Writer and Irish Examiner book reviewer, Mary Leland, wrote an informative article for a Sunday newspaper recently, reflecting on the media reports about the mother-and-baby home in Tuam, Co Galway.

This World Cup is a treat to watch.

The strategic, propagandistic use for the latest terrorist phenomenon, ISIS, is to justify the West’s support, past and present, for terrorists in Syria, Iraq, and beyond. The more extreme ISIS can be portrayed, the greater the alibi the West gains for its support of the "moderates" within Syria and Iraq — the term "moderates" being another red herring.

Is it true Luis Suarez would have some fava beans and a nice Chianti after each meal... I mean, game?

This week the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform advertised clerical positions in the civil and public service. The starting salary is "in the region of €21,000 per annum". A couple both employed in such positions would earn a combined total of €42k per annum. After tax (incl. pension levy), their net weekly income is €699.65.

Your front-page coverage of the Health Research Board’s study of Irish people’s alcohol consumption (June 24) reveals that one-in-three of the population is a harmful drinker, and that 177,000 people are dependent on alcohol.

Gerard Howlin’s article (Opinion, June 25) highlights the importance of Brian Crowley reconsidering his decision to unilaterally leave the centrist Alliance for Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) group for the right-wing, eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.

The United States tax authorities have recently reported that foreign corporations, incorporated in Ireland but controlled by 666 American corporations, reported current earnings and profits, before tax, of $87.12 billion for 2010 and that tax on these earnings amounted to $2.9bn (3.3%).

Britain and Germany are expected to clash, at a summit in Ypres, over the presidency of the European Commission (EC) — Ypres is the Belgian town where the two countries battled during the First World War.

It was sad, and somewhat ironic, to hear Anthony O’Reilly described by AIB bank as "insolvent" (June 24).