A cycle: a round of years or a recurring period of time, especially one in which certain events or phenomena repeat themselves in the same order and at the same intervals. We've certainly seen enough of them lately to recognise what they are and how they can prepare us for what is ahead. As we are seeing, words have cycles too, with 'diaspora', the collective term applied to those emigrants scattered around the globe, having something of a resurgence of late.

So, here we go, it's Lisbon II. And once again, the two sides are at each other's throats, taunting each other like schoolyard bullyboys. The Government and all the major political parties, with the exception of Sinn Fein, are united in the call for a resounding 'Yes' to Lisbon on Friday, while condemning the 'No' campaigners of falsifying the facts, scaremongering and misleading the public.

Figures released by the ESRI this week, which indicate that public workers are now earning 25 per cent more than private sector workers, are well timed, given the debate that has been brewing about the need to reduce the public sector wage bill. Two weeks ago, An Bord Snip Nua Chairman Colm McCarthy set the public sector pay cut ball rolling in earnest when he warned public sector workers to get with reality and realise that the €400 million the Government was borrowing each week was going on their wages.

The Government did a u-turn, it is probably only right that he do one too. Libertas Leader, Declan Ganley is back, which means the debate on Lisbon II just got, well sort of, interesting again. Declan Ganley's return to the Lisbon II ring at the eleventh hour, following his vow to exit from politics if he was not elected to the EU during the European Elections in June, no doubt comes as a major blow to the Government.

'A plague o' both your houses', cries Mercutio as he lays dying as a result of the deadly feud between the Montague and Capulet families in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It will be a cry echoed by the electorate if the Government moves to implement some of the more contentious recommendations in the Commission on Taxation report published on Monday.

With dissatisfaction with the Government at an all-time high, amid concerns as to whether those who got us into this mess have the wherewithal to get us out of it, it is reassuring to find business leaders stepping into the breach to push for a 'yes' vote on the second Lisbon Treaty Referendum. While the main political parties agree on Lisbon, some political commentators have warned that the electorate, angry with the state of the economy and the Government's response to same to date.

While much of the political debate of late has been about Lisbon 2, the Government's National Assets Management Agency (Nama) plan warrants some serious discussion, given the scale of the task to be undertaken, the amount of money involved and the fact that, unlike Lisbon, there is a diversity of opinion across the main political parties.

A District Court Judge's warning to young people in the city in June that they will face stiffer penalties if caught carrying a knife in Galway should be reiterated by judges around the country in the wake of the tragic deaths of two young men in Wicklow at the weekend and the spate of stabbings in Mayo recently.

With further education and upskilling the phrases du jour in these times of high unemployment, some 3,000 Galway students will be on tenterhooks today as they await the results of their Leaving Certificate exams, which for many students will provide the first indication of where they are going next.

Revelations about Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue's expenses bill while Arts, Sports and Tourism Minister will do little for a Government that is at pains to convince the populace it is not to blame for the economic crisis affecting the country or give any support to its calls for us all to share the pain.