Western opinion believes almost unanimously that Sunday’s referendum in Crimea was fixed, or at the very least that the result was achieved through intimidation, as vehemently as Russia insists it was a legitimate vote carried out in unquestionable, free circumstances.

It is almost a decade since smoking was banned in the workplace and in some public spaces. The groundbreaking initiative may not have had the impact that would have made the decision a resounding success but it changed forever the culture around smoking tobacco.

This is the day we, or at least the great majority of us, declare and celebrate our pride in being Irish even if that happy possibility is occasioned more by an accident of birth rather than any particular achievements.

Sometimes the fates do smile and allow fairytale endings. Ireland’s victory in Paris on Saturday, only our third Six Nation win since 1985, was such an occasion.

In his opening St Patrick’s Day weekend engagements in America, Taoiseach Enda Kenny pointed to the well-tested stoicism and determination of the Irish people.

So many of our human weaknesses crystalise around food — what we imagine it to be and how much of it we imagine we need to eat.

Political lobbying and funding political parties are two sides of the same coin. They are about trying to ensure that a certain view shapes Government decisions and legislation.

The link between social disadvantage, unemployment, poverty, welfare dependence and poor educational achievement is expressed in the starkest terms in last night’s social housing organisation Respond’s report.

There could scarcely be a more damning indictment of the Garda operation of the penalty points system than the independent Garda Inspectorate report which, as even Justice Minister Alan Shatter has finally been forced to admit, highlights “major administrative dysfunction and a failure of management oversight”.

For thousands of air passengers and a small army of Government ministers planning to fly out to celebrate the national feast day with emigrants, the High Court has waved something of a magic wand.