Budget 2027; absurdity of Drumcree; US coverage of Cornell case; and oesophageal cancer survival rates

The Government will unveil another giveaway budget on Tuesday, which will include reductions in tax for middle income earners worth up to €1,500 for a couple with a combined income of €100,000.“Drumcree is the theatre of the absurd, straight from Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks,” according to Fintan O’Toole, whose column this week focuses on the eruption of sectarian tension in Portadown.As a new legal term begins in the Irish courts this week, Hugh Linehan is contrasting the reporting restrictions which apply to criminal cases here with those in the United States, as the US grapples with the alleged gang rape of a woman at Cornell University in upstate New York.Tributes are being paid to a Trinity College professor and oesophageal cancer surgeon at St James’ Hospital in Dublin as he marks his retirement from the university. John Reynolds has been at the forefront of medical advances in Ireland, which have led to a doubling of overall survival for the 500-plus people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the Republic each year.