Former Fianna Fáil backbencher Pat Carey will hold his first engagement as a junior Government minister today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was today urged to ensure the last surviving child of an executed 1916 leader is given a place of honour at the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell seems more preoccupied with battling prison officers over overtime than the fight against gun gangs, Labour's Tommy Broughan claimed today.

SHOULD Michael Woods ever return to the front bench, the Department of Defence might be the natural posting for him.

The Labour Party is proposing a nine-point anti-joyriding initiative, which it says could be used as a possible basis to tackle the problem.