QUOTES OF THE WEEK
÷ “While it was predicted, predicting a severe flu season is a bit like predicting a storm. It doesn’t stop it happening. It still happens and we have to try to manage it and prepare for it as best we can.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on the hospital trolley crisis.
“Our friendship was not traditional, as in we didn’t spend countless hours together... we didn’t need to. Just the few interviews and the occasional long lunch. We connected somehow. Maybe it was our shared northside credentials.” U2 drummer Larry Mullen pays homage to RTE DJ Larry Gogan.
“It is the case that with Fianna Fail continuing to abstain that the Government can continue and that we have, I believe, sufficient votes to get our legislative programme through, but obviously the numbers are also very precarious. I need to consult with Fine Gael, the Independent Alliance, other Independent ministers, Independents who support the Government and indeed other parties — that’s where the situation lies.”
Leo Varadkar may need the support of independent TDs to cling to power as speculation mounts over the general election date.
“Yes, she fiercely guarded her personal privacy and that of her family... But on a friendship level there were few barriers, to the extent that no subject was taboo.”
Deirdre Purcell pays tribute to her great friend Marian Finucane.
“No hospital consultant wants to tell a patient waiting for essential breast or prostate cancer surgery that their critical treatment has been cancelled and, worse still, that they are not in a position to tell that patient when it will be rescheduled.”
Dr Donal O’Hanlon, head of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association, on the cancellation of surgery for cancer patients due to the winter crisis.
“As long as I’m president of the United States of America, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. The American people should be grateful and happy that no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime.”
US President Donald Trump reacts to Iran’s missile strikes against air bases in Iraq.
“Our priority is to establish the truth and those responsible for this terrible catastrophe.” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the plane crash in Iran which left 176 dead.
“Our partnership cannot and will not be the same as before. It will not be as close as before because with every choice comes a consequence. With every decision, comes a trade-off.” European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a speech in London.
“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family, and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex announce their intention to quit frontline royal duties.
“You say you’re woke, but the companies you work for, I mean, unbelievable: Apple, Amazon, Disney. If Isil started a streaming service, you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?”
Ricky Gervais calls out Hollywood hypocrisy as host of the Golden Globes.