ONE of the peculiarities of the American justice system is the use of capital punishment in 16 states, most enthusiastically in Texas. Herzog interviewed a number of prisoners on Death Row. The case of Mike Perry and Jason Burkett is the basis of this film. (Other interviews have been shown by Channel 4 under the title Death Penalty.) Premium service article

“A CHANGED COUNTRY rooted in tradition,” the newspapers told us, “overwhelmingly Catholic” and “experiencing a population explosion”, while “family breakdown soars”. This was their take on the premilinary results of Census 2011 on ‘official Ireland’ (26 Counties being passed off as ‘Ireland’). The Irish Government’s Central Statistics Office even called its report ‘This is Ireland — Highlights from Census 2011.’ Premium service article

IT WAS A DARK DAY for civil liberties on Wednesday 18 April in Strasbourg as the European Parliament voted for an EU/US air passenger data transfer agreement. Free article

DELEGATES, members, unthinking Labour lobby fodder . . . I would like to welcome you to our Annual Conference here in Galway where we celebrate 100 years of a party founded by James Connolly and Jim Larkin to achieve a socialist republic. Premium service article

Pirates set to storm the Bundestag, Labour leader wants Fianna Fáil merger, Spanish king packs his trunk Free article

STRIKING WORKERS at the Lagan Brick company in Kingscourt, County Cavan, took their protest to the company’s Belfast HQ last month after they were met at City Hall by the city’s Sinn Féin Mayor and councillors. Premium service article

HARD-PRESSED homeowners already struggling with mounting debts and cuts to supports will be forced to pay up to €800 per property to have water meters installed, Fine Gael/Labour Party ministers have reluctantly revealed. Free article

EVEN Government TDs confess that the Household Charge is unfair and now all deputies will have a chance to do something about it when Sinn Féin tables a Bill in the Dáil in June to ‘axe the tax’. Sinn Féin has appealed to elected reps from all parties, trade unions and community groups to support the ‘Back the Bill’ campaign to scrap the charge and reimburse households that have already paid. Free article

DURING THE WAR between the Irish Republican Army and British crown forces in the 1970s and 1980s, both sides suffered many military reverses and successes. During the mid-1980s, the IRA increased the pressure with more direct attacks on British military installations, including heavily-fortified RUC and British Army bases. Premium service article

THE Fine Gael/Labour Party Government’s Innovation Minister, Seán Sherlock, wants to to push into law by a ministerial order — without a vote by TDs — controversial and far-reaching legislation that could affect everyone’s access to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and countless websites and blogs. Free article