Some unintended consequences of Vladimir Putin’s megalomaniacal and merciless attack on the people of Ukraine that are appearing in Ireland now are embarrassing Sinn Fein. Published: 15 March 2022 Owing to having been brought up and educated in Dublin, and then spent...
I had a strange, draining and unforgettable Sunday. Published; 9 November 2021 It caused among many other emotions sadness, despair and occasionally laughter, during a tour of killing sites and memorials in south Armagh and at the launch in Belfast of a documentary on...
Stephen Nolan and his producer, David Thompson — who offend the Northern Ireland elite because they broadcast the views of people they find deplorable — are being recognised as heroes in political and media circles across the Irish Sea. Published: 2 November 2021 This...
I spent the best part of three days reading newspapers and posts and tweets and listening to hours of radio and watching video clips relating to the British government’s proposals to draw a line under Troubles crimes. Published: 20 July 2021 In phone calls, people...
I’m writing a book about Royal consorts, so every part of his funeral that Prince Philip so meticulously planned was of interest to me. Published: 20 April 2021 From the poignancy of the jar of sugar cubes alongside the cap, gloves and lap blanket on the seat of the...
For almost two decades there have been intense and often enlightening debates about innumerable contentious subjects on the blogsite Slugger O’Toole. Published: 2 February 2021 Since Saturday, there has been such a discussion after the distinguished historian,...
Today, Laois-Offaly TD Brian Stanley makes a statement to the Dáil about the recent embarrassment he has caused his party which led to him being put by his leader Mary Lou McDonald on the naughty step for a week. Published: 15 December 2020 As in so many ways, Sinn...
Liam Kennedy’s astonishing book Who Was Responsible For the Troubles? begins with his attendance at a play at the West Belfast festival in 1999 with the novelist Lionel Shriver and me. Published: 17 November 2020 I remember the occasion well, for ‘Forced Upon Us’ was...
A new book examines the incompatibility, between nationalists and unionists, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 13 July 2020 Trump is taking on the historical revisionists – that was the Spectator headline on an article by my friend Douglas Murray, who was...
It takes bravery to put your head above the parapet and challenge convention, writes Ruth Dudley Edwards Published: 1 July 2019 I went last week to the award of the Contrarian Prize in London. The dictionary definition of a contrarian is “a person who opposes or...
