He hasn't gone away

For those of us who remember Paul Aspell's many contributions to The Bridge over the years, well here's a bit of news.

Paul opted out of The Bridge quite some time ago, but in an amended version of the deathless phrase from the Bearded One Who Was Never In The IRA, 'he hasn't gone away, you know'.

Paul continues to write poetry and prose and make it available to all on the website he has been running since March. Your editor met him in the street this morning, and he promised to do a piece for the Diary, 'sometime when I'm in a mellow mood'.

Might be a while. As Paul is the first to admit, he doesn't do mellow.

Brian Byrne.