Author Jude Collins

THE PIECE BELOW WAS SUBMITTED TO THE IRISH TIMES IN AUGUST 2016. IT WAS FAR TOO LONG FOR PUBLICATION AS A LETTER. BUT IT SHOULD INTEREST SOME  HISTORY ANORAKS. Mark Phelan (An Irishman’s DiaryAug 25 2016 ) recalled  addresses to the League of Nations by W.T. Cosgrave  and Eoin MacNeill in Geneva in  1923 concerning […]

Pics 1-4 are by Antrim Lens     Pic 1 Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3   Pic 4  “I just want to highlight some of the USAF warplanes that flew in and out of Aldergrove this week, and yes, the last photo of the private jet is also a US military owned plane. Wildlife photos […]

To: lettersed@irishtimes.com Madam I wish someone would  advise  your London Editor, Mark Hennessy (November 6) that the voters of the 26 Counties, in a democratic exercise, enacted a new Constitution in 1937 which abolished the Irish Free State, and that neither they nor anyone else has reestablished it.They might further advise him that they required fidelity to the Irish […]

We Irish are a forgiving lot. Whether it’s in our genes or something we’ve learnt,  we allow the most ridiculous and sometimes obscene things to be done to us, and we say “That’s OK – let’s move on.” When a morsel gets flicked from the top table to the floor, we seize on it with […]

Note: This letter was written in 2010 Myles na gCopaleen should be living at this hour. He once wrote  a story or play “The Man Who Was Born For Ireland.” Breandan O hEithir, in his “The Begrudger’s Guide to Irish Politics” offered the burgeoning revisionist school its own anthem -“The Gentle Black and Tan.” Fado, […]

Note: This letter was written in 2007… To: lettersed@irish-times.ie Sent: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 6:55 pm Subject: WONDERFUL WORLD Madam Reading the Irish Times frequently transports me to a wonderful world. A  Wonderful World,  in  the sense of the old song by Sam Cooke which starts with the line   “Don’t know much about history” and continues to […]

I’m sure I am not the only person in Ireland who believes that Mr Martin lacks the qualities to be a successful leader of Fianna Fáil. This after all, has been the natural party of government in the south of Ireland for almost a century – only a handful of times has that not been […]

It must be hard these days to be a bread-and-butter person, especially if you live in our little NE Nest. Bread-and-butter people have always urged our politicians and the electorate to focus on practical matters: having a job, being able to feed and clothe your family, paying the mortgage. Steering clear of  out-moded rubbish about Irish reunification and […]

  Last night I attended the reopening of St Macartin’s Church of Ireland Parish Hall in Enniskillen. A very large crowd from all sections of the community was present. The Dean in St Macartin’s is appropriately called Kenny Hall. His motto is ‘Hall  together Now’. The ceremony was performed by the very popular bishop of […]

And so, after searching behind ditches and under tables, the SDLP has finally located two candidates to run in Fermanagh/South Tyrone and North Belfast: Mary Garrity and Martin McAuley respectively. What’s that, Virginia? You’ve never heard of them? Not surprising. Martin and Mary are hardly household names, and yes, it would be unkind to add […]