Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The criticism is often made of newspapers that they only carry bad news. Perhaps criticisms could be made of this House and politicians in general that we concentrate on bad news. A survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit reported in today's newspapers states that we have the best quality of life of any country in the world. We should proclaim that and be happy about it. Of course we have problems and face challenges and we should have a determination to solve them, but we should not be shy about holding our heads up in pride on occasions when we hear such news. This survey is included in a well-respected journal that sells more in the United States than in Asia or Britain.

The survey takes into account measures such as political freedom, family and community life, gender equality——