Those who have ruined the country came through a mostly Catholic schools system without any sense of being part of a society

IN HIS speech in Rimini last week Diarmuid Martin said: "School catechesis, despite the goodwill of teachers, does not produce young Catholics prepared to join in the Christian community. Sometimes, after 15 years of catechesis, young people remain theologically illiterate." He might have been referring to me.

Merrill Lynch warned against the guarantees that the government provided the banks. By Vincent Browne.

On September 24, 2008, the government asked Merrill Lynch to advise on the options in dealing with the emerging Irish banking crisis.

The media extends itself chasing hares about sex crime and political corruption while it systematically neglects fundamental injustices. By Vincent Browne.

The focus on Ivor Callely, and on others accused of abusing public funds for their own gain, misses a big point.

The focus on the threat Larry Murphy, the released rapist, poses to society, misses another big point.

We in the media are good at missing big points; our livelihoods depend on it. For missed big points are often uncomfortable.

Brian Cowen should remember Ozymandias before his Newsweek listing among the foremost leaders of the world goes to his head.

Ozymandias, alias Ramses II, who ruled another legendary empire around 1,250 BC for all of 66 years, was the subject of the famous sonnet by the English poet Percy Shelley in 1818. It ended with the lines:

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains: round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

What is it about politics that so few people make lasting friendships through their work? By Vincent Browne.

Politicians are, in the main, nice guys (and girls).

Yes, there are some nasty people in politics, but in general, they are personable and nice. People who you’d be happy to have a drink with - and that’s the test, isn’t it? The reason is obvious: most of them would not have been elected were they not nice people.

What is the point of all this innovation other than to make money for the designers, the manufacturers, and the retailers? By Vincent Browne.

Not since the age of five have I been given a present as good as the one I got for a recent birthday. Santa brought me a toy jeep back then.

I don’t recall why I was into SUVs at the time but it was great fun, aside from the trouble I had preventing my brothers from taking it. Happily, both of my brothers are tech-illiterate and there will be no competition from them for my recent acquisition - an iPad.

There used to be a vigorous, challenging, intellectual vibe about RTE in the late 1960s and into the 1970s. But now it is home to a culture of complacency. By Vincent Browne.

Cathal Goan, the outgoing director-general of RTE, is a fine man: personable, intelligent, well-read, good company.

Had he the decisiveness and general managerial ability to be head of RTE at a difficult time? Certainly in some cases.

In other cases, maybe not.

Ireland is not broke, just dysfunctional and that could be easily remedied if the political will to do so existed. By Vincent Browne.

ON RTÉ the other morning there was another example of the station’s relentless mischaracterisation of the present crisis, a mischaracterisation that, coincidentally, fits neatly into the agenda of the Government and, as it happens, of an elite here.

Who decided that such a large amount of public money should be spent on the construction of this 'statement building'? By Vincent Browne.

Members of the Bar are delighted with the new Criminal Courts of Justice building on Parkgate Street.

State-of-the-art and all that. The courts needed additional accommodation and, had existing facilities been refurbished and extended, the cost would have been only €24m less than the new building cost.

So why not?

The home defence Bill makes no difference to the law – the Minister is merely bolstering his strong-man credentials. By Vincent Browne.

On July 21 2005 Dick Forrestal, aged 69, a horse breeder, rose, as was his wont, at 5.30am at his home in Carrigavantry, Tramore, Co Waterford. He lived alone, but on that occasion, a friend, Louis Murphy, an octogenarian, was staying with him. They had breakfast together.