Just so we are clear: The 83yo priest on the left is a terrorist. The balaclava-clad men on the right are protestors with legitimate concerns
Tom Collins
@tcollins.bsky.social
Scribbler, Irish News columnist, dad. Emeritus journalism prof at Stirling University.
With all respect to the BBC, the reason this story "matters" is not about whether it distracts from Reform's conference. It "matters" because it is important our leaders are not conspiring to break the law.
www.irishnews.com/opinion/tom-... My column in today’s @irishnews.com online and in the shops. Basic message. Men over 50 need to get their prostate checked.
Tom Collins: I knew Dermot Murnaghan, and his dying message could save your life
Dermot Murnaghan’s death from prostate cancer is a reminder of the importance of a simple health check for men
irishnews.com
Zelensky is a comedian who ran as a joke and ended up fighting a superpower in the bloodiest war since WWII. I hope Count Binface is ready for that responsibility.
This is absolutely shameful - from both Tice and the Telegraph
Guaranteed Reform UK & Farage tactic: when in doubt, tell a load of lies posing as 'the whole world's against me' victim though a far right politician setting Rupert Murdoch up as the villain may not be such a good idea ... 'So he's gone after Murdoch good and proper...' via Paul Elston
www.irishnews.com/opinion/tom-... My column in today’s @irishnews.com online and in the shops
Tom Collins: Failure to secure justice for Lyra McKee shames us all
Code of silence speaks volumes about where we are almost 30 years from an agreement which was supposed to create a society at peace with itself
irishnews.com
‘Michael Longley was always drawn to the possibility of peril: he possessed what Eavan Boland called “a vision of risk”.’ Seamus Perry on the ‘neither English nor Irish completely’ poet. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Seamus Perry · The poet slams his door: Likeable Michael Longley
Michael Longley, who was all too familiar with protracted writer’s block, often spoke of precariousness in the sense...
lrb.co.uk
"What use is an arts minister who doesn’t support the arts?" My latest for @thestage.co.uk on the arts funding crisis in Northern Ireland with the indifferent Gordon Lyons overseeing another real-terms cut that threatens artists and audiences alike. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/nort...
Michael Quinn on Northern Ireland's arts funding crisis
With Northern Ireland's arts sector facing more standstill funding, director Michael Quinn says the time for the industry to make its voice heard is now
thestage.co.uk
Every single Prime Minister since 1974 has either taken office or left office mid-term, between general elections. Sometimes even both. Starmer being replaced mid-term is not constitutionally unusual. What would be unusual is if he fought and then lost a general election having been elected at one.
Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.
"So ... so I said ... why not sign your treaty here, at Versailles?"
We’ve now had two nights of violence in Belfast and yet almost nobody talking about loyalist paramilitaries, the marching season etc Look at where violence is. These are very particular parts of Belfast And yet hear more about ‘Protestants and catholics coming together against migrants’ than this
Respect to Centre Stage and Lyric Theatre, Belfast for the courageous decision not to abandon last night's or this evening's performances of Bold Girls in the face of unwarranted violence and intimidation. Proud to be associated with both. My news story for @thestage.co.uk…
The Stage@thestage.co.uk · 4mo agoBelfast’s Lyric Theatre refused to close its doors as violence swept through the city on Tuesday, with its leader vowing it would not be forced to shut "because of fascists". Read more 👇
If Muslims or members of the Asian and Black community had set fire to white people’s homes with children running for their lives, do you think we would be discussing legitimate concerns or focussing on who radicalised them and ideological and contributing cultural factors?
The houses of ethnic minorities in Belfast didn’t ’go on fire’ last night - as my radio has told me - they were set alight
www.irishnews.com/opinion/tom-... Today’s column in @irishnews.com online and in the shops
Tom Collins: Why our politicians have to face up to the need for a united Ireland
With an underperforming economy, crumbling infrastructure and failing health service, it is clear the north has failed and a new approach is needed
irishnews.com
www.irishnews.com/opinion/tom-... My column today, online and in the shops
Tom Collins: Why our politicians have to face up to the need for a united Ireland
With an underperforming economy, crumbling infrastructure and failing health service, it is clear the north has failed and a new approach is needed
irishnews.com
UK publishing generated £7.4 billion in revenue last year. Compare that to: Premier League football: £6.6 billion Home entertainment: £5.6 billion UK film industry: 2.8 billion Now tell me again why authors don't deserve fair contracts and better pay.
Remembering Roma Tomelty on what would have been her 81st birthday. A huge figure in Northern Irish theatre; a joy to know, a privilege to have worked with. Delighted to be directing Bold Girls as her company, Centre Stage's 40th anniversary production at the Lyric www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--...
Roma Tomelty
One of the most prominent figures in Northern Irish theatre over the last six decades
thestage.co.uk
In case you missed it, Hannah Carnegie and Annie McIlwaine discussing Centre Stage's Bold Girls at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast from June 9-14 on BBC Radio Ulster's The Ticket – from 31'18". Four shows SOLD OUT, only 34 seats left across the remaining four performances. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The Ticket - Matt Benson, Sue Divin, Roger McGough, Belfast Book Festival, ANDepic & Bold Girls Short - BBC Sounds
From blockbuster movies to comedy gigs, Kathy Clugston presents the guide to going out.
bbc.co.uk
I'm so tired of being expected to read things that no one has bothered to write.