LUCIA O’FARRELL is distraught. Her son, Shane, has been killed and the man who took the life of the 23-year-old last week was given the choice of eight months in jail or leaving the country within 21 days.

THE phrase “can’t pay, won’t pay” is one that we are hearing more often in public discourse and which we can expect to hear far more often over the next year as property and water taxes and the broadcasting charge are added to the rank of annual payments expected of citizens.

GOOD gardaí gather evidence before coming to conclusions in doing their jobs.

GOLDFISH are supposed to have memories that last just three seconds. Do many Irish voters suffer the same trait?

ANYONE who was worked as a manager in any organisation knows how difficult it can be to move people out entirely or into new, seemingly less important, positions.

DAMNED if does, damned if he doesn’t.

OUR government and our officials should not be complacent about the outcome of a British referendum on EU membership, expecting either that it won’t go ahead or that, if it does, the British will vote to remain within the EU.

IN showing sensitivity in discussing or writing about suicide a new danger seems to be emerging.

THE Garda Siochana had a difficult and sensitive task to carry out in persuading Willie Frazer and his motley crew not to come to Dublin tomorrow to demand that the Irish flag be removed from Leinster House (where it wouldn’t be flying anyway because it doesn’t fly over the houses of the Oireachtas when the Dáil and Seanad are not sitting).

THERE are loads of topics I’d prefer not to write about for this column, or talk about on my radio programme, during 2013.