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

I’M looking for a little indulgence this week because I’m celebrating an anniversary that, up to now, no one in the world knows about but me.

YOU only have a week left, you know. If you want to be one of our country’s new breed of censors, it’s time to get your application in because the deadline is next Tuesday.

THERE’S not a moment to lose. We cannot allow the college points system to die a natural death; we have to get out there and make sure we kill it stone dead. A stake through the heart, that’s what it needs.

IN almost exactly a year’s time — probably on Thursday, May 3, 2007 — the Taoiseach will go into the Dáil, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, and say something like this:

SO, HOW are you doing? Did you fill in your census form on Sunday? I hope you did, because without it there are a lot of choices we won’t be able to make.

SO, HOW are you doing? Did you fill in your census form on Sunday? I hope you did, because without it there are a lot of choices we won’t be able to make.

I DIDN’T go to the military parade in Dublin on Sunday. There were two reasons. First, with the best will in the world I don’t believe military parades represent anything about Ireland today.

I DON’T want to labour the point, but this is the week when we’re going to be hearing an awful lot about the anniversary of 1916.

LAST Saturday was April 1, a fact I temporarily failed to take into account.