THE chasm between the world public and civil servants inhabit, and the one their fellow citizens live in has been brought into focus by our economic difficulties.

THIS is quite a month for firsts — Barack Obama in the White House, the All Blacks in Croke Park today and the first female commander of an Irish navy vessel.

MOST people who are overweight are unhappy to be so. For the vast majority of obese people the feelings can be even stronger, many are deeply unhappy that they have lost control of such a fundamental aspect of their wellbeing.

JUST as those who, over the past five years, warned that we were sleepwalking towards economic catastrophe were derided or silenced, those who warn us that climate change will have a profound impact are being largely ignored.

YESTERDAY was an especially sad day for Limerick but all of us should take a moment to pause and consider if we played a part in Shane Geoghegan’s murder.

A TOTAL of 200,000 Irish people suffer from diabetes, but half of them are not aware they have the disease, which can lead to blindness.

The uncovering of partial human remains in the Wicklow mountains is a grim reminder of the futility of war. The Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains has been searching the area for the body of Danny McIlhone, a 19-year-old from Belfast who was murdered by the IRA in 1981.

Shane Geoghegan was a totally innocent young man who was gunned down as he walked home after watching the Ireland-Canada rugby match on television on Saturday night.

Figures released yesterday by the Health Service Executive on elder abuse make horrific reading.

In the midst of the global financial crisis, nobody should be surprised that credit unions are also coming under pressure. They have accumulated losses of at least €700 million as a result of bad loans and underperforming investments.