By early yesterday afternoon, the Tánaiste’s proposal for a two-thirds majority to protect in perpetuity changes he has influenced in the Government’s proposed abortion legislation lay tossed aside with the remains of lunch and the Strategic Communication Unit.

A REPORT slipped out into the ether of a holiday weekend, last Friday, without fanfare, but whose impact in the long-term will be second only to Brexit, writes Gerard Howlin.

Let me explain a fundamental fact to the former health minister Leo Varadkar, to whom “it is not entirely clear” why overcrowding in hospitals is increasing again.

Paying directly for water changes behaviour and by setting an example in one area, it points to better policy in others, writes Gerard Howlin

Stepping back further from the line, as distinct from being careful not to step over will be a factor in public conversation, writes Gerard Howlin.

Dissatisfaction with the status quo is a convincing campaign short of assent to actual change, writes Gerard Howlin

Motorways are ramparts from which surrounding pastures can be pillaged for votes writes Gerard Howlin

By teatime on Saturday, Mary Lou McDonald will be president of Sinn Féin. It will have been 35 years since Gerry Adams took over from Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

The stakes could not be higher for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, writes Gerard Howlin.

The ultimate cost of every product includes the financial and environmental cost of disposal, writes Gerard Howlin