IF eleven young people had died of drug overdoses in the past seven months, there would be a public outcry.

THE 50th anniversary of the deployment of Irish troops to the Congo is bound to focus the spotlight on Ireland’s diminishing role as a peacekeeping force today. For the first time in half a century, this country is not fulfilling an international peace keeping role.

DEMOCRACY is undermined by two terrible twins: apathy and hostility. Right now there are far too many reasons for this disengagement and anything that might challenge it should be welcomed.

SO much of the landscape we imagine as natural is manmade. There’s hardly a corner or vista in Ireland — much less Europe — that does not in some way reveal man’s presence or ambitions.

THOUGH the December budget is still nearly five months away, and because it will have a negative impact on every household in the country, it is already getting the kind of attention few budgets of recent decades have attracted.

IT would be nice to imagine that the instance of rape has fallen by something approaching half – 37% – but it is very hard to accept that it has.

A GREAT majority of the conversations about politics in Ireland have grown stale.

AS last week’s tragedy in Donegal showed, Irish roads can be very dangerous places. They can be even more dangerous if some road users behave in a way that puts themselves and others in great danger.

THE Government has published legislation that willallow people to use “reasonable” force to defend themselves and their property.

INCREASING numbers of people have been forced to come to terms with the devastation floods can cause and it seems, that no matter what we do, more and more of us will find ourselves in that situation.