Shining a light on teething topics at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

I’m well aware that when a columnist scrawls the words ‘Open Letter’ across one of his or her efforts, it’s a tacit acknowledgement of defeat.

That concept ran dry; that interview didn’t happen; that particular result didn’t fit into your thesis, baking quietly all week. You’re left with the last refuge of the column-wrying scoundrel. The open letter.

It’s not just wretches like yours truly who have to rely on this crutch. I sometimes think that if Martin Luther had come up with a wry, offbeat framing device for his issues with Catholicism, we’d never have had the Reformation: what were those 95 theses apart from the ultimate open letter?