Nearly eight years ago, on April 11th, 2002, seven judges of the Supreme Court thought it necessary to convey their views on Oireachtas inquiries into the Abbeylara case with a verbosity that even they themselves never exceeded, either before or since. 

The combined judgments come to 123,900 words, more than most large books. The judgments are repetitive and at times rambling. For these reasons it is hardly surprising that few people have ever read them. Life is short.

Late last week, the White House website carried details of a 30-minute phone conversation last Friday morning between President Barack Obama and René Préval, the president of Haiti.

It reported: ‘‘President Obama said that the world had been devastated by the loss and suffering in Haiti, and pledged the full support of the American people for the government and people of Haiti as it relates to both the immediate recovery effort and the long-term rebuilding effort.

Brian Cowen’s 50th birthday on Sunday must have been marked with less than euphoric celebration of his life achievements to date, although the achievements are substantial. To become prime minister of one’s country is a significant accomplishment and he has many qualities of a fine person and, I am sure, a good father, husband and friend.

The most extraordinary revelation of last Thursday night’s BBC Spotlight programme on Iris and Peter Robinson was the conduct of Peter Robinson hours after, according to him, his wife threatened to kill herself.

On the morning of March 1, 2008,he left his wife at home, without medical attention, and in a condition that required her immediate hospitalisation once doctors arrived. He went into the chamber at Stormont and was jocular and relaxed.

Several years ago, in response to a column I had written to do with the Catholic Church, Cahal Daly wrote a letter to me, which I remember as a magnificent put-down.  It was witty, clever and respectful, but a put-down. I responded in a similar vein, acknowledging the put-down, and we corresponded occasionally since then. (Unfortunately, I do not now recall what the point at issue was, nor can I find any of his letters).

The campaign of Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, to be rid of turbulent bishops who, he believes, shared corporate responsibility in the diocese for the concealment of clerical child abuse seems unfair and quixotic.

Unfair and quixotic, because it is not these bishops who are primarily to blame for the concealment of this abuse. It is the culture, the ethos, indeed the very being of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Diarmuid Martin has not acknowledged this, maybe because he can’t, for it would defy his own identity as a major functionary of that Church.

On a personal level it is to be hoped the Minister recovers quickly; it is also an important public matter that he does.

In the functional library of the Mater Dei Institute on the afternoon of Thursday, November 26,Diarmuid Martin, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, had just read his statement of apology and shame following the publication of the Murphy Report on the archdiocese.

In 1922, the Vatican promulgated an instruction to do with what it called crimen solicitationis (the crime of solicitation within the confessional) and what it called the ‘‘worst crime’’ - the sexual abuse of children. The document was issued in Latin. No authoritative version was produced in English.

The document was circulated only to bishops and under terms of strict secrecy.

A new version of the guidelines was produced in 1962, but this, according to the Murphy Commission, was unknown within the Dublin diocese until some time in the 1990s.

The following are letters of invitation to party leaders to take part in interviews with Vincent Browne on TV3’s Tonight programme.