Author Jude Collins

You can be too modest, too.  You can go around all the time saying “I am a worm and no man”, and then next thing you discover you have greatness thrust upon you. Or if not thrust, at least breathing so close, you can feel its hot breath on your neck.  I’m referring, of course, […]

What price patriotism? Well, if you judge by the reports on the coming Scottish independence referendum, the price will be the pound in your average Scot’s pocket. If s/he thinks that independence will be financially good for Scotland, it’ll be thumbs-up; if independence means less money, it’s thumbs-down.  Maybe it’s as well they didn’t tell […]

What price patriotism? Well, if you judge by the reports on the coming Scottish independence referendum, the price will be the pound in your average Scot’s pocket. If s/he thinks that independence will be financially good for Scotland, it’ll be thumbs-up; if independence means less money, it’s thumbs-down.  Maybe it’s as well they didn’t tell […]

I like Brian Rowan – always have.  I used to see him in and around the BBC, and unlike some in that institution,  he was friendly with everyone, regardless of rank or importance.   He was also a good journalist, invariably clear and informed. These days he’s making a stir because he chaired a political […]

I like Brian Rowan – always have.  I used to see him in and around the BBC, and unlike some in that institution,  he was friendly with everyone, regardless of rank or importance.   He was also a good journalist, invariably clear and informed. These days he’s making a stir because he chaired a political […]

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days. He has suggested “dealing with the past”  by issuing an amnesty for deaths in the Troubles. But the amnesty in each case would be conditional […]

Al Hutchinson, who is no longer officially our Ombudsman but is keeping the seat warm until his successor is installed, has stirred the pot of the past in recent days. He has suggested “dealing with the past”  by issuing an amnesty for deaths in the Troubles. But the amnesty in each case would be conditional […]

How important is the wrapping on a present? Or the print lay-out of your newspaper? Last night the BBC’s ‘Spotlight’  took Barry McElduff and John Laird to Edinburgh to learn more about the move towards Scottish independence. We got nice shots of the underbelly of a plane taking off, flowers,  Barry drinking from a glass and John […]

How important is the wrapping on a present? Or the print lay-out of your newspaper? Last night the BBC’s ‘Spotlight’  took Barry McElduff and John Laird to Edinburgh to learn more about the move towards Scottish independence. We got nice shots of the underbelly of a plane taking off, flowers,  Barry drinking from a glass and John […]

What is it with this marching thing? Is it restless legs syndrome? Ants in the pants? Or just good old-fashioned in-your-face-and-community coat-trailing? Willie Frazer and his FAIR group are intent on commemorating the appalling killing of workers at Kingsmill by having around seventeen bands march through the Whitecross area of Armagh, where sensitivities on both […]