As much as we Irish like to say that we don’t care for the monarchy, I remember the day of the royal wedding when there wasn’t a sinner to be seen on the Falls Road.

They’re a bit like the neighbour that you don’t know or speak to but can’t help opening a window when you hear raised voices – it doesn’t affect my life in any way whatsoever, but I still want to know what’s going on with them out of sheer nosiness.

The same goes for the new year honours list. I never seek it out to read, but unless you live in a vacuum, the news of nominees filters through and before you know it, you’re talking about whether they deserve this recognition.

Of course, it’s never the regular civilians whose unquestionable good deeds are being recognised that arise in conversation.

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It’s the celebrity names such as Stephen Fry and Gareth Southgate that spark the debates, which begin with: “Did ye see yer man’s gettin’ a knighthood?”

© The Irish News