WE are about to discover the importance of public spending to Irish life. That’s the real, but largely ignored, story of Budget 2003.

JIM MITCHELL was a remarkable, perhaps a unique, politician. Famous for his willingness to take risks with his own seat on behalf of his party, he also never shirked taking risky political positions.

MEAN-SPIRITED, cheese-paring, but above all dishonest. That is the only conclusion you can come to when you take the time to read the Book of Estimates in full, and think about the rationale behind it.

YOU may have heard that I’m in the process of changing my day job. I don’t suppose my politics have been a secret to too many people up to now, but I’m now being asked to put them into practice again.

WE all, dear reader, know the strange and mysterious tale of Dr McDowell and Mr Minister.

“I AM drawing a line in the sand,” Ray Burke once said, after he had contemptuously swept aside a whole series of legitimate questions about his so-called political donations.

A LONG time ago, a senior Irish politician went to see President Reagan in the White House. It was something of a breakthrough at the time in Irish-American relations which, up to then, had played second fiddle to Anglo-American relations.

THE leadership election in the Labour Party could well have a fundamental bearing on the future shape of our democracy. It is that important.