A glance at the week that was
Door Furore
On Monday, the door fell off a helicopter carrying Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen. He was wearing a seatbelt at the time, the chopper was designed to fly with its door open anyway, and it landed safely. Still, there was concern expressed. But it was soon followed by questions about the cost of a helicopter ride between Waterford, Killarney and Dublin. At least €6,000 was the answer. By the middle of the week, he was defending that rather than accepting people’s best wishes. Such is the life of a politician.
The Numbers
1pThe fine imposed on a Co Antrim pensioner who was arrested for failing to properly complete his electoral register form
92The number of videos of terror interrogations that have been destroyed by the CIA
-292The temperature in degrees Fahrenheit of Pluto's atmosphere – actually warmer than previously thought
Brief Grief
This week, the Government finally invited the Opposition parties in for a briefing on the state of the economy, and by all accounts it seems that those parties were so shaken afterwards that they may have found the opposition benches suddenly very comfy. The briefing came as Brian Cowen announced a mini-budget for the first week of April, when the Government will rustle around in that black hole and hope to pull out €4.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach admitted that unemployment may pass 400,000 by the end of the year. Another good week in Ireland Inc, so.
We now know
A soccer international will be played at Thomond Parkfor the first time, when Ireland plays Australia in August
More than half of the world's population now has a mobile phonesubscription
A large asteroid this week came within 49,000 milesof the Earth (a fifth of the distance to the Moon). That's considered a very near miss.
Dublinis the sixth most-visited city in Europe