Mulligan's, Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2. Some people would like to put a preservation order on this pub and its , atmosphere'. Devoid of plastic trimmings, fulfilling its function as a place to meet and drink in much the way that old Wild West saloons must have done, it's a natural for those who are into basic Living, maaaan.

THE IRISH LEFT has been characterized by a sectarianism of its own for several decades - Brendan Behan said of republican organisaations that the first item on the agenda at all their inaugural meetings was 'the split' - so perhaps it is salutory that two such groups are contemplating fusion over the next few months. By Gene Kerrigan

As republican and loyalist violence diminishes in Northern Ireland, there is yet no hope of a political solution, writes Kevin Myers.

He sustained a belief in the dream world that could be created out of ordinary life as it surrounded him, writes Bruce Arnold in an evaluation of the work of the late Sean Keating.

"AISLING DRURY-BYRNE talks about and plays some of the 'cello pieces set for this year's Intermediate Certificate Examination." (RTE Guide for 3.01 pm 28th January.)

IN SPITE OF the huge advances in medical science in this century life expectancy, for those who reach the age of forty has not increased at all. According to Dr. Noel Hickey of the Department of Preventive Medicine at UCD. this is because of changes in behaviour patterns. He cites in particular the things we eat and the fact that most of us take a lot less exercise. Even without any obvious excesses, like overwork or heavy drinking, the average modern lifestyle is a health hazard. Most people are slowly, inexorably, killing themselves.  By Eamon Dunphy.

THEY DON'T NEED ME,' says Noel Browne, TD. He says it with no mock modesty, a hint of satisfaction and a perceivable measure of hope. He is explaining that the recently formed Socialist Labour Party 'is not, repeat not, Noel Browne's New Party'. By Gene Kerrigan

A report by Kevin Myers on one of the poorest and most violent ghettos in Belfast.

WHERE COUNTY DOWN ends its dismal encounter with East Belfast, through the cramped and decaying streets of Ballymacarret at the rim of the River Lagan and County Antrim, lies the Short Strand, four hundred yards by four hundred yards of belliigerent Republicanism and poverty, surrounded on three sides by loyalist districts and on the fourth by the River Lagan. Its back to the East, the Strand faces Belfast city centre; which a large number of its residents have done their best to flatten.

Our telephone service is a national sick joke. The postal service isn't much better. It's hard to open a newspaper without reading about another strike. Victorian attitudes to staff relations mean that things are going to get worse. By Liam O'Toole

In the past few months, and in particular since the Ferenka dispute in Limerick, the Marine Port and General Workers Union has emerged as the media's No. 1 trade union bogeyman. But the truth behind the headlines is rarely as simple as the harassed subeditors would like to think. LIAM O'TOOLE analyses the recent history of the MPGWU and, in particular its 'troubled relations with the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.