There are senior politicians in Ireland who have problems with alcohol use near enough to the level experienced by Charles Kennedy, ousted leader of the Liberal Democrats in Britain. Two things protect them from suffering his fate: an understanding media and a cultural acceptance of alcohol use within politics, writes Matt Cooper.
Mark McConnell was falsely arrested, beaten and abused by Donegal gardaí. At the Morris Tribunal, McConnell represented himself, cross-examining gardaí with the fluency of a senior counsel and earning praise from the judge. Now he is taking a civil case against the Garda Síochána for wrongful arrest. He speaks to Gerard Cunningham
Brian Cowen didn't wait for the report of the Moriarty Tribunal into Charlie Haughey's financial affairs before appointing one of the key witnesses as the new chairman of the National Pensions Reserve Fund Commission (NPRFC).
As our political parties jostle each other to show who is the most anti-Sinn Féin of them all, in the real world the battle is being lost. The Good Friday Agreement is going under.
What odds on Eoin Ryan getting the vacant junior ministry as an "incentive" to run for Fianna Fáil in Dublin South-East at the next general election?
A special select committee of the Seanad to investigate the use of Irish airports by so-called "rendition flights" is to be established in early 2006.
Two of the most senior and respected members of An Garda Síochána of recent times, Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty and Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey (now retired) are the subject of the most serious allegations by an unnamed Garda source who communicated information to two TDs on 25 June 2000.
There have been no additional firemen or fire prevention officers and only one ambulance added to the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) since 1985, despite the fact that the county's population has increased by 25 per cent since then. In 1985 there were 850 firemen; six fire prevention officers and ten ambulances in the DFB. In 2005 there are 850 firemen; six prevention officers and 11 ambulances. The additional ambulance went to the Blanchardstown fire station when it was opened.
Documents acquired under Freedom of Information reveal that food and drink companies are the biggest beneficiaries of CAP
Although the charges have been withdrawn from the three accused of operating a spy ring in Stormont, there was no explanation as to why. Disagreement between the parties remains and conspiracy theories abound. Colm Heatley reports