The average spending of Irish households at Christmas is €943. This is 40% more than the European average and almost four times as much as the Dutch spend.

NOBODY can deny that Ireland’s Leaving Cert exam, with its heavy emphasis on a points system which encourages parrot-style learning by rote, is utterly inadequate as a grounding for students to survive in higher education, in their career or in adult life.

LIKE it or not, Ireland is awash with drugs.

The Irish Government has essentially thumbed its nose at the Vatican by announcing the closure of the Irish diplomatic mission to the Holy See.

The Taoiseach confirmed yesterday that the next budget would be announced on December 6, 2011.

WITH good news rarer than hen’s teeth in these troubled times, the surprise decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut eurozone interest rates will be welcomed by hard-pressed mortgage holders struggling to pay arrears.

WHO could not be moved by the sheer courage of the Russian-born, Dublin-based artist Alexandra Trotsenko whose fingers were chopped off in a crazed attack by a mindless thug.

The Taoiseach has said any move by Ireland to renege on our debts would be disastrous for our recovery.

In its pre-budget submission the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) suggests that welfare fraud is not a major problem, but it supports the measures to tackle it.

TO SAY that Greece lobbed a hand grenade into the heart of the teetering eurozone would be a gross understatement — by announcing a referendum on the €130 billion EU bailout deal, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, has dropped a bombshell on Brussels.