CRIMINAL activities, whether committed by common criminals or political ones, should be investigated by the gardaí.

The Lemass style of leadership was to encourage his ministers to be proactive. Unlike de Valera, he never managed to lead Fianna Fáil to an overall majority but, unlike some of his successors, he refused to bargain with any independents to support his nomination for Taoiseach

WHILE Eamon de Valera was dreaming of comely maidens dancing at the crossroads, young boys were being flogged and buggered by a sordid assortment of perverted clergy and depraved Christian Brothers.

MERCIFULLY the election campaign is over. Some will say it was the essence of democracy, but the whole thing was particularly tedious.

Kenny, in effect, was trying to hurt Fianna Fáil by helping Mary Lou McDonald when he criticised Garret FitzGerald for suggesting Fine Gael should transfer votes to Eoin Ryan. At the same time he was trying to have us believe that he would not deal with Sinn Féin. He can’t have it both ways

MANY people felt a deep sense of betrayal over the disclosure that Bishop Eamon Casey had fathered a son, but in the last analysis what was betrayed was their own sense of innocence.

THE Government is dizzy from all the U-turns. On Wednesday night Minister for Children Barry Andrews declined to appear on Vincent Browne’s news programme to discuss the report of the Commission on Child Abuse. Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe declined a similar invitation from Morning Ireland.

RYAN Tubridy’s selection as next host of the Late Late Show did not come as a great surprise. He was always on the shortlist.

IN a review of Brian Cowen’s first year as Taoiseach, RTÉ News mentioned he had to face an unprecedented series of crises and that none of his predecessors “ever had to deal with problems of such severity”.

On October 6 the city reported a record 289 deaths in a single day, but it soon got more than twice as bad. The following week one of the victims was my grandmother – who was in Pennsylvania on holidays at the time.