WHAT a strange republic we have here in Ireland.

ALMOST a week on from the release of the Cloyne report I have begun to think, Bishop Magee and others were perhaps the nation’s staunchest defenders of the “rights of the unborn child”.

ENDA Kenny’s Dáil speech on Cloyne was excellent and I commend him for denouncing the Catholic Church in a way which makes it clear that the state will never let this happen again.

THIS week was a turning point for the rights and needs of children in Ireland.

A PERSON defrauds the welfare system, and in no time is in court and convicted, and receives a huge prison sentence.

FIRST Ferns, then Dublin and now Cloyne.

AS our ministers and TD’s head off to enjoy their fully-paid, over-extended summer holidays, spare a thought for the thousands of dogs and puppies who will spend another summer incarcerated in hell holes of unregulated puppy farms throughout our “emerald isle”.

MINISTER Frances Fitzgerald states that the last 10 posts of the required 270 social work posts will be filled by the end of the year.

WE once again witness the power of the stock markets in determining the future of the eurozone.

OVER the past five years, the Health Service Executive has waged an unrelenting campaign to downgrade and ultimately destroy rural hospitals throughout Ireland.