Last week Taoiseach Enda Kenny declared that his party had reneged on their election pledge to tackle upward-only rent reviews for business because of “constitutional difficulties”.

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has not always enjoyed the unequivocal support of his colleagues in the Catholic hierarchy.

Today the Russian city of Volgograd — Tsaritsyn until 1925 — will be known again as Stalingrad, the name it lost in 1961 when the USSR tried to purge the memory of one of the greatest, most murderous tyrants and leaders of the last century.

Storm clouds seem to be changing colour from gunmetal grey to something much closer to black right across the Middle East.

There seemed an inevitability that the destructive ash dieback disease would spread through the country’s forests, but the confirmation that disease has been found in 22 locations across 10 counties is still disappointing.

Though yesterday’s funeral in Dundalk was tragic, most especially for Det Garda Adrian Donohoe’s widow Caroline, their son Niall — just six years of age — and daughter Amy — seven — we can all take some small crumb of comfort from the powerful reaction to his murder.

The Government did not need Siptu president Jack O’Connor to tell them that they are approaching endgame on the €3.1bn payment due next month.

The Fine Gael/Labour Coalition has invested so much of its political capital in getting a better deal from the European Central Bank on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes that unless it succeeds in a transparent way its survival will come into question.

If the storms of recent days make it hard to believe that spring, and all the outdoor work it will bring to farms and building sites, is just around the corner, then yesterday’s inquest into the tragic deaths of Noel Spence and his sons Graham and Nevin reminded us all of how treacherous workplaces can be.

Most great communicators achieve that status because their love of their subject is so very palpable.