IT is pathetic to listen to the incessant empty apologies of various religious groups who were charged with the care of vulnerable children in our society. The chronicle of abuse is almost beyond belief. But it did happen, and it happened in our community.

SHOCK, horror, heavens above and save us from all harm, what is the world coming to — our Taoiseach uttered a profanity.

FINE GAEL and Labour proposed a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach in the Dáil last September. It was defeated. There is a six-month moratorium on repeating the same motion so that we wouldn’t be bored even more rigid by the proceedings in that assembly of fine oratory. Last weekend saw the most personalised attack yet on the Taoiseach in a concerted media movement by opposition leaders Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore. The Taoiseach had just left for a five-day state visit to South Africa. It is beyond comprehension that the opposition leaders did not know about this, so we must assume the offensive was timed to coincide with the Taoiseach’s absence.

GREEN party deputy leader Mary White, seems to suggest that people in rural Ireland do not need the driving skills we normally consider necessary to hold a licence (Irish Examiner, January 4).