IT WAS a tweet from Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan last Sunday morning that brought the issue to my attention: “Female journalist making big issue of Health Minister James Reilly’s waistline. Would male journalist write similar of his predecessor?”

IT WOULD be an extraordinary turn of events if Gerry Adams was to see his political career ended by the gross misjudgment he exercised in his greatly delayed reporting of his niece’s allegations of sexual abuse against her father, his brother Liam.

IT is amazing how little fuss has been made of the Government’s decision to sell the National Lottery to the private sector.

TWO men sat in a pub arguing about the Seanad referendum last night. This is part of their discussion.

THERE are three references to the consumption of stout in Christy Moore’s much-loved song from the ’80s, Lisdoonvarna.

MANY Irish people, it seems, regard Angela Merkel — the German chancellor as near as certain as to returned to power after the German federal elections on Sunday — to be the modern day version of Margaret Thatcher. And, by extension, like her as much, regarding each as hostile to the interests of the Irish.

READING a biography of someone you met many times both professionally and socially is an interesting experience. Will the book reveal things about its subject that you didn’t know?

THE simple straightforward mortgage is the world’s most dangerous financial product, not those complicated derivative collateralised swaps and other such exotic named and harder to explain financial instruments held to be responsible for the banking crash globally.

Brian Cowen missed a trick during his TG4 interview, which is to be shown next Thursday, but has been well-flagged in advance.

LOTS of parents lock away the alcoholic drinks at home so their kids can’t get at them.