Bertie Ahern was challenged in the Dáil this week by Sinn Féin's Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin about the fact that there are more British soldiers in the Six Counties than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. "It's a scandal and a disgrace that ten years after the IRA cessation and six years after the Good Friday Agreement, there are 12,000 British troops based in the North," said Ó Caoláin. Free article

Michael McDowell, the Progressive Democrats Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who thinks a good dollop of inequality is good for the economy, is the Minister in charge of childcare provision in the 26 Counties. He presides over a sector where children are often deprived of the best care, childcare places are scarce and expensive, the system is unco-ordinated and under funded and low-income families are losing out. Free article

BY MARTIN McGUINNESS (Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator) Following the Leeds Castle talks, the media were in a frenzy on the back of government briefings that a deal was imminent and it was just a matter of putting the finishing touches to the detail. Free article

Only two things came out clearly from the Leeds Castle talks. Republicans were up for a deal and the DUP was not. Writing in this week's An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin's Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness warned against media spin that suggested that a deal was imminent and that the DUP had accepted the core principles of the Good Friday Agreement. Free article

The family of Pat Finucane left their meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday with as many questions as answers, according to Michael Finucane, son of the murdered Belfast solicitor. Free article

In a week when thousands of citizens attended a rally at Belfast City Hall on Saturday to show racists they have no place in society, it has been disclosed that a number of estate agents in South Belfast are vetting clients of ethnic origin. These estate agents have been reported to the Equality Commission. Free article