No Room At The Hole

I’ve never before written a word about 9/11. Not having a TV it was years before I saw any of the filmed images. An email from my sister-in-law who had just arrived at her desk in the Rockefeller Center was the first I knew anything was up. The first plane had hit. Then she fell silent and…

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Slow Gin and Tommyrot

 More than a week since I last posted which always makes me feel like a slouch. When any of my fave bloggers takes a break I get pretty cross. Don’t they know I check in every morning with my second cup of coffee? And if they shut up shop permanently, which can happen, I feel quite bereft. Of course for writers,…

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Dear Emily Post

This has been (so far) the year of three weddings and a funeral. Funeral etiquette is easy. Turn off your cell phone, follow the wishes of the family re flowers and dress soberly unless asked to celebrate the life of the deceased by wearing something jolly, like a Hawaiian shirt. Weddings are something else. The…

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Nevertheless…

Today I’m finding it difficult to work. Because of this…   Nevertheless the Home Secretary says ‘we don’t do water cannon’. Now there’s a Minister with her finger on the pulse of the nation.

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Three Things I Learned Today

Thanks to a conversation overheard this afternoon on a number 15a to Rathmines I now know that the pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximander believed humans developed inside the mouths of fish until they were sufficiently evolved to break forth and lead independent air-breathing  lives. Only on a Dublin bus… Ever wondered why the Bing cherry is so called? Of course you have.…

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Voice in the Wilderness

    This is Baroness Cox. She was created a peer by Margaret Thatcher many years ago but was eventually expelled from the Conservative Party for some maverick pronouncement and has been a tirelessly busy crossbencher ever since. She was one of the sponsors responsible for getting Geert Wilders’ film Fitna screened in the House of Lords.…

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