My home is burnt. If your Government thinks it's OK for me to go back to nothing, then so be it.
- Mr Isak Berisha, a Kosovan refugee who is to be repatriated along with his wife and three children
It was a sword of Damocles and in a way I buried it . . . I lived with that sword over my head and it obviously has ruined my life.
- Mr George Redmond, the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, on the payments he received for advice
The Irish Government's position is clear, that the implementation of Patten is essential . . . We want every policeman or woman to walk down any street or housing estate or road in Northern Ireland and be welcome.
- The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen
We find it deeply regrettable that the [Police Northern Ireland] Bill does not contain provision for retaining the proud name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- The Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Andrew Mackay
We do not underestimate the profound importance and the unprecedented nature of the task which we have been asked to undertake.
- Statement by the international arms inspectors Mr Martii Ahtisaari and Mr Cyril Ramaphosa
One of them is a cheerleader for the Sinn Feiners and the other one is an nonentity. We don't know what his view is, but I'm sure he was approved by the IRA because they knew he wasn't going to rock the boat.
- The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, on the inspectors
If David Trimble's message . . . is signalling a clear determination . . . that he and his colleagues . . . are prepared to sell and back this deal, then an extra week is something that I think we'll all forgive him for.
- The former Stormont Higher Education Minister, Mr Sean Farren, SDLP, on the postponement of the UUC meeting
[She was] both deeply attractive and slightly alarming. You wanted to impress her . . . in the pavilion on summer Sunday nights . . . the sergeant's daughter . . . forever dancing gloriously beyond our reach.
- The poet Dr Brendan Kennelly at a remembrance service for the Irish Times journalist Mary Cummins
If there is a groundswell of support from the public to pay for that, I am not hearing it, and polls done by the newspapers have shown that it is not there. To say that all of the costs of the party political democratic system should be taken on by the taxpayer is not something I see enormous support for.
- The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, talking about State funding for political parties
The two young men who died had paid the ultimate price in the service of their fellow citizens and I would like to express my sincere sympathies and condolences to their families and their colleagues.
- The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, of the two gardai who died in a car crash in Dublin
In fairness, the misses were by a Croatian and a Frenchman.
- Barry Davies, BBC sports commentator, in a reference to the two Arsenal players who missed penalties in the UEFA Cup Final, won by Galatasaray