Forestry company Coillte has announced record earnings of €98.3m for 2016.

Details have emerged of an extraordinary row between Coillte and the Department of Agriculture over the forestry company’s effort to pay its departing chief executive back-dated bonuses.

THROUGHOUT the economic crisis, the board of one of the State’s largest commercial companies was doggedly scrapping with its shareholder — the minister for agriculture.

Afghanistan’s president has banned the country’s courts from being able to alter election results, a move that appeared aimed at ending months of uncertainty over the parliament’s legitimacy.

Despite Taliban rocket strikes and bombings, Afghans voted for a new parliament, the first election since a fraud-marred presidential ballot last year cast doubt on the legitimacy of the embattled government.

British helicopter crews in Afghanistan helped transport ballot boxes as the country voted in key parliamentary elections today.

At least 10 people have been killed in a string of attacks on Afghanistan's parliamentary election.

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai has legalised the removal of foreign observers from the country's electoral watchdog tasked with reviewing voting fraud.

Cash-strapped Afghanistan today postponed parliamentary elections planned for May 22 until the autumn.

The Taliban has claimed the cancelled election run-off in Afghanistan proves their efforts to derail the vote with threats and attacks were successful.

Afghan challenger Abdullah Abdullah says he will not participate in the November 7 runoff presidential election after his demands for changes in the election commission were not met.

President Hamid Karzai’s chief political rival agreed to run in the November 7 run-off election and said he’ll be ready.a

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today Afghanistan’s run-off elections will pose a “huge challenge” next month.

The fraud-tainted Afghan election that cost a large slice of credibility for current president Hamid Karzai is to go to a second round, it was decided today.

Afghanistan's election commission today ordered a run-off election for November 7 after a fraud investigation dropped President Hamid Karzai's votes from the first round below 50% of the total.

The runner-up in Afghanistan's presidential election suggested today the country should have an interim government to guide it through the uncertainty surrounding the ballot results.

A run-off in the disputed Afghanistan presidential race appeared more likely today after President Hamid Karzai was stripped of hundreds of thousands of votes by UN-backed electoral fraud investigators.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai today insisted the country’s disputed election was “true and fair” and refused to accept a second round of voting simply to satisfy critics claiming massive fraud.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai defended the country’s election against claims of widespread fraud, but stopped short of declaring victory despite a substantial lead in the preliminary count today.

Afghanistan's president said today that last month's election had integrity - but some government officials "were partial toward me".

Afghan officials issued full preliminary results showing President Hamid Karzai received 54.6% of the vote in last month's election, a result that could be annulled by mounting fraud allegations.

A top American official at the United Nations mission in Afghanistan has temporarily left the country following a disagreement with his boss over how to respond to the massive allegations of vote fraud in the August 20 presidential election, officials said today.

The chief challenger to President Hamid Karzai today called for a full investigation into hundreds of reports of fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential contest.

The UN-backed commission investigating fraud in Afghanistan's election issued its first orders today to exclude some ballots from the final tally.

Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai has won 54% of votes counted in the country’s presidential election, officials said today.

The UN-backed watchdog investigating Afghanistan’s election said today it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” and ordered a recount at some polling stations.

A man said Taliban militants cut off his nose and both ears as he headed for a polling station in central Afghanistan.

The commission charged with investigating fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election says it has now received more than 550 complaints serious enough to affect the outcome of the poll if proved true.