Hats off to the admirable Máiria Cahill, with whom I became friends a decade ago. Her Rough Beast: My Story and the Reality of Sinn Féin is a best-seller. Published: 10 October 2023 The media in these two islands have been alive with her eloquent voice in print and...
I should warn you that I have no patience with the injunction not to speak ill of the dead. Published: 25 April 2023 If they’re bad, say so. I’m not a hater, but it’s a great pleasure to be able to say I think about unrepentant murderers like Martin McGuinness...
An old friend from Omagh, an ex-member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary called me to tell me of the attempted police killing. Published: 23 February 2023 An old friend from Omagh, an ex-member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) — the predecessor of the Police...
I recommend to anyone with an open mind who is wondering about the constitutional future of Ireland, Malachi O’Doherty’s Can Ireland Be One?, which manages to be both serious and highly entertaining. Published: 4 October 2022 I read it over the weekend as Ireland’s...
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,...
I’ve only been a declared unionist for a very short while and already I’m a Lundy. Published: 12 April 2022 Most recently this accusation has been levelled at me over a tweet I wrote the other day in response to the defaced poster of Doug Beattie showing him with a...
As people scream about diversity and human rights, the widespread shameless hypocrisy is almost beyond belief. Published: 29 June 2021 Both concepts have spawned movements and industries that make so much noise they drown out the views of the ordinary person. How odd...
I’m writing this on May 3, Northern Ireland’s hundredth birthday. Published: 3 May 2021 My hope is that the next hundred years will be free of the violence and misery that was so often up to now imposed on peaceful people all over Ireland by intolerant, murderous...
First, the bad news, though you know it already. Published: 27 April 2021 Until the Sinn Féin leopard changes its spots there’s no hope of having a stable government in Northern Ireland working for all its people. The Province is stuck for now with a disruptive...
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...
