The devastating Hiqa report relating to the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar at University Hospital Galway makes frightening reading. Not only does it highlight a series of missed opportunities which, if acted upon, might have saved her life, it also portrays an alarming crisis at Ireland’s 19 public maternity hospitals.

Anyone unfortunate enough to develop cancer or some other serious condition will tell you the medical card is a godsend. Overnight, the stress of having to scrape the euro together while looking on helplessly as a loved one’s condition deteriorates vanishes as though the green and white card were a magic wand.

While Finance Minister Michael Noonan gets ready to iron his hair-shirt for next week’s budget, it is some relief to note favourable trends in economic growth.

It is hard to imagine that Ireland was once the university of Europe, an island of learning and classical scholarship that outshone anything the continent had to offer.

The funeral yesterday of Limerick teenager Chloe Kinsella is a tragic reminder of the fragility of youth and the heartbreak the death of a young person can bring to family, friends and community.

If Martians landed here and went to hospital for emergency treatment they would know they were on a different planet in more ways than one.

It is a damning comment on Ireland’s system of justice that an inquiry which began into a savage killing at Mountjoy Prison seven years ago is only now nearing completion.

The people have spoken, but it is far from clear whether Taoiseach Enda Kenny has heard the unmistakable voice of democracy in a politically embarrassing and damaging defeat of his personal referendum campaign to abolish Seanad Éireann.

Italy’s plea for help from fellow member states of the European Union to deal with the arrival of refugees to its southern shores must not go unheeded.

It looks like a case of back to the future for the National Lottery. While the Government’s coffers will benefit by over €400m from the sale of the National Lottery licence, half of it is to be ring-fenced for the construction of the National Children’s Hospital.