The Stone Roses are rehearsing eight hours a day for their comeback.

AN investigation into an aircraft accident in Co Wexford last year has revealed the plane was not authorised to operate in Ireland.

AFTER spending a very pleasant evening with a Burmese patriot in Rangoon and listening to his account of life under British imperialism and subsequently, during World War II, under the harshly oppressive rule of the Japanese, it has been disappointing to learn of the further suppression of freedom in post-colonial Burma.

IN allocating a huge sum of money to loyalist communities on the grounds that it would be used to enhance collective community development, Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain was recognising the seriousness of the problem of low morale and self-esteem in those communities.

IN the context of the great changes that have occurred recently in the development of peace in Ireland, it would be churlish not to acknowledge the role played by President Mary McAleese and her husband, Martin, in helping to turn what once seemed a forlorn hope into a robust reality that should augur well for the future.

POLITICAL choreography seemed to be the order of the day. Conveniently, the corps de ballet master changed the tempo.

IT was a great relief that Sinn Féin, through a combination of skill and determination, had persuaded its membership to vote in favour of the party’s motion supporting a new era in policing in Northern Ireland.

I WISH to congratulate Raymond McCord Snr for his courage and determination to discover the facts concerning the murder of his son.

ANYONE who has had an association with Dr Ian Paisley will readily acknowledge his incredible energy.

JOHN ROBB (Irish Examiner letters, October 2) has worked tirelessly to promote his vision of a new Ireland.

IN autumn 2002 we were treated to the spectacle of a huge detachment of police invading Sinn Féin offices at Stormont. That had all the hallmarks of an event stage-managed for maximum media impact.

IF local people feel that the new arrangements for local government in Northern Ireland are failing them, they should not despair for they could resort to a measure with which they are already familiar.

EVEN though many people might like to know what Martin McCauley, Niall Connolly and James Monaghan were doing in Colombia, it should be recalled that, at their first trial, they were found not guilty.

DR BILLY LEONARD has worked as a democratically elected representative on Coleraine council in Co Derry.

INGRID Betancourt was kidnapped