‘THE LEFT must warn the people responsibly. Not only by telling them that the road away from the bailout is also the road that leads to exiting the euro, but also that it will be particularly painful...” Veteran Greek socialist MP Alekos Alavanos, who led Syriza before Alexis Tsipras, has words for his comrades in Greece that are sensible, honourable advice and which No campaigners on the fiscal treaty in Ireland would do well also to heed. The real alternative, he argues, is to imagine and embrace life outside the euro and what he sees as its possibilities, albeit in all their likely grimness. Wrong-headed, but honest.

The legacy of the boom and the subsequent property collapse have come home to roost in 2012. This is the year the Nama deferred payment scheme was launched, a ghost estate was sold at a distressed property auction, and the country’s most expensive property failed to sell despite a 74 per cent price drop. Here are 10 properties that sum up where we are now, writes EDEL MORGAN 

By picking a card or deal that best suits your needs you can reduce the cost of credit card debt, writes FIONA REDDAN 

A DAD'S LIFE: CONFESSION TIME. Delia Smith was my first crush. I’d sit in front of the telly as a small boy and take in everything about the perfect Yorkshire pudding and how best to roast a goose, but all the time I’d be gurning loonily at Delia.

Three years ago, directors Kirsten Sheridan and John Carney decided to create a collective space for film-makers. Having found a building, and kicked out the wildlife, their plans keep growing

Reports claim as much as €1 billion in deposits has been taken from the troubled bank

Soccer:Giovanni Trapattoni took his first official training session of the Euro 2012 finals campaign at Malahide’s Gannon Park today, with some slight concerns over the fitness of a couple of those who reported for duty early.

ROADTEST KIA OPTIMA: AS TWO HOODIE-CLAD teenagers approached the Kia in the rain-sodden Quickpark car park at Dublin airport, my first thoughts were not that this was going to be a discussion about the growing popularity of the Korean brand. It was a dirty, wet night and, with my luggage in the boot I resorted to the usual middle-aged response: frantically look for the central locking switch.

Following in my father’s footsteps, whose snoring was like a hog trying to swallow a suitcase, I’ve annoyed many with my savage sleeping sounds

You don’t have to wait until school’s out to plan what to do. Whether you’re into film-making or football, science or surfing, there’s a summer camp for you, writes GRAINNE FALLER 

To some families it’s a holy sacrament, to others it’s an excuse for a party, and to many it’s an exercise in hypocrisy and mass delusion. So why is First Holy Communion a tradition we can’t let go of?