Declan Lynch News Today

For some weeks now, the spirit of Lieutenant Columbo has inhabited my being.

Since I’ve in the past been critical of RTÉ1’s This Week (RTÉ1, Sundays, 1pm), I note with approval that they did an item last week which for them must have been challenging.

We have our own Tories now. They’re called Independent Ireland, and they also include those Independents who are too independent even for Independent Ireland.

Eoin Ó Broin of Sinn Féin has said being loudly accused by a man at a bus stop in Clondalkin of being a “traitor”, was “water off a duck’s back” for him. He was just worried that the video of the incident, which was posted on X, might discourage people from minority communities in particular from going into politics.

Whether it is films, Fred’s or sport at any level, everybody’s experience is their own

Thanks to the old internet, you can listen to ­“local” stations many miles away, such as ­Radio Kerry and its ­Kerry Today programme presented by Jerry O’Sullivan. It is exemplary, especially if you prefer your current affairs coverage to have a southern accent.

The great Lee Trevino has described the Augusta National track as the “eighth wonder of the world”. Which wouldn’t be an unusual assessment, as the venue for the US Masters is clearly one of mankind’s most beautiful creations.

Lynch has held on tight to the Antrim jersey himself. In the early part of his career, he underwent three surgeries on his left hip and two on the right hip. Here he is, still trucking

Two years after the start of Russia’s “Special Operation” in Ukraine, Putin’s war against our old friend, Western democracy, is still going on — and going well for him.

Sir — In some countries, the most expensive contemporary construction project is a gilded mosque, marble temple or granite cathedral, dedicated to whatever deities the state supports.