What kind of government spends public money to commission a firm of ‘consultants’ to report on an issue of national importance?

The psychiatric practice of classifying normal behaviour, giving it scientific-sounding labels and re-categorising it as a condition has been covered in the press. This included a statement from the Prof Simon Wessely, the new president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Democracy still matters in Ireland, in spite of its imperfections and the damage done to people by recent Irish politicians.

Observing the new intake of Westminster MPs following World War One, Conservative politician Stanley Baldwin remarked on "a lot of hard-faced men who looked as if they had done very well out of the war".

After prolonged deliberation, the interim recommendations from the Oireachtas Justice Committee on Garda oversight are outrageous and absurd.

There is much talk on suicide prevention. This is a very serious topic. But there is an untapped resource. I’m talking about ‘experts by experience’. Let me elaborate.

Our Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore sympathised with the bereaved families of three Israeli youths, and with the families of all those killed in the area in recent weeks. He condemned the killings.

Judging by the rhetoric being used by both sides after the discovery of the bodies of the abducted Israeli teenagers, violence will again be the method of choice for Hamas and the Israeli government.

I refer to a recent decision by Phil Hogan, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, to cease providing funding for the National Advocacy Service for Deaf People under the aegis of the Irish Deaf Society. The decision is short-sighted and defies logic.

In view of increasing serious crime there is an urgent and pressing need for the Government to appoint a minister with special responsibility for crime prevention.