With good news rarer than hens’ teeth these days, it is, perhaps, timely to applaud the Government’s welcome news that the number of people signing on the live register has fallen below 400,000 for the first time since May 2009 and the crash which brought the economy to its knees.

Who in their right mind could have faith in a health system where the majority of doctors and GPs fail to report their colleagues’ incompetence to a superior or where families are forced into lengthy court ordeals against hospitals even if the authorities are aware the State is in the wrong. Both scenarios typify Ireland.

Michelle O’Donnell Keating is not a household name in Ireland, but perhaps she should be.

Drumbaragh National School is a rural four-teacher school in Meath near the historic town of Kells.

There are nearly as many legends around St Patrick’s Day as there are around the man himself.

The results of a study on children’s lifestyles and health levels published today are another indication of how we are letting young people down, of how we seem to ignore the well-established advice around diet and exercise and, most importantly, of how very real our obesity crisis is becoming.

Odious people did odious things during the decades of sectarian savagery that so very recently cast a shadow over all of this island.

It may be premature to remind ourselves of the momentum that, almost unknowingly, gathered unstoppable force and reached a catastrophic climax right across Europe just under 100 years ago — July 28, 1914 — but as Ukraine has ordered a full military mobilisation in response to Russia’s build-up of its forces in Crimea it is unfortunately pertinent to do so.

New Building Control Regulations will come into force today. The objective of the legislation is to significantly increase the levels of accountability on professionals signing off on new buildings.

In a passionate contribution to this week’s Dáil debate around GSOC bugging and garda whistleblowers, independent deputy Mick Wallace described our parliament in less than flattering terms and suggested that public cynicism about our political system is entirely justified.