THE long-promised reform of Irish politics appears to have been put on ice, judging by the jaded tenor of the familiar knock-em-down-and-drag-em-out battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish electorate which got underway in earnest at the Fine Gael convention in Castlebar over the weekend.

THE latest twist in the Irish Water saga is that customers who fail to pay their charges will not be entitled to any rebate under an additional penalty being imposed by the company.

TODAY’S Credit Union survey on the saving habits of teenagers makes fascinating reading. Contradicting the popular image for squandering money on sweets and soft drinks, intriguingly 75% of teens save approximately a third of their pocket money, with 45% regularly putting some aside for a phone, a computer, or other hi-tech products.

THE move to widen and strengthen the powers and duties of over 1,124 volunteers in the Garda Reserve is a positive and welcome development for policing at a time when the image of the Garda Síochána in general is tarnished.

ANYBODY waiting for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to tell them who forced ex-Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to fall on his sword came away sorely disappointed from Fine Gael’s national conference in Castlebar last night.

IT is a sad comment on the priorities of Sligo County Council when over three hundred people were left with no choice but to protest yesterday over the threatened closure of the Sligo town branch library and the feared reduction of library services elsewhere in the county.

CREDULITY is stretched to the limit by the inordinate length of time it will take beleaguered Irish Water to put the country’s banjaxed water system into something approaching working order. 

THERE was more good news on the jobs front yesterday in a loan package worth €400m for Ireland’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

BY any yardstick, the High Court verdict in favour of a Roscommon couple pursued for €1.4m in accrued interest on their £40,000 mortgage is a victory for common sense. If ever a case deserved to be struck out, this was it. And the decision of Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy to so do is sure to win wide acclaim.

ON a news landscape characterised by reports of austerity and war, positive stories are scarcer than hens’ teeth and so it is heartening that 100 small new technology companies are set to generate up to 1,500 jobs here over the next three years.