It is all very well for the Government to speak about an improving economy, and there is no doubt that Irish exports are up, domestic demand has begun to recover, and we are enjoying the kind of growth not seen for years.

It is abundantly clear that the extent of the water charges backlash has caused the Government to panic to such an extent that it was prepared to offer almost anything to the electorate to quell the protests and let it get on with business.

It has been a busy year for the Amen, the charity which helps male victims of domestic abuse.

The work of understanding history — or the work of trying to understand history — has never been easier. 

Today’s conciliatory and humiliating Government announcements on Irish Water may be the defining moment for this Government. 

We’ve always been far, far better at making rules than enforcing them. 

Any sober assessment of the water debacle, any assessment of our response to the sharpening imperative to change how we regard this essential but finite gift, any assessment of whose needs prevailed during the establishment of the feather-bedded monopoly, or any assessment of the economics of water provision in 2014 must cause any rational person to wonder if we are capable of honest self-appraisal.

There is an obvious connection between the facts that we have one of the EU’s lowest rates of contraceptive usage but more teenage mothers than most EU countries. 

The possibility that the much-loved strand at Youghal may not be open to swimmers next year because of a high levels of the E.coli bacteria in the water is another consequence of our devil-may-care attitude towards planning, pollution, the need for infrastructure to support development and our dangerously soft-touch regulation. 

Thirty years after the original Band Aid was launched to raise money to feed the world, a new recording has been made with the aim of helping the battle against ebola.