On stepping down from frontline politics in January 2020, I took a conscious decision not to become a talking head or political commentator. Seems to me there are plenty of people doing that job with aplomb - and it means I don't have to go down to broadcasting house for a TV show at 10am of a Sunday morning. (Who watches current affairs on a Sunday morning and has anything ever made going back to mass more attractive?)
Of course, there are reverberations from exiting the public discourse: occasionally, I am told by people at shop counters (or on Thursday past at the wonderful Armagh County Museum) that they recognise me from somewhere. Most are faintly disappointed when I say who I am.
More frequently, I am asked if I am retired. I could protest that far from being put out to pasture the last four years have been the busiest of my life - but then I would have to add that my capacity for a long shift is diminished considerably. So much so that a busy day for me today is what any parent of young children would consider a day off.
My favourite inquiry though is, "are you back?" From the States that is where many people think I relocated - and most recently asked by my old school chum Mal Marken on Saturday evening past as we passed on my way to watch an early Easy Rawlins flick at Queen's Film Theatre.
Believe me, having lived through the sturm und drang of one divided society I really don't want to repeat the experience as a full-time resident of the USA, much as I love its fractured populace.
All of which brings me to the one media platform that I still patronise (alongside my scribblings in the Irish Echo and Andersonstown News): the podcast. I've had the great good fortune to be interviewed at length (when you get to my age there is a lot of length to discuss) for several podcasts this year but none has thrilled me more than the chance to sit down with New Yorker (and Belfast International Ambassador Medal recipient) John Lee. He has cool digs in New York's stunning Rockefeller Center which I got to admire when we shot the breeze for his acclaimed Irish Stew Podcast (which he and co-host Martin Nutty have made an Irish American institution).
I would love to tell you what indiscretions I committed, what yarns I spun, what fibs I recycled but for the life of me, I can't remember any of the topics we explored. Which is what happens when you're 64.
I do know that in his pre-publicity for the show which, to use the terminology, dropped today, John insists I told at least one story for the first time. Which worries me enormously as if it was a secret, there was probably a very good reason why it should have stayed that way.
However, I do hope you will sample (via the YouTube link above or on whatever podcast platform you patronise) my thoughts on where we've been, where we're at and where we're going. And if you enjoy the style of Mr Lee, pop over to his Irish Stew Podcast site to access over 100 other interviews with we global Irish.
