The Mobile Phone

Daily writing prompt

What technology would you be better off without, why?

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Love it or loathe it, the mobile phone is an essential tool in this day and age. It annoys me however you attached we all become to it. Speaking personally, when I stop at a red light while driving for more than one minute or when I’m in a queue, the phone comes out. I’m even looking at it in the street now when I’m walking the dog.

What I don’t do however is look at my phone while crossing the road. It really annoys me when I see people crossing the road with their head stuck in their phone oblivious to the traffic.

Morning or Evening Person

Daily writing prompt

Are you more of a night or morning person?

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Some people are morning people and others are night people. Which are you? Which am I? I think we adapt to different circumstances so night owls can become morning larks and vice-versa.

When I was a student, I was more of an evening person. I used to go to go to the computer lab (at Magee College in Derry, where I studied) in the evening and go home about 4am. I would sleep my 8 hours and wake up at 12 noon.

Upon entering the world of work at the turn of the Millenium, I couldn’t maintain such a schedule. My job was 9-5 so I had to be up by around 7am ever day.

Then in 2012 I moved to South America; Peru to be exact. Peru is five hours behind UTC and I had lived in Western Europe before then I was getting up early and being tired at night. My job obigated me to wake up at 6am but that wasn’t a problem for me. I was up bright and early in the morning but feeling very sleepy in the evening.

Then in 2015 came the birth of my first child which meant that the quality and quantity of sleep that I enjoyed before were reduced. I had to get used to being up during the night and still get up for work in the morning.

Nowadays, in 2025, with two kids I get by on not a lot of sleep. Too be honest I drink a lot of coffee, 3-4 cups a day, maybe more. Too much perhaps. To answer the original question I would say I am morning person because I get very tired in the evening and find driving at night challenging. I think as we get older we tend to get up earlier.

An Ode to the International Break

Last Thursday when I sat down to watch Ireland v Portugal, I did so neither in hope or expectation of Irish victory. 4 points from 4 games including a defeat to Armenia meant that Ireland’s World Cup hopes were hanging by a thread. The thought was, would Ireland still have a mathematical chance of qualifying by the end of the game.

Two Troy Parrot goals and a Ronaldo red card brought joy and optimism going forward. Still, Hungary on Sunday, away and a win is needed, a tough ask to say the least.

Midway through the second half on Sunday with Hungary 2-1 up and seemingly control I decided to take the dog for a walk. We were not going to score two, the World Cup dream is over. Then as I was about to go out, Troy Parrot scored, 2-2, I decided to stay and watch the end.

As the clock ticked down, 5 minutes of injury time had elapsed, it seemed all was lost and then, one last dramatic twist.

What happened was a magical moment that will live long in the memory. One moment of magic, one moment that turned everything on its head, from disappointment to elation.

A big win of your favourite football club or national team can change your week. I had given up on the 2026 World Cup long ago, now I was looking at when the play-off fixtures will be, when will the Final draw be made, which cites are hosting games, where might Ireland be.

Sport has the power to do that, change your mood, change your outlook. This international break has come to a close but March is already too far aaway for the next one. I enjoy club football but international football is different, international football is special. It draws emotions that club football can not..

Luca

Daily writing prompt

What are your favorite animals?

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I don’t have a favourite animal so I will just opt for the family dog, Luca. We have had him since 2021 and even though it wasn’t my idea to get him in the first place, we couldn’t live without him.

Extra Time

Daily writing prompt

If you didn’t need sleep, what would you do with all the extra time?

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If I didn’t sleep what would I do with the extra time?

It’s a great question. I’d like to say that I would be creative, maybe study or do an extra job but I fear I would procrastinate more and that the activities I currently do would take longer.

I remember a time when I had a lot of free time but then I didn’t appreciate it. I was unemployed in 2011 and I had nothing to fill my day. Before my son came along in 2015 I had a lot of free time, I could nap during the day but with his arrival in 2015 and my daughter’s arrival in 2022, free time has gone out the window.

The reality is, I don’t make good enough use of my time. I procrastinate a lot and doom-scroll. I need to make my internet time effective, cut-out the doom scrolling and be more creative. Easier said than done.

Beautiful night in Bilbao

Sometimes there are football matches when the actual game was secondary and that was the case last night in Bilbao.

