Author Jude Collins

A bit like the shark in the movie Jaws, the question of extending voting rights in Ireland’s Presidential elections has raised its head again. It’s a modest proposal, just as the office of President of Ireland is a modest post. I mean modest in the sense that the President is not supposed to intervene in […]

    Choosing the next Pope as a pundit is a bit like backing horses. If you knew the winner in advance you could be a rich man or woman. Of course, the answer is nobody knows who the 133 Cardinals eligible to vote will choose. And so I believe it is all down to […]

Have you had to deal with many Anti-Christs recently? The Rev  Daniel Henderson, a Free Presbyterian minister in Co. Down, believes the late Pope Francis was the Anti-Christ, that he led millions of deluded souls to hell, and that other clergymen and Prince Charles have been horribly wishy-washy in their reaction to the Pope and […]

In recent days, Mark Carney has become leader of the Liberal Party in Canada and, frankly, saved their bacon. Before he arrived, they were behind more than 20 points in the polls, now they’re the big party of the new still-to-be-formed government of Canada. Should he write a thank-you note to Donald?  Kneecap have come […]

You have to hand it to them. Reform UK is led by Nigel Farage, and yesterday they won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, a seat in which Labour had a 15,000 majority just last year. What’s more, it looks like Reform UK will smash the Tories in local elections. And  Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer […]

 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? “  I thought of this verse from the Bible as I saw the cheerful photograph of Paul Givan and Edwin Poots, both pillars of the DUP. They were attending a bit of […]

  Where is the black coreOf the Maga gaga?Where will we find itIf we go looking?Is it lurking like a spider handPushing down upon us in our heads?Does it scuttle across the floorOf our bedrooms at nightTo slowly infiltrate our thinkingDrinking from our souls.Reducing our generosityAnd our spark of human kindness.Where is the Maga GAGA […]

 Sometimes it’s better to confess. When you do, it can feel as though a huge boulder of responsibility, of blame has been removed from your shoulders. Unfortunately, politicians don’t do this. When’s the last time you heard a politician sigh and confess that he and his party had made a complete Horlicks of the whole […]

  Has anyone ever, towards the end of a heated argument, urged you to go fuck yourself? It’s a relatively common experience  – or maybe I get into arguments with too many salty-tongued people.  But while it’s a fairly vigorous insult, I’d suggest it’s never been taken seriously. Why not? Because In physical terms it […]

  Last night was a long tense one here in Canada for political people. Especially for the two main candidates for Prime Minister, Mark Carney, and Pierre Polievre. Carney had been parachuted into my own riding (constituency) as he needed a safe Liberal seat to gain a presence and a mandate in the parliament. The […]