BUSINESS and social interests do not always run in harmony. Conflict is almost inevitable and we have a long record of appeasement, of tolerating something we might find unattractive because jobs are involved or at least promised.

ONE of the great challenges facing us all is to have the courage and honesty to see ourselves as others see us. It is not always a cheering experience, but it is always worthwhile.

AS exercises in optimism go, the decision – inevitably over-ridden – that an accountancy firm centrally involved in the Siteserv deal — KPMG — should lead an inquiry into that sale was on a par with one of Sepp Blatter’s move-along, nothing-to-see-here fantasies. 

OVER the last week or so we have seen the High Court play a very hands-on role in our public affairs, so much so that national media organisations — RTÉ and The Irish Times — had to go to the court to have decisions clarified so they could publish reports of the Dáil proceedings without fear.

IT is impossible to say that the 649 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean by LÉ Eithne and her crew since the vessel left Cork 19 days ago, would not have survived had the vessel not been in the area.

FOLLOWING the tragic deaths of five babies at the regional hospital in Portlaoise, it was inevitable the status of what should be one of the most crucial health centres in the Midlands would be downgraded. That was clear from the damning report on an investigation carried out by Hiqa, the Health Information and Quality Authority, into those heartbreaking disasters.

IF the risk that such major sponsors as Visa, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s might withdraw Fifa funding failed to concentrate Sepp Blatter’s mind, the threat of an FBI probe into his murky past has certainly succeeded judging by his sudden resignation as president of football’s world governing body. 

DESPITE calls from family and fellow gardaí for a judicial inquiry into the death of Garda Sergeant Michael Galvin — who appears to have taken his own life at a Garda station in Co Donegal a week ago — the Garda Ombudsman Commission is pressing ahead with its own investigation into the tragedy in which the commission is apparently linked. 

YESTERDAY’S High Court clarification on the principle that the media can report Oireachtas proceedings in full and enjoy the protection Dáil privilege confers is very welcome on a number of levels. 

AT a moment when so many species are faced with extinction or spectacular population collapse — the curlew and salmon are, in an Irish context, just two — how cheering it is to be able to record a victory; a small instance where man’s relentless destruction of habitat and wildlife has been rolled back.