THE custody battle over two children whose Irish father, Jason Corbett, died in an incident at his US home is a heartbreaking and distressing state of affairs that every family would dread. 

TAXI drivers across the country could do worse than follow the example of their Kilkenny colleagues in helping to combat the wave of suicide currently sweeping Ireland.

FROM an Irish perspective, there is bitter irony in the fact that China is where former Olympic 1,500m champion Sebastian Coe won the race to be president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the body that governs world athletics.

THOUGH not as catastrophic as the 1984 accident at the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, when nearly 4,000 people were killed and over half a million were injured, the Tianjin accident — death toll 114 so far — is another stark reminder of how very lethal the chemicals we all depend on can be if things go wrong.

THE Cliffs of Moher and the Burren are internationally recognised as two the world’s natural wonders.

THE AA report that a family car costs €10,593.60 a year is sobering and a very good reason to invest in public transport — or a good bicycle.

IT’S almost five years to the day since the late Finance Minister Brian Lenihan spoke at the annual Michael Collins commemoration at Béal na Bláth. At that time he was asked if he thought Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael might ever come together and if Fianna Fáil, so recently eviscerated at the polls, might survive such an unprecedented partnership

YET another yardstick indicates that our economic recovery continues apace and though that once-remote prospect must be celebrated it would be more than foolish if we did not temper those celebrations with a considerable degree of caution.

ONE of the measurements that defines a decent society is the effort it makes to ensure that everyone can realise their potential. 

THIS weekend, as anyone who watched ceremonies in London marking the Japanese surrender 70 years ago will confirm, real, life-challengeing violence leaves a lifelong impression and haunts those who witness it forever.