WHEN it comes to defining the national psyche, the consumption of alcohol dominates. In our literature, our music, and even our visual arts, the ‘pint of plain’ is a constant backdrop.

EVER since David sucker-punched Goliath, we have basked in the joy of the underdog taking on the giant and winning against the odds.

FOR generations, the Society of St Vincent de Paul has stood between this society’s most vulnerable citizens and the kind of calamity most of us can hardly imagine.

IT would be foolishly romantic to imagine that humanity’s base, destructive instincts can always be controlled or even modified as, in recent days and months, hatred seems to be roaring ever louder around the world.

THE news that tests of numeracy and literacy in primary schools have recorded the best results in a generation must be welcomed in a meaningful, practical way. 

AS the Euro 2016 party gets into full swing it is easy to forget how corrupt the administration of international football has become and how many entirely inappropriate decisions, especially around selecting venues, have been made.