7 April 2005 Edition
Dúirt Siad...
We can understand how Roman Catholics feel at the death of the Pope and we would want in no way to interfere with their expression of sorrow and grief at this time.
Ian Paisley shows a more mellow aspect. Upon the death of Pope John XXIII in 1963, he proclaimed: "This romish man of sin is now in hell." The Irish Independent, Monday 4 April.
Yes, we can mourn -- but not between the hours of 9 and 5.
Capitalist-minded Eoghan Corry doesn't believe in national days of mourning. This debate raged all week, after Bertie Ahern refused to call one for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. The Evening Herald, Tuesday 5 April.
It's a supply and demand situation.
Con Murphy of United Travel defends the costs of travelling to and staying in Rome for the Pope's funeral. The mass influx of people to the eternal city is being used for money making by greedy hoteliers, who have doubled and in some cases trebled their rates. Street stalls have increased the price of bottled water six times. The Irish Independent, Wednesday 6 April.
What marriage?
A Vatican spokesperson inadvertently conveys the irrelevance of the future head of the Church of England's wedding, when asked if the Vatican was happy that Charles and Camilla had postponed the event from Friday to Saturday. BBC News, Tuesday 5 April.
It is true that there are republicans in all the parties here. They have two problems. Their republicanism is of the verbalised variety and their party leaders rarely pay lip service even to verbalised republicanism.
Daily Ireland ponders the difficulties to be faced by so-called republicans in the South's establishment parties, when it comes to celebrating next year's 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Monday 4 April.
Their struggle, in many ways, does resemble that which my father and his comrades embarked on against a policy of criminalisation.
Michael Óg Devine, whose father Mickey died during the 1981 Hunger Strike, urges people to support an estimated 720 Basque political prisoners currently refusing food. The Belfast Telegraph, Tuesday 5 April.