There’s more than a whiff of fiddling-while-Rome-burns about the upcoming Zimbabwe International Book Fair, scheduled to kick off at the end of July. According to the rather lean-looking web page posted by Zimbabwe’s government-backed newspaper, The Herald, the theme of the fair will be “Transforming Lives Through Literature.” Among the various high-minded panel discussions taking […]

Despite the world-historical balls-up the Iraq adventure turned out to be, I still have a soft spot for Tony Blair. Perhaps it’s the Gorbachev effect–certain politicians–Bill Clinton was another–are far more appreciated abroad than at home (where they are usually reviled.) And maybe being exposed throughout Blair’s term to the verbal car-crashes that occurred whenever […]

Sunday, the first day of July, rain for what seems the 127th day on the trot. Time for some high culture, as if to persuade ourselves that uninterrupted sunshine rots the intellect. As the Barry clan makes its pilgrimage to the Lucien Freud exhibition at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, we are confronted by […]

“I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy,” wrote John R. Bolton in his Yale 25th Reunion Book. Despite this personal aversion to the dirty business of combat, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations–a man who is (to paraphrase an AA Gill quote) to diplomacy what boxing […]

Leona Helmsley, the famous “Queen of Mean” hotel heiress, died yesterday aged 87. Her notorious quote–“Only the little people pay taxes”–has served as a de facto motto for a generation of Irish tax exiles, much lauded for their à la carte charity work.

MCD has a lot to answer for. The company’s incompetent organization of the Barbra Streisand geezer gig caused the national airwaves and press to be inundated with plaints from the well-heeled and tin-eared. During a pretty slow news week (just the usual mayhem in Iraq and the risible efforts to turn the Rachel O’Reilly murder […]

Look who drives a “huge, jet black Toyota SUV.” No doubt it will soon put on the block to help pay all those legal costs.

I very much like the look of this, but I have to agree with some of the quibblers: where would you rest your arms?Perhaps, like most people’s bookshelves, it’s there to be admired than actually, y’know, used.

On the heels of TD Beverly Flynn reminding the nation of what a “class act” she really is, yesterday’s shenanigans during the first day of resumed Dail sittings provided yet more evidence of the calibre of Ireland’s political class.Newly elected Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue cuts a fine figure for a man in his late sixties. […]

Monocle magazine, the latest publication from beyond-parody Tyler Brûlé*, has compiled its list of the world’s “10 most liveable cities.” For those who couldn’t be bother shelling out £75 for a year’s subscription (10 issues), the International Herald Tribune has usefully provided a run-down of the anointed cities. Coming in at the top spot is […]