Get a wash, boys: @paddyb_ireland and the #MNDicebucketchallenge

The latest thing to go viral on social media is the ice bucket challenge, where you post a video of yourself being drenched by a bucket of ice cold water. You also nominate someone else to complete the challenge and they have to complete it within 24 hours. While it may look like just another idiotic online stunt, like neknominate, this one has a much more serious purpose behind it as it part of campaign to raise funds and awareness about MND, …

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Torturing our sports personalities over questions our politicians fail to resolve in themselves?

Well, it’s summer, and for other parts of the world a very serious and concerning one. At home, the ennui of the Peace Process™. We owe much to our guest bloggers, new talent and the sheer hard work and presence of our old stagers for keeping the conversation fresh, live and relevant in our glacial political space. One thing worth remarking on, before it fades completely from memory, is the Paddy Barnes ‘controversy’ (such as it was) from last week. …

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#London2012: What did it mean to you, then?

With barely enough time to catch breath after all those golds, there has been a glut of reflections on how the London Olympics have either redefined or exhibited a new Britishness. Over at the Daily Mail, Dominic Sandbrook is unequivocal, calling it a rebirth of Britishness: Coming so soon after the triumph of the Diamond Jubilee, which reaffirmed the deep bond between the British people and our Royal Family, the Games have been a valuable reminder of everything that most of …

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