THERE was a subliminal message for hospital consultants contained in the statement from Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney when she said chief executives should be the best-paid people in hospitals.

FORMER High Court judge Dermot Kinlen is well placed to be critical of the manner in which the independent inquiry into the death of Gary Douch in Mountjoy Prison is being conducted.

IN an ideal world, Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s proposal to house prisoners seeking protection in single cells for at least 24 hours would be fine — but in the context of the Irish prison system it is virtually unworkable.

THE acceptance of Labour Court recommendations on pay and changing work practices means the way is finally clear for the Government to sell Aer Lingus.

MOTORISTS should have no illusions about the uncompromising aspect of this weekend’s crackdown by gardaí on the scourge of drink driving, one of the main causes of Ireland’s appalling record of road fatalities.

NEWS that Shell Ireland will modify the route of its gas pipeline, as well as dropping legal action against five protestors in Mayo, will be widely welcomed.

There is something seriously wrong with the system when, in the midst of unprecedented affluence, more and more families are dependent on the charity of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP).

The second part of the Mental Health Act (2001) is supposed to come into force at the start of November.

THE necessity to establish an independent inquiry into the death of a prisoner in Mountjoy Prison is indicative of the intolerable overcrowding conditions that have been allowed to flourish in recent years by the policy of the present Government, spearheaded by Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

THE champagne corks may very well have popped at the opening of the new Cork Airport terminal yesterday, but local management may well have to bear the cost of the bubbly as well as the €160 million cost of the terminal.