The most recent report on child sexual abuse by Catholic priests and the systematic cover-up by Church authorities again confirms the Catholic Church’s culpable ignorance, willful neglect and total disregard of the welfare and rights of children.

Some years ago, as part of a recognition of the needs of small island primary schools which do not have an option to amalgamate with other schools nearby, the minimum school enrolment was reduced to eight pupils.

Anthony Leavy’s reply to Jim Roche’s complaint, was a most bizarre defence of allowing US military vessels into Irish ports. Mr Leavy says we owe our freedom to the likes of the US Government who “took on fascism and communism”.

In the light of all the shotgun liquidations and winding-up of companies, our supine fovernment needs to urgently amend the Companies Acts to protect consumers from companies that continue to trade right up to the last day and take peoples’ money.

My wife and I looked after my mother, who developed vascular dementia at the ripe old age of 90, caring for her at home until her death on Jan 1 — a day short of her 96th birthday.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for their role in the Iraq war.

The troika has ‘advised’ the Greek government to increase the working week to six days.

In your paper recently, I noted a set of ’horse fair’ pictures on page 5.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for George Bush and Tony Blair be held accountable by International Criminal Court, Hague, in relation to invasion of Iraq.

In reading and viewing the extensive coverage of the visiting American football university teams to Dublin, it is regrettable no Irish media covered the damage done to higher education and hundreds of thousands of young students — mostly male — across the US because of the emphasis placed on sports in primary and secondary schools there.