IRISH politicians are looking into their souls and beating their breasts as they face a cathartic election.

THE fighting continues on the streets of Egypt’s cities and nobody is sure yet what the outcome will be of the Tunisian revolution that threw out its dictator of 30 years.

THE depths to which politicians can sink are on view at the heart of Europe — in Belgium.

SO is the EU to be led by an old-style dictator for the next six months?

THE WikiLeaks highlights make great reading, though strangely enough most of the information is no surprise to the public and no doubt to countries diplomatic services.

A PRESTIGIOUS British report says that it is too late to limit the rise in climate change to 2 degrees — so all the changes the increase in temperature will bring are now inevitable.

Do they prefer their sovereignty to be in the hands of the speculators and markets?”

WHEN close to a third-of-a-billion euro disappears without any apparent trace, there is usually an investigation about it.

IN many ways the Government’s indecision is understandable.

ALTHOUGH the twitters were tweeting and YouTube was in overdrive, letting the whole of Europe know that our Taoiseach and his team had a tipple at a confidence-raising event in Galway, nobody apparently mentioned it to him at last week’s summit in Brussels.