TONY BLAIR risked plunging the Labour leadership contest into civil war yesterday by issuing a warning to the party not to drift to the left.

WHEN Fine Gael has reflected on its failure to find favour with the public, internal factions have rushed to turn the cross-hairs on the leader of the day.

The introduction of the dual mandate was supposed to ban politicians from double jobbing. So the locals in and around Cloyne could be forgiven for being surprised to see President Mary McAleese running for Cork County Council.