THE grim shadow of clerical child abuse once again fell across the Dáil chamber during Leader’s Questions, but sadly, there were more questions than there was leadership on display.

EUROSCEPTIC Czech president Václav Klaus yesterday bluntly warned the Taoiseach his country would not fast-track the Lisbon treaty when it takes over the EU in January.

The Government is to carry out its first major analysis of why its voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty.

Canada’s troubled foreign minister has resigned after it emerged today that he left secret documents at his then girlfriend’s house.

Official trips by Government ministers to 45 overseas destinations for St Patrick’s Day are a global marketing opportunity for the country, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil.

The Government is to fund two academics to study conflict resolution each year, it emerged today.

GARDAÍ said yesterday that no decision had been made not to prosecute a man — who enjoys diplomatic immunity — for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

The Government today allocated €218,000 funding towards the welfare of Irish people in foreign prisons.

The DUP and Sinn Féin grasped the opportunity of a lifetime when they agreed to enter a power-sharing government, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said today.

The Government is to open a new embassy in the Gulf region, it emerged today.

Ireland and Cyprus have joined forces to build a girls’ boarding school in Lesotho, it emerged today.

A 26-year-old was tonight released with a police caution after he had earlier climbed onto a balcony at the Irish Embassy in London.

LOCATING Irish aid supplies like tents and blankets at a UN hub in Italy will save thousands of lives in natural disasters, a leading UN aid coordinator said yesterday.

Chinese deputy premier Zeng Peiyan will meet the President, the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste during a three-day visit to Ireland this week.

Hundreds of Australian citizens hoping to flee Lebanon were left stranded after a Greek navy ship was forced to sail without them, the foreign minister said in Sydney today.

Up to 100 Irish citizens are being evacuated from the trouble-hit Lebanon region today on a flight chartered by the Irish Government.

A CUT in the cost of passports was demanded by TDs last night as it emerged the Government was making €29 million a year from issuing them.

The Government today welcomed the permanent ceasefire announced by Basque separatist group Eta.

Over 40 groups engaged in cross-border outreach work are to benefit from funding of €1.1m, it was confirmed today.

Support services aiding Irish emigrants in Britain, Australia and Canada will benefit from grants of over €600,000, it was confirmed today.

A young Irishman was one of five people killed after an aeroplane crashed in Australia, the Foreign Affairs Department confirmed today.

The International community must pledge more aid to earthquake-hit Pakistan or more people will die, a Government minister warned tonight.

The Estimates allocation for the Foreign Affairs Department will keep the Government on course to achieve its UN overseas aid target of 0.7% of GNP by 2012, it emerged today.

Omagh bomb victims will demand a timetable today for setting up a cross-border probe into the atrocity during new talks with the Government.

The Government is to carry out the first major study of Irish prisoners overseas, it was confirmed today.

Up to 25,000 people in the North will be issued with Irish passports this year, it emerged today.

The Government is expected to increase its aid for yesterday’s earthquake in Pakistan as the death toll mounts.

International governments need to give emergency aid to southern Africa which is facing the biggest famine in the world, it was claimed today.

There are worries over the location of some Irish citizens caught up in the disaster stricken US city New Orleans, a Government minister said today.

A young Irish girl is among the dead following a bomb blast at a popular tourist spot in Turkey.

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern blasted as reprehensible a spate of anti-Semitic attacks on a Dublin museum as he met senior members of the Jewish Community today.

Many of the estimated 900 Irish prisoners in UK jails suffer discrimination and endure lives of quiet desperation, it was claimed today.

The UN was not monitoring several arms embargoes against conflict zones when Ireland joined the Security Council in 2001, it was claimed today.

The Irish Government is to send a legal expert to the aid of an Indonesian boy stuck in legal limbo following a failed adoption by an Irish couple.

Distraught relatives of two Irish people missing since the tsunami struck South-East Asia are still waiting for any trace of their loved ones, it was confirmed today.

A senior Irish diplomat in South East Asia has said for the first time that Irish people may have died in the tsunami disaster, it emerged tonight.

Dozens of Irish people remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the earthquake disaster in South East Asia, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said tonight.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it has no confirmation that any Irish people died in this week's disaster.

An Irishman killed in a horrific bus crash in Peru has been named as David Scollard.

UNIONIST leader David Trimble last night walked out of talks aimed at restoring the North’s government and parliament after documents leaked in Dublin said the IRA was still active.

The Labour Party has accused the Government of further dishonesty after a national newspaper discovered that the extent of cuts in overseas aid is actually €8m to €10m more than officially announced.