It was reported this week that hedge fund manager and Bank of Ireland bond holder David Tepper earned, if that is not a corruption of the word, €2.5bn last year.

In a country where political resignation is more a state of mind rather than an occasionally used sometimes even an honourable bookend to a discredited political career these are indeed seismic, almost GUBU II weeks in political and public life.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny admitted in the Dáil yesterday that there are problems around the review of medical cards which has denied the privilege to many people.

It is never cheering to face a new, mandatory cost-of-living charge but yesterday’s announcement that details on water charges have been finalised might best be seen as a step towards normalisation of society, a step towards accepting an idea active in most developed countries — that there is a cost for everything and consumers must pay in accordance with usage.

Motorists who complain that they cannot recall the last time they encountered a Garda checkpoint are not necessarily cranks. Neither are they alone.

The news that the economy is on target to grow further this year and next and that unemployment will fall below the EU average is to be welcomed, yet caution must still be exercised.

Regardless of the outcome of the controversy surrounding the arrest, detention, and last night’s release of Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams after four nights behind bars, it is absolutely vital that this row should not be allowed derail the North’s fragile peace process.

Families whose loved ones have been murdered and the victims of the heinous crime of rape will welcome the revelation that killers, rapists, and those guilty of manslaughter generally spend an average of 18 years in jail before being released.

The continued insistence by Sinn Féin that the arrest and detention of party leader Gerry Adams in connection with the murder of Jean McConville was politically motivated is beginning to wear thin.

It might be assumed that any company set to employ in the region of 1,000 people here would be a major multinational corporation. Not so Voxpro. Its roots are very firmly in Ireland but with a global focus.