A glance at the week that was
We now know
A new US study has shown that 97.5 per cent of drivers' skills were impaired when driving using hands-free mobile phones.
March was the safest month on Irish roadsin over 50 years, according to figures from the Garda National Traffic Bureau. Last month was the safest since records began, while 2009 was also the safest year on record.
Easter eggsmight actually be good for you. The European Heart Journalfound people who ate half a bar of chocolate a week had lower blood pressure and a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Gone to Hell...
Many assumed it was an April Fool joke when a new German beer was revealed this week. But it turns out the European Trademarks Office really has given the go-ahead to the new label, so everyone can now drown their sorrows in “Fucking Hell”.
As it turns out, “Fucking” is the name of a village in Austria, and “Hell” is a German word for light ale, so the new moniker is accurate on linguistic and geographical grounds. Though the original application had been dismissed, an appeals board allowed it, saying: “The meaning assumed by the examiner is, overall, an injection to express a deprecation but it does not indicate against whom the deprecation is directed.”
...and so have we
There was, however, some deprecation directed at the Government as Nama D-Day arrived with the first tranche of loans under purchase, and the amount required by each of the participating financial institutions being revealed.
News of Anglo Irish Bank’s staggering debt and the amount taxpayers would be coughing up to bail it out had many up in arms, not least Labour leader Eamon Gilmore (right) who accused the Taoiseach of “economic treason,” an accusation Mr Cowen sharply rebutted.
All in all, the whole sorry mess had commentators wondering where the country was headed. The name of a newly-branded German beer springs to mind . . .
"There is no way we should impose fast-track healing on those whose vulnerability was abused"
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin in his homily on Holy Thursday
The numbers
€12.7 billion
The pre-tax loss reported by Anglo Irish bank for the 15 months to December 2009
13.4 per cent
The standardised unemployment rate last month
1, 596
Tonnes of litter collected as part of the National Spring Clean campaign last year
