`Irony is not a strong point with the comrades,' Guy Burgess, the British spy who infamously defected to Soviet Russia in the 1950's was attributed as saying in Alan Bennett's film ``An Englishman Abroad''. Free article

ROBBIE MacGABHANN dicusses Dublin Finance minister Charlie McCreevy's latest financial strokes, all weighted significantly against the low paid Free article

It's been 22 years now since America installed a new leader in Iraq to contain the threat of fundamentalist Islam from neighbouring Iran. President Saddam Hussein attempted to invade Iran the following year, armed by America. In the ten-year war that followed, 1 million people died, and little was made of Iraqi atrocities such as the use of nerve gas. But when Saddam turned his attentions to Kuwait - oil rich and friendly to America - the US spearheaded an international force to drive him out. Ever since, no mention has been made of America's original backing for Hussein, often at the expense of the Shi'ite Muslims and Kurds, who America is now seen to be protecting. Since the Gulf War it has been official US policy to get rid of Saddam. Free article

Nach raibh a fhios againn go mbeadh fonn troda ag George W. Bush agus é mar Uachtárán? Níl sé i bhfad sa phost ach feictear gur mhaith leis gabháil i mbun feachtas cogaíochta cheana féin. Free article

The first march organised by the National H-Block/Armagh Committee last Sunday in Belfast, in the renewed campaign to achieve the prisoners' five demands proved to be a welcome morale boost for all those attending. Fears that a degree of apathy or demoralisation had set in since the ending of the last hunger strike were dispelled both by the size and the air of militancy which marked the demonstration. Free article

The Hidden Famine: Hunger Poverty and Sectarianism in Belfast 1840-1850 By Christine Kinealy and Gerard MacAtasney Pluto Press Price £13.99 Free article