The Pearly Gates [BC Mag, 05/97]

This article featured in Hong Kong’s BC Magazine in May 1997. The idea of joining a long queue might not have struck a favourable chord with our Neanderthal forbears, but in today’s hurly-burlied world there is a strong and rising surge of opinion in favour of the...

Being Anglo-Irish – A Hyphenated Existence? [Dubliner, 06/01]

The best thing about being Anglo-Irish is that you can get away with just about anything. The Irish think you’re English; the English think you’re Irish. Deep down, you know you’re not technically either. But if you play it well, you can be better than both. You can...

The Importance of Being Bunbury [Dubliner, 08/01]

This column appeared in The Dubliner in August 2001. Everybody wants to be a Bunbury. That, in case you didn’t know, was the title of a short-lived 1988 UK chart entrant sung by a band called The Bunburys who were actually The Beegees in disguise. It was a concept...

My Father & Other Animals [Dubliner, 09/01]

This article was written as a tribute to the Veterinary Paddock in the Dublin Horse Show. It featured in The Dubliner in September 2001. I have of late developed a fascination for speed. And I don’t mean the fine white powder British squaddies whipped up their...

An Ode to Pagan Days [Dubliner, 10/01]

This Halloween-flavoured column featured in The Dubliner in October 2001. Perhaps it’s the time of year that is upon us – the ghouls and the pussycats, I mean – but I can’t help thinking what mighty good craic it’d be if this world of ours returned to its pagan roots....