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David McWilliams: Fresh thinking needed to cut growing dole queues

One of the saddest and most revealing books I have ever read was written about the Great Depression. 'The Unemployed Man and His Family' was written by an American academic called Mirra Komarovsky.

Kevin Myers: Don't believe the hjype or the N�rdic negativity, my trijp to IKEA was an aff�r to remember

By Kevin Myers

Ikea is not The Beatles and Elvis Presley together, live on stage. Ikea is not George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer performing a sex act in public.

Ian O'Doherty: Death to naughty whales

By Ian O'Doherty

Frankly, ISpy didn't shed any tears for the death of Dawn Brancheau, the whale trainer killed by captive killer whale, Tilikum, in an aquarium in Florida the other week.

We've come a long way in 1,000 days -- mostly down

By LISE HAND

'I'm told that in your present manifestation the Fianna Fail/Green government is today a thousand days in office," Eamon Gilmore informed the Taoiseach in the Dail yesterday afternoon.

Watchdog won't be muzzled over grant scheme inquiry

By MICHAEL BRENNAN

EMILY O'Reilly is a watchdog who will bark when challenged. She is not a fan of the "softly, softly" regulatory approach made famous by the likes of former Financial Regulator Patrick Neary in his dealings with Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Nationwide and others.

Republican race for White House takes a right turn

By SIMON HEFFER

The race for the Republican Party's presidential nomination has started, though the election itself is 32 months away. Even in a place so brash and upfront as the United States there is some subtlety, at least at this stage, about the process.

Lise Hand: How women can prevent us from being manhandled again

By Lise Hand

THESE days, behind every set of newsmaking initials -- AIB, BOI, FAS, NAMA and the DDDA for example -- stand lots and lots of men.

Anti-war squad ignores signs of hope in Iraq

By David Aaronovitch

IMAGINE for a moment that you've woken up to the election results from North Korea. Or Syria. Or even China. The turnout is above 62pc, and millions of votes have been cast throughout the country for an exhaustingly wide range of candidates from all sorts of political parties and groups. No group will have a majority, so soon negotiations about forming a government will begin.

Kevin Myers: A constitutional declaration that we adore children is meaningless blather

By Kevin Myers

'Keane emerges as preferred candidate for HSE chief executive,' said the headline. Well, why not? Robbie Keane has had what football-writers call a chequered career, so why should he not take over the Haiti that is our health service?