Impasse is an undervalued resource. This is a great time for not getting things done. In our always-on world, inactivity isn’t a value that’s believed in. We know of no usefulness except the doing of things.

The Vietnam war and Lyndon B Johnson put in appearances at the Jobstown trial yesterday. It’s all a long, long way from a west Dublin enclave and water charges, but such is the meandering journey of this unique trial.

AS a frequent guest in your country I have smilingly endured the occasional slur against Americans, but nothing prepared me for the vitriol spat from the editorials, columnists and letters in the Irish Examiner of Saturday (Feb1).