I’ve spent most of my adult life being quietly smug about being Irish, small, and out of the way.

For all his faults - and none of us are perfect - you can certainly not accuse former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of being circumspect. Former Taoisigh are generally reluctant to comment on live political issues. But that’s not in Leo Varardkar’s DNA.

Historians have an unfortunate habit of reading too much into things, and in this regard I am particularly unfortunate as I find myself perched at the cliff-edge of conspiracy theories far too often for comfort. Or indeed my wife’s comfort.

In our fragile and at times fragmenting world we were never more in need of moral giants to focus our minds and hearts on all that is right and good.

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That was some bloodbath in Killarney. A battle for the ages, no less. One of the great things about being old is that one can recall real battles.

“Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

When I think of the phrase 'footballing heroes' I think of the head-bandaged warrier with a never-say-die attitude.

When Sky Sports got rights to broadcast Gaelic football and hurling games in 2014, there was outrage across the country about our games being sold down the river. I wasn’t one of the outraged.

There’s a number that should be carved over the door of the Dáil chamber, every county council chamber, every meeting room in which serious Irish people make serious Irish decisions. Not the national debt. Not the housing deficit.