EXTRAORDINARY and relentless change is one of the defining characteristics of our time.

THOUGH legislation has been frequently amended to recognise the changing shape and needs of Irish families it seems another adjustment is needed.

IF our Constitution would allow it, and if the lady could be persuaded, it is certain President Mary McAleese would begin a third term this winter.

YESTERDAY’S Brussels meeting of the 27 European Union leaders focussed on saving the euro but underlined the difficulty in getting 27 governments to act as one, especially at such a critical moment.

NO matter how grim our circumstances, no matter how skewed our health budget is, it is hard not to think that the situation developing for children with rheumatoid arthritis represents failure of a terrible kind.

THE urgent need to reform how we conduct our public affairs has been recognised by anyone committed to the evolving enterprise we call the Republic of Ireland.

WHAT a joy, what a naturally human and uplifting thing it is to be able to celebrate magnificence in any field of endeavour.

ONCE NATO gave military support to those Libyans who wished to depose Col Muammar Gaddafi, the tyrant who had run that country as a plaything for 42 years, his fate was sealed.

IT is little compensation to a cart horse being flogged by its driver that they are nearing their destination but, if it could, it might take some hope from the notion that once they arrive the flogging might stop.

THE devastating news that almost 1,000 people are to lose their jobs in the Aviva insurance company over the next two years has left the workforce in a state of shock matched only by a deep sense of confusion.