Gary Aspden, the curator of the Spezial collection, was a good friend of the late Terry Hall of The Specials and Fun Boy Three. Fellow pundits and former football players Ian Wright and Roy Keane. “I called Nick Griffiths [commercial director] and said I want to approach Roy Keane about being in our next film. A Roy Keane hoarding defaced in Dublin in 2002 after the Saipan incident. Roy Keane, centre, at the filming of 'Gary Neville's The Overlap on Tour' at Blarney Castle, Co Cork, with Jamie Carragher, left, and Gary Neville.

In recent years, many of the State’s leading telecom operators, including Vodafone, Eir and Three Mobile, have linked their prices to inflation. “I am just getting in touch about the [Consumer Price Index] CPI increase coming up in April for most mid-contract telecoms customers,” he writes. “You covered this before and the Minister’s plan to introduce legislation to give power to customers to exit these contracts,” he writes. The Department of Communications has confirmed to Pricewatch that the proposed legislation has made little progress in recent months. The Department will conduct stakeholder engagement including with the telecoms industry during the development stages of the legislation.”

Research from the UK restaurant software group Vita Mojo shows 61 per cent of customers would spend more at a kiosk than a till. Even doctors’ reception rooms have what the touchscreen industry likes to call self-service “kiosks”. A screen does not merely curb the need for people, with all their whiny demands for decent pay and working conditions. Research from the UK restaurant software group Vita Mojo shows 61 per cent of customers would spend more at a kiosk than a till. As Vita Mojo says: “Kiosks never forget to upsell with sides, meal deals and targeted promotions.”I believe claims that customers often prefer the ease and speed of touchscreens.

Christine Falls is an exception to this general mistiness. But in the early years of the new century, Christine Falls, like Christine Falls herself, languished, and I set it aside. All the same, might not my readers think that with Christine Falls the novel I was indulging in a postmodernist joke at their expense? I doubt there is a single line of dialogue in the script of Christine Falls that did not have to be reshaped for Christine Falls the novel. From the start I regarded the novelisation of Christine Falls as not much more than a jeu d’esprit, a one-off little adventure.

The son of Iran’s slain leader has, reportedly, been chosen as the country’s new supreme leader under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Iran’s 88-member Assembly of Experts conferred remotely last week and chose the new leader. But critics have expressed concern about hereditary rule and clerical credentials; the position of supreme leader is both religious and political. Removing the top figure is unlikely to achieve regime change. The US effected policy change but not regime change in January when Washington abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whose replacement, Delcy Rodríguez, has been receptive to US demands.

On Sunday, Israel confirmed two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon – the country’s first fatalities since hostilities resumed. Of the 200 militants Israel claims to have killed, the IDF says 80 were members of Hizbullah’s elite Radwan force. Israel has ordered all residents south of the Litani river to leave their homes along with residents of Beirut’s Dahiya quarter. More than 400,000 residents are now homeless, creating an instant humanitarian crisis in a country that has still not recovered from the last war between Israel and Hizbullah. “Our working assumption was that fighting with Iran could draw Hizbullah into the war,” IDF officials said.

Ireland’s oldest man Paddy Claffey (104) owes his long life to his wife’s baking, never drinking alcohol and giving up smoking at 45. Video: Bryan O'BrienIreland’s oldest man, Paddy Claffey, attributes his longevity to hard work and a good appetite. On St Patrick’s Day, Paddy will be the grand marshall of the parade in Clara, Co Offaly. Born on April 17th, 1921, in his “home house” in the townland of Noggusboy near Ferbane in Co Offaly, Paddy was the youngest of 10 children, with six sisters and three brothers. That story illustrates his father’s kindness says Paddy’s son Patrick, who stays with Paddy most weekends.

Dust off 1986 for instance, 40 years ago now, and have a gander at the way the world was turning back then. The story of the Gold Cup in 1986 reads like a novel with five chapters; horse, owner, trainer, jockeys, and the drama of the race itself. The prevailing issue in the lead up to the Gold Cup was exactly who was going to ride the mare. Mrs Hill insisted on re-employing Jonjo O’Neill who had ridden her to success in the Champion Hurdle two years earlier. The Gloucestershire sky was peppered by hats and newspapers thrown high in celebration and Jonjo paraded Tony Mullins on his shoulders in the raucous winning enclosure.

