Dúirt Siad...

Justice Minister Michael McDowell was being described as 'a dead man walking' by Fianna Fáil backbenchers this week after the humiliating U-turn on his plans to close down casinos. - Tom Fell, Ireland on Sunday 23 July on Michael McDowell's climbdown on his original plan to close down casinos.

The senior Garda who was described in the Barr report as "negligent" in his handling of the siege at John Carthy's Abbeylara home was paid a gratuity of €110,000 on top of his full pension when he retired last year. - John Burke and Connor McMahon, Sunday Tribune 23 July on former Superintendent Joe Shelly's receipt of a discretionary payment despite reports of his negligence in handling the Abbeylara siege.

People are not ready yet to work with the PSNI. All the evidence suggests there is still a huge sense of mistrust in them. - Community Restorative Justice (CRJ) director Jim Auld on attempts to force the CRJ to co-operate with the PSNI. Daily Ireland, 24 July.

This book offers a great deal more than a routine biography of one of the ten hunger strikers. Hegarty has written a deeply moving and compelling version of the 1980-81 prison struggle in which he draws upon his own first-hand knowledge and personal recollection of that momentous chapter in recent Irish history. - Connla Young on Aiden Hegarty's Kevin Lynch and the Irish Hunger Strike, Daily Ireland 24 July.

Meanwhile George Bush and 'Yo Blair' ignore the evidence of slaughter and continue to waffle on about the time not being right for a ceasefire, and giving Israel time to achieve its objectives. What they really mean is giving Israel time to bring its neighbour to its knees to make Lebanon a subservient state which will provide Israel with a compliant buffer zone between its other, stronger enemies Syria and Iran. - Colin O' Carroll, Daily Ireland 24 July.

Between the Barr Report and the three published reports of the Morris Tribunal, the State's official depiction of the Gardaí is of a force blighted by ineptitude, inadequate resources, and bad management. - Justine McCarthy, Irish Independent 24 July on Gardai and the Barr Tribunal.

The father of a teenager who witnessed the brutal beating dished out to murdered Ballymena schoolboy Michael McIlveen has said his son's life is under threat. - Connla Young, Daily Ireland, 25 July PSNI warnings regarding the safety of a 16 old witness to the McIlveen murder.