Having claimed on 9 April that his 'revelations' concerning Patrick Holland were a 'world exclusive' and a 'bombshell', Paul Williams acknowledged on 16 April the 'world Exclusive' 'bombshell' was neither a world exclusive nor a bombshell. By Vincent Browne

New high-speed train carriages for the Dublin-Cork route, originally promised for last December, will not be in use until May and their full implementation will not happen until the end of the year. The new carriages will coincide with the introduction of an hourly service between Dublin and Cork, and were originally meant to be fully implemented by the autumn.

The above is what Patrick "Dutchy" Holland said to reporters after he was conviced of cannabis trafficking in 1997, meaning that media coverage had helped convict him. John Byrne looks at some of the press that surrounded his release from prison on 8 April

Padraigín Clancy on the traditions of Easter in Ireland

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte now enjoys a blank cheque from his party to agree to whatever deal with Fine Gael he feels is necessary for a successful assault on government at the next election.

For those who seek copies of public documents – an unfashionable and beleaguered breed in boom-time Ireland – there was some good news last week. Monica Muller, an environmentalist campaigning against the on-shore Shell refinery at Rossport, was charged €1 a page by Mayo County Council for A4 photocopies of planning documents. Following a complaint to the Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly (pictured), this was massively reduced.

The Labour Party's deputy leader has travelled a bewildering trajectory from privilege to architecture, to Marxism/Stalinism, back to (very) moderate social democracy. By Emma Browne

All hostels in which unaccompanied minors seeking asylum reside in will now be subject to the national standards on residential units. This means that hostels accommodating these children will have to meet the same standards as required for all residential units housing children in State care.

The revival of the memory of heroic battle of the Hanrahan family against Merck Sharpe and Dohme may cause difficulties for the Strategic Infrastructure Bill about to go through the Dáil. By Clare O'Grady Walshe

In 2002 an investigation into the deaths of two young children at the Bride Street/Ross Road flats in Dublin recommended that a fire safety audit be carried out by the council. Nearly four years on the audit has not been completed. Emma Browne reports