Society

Studies on mice by the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggest that males exposed to passive smoke can cause mutations in the DNA of their sperm and such genetic deformities could then be passed onto their children. John Holden reports.

Smokers do not have it easy. Between price hikes, advertisement bans and unrelenting scientific research into the harmful effects of tobacco, it is hard not to feel some sympathy for those addicted to one of the difficult habits to kick known to man.

The deportation of the Izevbekhai family highlights the complexity which surrounds the issue of immigration and asylum seekers, writes Gavan Titley. 

Pamela Izevbekhai and her daughters, Naomi (10) and Jemima (9) were deported from Ireland on Tuesday morning. Having been arrested at 1.30am, they were flown to Amsterdam at 6am, to be placed on a flight to the Nigerian capital Lagos later that day.

The incoming chief justice Susan Denham has skills and experience to usher in key changes, writes Vincent Browne, changes that are sorely needed in the Irish system of 'justice'

The Parliament of our people, the institution that supposedly holds the government of the day to account, wasn't even told that the State (ie, the Irish public) has guaranteed €50 billion in loans the Central Bank has given to the commercial banks over the last few years.

We don’t need to be inventing mythical islands in the Atlantic Ocean to make it interesting. There is a wealth of undiscovered biological phenomena off Ireland’s west coast which, until now, was yet to be looked into. Last week a group of Irish and English scientists set off in to the middle of the ocean, 3000 metres below sea level to the mid Atlantic ridge. John Holden reports.

The Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child sexual abuse against clerics of the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne was published today (13 July). The report describes the handling of allegations, complaints, suspicions and concerns about child sexual abuse in respect of 19 clerics. The inquiry which forms the basis of the report was ordered by the Government in 2009 and the findings submitted to the Minister for Justice and Law Reform in December 2010.

Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton has announced that he will not be introducing legislation to temporarily cover workers in the wake of last week’s High Court ruling on Joint Labour Committees (JLCs).

Last Friday (8 July) Mr Bruton gave an assurance that he did intend to introduce temporary measures in the wake of the ruling.

At a meeting with officials from the ECB/IMF/European Commission 'troika' yesterday (11 July) Social Justice Ireland argued that Ireland's bailout agreement "is dispossessing poor and vulnerable people of their meagre resources so as to re-pay those banks, financial institutions and others who gambled recklessly but lost their gamble."

At the one and a half hour meeting the delegation said that “an updated Memorandum of Understanding is required which would achieve economic growth and financial stability while securing real protection for poor and vulnerable people."

While the Minister for Finance calls on us to spend more, his colleague Richard Bruton is trying to cut the wages of those who have the highest propensity to spend. The Government had better to to work on some joined-up thinking, writes Michael Taft.

Housing policy is one of the issues that goes to the heart of our current economic crisis. More than health or education, it is an area of policy that successive governments left to the mercy of the market. Some of the consequences are widely acknowledged, such as the massive property bubble and subsequent house price crash. Unfortunately, equally important consequences continue to be ignored, namely housing inequality.

The link between alcohol and suicide is unequivocal and needs to be addressed, writes Bev Cotton.