AS MILLIONS of people around the globe yesterday remembered victims of road accidents, Ireland had cause to hang its head in shame.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen was very confident yesterday when he announced that the backlog in driving tests would not just be reduced to eight weeks next year, but would eventually be eliminated.

Strident when it comes to justifying increases which are passed on to over-burdened consumers anyway, because of rising fuel prices, Bord Gáis is very silent on how customers can save money.

WITH the State coffers literally awash with money, it is unsurprising that Finance Minister Brian Cowen yesterday unveiled plans to splash out on frontline public services like health, crime, housing, education and transport in next month’s budget, the last before the 2007 general election.

GIVEN the burgeoning image of Ireland’s economy, it is alarming that people are dying because hospitals are dirty.

FAR reaching implications of a legislative, religious, moral and social nature flow from yesterday’s High Court finding that the protection offered in the Constitution to the unborn does not extend to embryos outside the womb.

IF Irish society were judged on how the elderly are cared for, this country would come at the bottom of any international league table.

SNEAKY is the only word to describe a two-edged gas price hike which has left hapless customers facing a double whammy.

PUBLIC trust in the administration of justice in this country has been shaken by the inconsistency of sentencing by the courts.

The decision by Circuit Court Judge Brian Curtin to resign was a judicious one, coming as it did on the day an Oireachtas Committee began an investigation of allegations of stated misbehaviour on his part.