THOSE unfortunate enough to have their homes, farms or business caught up in our occasional but terribly damaging floods will have some very small idea of the great challenges facing the people of Pakistan.

THOSE of us concerned with the practicalities of life; making a living, realising the potential of an asset or making the best use of our time sometimes become so focussed on that narrow challenge that we lose a sense of perspective, history and responsibility.

MINISTER Eamon Ryan’s proposed electricity levy will increase electricity prices by 5% in October but it will be very difficult to stomach.

WHEN faced with the prospect of a major public health threat the authorities have no option but to put every possible preventative measure in place.

DESPITE public acknowledgment that crimes against innocent, vulnerable children rank among the most heinous of all offences, Ireland’s appalling record of ailure in the realm of child protection is underlined today in the most graphic terms by an Irish Examiner investigation.

ANYONE who has driven through rural Ireland lately will be aghast at the proliferation of ‘ghost’ housing estates, vacant offices and empty shops.

WRITER and Derry resident Jennifer Johnston, speaking in recent weeks, sounded a depressing note of warning about the North.

THE “embarrassment” expressed by a growing number of senior Fianna Fáil figures about Senator Ivor Callely’s expenses would be reassuring if it was not so overdue.

YESTERDAY’S unemployment figures were the second indication in as many days of how terribly grim our circumstances have become.

SOMETIMES the truth is just too hard to take.