The question must be asked of Fianna Fáil how, after 61 years in charge of the health service, they did not leave us a single-tier public health care, writes Victoria White

The strategic reason Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil sat out the presidential election, is that tactically they did not want to arrive with either injuries or red cards for the real game that starts tomorrow.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will ask Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin to potentially extend the confidence and supply deal by “a year or more” before the upcoming budget on October 7 in a bid to stave off snap election threats and the rise of Sinn Féin.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has claimed the Government knew of a strategy to block a cancer patient from speaking out about her misdiagnosis.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has called for the Government and opposition parties to take action to ensure media outlets are not pressured by “overbearing influences” in response to the Independent News and Media (INM) data breach controversy.

There has been a broad welcome by business groups towards a Government report on tackling the high cost of employer and public liability insurance.

The Taoiseach says ensuring new schools open despite the collapse of the building company involved is a government priority.

The speech given by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin in the Dáil on Thursday relating to the country’s abortion laws was nothing short of remarkable, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell.

It is no longer acceptable for women to be treated as “second class citizens” and to be forced to fly abroad for terminations or take abortion pills, said Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kelleher.

Latest: The Taoiseach says repealing the Eighth Amendment might not be enough to guarantee abortion without restriction.

Is there an official silence on the alleged past British plot to have our former taoiseach, Charlie Haughey, assassinated?

Has Fianna Fáil become too domesticated? Has the party changed from a wily electoral beast, with a sixth survival sense, to one that is content to sit in front of a warm confidence and supply fire, and lap on the saucer of warm milk kindly supplied by Fine Gael? This year will give us the answer to that, writes Alison O’Connor.

Fianna Fáil has also done many God-awful things but the fact is they handled the banking crash well, writes Victoria White

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed there are 125 vacant positions of a total of 1,735 posts at the Central Bank.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has backed plans to allow abortions in fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest cases but has stopped short of fully backing the Oireachtas abortion committee’s recommendations until he reviews them over the Christmas break.

NO matter how it is dressed up, the housing crisis is a shameful indictment of this society and particularly Fianna Fáil’s role in the catastrophe. 

There have been angry exchanges in the Dáil today over the budget and Brexit.

The Government is facing calls to establish a Commission of Investigation into whistleblower claims against the Air Corps, after the terms of an independent report into the allegations were branded ‘farcical’ by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

Fianna Fáil is now confident of securing further cuts to the universal social charge (USC) and an extension to the Mortgage Interest Relief scheme in next month’s budget.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin says a tidal barrier proposal by the Save Cork City (SCC) Group as part of its response to the €140m Cork flood defence scheme needs to be re-examined.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said he would “never judge any woman” who chose to have an abortion.

WHEN Fianna Fáil set up Nama in 2009, it was a painful but necessary response to Ireland’s financial crisis, notwithstanding the fact that the party bore major responsibility for the economic meltdown in the first place.

Update: Fine Gael deputy leader James Reilly has spoken on the Sean O’Rourke show on RTE radio one about the donation fiasco.

Would you dare take a dip in the icy waters in January? Well, Fianna Fáil leader and TD Micheál Martin did!

Government Chief Whip Regina Doherty has put her position in jeopardy by saying she will back anti-pylon protesters in any “civil disobedience” measures taken to prevent the new north-south electricity inter-connector.

There has been a call for President Michael D Higgins to apologise for remarks he made in a statement following the death of Fidel Castro.

Fianna Fáil has attempted to distance itself from taking responsibility for the most controversial elements of Budget 2017, repeatedly insisting that while it “influenced” the plan “we didn’t write this budget”.

Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuív will deliver the keynote speech at this year’s commemoration of Gaelic scholar and activist Dónal Ó Loingsigh in Baile Mhúirne, Co Cork.

Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil finance spokesman, has turned up the heat on the debate about the best ways to lower the still elevated levels of mortgage arrears, saying one approach — the so-called mortgage-to-rent scheme — is not working as it should.

Fianna Fáil has called on the government to put aside an inter-departmental “turf war” and clarify which department has ultimate responsibility for the National Broadband Plan after recent comments added to confusion over the issue.

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath says he will table a new mortgages bill this evening to rein in what he describes as the still “excessive” standard variable home loan rates being charged by lenders.

No doubt, it is only coincidental that no sooner had Fianna Fáil resurrected a bill that would give powers to the Central Bank to impose ceilings on mortgage interest levels that AIB announced it would be reducing its mortgage variable rate from July.

As part of their successful election campaign in 1977, Fianna Fáil promised to abolish the rates levied on households. As a majority government, they did so. Household rates had funded local government services, inclusive of mains water and refuse collection, since the foundation of the State.

People refusing to pay their water bills are to escape any legal punishment after Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil said they will not introduce new laws to prosecute debts under €500.

So now that the deal between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is more or less done and dusted, it’s time for the independents to have their days in the limelight.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said people should still pay their latest Irish Water bill and that those who have paid will not be refunded, despite confirming the controversial charges will be suspended in six weeks.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin teamed up yesterday against the proposed location of an incinerator in Cork Harbour, claiming such a plan would cause irreparable damage to the area.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are working towards putting a deal for a minority government to Independents early next week, but expect that a final pact will not be ready until later this month.

Independents engaged in talks with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are leaving any discussion on supporting a taoiseach down to the day of the vote.

Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher has called on the health minister to make a statement following claims he had planned to renege on a commitment to provide €35m for mental health ever year.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil need to tie the knot and be done with it.

The HSE should be called to account for its spending before the Oireachtas Health Committee, Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher said yesterday.

Following the election it looks like Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are to join forces and the chaos it is causing has become a source of entertainment for a certain section of society.

Junior Labour Minister Kathleen Lynch said the controversial “attack advert” depicting Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin Gerry Adams as the newlyweds in a same-sex marriage will not be officially published.