Ireland
The subversive wonders of Kilkenomics – where economics meets stand-up
‘What is a Minsky moment, anyway?’ asks Gerry Stembridge, an Irish satirist. ‘I’ve been reading about them in the papers…
A Troubles novel with plenty of violence and, thank heaven, some sex too
‘The Anglo-Irish, their tribe, are dying. . . . They will go without a struggle, unlamented,’ Christopher Bland, 76, declares…
Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
Start with a torpedo, and see where you go from there
Sebastian Barry’s new novel opens with a bang, as a German torpedo hits a supply ship bound for the Gold…
Don’t blame ministers for the Royal Mail sell-off. Beat up the bankers!
Vince Cable and Michael Fallon, ministers responsible for the Royal Mail sell-off, have been summoned for another select committee grilling…
Fleet Street’s ‘wild Irish girl’
In her early days on Fleet Street, Mary Kenny, as she herself admits, was cast as ‘the wild Irish girl’,…
Simon Callow’s notebook: What it’s like to lose at an awards ceremony
It was one of those weeks. On Monday, I was in four countries: I woke up at crack of dawn…
Finally, a celebrity memoir worth reading
Unlike many celebrity memoirs, Anjelica Huston’s is worth reading. In her Prologue she writes that as a child she modeled…
Ireland's back, and luck had nothing to do with it
My man in Dublin calls with joy in his voice to tell me ‘the Troika’ — the combined powers of…
