John Laverty

It was my mother who ushered me away from childhood sectarian leanings in bigotry-blighted Ballymena during the mid-1970s. She was, not surprisingly, an influential role model.

Imagine if, for argument’s sake, UTV’s bigwigs set up another independent channel and decided to make local MP Jim Allister one of its key presenters.

Boris Johnson’s costly 'Boris Bus' is being phased out as Sadiq Khan shifts London to electric models

Lidl opens a unique pub in Dundonald to sidestep strict licensing laws and serve cult beers on tap

Catholicmaxxing, Maga Catholics and Trump’s controversial faith politics collide in this Northern Ireland perspective on religion and identity

Psychotic killer Bobby 'Basher' Bates finds faith, seeks redemption and meets a brutal end as society questions late remorse and second chances

I’ve been there, tolerating the disparaging glances from other passengers walking past the Lagan Bar at Aldergrove. No surprise there; after all, those sensible folk had just witnessed me necking a pint at six o’clock in the morning.

John Laverty: Casement Park will remain a pipe dream while ‘the world’s most overpriced children’s hospital’ is busy draining Stormont’s cash two miles away

I’m delighted that Stephen Nolan’s doing a second series of Peelers: The PSNI for Real. The first one was both entertaining and enlightening, and lived up to Nolan’s promise that it would show the “human side” of policing here.

Europa Hotel residents bar, and Somebody Famous is in attendance. We’re not talking Northern Ireland native here, but someone instantly recognisable throughout this island and, naturally, people want photographs.