It was a friendly against Euskadi and Palestine, not an official friendly because Euskadi is not a FIFA member.

https://footballpalestine.substack.com/p/rapid-reaction-euskadi-30-palestine?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1657790&post_id=178997237&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=6qqq8g&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Euskadi (the Basque Country, a region of Spain and France, have a lot of decent players, almost all of them playing in the 1st Division in Spain, onewho is playing in Portugal and one who is playing in Greece. The team would be competitive in International competition and would give World Cup qualifyinh a good rattle. The Palestinian team did not manage to qualify for the FIFA World Cup but given the hardships they face, they deserve gteat credit.

The night was all about solidarity and showing the Palestinian people that they are not alone. There was a not too dis-similar night in Dalymount Park last yearwhen Palestine’s women’s team faced Bohemians, but this was on a much larger scale, one of Europe’s best stadiums, 51,000 people in the stands.

A beautiful night all round.

The Palestine National Team will travel to Barcelona to face Catalunya on Tuesday.

Free Palestine

Jesus of Nazareth

Daily writing prompt

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

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One person who 2000 years after his birth, has a profound effect on all our lives is Jesus of Nazareth. He is called Christ but I am not going to use that term as it is a title that means Messiah. I’m not saying that he is or is not the Messiah, rather, I’m avoiding the question.

Most historical scholars (Christian and secular alike) conclude that Jesus was a real historical person from Nazareth in Galilee.

I would like to have his thoughts on how his name has been used throughout the centuries. The Western imperial powers colonised most of the global south with the premise of bringing Christianity to the pagans. Spanish and Portuguese empires justified the conquest of the Americas by claiming to bring “the true faith” and British and French colonizers used “civilizing mission” language — that colonization would “uplift” natives through Christianity and European culture. Christian missions often accompanied colonization, sometimes saving lives and preserving languages, but also destroying indigenous religions and cultures.

In many countries, some christians have aligned themselves to far-right politics. Lack of tolerence of immigrants, the poor and the LGBT community are contrary to the teaching of Jesus as reported in the New Testiment. Some Christians, especially in the United States have rowed in behind a bloodthirsty apartheid regime, the state of Israel, again contrary to what Jesus is said to have believed in the New Testiment.

It would be an interesting conversation about religion, politics, colonialism, and a lot more besides so that is why I would like to meet Jesus of Nazareth.

Favourite Month of the Year

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

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Every month has it’s pros and cons.

January is a great month in the Southern Hemisphere (summer is in full swing) but bleak in the Northern hemisphere

February is my birthday month and summer in the summer hemishpere. A good month

March, Saint Patrick’s Day and still summer in South America so definitely a candidate for best month of the year.

April, getting colder in the South but warmer in the North. It usually contains Easter.

May is a great month in the Northern Hemisphere, long days. Conversely, in the South the weather gets colder

June is great in the North, long summer days til 10-11pm, festivals, beer garderns. In the South it’s a bit bleak.

July is similar to June but the grati (extra wage) sweetens the month in Peru.

August, great month in the Northern hemisphere and typically my holiday month. It has a lot going for it

September, in contrast does not have much going for it. The days shorten in the North and it’s still not overly warm in the South,

October is an extention of September. Not much going for it in either part of the world

In November the summer is starting in the Southern hemisphere and also the christmas party season. I’m not a huge fan of this month however.

December is cold in the Northern hemisphere but it feels cosy. Crhristmas, mulled wine, fireside. In the Southern Hemisphere it is hot in December. That and Christmas makes it a good month.

Your favourite month of the year is influenced by where you live in my opinion. January is great in the Southern hemisphere, I also like June-August, but Im going to pick December. What is your favourite month?

Denmark

I live in Peru now, I’m from Ireland and would love to go back there, I ‘ve lived in Spain and Portugal (great places to live) but one place that holds a sense of mystery for me is Denmark.

My interest in Denmark started when a school friend insisted that we redraw a sweepstake for Euro 92 because he had Yugoslavia and didn’t want to take Denmark as a substitute. In the redraw I got Denmark and they won the tournament.

Apart from that , I have always admired the Scandanavian countries although I have never visited one as they are very expensive. I’ve read about hygge and the Danish way of lie so in answer to the question “If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?” I am going to take a punt on Denmark.

Podcast

I listen to various podcast from organisations such as Novara Media to pundits such as Joe Brolly but this one is just starting to get together some content. Check it out, Like, subscribe etc