Quotes of the week.
I never said that Ireland had to organise a new referendum. I said that at some stage or another the Irish had to be given the opportunity to give their opinion.- French president Nicolas Sarkozy visits Dublin to discuss the Lisbon Treaty rejection in his capacity as president of the European Council.
The Union is in a difficult situation, but we are determined to manage it.- Taoiseach Brian Cowen's message to Ireland and Europe.
We went through the motions. He is not getting the message.- Green MEP Patricia McKenna, emerging from this week's meeting with the French president.
Wall Street got drunk.- US president George Bush ponders America's financial services meltdown.
What I clearly intended to say was that child abuse was worse even than homosexuality and sodomy.- Iris Robinson, the DUP MP and MLA for Strangford, says remarks she is quoted as having made to a British House of Commons committee about homosexuality being "viler" than child abuse did not accurately reflect her views.