The Gathering, which was designed to attract people from abroad to this country this year, has been a phenomenal success.

A crucial element of leadership is good example. Both parties in the current Coalition promised not only higher standards, but also transparency and openness.

When she died, aged 42 just five years ago, Susie Long, highlighted the divide in our health systems.

Though a lot — if not the majority — of the Christmas shopping campaign is over, this is a vital, year-defining weekend for Irish retailers and those manufacturers and food producers who depend on the holiday market.

Even in a society terribly bruised by too many shameful revelations, even in a society weary of scandal and greed, the last weeks have been more than disappointing for anyone who cherishes social equity and aspires to the benefits of proactive transparency in public life.

The death of young Vakaris Martinaitis earlier this year was a tragedy, that it might have been avoided makes it doubly so.

A charity dedicated to the needs of cystic fibrosis patients that raised millions for a new ward at Cork University Hospital has withdrawn its support after HSE management refused to honour an agreement that beds would be set aside for CF patients.

First the good news: Ireland’s economy is forecast to experience a resurgence in 2014, its first full year after emerging from the bailout, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute, the nation’s leading think-tank.

One of the shabbiest symptoms of our greed-and-grab culture is the ease with which we initiate litigation that holds out the prospect of a compensation cheque or even a percentage of that cheque.

There have been many difficult decisions and chastening moments over the last few years.