“I am concerned for those people who got hurt after being dragged into this matter for no reason whatsoever… I will forget and forgive, but I am still hurt” – Labour Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Michael Falzon

“We have come to a point where 100 square metres of land is considered a luxury. Now we are speaking of 80, even 60 square metres. What quality of life does a couple living in a 10 by 6 square metre property have? This is creating more depressions and suicides” – Godfrey Leone Ganado, Chairperson of the Church’s Justice and Peace Commission

“I always quote Linda McCartney – if slaughterhouses had glass walls the whole world would be vegetarian. I believe that’s true, because the majority have a conscience, but as long as they don’t know what’s happening they are not bothered” – Marica Mizzi, actress, presenter and director of World Animal Conscience

“When I as Prime Minister introduced a 50c fee on medicines, they said it was something out of Beelzebub. The health sector is more complex. We have clear aims to cut waiting lists, and to cut down on wastage” – Labour leader Alfred Sant

“I am a partner at Sant & Mugliett, but not a practising partner as demanded by the ministers’ code of ethics. I can’t participate in the running and profits. If my partner is doing work for any government project, this does not mean that I am directly or indirectly involved, because I am not taking any remuneration from these projects” – Urban Development and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett

“The issue is no longer just about BirdLife or even conservation. It is now about the hefty fines that Malta will almost certainly incur if it persists in its obstinacy. It is also a question of safeguarding Malta’s rapidly deteriorating reputation overseas” – Birdlife Malta director Tolga Temuge

“So far there has been no need to do it (means-testing) but we’re keeping an eye on the rising costs of medicines. Remember, however, that co-payment has never led to a reduction in service costs abroad. What has to change is the financing model of health services” – Health and Community Care Minister Louis Deguara

“I am very clear with everyone who comes to speak to me. If someone asks me for something to which he is entitled by right, I help him. If this is not the case, I tell him that I can’t help him. We have to respect everybody’s dignity” – Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono

“This is a learning curve. It isn’t just Malta that is bound to resist change. There is usually a vested interest in keeping things the same. The EU wants this change, and the people want change as well, but this happens slowly” – Joanna Drake, Head of the European Commission’s representation in Malta

“When a mother keeps her job, especially when it gives her satisfaction, leaving children with someone she can trust, it is usually very good for her mental health, as it makes her feel competent and helps her keep balance and self-esteem” – Appogg psychologist and family therapist Ingrid Grech Lanfranco

“When I was a child we used to play in the streets. Nowadays it’s impossible… even the countryside is restricted. It’s something we have lost, and we have to reflect on the alternatives” – Children’s Commissioner Carmen Zammit, just fresh from her appointment

“Our duty is to combat fiscal evasion and not to promote an alternative for those who have evaded tax. Yet on this issue we were faced with realities that could not be ignored” – Parliamentary Secretary in the Finance Ministry Tonio Fenech about the Investment Registration Scheme

“Photovoltaic projects in Tuscany and Seville have provided energy for thousands of homes; but unless we start using our existing roofs or building facades, it is hard to envisage a system which needs so much land mass” – Din l-Art Helwa Vice-President Martin Scicluna on the feasibility of solar energy in Malta

“Louis Galea was my preferred candidate. I have known him since he was very young. Unlike Gonzi he was one of us. Gonzi was a Johnny-come-lately. He did not cut his teeth in iron as we did in the 1980s” – Former Finance Minister George Bonello Dupuis on the PN leadership contest

“In a crisis management scenario, golf was seen as a panacea to our tourism problems. We forgot that we have a lot of things which make us different from other countries” – Nature Trust President Vince Attard

“The test will come on the eve of a general election, we have to see whether civil society will be swayed and everything will fall back into the usual polarized camps. The coming year will be the key test” – former broadcaster and University lecturer Carmen Sammut on Maltese civil society

“I have always respected everyone in politics, be it Labourites or Nationalists, but since the Opposition has launched this campaign against me I will have to revise the way I deal with them. There are certain individuals whom I can’t respect anymore” – Competitiveness and Communications Minister Censu Galea following the tapes revealed by the Opposition earlier this year in which he vented out his anger at irregularities in the ADT

“On this fundamental point we found opposition from persons who want to deny people their fundamental rights.  For us this is unacceptable. We will not budge from this position” – Alternatttiva Demokratika Chairperson Harry Vassallo on immigration

“It’s quite evident. Those who pen opinions are ministerial consultants, chairpersons, or board members. They depend on the government – but I don’t even read them, and I need pills to read the other articles that would otherwise make me vomit. You can call me ‘far right’ for saying that. Having said that, there are biased writers who are also sincere in their work” – Azzjoni Nazzjonali leader Josie Muscat on the media that have branded AN a far-right party.

