Seven days

A glance at the week that was...

A glance at the week that was...

- Tell that cat to chill

The alleged response by Prince (below) to MCD over a concert request, now the subject of a legal action the cost of weather-related insurance claims in recent months, according to the Irish Insurance Federation

We now know

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A ringfort surveyed in Co Tipperary may have been an ancient sporting arena, according to archaeologists.

The murder rate in both Limerick and south Dublin and is three times the national average.

There were 900,000 fewer overseas visits to Ireland last year songs

10 Billion songs have now been downloaded from iTunes

Brash Gordon

While we’ve been watching the political soap opera playing out in Leinster House, there has been a large fuss in Britain over the alleged conduct of prime minister Gordon Brown. According to a new book by political commentator Andrew Rawnsley, Brown has repeatedly lost his temper in a spectacular way, screaming at staff and shouting “You ruined my life” at Tony Blair. A Downing Street source denied the story is true, saying “This book is ill-informed, rather desperate and prejudiced”. Then he threw his dummy out of the pram.

Tetchy Tánaiste

There were rows in the Dáil this week too, of course, most interestingly in the back-and-forth between Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Fine Gael justice spokesman Charles Flanagan. Over awaited company law reform, Flanagan suggested that the work was “too big for the Minister”. Coughlan replied: “If the deputy wishes to throw a condescending, sexist remark across the House, that is fine. It is very much the calibre of Deputy Flanagan, but I would expect more from him after all these years in the House.” Other Fine Gael TDs mocked the suggestion, with Olivia Mitchell asking “Where was it sexist?” No answer was forthcoming.