In its defence review in 2010, the coalition announced that it was cancelling the previous Labour government's decision to purchase jump-jet version of the Joint Strike Fighter (the F35-B) and opt instead for the catapult and trap (F35-C) type, which required a different set-up on deck.
There followed a year on a fellowship at the Toronto Star in the mid-1990s, before returning home to set up a pop magazine called Blank - the highest circulating magazine of its type at the time in Northern Ireland.