THE UNVEILING of former RTÉ economics editor George Lee – the naysayer-in-chief to Bertie Ahern’s denier-in-chief – was an irresistible opportunity for Fianna Fáil to dust off one of the party’s oldest, most reliable and shabbiest dodges.

THERE probably was sex in Ireland before the Late Late Show but it there was, and it remains unconfirmed, it was of the mysterious and secretive kind.

“Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members – the last, the least, the littlest” – Cardinal Roger Mahony, in a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

Today marks the start of the Irish Examiner’s local, European and Dublin by-election coverage.

THERE are many, many issues surrounding food. For us, in a land of abundance, it has become one of society’s dividing lines, wavering between an ostentatious fashion statement and a sustenance issue.

IN THESE desperate times any group that suggests that it could create thousands of jobs, slash our energy imports by €30 billion over a decade, slash our carbon footprint and create the potential to earn €50bn in energy exports over 10 years runs the risk of being accused of dangerous flights of fancy.

THE vast, almost bottomless and uncharted, internet can enrage and inform, entertain and educate, mislead and have a negative or positive influence, but even in this huge resource, the sites devoted to trying to find missing people are amongst the most poignant.

THOUGH times have changed utterly, most Irish people are amongst the most comfortable in the world.

Today marks the first anniversary of Brian Cowen coming to power. It has certainly been an eventful year. His friend Senator Geraldine Feeney described it as “the worst time” in her memory.

The question should be asked if we have become so inured to the administrative bungling of the Health Service Executive (HSE) that there has not been more outrage at the latest development in relation to child abuse?