Lansdowne Road pension deal: Increases strengthen inequities

AS any court functionary will confirm, the lower levels of our justice system would have far less to do if, like those socially peculiar countries Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, we banned alcohol.

If our courts did not have to rule on the indiscretions committed by sane people unhinged by alcohol then our courts — and jails — would be far less cluttered.

Equally, our papers would lose a great source of stories, and justified outrage, if our pubic services were properly resourced and in a position to deliver the kind of service we can be proud of.