IN the High Court dismissal of a claim by survivors of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings that the handling of a report compiled by the commission of investigation amounted to a breach of the state’s human rights obligations (Irish Examiner, September 10), Ms Justice Mary Laffoy ruled the plaintiffs did not have a legally enforceable right of access to the commission archive, in addition to a prohibition on disclosure until 30 years after the dissolution of the commission.

SERVICES for the country’s most vulnerable people are being strangled by Government cutbacks which will result in the loss of 5,000 jobs in the community and voluntary sectors, according to a new report.

OUT with the old and in with the, er, old.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is set to overhaul several Government departments and grant the Green Party a second junior minister as part of today’s Cabinet reshuffle aimed at restoring the coalition’s sagging fortunes.

THE new carbon tax should have a portion ring-fenced to fund a replacement for Bus Éireann in rural areas, an Oireachtas Committee has said.

IVAN Yates is absolutely right when he calls for the appointment of a “tourism tsar” (Irish Examiner, Feb 4).

A COMMUNITY group has accused the Government of extravagance, waste and a lack of vision because it rejected a state-of-the-art building as headquarters for decentralised offices of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

A SPECIAL health clinic has been opened in Rathkeale by the HSE to cater for the huge influx of Travellers who come from Britain and Europe to spend Christmas and the new year in the Limerick town.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has revealed he will cast aside another standout recommendation made by An Bord Snip Nua.

THE Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009 will be brought into effect later this year, and amendments made as it went through the Oireachtas include how the asset value of a farm or business is to be assessed.

A NUMBER of drug projects will be shut down if funding cuts proposed in Bord Snip are implemented.

Economist and chairman of An Bord Snip Nua Colm McCarthy has been invited to appear before a joint Oireachtas Committee.

THE euphemistic “snipping” proposed by the Government’s special group to curb public spending could more aptly be described as ripping the heart out of rural Ireland.

The Taoiseach warned today no area of public expenditure was immune from feeling the snip of a €5.3bn cost-cutting masterplan.

COLM McCARTHY’S An Bord Snip Nua was given a specific but limited task and yesterday it delivered a range of options that identified savings in public expenditure of over €5 billion, €2bn more than the target figure set by Government.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has appealed to the public to avoid "knee-jerk and defensive reactions" after the publication of today's report by An Bord Snip Nua.

An Bord Snip's long-anticipated report into cuts in public spending includes recommendations for large-scale job cuts of 17,300 in the public sector, cuts of 5% to all social welfare benefits, an increase in hospital charges and cuts of €746m in the education sector.

The Department of Finance has published An Bord Snip Nua's recommendations for around €5.3bn worth of public spending cuts.

THE body representing more than 100 civil society groups who act on behalf of the marginalised in society has warned that dissenting voices are being silenced amid fears any criticism of the Government will see a cut in their funding.

The decision to end funding for evening transport services in seven rural areas will hurt some of the most isolated older people living in these areas, Age Action has warned.

RURAL isolation will be heightened by a government decision not to renew funding for a night-time transport scheme, it has been claimed.

THERE has been no apparent drop in the amount of drugs in circulation despite a massive rise in drug seizures, according to the National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016.

Six government departments and six state agencies are in breach of laws aimed at protecting the Irish language, according to the annual report of An Coimisinéir Teanga.

OLDER people and commuters should be allowed to use school buses as one option to providing public transport in rural areas, according to Irish Rural Link (IRL).

THERE was further angry reaction yesterday to Government cutbacks for local drugs projects.

Shell will hold face-to-face talks with residents from north Mayo opposed to the oil giant’s controversial gas pipeline, it was announced today.

A NEW national agency is to be set up to spearhead the country’s drugs strategy, it has emerged.

Constituency profiles offer some fascinating insights into who elects who and why, finds Political Correspondent Conor Ryan.

TIPPERARY Institute has been formally awarded the contract to establish a National Rural Network to assist the efficient and effective implementation of the Rural Development Programme.

SLIGO ROVERS FC yesterday issued a fresh appeal to save the stricken club, the eircom Premier Division outfit pointing out that it needed to match a weekly financial commitment of €17,000 just to stay afloat.

FUNDING for five regional artisan food study tours, which will be held as part of the Terra Madre (Mother Earth) food festival in Waterford next month, was announced yesterday by Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon Ó Cuív.

LEADER will open for grant applications after selection of local action groups to deliver the aid programme has been completed — probably in late October.

A NEW era in rural tourism began at Sheep’s Head in west Cork over the weekend when the first of four publicly funded walkways was officially opened.

STATE agencies attached to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food — rather than production capacity investment — will bear the brunt of a €9.1 million savings target as part of the Government’s spending measures to save €440m this year and €1 billion next year.

THE department overseeing the national drugs strategy — and not the HSE — is responsible for the failure to implement the Government’s rehabilitation strategy, a leading community drugs representative has claimed.

A €425 MILLION rural development programme is expected to trigger potential investments of €1.7bn in local areas over the next five years.

FORGET UCC, CIT or even Trinity — in what is being hailed as a major education breakthrough, a small island off the West Cork coast is now the venue for a third-level degree.

AN ADVOCACY project aimed at helping people with disabilities claim their entitlements, access services and have their voices heard was launched yesterday in Waterford.

GALWAY’S St Patrick’s Day parade was very colourful and fair play to all who took part.

A PROJECT to install CCTV cameras in housing schemes, occupied by elderly people, has yet to be implemented a year after being announced.

TWO newly appointed food technologists will provide technical support primarily for artisan meat and dairy businesses, for two years.

Up to 70 Irish speaking law graduates are after specialist positions in the heart of Europe.

Around €23m worth of funding was today earmarked for community development projects and organisations across the country.

COCAINE addicts seeking help for their habit have had to be turned away from a community drug programme because of a lack of space.