NO matter what drama, farce and pathos the world witnesses in the forthcoming US presidential election, what we know for sure is that the next vice-president will be an Irish-American Catholic.

IF you watched Vincent Browne’s interview with Sean Quinn last week, you’ll know that he is not a delusional capitalist gambler, but a victim: a victim of the Anglo collapse, of a government searching for baddies, and of the smug Dublin 4 media, which enjoys stamping on the pain of others.

IF there’s anyone with an ounce of gumption living in Munster they should already be organising the importation of crate-loads of Stetsons and cowboys boots.

THERE are a few billboards about the place, but you certainly wouldn’t get the impression that London is completely in thrall to the Olympics.

BRUCE Springsteen plays Dublin this week, and, beforehand, there were dire warnings that what happened to him in London better not happen here.

IT can be mentally healthy to ignore one’s prejudices and take deep breaths, ignore the sore tummy and accept that sometimes things cannot be controlled.

ACCORDING to some newspaper reports at the weekend, Enda spent a portion of his first year in office doing the sorts of things that TDs traditionally do: looking for stuff that (for the most part), his constituents should be entitled to anyway.

YOU might think the decision by Sinn Féin to allow Martin McGuinness to shake the Queen’s hand is a historic moment or a political stunt, but either way it’s another sign the Shinners accept the new political reality: one where the definition of ‘Ireland’ is rather nebulous.

I was chatting with an elderly relative, who leaned in close to say the son of a friend had ‘turned queer’.

THIS weekend there will be loads of people dawdling around Dublin wearing straw boaters and eating kidneys and having a jolly fine time celebrating Ulysses.