by RuthDE | Aug 7, 2025 | 2025, August, Belfast News Letter, Journalism
I was chatting with my old friend David Starkey at a party recently when several people came up to tell him they loved his YouTube performances. A couple had also said nice things to me about my writing. Published: 7 August 2025 ”We’ve turned into ancient...
by RuthDE | May 8, 2024 | 2024, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, May
“Ireland’s difficulty is England’s opportunity,” said Arlene Foster with a grin as she introduced me on GB News on Sunday morning. Published: 6 May 2024 Arlene was jokingly inverting the old rallying cry of Irish nationalists that ‘England’s difficulty is Ireland’s...
by RuthDE | Apr 26, 2024 | 2024, April, Daily Telegraph, Journalism
The open border Dublin insisted on is now allowing asylum seekers to pour into the country Published: 25 April 2024 Leo Varadkar left his job as Irish prime minister last month with compliments being lavished on him from all directions — especially the White House —...
by RuthDE | Nov 28, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, November
I’ve written a few times recently about the intimidatory pro-Palestinian marches in my neighbourhood with their aggressive thinly-disguised slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel. Published: 28 November 2023 It’s deeply disturbing in England, that bastion of...
by RuthDE | Oct 3, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, Journalism, October
I’ll be writing another time about my friend Maria Cahill’s brilliant and chilling best seller, Rough Beast: My Story and the Reality of Sinn Féin. Published: 3 October 2023 The title comes from W B Yeats’s “The Second Coming”, a poem written at a time of...
by RuthDE | Aug 1, 2023 | 2023, August, Belfast News Letter, Journalism
The latest bank scandal didn’t come as a surprise to me. I knew that — like the majority of our national institutions — the banks were going woke and taking what they called “progressive” positions on socially contentious issues. Published: 1 August 2023 Even walking...
by RuthDE | Jan 4, 2023 | 2023, Daily Telegraph, January, Journalism
By accepting his errors on the Protocol, the Irish PM is adapting to the new realities of Ireland’s politics Published: 3 January 2023 In his second chance as Ireland’s Taoiseach, a job he recovered in mid-December, Leo Varadkar has finally indicated that he’s learned...
by RuthDE | Jan 3, 2023 | 2023, Belfast News Letter, December, Journalism
I was delighted by the award of CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) to an old friend. Published: 3 January 2023 This is a very senior award, just one below a knighthood, which is given for those who have played “a conspicuous leading role in regional...
by RuthDE | Sep 14, 2022 | 2022, Daily Telegraph, Journalism, September
Apart from a few extreme Republican trolls, Queen Elizabeth is being mourned in Ireland, north and south Published: 9 September 2022 Apart from a few extreme Republican trolls shouting on social media about colonial wrongs, Queen Elizabeth is being mourned in Ireland,...
by RuthDE | Jul 1, 2022 | 2022, Daily Telegraph, Journalism, July
The country thought it could have its cake and eat it, by relying on the hated British for its defence Published: 1 July 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is posing Ireland – which is not a Nato member – with difficult choices. In its happy position of having next...
