Despite the recent frenzy on the Irish stock market, the Wealth of the Nation Report issued by the Bank of Ireland yesterday paints a rosy picture, with our prosperity growing by 19% last year.

Congratulations to Helen and Paul Cunningham from the Fairhill area of Cork city for their luck in winning the record €16 million lottery prize.

The highlighting of the sexual abuse of children in recent years has brought the topic more into the open.

The failure to introduce the long promised smart card system for public transport in Dublin is another example of the extravagant inefficiency of the bureaucratic system.

WHEN Ireland’s deadly dance with the spectre of suicide was first recognised officially as a ‘crisis’, a 10-year campaign was launched in a fanfare of publicity to prove the Government was serious about tackling an emergency that accounted for more lives than road fatalities.

ANYONE who ever railed at An Post will feel vindicated by the latest study depicting Ireland’s postal service as one of the worst in Europe for on-time deliveries.

CONTRASTING faces of Ireland’s economic success are outlined today in reports showing that while the economy is heading for a soft landing, the gulf between rich and poor is growing at an alarming pace.

IF you see a black person walking down the street today, the chances are they were born here.

BRIEFINGS for incoming government ministers, in the wake of the general election, reveal fascinating insights into the reality behind controversial policies and promises by the coalition with the aim of wooing voters at the polls.

WHILE nobody is openly suggesting a cartel exists between the leading supermarkets in Ireland, the glaring lack of competition between them is certain to fuel growing suspicions.