Politics

If there were to be a competition to name the builder most liked by Fianna Fáil's senior politicians then it's a fair bet that Sean Dunne would be the winner, despite a long list of contenders.

The conventional belief that transfers are crucial is wrong. Only in a few constituencies do they matter. By Vincent Browne

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has indicated the Government's commitment to introducing legislation to recognise same-sex partnerships.

One In Four Director Colm O'Gorman chooses the Progressive Democrats after becoming 'frustrated' with the Labour Party. By John Byrne

A recent speech by Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party has raised hopes of a new alliance of the Left. Scott Millar reports

Michael McDowell said on Monday (24 April) gambling casinos were "more damaging to society than positive". He said: "I honestly believe that they do not add anything to the good of life in Ireland." He offered this as one of the reasons why he was proposing to introduce legislation prohibiting casinos, of which there are now 20 in the Dublin area. Another of the reasons he offered was that gambling casinos could be used as means of laundering money.

A shell company recently exposed by Amnesty International as a company linked to rendition flights on behalf of the CIA, bringing people to be tortured, continues to use Shannon as a stop-over. Colin Murphy reports

"The Progressive Democrats do not believe that the nuclear option is the correct option for Ireland", writes Fiona O'Malley TD in a recent PD discussion document on Irish energy policy. Fiona O'Malley argues that wind power and potential wave power resources make the adoption of nuclear energy in Ireland unnecessary, and that the cost of developing nuclear energy here would be "disproportionately high". Twenty-nine years ago, Fiona O'Malley's father, Desmond O'Malley, made the case for nuclear power in Ireland at the 1977 Fianna Fáil ard fheis.

After Frankfurt airport, Shannon is Europe's most popular stopover airport for CIA planes, according to a new Amnesty report. Colin Murphy reports

The Rossport Five are due in the High Court on Friday 7 April to hear whether or not they will be punished for disobeying the court in 2005. The five men were jailed last June at the request of Shell E&P Ireland for refusing to undertake not to obstruct the laying across their land of the Corrib Gas pipeline. They were released 94 days later, again at the request of the company.