Ex-finance minister Brian Lenihan's death (52) is tragic in a Shakespearian way. Cancer, but also stress, were causes, but more than that, he paid a heavy price for his position. For Brian became the mob's scapegoat for the Irish financial crisis, yet he had little to do with the years of bank lending that got the country into its current mess.

The night before I was first interviewed on this programme I didn't sleep a wink. I arrived here with hours to kill and wasted time nervously drinking coffee with the tramps in Shepherd's Bush. I could almost feel my heart pumping through my rib-cage.

Last night I met an angel. Truly I did. This is not a miracle, quite the opposite. Angels are everywhere, on the streets, walking here and there. They often emerge in situations that, if you think about it right, become testing, of your character, your priorities, your sense of goodness.

Hey, it must be time to buy another lottery ticket! Fat chance of winning though, eh? Think about it, a friend once said. We were in a soccer stadium in London watching a game. See all these people? He asked, gesturing towards the sea of faces around us. Well, multiply that crowd by 10s or 100s. Just one of those people might win.