I KNOW a woman who is the mother of three children. I won’t tell you where she lives, other than to say it is in a housing estate that reflects very little credit on any of us.

I GOT the usual strong reaction to the piece I wrote last week about the cost of a new prison.

THERE was an American senator one time who said “a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re looking at big money”.

NOBODY captured that feeling quite like Roy Orbison: the end of a wonderful affair, the time when passion turns to ashes, the day that trust dies. His voice, capable of soaring into melancholy, was the perfect soundtrack for a broken heart.

I TRAVELLED a bit of the country over the weekend, accompanying the Special Olympics torch run. It’s an event that has been on the go for a good many years now.

MY heart has gone out this week to all those thousands of young people doing their Leaving and Junior Certs in some of the most glorious weather we’ve had for years.

JUST what are the natural and imprescriptible rights of a child? According to our constitution, every Irish child has them. But nowhere in the Constitution is there any attempt to spell out what they are.

IN 1994 a Government fell, and these were the circumstances. There had been growing tension between the parties in Government over a number of difficult issues.

IN the early 1990s, a long time ago, two women decided to pay a visit to Trinity College in Dublin.

HERE’S an actual case history based on recent experience. This story is repeated hundreds of times every day in our health service.