The week in quotes
We are now facing the challenge of this nation's life . . . Now is the time for the common good to prevail. – Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan
If we fail, refuse or neglect to address this structural problem [of overspending] we will condemn our generation and the next to the folly of excessive borrowing. – Lenihan emphasises the consequences of failure
Fianna Fáil has taken a massive €90 billion gamble on behalf of the taxpayer in bailing out the very property speculators and banks that dragged our economy over a cliff in the last few years. – Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton worries over the National Asset Management Agency
We are funded by ordinary members of the public. Who funded Fine Gael? Are you asking them that. – Libertas spokesman John McGuirk seeks to deflect questions about the paymaster of its latest European election poster campaign
It is likely that thousands of children or young people across Ireland were abused by priests in the period under investigation and the horror of that abuse was not recognised for what it is. – Archbishop Diarmuid Martin seeks to prepare the public for the revelations of the investigation into clerical sex abuse of children in Dublin, due to be published this summer.
We always questioned if we had done the right thing but it was a decision the whole family made and we felt so bitter about what they did to Ryan. – Publican Steve Collins, the father of murdered Limerick man Roy Collins. In 2005, his stepson Ryan Lee gave evidence in court, despite threats, that led to the jailing of a leading member of the so-called McCarthy-Dundon gang, Wayne Dundon. Steve Collins says he believes the murder of Roy may have been in retaliation for Ryan's evidence.
Ennis does not see sufficient volumes of patients requiring acute and major surgical procedures to maintain the skills and expertise of clinical staff . . . The investigation team believes this represents potential serious risk to patients. – T he Health Information and Quality Authority verdict on Ennis Hospital