Researchers from the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge found that the Ancient Egyptians used a white pigment to amend their papyrus paintings. Ms Strudwick says: 'It’s as if someone saw the original way the jackal was painted and said: “It’s too fat; make it thinner". Using a technique called transmitted light infrared photography, the researchers were able to peer through the upper layers of white pigment to see the painting below. That suggests that the white pigment wasn't an original part of the illustration, but rather something added later to tidy up the scribe's error. Ms Strudwick adds: ''Our analyses also show that the white paint on Ramose’s robe is only made of huntite.

Adams has always denied being a member of the IRA, and is fighting the case in the High Court in London. The former Sinn Féin president appeared at Court 16 – known as the Chancellor’s Court – shortly before the case began. Studd cited a 2010 interview with former IRA member Dolours Price, who was one of 10 convicted of the Old Bailey bombing. The three Troubles victims are also relying on claims by former IRA member Sean O’Callaghan that he attended IRA meetings with Adams in the 1980s. Adams is arguing that evidence shows Sinn Féin politician Gerry Kelly, not him, “dominated and controlled” the IRA in the 1990s.

The voice of Catholic Church in Irish education has added a further item to the list: purpose. The church’s concern over a “loss of meaning” is shared by many in Ireland and internationally. Photograph: Culture Club/GettyThis “loss of a shared moral order” was the theme of David Brooks’s final column for The New York Times in January. None of this will guarantee a sense of meaning is passed on to children but setting an example is important. And for that, we need a national conversation on values, or better still a national conversation on the meaning of life.

The Irish branch of Zurich is buying the former Liberty Insurance from Italy's Generali for €337m. Zurich says the acquisition will transform its market position, putting it in the top three providers of both life and non-life insurance in Ireland. "Following completion, the RedClick team and customers will transfer and become part of Zurich’s non-life insurance business in Ireland,” he said. After it bought the former Liberty Insurance, Generali appointed Lorenzo Ioan as general manager of the business in Ireland in 2024. Liberty Insurance had been the Irish operation of the US company Liberty Mutual, having taken over the former business of Quinn Insurance in 2011.

Germans are flocking to cinemas to see this year’s Berlin Film Festival winner Yellow Letters, a gripping drama about how Turkey silences regime critics. For film-maker Ilker Çatak, a German director and screenwriter of Turkish origin, his story is a universal warning about a growing “assault” on academia, the arts and free speech. Ilker Çatak, a German director and screenwriter of Turkish origin. After an emergency meeting, Weimer announced a new oversight board for future editions of festival but allowed festival director Tricia Tuttle keep her job. Yellow Letters director Ilker Çatak, a rising star in the German film world, has already registered his protest.

UK's most famous dog visits Cardiff drawing in huge crowdsViola the Husky, a social media sensation with millions of followers, caused a sensation in Cardiff as crowds gathered for selfies with the instantly-recognisable white and red Siberian HuskyView Image Viola is so popular online, and in real life, too (Image: YOUTUBE)The owner of the 'UK's most famous dog' regularly posts brief videos showcasing their adventures together. ‌Viola's owner brought her to Cardiff and revealed that "Wales went crazy" for his beloved pet. After capturing various encounters throughout the day, he declared, "Cardiff went absolutely WILD when Viola the Husky arrived." "This was one of our craziest adventures yet... and Cardiff might just be the most welcoming city we've ever visited in Wales. ‌Throughout the day, Viola basked in public affection, whilst online commenters also expressed their fondness for the cherished dog.

A lot remains to play out, but energy prices are now in the danger zone - at levels which will, if sustained, cause damage. As well as the oil price rise, wholesale gas prices have risen sharply again. Oil and gas prices are likely to swing with the news cycle and consumers will feel short-term pain, but what matters is the longer-term trend in these wholesale energy prices. The US, as a net energy exporter, is not as exposed as Europe to higher oil and gas prices, but it is being reflected in the US market nonetheless. Oil and gas prices are, for now, at levels that would cause economic pain if prolonged – but not a calamity.