Now that, officially at least, our Troika “friends” have relinquished their involvement in the affairs of this State, I feel for our Government.

The furore over the private rantings of banking buffoons, and how this might play with our German friends, is difficult to believe, even to someone accustomed to the hypocrisy we do so well in Ireland.

The remarks by EU Economic Commissioner Olli Rehn to the effect that Ireland should not question the squandering of over €3.1bn to pay back promissory notes to speculators in a dead bank is the latest masterclass in arrogance, courtesy of the country’s new EU overlords (Irish Examiner, Mar 14).

EMPLOYING the same kind of clichéd hyperbole as his discredited predecessor, US President Barack Obama claims “the world is a safer place” with the demise of Osama bin Laden.

MARY HARNEY’S decision to depart the Irish political scene comes, tragically, years too late.