Author Jude Collins

When he sang at the inauguration of one-term US President Jimmy Carter,  Paul Simon had the chutzpah to choose his song ‘American Tune’, which includes the lines “I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered/I don’t have a friend who feels at ease./I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered/Or driven to its […]

New Year predictions? I’ll give you New Year predictions. Back in the early 1970s, republicans would sometimes encourage each other with a posting in a local newspaper declaring “On to 1973 – the year of Victory!” Or 1974 or 1975.  Those who survived learnt that it hadn’t happened. Those who didn’t survive didn’t know it […]

New Year predictions? I’ll give you New Year predictions. Back in the early 1970s, republicans would sometimes encourage each other with a posting in a local newspaper declaring “On to 1973 – the year of Victory!” Or 1974 or 1975.  Those who survived learnt that it hadn’t happened. Those who didn’t survive didn’t know it […]

I wonder how many football referees are made knights?  I ask because one thing most football referees are good at is running backwards – occasionally there’s a collision but most manage it perfectly most of the time. Which means being made a knight would be tailor-made for them, since apparently when you get a knighthood, you’re […]

I wonder how many football referees are made knights?  I ask because one thing most football referees are good at is running backwards – occasionally there’s a collision but most manage it perfectly most of the time. Which means being made a knight would be tailor-made for them, since apparently when you get a knighthood, you’re […]

So what are you – British? Irish?  From time to time those commenting on my blogs tell  me it’s truly stupid to talk about Britain running Irish affairs, that they (unionists) are British, do I think one million people are going to be evicted? This is an old argument and one used by the SDLP […]

So what are you – British? Irish?  From time to time those commenting on my blogs tell  me it’s truly stupid to talk about Britain running Irish affairs, that they (unionists) are British, do I think one million people are going to be evicted? This is an old argument and one used by the SDLP […]

So –  Frances Fitzgerald, the Minister for Children in the south, is considering an outright ban on the smacking of children by their parents. Me, I’ve done more punching than smacking. I’ve punched priests, lawyers, teachers and even a nun or two. And been punched back. At the time of punching, I should add, we […]

So –  Frances Fitzgerald, the Minister for Children in the south, is considering an outright ban on the smacking of children by their parents. Me, I’ve done more punching than smacking. I’ve punched priests, lawyers, teachers and even a nun or two. And been punched back. At the time of punching, I should add, we […]

I don’t usually think of women in their eighties wearing no clothes, but RTÉ’s Tommie Gorman had a programme on last night which forced me to. It started off with Luka Bloom, brother of Christy Moore, singing a song called ‘The Seed Is Sown’.  It wasn’t about seeds at all, it was really about the […]