MONDAY

The tricolour flies at half mast over the council offices in Buncrana in tribute to Garda Gary McLoughlin who died today, 24 hours after the patrol car he was driving was struck by an out of control Opel Astra driven by a Co Donegal man on the run from the gardaí. Much will be written about this case and the circumstances of the high-speed chase and the criminally dangerous driving background of the driver, but Garda McLoughlin's boss, supterintendent William Johnston, sums up everything about the death of a young garda in the line of duty and the wonderful and invaluable contribution gardaí such as him make within their communities as they start out on their careers. "He was a lovely, handsome young fella with red hair," says Supterinetndent Johnston. "Your abiding memory would be of him with his sleeves rolled up, always ready to muck in. He was very friendly and was one of those lads who made an impression on people. He was a distinctive individual who was very involved in the local community. Local people here seemed to know him as 'the nice young fella with the red hair'."

TUESDAY

Mary Harney promises to legislate for assisted reproduction and in vitro fertilisation treatment after the Supreme Court reminds legislators just how negligent they are for failing to introduce laws governing aspects of human reproduction... "The government fully accepts its responsibility to put proposals to the Oireachtas for legisation to regulate assisted human reproduction," a government spokesman is quoted, lying. Couples who go for infertility treatment will not be impressed: at the moment they need degrees in constitutional law, have to be prepared to have their personal lives exposed in a courtroom – and undergo the highly invasive medical procedure in order to have a half-chance of having a baby. Quite when the politicians will find the time to debate this promised legislation is questionable. Fighting over welfare cuts and the pay cuts for the public sector has left them so exhausted they have taken an extra week's leave – paid, of course... Offering big money for doing nothing is the modus operandi of that other house, the Big Brother house, and JEdward are the latest to be targeted by the lure of filthy lucre. Big Brother producers are rumoured to have offered them €300,000 to join their ailing show, but whether programmes that feature the prospect of sex on tv, overt racism and bizarre bullying is the right vehicle for the fresh-faced Grimes twins is debatable.

WEDNESDAY

Salaries of chief executives of semi-state bodies are everywhere with none of the larger ones dipping under €400,000, with some over €500,000, despite the far from glittering performance of many of these companies – such as Coillte which this year can't even organize a good supply of quality Christmas trees. Public sector workers will be glad to know both An Post and the Dublin Airport Authority are in the middle of negotiated cutbacks and wage reductions, even for their chief executives.

Up to 50 people, including stand-in priest in Castlegregory, Fr Seán Sheehy, line up at Listowel Court to shake the hand of convicted sex attacker Danny Foley as a sign of support for the 35-year-old found guilty by a jury of his peers for the sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman beside a skip in a car park. The judge sentences him to seven years and a raging argument explodes over attitudes to sexual crimes, to women and the victims and perpetrators.

THURSDAY

A bishop resigns… There is a lot of sadness on a personal level for Bishop Donal Murray who has been widely admired by the people in Limerick, selling the bishop's palace to live in a smaller home and working closely with his congregation. But like all the other bishops who were part of the cover-up of paedophilia among priests in the Dublin diocese between 1975 and 2004, he still finds it difficult to accept personal responsibility for a collective failure to act more decisively to protect children... A bishop apologises… for the priest who defended the Listowel sex attacker. The Bishop of Kerry Bill Murphy dissociates himself from Fr Seán Sheehy and pays tribute to the courage of Danny Foley's victim, hoping that what happened does not undermine the progress being made in bringing perpetrators of sex crimes to justice..

FRIDAY

Temperatures drop to -4C here as night falls, but they are rising in Copenhagen where President Obama tries to inject a note of reason into the climate change mayhem. "We will be back having the same stale arguments month after month, year after year – all while the danger of climate change grows until it is irreversible," he says. "The time for talk is over." His late late show at the UN conference sees him promising cuts in carbon emissions in the US. But most fear he won't be able to deliver them because they will need the approval of the Senate where half of them don't even believe climate change is man-made.

Still, Late Late host Ryan Tubridy knows how to nab guests that guarantee a big audience – tonight it's an idol of the masses, a star with the common touch unafraid to walk down Grafton Street as well as perform for the thousands… not Miley Cyrus, you twitters, Gay Byrne.

You cannot be serious

"I'm going to miss you"... Eight million listeners are saddened as Terry Wogan signs off for the last time after 27 years as presenter of Radio 2's breakfast show.