I HOPE Michael Healy-Rae is suitably grateful that the present coalition won the last general election, after all the last minister for health wouldn’t have been much use to our Michael last Monday.

IF I deliberately wanted to hurt the poorest in our society I can think of no better way to do it than by hitting the price of coal.

RELATIVELY recent events have surely highlighted one thing — the extent to which the Oireachtas has ringfenced itself from the justice and remuneration systems as they apply to the rest of us.

I NOTE that, according to Professor Geraint Rees “a strong correlation was seen between numbers of Facebook friends” and the amount of grey matter in certain regions of the brain (News, October 19).

WHY is it that when the Government finds it necessary to reduce the public sector pay bill they manage to exclude the Oireachtas?

BRITAIN’S chancellor of the exchequer, prior to the dissolution of parliament, said he intended to make banks that received state funds give loans to business.

THE “unacceptable behaviour” of Czech President Vaclav Klaus here this week brings to mind an incident many years ago when two Czech diplomats were expelled from Sweden also for unacceptable behaviour, giving rise to the memorable headline, ‘Swedes bounce bad Czechs’.

OLIVIA O’LEARY’S latest radio essay (Drivetime, RTÉ, December 20) denounced Charles Haughey following publication the day before of the Moriarty report. What took her so long?

A FEW days ago in Dublin, I struck a blow for Cork people everywhere. “Why,” I asked, buttonholing the nearest Iarnród Éireann employee, “do you have to pay to use the toilets at Heuston Station but not at Connolly [in Cork]? Is this another example of Iarnród Éireann taking the piss out of Cork people?”

DO you think Bertie has finally seen Deloitte, or is he still out of Touche with reality?

WHILE watching the Pope’s funeral in Rome I thought isn’t it wonderful to see an event which thousands of ordinary and sincere fans could attend without being screwed by ticket agents.

ISN’T it marvellous? Irish Life named Fund Managers of the Year. And now they’re running a radio ad trumpeting their achievements over the last 10 years and what do you get?

WHEN the Minister for Education, Mr Dempsey, entered talks with the teacher unions on the new Junior Cert science syllabus I thought he would decide either to introduce it this September or postpone it until September, 2004.