Top stories of the week

Recently I passed through Belfast International Airport at a busy time, 8am, heading for a 10am flight.

From the Belfast News Letter of August 10 1739 (which is August 21 in the modern calendar):

A long time ago I recall a well travelled relative of mine saying that he never left Northern Ireland between May and August.

From the Belfast News Letter of August 10 1739 (which is August 21 in the modern calendar):

When Boris Johnson saw Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday his visit appeared to trigger newly flexible comments from her.

Lord Empey has warned against believing unproven allegations against former US peace envoy George Mitchell regarding his involvement with American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Royal Irish Regiment is to open a state-of-the-art £12m museum in Belfast which is intended to be an international tourist attraction.

The cover of this book – with the black and white photograph of a civil rights march, below the title, The Troubles And The Struggle For Change In Northern Ireland – might put some people off. They might easily mistake it for just another addition to the shelf of new books marking the 50th anniversary of the Troubles and then cast their eye elsewhere. That would be a mistake, for this is more than just another history. It is, in fact, a remarkable insight into Northern Ireland from one of its best writers and most thoughtful observers: one of the few capable of choosing a detached observation point and looking at the problem from different angles. Maybe that’s something to do with his passion for photography and an instinct for knowing that the most tellingly accurate shot is never the most obvious one. Anyway, this is the best book that O’Doherty has written.