June 2026
Egg on their face
Yes, they have egg on their face, a lot of the stuff.
Six freebie EV charging points at the back of Parliament Buildings gave us the latest controversy to besmirch the Assembly. Some MLAs and civil servants enjoyed the free-to-use EV while ordinary punters in the main car park not far from the Stormont edifice had to pay for the privilege.
And privilege it was.
The shameful practice has been halted at Stormont. No one did anything wrong – no rules were broken – but the outcry from an incredulous public was loud with undoubted reputational damage inflicted to the devolved institution and its members.
Adds a whole new meaning to taking a charge at it!
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World Cup and forlorn ambition
We’ll watch in awe and admire what unfolds at this FIFA World Cup. The very best of the best – the predictable big beasts - will vie for the coveted trophy. Other teams not in the top tier will fight with every sinew to prove the pundits wrong.
Footie fans will be glued to the box. Beer sales will spike and takeaways will do a roaring trade. Other, less enthusiastic folk will take it all in their stride and long for normality to return after the final on 19th July.
Local interest centres on Scotland and England. Will they defy the odds and progress through the stages to the point where the 36-centimetre-tall cup with its 18-karat gold exterior comes into view?
And will age-old loyalties, rivalries, resentments and prejudices be put to one side to give vocal support to the English and the Scots? That’s perhaps a forlorn ambition, but at least we’ll enjoy the wonderful spectacle at the sixteen venues in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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ACC-19 lands in Belfast
It sounds like a title for a tv cop show, not unlike AC-12 in ‘Line of Duty’ with Superintendent Ted Hastings and his famous Ulster one-liners – ‘now we’re sucking diesel’ and ‘Mother of God’.
Well, that last one-liner might well get the thumbs up from ACC-19. It’s not shorthand for a blockbuster tv series. Anything but. In fact, ACC-19 is nothing more dramatic than the Anglican Consultative Council which will gather in Belfast for a nine-day conference, beginning on the 27th of June.
This will be the nineteenth such gathering and a first for Belfast since its inception in 1968. The Council is consultative and affords bishops, clergy and laity from every member church of the Anglican Communion the opportunity to share experiences discuss its direction of travel.
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Congrats history-maker
Congratulations to PSNI Chief Superintendent Amanda Ford who has made a little bit of history by becoming the first female Belfast Area Commander.
The Chief Super has an impressive CV. She joined in 2008 and held various local policing roles in Newry, Mourne and Down, Mid-Ulster and Belfast.
She says she’s looking forward to tackling the different challenges that we all know exist in Belfast. As Stephen Nolan’s excellent six-part series ‘Peelers: the PSNI for real’ ably demonstrated, the new boss will have a full to-do list what with heavily depleted police numbers and unacceptable levels of assaults on officers.
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‘Shores of Amerikay’
Four million fewer international tourists touched down in the US for their holidays in 2025. The drop was larger than that seen during the 2008 global recession.
President Trump is singled out as one of the key reasons why visitors gave the country a bye-ball. The economy lost out to the tune of $8 billion.
Wars, ICE shootings, crime, a dysfunctional Government and White House rhetoric are said to be some of the main factors turning visitors away from the ‘Shores of Amerikay ‘(with full acknowledgement to singer Johnny Mc Evoy).
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Back to Spain
If you’re not heading Stateside, then it’ll most likely be back to Spain, France, Portugal, or Greece for you this summer.
Another factor is the war in the Middle East. Missiles and drones do not a good holiday make. Naturally, people are turned off the idea of a break in the Gulf States and are heading for safer destinations.
After France, Spain is the most popular tourist destination with a record 97 million visitors last year. Hoteliers are confident that figure will hit the 100 million mark.
If all else fails, there’s always Portrush, Donegal or west Cork, but prices may deter.
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19 years late
Sometimes, our post arrives within stated timeframes.
Sometimes, it doesn’t.
Take what happened to Paul Edwards from Chester. He ordered a copy of the Mother and Baby magazine 19 years ago but it only came through his letterbox recently. His children are now 18 and 20 but he had to do without advice and helpful hints in the magazine as he grappled with parenting.
Royal Mail offered sincere apologies for any inconvenience. As for dad Paul, the whole experience was ‘just bizarre’.
Late deliveries are nothing new but this one was a bit special and went viral on X where it got 1.5 million views.
Better late than never is not something that applies in Paul’s case.
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Tracker gets ‘Dobby’ home
Guilty as charged, I’m a cat lover, which is why I was drawn to this story about a deaf moggy.
The BBC reported that the white tomcat stowed away in a deliver vehicle and took up residence 4 miles away from his Nottinghamshire home. ‘Dobby’ took a shine to a particular garden and was eventually captured in a trap by dedicated rescue charity workers from an outfit called ‘Beauty’s Legacy’.
Thankfully, ‘Dobby’ had a tracker on his collar and was reunited with his grateful owner after being away for weeks.
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