A FIANNA FÁIL candidate in the local elections told me an interesting story when I asked him about the citizenship referendum.

IF Gianna Beretta Molla were alive today, she would be 82 years old. But she’s not, having chosen to perform a rare act of heroism.

AT first sight, it might not seem that Beverly Flynn and Martin Cullen have a lot in common. She’s from a dyed-in-the-wool Fianna Fáil family and he’s a political waverer.

THE Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has a rather forthright way of warning young people about AIDS.

WORKING for Cardinal Desmond Connell, Archbishop of Dublin, meant that life was never dull or predictable.

IN August 2001, Mary Robinson made a dramatic gesture of solidarity with victims of anti-Semitism.

THE former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, came in for criticism recently over comments he made about Muslim culture.

TO JUDGE by recent newspaper reports, the Government has scored a remarkable diplomatic triumph. They have revived hopes for a European constitution. Where there was doubt, they seem to have brought faith.

IT’S manna from heaven for the Democrats. The testimony to the 9/11 commission given by former White House counter-terrorism official, Richard Clarke, is a gilt-edged opportunity to damage George W Bush.

NO doubt the George W Bush re-election campaign has already checked out John Kerry’s middle initial. The F, they’ll have discovered, stands for Franklin. It’s not a deed-poll trick by the Democrat challenger to make himself the next JFK.