DESPITE the apparent euphoria at the news that the gardaí are to recruit more civilians, it seems to be a case of more chiefs and not enough Indians.

AT least there’s one group in the country that shouldn’t have to worry that we are third from the top of the EU’s borrowing league, according to the Central Bank’s reckoning.

LAST week there was considerable alarm when a convicted paedophile escaped from Northern Ireland and headed South where he seemingly moved about freely even though the gardaí were notified of his presence.

THE public opinion poll published last week showing that Fianna Fáil had increased its popularity in the wake of all the revelations about Bertie Ahern’s generous friends reflects the nod-and-wink double standard that afflicts this country.

FRIDAY the 13th is an auspicious date anyway, but it may have a special resonance today for the future of Northern Ireland, or so we are led to believe.

IN the political sense, the country is now morally bankrupt. And that’s official. The high moral ground has been vacated by the Progressive Democrats and apartments are to be built on it.

BERTIE AHERN’S misfortune stemmed from a comatose loan that was awakened anonymously and revealed to the Irish Times.

EXACTLY what part of ‘I’m deeply sorry’ militant Muslims do not understand is difficult to grasp.

AS a phrase, it ought to be a harbinger of something good, but when new PD leader Michael McDowell said “the best is yet to come”, it sounded more like a threat than a promise.

YOU might not realise it, but every time you take the plunge in most of the swimming pools in the country, or plonk yourself in one of those spas, you are taking your life in your hands, and it’s not necessarily through drowning.