“I have to admit that the idea of developing golf courses never excited me. I think that Malta’s historical heritage, if marketed well, is enough of a magnet for tourism” – Rural Affairs and Environment Minister George Pullicino

“The Church has a responsibility to be prudent and is obliged to keep a distance from these manifestations. It is easy for people looking for manifestations of the divine to be deceived” – Archbishop of Malta Pawlu Cremona on claims that the Virgin Mary had appeared at Borg in-Nadur

“We never had one single meeting with him, not even heard one word from him… He’s not even party to any of our discussions, which is a bit weird” – Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses President Paul Pace on Louis Deguara’s role in the discussions with the Health Division over the migration to Mater Dei Hospital and the new collective agreement

“I had the most difficult six months of my life. It was a Via Crucis indeed.” – Former President Guido de Marco on the difficulties Malta had to face in re-activating its EU membership application after the PN was re-elected to Government in September 1998

“Definitely, the needs of first-time offenders should be really looked at. Certainly, it’s not a prison they need” – Family and Social Solidarity Minister Dolores Cristina on whether first-time drug offenders should be sent to prison or not

“We have never had an indication that government was going to take any anti-Constitutional or anti-democratic measures that were attempted at a Church school here or there” – Malta Union of Teachers President John Benicini on the termination of employment of gay teachers because of their sexual orientation

“We are not talking about an alarming deterioration – in fact, some areas have improved – but there has been a noticeable decline in overall quality” – marine biologist Professor Victor Axiaq on the status of pollution in Maltese bays

“For all I know, a fascist can just buy air-time and broadcast fascist programmes, if he pays a lot of money” – Tista’ Tkun Int producer Rachel Vella on the attitude adopted by the PBS management in the sale of air-time for this year’s autumn and winter schedules, after her acrimonious break-up with the national station

“But if my work on the campaign is ready, why shouldn’t I take a holiday? Our strategy is ready. Whenever the Prime Minister calls an election we are ready” – PN General Secretary Joe Saliba on taking a yachting holiday with construction magnate Zaren Vassallo at the eve of a general election

“The industry needs people with skills, not illegal immigrants. We don’t get anything beneficial out of them. I tell you something the media should talk about – 90 per cent of these people are trafficked by criminal organisations. You don’t see any fuel on the boats they arrive in… they have obviously been put on these boats by someone else. A number of them are dressed smart, some of them are carrying mobiles… they are not coming from the poverty we think they have” – AN deputy leader Angelo Xuereb on illegal immigrants and whether they should be employed in industry or not

“We have to keep in mind this is Malta, with its culture and the ideas of the Maltese, including religious ideas, because that is a substantial part of the person” – Director for Health Promotion and Disease Surveillance, Dr Charmaine Gauci, speaking in the aftermath of her predecessor’s claims that he had not been selected for the post because he had stood tough on condoms as a means of preventing the spread of AIDS despite the Catholic Church’s opposition.

“If a family has lived in a particular property for 80 years it is surely not the land owner’s fault that roofs are in a bad state” – Valletta mayor and PN candidate Paul Borg Olivier, who is now contesting the tenth district as well as the traditional first district, on land reform

“I didn’t know of Saliba’s previous trips with Zaren, but it is clear Saliba embarrassed his party. Even as a journalist, I’m aware that whatever I do in my private life can be interpreted within a wider context, let alone when you’re in politics” – ONE News journalist Charlon Gouder on the distinction between private and public lives of politicians in the context of PN General Secretary Joe Saliba taking a yachting holiday with construction magnate Zaren Vassallo

“This is not a question of rights but a question of faith and religion. I am not a purist. But there is phrase which says: ‘what God has joined together let no man put asunder’ – former national football coach Pippo Psaila, who recently announced his candidature for the PN in the next general elections, on divorce

“Isn’t a unit formed by a separated woman living with her children not a family? Isn’t a separated man who does not have custody of his children but pays alimony not a family member?” – Labour spokesperson for Social Solidarity Marie-Louise Coleiro on different families in Malta

“There are enormous amounts of money involved in the tuna industry, and where you have huge profits, you also have a much higher risk of illegal activity” – EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Policy Joe Borg on the extent of illegal fishing of Bluefin Tuna

“I am diametrically opposed to the notion of having Malta regarded as a satellite of the Vatican and my editors are fully aware of my position, yet my newsprint columns are not tampered with” – author and critic Mario Azzopardi on the fact that his progressive opinions are published by conservative printing houses

“Ministers have become the new saints” – Dutch anthropologist Jeremy Boissevain reflecting on how Maltese society has changed in the past forty-six years since he published his seminal thesis on “Saints and Fireworks – Religion and Politics in Rural Malta”

“This election showed that if the larger states get together, then they will cloud the sun. And when the sun is clouded they might even cloud people’s thinking” – Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo in the aftermath of the unsuccessful election for the post of Commonwealth Secretary-General and the United Kingdom’s back-hand deals in this respect

“If it were up to Alfred Sant, I would not have been sent to the Gulag, but to the gallows” – former Finance Minister John Dalli about Opposition leader Alfred Sant’s description of Dalli’s reconciliation with the PN as akin to the rehabilitation of dissidents from the Gulag in the Soviet era

“If we are really serious and we want to have excellence in tourism and other sectors we must realise that this needs the context of a quality environment” – architect and President of the Chamber of Architects David Felice on excellence

“Obliging priests to be celibate is a wrong discipline within the Church – if I were to be elected Pope I would certainly change it” – former Ta’ l-Ibrag parish priest Gorg Dalli on celibacy