FIANNA FÁIL has enough problems facing it without the distraction of fighting a byelection in Dublin South to retain the seat made vacant by the untimely and premature death of the excellent Seamus Brennan.

THE Government is so desperate for cash it’s hard to see how it can reject Ryanair’s offer of €188 million for the state’s remaining shareholding in Aer Lingus, even if it is half the price it dismissed two years ago.

FEARS of racial and xenophobic tensions in the event of an economic downturn have not been realised, thankfully. This is another sign of the maturity shown by the Irish people when faced with a speedy influx of foreign workers unprecedented in any European country.

IF John Delaney, chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), achieves his target of selling 10,000 10-year corporate tickets for the new Lansdowne Road at prices ranging from €12,000 to €32,000, he should be brought into the Government immediately and asked to perform alchemy.

THE Irish version of The Apprentice on TV3 has proven to be wonderfully and unexpectedly entertaining viewing each Monday evening for all sorts of reasons, but most particularly the often hilarious use of language by the contestants who seek to win the prize to become Bill Cullen’s apprentice.

FINE GAEL intends hosting 30 so-called “town hall meetings” throughout the country between now and Christmas in an American-style appeal to the electorate.

Property developers named at the tribunal — such as the Bailey brothers, found guilty by Flood of a litany of tax evasions and obstructions, in addition to making corrupt payments — continued to bank tens of millions of euro in profits each year.

YOU may have less money available for going out to socialise but there may also be less worth watching on Irish television during the evenings you stay at home in the future, despite your paying €161 each year for the privilege of legally watching your TV.

THERE’S an old Chinese proverb about not breaking another man’s rice bowl. It should be applied in many cases to public demands for people to be removed from their jobs.

IF you want proof of how much Ireland has progressed as a country over the last 20 years you’ll find it in the achievements of the Celtic Tiger’s generation of sports stars.