Columnists
Ian O'Doherty : Ian O'Doherty: We've been cheated by builders and bankers, but this was something else
So, have you calmed down yet? Has the sickening sense of moral outrage at this most egregious example of cowardly cheating begun to pass? Nope, I didn't think so.
Charlie Weston : Charlie Weston: Help needed now more than ever for homeowners
THERE can be little doubt that we are now in the midst of a mortgage meltdown. Yesterday's figures from the Central Statistics Office show that 77,500 households are in arrears on their mortgages and rent payments.
Brendan Keenan : Brendan Keenan: Secret of good looks lost on economy that lacks symmetry
THE secret of good looks, apparently, is symmetry. One side of the face should be as much like the other side as possible. In which case, it is no surprise that we have a fairly ugly economy.
Peter Bills : Peter Bills: Ending slug-fest would be worth a few torn shirts
It is an area as grey and forbidding as a November sky in the northern hemisphere. It is strictly regulated, studiously watched by officials and yet has about as many flaws as Ireland's public transport services.
Ian O'Doherty : Ian O'Doherty: Well, it beats the naughty chair
Kids are a complete pain in the backside. They eat too much food, consume too many resources -- and you can't even sell them into slavery.
Vincent Hogan : Vincent Hogan: French dejection
So we turn our lonely eyes to the granite wilderness of Saint Denis and its beautiful abattoir. Up on the roof of Paris, the sweeping curve of Stade de France looms haughtily, like an arched eyebrow over a worn face. The landscape is strictly warehousing and industry here, just airport traffic hurrying by and the distant rumble of jets at Charles de Gaulle airport.
Peter Bills : Peter Bills: 'Fergie card' a cynical ploy in modern era
Truth, so the saying goes, is the first casualty of war. Now professional rugby union can be added to that list.
Vincent Hogan : Vincent Hogan: Henry's terrible truth hits home hard
Tranquillity then in the smart boutiques of football. Left Bank chic looks to have punctured all that dervish energy. The sense of what had been lost reached into every strut and beam of Croke Park on Saturday night.
Eugene McGee : Eugene McGee: Dilution of power a major threat to the old GAA order
Who runs the GAA nowadays? It seems such a straightforward question for those immersed in our national games all their lives. They assume the association is run by county boards, provincial Councils and Central Council. Sure hasn't it been like that since the GAA was set up back in 1884.
Vincent Hogan : Vincent Hogan: Carberry pays heavy penalty for the sin of being 'careless'
He will know what you are thinking. Bad egg. Trouble. Smoking gun. Paul Carberry's rap sheet hangs over him today like the bedside chart of a man surrounded by weeping family. You've seen his face splattered across enough bad news pages to conclude that he must, indeed, answer to all of the descriptions above.
Medb Ruane : Medb Ruane: Yes we wuz robbed -- but lads proved we can do it
THE love of one's country is a terrible thing, but it was beautiful on Wednesday. That game, that crushing decision, painted Irish men at their best.
Vincent Hogan : Vincent Hogan: Thierry the thief steals our dream
UNDER a starless sky, death by a single cut then. The end had a larcenous feel. A goal in extra-time that should never have stood. A French captain, literally, with guilt on his hands. ‘La Marseillaise’ being sung by empty voices.
Martina Devlin : Martina Devlin: Public face of our banks reflects turmoil within
THE bank teller who served me was chewing gum, and the greyish blob of flavoured rubber was visible against one of her molars whenever she spoke.
Ian O'Doherty : Ian O'Doherty: Are you sure about that?
Displaying the kind of infantile, puerile humour that makes Roy Chubby Brown look like Eddie Izzard, Katherine Lynch's shtick seems to revolve around taking an obvious cultural stereotype, such as Travellers or chavs, and then saying 'mickey' and 'diddies' a lot; much to the amusement of the troglodyte mouth-breathers who think this is somehow edgy or daring.
Charlie Weston : Charlie Weston: 'We didn't miss this service at all'
FOR Irish Rail, it seems that decent consumer service is a bridge too far. The state rail company re-opened the Northern Line yesterday after the line was out of action for three months while the viaduct between Malahide and Donabate was being repaired.
Ian O'Doherty : Ian O'Doherty: I'm a prisoner, get me out of here
The British penal system has certainly changed a lot since the good old days of the Victorian era when a prisoner was simply thrown into a cell, encouraged to pray for redemption and then left to rot.
Peter Bills : Peter Bills: Ghosts of Ireland past undermine current ambition
No wonder Brian O'Driscoll has decreed his wedding celebrations will last the best part of four days. He's going to need that long and more to open all the presents left for him by Ireland's grateful rugby fans after another exceptional act by their captain yesterday.
Gene Kerrigan : Gene Kerrigan: Destroying the economy in bid to save it
An old story from the Vietnam War came to mind last week, as Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan continued their triumphant march. They've finally set up Nama. And they have the Oireachtas numbers to push through their savage Budget.
Brendan Keenan : Brendan Keenan: Capital tax can help ease burden of spending cuts on the workforce
WE must all pull together in this time of national emergency. So, in that spirit, I think I can be of assistance to Brothers Begg, O'Connor et al. You are looking in the wrong place, comrades.
Kevin Myers : Kevin Myers: Stalinists thought they had got away with the Big Lie
Historians will wonder at it but the simple truth is that the Labour Party was, in effect, taken over by the relics of the Workers Party
