If the Ferns eport tells us anything, it tells us that the State cannot stand back and allow the Catholic Church to discharge its responsibilities.
- Colm O'Gorman, of One In Four, commenting on the report, which highlighted decades of systematic child abuse by clergy in Wexford
This war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve. - President Bush, as the US suffered its 2,000th casualty in Iraq
It's like Prince changing his name to the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. This is the lawyer formerly known as Fred Rhine. It didn't work for Prince; it won't work for this guy.- Michael Hyman, head of the Chicago Bar Association, after lawyer Fred Rhine changed his name to Patrick O'Brien in the hope of attracting the Irish vote. Rhine has ambitions to be elected a judge
I don't know how my name came into the betting. - Martin O'Neill, who was the bookies' favourite to be the next Republic of Ireland manager, ruling himself out of the job
The whole purpose of this exercise is to allow Gerry Adams to be televised addressing the Dáil in the Dáil chamber. - A Labour Party source commenting after a proposal by the Taoiseach to give Northern MPs speaking rights in the Dáil was rejected
I estimate that the overcharging is gouging between €120 million and €140 million a year from gas and electricity consumers. However, the Government seems happy for Irish consumers to finance in this way the overseas expansion of the ESB and the expansion of Bord Gáis in the North. - Economist Paul Hunt saying we are paying too much for gas and electricity
At the time of his death, no tribunal or court has issued findings or made a charge against him. You would not think so from what you read or hear, but that is the truth.- Niall Lawlor, at the funeral of his father, former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor
Anyone in Europe, knowing our history . . . When we hear such statements made about Israel, it makes us feel very angry. - British prime minister Tony Blair responding to a call by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, for Israel to be "wiped off the map"
I'm not some weirdo. - The singer Kate Bush saying that her reputation for eccentricity is ill-deserved
Thirty years ago I was 19 years old and dreamed about the idea of a personal computer on every desk in every home. We have come a long way towards achieving that. - Bill Gates, who celebrated his 50th birthday this week
This is all a tissue of lies, and a lie does not become a truth through repetition. - George Galloway, the British MP and anti-war campaigner, disputing fresh claims linking him to the regime of Saddam Hussein
The smell of ripe strawberries is stable and durable. That smell is well known to consumers, who will have memories of it from childhood. - A spokesman for Eden Sarl, a Paris perfume company, which tried unsuccessfully to trademark the smell of strawberries
We are a creative organisation and we will come up with a creative solution. - David Collopy, chief executive of Opera Ireland, after a cocaine shipment was found on a truck transporting sets for the company's new production
I'm surprised the president deems it wise to spend taxpayers' money for his lawyer to write letters to The Onion. - Scott Dikkers, editor of the satirical newspaper The Onion, after the White House sent it a cease-and-desist letter, urging it to stop using the presidential seal on its website