THE number of people who expressed abhorrence at the possibility of somebody becoming a criminal simply because they want to trace their parents surprised me during the past fortnight.

FOR a man who was reportedly awaiting a call from the Grim Reaper about a month ago, Charles J Haughey has reaped a nice profit from the sale of Abbeville which, during his tenure there, stood as a symbol of everything that is rotten in this country.

Reports of their deaths may be greatly exaggerated. Given the dodgy quality of the information that the Americans and the British have been indoctrinating the rest of the world with, there is still a good chance that Qusay and Uday — not to mention the 14 year-old boy — are alive and well.

REPORTS in this country are used by the Government and its agencies to long-finger apportionment of blame, and the more serious the issue, the longer the delay.

ACHTUNG Bertie! The Taoiseach could take a lead from the Germans who have embarked on a campaign to get the rest of the world to think their country is sexy.

A TWO-YEAR-OLD child died because her heart operation was cancelled and the Minister for Health, Micheál Martin, calls for a report.

IS it the real Ulster Unionist Party or the continuity Ulster Unionist Party which Jeffrey Donaldson wants to lead?

THE beauty about the radical plans for the health service announced this week is, from the Government’s point of view, the fact that they could take anything from three to 10 years to implement.

SIMPLE justice in this country is not so simple. Ask Andrew Moynihan.

By Pat Brosnan