THE Government will, it seems, do anything it can to avoid speaking about, much less finally defining, the penalties that might be imposed on those who choose not to pay water charges before the election.

THE referendum on marriage equality is still some months away, but even at this stage of the debate, especially the online and often anonymous tirade and counter tirade offered as rational discourse, is sobering and disheartening.

IT is reassuring that Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has acknowledged that disciplinary proceedings must be taken against gardaí — 21 current or retired members of the force — who defied clear instructions not to cancel driver penalty points after last summer’s controversy.

IF President Barack Obama’s plan to target money made by US multinationals outside of America is successful then the move may have serious implications for our economy and tens of thousands of Irish jobs. 

EVERY source of energy is controversial. Oil, gas and coal — and turf — are climate-altering pollutants sometimes linked to political and economic complications that can jeopardise supply. 

PRIVATISATION is the economic term used to describe the dismantling of a social ideal aimed at providing a range of empowering services for all citizens.

THIRD-LEVEL college leaders have repeatedly warned that the current funding model is unsustainable and will negatively influence colleges’ ability to maintain or improve educational standards.

ANYONE who has watched a loved one or a friend die a slow, lingering and dignity-destroying death because of illness brought about by smoking will have - rightly - a hard, unsympathetic attitude towards the companies who sell tobacco or anything that sustains the culture of smoking.

THERE are very few subjects that provoke so many different views, that touch so many conflicting agendas, and generate so much angst; there are very few subjects that can have such a devastating impact on personal and national economic well-being as property prices soaring well beyond the rate of inflation.

THIS has been a good week for book lovers. Despite an endless litany of woe — or gloating technocrats predicting the death of printed books — sales of hard copy books are resurgent.