It is hardly surprising that dirty Dublin ranked fourth last in the list of Ireland’s cleanest and dirties towns.

ANYONE who believes this country has a future, maybe even a bright one, has had their optimism and sense of patriotism rattled this week.

JUST about now some people will begin to realise that it might have been a mistake to give a child a pup or a kitten as a Christmas present.

ANNOUNCING staggering increases — up to 45% — in health insurance premiums the very month budget cuts plunder families’ wage packets and child benefit, VHI chief executive Jimmy Tolan said yesterday that Ireland’s health insurance market was broken.

Yesterday at noon there were 569 patients on trolleys in hospitals around the country.

Book sales traditionally peak in the days before Christmas, no doubt because many people find books a handy present to give to anyone.

THE idea of offering the Senate as a sacrificial lamb to atone for the failures of our political system has gained unprecedented momentum as a proposal and as a convenient diversion too.

CONFRONTING addiction, and in Ireland that more often than not means alcoholism, is always challenging. But it can be life saving and life changing too.

WE would all be offended by the suggestion that slavery is widespread in Ireland.