Jude Collins

JUDE COLLINS: It's no our wonder emotions are mixed about the United States

I LOVE America. Or to be more exact, I love North America. Or to be even more exact, I love the USA.

JUDE COLLINS: Two big wins said a lot about our new politics

IVAN Yates is an interesting man. He was a big gun in Fine Gael, then he quit politics. He was a bookie and bankrupted himself. He was a key presenter on Newstalk radio, attracting listeners with his bruising style. And he was the guy who came up with ‘Smear the bejasus out of her’ in relation to Catherine Connolly, a remark that did a neat boomerang and hit the Fine Gael candidate between the eyes.

JUDE COLLINS: Andrew and Micheál stare the verdict of posterity in the face

THE man formerly known as Prince Andrew, now to be known as plain Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is a man who has felt the tide of popularity lift him high as the moon, then send him plummeting to the sharp rocks below.

JUDE COLLINS: John Hume was half-right with his Bloody Sunday quote

MANY people don’t care what happened on Bloody Sunday 1972. Hardly surprising – they weren’t born, they don’t live in Derry or the Bogside, it’s been over fifty years and other things have flooded in to occupy their minds.

JUDE COLLINS: Catherine Connolly is showing us change is possible

UNLESS Micheál Martin and Fine Gael can come up with convincing evidence that Catherine Connolly eats her pets and has enjoyed roast dog in the company of Saed  Abd  Al‑Aal while on that Syria visit, the Galway Independent seems set for success in her campaign to become President of Ireland. There are at least four obvious reasons why her success can provide wider benefits.

JUDE COLLINS: Sometimes questions reveal more than the answers

TWO of the most interesting moments (so far) in the presidential campaign were different but similar.

JUDE COLLINS: Without context understanding is impossible

ON Thursday past, the B(ritish)BC’s Question Time came from Belfast. Predictably, there was much discussion of the bloodshed in the Middle East, with panel members and presenter Fiona Bruce reminding viewers that ‘this part of the world’ had also experienced conflict for many years, followed eventually by a hard-won peace process.

JUDE COLLINS: Steen would have brought something new to Presidential race

AND they’re off. The nightmare notion that Áras an Uachtaráin might be inhabited for the next seven years by Conor McGregor, Michael Flatley or Dustin the Turkey has vanished. A note of last-minute excitement was injected as Maria Steen struggled to get on the ballot paper. When she failed she claimed she was blocked. She wasn’t – she simply didn’t get the necessary twenty nominees.

JUDE COLLINS: A gold-encrusted presidency is not what the Irish people want

MY mother raised eight children and sang as she did so. The songs were of all kinds, but one line from a rebel song stays with me: "And we’ll crown de Valera King of Ireland." Whoever wrote those lyrics had a muddled notion of republicanism.

JUDE COLLINS: This uniquely chaotic time is not so uniquely chaotic after all

THE shooting dead of Charlie Kirk was a cruel and violent act. It was also puzzling – or rather the reactions to it were puzzling.

JUDE COLLINS: Chaos and confusion on both sides of the water

SO the British Labour Party have dumped Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister. Few people enjoy sudden demotion, and I’m sure Angela is still feeling a bit bruised, and not just in terms of public image or ego. Her salary, which was around £160,000 a year, will now be slashed to a measly £94,000 a year as a regular MP.

JUDE COLLINS: Connolly currently dividing and not uniting the Irish left

THERE'S a war going on in the South of Ireland. Not between counties or families but between political parties. It’s presidential campaigning time.

JUDE COLLINS: Testing times for our education system

THAT sighing sound you hear is not a late-summer breeze, or a parent relaxing as finally, finally their cherished children head back to school. It’s the sound of thousands of GCSE, Leaving Certificate and A-Level students the length and breadth of Ireland gasping their relief that, for better or worse, their life-defining exam torture has finally ended.

JUDE COLLINS: Unity referendum – one brick at a time

IN recent weeks I’ve been interviewing a number of well-known people about how they see the prospect of a border poll and what obstacles lie between us and Irish unity.

JUDE COLLINS: Will Mary Lou run?

During the Féile, Mary Lou McDonald sat down for an interview with Andrée Murphy, another Rathgar girl.

Belfast gets the crumbs off the table with Euro 2028 draw

Gaelic Games: St Gall's set up All-Belfast final after victory over Creggan

Soccer: Depleted Cliftonville welcome Swifts to Solitude

Soccer: Joe 'the goal' breaks 300 goals as Reds advance to last eight

Community Gardening: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is here, time to get planting

PLATING UP: A chilli lime and coriander seasoned Basa fillet on a bed of baby beets

EYE ON THE PAST: November 1984 – Direct Rule plan for Belfast

Police treat UVF graffiti at Alliance office as a 'hate crime'

Jude Collins

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