YESTERDAY’S decision by Fianna Fáil not to nominate candidates to contest the presidential election ended the ambitions of three aspiring candidates.

Relatives of Corporal Fintan Heneghan, Private Mannix Armstrong, and Private Thomas Walsh have finally, after more than 22 years, received apologies on behalf of the Army from Lieutenant General Seán McCann, the Chief of Defence Forces, and on behalf of the state from Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice.

Nobody should be surprised that the annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has again highlighted waste of public funds by State agencies.

THE marked upsurge in demand for access to the confidential therapeutic files of children in therapy for sexual abuse is a worrying development that ought to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

WITH a bumper harvest saved, farmers will converge on Athy, Co Kildare, this week for the National Ploughing Championships, a three-day event billed as the “showcase of Irish agriculture and rural industry”.

EVER since Mary Robinson became President in December 1990 the effectiveness and dignity of that office has been enhanced.

BY the very nature of the events tickets for premium, national or international, sports events are too often beyond the reach of ordinary sports fans.

IT would be a lot more cheering, and far less stressful, to be able to focus on the great issues of the day — can Kerry beat the Dubs with the elan of old or might Brian O’Driscoll and his teammates confound time and critics to shock Australia tomorrow — but the relentless flow of dismal news simply cannot be ignored.

IT was Albert Einstein who said the definition of insanity was doing the same thing time after time and expecting a different result.

THE Dáil returned after the summer recess yesterday and it is hard to remember a parliamentary session that faced such terrible challenges and had so very few options available to respond to them.