In Ireland today, it takes courage to be Catholic in public. Not so in Britain.

WHEN you write a book, you always hope for two things. The first hope is that the book will be published coming up to Christmas, because that’s when people who never normally buy books purchase them by the sack-load as gifts for others.

The second hope is that a coincidental controversy will erupt around the date of publication, thus attracting readers who might otherwise buy a safe bestseller by a brand-name author.

The guy who wrote David Blunkett’s biography can’t have expected either. He got both.