 pm today. (It’s the first in a weekly series).  Today, Pat and I talk […]