THERE should be absolutely no doubt that the Government — and it alone — stands utterly discredited by the appalling ineptitude the country witnessed, this week, after the Supreme Court struck out our 1935 law on statutory rape.

THE latest report yesterday from the European Commission on alcohol is hardly edifying for this country, as Ireland is shown to be top of the league as far as the proportion of income spent on drink is concerned.

LAST night’s announcement by Justice Minister Michael McDowell that emergency legislation designed to close the Constitutional loophole on child rape will come into law before the weekend will be welcomed the length and breadth of Ireland.

A TRULY appalling vista is unfolding following yesterday’s High Court decision to allow a 41-year-old man, convicted of the statutory rape of a 12-year-old girl, to walk free from prison even though he knew her age and plied her with drink before having sex with her.

ARGUABLY, Ireland’s botched bid to get the United Nations to close the Sellafield nuclear plant was doomed from the outset.

THE key to climate control transcends the high-sounding complexities of the Kyoto agreement and effectively involves each one of us making personal decisions about taking control, turning down, switching off, recycling and walking.

THE spectacular success of British director Ken Loach’s film about the War of Independence, which scooped the Palme d’Or at Cannes, inevitably raises questions about the health of Ireland’s film industry.

AS trade union, business and political leaders search for a comprise formula for a new social partnership agreement, the only certainty is that the outlook is still uncertain.

NOT before time, the treatment of elderly people in nursing homes up and down the country is finally coming under the microscope.

There are significant differences dividing trade unions and employers ahead of tomorrow’s resumption of pay negotiations, but it is crucial that they remember the gains can sustain economic stability in the immediate future to the advantage of all.