A long with my nearest and dearest, women of decency and courage occupied my thoughts throughout the Christmas and New Year period, and not always in a cheering way, writes David Adams.
The murder of Benazir Bhutto was a despicable act, overshadowing everything since. I had long admired this intelligent, articulate and remarkably brave woman. Like a modern-day Elizabeth Tudor, she came after an iconic father and against all odds succeeded brilliantly in a male-dominated world. In her struggle for democracy and women's rights in Pakistan, Benazir stood for all of the decent and forward-looking elements within both her country and her religion.
That is why she was murdered. By whom, precisely, will probably never be known.
Although the focus in the West will understandably remain fixed on Islamic fundamentalism, heart should be taken from the fact that, as a left-leaning, modernising woman, Benazir was twice elected prime minister of Pakistan and looked set to be returned as premier again. That, and the outpouring of grief and condemnation from ordinary Muslims and Islamic organisations around the world, remind us that the fundamentalists are far from being a majority either within their religion or in Pakistan.
Closer to home, a week or so before Christmas, I learned of the plight of two fatherless Nigerian families who had been living in east Belfast. Comfort Adefowoju and her four young children were taken from their home in late November by British immigration officials, and delivered to Yarl's Wood detention centre outside London. She and her family had fled Nigeria in 2006, under threat from paramilitaries because of debts run up by her estranged husband. The threat against them there remains.
It was a similar story with Ronke Falode and her three young sons who were also taken to Yarl's Wood. Ronke came to Northern Ireland when her late husband's family tried to force her to marry her brother-in-law and threatened to take away the children if she refused.
Both the Adefowoju and Falode families fully integrated into the east Belfast community, and were much-loved members of Mountpottinger Presbyterian Church. Comfort sang in the church choir and her children were members of the Girls Brigade. The two families spent Christmas and New Year languishing in detention, before Ronke Falode and her boys were deported back to Nigeria on Wednesday of this week. Comfort remains in Yarl's Wood with her children, having been given a short-term reprieve to argue her case further.
Far from being devious law-breakers, Comfort and Ronke didn't realise they could apply for asylum when they came to the UK.
The Home Office and its immigration officials have a job to do, but it always seems to be those least deserving of harsh treatment that they come down on hardest.
Illegal immigrants can serve prison sentences in the UK and simply disappear without trace into the general population upon release.
The Home Office can always find reasons aplenty for not deporting people who burn flags and threaten violence on the streets of London. Yet, where two fine upstanding families are concerned, compassion is in short supply, and the letter of the law is stringently applied. I almost cried on learning how 10-year-old Adesola Adefowoju had texted her best friend earlier this week suggesting a "sleepover" when she gets "home" to Belfast. The poor child has no idea what probably awaits her.
On a happier note, I was delighted to receive a surprise telephone call after Christmas from my dear friend, Sr Helen Ahern of the Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMM). She was home in Ireland for a few days from Uganda, and called me before leaving again for the airport.
Earlier this year, I had visited Sr Helen and met other sisters at their Motherhouse in Drogheda. I found there an oasis of peace and tranquillity, with an atmosphere as close to pure goodness as I have ever come across.
Beneath the gentle demeanour of the MMM sisters, there is a steely determination and a raw courage that has them living and working in some of the most dangerous and deprived parts of the world, driven to do all that they can to relieve suffering among the most needy.
Finally, there was another boost on hearing of the fully deserved damehood awarded to former NI police ombudsman Nuala O'Loan. When the post was created, it required courage for anyone to tackle the job of holding policing to public account in Northern Ireland.
For a Catholic, and a Catholic woman at that, it was going to be a doubly difficult task. The high esteem in which she was soon held across all communities in the North is proof enough of how well O'Loan fared. The public recognised her as a person of courage, decency and integrity.
Just like the other women who have filled, and sometimes haunted, my holiday thoughts and beyond.