Criticism of the decision to allow the wife of a member of the Oireachtas committee hearing submissions on abortion to make her own submission has been rejected by her husband.

A row has erupted over a series of hearings on abortion legislation to be held by the Oireachtas next week.

The emerald illuminations that transformed world landmarks over the St Patrick’s weekend weren’t the only kind of green light in evidence as the occasion gave the country the go-ahead to forget current crises and get the craic back for a while.

Using economics to justify closing our embassy to the Holy See prompted one Dublin mother to say stop, writes Mary E Fitzgibbon

JUNIOR Foreign Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton has backed a campaign to re-open the Irish embassy in the Vatican.