Leo Varadkar was due to travel to New York on Tuesday to attend a meeting at the United Nations headquarters, but cancelled his plans last minute, allowing him to stay in Ireland to deal with the “evolving situation”

It seems somehow fitting that Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s week-long US St Patrick’s Day lap of honour should start with presidential election controversy, the plight of immigrants, and outspoken comments by a man who now has nothing to lose.

Enda Kenny’s two-day visit to Atlanta cost us €4,300 for a chauffeur, while Europe Minister Dara Murphy commandeered a squad car, and the time and services of two gardaí, to drive him 214 miles to Dublin Airport, writes Shaun Connolly

Sinn Féin is facing new sanctions after paramilitary watchdogs today blamed the IRA for the Northern Bank robbery.