IN what has been a terribly distressing time for anyone who wants to be proud to be Irish, and as this wretched government shamelessly clings to power, one indicator of failure published this week may not have received the attention it must.

IF psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall is right next Monday will be the most depressing day of the year.

BY announcing an election date Taoiseach Brian Cowen has brought the curtain down on what had become a demeaning and dispiriting farce. And not a moment too soon.

THE transition from comfortable semi-state company to a hard-nosed commercial entity has not been easy for Aer Lingus.

“I’LL tell you one thing lads — you’re worth it, you’re worth it! It’s worth coming in here for half an hour.”

IT would be hard to exaggerate the importance of the emergency services that save lives virtually every day up and down the country.

SO much melodrama, so little change. So much time and energy wasted for so very little of any immediate importance or relevance to the country’s future.

WHATEVER the outcome of this evening’s Fianna Fáil parliamentary party shindig, it would be unwise to view the conclusion as anything other than a temporary little arrangement.

EVEN before our economy imploded, depression and its attendant sorrows had become one of the plagues of our age.