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Dublin: 6 °C Friday 24 May, 2013

False years and Big Bird: The week in quotes

“The Celtic Tiger years were false years. They were built on a veneer of endless wealth without hard work.”

IT WAS A week in which the pressure on Health Minister James Reilly continued to be heaped on, with no signs of it easing.

Facebook reached a billion users, there was a widespread search for a missing five-year-old in Wales, Enda Kenny was on the cover of TIME magazine and Mitt Romney insisted that he loved Big Bird.

All that and more, it’s the week in quotes:

False years and Big Bird: The week in quotes
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  • Week in quotes

    “I had no hand act or part in this.” – Health Minister James Reilly insists he played no part in the selection of a site owned by a Fine Gael member in his constituency for a primary care centre.
  • Week in quotes

    “One and one makes two, and two and two makes four, but four by four makes sixteen and not four and four that makes eight. It is a logistical, logarithmic progression.” – Reilly attempts to explain the criteria applied to the creation of a list of areas for proposed primary care centres.
  • Week in quotes

    “I was told quite clearly that the decision on the location of the site was made by previous Minister for Health Mary Harney. That was wrong.” – Education Ruairí Quinn was not happy about being misled over when the decision about a site for a primary care centre in James Reilly’s constituency was made.
  • Week in quotes

    “We will never regain the trust of our citizens if we do not honour our promises.” – In a speech to the Dáil, European Parliament president Martin Schulz calls on EU leaders to honour an agreement to potentially separate Ireland’s bank debt from its sovereign debt.
  • Week in quotes

    “It is now becoming tedious that every time this government feels under pressure it raises this issue of me being in the IRA. It is nonsense and the Taoiseach knows it” – Gerry Adams wants Taoiseach Enda Kenny to stop bringing up his alleged IRA past.
  • Week in quotes

    “The Celtic Tiger years were false years. They were built on a veneer of endless wealth without hard work.” – Taoiseach Enda Kenny tells TIME magazine that he does not want to return to the boom years of the 00s.
  • Week in quotes

    “I just want our beautiful princess home now. It’s been too long.” – Jasmine Jones, the 16-year-old sister of missing April Jones, 5, whose disappearance has sparked a widespread search in Machynlleth in Wales this week.
  • Week in quotes

    “I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird.” – US presidential candidate Mitt Romney mentions the Sesame Street character during his debate with Barack Obama this week.
  • Week in quotes

    “Helping a billion people connect is amazing, humbling and by far the thing I am most proud of in my life.” – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on the news that the site now has 1 billion users.
  • Week in quotes

    “Goodbye my beautiful, funny girl. I’ll love you forever” – Tom Meagher, the husband of murdered Irish woman Jill Meagher, speaking at her funeral in Melbourne this week.

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