newstalk

“As much of an enigma, at the end of it all, as he was at the beginning…”

I went on the radio Tuesday night talking about my trip to Cameroon with Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Sightsavers. The recording is here…

Just Call Me Betty

Tell me if this is weird or not… A week on, Crystal Swing’s raunchy He Drinks Tequila is still playing on a constant rotation in my head. Stranger still, when I hum the song to myself, and it comes to the ‘And just call me baby’ line… for some reason I keep singing ‘And just call me Betty.’ Even though I know those aren’t the words. Read into that what you will, Mr Freud! Read the rest of this entry »

Jack and Neal… California, Here We Come

Wow, holy shit, thanks to regular reader Denise for forwarding this deadly clip of Maeve Binchy, Shay Healy and myself talking about our favourite books on the radio a couple of years ago. I gotta admit… hand on heart… that I have no recollection of the conversation whatsoever. But its really interesting. Read the rest of this entry »

DESERVE GOT NUTHIN’ TO DO WITH IT

On Saturday, I turned down the chance to participate in a football vs. X Factor debate on Newtalk’s Weekend Blend. (Ireland’s World Cup qualifier in Croker that evening clashed with the popular television show.) I told the producers that I find the whole X Factor phenomenon so monumentally stupid, I wasn’t prepared to waste my breath even slagging it off. Just as well I did too, or I’d probably have been accused of intellectual snobbery by Sarah Carey in the Irish Times today. Read the rest of this entry »

ONCE UPON A TIME IN BALLYHAUNIS…

Nazis, Christy Moore, reality TV, Charlie Haughey as Antonius Block and the true story of how I bested a Professor of Thermonuclear Physics live on national radio… Yip, this is quite possibly my favourite thing I ever wrote. Read the rest of this entry »

I CAN’T BELIEVE I WAS CHARGED €6.50 FOR THIS SHIT…

Had “breakfast” on South William Street this morning: two pieces of streaky bacon, two thin slices of bread and a dollop of Ballymaloe Relish. Reference the butter sachet for scale.

Miserable bastards. I swear to God, it’ll be worth the recession if some of these pricks go to the wall.