QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I reflect on how we handled it as a Government and if we could have handled it better. We were under great pressure at that time but we acted in good faith.” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he expects screening times for cervical cancer to return to normal, amid criticism for creating backlogs in the system with a “knee-jerk” reaction to the CervicalCheck scandal.
“BAM wishes to advise the hospital board that if it would prefer to opt out of this contract and procure the work in some other way, then BAM will cooperate with them to facilitate this option.” Theo Cullinane, CEO of BAM Ireland, the construction company building the National Children’s Hospital, offers to withdraw.
[They] “are in for a nasty surprise” Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says those predicting the EU will abandon Ireland at the last minute in order to secure a Brexit deal are wrong.
“Tonight’s vote shows there’s no majority for the Prime Minister’s course of action, and yet again her Government has been defeated. The Government cannot keep on ignoring Parliament or ploughing on towards 29 March without a coherent plan. She can’t keep on just running down the clock and hoping that something will turn up that will save her day and save her face” Jeremy Corbyn after the British Government’s latest Brexit defeat.
“In many respects, Brexit is the first test of a new global order and could prove the acid test of whether a way can be found to broaden the benefits of openness while enhancing democratic accountability.” Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England.
“The great thing about purgatory is that you always end up in heaven.” British Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg responding to Brussels negotiator Donald Tusk’s comment that some Brexiteers face a “special place in Hell”.
“I don’t deserve my fortune. Nobody does. It has come through timing, luck and through people. I have paid more than 10 billion dollars in taxes, but I should have paid more.” Bill Gates, billionaire founder of Microsoft.
“I would say he thought he was making a deal. It would be very unlikely that some women were not aware of what was going on, and allowed themselves to be abused. People will sell their souls for a role.” Actor Steven Berkoff on Harvey Weinstein.
“I do think it is bad-mannered to invite people to sit in the dark for two and a half hours and not tell them a joke. I leave plays without jokes to the younger artists.” Actor Bill Nighy.
“Quitting heroin is like hell, but it’s a short hell. I mean, the actual process. Cigarettes are just always there, and you’ve always done it. I just pick them up and light them up without thinking about it.” Rolling Stone Keith Richards finds it harder to quit smoking than his drug habit.