The plight of the National Domestic Violence Intervention Agency (NDVIA), which is faced with closure tomorrow because of lack of funds, is symptomatic of the chauvinistic attitude of the present Government towards violence against women.

Pieta House, a new facility opened in Lucan yesterday, and which will offer free professional therapeutic services to those in the local community affected by suicide and self-harm, is probably unique in Europe.

It seemed extraordinary that on being interviewed on RTÉ’s This Week programme yesterday, Tánaiste Michael McDowell was not even asked about his controversial address on Saturday suggesting asylum seekers should essentially be held in detention while awaiting a decision on their asylum applications.

The Sinn Féin decision to co-operate with and support the Police Service of Northern Ireland should be warmly welcomed as a monumental step in the ongoing peace process.

The ultimatum issued by Health Minister Mary Harney to consultants yesterday may reflect the Government’s frustration, and that of the public, at the total impasse on hospital consultants’ contracts, but in the meantime it is patients who have to endure the consequences of this long, drawn-out dispute.

The clear message to emerge from the Young Social Innovators (YSI) in Dublin yesterday was that young people have to be listened to and not taken for granted by the decision-makers, which in most cases means the Government.

On the very day that Health Minister Mary Harney introduced new guidelines on nursing home standards, the Government was accused of “chronic negligence” of elderly people, and faced a new controversy on illegal nursing home charges.

Doubtless, teachers and parents will welcome proposals in education law aimed at restoring the balance in the classroom between the rights of an unruly pupil and those of others who want to pursue their education.

Doubtless, teachers and parents will welcome proposals in education law aimed at restoring the balance in the classroom between the rights of an unruly pupil and those of others who want to pursue their education.

TÁNAISTE and Justice Minister Michael McDowell was under heavy political fire last night after he admitted that drug-related gun crime is now a “matter of huge concern for the State”.