The drinks’ companies and their ‘Drinkaware.ie’ rubbish might be a little credible if they sought not to distance themselves from the horrendous damage alcohol wreaks in Irish society.

Recent press coverage has suggested that our economy is on a “road to recovery”.

Notwithstanding many excellent persons serving as county councillors, this Victorian, administrative system of local authority, especially in a small country such as Ireland, has outlived itself.

It would seem that the Minister for Transport has seen the light in terms of the validity of the Ryanair offer for Aer Lingus.

In the business section of your paper recently I came across a photograph of our Finance Minister, Mr Michael Noonan, smiling. Is this a record?

The death of Zoltan Zinn-Collis on Dec 10 should have made national headlines in Ireland, but almost passed unnoticed.

It is difficult to understand how or why any group of intelligent, socially responsible politicians would choose, among myriad options open to them, to impose the kind of cruel, mean and totally unnecessary cuts in the recent budget.

Since 2008 we are living under the effects of the economic meltdown. The collapse of the international financial markets has revealed the problems that are at the heart of the global economy today.

In recent months, the levels of suicide, especially teen suicide, have increased dramatically. In grieving the deaths, I believe we have to be more careful about the language we use about the deceased, most notably in religious contexts.

The expert group on abortion refers to the ‘chilling effect’ of the 1861 Act that prohibits abortion. Surely it is necessary for any law against taking innocent life to have such a chilling effect. Otherwise, the law would not be a robust deterrent.