I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee. –A young girl's wish list in her letter to Santa at Christmas 1911, found up the chimney of a house in Terenure, Dublin.
It is madcap– Road Safety Authority chairman Gay Byrne on proposals to break up the Garda Traffic Corps.
As well as homeless people we have the new poor, people who have lost their jobs and people on the verge of losing their homes. These are the people we try to help. We don't ask any questions. We feel it's difficult enough for them to come to a place like this. It has to be very difficult for them to queue up and look for parcels.– Br Kevin Crowley, director of the Capuchin day centre for homeless people in Bow Street, Dublin.
It has been brilliant.– Munster's John Hayes reflects on his life and times as a top rugby player. He is due to play his 212th and final game for Munster on St Stephen's Day.
All over the world people are now drinking Irish whiskey . . . because it's sweeter.– John Teeling on why Irish whiskey is proving so successful. He has just sold Cooley Distillery for €72.8 million.
It's a happiness to feel no regrets at the removal of the stuff from the house, but to feel a cause for gratitude and pride.– Seamus Heaney at an event to mark the official handing-over of his literary papers to the National Library of Ireland. He joked that his house was finally free of 50 years of clutter.
The household charge is an interim charge and it has always been flagged as a flat charge, which is not progressive. So we are proceeding with the planning for the implementation of a progressive and fair property tax. – Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan.
There will be a referendum on children next year.– Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald.
There have been moments when I thought I can't handle this . . . At times I have felt very much abandoned.– Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin, on dealing with clerical child sex abuse.