Jude Collins

A gang of masked men have been creating difficulty in Newtownards. If a group of masked men were creating difficulty on the Falls Road, would the authorities respond in the same laid-back way? Just askin’, like. President Biden is coming to Ireland in a few weeks’ time. Does the US presidency carry the same magic […]

Thomas Cashman wept today when he was found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in Liverpool last year, as he chased a convicted drug dealer into her home. He wasn’t weeping for the child he killed, but for himself, because when he’s sentenced next week he’ll be sent away for a long, long time. Do I feel sorry […]

“Given the seriousness of the concerns outlined above, the Grand Lodge voted unanimously not to support a return to the Stormont Executive until there is substantial and tangible progress which resolves these fundamental issues.” That’s a recent statement from the Orange Order. The Orange Order is, of course,  a religious organisation, not a political organisation. […]

!   The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has been at the forefront of Northern Ireland’s political landscape for decades. As the largest unionist party, they have played a significant role in shaping the province’s political, social, and economic landscape. In recent years, however, they have faced significant challenges, particularly in relation to the ongoing political […]

        Me neither,nor even a half-witticism and I have read his columns for decades.   Fintan has a chip on his shoulder.     He was born in Ireland,  a country he despises.   Among Catholics. And he hates the Catholic Church because it does not bow down in adoration before him.   […]

A man called Padraig O’Malley has written a book called The Perils and Possibilities of a united Ireland.  Neither Pat nor I has read it yet, but we have watched a long interview conducted by Sam McBride, examining some of the ideas. Most of our video looks at some of the things O’Malley said, McBride […]

    For centuries Britain accepted all comers. Including asylum seekers, troublemakers or those fleeing fleeing trouble  at home . Karl Marx and Napoleon III come to mind. Karl Marx could plot in the British Museum Reading Room, drink and carouse in London pubs, throw stones at street lights, take his daughters to Church services […]

Where does the DUP go from here? The Windsor Framework complete with Stormont Brake has now been passed into law by Britain – and yet the Britain-loving Dup still refuses to go back to Stormont. As the old movie said, Quo Vadis, Jeffrey? Emmanuel Macron has by-passed parliament (it’s legal, by the way) and raised […]

I didn’t watch the first programme in this series, and turned off the second within a minute.   Because it immediately equated President Putin with the NAZI tyrant.   Had the programme told us about Hitler, and later provided a case to equate the Russian leader with the tyrant, I would have used my critical […]

  Speaking of democracy – the Democratic Unionist Party has it in their title – is democracy dovetailing nicely with politics? Well, not really. The average CEO in the US these days earns – or should I say is handed? –  some 400 times the salary enjoyed by the average worker in his/her firm. So […]