Seán Ó Fearghaíl, the newly-elected Ceann Comhairle of the 33rd Dáil, took five attempts before finally taking his seat in Dáil Éireann in the aftermath of the 2002 general election.

Fine Gael’s best chance of winning one of the four by-elections is in Dublin Mid-West.

THE single issue arising for the Government from the nurses’ strike and the rolling debacle of the National Children’s Hospital is competence, writes Gerard Howlin.

The Taoiseach has been told to “hang your head in shame” over the hardship caused by the removal of discretionary medical cards from children and adults with serious illnesses and profound disabilities.

In all likelihood, Charlie Flanagan would have been seated around the Cabinet table since March 2011 had he not backed Richard Bruton during the ill-fated leadership heave of 2010.

Deirdre Conroy revealed her identity after Savita’s death, writes Claire O’Sullivan

A bankrupt developer and his young children were lucky to escape with their lives after a gunman opened fire on them in broad daylight, detectives believe.

A former Fianna Fáil running mate of Brian Cowen has suffered minor injuries after shots were fired while he was leaving home with his family.

Every vote counts, especially when they cost taxpayers over €55m.

The electronic voting machines are to be sold on for just over €70,000 and disposed.

PIPPA MIDDLETON and Michael Noonan may not have quite the same look about them, but they sure make a similar impact on the big state occasions — stealing the show.

THE February general election results for Fine Gael and Labour were spurred on by a surge in votes from students, the 18-24 age group and the growing list of the unemployed.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will contest the Co Louth seat in Ireland's next General Election, party sources confirmed today.

ENDA Kenny should run for President instead of Taoiseach. That could solve a lot of problems for him, for his party and for his country.

IT was the moment when Enda Kenny looked like a goner – nine Fine Gael frontbenchers emerging for the cameras to say he was no longer a credible alternative to Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

MICHAEL Noonan kept details of his wife’s illness from his colleagues while fighting the 2002 general election, several members of the Fine Gael frontbench from that period have said.

FINE GAEL made a complaint to SIPO in 2008 about former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was trying to fend off the Mahon Tribunal probe into his financial dealings at the time.

Two Sinn Féin members were released on bail today after being charged with membership of the IRA as part of the investigation into the £26.5m Northern Bank robbery.

CECILIA AHERN’S latest novel is called The Gift. It is a work of fiction and not about her father, the former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, but he enjoys a rare political gift that even a novelist of Cecilia’s imagination would be hard-pressed to put down on paper without testing credulity too much.

DUBLINERS earn more money and have more to spend but they have to fork out more for housing and childcare, and are subjected to higher levels of crime than the rest of the country.

Fixing potholes still gets TDs elected to the Dáil, a new book claims today.

THE civil servant at the centre of claims that the Government tried to cover up the extent of a cancer misdiagnosis scare has been appointed to a new position as special adviser to Tánaiste Brian Cowen.

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny said there seems to be “one law for Bertie Ahern and another law for the rest of the people” in relation to tax compliance.

AN OIREACHTAS committee is set to examine whether the country’s much-derided e-voting machines should finally be scrapped.

A leading Sinn Féin member of Dublin City Council has resigned his seat, the party confirmed tonight.

FINE Gael has accused the Government of wasting more taxpayers’ money on electronic voting after it emerged containers bought to house the machines were too small to hold all of them.

FORMER Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Joe Rea died yesterday after a short illness.

FIANNA FÁIL’S Billy Kelleher was the first deputy to be returned to the Dáil in the four-seat constituency of Cork North Central yesterday evening.

The final seats that decide the balance of power in the 30th Dáil will come down to the crucial but volatile system of vote transfers.

Fianna Fáil is reacting cautiously to this morning's exit poll showing that it looks set to repeat its performance in the 2002 General Election.

More than three million voters go to the polls today in one of the tightest general election contests in history.

FINE Gael confidence is surging following the latest opinion poll results, with front bench figures happy to tempt fate and predict how many seats the party could win.

ONE of the worst legacies from the 2002 General Election was its hot air and empty rhetoric.

UP TO 20,000 people hoping to vote by post or to make arrangements for voting because of a disability must register with their local authority by 5pm today.

SIX votes: that was the margin by which sitting TD John Dennehy fended off the challenge of Independent Kathy Sinnott in the 2002 General Election.

The Labour leader Pat Rabbitte is blaming his party's lack of strength in Connacht and the border counties for its showing in the latest opinion polls.

Fianna Fáil's vote in Cork North Central has plummeted, with the Opposition coalition of Fine Gael and Labour making strong gains, an exclusive Red C poll for the Evening Echo has shown.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern provoked guffaws of laughter in the Dáil yesterday when attempting once more to defend electronic voting machines.

The Green Party will launch a document on urban planning today, in a Dublin cake shop.

MORE than 150,000 carers will be immediately better off under Fine Gael plans for increased financial support, party leader Enda Kenny claimed yesterday.

THE real fiasco that would have resulted if the Government had got its way and used a flawed electronic voting system that has cost €52 million so far was revealed last night.

The Government has finally given approval for the construction of a new €50m community hospital and ambulance base in North Galway, it emerged today.

Tánaiste Mary Harney today revealed she had concerns and suspicions about the dealings of Dublin City councillors over controversial land re-zoning in the late 1980s.

An RTE interviewer brought about the downfall of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey “by accident”, a book revealed today.

JUNIOR Transport Minister Ivor Callely is in hot water after being accused of exploiting his office for political gain.

The family of former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor, who was killed in a car crash in Moscow, today hit out at claims he may have been with a prostitute at the time of his death.

THE manager hoiked up his anorak and looked wearily at the shambles unfolding on the pitch.

KITCHEN and bathroom pod manufacturers Delta Off-Site Solutions launched a new production facility in Macroom, Co Cork yesterday.