The comedian Ken Dodd was on The Parkinson Show when they were discussing humour and how it varied in different regions.

“Yes,” said Dodd. “You can tell a joke in Glasgow and they laugh, but they don’t laugh in Birmingham.”

“Why is that?” asked Parky.

“They can’t hear you,” said Doddy.

Boom boom!

Do you get the feeling in today’s public discourse that even people in the same room don’t hear what each other is saying because nobody is listening to each other any more?

In an interview on RTE Radio on Saturday morning, journalist Mark Little made me stop and think when he questioned the last time somebody said something which changed someone’s mind. Instead, our minds are made up already.

So, the advance of social media means the conversation about truth is broken.

There is, he said, a torrent of information coming at us now; but instead of that enabling us to be better informed, we can’t find the facts.

We cannot tell fact from fiction and just go for the evidence that supports our view, whether it is true or not.

The truth does not matter now, and “influencers” – who get cash for clicks – will bombard us with more and more outrageous content.

So, the world has changed dramatically, even since I started writing this column over a decade ago.

The United States elected a president in Donald Trump who was sued by a porn star and went on Twitter to call her “Horseface”, and instigated a violent insurrection because he couldn’t accept the election result.

And they may well elect him again.

The UK, meanwhile, elected Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, and then saw Liz Truss take up the office. Dearie me!

We’ve had bonkers Brexit, Covid, and now watching thousands brutally killed in conflict sees us take sides instead of feeling a common revulsion in the name of humanity.

A world on the precipice of war is a scary place.

Writing this column for a number of years now has been a personal journey of experience for me, one which has been educational, fulfilling and rewarding, but frustrating, too.

Originally it was deliberately entitled “How I See It”, and it’s been a privilege to have space to express opinions, sometimes robustly but hopefully always respectfully.

I haven’t always succeeded, but have always tried to be balanced.

In the novel, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, the lawyer Atticus Finch says: “You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” It’s a great maxim for considering others.

But Finch is also a model of courage in standing up against racism and intolerance in the American South, and displays wonderful morality and fairness – factors which should inspire any society to live together in respect.

So, while I have usually given my take on things, I have also tried in the column to hold a mirror up to society, to make people think.

There have been social changes in our community since I began writing this column.

For example, I didn’t envisage when I started that I’d be trying to speak up so much for local people relying on food banks to feed their families, or for people who can’t afford to heat their homes.

I’ve learned, and am still learning, about the scourge of domestic violence, and I’ve tried to highlight it. And much more.

This includes our past. We cannot simply forget and draw a line under our difficult and bloody past, not least because there are many people still suffering physically and mentally.

Peacebuilder Jean Paul Lederach’s approach is to “remember and change” and we can move on to a better future that way.

Having covered the horrors of the past as a journalist, my overriding motivation is that we should never slip back to those dark days ever again, and that future generations won’t suffer the trauma of those awful times.

Some things never change, however, and we’re still struggling with failures in a political system which perpetuates division in our relationships.

I make no bones about my own journey and now believe we should all take part in the conversation about the future shape of a new Ireland.

A friend of mine said to me recently that whatever the positions taken up publicly by political groups, the conversation about the future of this island has already started in people’s minds.

I would hope and pray that everyone can find the courage to respect all traditions and continue the conversation that will ensure a better quality of life for our children and future generations.

Often when my column is posted online, there is a negative reaction; I always say that I’m just writing my opinion, and it’s absolutely fair that people can use social media to disagree and take up a counter position.

A few, of course, go a bit further and become personally abusive; indeed, people who don’t even know me or my background make assumptions which are often incorrect.

There are also times when I read posts when I wonder if the person has actually read it properly.

I’m rarely tempted to reply to them on social media, and think of the Winston Churchill quote: “If you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks, you will never complete your journey.”

In tough times, too, I often rely on the strength of my Christian faith, which I refer to in the column from time to time.

I wouldn’t be put off from expressing my point of view. I would urge everyone, of whatever their opinion, to not be cowed by the keyboard warriors and realise that there are far more reasonable and tolerant people in our community.

I tried to follow the advice Polonius gave to his son in Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “This above all, to thine own self be true. And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”

I am, of course, grateful for the support of far more people who approach me personally and say how much they enjoy the column.

Today, this is my last one in The Impartial Reporter, but I will continue to work in other ways at encouraging people to listen to each other, respect each other, and build a far better future for our children and future generations.

Despite all our issues and problems, we have so much in common, and we have a beautiful county of which we can be proud.

We can build a much better future in this great place if we listen to each other and learn to live respectfully together.

That’s how I see it anyway.