EVEN in the days of helicopters in the back garden, weekend shopping trips to New York, record car sales and getting the horse ready for Cheltenham, €736 million is a decent ball of cash.

THE psychologically significant barrier of $100 a barrel for oil has been breached but, in reality, this is no more than a milestone along the unending road towards ever-more expensive and, probably, ever-more scarce oil and energy.

DESPITE many and varied challenges the late Sylvester Barrett’s 1979 driving licence amnesty remains in the all-time top five of Irish solutions to Irish problems.

SO, IT seems the prospect of rubbing salt into the wounds caused by the dodgy cancer diagnosis scandal at Portlaoise General Hospital has become very real.

SOME of those pups, kittens and ponies that seemed such a good idea — as a present for little Aaron or Amanda — just before Christmas will be beginning to grate on the nerves of some people just about now.

THERE are few areas where the conflict between private property rights and the ability of a community to protect its best interests come into sharper conflict than under our planning laws and culture.

UNDER the National Development Plan (NDP) €252 million was earmarked for IT for primary and post-primary education.

IN TIME the big story of last year may not be the general election and Bertie Ahern’s hat trick of general election victories, but the questions that would not go away about his finances, or the Punch and Judy routine between his government and the Mahon Tribunal.

DESPITE the gloom of some of the global economic predictions, there are still indications that the Irish economy will grow this year, though not at the same rate as recent years. This should be taken as a positive indication.

THE rise in the murder and manslaughter rate has reached alarming proportions. This year’s murder rate has surpassed 70 for the first time since the Civil War of 1922-1923.