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Jake Okane

Jake Okane

The Irish News

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Jake O'Kane: The Ireland of cead mile failte is a myth – we need to make it a reality

There can be few who haven't heard of the sign once displayed in the window of an English B&B which read: 'No Irish, no blacks, no dogs.

yesterday 9

The Irish News

Jake Okane

When did fast food get so slow?

I lost an hour of my life – a lot of time for someone my age – whilst sitting in gridlocked traffic in central Belfast during the week.

22.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: When did fast food get so slow?

I lost an hour of my life – a lot of time for someone my age – whilst sitting in gridlocked traffic in central Belfast during the week.

22.09.2023 8

The Irish News

Jake Okane

The putrid water of Lough Neagh is a metaphor for how dysfunctional our wee statelet has become

If you look up Lough Neagh on Wikipedia – the font of all knowledge since we stopped buying encyclopaedias – it’s described as...

15.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The putrid water of Lough Neagh is a metaphor for how dysfunctional our wee statelet has become

If you look up Lough Neagh on Wikipedia – the font of all knowledge since we stopped buying encyclopaedias – it’s described as...

15.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

After all his gaffes, Simon Byrne's 'sorrys' have been replaced with a welcome 'goodbye'

When Simon Byrne and his deputy Mark Hamilton left last week’s Policing Board meeting following a six-hour grilling, I joked I’d known...

08.09.2023 9

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: After all his gaffes, Simon Byrne's 'sorrys' have been replaced with a welcome 'goodbye'

When Simon Byrne and his deputy Mark Hamilton left last week’s Policing Board meeting following a six-hour grilling, I joked I’d known...

08.09.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

The dangers of ignoring annoying and useless lumps like my own Wee Ian...

THUGS who I like to refer to as 'lamppost monkeys' erected Nazi flags outside a mosque in Belfast last week.

01.09.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The dangers of ignoring annoying and useless lumps like my own Wee Ian...

THUGS who I like to refer to as 'lamppost monkeys' erected Nazi flags outside a mosque in Belfast last week.

01.09.2023 9

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: I thought Sinéad O'Connor fragile, but she had the heart of a lion

OVER 30 years ago, I was in Bewley's Café on Grafton Street in Dublin when I noticed Sinéad O'Connor sitting in a booth.

28.07.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Can the madness around bonfires and the Twelfth really be called 'culture'?

My granny's house sat high up in the Sperrin Mountains, between two hills.

14.07.2023 30

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Can the madness around bonfires and the Twelfth really be called 'culture'?

My granny's house sat high up in the Sperrin Mountains, between two hills.

14.07.2023 30

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The fine art of talking bo****ks

Belfast councillor Séamas de Faoite got more than he bargained for last week when he cornered secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris at an...

10.07.2023 9

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: We treat smoking as a precursor of cancer – we need to do the same with sunbeds

On more than one occasion I've triumphantly risen from my chair, convinced I have finally conquered this writing lark, after finishing this...

25.06.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Spineless Boris Johnson on the run from partygate judgment

When the going got tough, the perennial public schoolboy, Boris Johnson, got running.

18.06.2023 8

The Irish News

Jake Okane

The world will be a safer place with a walking President Biden than a bumbling President Trump

ARE you OK? I'm asking because just like This Morning host Holly Willoughby, I lie awake at night worrying about you; no, honest, I do.

09.06.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The world will be a safer place with a walking President Biden than a bumbling President Trump

ARE you OK? I'm asking because just like This Morning host Holly Willoughby, I lie awake at night worrying about you; no, honest, I do.

09.06.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The FBI should have known Irish pubs are the natural habitat of lying Irish ex-pats

I was having my lunch with the BBC news on in the background, only half listening as I happily chomped through my gluten-free sandwich.

04.06.2023 4

The Irish News

Jake Okane

The FBI should have known Irish pubs are the natural habitat of lying Irish ex-pats

I was having my lunch with the BBC news on in the background, only half listening as I happily chomped through my gluten-free sandwich.

02.06.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: I've worn out my 'block' button on the trolls who punish any perceived criticism of Sinn Féin

I suspect the only real surprise of last week’s council elections was that the DUP weren’t completely wiped out, although their continuing...

26.05.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Twitter can stick its blue tick where the sun don't shine about my coronation commentary

Thank God coronations don't happen that often – I'm still recovering after the street party on New Lodge Road and I've spent a...

15.05.2023 8

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Twitter can stick its blue tick where the sun don't shine about my coronation commentary

Thank God coronations don't happen that often – I'm still recovering after the street party on New Lodge Road and I've spent a...

12.05.2023 20

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Democracy is humiliated when it bends the knee to aristocracy

It will come as no shock to discover I’ve never been, nor ever will be, a fan of any monarchy, especially an English one

05.05.2023 4

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Democracy is humiliated when it bends the knee to aristocracy

It will come as no shock to discover I’ve never been, nor ever will be, a fan of any monarchy, especially an English one

05.05.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Stormont budget a living nightmare for the young, the elderly, the sick and the vulnerable

Heaton-Harris cares nothing that the real victims of his budget will be the very young, the elderly and the sick and poor

30.04.2023 4

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Stormont budget a living nightmare for the young, the elderly, the sick and the vulnerable

Heaton-Harris cares nothing that the real victims of his budget will be the very young, the elderly and the sick and poor

28.04.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Britain thinks it has a 'special relationship' with the USA, but America wants to marry Ireland

Due to the technical or legal reasons, readability mode is not available for this article. Thank you for your kind understanding.

24.04.2023 10

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Trump trumps even himself and our hopes of a return to sanity rest on Joe Biden

When it comes to American presidents, I thought I’d seen it all. Yet Donald Trump's indictment on Tuesday trumps all that went before

07.04.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: Trump trumps even himself and our hopes of a return to sanity rest on Joe Biden

When it comes to American presidents, I thought I’d seen it all. Yet Donald Trump's indictment on Tuesday trumps all that went before

07.04.2023 7

The Irish News

Jake Okane

The thought of retiring fills me with horror

I wasn't alone in having a recent trip to Paris cancelled at the last minute, as King Charles had his postponed last week due to ongoing protests...

03.04.2023 4

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: The thought of retiring fills me with horror

I wasn't alone in having a recent trip to Paris cancelled at the last minute, as King Charles had his postponed last week due to ongoing protests...

03.04.2023 4

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Jake O'Kane: I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick's Day celebrations

I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick’s Day celebrations

30.03.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick's Day celebrations

I hope someday our children will feel as comfortable attending the Twelfth as they do St Patrick’s Day celebrations

25.03.2023 8

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Airport turning travels into travails

I’ve always loved airports. Indeed, on many occasions, my time at the airport has trumped whatever trip I happened to have been going on

18.03.2023 5

The Irish News

Jake Okane

I'm no Shakespeare but at least I can work a computer... sometimes

I’m at an age that when I experience déjà vu, it’s more likely to be my poor memory. Aged 61, apart from space travel or...

09.03.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

Is the DUP really going to sink the Assembly and reject the Windsor Framework?

Unionism's solitary lifeboat has always been the NI Assembly, something they now seem intent on sinking. I wonder what tune the band will play on...

04.03.2023 5

The Irish News

Jake Okane

I'm done with the Protocol - it's time the DUP woke up to the fact they're both irrelevant and disposable

Patricia O'Lynn's principled departure from Stormont poses a stark question for MLAs on the Assembly payroll: why do you remain?

25.02.2023 6

The Irish News

Jake Okane

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