After 1912, he never saw Dublin again, although he never wrote about any other place, and to the end of his life he was desperate for news of the city and its people.

NEWYORKER: Silence, Exile, Punning

"Kidnapping is something that should never happen again, " he wrote on his Twitter feed.

BBC: Colombia's Farc release Chinese hostages

"Bottom line: In-line quarter, but guidance revised down again, " he wrote.

FORBES: Lilly's And Schering's Blockbuster Hangovers

"I don't really want to see America again, " he wrote.

BBC: 'American Taleban' had Yemen hopes

In the 1950s he was getting commissions again and wrote a number of musical comedies and operettas.

ECONOMIST: Norbert Schultze

Nearly three hours later, the man wrote again to say the centre was closed and he planned to return there with petrol, either on Wednesday or Thursday.

BBC: map

The next day I considered taking it out again, but then Anaheed forwarded me an e-mail from Ira where he had just pasted that line and wrote "Funny!"

WSJ: The Blogger and the Radio Star | Partnership