AS the Government moves to crack down on gangland thugs waging open war on society, it is alarming to hear that children as young as nine and 10 are turning a once peaceful community into a living hell for elderly people.

DESPITE reports of a breakthrough in the BUPA crisis, it appears the Fermoy-based British company and the Government remain as divided as ever on the future direction of the health insurance industry.

IT will be two years on Wednesday since the Northern Bank raid, the most audacious bank robbery in the history of the island, yet nobody has been brought to justice.

GET out the winter woolies and store up on candles, because it could be a cold, dark Christmas.

The blunt remarks directed at the judiciary by Justice Minister Michael McDowell in relation to “soft judges” on bail, and the sentences handed down to drug dealers, reflects the public frustration at this week’s events.

It was, indeed, regrettable that BUPA decided to withdraw from the Irish market as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday, but it was also important for competition that the Government deliver on its promise to put the VHI on a commercial basis.

Where the commercial viability of one firm came into conflict with the greater good of the wider community, there was really only going to be one winner.

No matter how controversial or emotive the decision was by the jury to free Pádraig Nally of the manslaughter charge yesterday, it must be remembered that a father of 11 died.

The family of the late Anthony Campbell who became an innocent victim in the gangland slaying in Dublin, may have reflected the air of despondency prevailing throughout the country today. They do not believe that his killers will be caught.

What Health Minister Mary Harney announced yesterday may well prove to be a prescription for a better health service.