THE Assembly debate in the past fortnight on the Report on the Inquiry into the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm - produced by the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety - was the culmination of a thorough inquiry into this very important issue. The committee's investigation arose following discussions between myself and the Chair of the Health Committee, DUP MP and MLA Iris Robinson, last September. Free article

TRADE UNIONS and social democrats had hoped that they had defeated the Bolkestein Directive. But the neo-liberal attack on workers' rights in the EU goes on. We were supposed to remain in charge of our social system. Now we know better now that the European Court of Justice has handed down three judgments - in the Viking, Laval and Rüffert cases - which show that the laws of the market take precedence over workers' rights. Free article

MEP Mary Lou McDonald has appealed to workers and trade unionists to reject the Lisbon Treaty because it fails to provide essential protections for workers' rights. The Dublin MEP was speaking at a media briefing in the Irish capital last week with fellow MEP Bairbre de Brún; Dublin City Councillor Larry O'Toole, a leading trade union activist in the services sector; and Gerry Adams MP. Free article

IRISH Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has been accused of dodging the facts and a real debate on the loss of Ireland's veto on international trade agreements such as the World Trade Organisation deal. Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said that Minister Lenihan is hiding behind statements by the EU Commission which, she said, are "economical with the truth". Free article

THE Executive Council of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which represents more than 600,000 workers, has voted to support the campaign for a 'Yes' vote on the Lisbon Treaty referendum. Leaders of ICTU, including its president, David Begg, have claimed that the treaty will be a step forward for workers' rights as the Charter of Fundamental Rights seemingly enshrines the right to strike. Some of the individual unions affiliated to the ICTU are calling for a 'No' vote, including Unite, one of Congress's largest affiliates. The Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) is recommending its 45,000 members vote 'No', and the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), representing more than 200,000 workers, has said it will not support the Lisbon Treaty unless the Irish Government commits to legislating for collective bargaining for workers. Free article

• This news feature is funded by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Free article

What Secretary of State Shaun Woodward didn't say in his softly-softly appeal to the UDA and the UVF was that his government had presided over the arming of the unionist paramilitaries. Free article

SIX-COUNTY MEP Bairbre de Brún has welcomed proposed new EU regulations to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars. Speaking at the European Parliament's Environment Committee in Brussels last week, she said: "The debate on the EU regulations to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars is an essential part of meeting carbon reduction targets. Free article

Bhí mé ag tiomáint go Baile Átha Cliath oíche amháin an seachtain seo caite agus toisc go ngiorrann beirt bóthar bhí an raidió ar siúl sa ghluaisteán mar chomhluadar an turais. Níl a fhios agam cén stáisiún a bhí ann ach bhí clár painéil de shaghas éigin ag plé imeachtaí agus nuacht an lae. I measc an ábhair faoi chaibidil bhí an scannán nua Hunger faoi bhás Bobby Sands. Sa stiúidió bhí Alan Dukes agus cuireadh ceist air faoina thuairim d'íobairt Bhobby. 'Bhí mé sa rialtas le linn cuid den tréimhse sin' arsa sé ' agus tá mo thuairimí féin agam faoi ach ní raibh am agam riamh don IRA ná Sinn Féin blah blah scéimhlitheoirí blah blah...' Tháinig tuirse orm lemo chomhluadar bóthair. Free article

Not helped by being sandwiched between the Leinster minor and senior hurling final. Which is a bit like listening to Westlife in the middle of a Smokey Robinson album Free article