SO Bank of Ireland has determined that owing to its disastrous management, it is no longer in a position to payback in full its subordinated bondholders.

WATCHING the BBC programme on the horrendous treatment of patients in the Winterbourne Home in Bristol shocked most who watched it to the core.

THERE is a new pseudo-economic theory in town — “double taxation” has mutated to become “multiple taxation”.

THE linkage of state funding for political parties, which is explicitly given on the basis that it can’t be used for electoral campaigning purposes, to the manner in which they conduct their campaigns, is deeply ironic.

I AM now very concerned that the new people we have in place do not have the bottle to sort out our current economic problems.

POOR water services and a tax on the family home, too many politicians and local authorities. How many people does it take to change a government? I want out of Europe and our currency back.

MICHAEL NOONAN has admitted in a parliamentary question that he omitted seeking expert advice from the Pensions Board before introducing the pension tax.

CORK cloud computing has made banner headlines, as did the demonstration for Queen Elizabeth of its leadership in the fields of nano-electronics and photonics, and we are all applauding these magnificent achievements and of course hoping that lots of jobs will follow for our eager young men and women.

IT’S bad enough to belong to a nation that is engulfed by economic disaster; a nation that has mostly passively accepted what has befallen it; a nation that does not seem to expect or demand retribution from those who orchestrated its downfall; a nation that is self congratulatory without reason, but now to know that it is also a nation prepared to allow bigotry to come before innate ability, is unconscionable.

AFTER the impressive, yet intangible, rhetoric of President Barack Obama it seems our Taoiseach is keen to continue the “more talk, less action” road to recovery.