Vincent Browne: Knowing Charlie Haughey
I had known Charlie Haughey since 1965 when, as a student, I was on a television panel that interviewed him. With a mutual friend I visited him in his first grand home, Grangemore, in 1968. I remember very little about the visit but he later recalled I asked him then where he got the money to afford such a fine house. I asked him the same question again and again over the years and one time in 1979, a few months before he became Taoiseach, he told me the truth but I didn't believe him. He said he was able to borrow money on the asset of his mansion and estate at Kinsealy and that was precisely what emerged later at the McCracken and Moriarty Tribunals. By Vincent Browne.
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Me and Ché and the V & A
Martin McGuinness is forever getting invited to all kinds of events. Dinner parties, garden fêtes, school openings, weddings, farmers' markets, art exhibitions, solemn novenas, Shawaddywaddy concerts, christenings, fly-fishing contests, book launches, organic-baking promos, musical gigs of all kinds. Me? I rarely get invited to anything. Well that's not strictly true. I do get invited to things. But I never get invited to the kind of things Martin gets invited to. You know what I mean? I mean the type of thing you might just go to and enjoy?
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Following to lead
A new exhibition at the innovative Four gallery invites the public to reinterpret artworks, hoping to create an endless flow of ideas. By Billy Leahy
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World Cup Fever
It's hard to take a full 360º turn without seeing a new football book or a photo of a metatarsal. Much has been made of the similarities between Paul Gascoigne and Wayne Rooney – a sobering thought for Rooney should he spend this summer's World Cup on the bench.
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Three wishes from Latin America
Chasing rabid dogs, hanging out with hippies from Donegal, Manchán Magan's travel tale breathes new life into the oft-documented Latin American experience. Reviewed by Michael McCaughan
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Dereliction on O'Connell St: city council to blame
The Carlton site has been derelict for 27 years. In part because Dublin City Council inexplicably issued a compulsory purchase order on the site and then sought to deliver the site into the hands of a favoured developer. By Frank Connolly
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Team America
As the Clintons launch themselves back into the limelight for Hillary Clinton's 2006 Senate campaign, rumours about new marital difficulties seem at odds with the couple's behaviour. Marion McKeone profiles the king and queen of American politics
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Politicians continue to ignore report on sexual violence
Fine Gael is right to demand an independent inquiry into the mishandling of the constitutional crisis over sex-offenders. The scale of the bungling was awesome. But an inquiry into what went on in the offices of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), the chief state solicitor, the Attorney General's office and the offices of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not enough. Indeed such an inquiry is tangential to what needs to be done.
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Get it while it's hot (or cold)!
The wild Irish salmon season is upon us. Darina Allen advises on how to recognise the best fish, and what to do when we get them home
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Writing it for the kids
Tony Hickey looks at the winners of the 2006 CBI Bisto Book of the Year Awards for Children's Literature
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Street-fighting for survival
Alastair Campbell famously decreed that if a government politician featured in negative frontpage stories for more than a week, the greater good of government required him to walk the plank, regardless of the facts. Michael McDowell is now well past that line.
Despite a tumult of commentary demanding his resignation, the minister insists he has acted on the statutory rape issue with "good authority and courage" and time will vindicate his actions. He says he will not resign and you just know it is true. By John Waters
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Moving right along
The ugly word "paroxysm" springs to mind for the recent understandable, but largely hysterical, always disproportionate and sometimes objectionable, media reaction to the legal debacle over "unlawful carnal knowledge".
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The cuckoo spit
Éanna Ní Lamhna solves the mystery of the Cuckoo spit, which has nothing to do with cuckoos
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Charlie my hero
Charlie my hero Charles Haughey is a cultured, intelligent, dedicated, patriotic man. He is no crook. By Catherine Butler
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Myers: fanciful frolics and fanciful facts
Although he has found a new home at the Irish Independent, Kevin Myers' output is largely unchanged from his days in the Irish Times. Roughly half of his columns fall under the category of "fanciful frolics". These pieces are intended to be humourous, although the humour is spoiled by Myers' relentless desire to show off his classical education and his obsession with men in uniform and rugby scrums.
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Fianna Fáil anger with McDowell
Several FF backbenchers want rid of the PDs. Enda Kenny's stature has been enhanced. McDowell's performance is shambolic. Brian Lenihan's career is on the rise. By Emma Browne, Frank Connolly and Vincent Browne
I don't see open rebellion [among backbenchers] but there is a lot of resentment building up against [Michael] McDowell. There are often personal resentments within parties as well as between them but this is different. If he is seen to have dirtied his hands on this one he is gone. Everybody knows that he is another accident just waiting to happen. I have been of the view for the past year that we have got to distance ourselves from the PDs before the election. If we can get the high ground on an issue like this we should take the opportunity to ditch them."
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Fame, fortune and outrage
On Friday (2 June) Pat Kenny accounted on his programme he was going to be away for the remainder of June, July and August. Seemingly, the start of the exodus from RTÉ of the main presenters, with changes to the schedules and formats. How anyone ever agreed to allow presenters the same time off work as teachers enjoy (hardly a coincidence!) is incomprehensible. What is the rationale for this?
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Brazil's golden boy has what it takes
Pele and Socrates may doubt Ronaldinho, but he has risen to every challenge over the past two years and may yet be considered Brazil's best ever player, writes Ken Early
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