`Accurate and on time" is how editor Tony McNamara described the 32nd edition of the IPA's Administration Yearbook And Diary 1998, which was published this week. The bulky tome is indeed exemplary for its information and accuracy. But is it accurate to state every four weeks the number of days left to go before EMU? When the diary starts on Monday, December 29th, 1997 it says there are 368 days to go; by December 28th, 1998 it says there are four days left. Only time will tell if the IPA has been caught out on this one.
A rival to the IPA Diary was also launched this week in the form of the second Irish Almanac And Yearbook Of Facts 1998. Compiled by three friends from Donegal, Pat McArt, Colm McKenna and Donal Campbell, it contains an amazing mass of facts and figures - from the general election results, to the prices of works of art purchased by the Arts Council in 1995, to profiles of all 32 counties.