People

Irelands BT Young Scientist of the Year 2007 Abdusalam Abubakar is known as Abdul to his friends. The CBS student speaks perfect English, as his family moved to from Somalia to English speaking Kenya in 1994. At school in Synge St. Dublin 8 he says he is not treated differently, even though he has been interviewed by Dustin the Turkey and appeared on Ireland AM. One month after the event things are 'back to normal'.

Pin-up, father, ambassador, medical student and razor-sharp fly-half, Felipe Contepomi still takes a backseat to his brothers in terms of fame. He tells Justine McCarthy about his family dynasty, his hopes for rugby back home in Argentina and Ireland's chances in the World Cup. Portrait by Eoin Moylan

In Dublin to present 'An Evening with Jon Ronson' in the IFI, Guardian columnist and filmmaker Jon Ronson tells Village tales of the extreme: Ian Paisley's sermonising in Cameroon, giant lizards who control the world and soldiers trained to kill goats using only a cold stare. By Tom Rowe

Intellectual, hard-nosed and even more right-wing than his party leader, DUP MEP Jim Allister is leading the internal revolution against Ian Paisley and the St Andrew's agreement. By Fionola Meredith

Mairéad McGuinness has been proclaimed a future Taoiseach by fans, the ‘yummy mummy' of Irish politics by spin doctors. She speaks to Village about the media, family and Fine Gael. By Justine McCarthy

Geraldine Finucane, widow of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, talks to Justine McCarthy about meeting her husband for the first time, why he was shot, and the death threats made against her during her 18 year campaign for an inquiry into what happened

John Deasy has been prominent twice in his political career: once for smoking in the Dáil bar, and now for his remarks about Enda Kenny, which have caused great embarrassment to Fine Gael. By Emma Browne

Seán O'Leary was a lovely, clever, honest, humourous man, devoid of conceit, contemptuous of humbug. His posthumously-published observations on recent decisions of the Supreme Court deserve to be taken seriously, most particularly by members of the court itself.

Predictions are always wrong, except in retrospect. Inevitably, some of those who will dominate 2007 are now unknown generally. Others now seem unlikely to make a mark. But in the case of some, it is possible to predict with some assurance that they will feature largely in 2007.

The road to comic success for Arthur Mathews started with a Catholic magazine called Majority Ethos, and included a stint as the drummer for a U2 tribute band. Colin Murphy meets the writer of Father Ted and I, Keano