Jude Collins

  I find it hard to believe that an Irish Catholic bishop,  Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore, is hosting a right- wing group called ‘Catholic Unscripted’ in his Diocese. This event was reported in the Tablet magazine this week (28 Sept). This weird group which is hostile to Pope Francis has shown support for […]

Northern Irish. By Randall Stephen Hall.   My snapshot is richer For the influx of contrasting colours. Genetically broader beyond the border In the North. But deeply compromised By our cultural boundary fences. Hemming in our genes And leading to the prevalences Of medical conditions At whose expense? Our very own.   To be Northern […]

Who would ever have guessed that when Leo Varadkar took off his political overcoat, he would be wearing not a blueshirt but a green, white and orange shirt? He wants all Irish political parties to make Irish unity not just an aspiration but an objective. Yipee! Mind you, he did reckon it might several decades […]

  In 1924 when Ramsay MacDonald, who in 1900 co-founded Britain’s Labour Party with Keir Hardie and Arthur Henderson, on his appointment as Prime Minister, called at Buckingham Palace. King George V indicated unease at the Labour Party’s singing The Red Flag. McDonald promised that his party would pipe down.   A year earlier George […]

    Sometimes people work themselves into such an eye-stinging  moral lather, they miss the major point of the matter completely. Right now many are stuffed from head to toe with indignation. Leading the charge, as so often, is Stephen Nolan. Stephen, on his radio show, having lobbed in a brief balancer in the form […]

          The US presidential election is neck and neck. But only one candidate has been  compared to Adolf Hitler. Is it an exaggeration based in fact?   David Runciman (who poses the question) examines the evidence.   Donald Trump is a braggart, a rabble rouser and a narcissist, has been convicted […]

Dear Friends:  I have attached two ads placed in 4 Irish American papers in the past couple of weeks.  Much of this placement has been thanks to Ed Walsh and his wife Kathleen.  The ads  purpose is to set a tone for what is next.  The ABC Committee has fulfilled its purpose in alerting Americans […]

President Michael D Higgins is under fire from Israel, because he wrote a letter of congratulation  to the newly elected President of Iran.  Last night Michael D was at his fiery best, rebutting criticism and condemning the leakage to the press. Sometimes you gotta love Michael D. A Canadian gold-mining company is polluting and scarring […]

  There are few contemporary issues that match immigration for turning people gammon-coloured in the face and spluttering in  their speech. Sometimes it emerges from  odious politicians like Trump and Nigel Farage; sometime it emerges in the form of violent gangs who set fire to pathetic little canal-side pup-tents and roar that immigrants should go […]

      Nearly 30 years ago my wife and I travelled from London to Bologna with our car by ship and train, en route to Rome and other places.   In those days we camped taking our tents with us.   In the lashing rain we found a campsite by the Trasimene Lakes where […]