There is an extraordinary contrast in the state papers just released between the paucity of investigative material in relation the various gubus (grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented events) of 1982 and the wealth of interesting material that the Department of Justice has released dealing with events in the 1930s and 1940s.

THE tension in Ireland over seizing Unionist hostages in the North was raised considerably on Feb 11, 1922, when the IRA in Clones, Co Monaghan, clashed with a group of 19 Ulster Special Constables (USC), travelling from Belfast to Enniskillen by rail.

REORGANISING the government departments and combining some of them makes sense from organisational and efficiency points of view.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen and his party certainly did not distinguish themselves with the cabinet reshuffle during the week, but the contortions of Leo Varadkar helped to take some of the spotlight off the Government.

DEFENDING Willie O’Dea on Monday, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said: “I suppose Fine Gael are returning to type. They’ve always tried to get the dirt on people. I think it is despicable, to be honest.” Of course, he undoubtedly meant it is despicable to make false accusations.

FINE GAEL senators have been likened to “turkeys voting for Christmas” after accepting party leader Enda Kenny’s decision to call for the abolition of the Seanad.

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

THE problems confronting people with literacy difficulties were highlighted at the ploughing championships through the case histories of two men.

IN A sense, Irish politics has gone into suspended animation. Bertie Ahern has been replaced as leader of Fianna Fáil but he remains as Taoiseach for over three weeks. This kind of hiatus effectively happens just about every decade after an election in which the people decide to change government.

THIS week Fine Gael has been remembering John A Costello and the 60th anniversary of the Fine Gael-led coalition government that came to power in February 1948.

THE new president of the Garda Representative Association, John Egan, exhibited incredible insensitivity in essentially issuing a threat to his political bosses. “We are waiting in the long grass for them,” he warned.

BERTIE AHERN’S address to the United Nations this week attracted little international attention, which was hardly surprising.

OVER the past weekend Americans were commemorating Memorial Day, remembering those who were killed in all the wars.

Macho Mayo Man. I want to be a Macho Mayo Man. The testosterone levels were high among the Blueshirts in The West at the weekend, resulting in a peculiar odour in the packed auditorium for Enda Kenny’s triumphant match on his near-enough-to-home turf.

TWO newspaper headlines caught my attention last weekend:

Burger King Limerick have beaten Killarney in the ESB men's basketball superleague.