What the papers say

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

Many of the cross-channel news pages are dominated by images of twisted vehicles, streets full of rubble, and injured people being carried to safety.

The subject matter is, of course, what the Daily Telegraph describes as the "orgy of killing in Iraq".

It features heavily in the Irish comment columns as the papers look ahead to the visit of US President George Bush to County Clare.

The Irish Times urges those who intend to demonstrate against the visit to do so peacefully, otherwise their protest will be wasted.

It urges President Bush to heed his critics if, for no other reason, for his own self-interest.

The paper concludes that Thursday's violence in Iraq was a "graphic illustration of the lack of foresight" in Mr Bush's policies.

'Impossible dream'

The Irish Independent says we can expect more violence in Iraq in the days to come.

But it asks the protesters if the country would be better off with Saddam Hussein in power.

Introducing democracy in Iraq, with the hope that it might spread throughout the region might seem like an "impossible dream", says the paper.

But the protesters should be asking if it is a dream worth striving for. It would be a lot more useful, it believes, than shouting abuse.

The Irish News takes a different position. It argues that Mr Bush should be left in no doubt that Irish public opinion has always been firmly opposed to the war in Iraq.

The failure to locate weapons of mass destruction, the appalling treatment of prisoners and the continuing violence have only increased the "grave concerns that already existed", says the paper.

But it hopes those concerns will be expressed without confrontation.

The Times in London focuses on the anger of local people, who have been issued with security passes to get to and from their own homes.

One woman is quoted as saying the Mr Bush is the "visitor" while she lives there.

Others tell the paper that they intend to burn the passes in a bonfire as the president arrives. The story says it is the "end of the Irish love affair with the American Presidency".

In Belfast, the News Letter focuses on a new report by researchers at Queen's University which finds that children as young as three are being exposed to sectarian divisions.

By the age of seven, some of them are already engaged in fighting with children from the other side of the religious divide.

Depressed fans

In a leader, the paper lends its support to a DUP call for the appointment of a victims' commissioner to address the legacy of the Troubles.

For too long, it says, the government has been throwing taxpayers' money at prisoners' groups when it should be adequately compensating those who were the real losers from 30 years of violence.

The biggest story of the morning is - not surprisingly - England's defeat by Portugal.

The Independent reports that employers are bracing themselves for record levels of absenteeism as depressed fans take an unofficial long weekend.

It also warns of more car accidents. It says the number of crashes doubled on the morning after England's game against Croatia.

Finally, the Times letters page features correspondence from a man who questions the government's insistence that educational standards are as high as ever.

If that's the case, he says, he would like to know why his son, who is studying A Level Geography, asked him why Brazil had been left out of Euro 2004.