VERY few ideas have been as outflanked by technology as the idea of personal privacy.

THE decision by the Court of Appeal yesterday that made the possession of ecstasy, magic mushrooms, and some of the so-called head shop drugs and other new psychoactive drugs, legal for 24 hours inevitably provoked an immediate legislative response from the Government.

DURING an interview given in advance of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference by the Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran to Newstalk radio yesterday, the Catholic Church’s uncompromising opposition to the idea of same-sex marriage was expressed with an unblinking calm that suggested there can be no compromise on the issue between the Catholic status quo and those who wish to see our Constitution changed to better reflect the reality of the lives we lead.

IT’S been nearly a decade since the then German ambassador to Ireland, Christian Pauls, found himself in hot water over a less than valedictory speech he made to German businessmen about Ireland.

ULSTER Unionist Party leader James Molyneaux — 1979 to 1995 — hardly radiated charisma, indeed he came to characterise the dour, uncompromising face of trenchant Ulster Unionism. He died yesterday aged 94.

Those of us still implacably wed to the notion of Irish neutrality — whatever that really means in 2015 — will undoubtedly be at least disturbed by the weekend declaration by EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who suggested that a common European army would be a timely deterrent to further Russian aggression on the continent.

IT IS hard to understand why people trying to overcome life-threatening eating disorders are not as well supported by our health services as those struggling to fight serious alcohol or drug addictions, yet that is the reality faced by some people desperate to rebuild their lives.

AS AN island nation, we should have a stronger culture of recognising how dangerous water can be and how reckless behaviour at sea, on rivers, or on lakes can quickly turn into a life-threatening situation.

RESEARCH carried out at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick suggests that, when it comes to their children’s well-being and safety, Irish parents are among the most worried and concerned. This is reflected in the way that some people wrap their children in cotton wool and try to stand between them and the world around them.

The disagreement between a printing company in Louth and a gay couple who had asked the company to print invitations to their civil ceremony wedding in August is a particularly modern dilemma. It is undoubtedly one of many like it that will be highlighted before this summer’s referendum on whether or not same-sex marriages might be legalised.