Shane No More:
The most significant result in the European election was John Noonan's victory over Shane Ross in Dublin. With 14,604 first preferences the Sinn Fein man had a thumping majority of 6,505 over the wasp-waisted flibbertigibbet from TCD, a decisive outcome in this crucial struggle for the soul of the capital city and one which has not been given nearly as much attention as it deserves, probably because the media are terrified to face up to the implications, whatever they are.

Over THE LAST SIX MONTHS there HAVE been radical changes in the Dublin heroin trade. They are the result of three factors ~ a series of successful operatioas by the Garda Drugs Squad, the resultant disintegration of the Dunne family's heroin empire, and the determined action taken by comuunities to evict pushers from their areas.

Laura Nolan is three years old. Unlike most children of her age, one of the things Laura likes to do is to play with a computer. Her favourite programme is 'My First Alphabet' which, obviously enough, she has used to teach herself the alphabet.

There were rumours of Trouble before the Fine Gael Parliamentary meeting on Sept 22. It was the first such meeting since the referendum and Tom O'Donnell was said to be preparing an assault on the FitzGerald wing. The meeting opened with Fitzgerald being conciliatory biding wounds, reminding the TDs that there was a real world out there with real problems and it was time to get down to work, to climb every mountain, ford, every stream. The dissident TDs who had walked all over FitzGerald in the Dáil vote on the referendum, sat there when FitzGerald finished.

Mary Holland examines the behaviour of the Fianna Fail leader in the Forum for a New Ireland.

What is Charles J. Haughey up to at the New Ireland Forum?

It's a cool and cloudy Friday night as our taxi cruises to a halt outside the Wembley Arena. Hundreds of hopefuls are hanging around in the unlikely chance of getting a ticket at some kind of reasonable price. The ticket touts have them, and they're all over the place asking up to £400 for a £10 ticket. Inside, stall-sellers are flogging every conceivable form of Bowie paraphernalia. Earrings, key-rings, various teeshirts, glossy souvenir programmes. Money changes hands even faster at several bars dispensing pint-size plastic cups of bitter and lager.

Kerry Dougherty talks to Michael O'Riordan about fifty years of Irish Communism.

The "miracle" was no miracle at all. Cobh Ramblers have been threatening to do it or something like it for years. They beat Drogheda in 1975 when the Louth men were one of the better League of Ireland teams. In 1981 they beat Galway who, homely and humble as they undoubtedly were, were still a League of Ireland team and favourites for the game. Through the past eleven years Ramblers have won the Munster Senior League eight times. And they won the Intermediate Cup in 1980 and this year. 

Have they ever heard of the Irish football team in Italy? They have indeed. One of the Italian newspapers did a survey recently and they had us ranked down at the very bottom of the European League with countries like Malta, Luxemburg and Finland. On what basis are these rankings made? On the results we've had over the past while. And results like Ireland getting beaten five-nil by New Zealand. They send out a team comprised of League of Ireland players to New Zealand and make out that it's the full Irish team. Then they send us off with a squad with just three first team players.

Liam Brady steps off the UC Sampdoira bus into Hotel Cassalli, Cesena. Seven o'clock on Saturday evening, March 12. Irish superstar in Italy clocking in for another weekend away from home keeping the people happy.

Cesena is a town of 90,000 people in the province of Emilia-Romagna. It's nine miles inland from the Adriatic Sea and a little south of Ravenna - capital of the Roman Empire in the fourth century AD, famous for its early Christian Art and fabulous mosaics.