AFTER Abraham Lincoln died in 1865 a joint resolution of the US Congress praised his "qualities of courage, will and indomitable persistence of purpose, which never flagged or faltered ...

AS I write, Terri Schiavo is not yet dead. But she is surrounded by death.

WITH St Patrick’s Day just behind us and Easter fast approaching, it’s worth considering how we celebrate these festivals and what that says about the state we are in.

THERE is a story often told in our house about an Ireland we no longer recognise.

AT the time of writing it seems unlikely that the explicit new film, 9 Songs, will go mainstream in cinemas around Ireland when it’s released this Friday. It’s not for the want of publicity, though.

IN RECENT weeks rumour had it that in West Belfast you could buy a £20 Northern Bank note for £1.

PLEASE jog my memory. What exactly did Martin Cullen not do wrong? Was it his suggestion to the Office of Public Works that they hire one of his political supporters, Monica Leech?

“I WAS only ever wrong once,” goes the favourite joke of a friend of mine. “It happened once when I thought I was wrong, but I was actually right!”

I HAVE been thinking lately about a tragedy that occurred a few months ago where I come from.

WORDS are left impotent by a tragedy such as has unfolded in southern Asia over the past week. The sheer scale of the devastation wrought and the number of people killed cripples the imagination.