Jude Collins

JUDE COLLINS: Why no war of words over armoured vehicles?

BACK in the day when Catholics still went to Confession, the story was told of Mickey who visited his local church to ask and receive forgiveness. When he returned home his wife Maggie, a woman concerned with her husband’s eternal welfare, asked him if he had told all his sins.

JUDE COLLINS: Fleadh will be the biggest indicator yet of the scale of Belfast changes

NEW Year finds Casement Park in West Belfast mouldering and unused. Euro 2028 will not visit it as was promised. But not all is gloom.

JUDE COLLINS: What exactly is the point of the UUP?

SO Mike Nesbitt is going to retire as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). At one point I was on nodding terms with Mike when he worked in the BBC, and he struck me at the time as a modest, highly intelligent guy. Whether he’s remained that way I don’t know – sometimes life makes a person a narrower, more intense version of themselves, sometimes it expands them, opens them to new things, not necessarily good things. For instance, some of you may remember Conor Cruise O’Brien, who started as a Labour Party candidate in Dublin and ended up a sad unionist in the North.

JUDE COLLINS: Brazen Trump is at least being honest

YOU have to hand it to President Trump. Where other presidents have exercised power in the world discreetly, he grabs a bullhorn and boasts of the US’s capacity to do what it likes in the world.

JUDE COLLINS: How will the New Year compare to the one about to pass?

HERE we are, hung like a drunk in a hammock between Christmas and New Year. If you head down to the shopping centre, you’ll meet lost souls like yourself, half-crazy to get clear of the suffocating warmth of family life. Maybe Chris Rea knew a thing or two with his ‘Driving home for Christmas’: it’s better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

JUDE COLLINS: More white lies than white Christmases in years gone by

AS a child, I found Christmas an occasion of sin. The catechism was totally clear: "No reason or motive can excuse a lie." But in my early years at the Christian Brothers school in Omagh, I lied and lied again.

JUDE COLLINS: Ireland marches along as the drumbeat of war grows louder

YOU'LL probably have noticed that the South of Ireland is busy pouring money into defence. That’s because journalists like Stephen Collins have posed the question ‘Would Ireland be able to defend Shannon if the Russians decided to invade?’ Stephen answers this question with a resounding 'No!'

JUDE COLLINS: Let's keep resisting the temptation to scold the sulky child

TEACHING is a hard job. Yes, they get great holidays, but coping with 20-plus children at the same time is no walk in the park. And as any teacher will tell you, there are few more frustrating things than dealing with a sulking child.

JUDE COLLINS: Tánaiste builds a false comparison on US and Irish construction funding

A WEEK ago the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, stood up in the Dáil during a debate on – what else? – housing. He used the occasion to criticise Sinn Féin for receiving financial contributions from the US through its US fundraising arm, Friends of Sinn Fein. In all, Sinn Féin raised €366,000, the bulk of that said to come from builders and construction companies in the US. Simon took a seriously dim view of that.

JUDE COLLINS: Under-pressure Givan gets a lucky and Godly break

I WONDER if Education Minister Paul Givan takes two showers a day? He looks so fresh and aromatic, with that scrubbed Christian look you find on the faces of people who want to know if you’ve found Jesus yet.

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.

Fruithill hosts successful speed chess tournament

Soccer: Cliftonville boss believes the Reds 'owe it' to their support to bounce back from derby defeat

Gaelic Games: Cushendall round off the year in style with Ulster Championship glory

Soccer: Crusaders claim Christmas derby bragging rights over Reds

PLATING UP: Sirloin steak with baby boiled potatoes and mange tout

ROBIN LIVINGSTONE: The 2025 Top Moments Awards (PART II)

SQUINTER: Review of the year

HEALTHWISE: Beware of pseudoscience at this time of year

Jude Collins

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