THE promoter of contentious plans for a €34 million retail development for Ennis is making a late bid to win the hearts and minds of the public ahead of a crucial vote on the development.

REVENUES at one of the best known construction companies in the mid-west plummeted 70% last year as it felt the downturn in the construction sector.

GOOD quality pasture land, about 34 acres of it, comes with the lakeside period property Woodfield House, beside Doon Lake at Broadford, Co Clare.

COME budget day, we will doubtless witness levels of nationwide self-pity that will make Peig Sayers seem cheerful.

IT says a lot about those entrusted to run our education system that they so readily identify very specific – yet clearly unproven – factors as cause and remedy for the demise of maths in our schools.

MICHAEL and Declan Phelan have been disqualified from racing for 12 months each by the British Horseracing Authority for laying Itsallaracket to lose at Folkestone in December 2008.

WILLIE Mullins was handed a timely boost with the victory of Ballytrim in the Powers Ulster Grand National EBF Handicap Chase, part of a treble at Downpatrick yesterday.

SEAMUS LYNCH’S Itsallaracket is the nap choice in the EBF Mares’ Novice Hurdle at Downpatrick this afternoon.

THE Robert Tyner-trained Rock Street ran away with the Powerstown Chase at Clonmel yesterday.

THANK God for Pádraig Harrington. Just when we seemed destined to drown in a tsunami of miserable news about recession, shootings in Dublin and the Lisbon Treaty, it’s good to see the Irish media finally realising that good news — especially sports news — is indeed newsworthy.

AN UNDERGROUND room concealed in a cupboard was discovered in the house of one of five men accused of being responsible for the most lethal bomb of the conflict in the north, a court heard yesterday.

Surveillance officers who followed the movements of a terrorist boss accused of being responsible for the most lethal bomb of the North's conflict today denied putting their heads together to make statements.

MAGNET For Money lived up to his name when landing some decent wagers in the first division of the Ladbrokes’ Ireland Handicap Hurdle at Listowel yesterday.

LISTOWEL trainer Seamus Lynch was the toast of the bookmakers at Tramore last night, after his Revisionist had beaten hot-pot, El Cerro, in the Tote placepot Races 1 to 6 three-year-old Maiden Hurdle.

MOST popular winner of the afternoon at Listowel yesterday was Finns Cross, trained locally by Seamus Lynch, in the Jackie and Gene Handicap Hurdle.

WITH the sorry exception of those engrossed by the typically English-media saga of Wayne Rooney’s injured foot, most football fans here have been eagerly anticipating the World Cup for the football.

IF a convicted rapist seeks to escape jail on a technicality, surely they should be refused on that basis alone.

ONE would have thought that lessons would have been learned following the death of Liam Lawlor, in which scurrilous and inaccurate reports were proliferated to satisfy public appetite for the lowest common denominator in news.

THE historic decision to permit soccer internationals in Croke Park next year is most welcome.

ANYONE who has had planning permission refused will surely feel a measure of indignation at our State’s céad míle fáilte to Peter Stringfellow and his 100 ‘exotic’ dancers (Irish Examiner, January 10).

I WAS rather bemused when Ireland’s generosity to charitable causes was lauded in a ‘Top 10 Things About Ireland in 2005,’ as broadcast over Christmas on RTÉ.

SHOULD Ireland fail to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, as their woefully inept performance in Cyprus suggests, we will be expected suddenly to take in interest in other teams.

ISN’T it time it was recognised that the Crisis Pregnancy Agency does what it says on the tin?

AS a former Cura counsellor, I welcome the decision by the Irish bishops to call for an end to the distribution of the ‘positive options’ leaflet by Cura.

ASIDE from it being the height of disrespect for the dead, it also marks a new low in the application of logic to suggest that Pope John Paul II was somehow responsible for the death of millions of AIDS victims.

HAVING given a mere 60 seconds to mourn the tsunami victims and a firm two fingers to those crippled by Third World debt, is anyone surprised that our Government has insulted the memory of John Paul II for economic gain?

THE Government’s pathetic decision not to meet its 0.7% commitment to alleviate Third World poverty has done us enough harm — but Brian Cowen’s recent confirmation of this, in the wake of positive noises from Tony Blair and pressure from Bob Geldof, makes us look downright mean.

IS it absolutely necessary for us to affix the adjective ‘ailing’ to the Pope each time he is mentioned?

IF the tsumani disaster allowed us to display our famed Irish generosity, then the forthcoming windfall coming our way in the form of the SSIAs represents an historic opportunity to generate seismic change and goodwill.

I AM doing the driving test next month, but I wonder if I am facing the same test that some drivers in this country seem to have passed.

YESTERDAY thousands of Irish people denied themselves a day’s food for one of our country’s best traditions - the annual Concern Fast.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Irish Examiner for highlighting the Darfur crisis in Sudan (August 23) just when one was beginning to believe that the impending starvation of millions of people was merely a figment of the imagination.

Caribbean mobile operator Digicel, which is chaired by Denis O'Brien, has appointed Raoul Fontanez as its new chief executive.

LESS than a week after the Madrid atrocity, could President Bush have delivered a more undesirable Patrick’s Day gift than a glowing endorsement of our support in the ‘war against terror?’

IARNRÓD Eireann have new posters in carriages asking people not to use their own mobile seating.

Entrepreneur Denis O'Brien's Caribbean business Digicel is to launch new services in Barbados and the Cayman Islands within the next six weeks, and the firm also has ambitions to target business customers with a fixed line through wireless service, the Irish Independent reports today.

SEVERAL weeks ago, the Irish Catholic newspaper broke a rather disturbing front-page story concerning false claims against members of the Catholic Church.

WITH young people’s attitudes to the church very much in the news and opinion polls recently, I would like to offer readers the opportunity to air their views on the topic.

WITH 2,000 redundancies announced at Dairygold to compound the mounting job losses elsewhere, isn’t it time the media and some people in this country began to take a reality check?

SEAMUS Lynch (Irish Examiner letters, March 25) warns the Government against backing an illegal and immoral war.

THE THREE Bs – Bush, Blair and Bertie – play down the impending carnage of war

SO MUCH for the theory about the prostitution of Shannon airport being good for American investment.

THAT a man who dismissively refers to France and Germany as ‘old Europe’ is in control of the world's most powerful army is a depressing thought.

THE recent unveiling of an ATM in a pub in Kerry has got to be a bad idea.