I was asked what did I think of the system. I was standing beside the Prime Minister who invited me and I gave a very short answer . . . I didn't rule it in and I didn't rule it out.
- The Taoiseach on his com]ment in Australia that detention centres for asylum-seekers could be an option
David Trimble is earning the name in Northern Ireland and abroad as someone who is a putty man who can be easily shaped by presidents, prime ministers and Provos.
- The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, on Mr Trimble's remark in Washington that he would consider returning to government with Sinn Fein without "arms up front"
There is no alternative to David Trimble as leader. Look around, what is the choice? He is like the agreement - everybody runs him down. But there is nothing else on offer.
- Mr Michael McGimpsey, UUP
It cannot be reduced to the simple proposition: which comes first, the guns or the government?
- Mr Peter Mandelson, apparently signalling a shift in the British government's thinking on decommissioning
When you consider what Colin and Wendy Parry had to face following the brutal murder of their son - to have looked beyond their own tragedy and to create a facility like this - I'm filled with admiration for them.
- The former British prime minister, Mr John Major, at the inauguration of a peace centre dedicated to Tim Parry (12) and Jonathan Ball (3), who died in an IRA bomb blast
I'm ready to defend Dublin at any given time and carry out my duty as a true Freeman of the City.
- U2's Bono
To win in a stadium like this when most of the people in it are against you is what it's all about. It doesn't get better.
- Warren Gatland, Ireland rugby coach
As women we're told it's wrong to be vain and work on your appearance. But it's a very pleasurable thing to do to enjoy presenting yourself to the world and feeling good about yourself - as I learned to do when I was modelling.
- Feminist Shere Hite
A loyal, hard-working and universally popular TD who had friends on all sides of Dail Eireann.
- Mr Ruairi Quinn, on the late Michael Ferris TD.
It is heart-rending to see a father and mother laying to rest two of their daughters . . . to see a sister at the funeral Mass of her two older sisters. It goes against the grain of nature.
- Father Billy Lyons, in his homily at the funeral of sisters Niamh and Anne Marie O'Loughlin, who died with Eugenie Magee in a road accident in Bolivia
It's in their nature to be moving all the time. It's in their nature to cause trouble. It's in their nature to steal. Quite simply . . . it's in their nature to do the system.
- Mr Michael Cahill, FF county councillor, Kerry, on a local authority loan scheme to help Travellers buy their own caravans
If you want to buy a house in Dublin your local building society manager won't accept pay based on overtime. We make no apologies for seeking a decent basic wage.
- Mr Peter Bunting, National Bus and Rail Union general secretary