HERE’S a decent sum of money to play with: €54,321,000,000. It looks enormous, in fact, when you write it down that way. Fifty-four billion sounds like a lot, but we seem to have got so used to talking in billions that the sound of the word has lost a lot of its impact.

I WAS watching the RTÉ rugby panel after Ireland’s exciting win over South Africa on Saturday, and George Hook was complaining.

EMILY LOGAN is the Ombudsman for Children. Appointed by an interview board made up of children, she has already begun to make a considerable impact on public policy.

WE have ASBOs now, you know. Well, at least, we’ve passed the law that enables ASBOs to come into being. Now, there’s no particular reason why you should know this, because it was all done quietly and discreetly.

NOW, Terry Prone is never wrong. Hardly ever. Well, only occasionally.

SO, is the St Andrews Agreement a new deal or an old one, a rehash of everything that has gone before or something entirely innovative and different? Does it matter?

IN deciding to bid for Aer Lingus, Ryanair and its management were looking at three motivating reasons. All three made absolute sense from Ryanair’s point of view. All three demonstrate what a disastrous political decision it has been to sell off Aer Lingus.

DO YOU remember the phrase ‘Ich bin ein Berliner?’ Most people of my generation do because it was uttered by John F Kennedy a day or two after he completed his famous visit to Ireland in 1963.

VERY few people would believe Bertie Ahern had taken a bribe. He has been accused in the past, justly, of turning a blind eye to the behaviour of others, especially his boss Charles Haughey.

AISLING Beacom has had a busy week already. She’s a Special Olympics athlete and swimmer, and a regular medal-winner.