Jude Collins

As the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland unfolded on our screens over the week-end, there were tears and cheers. Kerry, I’m grieved to report, ended up beating a valiant Tyrone team, but that aside, the GAA football was a delight for the eyes. The FAI wasn’t playing at the weekend, but there was much rejoicing in […]

Do you like flying? Neither Pat nor myself like it, having had one or two scary experiences.Of course , that’s before some alcohol is lowered into our systems. Could fly forever then The rise and fall of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson: did you join the throng who were disgusted by his actions? And was there an […]

You’re probably familiar with Delcy Rodríguez.  She has been acting as president of Venezuela since. Nicolo Maduro, the president, was kidnapped  by US forces acting under the command of Donald Trump. During her  swearing-in ceremony, she denounced Trump’s blatant kidnapping; since then she’s called for peaceful co-existence with the US. Yesterday,after two earthquakes hit Venezuela, […]

  Get this in terms of the South of Ireland: ‘Among the 62,275 disclosures of domestic violence and abuse recorded last year were 1,522 disclosures of abuse during pregnancy or post-partum, 1,321 threats by abusers to kill women, children, family members or to self-harm, and 381 disclosures of rape.’ There are many crimes that I […]

    Oh dear. Sir Keir and wife will have to vacate No10 – no wonder there was a catch in his voice. To think he did so much and got so little thanks for it.   But hey – here comes the King of the North Andy Burnham, to solve all the UK’s problems […]

Here’s Prof Deirdre Hargey:   “It is really about a listening exercise so that we move away from rhetoric about constant issues that are repeated time and time again and see what people are feeling about the whole issue.”   It sounds about as vague as you can get, given that you’ve been entrusted by […]

Perhaps my  timing was wrong. Maybe you saw it? I don’t mean the street rioting and racism of a couple of weeks ago, but the location of these riots – and the location of the attack by the Sudanese man. Because where things happen in NEI is an important aspect of understanding those things. So.  […]

I’ve never been a babies man. In my experience, they spend much of their waking hours screaming, crying and/ or shitting. They have a habit of throwing up what they’ve eaten, especially if you’re holding them. That way they get to ruin your best jacket. And as for having a conversation with them  -don’t start […]

What a nice man Mark Carney is. Clever, too. His visit to his ancestral homeplace in the West may not be as big as JFK’s in 1963, but people loved him. So …is it just that he really really likes Ireland and Irish people, or…..?   The British government plans to make social media illegal […]

  What a nice man Mark Carney is. Clever, too. His visit to his ancestral homeplace in the West may not be as big as JFK’s in 1963, but people loved him. So …is it just that he really really likes Ireland and Irish people, or…..?   The British government plans to make social media […]