TALLIES of 2-2 apiece from John Cooper and Conor Keane helped Farran NS to win this Allianz Sciath na Scol F9 final at Páirc Uí Rinn yesterday.

LITTER wardens are to comb through scores of refuse bags to see if there are any clues to the identities of those who discarded them illegally on the roadside on the outskirts of Cork.

SO Justice Minister Dermot Ahern is dismissive of the idea of reducing the numbers of junior ministers saying it was “facile to suggest that such cuts would save the country”.

THE standard tungsten light bulb is a thing of the past and should have been made obsolete a long time ago.

HOW can the Government guarantee bank after bank having announced a serious recession and a huge budget deficit.

THE Taoiseach’s sudden departure will be seen by many as a de facto admission of guilt to the charges he answered so unsatisfactorily at the Mahon Tribunal.

JAMES McGRATH’S response (Letters, January 28) to my earlier letter on the Catholic church and non-Catholic faiths is a typical kneejerk reaction to anything critical of the Church of Rome.

ACCORDING to media reports, the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has made an historic move in setting aside some places in Catholic patronage schools for non-Catholics.

THE recent pay rises for top politicians and public servants are hardly justified given the mess the country is in at the moment.

WE should be wary of adopting a special language policy to facilitate immigrants seeking permanent residency or long-term asylum leading to residency.

The question of when Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will visit the Republic has been debated for a long time now.

DETAILS of a leaked report on the Irish language recently found their way into the public domain providing a damning insight into the current state of the native tongue.

THE recent decision in the Pádraig Nally case casts great doubt on the credibility of the jury system.

BUPA has taken little care of its employees in view of its sudden decision to quit Ireland.

THE costs of EU membership are being felt in no uncertain terms, with the sixth rise this year in interest rates from the ECB.

THE High Court decision to make the taxpayer pay for the costs of the recent embryo case is matter of concern.

THE Government’s handling of the garda operation at Bellanaboy leaves a lot to be desired.

PEOPLE are becoming increasingly suspicious of the charity ‘industry’.

IF I defied a Supreme Court injunction and then burned evidence in defiance of a subsequent court order, I wonder what would become of me.

THERE IS an ever increasing number of politicians and State officials playing by their own rules.

WE are told by those who claim to know that our society is becoming ever more prosperous and progressive. Not a day goes by without somebody hyping this country up as shining example for others to follow.

WE seem to be a nation united in seeing the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict brought to a speedy end.

HURRAH! It’s after taking more than 30 years for the Government to remove very tight restrictions on the so-called free travel pass.

IT’S time anti-Britishness and anti-Irishness came to an end on this island.

THE Irish language is waning and is kept alive largely by Government funding. And perhaps for no other reason.

DESPITE the road carnage, the Government refuses to make drink driving a penalty points offence.

IT’S hard to believe that politicians are taking politics seriously given the amount of time they are taking off from the Oireachtas.

THE sale of public housing for profit must end. It’s disgraceful that people who are lucky enough to obtain such a house are only too willing to cash it in for the sake of a quick buck.

WE were broke in the 1980s — or were we?

THE problem with persons offending while on bail is the delay in bringing them to trial.

DESPITE the glorious ideals set out in the 1916 Proclamation citing equality, justice, unity and religious freedom for all, none of it has happened.

THE decision by Colm O’Gorman to stand on the PD ticket at the next general election has raised more than a few eyebrows.

THE amount of time Dáil Éireann is suspended for holidays is a matter of concern. The so-called Easter break amounts to the full month of April, with many TDs absent from the chamber well beyond the official reopening.

JUSTICE MINISTER Michael McDowell takes the view that right-wing philosophies are best for the country. He has criticised the idea of a left-wing coalition, saying: “It would damage the economy and ruin what progress we’ve made.”

THERE’S a great deal of waste developing in our system of government.

US treatment of Irish illegal immigrants is no different to the way we treat illegals here. The State regards them as lawbreakers and wants them out.

THE RTÉ series Joy in the Hood was obscene. Many who performed in the so-called workshops were sucked in by Des Bishop’s attempt to give them a chance in comedy.

THE political abyss is awaiting Northern Ireland if it doesn’t come up with a workable solution for the Assembly soon.

IRISH workers are learning the hard lessons of EU enlargement. Thousands of ‘cheap’ eastern European labourers are being employed at breathtaking pace, while long-standing indigenous workers get the boot.

IT WASN’T pretty, but that won’t matter to Shamrocks, who ended a 24-year famine by collecting the Barry Collins Super Valu South east JAHC title at Innishannon yesterday, dismissing their underdog status to overcome gallant Kinsale.

THE cash-in-transit sector is in crisis, with a plethora of mistakes and lack of procedures. Gardaí have worked very hard in tracking down bank robbers.

OUR immigration policy has been reduced to a cherry-picking exercise.

ST PATRICK’S DAY is becoming an excuse for drunken thugs to rule the streets.