ThisWeek TheySaid

The two governments are trying to play down the importance of our statement because they are making a mess of the peace process…

The two governments are trying to play down the importance of our statement because they are making a mess of the peace process. Do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation.- The second of two statements from the IRA this week.

I don't read the IRA statement in a negative fashion. Quite frankly, they are saying what is a fact: that negotiations have broken down, that everything is off the table. That is the normal course in negotiations.

- The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, responding to the first IRA statement.

To the Iranian people, I say tonight: as you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you.

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- President Bush switches his attention to Iran in his State of the Union address.

I hope you will stand firm, Georgia will stand firm, and I hope I will stand firm because it is firmness that we need the most at present.

- Mikhail Saakashvili, President of Georgia, reacts to news that the Prime Minister, Zurab Zhvania (41) has been found dead in an apartment in Tbilisi, apparently poisoned by gas from a faulty heater.

I think I'm going to step out for a minute and get my breath. It's warm in here, and I'm going to take my jacket off.

- Senator Hillary Clinton, shortly before collapsing on stage in Buffalo, New York.

I will be acquitted and vindicated when the truth is told.

- Singer Michael Jackson releases a videotaped statement as jury selection begins at his trial in Santa Maria, California.

Who's interested if the leader of Niger goes on television? It's "get Geldof". I'm "Mr Bloody Africa".

- Bob Geldof on his role as a spokesperson on issues concerning the continent.

People have asked me if I set out to create a sympathetic sex offender. But that's not an actable quality. You just have to be them. Be in that skin.

- Actor Kevin Bacon, on playing a paedophile in his latest film, The Woodsman.

Significant stigma can all too readily accompany a diagnosis of mental illness. The support an employee receives at a time of such illness can be vital.

- Niall Crowley, director of the Equality Authority, after the Labour Court awarded almost €60,000 to a man it found was discriminated against because of a psychiatric illness.

As a Central Bank, we always have to worry a bit.

- John Kelly, deputy head of the Central Bank statistics department, after the bank revealed that for the first time personal debt in Ireland has eclipsed disposable income.

Irish society is no longer a homogenous, one-coloured, one-cultured nation. It is the fastest-changing society in the world. We have to look at different ways of making theatre.

- Fiach Mac Conghail, who has been named new director of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin.

I expect that the citizens of this State should have the right to deal directly face to face, or at least over the telephone, with public officials.

- The Minister for the Environment, Mr Dick Roche, criticises local authorities' enthusiasm for automatised voice answering.