Fri24052013
Last update05:54:53 PM GMT
THE IRISH CHURCH was uniquein that it avoided nearly all the hugeproblems the Catholic Church else-where faced over the last four hun-dred years. It suffered practically no apostacy. In fact, from the beginningof the nineteenth century the Catholic Church in Ireland has gained increas-ingly the loyalty and support of the people.
THE PAPACY is no stranger to earthly vicissitudes. Popes have beenhoundedfrom their sees by emperorsand kings. Their palaces have been burned,their lands occupied by foreign troops. They have been elected by corrupt processes and turnedinto the puppets of powerful families and monarchs.
Electronics giant Apple has unveiled the third iPhone release. Named "iPhone 3GS", the latest release contains some useful new features, notably the video/audio applications and voice command, but the advances are underwhelming compared with those made by iPhone 3G on the original 2G release. Most obviously lacking is an inbuilt FM radio, which Apple persistently disregards as a practicable addition to any of its personal mobile devices.
The winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics says Ireland is bunched.
The title of Paul Krugman's column in the New York Times today is “Erin Go Broke”. Krugman is the current Noel Laureate for economics and, arguably, the most influential columnist in the US. He is writing about how bad the US economic prospects could get and he responds to his own question with: “America could turn Irish”.
Add a comment 
Normally, it hardly matters who is running the country, no mater how incompetent. But right now it matters greatly because Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan have bet the future of the country for a generation of a bank rescue scheme and there is grave doubt that they know what they are doing.
The war in Gaza that began on 27 December 2008 reaches the end of its third week with its human toll still rising: by the end of 16 January 2009, more than 1,100 people had been killed (including over 300 children) and 5,100 injured (including over 1,500 children). The Israel Defence Forces (IDF's) air attacks intensified as the three-week mark approached, and its tanks and armoured vehicles moved closer into the crowded urban areas where the majority of the strip's 1.5 million Palestinians live. The concentrated assaults have inflicted damage estimated at $1.4 billion on Gaza's infrastructure, destroyed much of the infrastructure of the governing Hamas movement and eliminated some of its senior officials.
By Paul Rogers of www.opendemocracy.net
On Friday 21 November, 2008,, at a Law Society gathering, Adrian Hardiman of the Supreme Court addressed the issues of distortion and bias that characterises the media's coverage of the courts. His remarks, which have caused some anger among the media, were actually too constrained. By Vincent Browne
Adrian Hardiman's arguments were:
* Any sense of the(court) process which led to the (eventual trial) result and its significance is often distorted as the reporter or some editor focuses on some incidental but picturesque detail, or on the need for a headline.
Add a comment 
At an extraordinary meeting of the Parliament of the Czech Republic on Tuesday, 9 December, it was decided to defer the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at least until 3 February 2009.
The increased hijacking of international vessels off the Horn of Africa reflects the world's neglect and misjudgment of Somalia's internal conflicts, says Georg-Sebastian Holzer of OpenDemocracy.org
Ever bolder pirate attacks have - out of nowhere, it has seemed - put Somalia on the frontpages and screens of international media. This world attention has a bitter aftertaste, for it comes after a long period of neglect by this selfsame media of persistent internecine warfare and humanitarian crisis in the country.
As Paul Warwick rolled back the decades with a consummate dropped goal, the consternation among a delirious crowd was unmistakable - were Munster really about to recreate rugby history? By Chris Barclay, New Zealand Press Association.
VIDEO: Highlights from the game, plus the Munster and New Zealand hakas
Politico contains digitised versions of several prominent Irish magazines published since 1968. Over 400 editions are available, which appear online just as they did in print. Access them here. Subscribe here.