I’m not a man readily given to exclamation marks but WHAT A GUSHFEST! Not to say hushed we-are-all-Richard-Dimbleby obsequiousness. I was in Dublin yesterday and both from the sidelines and from on-air debate, I heard more fudge and near-grovel than I want to hear for the rest of my days. The commentating world seemed to […]
Author Jude Collins
Queen’s visit: commentators strike a geyser
I’m not a man readily given to exclamation marks but WHAT A GUSHFEST! Not to say hushed we-are-all-Richard-Dimbleby obsequiousness. I was in Dublin yesterday and both from the sidelines and from on-air debate, I heard more fudge and near-grovel than I want to hear for the rest of my days. The commentating world seemed to […]
The Shinners, the queen, a message and an invitation
Have Sinn Féin backed off in their opposition to the royal visit? Commentators like Sam Smyth say they have. Smyth figures the Shinners have sniffed the wind of public opinion and are trimming their sails accordingly. There may be something in what he says. I was down in Kildare on Saturday and Sunday, running in […]
The Shinners, the queen, a message and an invitation
Have Sinn Féin backed off in their opposition to the royal visit? Commentators like Sam Smyth say they have. Smyth figures the Shinners have sniffed the wind of public opinion and are trimming their sails accordingly. There may be something in what he says. I was down in Kildare on Saturday and Sunday, running in […]
Fourteen: is there a worse age for deciding anything?
It’s funny how quickly people forget. Gerry Kelly, Arlene Foster, Danny Kennedy, David Ford and Alastair McDonnell were on BBC’s Hearts and Minds yesterday and all of their minds have been scrubbed clean of teenage memories. Noel Thompson asked them about the Eleven Plus and transfer to secondary school. All looked very wise and said […]
Fourteen: is there a worse age for deciding anything?
It’s funny how quickly people forget. Gerry Kelly, Arlene Foster, Danny Kennedy, David Ford and Alastair McDonnell were on BBC’s Hearts and Minds yesterday and all of their minds have been scrubbed clean of teenage memories. Noel Thompson asked them about the Eleven Plus and transfer to secondary school. All looked very wise and said […]
Neil Lennon: he’s not hated just because he’s a Catholic
Neil Lennon, Glasgow Celtic manager Note: this post was put up two days ago and deleted at some point over the past twenty-four hours. Who by? Pass. Neil Lennon says he’s been targeted by the hate-mongers in Scotland and in the North here because he’s a Catholic. He’s wrong. Well no, that’s a bit […]
Neil Lennon: he’s not hated just because he’s a Catholic
Neil Lennon, Glasgow Celtic manager Note: this post was put up two days ago and deleted at some point over the past twenty-four hours. Who by? Pass. Neil Lennon says he’s been targeted by the hate-mongers in Scotland and in the North here because he’s a Catholic. He’s wrong. Well no, that’s a bit harsh. […]
Can we amuse you, Ma’am?
Elizabeth II Somewhere in his writing, that great Irishman George Bernard Shaw says that the Irishman, faced with a group of expectant English people, tends to play the fool. I thought of Shaw this morning when I heard that Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, when she visits the twenty-six counties next week, will be entertained by […]
Can we amuse you, Ma’am?
Elizabeth II Somewhere in his writing, that great Irishman George Bernard Shaw says that the Irishman, faced with a group of expectant English people, tends to play the fool. I thought of Shaw this morning when I heard that Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, when she visits the twenty-six counties next week, will be entertained by […]