Author Jude Collins

I was on Nolan this morning (well, actually it was nice Vinny) with Newton Emerson and Basil McCrea, talking about the impact here of Theresa May’s sudden call to arms. The point that was raised: Doesn’t Theresa May care about the success or failure of the talks here? A no-brainer, I think: she doesn’t. And […]

My good friend and ex-politician Nelson McCausland,  in a recent conversation,  seemed to express the belief that  much of the non-voting section of the population can be explained by the existence of people on benefits  who don’t want their identity or whereabouts revealed. I rarely disagree  with such a gleaming intellect but in this case […]

My thanks to Donal Kennedy for alerting me to this interesting piece – Jude How little they know of England, who are only Anglophiles! John Bruton was morally shocked by Brexit. He had observed, at close quarters, British handling of the EU—exerting relentless pressure in order to gain exceptions for itself because it was exceptional, […]

In May 2013 the British magazine HISTORY TODAY, founded by Brendan Bracken carried an article FICTION OF IMPERIALISM, by Michael Paris.  It started: “Britain’s involvement in the Middle East between the (World) wars proved a rich seam for authors of adventure stories which helped to reinforce the imperial mission.” Tales of young Britons bringing peace […]

And they’re off. Reports that Sammy Wilson, owing to a misunderstanding, was seen dancing in the streets en déshabillé, causing several horses in East Antrim to throw their riders, are, of course, false. But you can see why the lie might have been propagated. Sammy is known to favour the life natural, and the DUP […]

  I was at a recycling centre yesterday where I came on a copy of yesterday’s Venerable Organ The Irish News. In it was a letter by a man called Jim Hendron, in which he chuntered on at tedious length about the orgins of the Alliance Party. You’ll note below that he also mentions my […]

There are few politicians on this island who are duller, in a long variety of political categories, than Mark Durkan and his nephew, Mark H. Durkan. They exhibit a certain bleak and strengthless persona which renders them utterly incapable of rising to any political occasion – national or local. In any other political context, it’s […]

Well, who saw that coming?  Nobody. But then you look at it through the rear-view mirror and it makes perfect sense to May. (No, Virginia, the general election is in June. May is the British PM who’s called the June election…Oh forget it.) She’s got an opposition she thinks is really weak, led by Jeremy […]

  Father Joe MacVeigh in his blog “Ten Uncomfortable Questions for Nationalists”  suggests that in the event of Ireland’s coming together that London might be minded to contribute funding our Northeastern area for 50 years. I’m no theologian but remember a Christian Brother explaining the clear difference between the virtue of Hope and the folly […]

Anyone familiar with the details of the Kincora affair won’t be shocked by the title of this article. William McGrath, a noted associate of Ian Paisley and Unionist paramilitary was also an MI5 operative; having smuggled in guns for Ulster Resistance from apartheid South Africa. McGrath was also involving Unionist politicians in the rape and […]