CONFESSION being good for the soul, I admit to being slightly off the mark last week. True, I predicted a no to Lisbon, predicted the usual suspects would call the Irish thickos and ungrateful illegitimates, and even forecast the Taoiseach would start talking about the need for “a period of reflection”.

IF IT’S yes tomorrow, cue mutual backslapping all round. Brian Cowen will be owed 26 glasses of Leffe beer by his counterparts at the next European Council meeting in Brussels. And then the Germans, French and Brits will get down to the serious business of actually deciding the interpretations of the Lisbon Treaty — and who gets the plum jobs.

You can’t deny the state — British or Irish — the exclusive right to use legitimate force and, at the same time, hold it to a higher standard than paramilitaries.

IN ALL the hundreds of articles devoted to the subject of Europe in recent weeks and months, I’m not aware of anyone seriously canvassing the only sane course — complete withdrawal.

It’s between the academics and the Appalachians, says the world’s leading authority on American politics, Michael Barone.

DURING the extended interregnum between Bertie Ahern’s resignation and the election of the new Taoiseach, one question went largely unanswered: what does Brian Cowen believe?

IT’S sad but true. You know it and I know it. The way things are going, one of these days — perhaps not so far into the distant future — some coked-up young scumbag in Dublin, Limerick or Cork is going to murder an unarmed garda.

NOT for the first time, Peter Mandelson is being turned into an Irish hate figure. The best part of a decade ago, it was northern nationalists who took exception to the machinations of the Prince of Darkness over reform of the RUC. Now it’s Irish farmers who feel they are being sold out.

IF YOU do the weekly shopping, think back a few months. You noticed the prices of some staples, particularly bread, were rocketing, right? And how did you react? You shrugged. At most, you probably cursed the supermarkets under your breath. The last thing you felt like doing was rioting.

Mugabe has gradually made the impossible possible: restoring Ian Smith’s historical reputation.