| Happy new year! I write this on a sunny January 1 in greater Belfast but I see from the satellite that most of Britain and Ireland and indeed much of Northern Ireland is not sunny, so I don't assume it will last. My own informal new year in fact begins at the solstice, and the glorious sense of renewal after the darkest point. In fact as I explained here the evenings have been lengthening for almost a fortnight but only tomorrow do the mornings turn and start getting brighter. From then the light will be returning in every respect, which is why I never find January depressing.
Grey skies of course can be depressing and we have had a lot of them over the last week, but it has also kept us unusually mild, particularly at night. From today however, markedly colder weather is expected.
Meanwhile, here is the full new year's honours list for Northern Ireland. In other news, Billy Kennedy here recounts getting a letter from Jimmy Carter, the US president who has died aged 100. And sadly, football is mourning the loss of Glenavon's long-time chairman Adrian Teer. Enjoy your new year's day - and your reading.
To a prosperous 2025, Ben | 
