A youth employment website designed by teenagers to help their peers find work and build their own business has been launched.

Co-operation Ireland, a charitable organisation involved in reconciliation activities on both sides of the border, has among its patrons both President Michael D Higgins and Queen Elizabeth II.

Former Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue has announced his intention to contest the next General Election in South Kerry.

PRESSURE mounted on independent TD Michael Healy-Rae to pay back the costs of thousands of phone calls made from inside Dáil Éireann that helped him win a TV reality show.

Party leaders have urged people to make their vote count as polls opened in the most eagerly-anticipated election in decades.

The Council of State will meet today to advise the President on controversial new laws covering the multibillion-euro international bailout and the banks.

MAYBE we should find it in our hearts to temper our condemnation of “zero tolerance man” John O’Donoghue in his hour of need.

THE Dáil chamber fell eerily silent as Eamon Gilmore delivered the killer blow to the Ceann Comhairle’s chances of survival – the Speaker rendered almost speechless.

The roll-out of speed cameras across the state may be delayed to save costs, politicians warned today.

A row has erupted in the Dáil before the Budget speech has even begun.

HUNDREDS of secondary school students, teachers and parents took to the streets of Waterford to protest against the Government’s education cuts.

Brian Cowen is expected to be the only candidate to have formally declared for the Fianna Fáil leadership when nominations close today.

CORRUPTION and dishonesty top voters’ concerns about TDs and senators, a survey released by the Oireachtas itself revealed yesterday.

THE political pact struck between the two main opposition parties nearly three years ago is effectively dead in the water, according to a Fine Gael frontbench TD.

THE State is failing to police employers who are engaged in widespread abuse of workers rights, an official report has stated.

The issue of employment rights remains a significant problem in Ireland, according to a report published by the social services agency Comhairle.

THE Government has admitted that it needs more time to address Ireland’s chronic shortage of neurologists — a problem first identified three years ago.

UP to 20,000 low-income families may be entitled to welfare top-ups of €400 per week under the family income scheme.

THE report from the Irish Association of Suicidology that fewer than one in five people (not ‘patients’) who harm themselves are admitted to a general hospital needs a response (Irish Examiner, February 20).

HUNDREDS of angry parents are planning to picket the Government’s Cabinet meeting in Cork this morning as paediatric services for thousands of special needs children face collapse.

By Caroline O’Doherty

The Dáil was united tonight in a resounding call on Sinn Féin and the IRA to denounce violence and embrace democracy.

Racism and exploitation of foreign employees must be faced down in workplaces across the country, it was claimed today.

A Government think-tank recommended today that everyone on social welfare should be eligible for a medical card.

Some of the most vulnerable groups in Irish society are being denied free health care because of the Government's failure to extend eligibility for medical cards, according to a report published today.

PAYMENTS to carers could be increased after the Government vowed to review their status following a scathing report which found most people struggle to juggle their caring responsibilities with work.

ONLY 2% of members of the biggest union in State agencies have applied to be decentralised outside of Dublin.

THE State is to invest €5 million a year in providing a new personal advocacy service to help people with disabilities to access social services, Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Coughlan confirmed yesterday.

UP TO seven patients, some with TB, have been refused admission to Peamount Hospital since last Wednesday, despite being referred there for treatment by doctors.

UNEMPLOYMENT rates among people with disabilities is still unacceptably high despite efforts made to reverse the situation.

FIANNA FÁIL’S local organisation in the Taoiseach’s constituency claimed last night that Bertie Ahern was not behind the demand for Dublin Central to remain unchanged in the electoral boundary revisions.

A REVIEW of neurology services has called for a trebling of the number of consultant neurologists to cut treatment waiting times.

THE Government’s heartless attitude towards carers — who save the State almost €2 billion annually

FAMILIES of elderly or disabled people have no option but to give up their jobs and struggle to care for relatives, a report published yesterday shows.

UNSCRUPULOUS employers are still flouting the law and exploiting naive workers despite a raft of legislation protecting employees, consumer complaints have revealed.