A ban on the advertising of tobacco in retail shops comes into effect today. Cigarettes must henceforth be placed in closed plain containers behind the counter, while cigarette machines will have to be token operated within sight of the bar manager in pubs. They can no longer be hidden away in hallways or toilets.

Figures published by the Central Statistics Office highlight great disparities between the public and private sectors in relation to both pay and employment.

For over 20 years John Bowman’s Questions & Answers programme has made a real contribution to political debate by allowing the public to have their say with politicians on the issues of the day.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese has struck the right note in representing the solidarity of the Irish people with the survivors of institutional abuse by giving them a truly warm welcome at Áras an Uachtaráin.

HEROIN is a seriously dangerous drug and that’s what makes the rising tide of addiction in Cork so alarming. The worsening scenario underlines the importance of fresh moves by a local taskforce, set up in the late 1990s, to draw up a pilot strategy aimed at dealing with the city’s growing crisis.

CONSIDERING it is only 16 years since homosexual acts were decriminalised in Ireland, yesterday’s publication of the Civil Partnership Bill granting legal recognition to same-sex relationships must set some sort of speed record for legislation reflecting social change.

MICHAEL Jackson’s death marks the passing of a phenomenon unlikely ever to be repeated.

The price-cutting campaign launched by SuperValu yesterday should be warmly welcomed as another step on the long road to achieving reasonable prices in this country.

There was uproar in the Dáil yesterday as Finance Minister Brian Lenihan appeared to be stalling on an opposition demand for a debate on the recent report of the International Monetary Fund on the state of the Irish economy.

THE endorsement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of government policies designed to confront our economic crisis should be a cause for some optimism but as its publication coincided with dismal predictions relating specifically to Ireland from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) it may be premature to rest on our oars.