DOZENS of common bird species have declined across Europe over the past two decades. Some have been pushed to the brink of extinction.

AT MIDDAY yesterday — statistically the most dangerous day of the year on our roads — An Garda Síochána website recorded that 329 people have been killed on our roads this year.

IN JANUARY 1876 Leopold II, King of the Belgians, was uneasy. He desired, like most of his European peers, a colony.

While it is improper to jump to any conclusions about who was responsible for the murder of Michael Hughes last weekend, his death in a frenzied attack, in which he was stabbed at least 80 times, has again focused attention on the area of psychiatric illness.

In THE recent weeks when schools received huge bills for water services, they turned to the Government, which funds education. The Government insisted that the schools should pay the bills themselves as the country is committed to implementing the water framework directive.

THE row about asking primary schools to pay for water tells us a lot about ourselves.

THE Irish Rugby Football Union may think that it has done a good day’s work by controlling what was released — released, not even published — from the report into our poor performances at the World Cup.

IN my letter on the North Monastery Harty Cup team (‘Losing their way’, Irish Examiner, November 29), you erred in your translation of a line of Irish poetry that I used: “Cá bfhuil na Mon boys, nú an fíor go mairid beo?”

LET’S get the disclaimer dodge out of the way first: the Health Service Executive is responsible for the plight of children awaiting assessment by community care and child protection social workers.

PUBLIC discourse has been dominated for the past number of weeks by the impact drugs, especially cocaine, are having on our society.