THE answer as to how the Government is going to deliver the €34.4 billion transport plan on deadline and within budget was suggested the next day in a headline which related to New Orleans.

WHAT an extraordinary week it was. First the media and then the Catholic Church were the subject of official and public odium for totally different reasons.

So, who’s living in the real Ireland where protocol of a kind deems a man should die rather than unravel red tape?

AT least, for a change, the Government can’t be blamed for the disappearance of the €5.7 million in a scam that left some people without their life savings.

IT dawned on me this week why the Comptroller and Auditor General publishes a report on the overspending by various Government departments every year.

SO anxious were the people for the return of their beloved politicians that many of them made the journey to our national parliament to welcome them back, and some even slept outside the Dáil the previous night.

IF Irish Ferries manages to jettison its workforce and replace it with cheaper labour, as it is so desperately trying to do, there will be widespread repercussions for workers in this country.

KOFI ANNAN must have had a feeling of déja vu in the UN building on Wednesday night when Taoiseach Bertie Ahern pledged to meet the target for overseas aid.

THE decision to avoid holding the murder trial of Christopher Newman in this country is puzzling, to say the least. It needs to be explained.

WHETHER or not the Groceries Order is responsible for the high cost of living here, the fact remains that Ireland is a leader in the rip-off stakes.