What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Friday's morning newspapers.

The Times joins the News Letter and the Irish News in carrying a picture of Sean O Muireagain returning to Belfast after several days in the custody of the Israeli security forces.

In the Times, he complains that people have taken the Israelis at their word and all of a sudden he's being regarded as a bombmaker.

The paper says he was questioned by the Metropolitan Police after arriving in London on his way home.

The future of the Northern Ireland hospice is taken up by the Irish News in its leader column.

The paper says the official report, published on Thursday, does not do enough to "untangle the charity's complex difficulties".

It is up to all those involved to rise above their differences and exercise some wisdom News Letter

It says the pressure is back on the chief executive, Tom Hill, and the hospice council, both of whom must make their positions clear as soon as possible.

The News Letter agrees, but reckons the Health Minister, Angela Smith, should consult the relevant parties before anyone starts running to the media with self-justifying versions of the latest development.

The paper says the hospice crisis has all the hallmarks of a dispute that cannot be reconciled but, "it is up to all those involved to rise above their differences and exercise some wisdom".

There is no getting away from Tony Blair's address to the US Congress, or from his central argument that history will forgive any failure to find Iraqi weapons because Saddam Hussein was removed from power.

But several associated matters also make the headlines.

'Losing faith'

Many of the papers report on the encounter between the BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, which described him as an "unsatisfactory witness".

The Times says it leaves the BBC's case against the government "in disarray".

The Telegraph is less strident, but says it "elevates the dispute to new heights".

The Express picks up on a bizarre attack on the prime minister's sanity in the New Statesman magazine.

The paper says the attack was all the more astonishing because the magazine is owned by Geoffrey Robinson, the Labour MP, although it points out that Mr Robinson is a well-known ally of the Chancellor, Gordon Brown.

In a leader, it comments that the New Statesman may have been over the top, but Mr Blair has to recognise the fact that the public is "losing faith" in his government.

The undertakers had been called for the economy and now it appears that all it needs is a personal fitness trainer Irish Independent

It notes that - amid all the arguments over Iraq - nearly £1.5bn of taxpayers' money is still in the government's bank account, instead of being handed over to schools and hospitals.

The papers in Dublin examine the economic outlook for the Republic.

The Irish Times reports that the economic downturn is almost over, and Ireland will return to buoyancy in 2005.

The Irish Independent comments that "the undertakers had been called for the Republic's economy and now it appears that all it needs is a personal fitness trainer".

Finally, the Sun has the story of Lynne Siddiq, who lives in Spain but commutes to her job at a supermarket in Blackburn.

The paper reports that she moved to Marbella four months ago, but missed home.

So now she catches a flight every Friday and works until Sunday, staying with friends.

It apparently costs her £12 an hour, by the time the air fares are taken into account.

Remarkably, she has never been late for work.