DISHONEST, disloyal, destructive, disgraceful are just some of the words that can be used to describe this Government, which is unquestionably the worst that this country has had to endure since independence.

ON Monday the attention of the nation was focused on two funerals — that of Garda Robert McCallion, who was mown down in Donegal, and Roy Collins, the businessman shot in Limerick.

THE Government did not do as much as it should have in providing proper leadership. It cut pensions to sitting ministers and deputies, but it did nothing about the untouched expenses. Yet they did more than I expected. That was not a compliment; if that is a compliment, it was simply that they are not as obtuse as I feared. They have learned something from their recent mistakes.

THERE was a frightening photograph on the front page of the Irish Examiner on Thursday of a seemingly endless line of people queuing for food at 8.30 in the morning at the Capuchin Day Centre in Bow Street, Dublin.

THE authorities absurdly suggested during the week that Conor Casby, the artist who painted the controversial portraits of Brian Cowen, was guilty of indecency, incitement to violence and criminal damage.

WHEN President Barack Obama met the press on Tuesday morning to discuss his budget proposals, he was sporting a green tie to mark St Patrick’s Day. “Green tie, not bad, huh?” he began.

TODAY the Whyte’s history and literature auction of memorabilia is being held in Dublin. Ian Whyte, the managing director of the auctioneering firm, mentioned that the material had been forgotten after the Civil War.

FOR years the maxim of American business was: “As General Motors goes, so goes the nation.” Today there are fears General Motors is going bankrupt and this could have further enormous implications for the global economy. The whole thing emphasises the need for new political thinking in relation to the economy.

ON RTÉ’s Morning Ireland during the week, Dr Garret FitzGerald said “the crisis is a very serious one, much more serious than we ever faced”.

THE gyrations at Anglo Irish Bank continue to reverberate with fresh revelations coming out regularly. Yesterday, Dermot Ahern was on RTÉ arguing about the damage that disclosure of the names of the Anglo 10 would do to Irish banks.