CHECK YOUR current affairs knowledge with the aid of our quick pick multiple choice quiz.

. How long is a Special Criminal Court judge required to remain in office once removal has been approved?

a. A while.

b. Until someone notices.

c. Until someone in Opposition notices.

d. He or she must be off the premises 10 minutes after drinking up time.

. On what institution is the Department of Justice modelled?

a. The Hampton Court Maze at Richmond, Surrey.

b. The Holy City of Byzantium.

c. The Disneyland House of Mirrors.

d. The Lost Island of Atlantis.

. If Maire Geoghegan Quinn is The Arianna Stassinopoulos of Connemara (as alleged by Pat Rabbitte) which of the following statements is true?

a. Ivan Yates is the Taki Theodorakis of the Golden Vale.

b. Liz O'Donnell is the Jean Harlow of South Dublin.

c. Dick Spring is the Peter Stringfellow of the Maharees.

. Which Irish political figure has not recently sued a newspaper?

a. Albert Reynolds b. Michael Collins c. Proinsias De Rossa d. None of the above.

. Who are the social partners?

a. Michelle Rocca and Van Morrison.

b. Employers and the Government and the unions, sort of.

c. Democratic Left, the Irish Times Club (defunct) and the Soviet Communist Party.

d. Daniel O'Donnell and Charlie Landsborough.

. What Irish political figure is currently the subject of a major motion picture?

a. Albert Reynolds.

b. An un-named official in the Department of Justice.

c. Michael Collins.

d. The Shan Bhean Bhocht.

. On what will the size of tax cuts depend in the next Budget?

a. The generosity of the Government.

b. The box office takings for Michael Collins.

c. The need for farmers to be compensated.

d. The qualification of the Republic's soccer team for the World Cup.

. Who always thrives best on a crisis?

a. Nora Owen.

b. The farmers.

c. The farmers.

d. The farmers.

. If Michael Collins is the spiritual father of Fine Gael, and Guy Fawkes the spiritual father of Fianna Fail (as alleged by Charlie Flanagan), who is the spiritual mother of the PDs?

a. Sinead O'Connor.

b. Julia Roberts.

c. Maureen Cairnduff.

d. Oscar Wilde.

. What meteorological comment (if any) can be made on Dick Spring's "cloud of inertia" over St Stephen's Green and Mary O'Rourke's "haze of inactivity" in which August and September were lost to the Government?

a. You wouldn't know what to put on in the mornings these days it's so mild God knows we should be grateful I remember many's the November you would be freezing in the bed.

b. These conditions are directly related to ozone layer damage, a dangerous development far more important than local politics.

c. I don't know at all, you can get snow even into June.

d. April is the cruellest month.

. What is the most likely bestseller this Christmas?

a. Over to You: the epistolary romance jointly authored by the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice.

b. Tally Ho-Hum: The Neil Jordan/Eoghan Harris joint film script development course.

c. Go On Go On Go On: The alleged correspondence between the Workers' Party and the Soviet Communist Party, allegedly published by a man alleged to be Santa Claus.

d. Holy Orders: Ways with Loaves and fishes: Mrs Doyle's Craggy Island Cookbook.