At the end of a week in which government ministers engaged shamelessly in a vote-buying exercise, making budget pledges that amount to at least €1.5bn, Sister Stanislaus Kennedy brought us all back to earth — 85 families were made homeless last month and the policies being pursued by those same government ministers are to blame.

Over the years, it’s become fashionable to describe many countries, including Ireland, as post-Christian societies.

No wonder the world is struggling with refugees: The United Nations Refugees body has a staff of 9,300 people, takes care of millions of refugees worldwide and has an annual budget of $5bn.

So Eircom has spent €16 million on a new name, the biggest Irish brand relaunch in two decades. It’s chief executive Richard Moate is quoted as saying, “It’s about the future, not the past.”

Ireland has become a breeding ground for greed and corruption.

This is the first time that we have come together to present a ‘unified voice for West Cork Business’ and this should be viewed as a barometer of the strength of feeling and collective positivity that exists in relation to establishing Cork Airport as a driver for economic success in our region now and into the future.

Anyone concerned about the dangers of the “hard left” to the economy might reflect on the fact that the greatest economic catastrophe of our lifetime, the banking collapse of 2008, was the direct result result of hard-right, unregulated free-market policies.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sulllivan, and Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan, recently launched the programme to commemorate 1916 by presenting children in St Patrick’s NS in Castlebar, with the tricolour flag and a copy of the Proclamation.

The state funeral of Thomas Kent was a rare beast. It managed to perfectly balance the intimacy of a family funeral with a State event.

Why are the Gulf states not taking refugees? The vast majority of them are Muslim. Europe does not owe these people anything.