The killing last week of Charlie Kirk, a US right-wing activist and close ally of Donald Trump, revealed so much of the worst of where discourse is at these days.

On Wednesday last, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, led his fellow members in a moment of silence following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk earlier that afternoon.

You can tell everything you need to know about a culture by what it keeps in the larder for emergencies. The French hoard tinned pâté. Americans stockpile granola bars. The British maintain a strategic reserve of digestive biscuits.

The virtual disappearance of Sunday as a day apart has crept up on us through a growing secularist approach to life in Ireland evident by an accompanying steep decline in Mass attendance.

Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Bual sa tóin í agus titfidh sí. Bring on September, the month of shorter days and softer light. The time of year when we return to school; the familiarity of old rooms, the smell of new books.

Irish-America has always lived with its contradictions. On the surface: St Patrick’s Day parades, parish activities revolving around mass on Sunday and Danny Boy drifting out of pub doors into the night air.

Listening to our public debate about the Mercosur trade deal - the EU’s proposed trade deal with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – is confusing. The thrust of it seems to be that if the deal is approved, the price of beef might go down.

So the Russians tried to inconvenience Ursula von der Leyen as she flew into Bulgaria.

One of the hardest beats for a Mayo sports reporter is going down to the dressing rooms and press conference area under the Hogan Stand in Croke Park after an All-Ireland final defeat.

Now that the summer is over, thoughts will turn to shorter evenings and the winter ahead. So this is a good time to think about some interesting things you could do - and places you could visit - before the year is out.