There’s never a good time to have a major disruption to fixtures involving a few countries, but one coming in a Rugby World Cup season is going to exacerbate the situation, with Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Italy on Saturday week set to be the first of many games impacted.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald insists 'the war is over' despite Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s comments linking the party to the Provisional Army Council.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’ remarks at a passing out parade in Templemore yesterday will inevitably start a new round of that increasingly common shout-down-the-messenger diversion.

On at least three occasions prior to the publication of the De Buitléir report into the creation of a single-tier healthcare system, Minister Donohoe asked for confirmation that the findings of the report would not necessarily have to be implemented.

From broadband and Brexit to swings and printers, TDs kept up the tradition of irritating voters with bizarre behaviour, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell

Ireland’s newest maternity hospital will conduct private healthcare business on its premises despite Health Minister Simon Harris voting to keep all business in the new facility public.

As our rugby team discovered at Twickenham on Saturday, intent and delivery are very different things.

The 25 candidates for the party’s presidential nomination have been scoring points off one another, but beating Donald Trump will be a tougher task, says Elizabeth Drew,

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is to deliver a personal apology to Majella Moynihan, who was threatened with dismissal from An Garda Síochana for having pre-marital sex with another garda recruit and for giving birth to a baby out of wedlock.

The evidence of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) earlier this month about the controversial prosecution of a civilian Garda employee, has raised some serious questions.

Health Minister Simon Harris has witten to politicians, ordering them to publicly support childhood vaccinations to combat anti-vax “scaremongering” and “populist nonsense”.

Enforcement proceedings against Barnafaddock Wind Farm raise serious questions around planning, the law and national policy on wind energy, writes Michael Clifford

Before former PSNI officer Drew Harris was appointed Garda commissioner last September there was, at best, a mixed reaction from within the force to the idea of an outsider leading it — especially one who had not navigated the rites of passage studded along the road from Templemore to the Phoenix Park.

The Irish Refugee Council has called on Health Minister Simon Harris to put in place special measures for women in direct provision who wish to seek abortion services.

Politicians and campaigners have strongly condemned a protest group for targeting Simon Harris at his family home as the health minister faces ongoing demands to resign over the deepening children’s hospital and nurses strike scandals.

The former CervicalCheck boss forced out at the height of the scandal is set to break her five-month silence next week.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said gardaí policing a property repossession on Tuesday “showed restraint” in the face of physical and verbal abuse, but said the way in which face-covering hoods were used by the Public Order Unit was “not correct”.

Drew Harris is quietly spoken. That much has been made clear by people close to him, writes Cormac O'Keeffe

The Disclosures Tribunal is prone to getting blown off course on a not infrequent basis, writes Michael Clifford

Almost two thirds of the Cabinet have confirmed that they fully support legalising abortion up to 12 weeks and will publicly advocate and campaign to achieve it, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

A licence for medicinal cannabis has been granted for the treatment of chronic pain for the first time. The move has been described by the medical profession as an “important development”.

The Government will reintroduce controversial plans to reduce alcohol advertisements and ban low-cost drink sales, with fresh concessions for small retailers around the storage of alcohol in shops.

Life in Varadkar’s Ireland will be a bright new dawn, Leo informed us outside Government Buildings, writes Daniel McConnell

Simon Coveney is “concerned” for the political careers of those who have supported him as Leo Varadkar maintains a significant lead in the Fine Gael leadership race.

Special Correspondent Michael Clifford says that all Portlaoise Hospital needed to get preferential treatment was to have been to be located in the Taoiseach’s constituency.

Health should become a Government ‘priority’ now that the economy has stabilised, Health Minister Simon Harris tells Political Reporter Fiachra O Cionnaith.

Health Minister Simon Harris has said he has to oppose a bill to liberalise the country’s abortion laws, even though he wants to support it.

It’s either someone finally talking some long-overdue sense, or the most cynical moving of the political goalposts in a generation, writes Fiachra Ó’Cionnaith

Police have arrested nearly two dozen people in Ferguson, Missouri, during a fourth consecutive night of demonstrations marking the anniversary of the fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

It’s been a while since the Gunners have approached the start of a new campaign seemingly in such a buoyant mood. 

Arsene Wenger has dismissed comments made by Philip Harris that Arsenal could buy virtually any player in the world.

USA: Authorities at Newark International Airport in New Jersey tranquilised a wolverine who was en route from Norway to an Alaskan wildlife centre after discovering the wild animal had chewed through his metal carrier.

Vigilante

This week is back-to-school time so Esther N McCarthy has picked up a few bits— big and small —to cheer us all up.

Convicted paedophile Rolf Harris will not see his jail term challenged by the UK government’s chief legal adviser for being too lenient.

Paedophile Rolf Harris also sexually assaulted singer Linda Nolan and TV presenter Vanessa Feltz, it has been claimed.

A man who prosecutors said intentionally left his 22-month-old son strapped inside a hot car to die because he wanted to live a child-free life will remain jailed pending his trial, a judge ruled.

The pain of the women who fell prey to convicted paedophile Rolf Harris was laid bare as he was told he will serve just under three years in prison for a string of sex crimes.

US prosecutors say a man unhappy in his marriage exchanged nude photos with several women as his son died in a hot vehicle.

Convicted paedophile Rolf Harris will not stand trial over allegations that he downloaded sexual images of children, prosecutors said today.

A New Zealand woman’s 10-litre a day Coca Cola habit was a major factor in her death, a coroner found. And now the coroner is urging the soft drink giant to put health warnings on its caffeinated products.

Australia 18 New Zealand 18

A New Zealand woman’s two-gallons-a-day Coca-Cola habit probably contributed to her death, experts have said.

A US man faces charges after authorities said he carried his mother out of a church when she arrived to stop his wedding.

HIS ashes were scattered in the Bahamas, but they could as easily have found a sacred resting place in Thomond Park, or Kilkee — both places of worship for the late Limerick actor Richard Harris.