Silence on CIA visitor

The visit by the head of the CIA John Brennan to his family home in Co Roscommon should surely not have passed without the Government taking the opportunity to ask him about the rendition planes his organisation brought through Shannon Airport.

While the visit was in a personal capacity, the kidnapping and torture of innocent men is far too serious a matter to leave aside in deference to the spirit of The Gathering.

So, too, is the CIA use of drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, which are known to kill innocent civilians.