BUDGET 2016: We have two big decisions to make before the spring election

There is a huge prize at the far side of this election. If current economic trends continue Ireland will see a balanced budget again by 2017, writes Fergus Finlay

After that weekend, it seems almost crass to talk about politics. Despite the tension and then exhilaration at what happened in Cardiff, nothing could quite erase the thought of little children and their parents dying in a terrible fire in a quiet residential area. Children are dead and an entire community is bereaved.

You could see in the faces of neighbours how they felt about the disaster, and you could tell from the dozens of floral tributes that this was a tragedy that cut deep into the neighbourhood. And a wider community is bereaved too, the community of travellers. Both the neighbourhood and that wider community were united in grief throughout yesterday.