Any good spin doctor would have done the moan-in-the-throat indicating a planned action has a lot going for it — but that, at the same time, it carries potential problems.

I DON’T like to mention it in polite company, but my foundations are a bit exposed. The recent storm lashed at Portrane and made my Martello Tower spring leaks in more places than you could imagine. Eight buckets were deployed at the height of it, and we’re now in the check/replace/repaint phase.

HE was a neat, quietly-spoken, witty, smallish man of Irish extraction who was liked wherever he went, in New York during the Roaring 20s. Not that he went that many places.

NEVER mind economic sovereignty. That’s so last year. How about Ireland getting calendar sovereignty?

I DISCOVERED a little known fact last week, when I set out to ask a simple question of everybody I met: “What was the standout Christmas present for you — the one gift that comes into your mind whenever anyone mentions Christmas?”

We're all mighty, so we are, according to the Taoiseach last night on the television.

If the latest generation of tobacco industry managers make money by flogging something that doesn’t kill people, it’s somewhat surprising to find them being condemned for it. Wasn’t the objective to stop or prevent people from smoking, rather than further demonise the despicable?

IT IS, at best, a troubled relationship. We have in this country a prof-essional group made up of individuals we all hope we never get to meet.

TO keep you on-trend this Christmas, I’m here to warn you against rushing out to buy a tablet computer for someone you love, because they might prefer a baking tin.

AN awards ceremony in Limerick. A newspaper apology in the US. The Gettysburg Address. This weekend crafted an odd connection between the three.