Bodies of inquiry have to date proven to be a costly and ineffective remedy to our nation’s ills, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell.

The cost of funding public tribunals and commissions of inquiry into wrongdoing by state agencies and individuals will reach close to €500m by the end of this year.

PJ Mara was the most famous political spin doctor in modern Irish history, having played a leading role in Fianna Fáil for more than 30 years.

PJ Mara, the flamboyant former government press secretary, will be buried in Kinvara Co Galway tomorrow beside his late wife.

When PJ Mara resigned as Fianna Fáil director of elections for the Nice Treaty referendum in 2002 after adverse findings against him in the Flood Tribunal, it looked like he might be departing the political scene for good.

Former lobbyist Frank Dunlop has told a jury he lied to the Flood Tribunal and spent 13 and a half months in jail after pleading guilty to a number of corruption charges.

The Leveson probe in the UK shows a determined chairman can make an enormous difference to an inquiry, writes Dan Buckley

The latest tax defaulters list from the Revenue Commissioners bears a resemblance to the witness list of the tribunals of yesteryear.

Key tribunal witnesses who want their legal costs covered by the State will have to argue that they were not uncooperative when appearing before the inquiry.

All eyes are on Gay Byrne once again, as speculation that he could join the Presidential race runs rampant.

I PREDICT that the “independent commentators” (Shane Ross, David McWilliams, et al) who are calling for a public inquiry into the banks will be the first people to complain 10 years from now when any such inquiry turns into a Flood Tribunal-style white elephant.

Former Government press secretary Frank Dunlop will be sentenced today for bribing councillors to rezone land for development.

Former Government press secretary Frank Dunlop will be sentenced today for five counts of corruption.

Former Government press secretary and lobbyist Frank Dunlop has pleaded guilty to bribing Dublin County Councillors to vote in favour of a land deal in the 90s.

Ireland’s longest running tribunal which forced the resignation of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern ended today after 10 years and a cost of €300m.

The public is to be quizzed about their attitudes to tax and what compels them to pay up as part of a nationwide government survey.

The jury in George Redmond's corruption trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has been told that "the core issue" for the jurors is to decide whether he told the truth to gardaí or later under oath to the Flood Tribunal.

Closing speeches have concluded in George Redmond's corruption trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with the prosecution telling the jury on day-15 of the trial that his actions "reeked of corruption".

The terms "bribery" and "corruption" were never raised in meetings in 1999 between George Redmond's solicitor and Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy, who was then chief of the Criminal Assets Bureau, a court has heard today.

NORMAN TURNER is an American businessman and the developer of Europe’s largest entertainment venue the MEN Arena in Manchester.

One of the leading barristers in the State is to re-examine files on the Stardust tragedy, the Government announced this morning.

The Morris Tribunal will tomorrow make legal history when it takes evidence from the other side of the world via a satellite link.

PROMINENT businessman Denis O’Brien told the High Court yesterday he “never, ever” gave money to former Government minister Ray Burke and he said he was never asked for money by Mr Burke.

DEMOCRACY and a legal right to due process under the courts has been trampled recently. Ironically, it was done by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, who is meant to be the guardian of legal justice for all in Ireland.

Controversial former Government TD Liam Lawlor was a man of courage and humour who always found time to help others, his funeral mass heard today.

PRAGUE’S Irish business community profess they knew little about Liam Lawlor’s dealings in the Czech capital.

IF ever an Irish citizen could justly quote the lofty sentiments of Shakespeare’s Othello and say “I have done the State some service”, it was James Gogarty.

THE Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is to set up a special investigation unit to target wealthy property developers who bribed politicians and public officials.

I WORKED for a couple of years with Frank Dunlop. Not a lot of people are prepared to admit that.

INVESTIGATIONS into tax evasion and corruption have yielded the Revenue Commissioners €1.5 billion over the past five years.

THERE is something ignominious about a frail 79-year-old man being hauled off to prison, shuffling along and trying to support himself with the aid of an umbrella.

Nobody is likely to have been surprised that Mr Justice Feargus Flood concluded in his third interim report that George Redmond received corrupt payments, or that he and other people hindered the work of the Flood Tribunal.

DISGRACED former Fianna Fáil Justice Minister Ray Burke, who sold his house for almost €4 million in 2000 and received corrupt payments totalling at least £250,000 in the 1980s, will be seeking free legal aid to fight tax charges brought against him yesterday.

Former Justice Minister Ray Burke appeared in a Dublin court today charged with lodging a false tax claim.

POSSIBLY the best piece of news that came over the radio for a long time was the announcement that Ray Burke was handed a tax bill for 2 million.

RAY BURKE could elevate hubris into an art form.

NOBODY will shed a tear for Ray Burke, the disgraced ex-minister for Justice and Foreign Affairs once described as “honourable” by the Taoiseach.

DISGRACED former minister Ray Burke faces possible criminal charges for corruption on top of a 2 million tax bill he has received from the Criminal Assets Bureau. If found guilty he faces up to seven years in prison or a hefty fine.

Former Justice Minister Ray Burke has been served with a €2m tax bill by the Criminal Assets Bureau, it emerged today.

GEORGE REDMOND last night spent his first night in jail after becoming the first public official to have been convicted for corruption in the State.

THE Government’s deafening silence on the Judge

THIS morning’s revelations that Judge Alan Mahon made a £20,000 tax settlement with the Revenue Commissioners over 10 years ago will be acutely embarrassing for the new chairman of the Mahon Tribunal.

POLITICIANS are given time to attend to business and not treated like normal inmates in prison, Liam Lawlor said yesterday.

FORMER Senator Liam Cosgrave could face up to three years in prison for failing to disclose donations received by disgraced lobbyist Frank Dunlop.

Former Fine Gael Senator Liam Cosgrave may face prosecution for failing to disclose an election donation, according to reports this morning.

The Flood Tribunal has accused former Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor of failing to co-operate adequately with its investigations.

The Flood Tribunal is expected to accuse former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor of again failing to co-operate with its inquiries when it resumes later today.

THE Taoiseach has utterly denied there is any reason why Minister for Justice Michael McDowell cannot draw up legislation allowing legal costs at the Flood Tribunal be decided by the new chairman.

Former Fianna Fáil TD Liam Lawlor could be facing further time behind bars, with the Flood Tribunal expected to again accuse him of failing to co-operate with its investigations.