IF the GAA’s decision to open Croke Park to rugby was historic, the significance of today’s soccer match in the heartland of Gaelic sport is mind boggling.

THE idea of a child being sexually abused by their teacher is every parent’s nightmare.

AS World TB Day was marked around the globe yesterday, parents were anxiously waiting for children attending two crèches in Cork to be screened after it emerged a woman who contracted the disease worked in both centres.

WHEN suicide prevention experts go out of their way to condemn Government research funding as a “national disgrace” it is time to take notice.

EU COMMISSIONER Charlie McCreevy has a penchant for landing in hot water — especially when he leaves Brussels for the annual festival of racing at Cheltenham.

DESPITE the unprecedented wealth of the Celtic Tiger phenomenon — now a dim and distant memory as industry declines and thousands of jobs are lost — the stark reality is that poverty remains a dark blot on the conscience of society.

RARELY in Ireland do politicians end up behind bars for fraud or corruption.

William Frazier, of Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), the South Armagh Protestant Victims group, wrote to An Garda Síochána and the Department of Foreign Affairs last week, seeking a meeting to discuss the possibility of organising another Love Ulster march in Dublin for mid-September.

The question of who exactly is going to benefit from the break-up of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) has not been answered to anyone’s satisfaction.

THE image of young people inebriated after parades around the country on St Patrick’s Day has tended to mar the festivities to the point where people question the manner in which the feast day is celebrated.