It is grotesquely hilarious to witness Allied Irish Bank chief executive David Duffy castigate so-called strategic defaulters for their alleged refusal to fulfill mortgage contracts (Irish Examiner, Aug 2).

SOME readers may be puzzled by the latest ESRI report on the economy, so I humbly offer a translation.

JUST to be clear on how things stand. A full out-of-hours social service to place children in a safe environment, as recommended by the Monageer report, is not possible in the current economic downturn. Similarly, two wards in Crumlin Children’s Hospital are to be closed because of a lack of funds.

Today's Leinster schools results.