From Oireachtas committee meetings to Colombia, there's no gagging Mary White. John Byrne meets the Senator who denies she has her eyes on a Dáil seat in the Dublin South East constituency at the next election. Photograph by Tom Galvin

Protection for mentally ill patients who are admitted to psychiatric hospitals against their will is still unavailable because of a dispute with consultant psychiatrists about resources.

John Byrne profiles the man behind the new Centre for Public Inquiry, Frank Connolly

Claims were made at the Morris Tribunal that gardaí rigged evidence presented on Crimeline which connected the McBreartys' nightclub with Richie Barron's death, writes John Byrne

Gene Kerrigan profiles the young Fianna Fail TD whose progress up the political ladder seems assured.

When Garret FitzGerald made his famous remark a bout Charles Haughey's "flawed pedigree", hinting at Haughey's involvement in the 1970 Arms Trial, he was being conveniently forgetful. 1970 wasn't the first time authorities in Dublin had tried to import arms for the IRA in the North. It had happened in 1922 as well. And then one of the principal figures involved had been Garret's uncle, Frank FitzGerald.

In the first part of his profile of Sean MacBride, Michael Farrell wrote about MacBride's involvement in the War of Independence and Civil War, his career as an IRA leader in the 1920s and 1930s and his role as a lawyer defending republican prisoners during the Second World War. In the concluding part of the article he looks at the formation of Clann na Poblachta and MacBride's role in the first InterParty government, including the Mother and Child controversy.

As silent as a mirror is believed Realities plunge in silence by ...

Five days before the announcement of major cuts in education spending, Emma Hussey, Minister for Education, opened an exhibition of painting the Project Arts Centre. The exhibiion was described as representing the first tentative steps in the visual exssion of contemporary Ireland.

Magill analysis of the current Cabinet and their suitability for their positions.

He was a slow starter, but once he put the foot down it was burnt rubber all the way. In the space of the short few years it took The Beatles to dump Pete Best and find the Maharishi he'd gathered a personal fortune, fashioned a legend of vision and efficiency and made a vain grasp at the brass ring. Missed.